Patent Grant
11376616
This application is generally directed to the field of pump assemblies for dispensing containers and more specifically to a pump assembly comprising an pivoting dip tube. The entire assembly including the components of the pivoting dip tube are comprised completely of components made of the same type of recyclable material such that it is easy and also cost-effective to recycle.
Pump dispensers generally comprise a pump assembly coupled to a dispensing container and are a common form of packaging for products such as toothpaste, liquid soap, lotion, cleaning supplies, and many other useful products. Such pump dispensers enable the user to carefully control the dispensing of the product from the dispensing container into their hands or onto another surface. However, the pump assemblies currently used in the pump dispensers suffer from inefficiencies which result in wasted product. This is because many of the dispensing containers used have a bottom surface that has on or more raised and subsequently depressed areas. For example, many dispensing containers have a bottom surface that is curved such that it protrudes into the interior of the dispensing container. The curved bottom surface increases the stability and the strength of the dispensing container. The curved nature of the bottom surface creates one or more depressed areas or valley on the bottom surface where the contents or product contained in the dispensing container collects. Due to the position of the dip tube in the current pump assemblies, this product cannot be removed from the depressed areas and it is therefore wasted. Repositioning the dip tube in current pump assemblies requires a reconfiguration of one or more components of the entire assembly. Accordingly, dispensing containers of varying designs and configurations comprising differently curved bases require custom pump assemblies manufactured specifically for each different type of dispensing container. Such custom manufacturing increases manufacturing turnaround time or retooling time when switching between products as well as the overall cost.
Current pump assemblies further pose a challenge when used in high-speed assembly systems. Movement of the pump assemblies through these systems causes the free ends of the dip tubes to move such that the dip tubes can become snagged, caught, or bent due to interaction with system components and during installation onto the dispensing container. The damaged dip tubes must then be replaced, which requires a stoppage of the system and a decrease in overall production due to system stoppage. To help mitigate damage to the dip tube, Some systems include a restraining device or mechanism that restricts movement of the dip tube prior to and during installation onto the dispensing container. These extra system components add to the overall cost of the manufacturing process and therefore, the overall cost of the final product.
In addition, many of the pump assemblies currently manufactured are used in conjunction with dispenser containers that are recyclable however, one or more of the components that comprise the pump assemblies are manufactured from non-recyclable materials for the sake of durability and cost efficiency. This includes using one or more metal springs or compression members and valves comprised of glass, metal, non-recyclable resins such as Polyoxymethylene (POM). Consequently, in order to recycle these pump assemblies, additional processing is required to separate out any non-recyclable components or components not made of the same type of recyclable material. This additional separation step takes extra time and costs money for the recycling companies, manufacturers, and/or users. In many instances, consumers or recycling companies simply throw away the pump assemblies rather than spend time dismantling the pump assembly for proper recycling. However, producing pump assemblies entirely from recyclable components produces pumping or dispensing inefficiencies due to the low spring force produced from plastic springs and the relatively low density of pump assembly components as compared with the material that is being pumped by or dispensed by the pump assembly.
The foregoing background describes some, but not necessarily all, of the problems, disadvantages and shortcomings related to current pump assemblies used in pump dispensers.
An embodiment of a pump assembly for a pump dispenser comprises a cap comprising a depression surface and a spout extending from the depression surface. A collar is configured to at least partially surround the cap and the depression surface is configured to move relative to the collar. A sleeve is coupled to the collar and comprises a body extending along a body axis and defining an inner space, and a coupling member. The coupling member comprises a shoulder and a coupling joint proximate the shoulder. A dip tube defines a dip tube channel extending from a first end to an opposing second end of the dip tube. The first end of the dip tube is configured to pivotally couple to the coupling joint and fluidly connect the dip tube channel, the coupling member channel, the inner space of the sleeve, and the spout. The fluid connection is maintained when the dip tube is pivoted relative to the coupling joint.
In an embodiment, the dip tube channel comprises a first diameter at the first end and second diameter at the second end that is different than the first diameter. In an embodiment. The pump assembly further comprises a valve positioned in a valve chamber defined within the coupling member. In another embodiment, the pump assembly comprises a valve positioned in a valve chamber defined within the dip tube. In a further embodiment, the first end of the dip tube comprises a greater thickness than the second end. In an embodiment, the first end of the dip tube is configured to at least partially fit over the coupling member. In another embodiment, the first end of the dip tube is configured to be at least partially positioned within the coupling member. In still another embodiment, the coupling member further comprises a coupling member channel extending from the shoulder to the coupling joint. In another embodiment, the shoulder is configured to inhibit damage to the first end of the dip tube resulting from over-insertion of the first end onto the coupling joint.
Another embodiment of a pump assembly for a pump dispenser comprises a cap comprising a spout and a sleeve in fluid communication with the cap. The sleeve comprises a body extending along a body axis and defining an inner space, and a coupling member. The coupling member defines a coupling member channel. A dip tube defining a dip tube channel extends from a first end to an opposing second end. The first end of the dip tube is configured to pivotally couple to the coupling member and fluidly connect the dip tube channel, the coupling member channel, the inner space of the sleeve, and the spout. The fluid connection is maintained when the dip tube is pivoted relative to the coupling member.
Another embodiment of a pump assembly for a pump dispenser comprises a spout and a sleeve in fluid communication with the spout. The sleeve comprises a body extending along a body axis and defining an inner space, and a coupling member defining a coupling member channel. A dip tube defines a dip tube channel extending from a first end to an opposing second end. The first end of the dip tube is configured to pivotally couple to the coupling member and fluidly connect the dip tube channel, the coupling member channel, the inner space of the sleeve, and the spout. The fluid connection is maintained when the dip tube is pivoted relative to the coupling member.
So that the manner in which the features of the invention can be understood, a detailed description of the invention may be had by reference to certain embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only certain embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the scope of the invention encompasses other equally effective embodiments. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis generally being placed upon illustrating the features of certain embodiments of the invention. In the drawings, like numerals are used to indicate like parts throughout the various views. Thus, for further understanding of the invention, reference can be made to the following detailed description, read in connection with the drawings in which:
The following discussion relates to various embodiments of a recyclable pump assembly with an pivoting dip tube for use with a dispensing container. It will be understood that the herein described versions are examples that embody certain inventive concepts as detailed herein. To that end, other variations and modifications will be readily apparent to those of sufficient skill. In addition, certain terms are used throughout this discussion in order to provide a suitable frame of reference with regard to the accompanying drawings. These terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “forward”, “rearward”, “interior”, “exterior”, “front”, “back”, “top”, “bottom”, “inner”, “outer”, “first”, “second”, and the like are not intended to limit these concepts, except where so specifically indicated. The terms “about” or “approximately” as used herein may refer to a range of 80%-125% of the claimed or disclosed value. With regard to the drawings, their purpose is to depict salient features of the pump assembly with pivoting dip tube and are not specifically provided to scale.
Referring to
The cap 20 is generally positioned at a top end 11 of the pump assembly 10 and may comprise a collar 30 that at least partially houses a portion of and/or is coupled to the sleeve 40. The cap 20 includes an engagement sleeve 28 with a depression surface 22. A spout 24 extends from the depression surface 22 and defines an opening 25. As shown, the engagement sleeve 28 may be substantially cylindrical in shape and may define an interior cavity (not shown) configured to house additional components of the pump assembly 10 as are detailed in related U.S. Pat. No. 10,751,740. A lip 26 or other similar feature may protrude in a radial direction from the engagement sleeve 28 and/or the depression surface 22. In an embodiment, the cap 20 may have one or more engagement features located on a surface 27 of the engagement sleeve 28 that are configured to removably engage with the collar 30 and/or the sleeve 40. As shown, the cap 20 is capable of moving relative to the collar 30.
Still referring to
The collar 30 further comprises an interior surface (not shown) that may include one or more surface features configured to engage one or more complimentary surface features 112 (
The sleeve 40 generally comprises a top end 41 configured to engage a portion of the cap 20 and/or a portion of the collar 30, and a bottom end 42 that may removably couple to an end of a dip tube 70. In an embodiment, the collar 30 and the sleeve 40 may be two separate components, however in other embodiments, the collar 30 and the sleeve 40 are formed as one piece and are a single unitary component.
As shown in
An embodiment of a dispenser container 100 is schematically shown in
The bottom surface 104 may generally be curved in shape with an apex 106 that protrudes into the inner space 116 of the dispenser container 100. The perimeter surface 105 may define or be comprised of a depression, or reservoir extending around the perimeter of the bottom surface 104. In other embodiments, the bottom surface 104 may comprise a different configuration of raised and depressed areas as required by the nature of the dispenser container 10). The curved nature of the bottom surface 104 increases the strength of the dispenser container 100, but creates wasted product as pump assemblies currently in use with a fixed dip tube 70 as shown in
Referring to
The dip tube 170 comprises a body 176 defining a dip tube channel 175 that extends along a dip tube axis T (
A cross-section of an embodiment of the sleeve 140 is shown in
Since the resilient members 80 of the embodiments of the pump assemblies shown are comprised of a recyclable material, they exhibit a lower spring force than a metal spring. The low spring force makes the pump assembly less able to overcome pumping inefficiencies. Forming the ball valves 190, 192 from a recyclable material, such as PET, that has a specific gravity greater than 1 optimized material dispensing and increases the efficiency of each pump stroke of the pump assembly 10 as well as the dispensing accuracy. This is done by minimizing air and/or material from passing through open or improperly sealed valve chambers.
Still referring to
An alternate embodiment of the pump assembly 200 is shown in
Turning now to
In contrast,
As shown in the embodiments of
One or more of the components of the pump assembly 100, 200 including the sleeve 140, 240 and the dip tube 170, 270 may be manufactured using injection molding methods. The components of the pump assembly 100, 200 including the sleeve 140, 240 and the dip tube 170, 270 are manufactured from the same type of recyclable material, for example polyolefin. The same “type” of recyclable material refers to material that is classified under the same recycling code or otherwise classified such that further processing to separate out components of the pump assembly 100, 200 is not required during the recycling process. The pump assembly 100, 200 as described herein is made of the same type of recyclable material such that it may be recycled while in the assembled state indicated in
Additional embodiments include any one of the embodiments described above and described in any and all exhibits and other materials submitted herewith, where one or more of its components, functionalities or structures is interchanged with, replaced by or augmented by one or more of the components, functionalities or structures of a different embodiment described above.
It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure and without diminishing its intended advantages.
Although several embodiments of the disclosure have been disclosed in the foregoing specification, it is understood by those skilled in the art that many modifications and other embodiments of the disclosure will come to mind to which the disclosure pertains, having the benefit of the teaching presented in the foregoing description and associated drawings. It is thus understood that the disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein above, and that many modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, although specific terms are employed herein, as well as in the claim which follows, they are used only in a generic and descriptive sense, and not for the purposes of limiting the present disclosure, nor the claims which follow.
This application is a non-provisional patent application of, and claims the priority and benefit of, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/969,878, filed on Feb. 4, 2020, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/979,155, filed Feb. 20, 2020. This non-provisional patent application is also related to patent application Ser. No. 16/243,483, filed on Jan. 9, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,751,740, entitled “ECO PUMP.” The entire contents of said applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2920798 | Samuel | Jan 1960 | A |
| 5307962 | Lin | May 1994 | A |
| 5381961 | Evans | Jan 1995 | A |
| 5522548 | Gallien | Jun 1996 | A |
| 6742677 | Petit | Jun 2004 | B2 |
| 7637397 | Conway | Dec 2009 | B2 |
| 8281960 | Gers | Oct 2012 | B1 |
| 20080121664 | Ophardt | May 2008 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210237109 A1 | Aug 2021 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62979155 | Feb 2020 | US | |
| 62969878 | Feb 2020 | US |
