BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to substance mixers. Specifically, the present invention relates to substance mixing apparatus that are manually operated and mix two chemicals into one compound for dispensing out of a nozzle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At the time the provisional patent application was filed, the inventor was not aware of any prior art which identically disclosed the present invention or which would make the present invention obvious. As of the filing date of this non-provisional patent application, the inventor is still not aware of any prior art which identically disclosed the present invention or which would make the present invention obvious.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a manual mixing apparatus that allows the mixing of substances that are initially within separate chambers and then are mixed together to form a combined substance for dispensing out of a nozzle.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a disposable apparatus that contains two parallel separated chambers with each of the chambers containing a separate and distinct substances. It is also within the spirit and scope of the present invention for the apparatus to be reusable after sterilization.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a rotating base that interacts with a respective pair of rotating gears which cause a respective expander to respectively push a movable sealing wall to push each respective material in aligned but separated chambers to be pushed into a mixing tip from which the combined materials are pushed out of an opening in a nozzle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mixing sleeve to allow the substances such as chemicals or liquids to mix just prior to exiting out of the mixing tip and nozzle for application of the combined substance.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide two internal gears that expand as the bottom base is rotated to force the movable walls, which can be considered to be pistons, towards the nozzle and further force each of the respective chemicals or liquids within the interior chambers towards the nozzle.
Further novel features and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and discussion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring particularly to the drawings for the purpose of illustration only and not limitation, there is illustrated:
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the disposable pre-filled hand-operated dual chamber product dispensing apparatus with a cap removed, illustrating the nozzle on top and the present invention resting on the rotatable base;
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the present invention illustrating the nozzle removed from a front end of the main central section, the main central section rotated to illustrate the mixing gears and the hand-operated base removed from the rear of the main central section, illustrating a first gear engaging clip;
FIG. 3 is a component separated view of the present invention illustrating from left to right, an exterior side-perspective view of the main body of the present invention with the nozzle removed from the front end to illustrate the mixing chamber adjacent to mixing nozzle and rotated 180 degrees to illustrate the second engaging clip, and the hand-operated base removed from the rear of the main body;
FIG. 4A is a side perspective view of the first of the two expandable gears of the present invention;
FIG. 4B is a top perspective view of the rotatable base illustrating the internal main body engaging threads to be retained by the mating clip on the first main body and also illustrating first engaging gears which mate with the first engaging gears of the top first gear body;
FIG. 5 is a top interior perspective view of the first of two expandable gears positioned inside of the rotatable base with the threaded section of the expandable gear contained entirely within the expandable gear and the threaded base of the expandable gear engaged with interior gear threads on the rotatable base;
FIG. 6 is a top interior perspective view of the first of two expandable gears positioned inside of the rotatable base with the threaded section of the first expandable gear fully extended out of the expandable gear and the threaded base of the expandable gear engaged with interior gear threads in the rotatable base and also illustrating the approximate distance each longitudinal movable wall will traverse inside of the central main section;
FIG. 7A is a side perspective view of the second of the two expandable gears of the present invention;
FIG. 7B is a top perspective view of the second rotatable base illustrating the internal main body engaging threads to be retained by the mating clip on the main body and also illustrating first engaging gears which mate with the first engaging gears of the top first gear body;
FIG. 8 is a top interior perspective view of the second of two expandable gears positioned inside of the rotatable base with the threaded section of the expandable gear contained entirely within the expandable gear and the threaded base of the expandable gear engaged with interior threaded gear threads in the rotatable base;
FIG. 9 is a top interior perspective view of the second expandable gear positioned inside of the rotatable base with the threaded section of the second expandable gear fully extended out of the expandable gear and the threaded base of the second expandable gear engaged with interior threads in the rotatable base and also illustrating the approximate distance each longitudinal movable wall will traverse inside of central main section;
FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional view of the present invention hand dual chamber illustrating the liquid or chemical storage sections located between the nozzle section and the expandable gears; and
FIG. 10B is a duplicate of FIG. 10 which is a cross-sectional view of the present invention hand dual chamber illustrating the liquid or chemical storage sections located between the nozzle section and the expandable gears, the duplicate used to facilitate part numbering.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Although specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, it should be understood that such embodiments are by way of example only and merely illustrative of but a small number of the many possible specific embodiments which can represent applications of the principles of the present invention. Various changes and modifications obvious to one skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a front perspective view of the hand-operated dual chamber product dispensing apparatus 300 with a cap removed exposing the nozzle 10 on top and the present invention resting on the rotatable base. The nozzle 10 is affixed to the central section 20 at its distal end 20D (see FIG. 2). The proximal end 20E of central section 20 is closed by a rotatable base 30. The nozzle 10 is press fit retained to central section 20. The apparatus 300 is preferably a disposable pre-filled hand-operated dual chamber product dispensing apparatus. However, it is within the spirit and scope of the present invention for the apparatus to be re-usable and filled before use. The nozzle 10 is integrally formed with a mating collar 200 by which the nozzle 10 is press fit retained onto the front end 20D of main body 20. It will appreciated that if a cap 18 (see FIG. 10A) is used, it will be a central cylindrical cap which fits over the nozzle 10 and is retained on the collar 200.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a front perspective view of the disposable pre-filled hand-operated dual chamber product dispensing apparatus 300 with the cap removed. With the cap removed, a central opening 14 in the nozzle 10 enables a mixed compound to be dispensed from the apparatus 300.
Referring to FIG. 2, there is illustrated is an exploded view of the present invention 300 illustrating the nozzle 10 removed from a front end 20D of the main central section 20, the main central section rotated to illustrate the mixing gears and the hand-operated base 30 removed from the rear 20E of the main central section 20, illustrating a first gear retaining clip 87GR-1. The mixing chamber entrance openings 15A and 15B at the base of the nozzle 10 are also illustrated.
Referring to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a separated view of the present invention 300, illustrating the nozzle 10 removed from a front end 20D of the main central section 20, the main central section rotated 180 degrees from the view in FIG. 2, to illustrate the second gear retaining clip 87GR-2. The exit openings 15C and 15D from the front interior end of the main body, which are respectively aligned with mixing chamber entrance openings 15A and 15B, of nozzle 10 are also illustrated. First gear retaining clip 87GR-1 is 180 degrees opposite to second gear retaining clip 87GR-2. The nozzle 10 includes a mixing members 16 as illustrated in FIG. 10A. The concepts of parallel chambers including separate substances which are separated by a longitudinal barrier which are forced out of their respective chambers into respective openings such as 15C and 15D which are forced into entrance-openings 15A ad 15B into mixing blades 16 where the two substances are mixed and released out of an opening 14 in the nozzle 10 is a previously developed concept. The present inventor is the inventor of innovative mechanical and electrical inventions which include a cartridge which contains separated substances. The innovation of the present invention is the hand operated apparatus which create the moving force to push substances from divided chambers to the mixing nozzle.
As illustrated in FIGS. 4B and 7B, rotatable base 30 includes upper circumferential engaging gears or teeth 89. The main body 20 and base 30 are rotatably retained together through first gear retaining clip 87GR-1 and second gear retaining clip 87GR-2 engaging upper circumferential engaging teeth 89 when proximal end 20E of the main body 20 is inserted into rotatable base 30.
The details of the specific elements of the present invention are illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 9 and FIG. 10A and identical FIG. 10B. For a better understanding of the invention, the operation of the present invention in FIGS. 10A and 10B will now be described.
Referring to FIG. 10A, there is illustrated a cross-sectional view of the present invention hand-operated dual chamber illustrating the liquid or substance storage sections of the present invention located between a nozzle section and expandable gears. To provide more space to place numbers in this illustration of the present invention, FIG. 10A has been duplicated in FIG. 10B. The present invention hand-operated dual chamber product dispensing apparatus 300 (see FIG. 1) includes a cylindrically shaped main body, also referred to as central section 20, having an exterior wall 40 with a cylindrical interior surface 42 surrounding an interior chamber 44. Within interior chamber 44 there are two parallel interior product dispensing chambers 150A and 150B separated by a centrally located longitudinal interior dividing wall 180 which extends from adjacent the interior surface 60I-S at the interior front surface 60 to between two longitudinally movable rear walls 152A and 152B. The longitudinal interior dividing wall 180 extends transversely for the entire interior diameter D-1 of interior chamber. Therefore, the central section includes two separate interior product dispensing chambers. The first interior product dispensing chamber 150A is bounded by one half of interior surface 42, the interior dividing wall 180, the first longitudinally movable rear wall 152A and the front interior surface 60F-S of interior front wall 60F including opening 15C. The second interior product dispensing chamber 150B is bounded by one-half of interior surface 42, the interior dividing wall 180, the second longitudinally movable rear wall 152B and the interior surface 60I-S of the front interior wall 60 in interior opening 15D. In one preferred embodiment, the interior surface 42 is cylindrical and the interior dividing wall 180 is a straight planar surface. Therefore, in this preferred embodiment, the first longitudinally movable rear wall 152A is semi-circular shaped and the second longitudinally movable rear wall 152B is also semi-circular shaped. A first product 500 is inserted into first interior product dispensing chamber 150A and a second product 550 is inserted into second interior product dispensing chamber 150B before each chamber is sealed by a respective longitudinally movable rear wall 152A or 152B. As will be described, each respective longitudinally movable rear wall, 152A and 152B, is simultaneously pushed forward into each respective first interior product dispensing chamber 150A and second interior product dispensing chamber 150B, and each first product 500 and second product 550 are respectfully pushed through openings 15C and 15D into respective openings 15A and 15B into mixing member 18 where they are mixed together and pushed out through a longitudinal interior opening 14 in nozzle 10.
The products 500 and 550 can be any two elements, components, ingredients, or other substances which need to be initially separated and react together when combined. By way of example, products 500 and 550 are selected from the group consisting of tooth whitening compounds, nail polish, cosmetic products, hair coloring, non-prescription supplements, prescription medicines, caulking compounds, paint compounds and varnish compounds.
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 10B, there is illustrated the present invention disposable pre-filled hand-operated dual chamber product dispensing apparatus 300, having a top nozzle 10, a central section 20 and a bottom rotatable base 30. Inside central section 20, there are two gear chambers 22A and 22B (see FIG. 10A). Gear chamber 22A is shown with expandable gear 50A (see FIG. 4A) retained therein and gear chamber 22B is shown with expandable gear 50B (see FIG. 7A) retained therein.
Referring to FIGS. 4A, 4B, 5, and 6, the rotatable base 30 contains base interlocking teeth 80 on the interior circumferential surface 82 adjacent the bottom interior surface 84 within the interior chamber 86 of rotatable base 30. The base interlocking teeth 80 engage with each respective set of interlocking teeth on the bottom circumferential wall of each respective expandable gear. Referring to FIGS. 4A, 5, and 6, first expandable gear 50A has a first main gear body 50A-B with a first exterior sidewall 50A-S. At its first proximal end 52A-P, first main gear body sidewall 50A-S includes a first interlocking gear base section 54AI with first interlocking gear teeth 56A. As illustrated in FIG. 6, first exterior interlocking gear teeth 56A interlock/engage rotatable base interlocking teeth 80. When base 30 is rotated in the clockwise direction, first gear interlocking teeth 56A of first expandable gear 50A also rotate in the clockwise direction. It is also within the spirit and scope of the present invention for the rotation to be counterclockwise.
Referring to FIGS. 4A, 5A, 6, 10A, and 10B, first main gear body 50A-B also has a first interior sidewall 52A-1 (see FIG. 10B) with interior threads 52A-I (see FIG. 10B) encircling first main interior channel 52A-CH (see FIG. 10B). First expandable gear 50A-E includes a first expander member 50A-E having a sidewall 52A-S with first expansion threads 52A-T. First expansion threads 52A-T engage interior threads 50A-I. First expander member 50A-E has a first affixing member 75A at a distal end 52A-D of expander member 50A-E. The first affixing member is affixed to a longitudinally movable rear wall 152A (see FIG. 10A) of first interior main body interior chamber 150A. As the rotatable handle 30 is rotated, first interlocking gear teeth 80 engage with first interlocking gear teeth 56A causing first main gear body 50A-B to rotate in the same direction. This rotation of first main gear body 50A-B causes interior threads 52A-I to rotate, thereby causing first expansion threads 52A-T to rotate and cause first expander member 50A-E to rotate out of first main interior channel 52A-CH. The rotation of the first expander member 50A-E creates a longitudinal pushing force on longitudinally movable rear wall 152A causing it to move into the first interior main body interior chamber 150A. Therefore, any liquid or viscous substance 500 within first interior main body interior chamber 150A is pushed out of the first interior main body interior chamber 150A.
The present invention has a corresponding second interior main body interior chamber 150B which is parallel to the first interior main body interior chamber 150A and separated by a longitudinal interior wall 180.
Referring to FIGS. 7A, 8 and 9, the rotatable base 30 contains interlocking teeth 80 on the interior circumferential surface 82 adjacent the bottom interior surface 84 within the interior chamber 86 of rotatable base 30. The interlocking teeth 80 engage with each respective set of interlocking teeth on the bottom circumferential wall of each respective expandable gear. Second expandable gear 50B has a second main gear body 50B-B with a second exterior sidewall 50B-S. At its first proximal end 50B-P, second main gear body sidewall 50B-S includes a second interlocking gear base section 54BI with second interlocking gear teeth 56B. As illustrated in FIG. 9, second exterior interlocking gear teeth 56B engage rotatable base interlocking teeth 80. When base 30 is rotated in the clockwise direction, second gear interlocking teeth 56B of second expandable gear 50B also rotate in the clockwise direction. It is also within the spirit and scope of the present invention for the rotation to be counter-clockwise.
Second main gear body 50B also has a second interior sidewall 52B-1 (see FIG. 10A) with interior threads 52B-I (see FIG. 10B) encircling second main interior channel 52B-CH (see FIG. 10B). Second expandable gear 50B includes a second expander member 50B-E having a sidewall 52B-S with second expansion threads 52B-T. Second expansion threads 52B-T engage interior threads 52B-I. Second expander member 50B-E has a second affixing member 75B at its distal end 52B-D. The second affixing member is affixed to a second longitudinally movable rear wall 152B (see FIG. 10A) of second interior main body interior chamber 150B. As the rotatable base 30 is rotated, base interlocking gear teeth 80 engage with second interlocking gear teeth 56B causing second main gear body 50B-B to rotate in the same direction. This rotation of second main gear body 50B-B causes interior threads 52B-I to rotate, thereby causing second expansion threads 52B-T to rotate and causing second expander member 52B to rotate out of second main interior channel 52B-CH. The rotation of the second expander member 52B creates a longitudinal pushing force on longitudinally movable rear wall 152B causing it to move into the second interior main body interior chamber 150B. Therefore, any liquid or viscous substance 550 within second interior main body interior chamber 150B is pushed out of the second interior main body interior chamber 150B.
The present invention has a corresponding second interior main body interior chamber 150B which is parallel to the first interior main body interior chamber 150A and separated by a longitudinal interior wall 180 (see FIG. 10B).
Second main gear body 50B-B also has a second interior sidewall 52B-1 with interior threads 52B-I (FIG. 9B) encircling second main interior channel 52B-CH (see FIG. 10B). Second expandable gear 50B includes a second expander member 50B-E having a sidewall 52B-S with second expansion threads 52B-T. Second expansion threads 52B-T engage interior threads 50B-I. Second expander member 50B-E has a second affixing member 75B at its distal end 52B-D. The size of the present invention hand-operated dual chamber product dispensing apparatus 300 has a typical total length of approximately 6.5 inches with the central section having a typical length of 4 inches. Rotatable base 30 has an approximate length of 1.25 inches. It is within the spirit and scope of this invention for the size of the present invention hand-operated dual chamber product dispensing apparatus 300 to be smaller or larger than the typical size.
Of course the present invention is not intended to be restricted to any particular form or arrangement, or any specific embodiment, or any specific use, disclosed herein, since the same may be modified in various particulars or relations without departing from the spirit or scope of the claimed invention hereinabove shown and described of which the apparatus or method shown is intended only for illustration and disclosure of an operative embodiment and not to show all of the various forms or modifications in which this invention might be embodied or operated.
Patent Grant
10427122
