Upright dispenser

The inventive provides an upright dispenser which has an attachment end for attaching the dispenser to a container for holding material to be dispensed, the attachment end having a passageway which communicates with the container, a dispensing tub having upper and lower through holes which connect to the attachment end passageway, the upper through holes providing a vent and the lower through hole providing a path for the material to be dispensed. The attachment end passageway has a sealing flange positioned below the upper and lower through holes in the dispensing tube. The attachment end has a top end with an elastic button, the elastic button being connected to a valve stem, the valve stem extending in the passageway and having a valve end which sealing engages with the sealing flange when the elastic button is in an undepressed position.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an upright dispenser with a top elastic button, which can be attached to a container, bottle, pouch, bag or any other type of dispenser.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prior art dispensers dispense material unevenly because they lack a vent feature. This causes the material to flow unevenly (glugging). What is needed is an upright dispenser which has a vent feature which eliminates glugging.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventive upright dispenser has an attachment end for attaching the dispenser to a container for holding material to be dispensed, the attachment end having a passageway which communicates with the container. The upright dispenser also has a dispensing tube, the dispensing tube having upper and lower through holes which connect to the attachment end passageway, the upper through holes providing a vent and the lower through hole providing a path for the material to be dispensed. The attachment end passageway has a sealing flange positioned below the upper and lower through holes in the dispensing tube. The attachment end has a top end with an elastic button, the elastic button being connected to a valve stem, the valve stem extending in the passageway and having a valve end which sealing engages with the sealing flange when the elastic button is in an undepressed position. When the elastic button is depressed, the valve end moves downwardly in the passageway to allow material to flow out of the container and through the lower through hole of the dispensing tube, when the container and upright dispenser are tipped sufficiently to allow gravity to cause the material to flow between the valve end and the sealing flange and out through the lower through hole of the dispensing tube, the upper through hole providing venting to eliminate glugging, and when the elastic button is released, it elastically returns to an undepressed position, pulling the valve end into sealing engagement with the sealing flange.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While this invention may be embodied in many forms, there are described in detail herein specific embodiments of the invention. This description is an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiments illustrated.

Referring now toFIG. 1, a first embodiment of the inventive upright dispenser is shown generally at10. The attachment end is shown at12, which threadably engages with a container14. The container has an opening16which is in fluid communication with an opening in the attachment end, shown at18. A sealing flange is shown at20which sealingly engages with valve end22. The valve has a valve stem24which is connected to an elastic button26. A dispensing tube is shown generally at28, and is divided into an upper section30and a lower section32. Upper section30provides venting, providing a path for air to communicate with the container when the valve end22is opened, while the lower section32provides a path for the fluid to be dispensed to flow when the container and dispenser are tipped sufficiently to allow gravity to cause the fluid to pour.

Referring now toFIG. 2, a cross section view ofFIG. 1is provided.

Referring now toFIG. 3A and 3B, a top view of the upright dispenser ofFIG. 1is provided.

Referring now toFIG. 4A and 4B, the upright dispenser can be provided with a tamper cap, shown at34. Tamper cap34can be constructed and arranged to snap fit to the upright dispenser, to cover the elastic button26. The upright dispenser can also be provided with a dispense foil seal which covers the end of the dispensing tube28, shown at36. Finally, the upright dispenser can be provided with a bottle seal, shown at38.

Referring now toFIG. 5A and 5B, the upright dispenser is shown with the elastic button26half depressed and full depressed. When the elastic button is fully depressed (i.e. open position) the air return path provided by the upper section30of tube28is shown by the red arrow. The fluid path through lower section32is shown with a blue arrow.

Referring now toFIG. 6A and 6B, another embodiment of the upright dispenser is shown which includes a lever arm40, which is pivotally connected to the extension tube28at42. The lever arm is shown in the normally closed position, with the elastic button26in the undepressed position.

Referring now toFIG. 7A and 7B, the lever arm42is shown half open (the elastic button is half depressed). The elastic button is depressed by the lever arm protrusion44. The elastic button is shown fully depressed inFIG. 7, right side figure.

Referring now toFIG. 8A and 8B, another embodiment of the upright dispenser is shown, which includes an flexible extension tube45for reaching hard to reach locations. The extension tube is shown in the open (right figure) and closed position (left figure). The extension tube includes a tube plug46, which the end of the extension tube can plug into to store the extension tube when not in use (left figure).

Referring now toFIG. 9, the extension tube frictionally engages with dispensing tube28. In this figure, the elastic button is half depressed, partially opening the dispenser.

Referring now toFIG. 10, the elastic button is shown fully depressed (open position).

Referring now toFIG. 11A and 11B, another embodiment is shown in which both a lever arm40and an extension tube45are provided.

Referring now toFIG. 12, the dispenser is shown in the normally closed position, with both the lever arm in the closed position (elastic button undepressed) and the extension tube bent and connected to the tube plug.

Referring now toFIG. 13, the dispenser ofFIG. 12is shown with the extension tube in the open position and the lever arm half depressing elastic button26.

Referring now toFIG. 14, the elastic button is shown in the fully depressed, open position.

All of the parts of the invention are made out of various types of plastic. For example,FIG. 15shows that the dispenser body, lever arm, valve, tamper cap and tube plug can be made out of polypropylene (PP), or high density polyethylene (HDPE).FIG. 16shows that the elastic button(s) can be made from thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), while the extension tube can be made of polypropylene (PP), high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), rubber, silicone and urethane.