Patent Grant
8967496
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dispensers, and more specifically to duration spray dispensers that do not rely upon propellant gases that are harmful to the environment.
2. Background Art
Both propellant driven and mechanically operated aerosol dispensers are and have been in use for many years and are still popular due to their convenience. However, propellant driven dispensers that rely upon chemical propellants are being scrutinized more closely and restrictions imposed upon them due to the adverse impact of these propellants upon the environment, as well as the hazards of handling them and the related insurance issues.
Mechanically operated spray dispensers lack the convenience of propellant driven dispensers, but they are bulky and require a large amount of material and parts to produce. Moreover, energy costs keep rising, resulting in increased costs to mold and manufacture them. Further, persons suffering from arthritis or other infirmities find it difficult to use mechanically operated dispensers due to the multiple steps required in their operation. In some cases, the number of parts required in the construction of these devices makes them too costly for consumers. On the other hand, manufacturers of lower cost propellant-driven products, including bag-in-a-can and pressure driven piston devices, are reluctant in general to change from the propellant-driven aerosol systems. A new consideration is not favorable.
Systems other than propellant driven types use other alternatives for dispensing product. For example, some devices employ means with storage chambers, requiring the transfer of product within a two stage loading process, wherein a metered amount of product must be obtained from a storage chamber as the first stage and then transferred into a second stage power chamber before it can be dispensed from the second stage over a given duration. Other systems require venting, exposing the product to atmosphere during extensive periods between usage by the consumer. This can affect the efficacy of product and cause potential clogging and possible contamination as well. There is still a need to isolate the product from air or propellants within the container. The mechanically operated non-propellant systems are more appealing in lots of ways in that the environment is protected from harmful propellants and the process is less vulnerable to liabilities and constraints presently imposed on delivery systems using chemical propellants. The present invention offers an alternative that still provides equivalent results in delivering products such as food without preservatives, room fresheners, hairsprays, furniture polishes, personal care and pharmaceutical products without the problems that chemical propellants and venting pose.
The following patents exhibit some of the pitfalls of prior art devices.
The systems disclosed in the prior art cited above are generally too expensive for commercial acceptance and feasibility in some market applications for mass production at high levels.
Despite the efforts of such devices as shown in the forgoing patents, there remains a need for a more convenient, compact, portable, self-charged duration spray device that can perform in most environments, is operated in a way that is comparable to the devices that consumers are accustomed to, is easy to use and environmentally friendly, and does not contaminate the product or require venting. Applicant is not aware of any currently available system that could be considered “GREEN” and user friendly as well.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that is simple and economical in construction and operation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a product dispenser that does not rely upon harmful propellants that contaminate the atmosphere as well as some products to be dispensed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide the means to select a variety of product holding chambers utilizing piston driven or collapsible pouches and bags.
Yet another object of the present invention is to employ an air pressurized breakup feature supplied from the initial supply chamber via a valve controlled release means that isolates the air from the product until the product exits the dispensing nozzle.
An even another object of the present invention is to provide a refillable option to the system.
A further object of the invention is to provide a dispenser construction that enables a number of feature enhancements to be made without requiring a major reconstruction of the basic system.
Yet another further object of the present invention is to provide the option in the basic system of using air assist or not using air assist in the nozzle means, depending upon the product to be dispensed.
These and other options and advantages presented by the present invention comprise distinctive features that enhance the system with the options as part of the unique compressed gas pump mechanism, allowing the device to be trigger operated or plunger operated in either a vertical or a horizontal orientation. The system comprises a product chamber and a pressure chamber with a charging pump means to pressurize the pressure chamber and the product chamber. Pressurized product is discharged from the product chamber via a dual sequential release valve mechanism. The invention provides a controlled dispensing cycle and aerosolized system, if selected, that constantly keeps the pressure source isolated from the product to be dispensed. With appropriate substitution of available features, the system may be used to dispense a variety of products, including, but not limited to, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, or a contoured ribbon of product. The system can dispense product as a spray through a mechanical breakup unit (MBU), or as a foam. The invention can also provide a spray-through cap and/or different shaped containers for a variety of product viscosity ranges. The actuator nozzle pocket can incorporate a non-clog insert as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,609,666 and 6,543,703 as enhancement features in the present invention, especially with respect to the tangential slots producing a vortex in the air flowing through the nozzle.
The system could be adapted to a bag-on-valve arrangement or to a preloaded product chamber that has its own spring or preloaded charge and does not rely upon the pressurized air produced by the pump means or an external pressure source. The flexible spring fitments and/or product chamber could be made of metal or other suitable material. Added control is available by the selection of nozzles and the need of how products feed with optimum results through them. The discharge of product is sequentially obtained. In brief, the actuator is depressed and when it reaches a first Intermediate position air starts to flow. Continued depression of the actuator causes product to flow and mix with air dependent upon a preset and or prescribed selected adjustment of the nozzle if a mix is desired. By releasing the actuator, the sequence is reversed and the air discharge is the last to exit the actuator, resulting in a self-purging system. To eliminate the air mix and obtain product only, the adjustable actuator can be set accordingly. The adjustable actuator can be manufactured so that the consumer is able to select settings for optimum results. Alternatively, the manufacturer can produce the system with fixed settings for optimum results.
In general, the invention comprises an actuator and nozzle assembly for a dispensing device for dispensing a product under pressure, wherein a product chamber is supported within an outer container and a lower air chamber is defined between said product chamber and said outer container. Pressurizing means is associated with the outer container for pressurizing air in said lower air chamber and pressurizing product in said product chamber. An actuator is mounted to said outer container, and nozzle means is in said actuator. First flow passage means extend from said lower air chamber to said nozzle means, and second flow passage means extend from said product chamber to said nozzle means for conveying product from the product chamber and through said nozzle means. First valve means is in said first flow passage means for controlling flow of pressurized air from said lower air chamber to and through said nozzle means, and second valve means is in said second flow passage means for controlling flow of product from said product chamber to and through said nozzle means. Said first and second valve means are operated by said actuator so that in a first position of said actuator flow of pressurized air is enabled from said lower air chamber to and through said nozzle means and in a second position flow of product is enabled from said product chamber to and through said nozzle means. Release of said actuator first interrupts flow of product then interrupts flow of pressurized air.
More specifically, the invention comprises an actuator and nozzle assembly for a dispensing device for dispensing a product under pressure, comprising:
an outer container having a sidewall, an upper end, and a bottom end, said upper end having at least one flow port therethrough and a central opening;
attaching means on said upper end for attaching a product chamber to said upper end so that said product chamber is supported in said outer container in communication with said central opening;
a valve seal pocket formed in said central opening, said valve seal pocket having a valve seat therein;
a coupling member attached to said container upper end on a side thereof opposite said attaching means, said coupling member having an upstanding side wall and a yieldable spring-like upper end wall with a downwardly projecting center portion having a center opening therethrough;
a combined valving and spring member secured between said container upper end and said coupling member so that it is disposed around said central opening in said container upper end, at least one spring arm extending inwardly from said valving and spring member in overlying spaced relation to said container upper end, and a valve flap on said valving and spring member normally disposed in closed relationship over said at least one flow port through said container upper end;
an actuator reciprocable on said coupling member, said actuator having a top wall, an outer side wall depending from said top wall and telescopically engaged on said coupling member side wall, said outer side wall having an opening through one side thereof adjacent said top wall, a first inner wall depending from said top wall in inwardly spaced concentric relation to said outer side wall, said first inner wall being engaged against said coupling member flexible upper end wall, and a center hub supported in inwardly spaced concentric relationship with said first inner wall, said hub having an upper end and a lower end and a bore extending through the lower end thereof, a side opening extending through one side of the hub adjacent said upper end thereof and communicating with an upper end of said bore, said side opening in said hub being in alignment with said opening through one side of the actuator outer side wall, and a bottom end seal on the bottom end of said hub, said bottom end seal normally seated against the coupling member upper end wall and closing the center opening therethrough;
a stem valve having an upper end and a lower end and having a hollow interior extending through said upper end from adjacent but spaced from said lower end, said upper end extending through the center opening in said spring-like upper end wall of said coupling member and being slidably sealed in the bore in said hub, the lower end of said stem valve extending into said valve seal pocket and having a sliding seal member thereon slidably sealed in said valve seal pocket and a valve member on said lower end for cooperation with the valve seat in the valve seal pocket, and at least one opening through a side of said stem valve between said sliding seal member and said valve member establishing fluid communication between said product chamber and said hollow interior when said valve member is unseated, said at least one spring arm engaged against a midportion of said stem valve to urge it into closed position, and said midportion defining an abutment against which the downwardly projecting center portion of said spring-like upper end wall of said coupling member abuts when said actuator is depressed;
said container and said product chamber defining a space between them forming a first portion of a lower air chamber, said upper end of said container and said coupling member forming a second portion of a lower air chamber, and said actuator and said flexible upper end wall of said coupling member forming an upper air chamber separated and sealed from said lower air chamber by seating of the bottom end seal on said hub against the coupling member upper end wall and closing the center opening therethrough;
pressure means for pressurizing said first portion of said lower air chamber and applying pressure to product in said product chamber, said valve flap being opened upon pressurization of said first portion of said lower air chamber to establish communication between said first and second portions of said lower air chamber and thus pressurize said second portion;
a nozzle secured in said opening through said opening in one side of said outer side wall of said actuator; and
a tube extending from said opening in the side of said hub to said nozzle; wherein depression of said actuator to a first position moves said first inner wall against said flexible upper wall of said coupling member to flex said upper wall downwardly to unseat the bottom end seal on said hub from said center opening and admit pressurized air from said lower air chamber to said upper air chamber and through said nozzle, and continued depression of said actuator to a second position further moves said flexible upper end wall to abut said stem valve midportion and move said stem valve to unseat said valve member from the valve seat in the valve seal pocket and permit pressurized product to flow up through the hollow stem valve and through the tube to be dispensed through the nozzle, and wherein release of said actuator first enables said at least one spring arm to move said stem valve to a closed position to stop flow of product through the stem valve and nozzle while continuing to permit flow of pressurized air through the nozzle, and the flexible upper end wall of said coupling member then moves into closed relationship against said bottom end seal to close off flow of pressurized air.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate some preferred embodiments of the present invention, and together with the detailed description, will serve to explain the principles of the present invention.
a is an enlarged, fragmentary, longitudinal partial cross-sectional view of the air assist means in
b is an enlarged, fragmentary, longitudinal partial cross-sectional view of the device of
a is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view of the lower end of the stem valve and the associated seal pocket, shown prior to depression of the stem valve.
b is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view of the lower end of the stem valve and the associated seal pocket, shown after depression of the stem valve.
Referring more specifically to the drawings, a first form of dispenser according to the invention is indicated generally at 10 in
The structure and operation of the actuator and nozzle assembly 15 and its attachment to the upper housing portion 12 are best understood with reference to
An opening 24 is formed through the wall 19 of the actuator 17 near the top wall in substantial alignment with the side opening 22b in the hub, and a slot 25 is formed in the first inner wall 20 in radial alignment with and between the openings 22b and 24.
A nozzle assembly and mechanical breakup unit (MBU) 26 is mounted in opening 24 and comprises a threaded air feed adapter fitment 27 having an annular end wall 28 extending between an outer cylindrical wall 29 and a central socket 30. The wall 29 is internally threaded at 31 and retained in opening 24 by barbs 32 on the wall 29 engaged in recesses 33 in the opening 24. Openings 34 are formed through the end wall 28 immediately adjacent the socket 30, communicating with air vortex tangential slots 34a that lead to a series of annularly arranged opening 35 formed through the center of the closed end of the socket around a central conical nose or seal cone 36. An adjustable soft nozzle 37 has an externally threaded end 38 threaded into the outer wall 29 of the fitment 27, with an end wall having a central flexible pad and opening 40 for adjustment against the nose 36. A rigid sleeve 39 backs up and reinforces the threaded end 38. The soft nozzle provides a biased contact relationship with the nose 36 throughout the adjustment of nozzle 37. Many of these details are seen best in
A tube T is fitted at one end in the opening 22b in the hub and at its other end in the socket 30 of the fitment 27 for conveying product from the bore 22a to the openings 35 in the end of the socket and thus through the opening 40 in the nozzle 37. The tube may be made with different internal diameters to alter the pressure supplied to the spray geometry mechanics within the adjustable nozzle.
The actuator assembly 17 is mounted to an inverted generally cup-shaped coupling member 41, seen best in
A combined valving and spring member 50 is seated between the bottom end of the coupling member 41 and the extended upper end 60 of the housing 12. The valving and spring member has an upstanding cylindrical wall 51 with a radially extending annular wall 52 on its bottom end engaged between annular wall 46 of the coupling member and the housing extended upper end 60, and a depending skirt 53 engaged between skirt 47 of the coupling member and the annular upper outer surface of housing extended upper end 60. At least one flexible valve flap 54 is formed in the member 50 and is normally biased into closed relationship over an associated opening 61 formed through the end wall of housing extended upper end 60 of the housing 12. One or more flexible spring arms 55 extend radially inwardly from wall 51 for yieldably biasing a stem valve 80 upwardly as described hereinafter.
A plurality of upstanding flexible latches 62 project upwardly from the upper end of housing portion 12 in radially outwardly spaced relation to the extended upper end 60 and these latches are engaged over the outer edge of annular wall 46 of the coupling member 41 to hold the coupling member and combined valving and spring member 50 securely against the extended upper end 60 of the housing portion 12.
With reference to
Stem valve 80 has an elongate, hollow, tapered tail piece 81 slidably received in the bore 22a of hub 22, with an outwardly flared seal 82 on the upper end of the tail piece effecting a sliding seal in the bore 22a. A diametrically enlarged midportion of the stem valve is shaped to provide an upwardly facing annular shoulder 83 and a downwardly facing annular flange 84. A lower end extending below the midportion has a bulbous annular product valve seal 85 on its bottom end and an outwardly flared annular sliding seal 86 between the midportion and the product valve seat 85. One or more openings 87 are formed through the side of the lower end just beneath the sliding seal 86.
A product chamber PC in the outer container housing 11 has a cylindrical extension 90 in the center of its upper wall 91 preferably releasably mounted on a nipple 92 projecting downwardly around the seal pocket 70 from the extended upper end 60 of the container housing upper portion 12. The diameter of the product chamber PC is slightly smaller than the diameter of the outer container housing 11, defining an annular space 93 between the side walls of the container housing 11 and the product chamber PC. A short upstanding annular wall 94 on the top end of the product chamber around its outer margin spaces the wall 91 a short distance from the end of the container housing, defining a space 95, and one or more openings 96 through the wall 94 establish communication for flow of air between the spaces 93 and 95. These spaces define a lower air chamber. An upper air chamber UAC is defined in the space bounded by the coupling member 41 and in the space within the upper portion of the actuator 17 bounded by the wall 19.
A gasket seal 97 is captured between the upper end of the wall 94 and the end wall of upper housing portion 12. The center of this gasket is open at 98 to permit free flow from the lower air chamber to the opening 61.
The coupling member 41 is securely held to the container 11 by the latches 62 engaged over the outer edge of the annular wall 46 of the coupling member, and the actuator 17 is held assembled to the coupling member by frictional engagement between the tail piece 81 of the stem valve and the bore 22a of the hub 22, and by the frictional engagement between the wall 42 of the coupling member and the wall 19 of the actuator. The actuator can be removed when desired, however, for cleaning.
A modified nozzle assembly 26′ is shown in
The device of the invention may be pressurized with any one of a variety of pressure sources, and one such source is shown at 110 in
The bottom pump 130 shown in
An alternate embodiment of bottom pump device is shown at 140 in
A further embodiment for supplying pressurized air to the device is shown at 150 in
The actuator and nozzle assemblies described above are employed to dispense the product and air mix in the various embodiments disclosed, but there are common actuator assemblies that can accommodate and employ different mechanical breakup units (MBUs), as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,609,666 and 6,543,703, for example.
In use, when the system is at rest and the actuator is not depressed, the parts have the relative positions shown in
When the actuator 17 is initially depressed as shown in
Further depression of the actuator, as shown in
Releasing the actuator essentially reverses the process described above in that the flexible wall 43 is enabled to move the actuator up, thereby enabling the spring arms 55 to move the stem valve up, closing the valve 85 against seat 71 and cutting off further flow of product, after which the bottom end 44 of wall 43 again seats against end 22c of the hub, cutting off further flow of air from the upper air chamber UAC.
All of the disclosed systems allow for isolating the product from the propellant gas (air or nitrogen) and manage whether or not the gas is mixed with the product. Some examples of when the air and product would not be mixed are the dispensing of toothpaste, gels, food products, conditioners and the like. Examples of products employing mixed air are hairsprays, some gels, room fresheners, mouthwash, medications, sun tanning sprays and many other types of products. The choice is primarily dictated by viscosity or density of the product to be dispensed.
The air assist feature may be a selected positional means that can function as part of a combination of air with product, or not take part in the breakup of the spray and be Isolated from affecting the spray. Additional control is possible by the selection of available nozzles and the need of how products feed with optimum results through them.
The simplicity of the present invention is evident. There is no stored chemical propellant that can be harmful to the environment. With the invention, the user simply pumps up and charges the system. As described, the release of product is sequentially obtained. In brief, the actuator is depressed and the first Intermediate position starts air flow. Continued depression of the actuator causes product to flow and mix with a preset and or prescribed selected adjustment of the nozzle if a mix is desired. By releasing the actuator, the sequence is reversed and air is discharged last from the nozzle. The system can thus be considered as a self-purging system. To eliminate the air mix and obtain product only, set the adjustable actuator accordingly. The adjustable actuator allows the consumer to select an appropriate setting for optimum results. If the manufacturer prefers to have optimum results by providing a fixed setting, it can be provided internally, before the customer purchases the product.
Accordingly, resort may be made to all suitable modifications and equivalents that fall within the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims which follow. The words “comprise”, “comprising”, “Include(s)” and “including” when used in this specification and in the following claims are intended to specify the presence of stated features or steps, but they do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features or means, steps or groups thereof.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3788521 | Laauwe | Jan 1974 | A |
| 20070102542 | MacLean-Blevins | May 2007 | A1 |
