Patent Application
20070175926
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pushbutton for operating a pump or valve for dispensing a fluid substance contained in a container.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
To controlledly dispense fluid substances (in particular liquid or creamy substances contained in a container under or not under pressure), it is known to use valves or pumps mounted on the mouth of such containers: these pumps have an outwardly projecting hollow stem, on the free end of which there is mounted an operating pushbutton with a nozzle, insert or hole through which the fluid substance originating from the pump can be dispensed through said nozzle following axial translation of the pushbutton, when the pushbutton is pressed with a finger of one hand.
In pushbuttons of known type the dispensing nozzle moves together with the pushbutton, to undergo a longitudinal translation in one direction or the other when the pushbutton is pressed or released: as a result, the fluid substance dispensed through the nozzle does not occupy a fixed position relative to the pump, but moves within space following the movement of the pushbutton: in many cases this represents a drawback, for example when the fluid substance is to be dispensed onto a well defined fixed point (which can be important if the substance is coloured or oily, or consist of a pharmaceutical substance which has to be applied to a well defined limited point).
The main object of the present invention is therefore to provide a pushbutton mountable on the movable stem of a pump or the like and having a dispensing nozzle which maintains its position at rest and fixed relative to the pump, whatever the position assumed by the stem of the pump during its rest or operation.
Another object is to provide a pushbutton of the aforestated type which is of economical production and reliable operation.
These and other objects are attained by a pushbutton characterised by comprising:
Preferably, said retention elements consist of a plurality of appendices or a continuous tubular wall projecting from said pushbutton main portion on the opposite side to that from which the tubular appendix forming part of the pushbutton main portion projects, said appendices or tubular wall having dimensions such as to fit over the ring cap by which the pump is fixed on to the mouth of a container, and being provided with inwardly projecting teeth or ribs to secure the pushbutton to the ring cap.
The structure and operation of the pump will be more apparent from the ensuing description of one embodiment thereof given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which
From the drawing it can be seen that a pump 2 is fixed by means of a ring cap 3 onto the mouth of a container 1 (containing a fluid substance, not shown, to be dispensed): both the pump and the ring cap are of any known type. A hollow stem 4, also of known type for operating the pump, projects from the pump upper end (with respect to the drawing).
The pushbutton of the present invention is shown in schematised section in
The pushbutton comprises two separate pushbutton portions, namely a main portion indicated by 5 and a movable free end portion indicated by 6.
The pushbutton main portion 5 presents a central aperture (not shown in the drawing) through which both the stem 4 and the top of the pump 2 extend, the pump being securely fixed sealedly on the mouth of the container 1 by the ring cap 3. From the bottom (with respect to the drawing) of the pushbutton portion 5 there downwardly extends a continuous tubular wall 7 (which can also consist of a plurality of flexible appendices) bounding a space into which the ring cap 3 is inserted and securely retained therein by a rib 8 or a plurality of teeth having the same purpose and snap-engaging below the lower edge of the ring cap, to hence lock the pushbutton main portion 5 in a fixed position.
From the top of the pushbutton main portion 5 there upwardly projects a cylindrical tubular appendix 9, the cavity 10 of which extends as far as a nozzle 11 provided on one side of the portion 5; as can be seen from the drawing, the axis of the appendix 9 is parallel to the axis of the stem 4. From the lower end of the pushbutton end portion 6, two hollow tubular appendices 12 and 13 extend downwards (i.e. towards the end portion 5) with their axes parallel to each other and to the axis of the stem 4 and of the appendix 9.
At the free end of the cavity of the appendix 12 there is provided a seat into which the free end of the stem 4 can be sealedly inserted by pressing; the cavities of the tubular appendices 12 and 13 are connected together via conduits 15 which are closed at one end by a seal plug 16.
The cavity of the appendix 13 has, at least in proximity to its free end, a diameter such as to enable at least an end portion of the appendix 9 to penetrate into and sealedly slide axially within it, as will be clear on comparing
It will now be assumed that the pushbutton and pump are in the rest condition shown in
A very important characteristic of the described pushbutton is that the nozzle 11 remains at rest on the container, i.e. it maintains a constant stable position on the pushbutton main portion, whether the pump is in its rest or operating condition.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| MI2006A 000151 | Jan 2006 | IT | national |
