Patent ID: 7726523
Filing Date: 2010-06-01
Classification: G01F

Abstract:
1. A dispensing device for dispensing a pre-measured amount of material from a container having a closed bottom, a mouth opening and a side wall, said dispensing device comprising: (a) a discharge tube having a first end and a second end with openings being provided at the ends to permit flow of the material through the tube, the discharge tube defining a longitudinal tube axis; (b) a connecting collar for connecting the first end of the discharge tube to the mouth opening of the container; (c) a measuring reservoir attached to the second end of the discharge tube, the reservoir having an inlet opening and a discharge opening and comprising an elongate body defining a longitudinal reservoir axis; (d) a pivot mechanism pivotably connecting the reservoir to the discharge tube, said pivot mechanism defining a transverse pivot axis about which the reservoir is pivotable, said pivot axis extending through the second end of the discharge tube, the reservoir being pivotable about the pivot axis from a first position in which the tube axis is substantially parallel to the reservoir axis to a second position in which the tube axis and the reservoir axis are substantially perpendicular to one another; wherein, with the reservoir in the first position, the reservoir and the discharge tube are insertable through the mouth opening of the container and, with the reservoir in the second position, the discharge opening of the reservoir communicates with the opening in the second end of the discharge tube; and wherein the discharge tube has a length relative to the depth of the container such that, when the device is inserted, the measuring reservoir is pressed against the bottom of the container and is thereby pivoted from the first position to the second position and held in the second position, whereby the measuring reservoir is prevented from pivoting out of the second position into the first position when the container is inverted and a portion of the reservoir and a portion of the discharge tube are in overlapping relation and a side wall in the overlapping portion of the reservoir has a concave portion into which the discharge tube is nested.