This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. ยง 119 to Hong Kong Application No. HK OGP 220323077786.8, filed on Aug. 18, 2023, the entire content of which is incorporated by reference herein.
The present disclosure relates to a hand held viscous material dispensing device.
Cartridges containing viscous material such as gels, glues, caulk, silicone or sealants or pastes provide a convenient selection of materials used for filling gaps or sealing cracks in construction or maintenance projects on building sites all around the world. Application of these materials waterproof or seal around window frames, reduce the flow of heat into/out of the home, fill cracks or seal surfaces and are vital in finishing a variety of construction projects.
Typically, material in these cartridges are applied using a manually actuated or motor driven caulking gun or silicone gun. Such applicator devices expel viscous material from the cartridge through a nozzle of the cartridge into the crack or onto the work surface.
One common arrangement of manual cartridge application tools, typically known as caulking guns, is a lever which is grasped by a user. Typically, the grasping by the user urges a plunger against one end of the cartridge which is retained in the barrel of the caulking gun, shortening the effective length of the cartridge and expelling the viscous material from the tip through a nozzle. Other arrangements may be configured so that grasping of a lever by the user drive the cartridge back against a fixed base, thereby urging viscous material from the nozzle.
Unfortunately, such arrangements can be somewhat unwieldy and cumbersome to use, especially the first which requires a plunger which extends to a maximum of around twice the length of the cartridge. The levers may also be hard to operate for users with weaker grip strength. In either arrangement, the application of pressure to the cartridge can be difficult to control, resulting in an excess or intermittent flow of viscous material onto the work surface during operation.
Alternative arrangements of motor driven cartridge application devices have been devised in which a push plate and cartridge are driven relative to each other by various motorized arrangements including detachable powered drills mounted to a housing. However, such arrangements are typically relatively cumbersome and bulky; and may be difficult to operate by users to obtain the desired control over the expulsion of viscous material onto the work surface.
Accordingly, there is a need for a hand held viscous material dispensing device which addresses or at least partially ameliorates at least some of the above problems, or at least provides the members of the public with a useful choice.
The present disclosure provides, in one aspect, a dispensing device for dispensing a viscous material from a cartridge received in the dispensing device. The dispensing device includes a main housing, a front support, a rear plunger assembly, a motor, and a gear assembly. The rear plunger assembly is spaced apart from the front support by an elongate member to receive and retain the cartridge inserted between the front support and the rear plunger assembly. The rear plunger assembly includes a plunger plate supported in a plunger housing above a cutting edge. The rear plunger assembly is rotatable about an axis that is parallel to a longitudinal axis of the elongate member. The motor and the gear assembly are disposed in the main housing and are engageable with the elongate member to move one of the front support and the rear plunger assembly toward each other, thereby urging the cutting edge of the rear plunger assembly against an edge of the cartridge as the plunger plate is driven against the cartridge to expel the viscous material therefrom.
The present disclosure provides, in another aspect, a dispensing device for dispensing viscous material from a cartridge received therein. The dispensing device includes a main housing, a front support, and a motor disposed in the main housing. The rear plunger assembly is spaced apart from the front support by an elongate member to receive and retain the cartridge inserted in the dispensing device. The rear plunger assembly includes a plunger plate that is supported in a plunger housing above a cutting edge. The rear plunger assembly is rotatable about an axis that is parallel to a longitudinal axis of the elongate member. The motor is configured to provide a rotational output to the elongate member to move one of the front support and the plunger plate toward each other, thereby urging the cutting edge of the rear plunger assembly against an edge of the cartridge as the plunger plate is driven against an end of the cartridge to expel the viscous material from the cartridge.
The present disclosure provides, in another aspect, a dispensing device for dispensing a viscous material from a cartridge received in the dispensing device. The dispensing device includes a main housing, a front support, an elongate member coupled to the front support, a rear plunger assembly coupled to an opposite end of the elongate member, a motor, and a gear assembly disposed in the main housing. The cartridge is received between the front support and the rear plunger assembly. The rear plunger assembly includes a plunger plate and a cutting edge supported in the plunger housing. The motor and the gear assembly are engageable with the elongate member to move one of the front support and the plunger plate toward each other, thereby urging the cutting edge against an edge of the cartridge as the plunger plate is driven against an end of the cartridge to expel the viscous material therefrom.
Various embodiments of the disclosure are discussed in detail below. While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
The disclosed technology addresses the need in the art for an improved dispensing device which is reduced in size and which provides an easy to use and control alternative to other dispensing devices.
Referring to the
As depicted, the device 10 includes a main housing 20 comprising a right housing 22 and left housing 24. A trigger switch 26 is received between these housings, and this switch is arranged to be actuated by the user's finger to provide power from the battery or power cell (not shown) to drive the motor 30 and gear assembly 40.
The plunger assembly 50 is received in the top of the main housing 20 above the motor 30 and gear assembly 40 as described herein. An elongate member 60 is received in the main housing at one end. A front support 62 is attached to the other end of the elongate member 60.
In one embodiment, the elongate member 60 is a toothed rack which is driven by a pinion gear 49 of the gear assembly 40 upon actuation of the motor 30.
Typically, the front support 62 is spaced far enough apart from the rear plunger assembly 50 to receive full standard sized cartridges of viscous material and retain these cartridges with the neck of the cartridge and base of the nozzle resting in the front support 62, whilst the base of the cartridge contacts the plunger assembly 50.
Advantageously, as depicted, the rear plunger is disposed in the main housing. As can be seen especially with reference to
As depicted, in an exemplary arrangement the gear assembly 40 comprises four layers of planetary gears, a first layer of planetary gears 42a, a second layer of planetary gears 44b, a third layer of planetary gears 42c and a fourth layer of planetary gears 42d.
As can be also seen in
As is described further herein, in the embodiment depicted the actuation of the motor 30 by the user activating the trigger 26 retracts the front support 62 of the elongate member 60 towards the rear plunger assembly 50. Teeth of spur gear 49 mesh with corresponding teeth 64 of the elongate member 60, changing the rotational motion of the gear assembly 40 into linear motion of the elongate member 60. As is known to persons skilled in the art, changing the direction of rotation of the motor will change the direction of travel of the elongate member 60 relative to the housing.
The rear plunger assembly 50 is thus urged against an end or base of the cartridge, which drives the plunger plate 52 inside the cartridge toward the nozzle and thereby extrudes the viscous material in the cartridge onto the work surface.
In each of the embodiments described herein, as the front support and rear plunger assembly are driven towards each other, the rear plunger assembly is arranged to cut into the side of the cartridge. In the first and second embodiments, the cutting of the cartridge by the rear plunger assembly enables the front support to be retracted towards the rear plunger assembly as the elongate member is driven via the gear assembly by the motor. In the third embodiment described herein the rear plunger assembly is driven via the gear assembly by the motor toward the front support.
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As can be seen, particularly in
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Advantageously, as depicted in
Preferably, as depicted in
In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, there is depicted in
A rear plunger assembly 150 is disposed in the main housing 120, above the motor 130 and gear assembly 140 which in this embodiment is small enough such that it is substantially disposed in the handle under the rear plunger assembly 150. It would be appreciated that a user can grip the housing with their fingers. Layers of planetary gears 142a, 142b, 142c are arranged above the motor 130. These mesh with further layers of planetary gears 144a, 144b which in turn drive spur gear 49 to mesh with the teeth of the elongate member in a rack and pinion type arrangement.
As shown in
In a third embodiment of the device 210 depicted in
The motor 230 and gear assembly 240 are disposed under the rear plunger assembly 250. In this embodiment, actuation of the switch 226 causes the motor 230 to drive the threaded rod 260 via the gear assembly 240. Advantageously, the elongate member 260 is an externally threaded rod coupled via the gear assembly to the motor via a lead screw nut 266 movable thereon. Rotation of the motor 230 drives the rear plunger assembly 260 either towards or away from the front support depending on the direction of motor rotation, in lead screw arrangement familiar to persons skilled in the art.
In this embodiment the frame 265 comprising additional elongate stiffening member 264 which assists in receiving and retaining the cartridge between the rear plunger assembly 250 and the front support 262. It also helps to prevent the rear plunger assembly 250 from rotating with the elongate member 260.
As depicted in
In a further aspect of the third embodiment depicted in
As shown, the lead nut 266 is formed by a pair of split nuts 265a, 265b which have corresponding threaded profiles to the thread of the elongate member 260. A pair of posts 267a, b and 267c, 267d (not shown) extend from the sides of each of the split nuts which are received in corresponding holes or slots formed in user actuable levers 268a, 268b. The split nuts are biased into engagement with each other and with the elongate member by a coil spring 270. This engagement of the split nuts with the threaded rod may be overcome by manual actuation of the levers 268a, 268b by a user urging the user actuable lever 269 in a direction of away from the elongate member 260.
Accordingly, the lead screw nut 266 comprising a pair of split nuts 265a, 265b are engageable and disengageable from the externally threaded rod 260 via the user actuable lever 269.
As depicted, the plunger assembly comprises a rear plunger plate 52 that is mounted above a cutting edge 54 inside a housing 56. As depicted the plunger plate is supported by the cutting edge 54 which is received within a recess defined in the plunger housing 56.
Advantageously, as shown the rear plunger assembly housing is generally circular in cross section. The plunger assembly is accordingly adapted to be rotatably received in a corresponding circular aperture having a relatively larger diameter defined in the main housing as is shown especially in
As depicted in
The above embodiments are described by way of example only. Many variations are possible without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined in the appended claims.
Advantageously, the dispensing device of the present disclosure provides a precisely controlled motor driven expulsion of the viscous material from the cartridge selected. It would be appreciated that through careful selection of the components of the motor and gear assembly that precise control over the force on the base of the cartridge may be achieved. In addition, the inclusion of optional friction pads which oppose motion of the elongate element in the first embodiment also enables responsive control over the expulsion of the viscous material from the dispensing device.
Further, the dispensing device allows for rotation of the cartridge 80 relative to device such that the tip is able to be directed to whatever orientation is most suitable to the crack or work surface to which the viscous material is being applied. In some uses, it may be preferable for the tip (usually cut any an angle) to be orientated with the shortest part of the inclined tip face proximate to the work surface, whereas in other uses it may be preferable for the shortest part of the tip face to be oriented to either side or even upwards. When using the device of the present disclosure the user is able to achieve all of these orientations by rotating the cartridge 80 relative to the device as they wish.
In the first and second embodiment of the present disclosure, the ability to remove the elongate element to which the front support is attached and store it separately from the main device further enables the overall size of the device when not in use to be minimized. This is especially useful when storing the device in a tool box, on the way to the job site or even on a shelf between uses.
Although a variety of examples and other information was used to explain aspects within the scope of the appended claims, no limitation of the claims should be implied based on particular features or arrangements in such examples, as one of ordinary skill would be able to use these examples to derive a wide variety of implementations. Further and although some subject matter may have been described in language specific to examples of structural features and/or method steps, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to these described features or acts. For example, such functionality can be distributed differently or performed in components other than those identified herein. Rather, the described features and steps are disclosed as examples of components of systems and methods within the scope of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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22023077786.8 | Aug 2023 | HK | national |