Dispensing

Device for dispensing embraces a walled, hollow housing having an inside wall surface and having an opening on a first end; a piston that sealingly engages the inside wall surface, beginning at a position away from the first end; and an actuating connection to the piston internal the housing. A material for dispensing can be supplied to the inside of the hollow housing, and dispensed through the opening by actuation and movement of the piston.

FIELD AND PURVIEW OF THE INVENTION

This concerns a device and method for dispensing, which, in general, employs a walled, hollow housing with an opening on an end and a piston that sealingly engages the inside wall surface beginning on an end of the housing away from the end with the opening. The piston is actuated by a connection to the piston internal the housing. A material for dispensing can be supplied to the inside of the hollow housing, and dispensed through the opening by actuation and movement of the piston. Nearly all, if not all, of the contents inside the housing can be dispensed.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

A vexing problem with many dispensed consumer goods such as pump bottles of hand lotion or ketchup is waste of the product. Not infrequently, a certain portion of product remains in the bottle, unable to be dispensed and there to be wasted.

It would be desirable to ameliorate if not overcome this. It would be desirable to provide alternative(s) to the art.

A FULL DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In general, provided is a device for dispensing, which comprises a walled, hollow housing having an inside wall surface and having an opening on a first end; a piston that sealingly engages the inside wall surface, beginning at a position away from the first end; and an actuating connection to the piston internal the housing. A material for dispensing can be supplied to the inside of the hollow housing, and dispensed through the opening by actuation and movement of the piston.

The invention is useful in dispensing.

Significantly, by the invention, the art is advanced in kind. The problem of waste found with many pump bottle systems can be ameliorated if not overcome. An alternative is provided the art. By the practice of the invention, nearly all, if not all, of the contents inside the housing can be dispensed. The dispensing can be done readily and neatly. The invention can be cost efficient, for instance, as cheap or cheaper than a pump dispensing system, and consumers may see its value to make a choice of it over a similar product dispensed by a pump bottle dispensing system.

Numerous further advantages attend the invention.

The invention can be further understood by the detail set out below, which may be read in view of the drawings. Such detailed disclosure, as with the disclosure set forth above, is to be taken in an illustrative and not necessarily limiting sense.

The present dispensing device includes a walled, hollow housing. The housing has an inside wall surface and an opening on a first end. The opening can be a simple hole or a more highly engineered member such as a spout or nozzle, which can vary in configuration depending on the material to be dispensed and other factors. A piston sealingly engages the inside wall surface, beginning at a position away from the first end. The housing can be of any suitable shape for its outside and inside wall surfaces, for example, a cylinder, an ellipse, an oval, a smooth C-shape, a triangle, a square, a rectangle, a pentagonal, even a V-shape, an H-shape, a star-shape, or other polygonal and/or curvilinear shape. Generally, although not necessarily always, the inside wall surface retains its shape along a linear axis. It is important that the piston sealingly engage the inside wall surface along its path of traverse. Thus, for example, the inner wall shape may embrace a quarter, i.e., ninety degrees, of a truncated cylinder, and have the piston hinged along what would have been the central axis of the full cylinder and form a movable flap that can move from a second flat wall along the arc of the quarter cylinder until it reaches a first flat wall, which has the opening through which material can be dispensed with the movement of the flap type piston, all the while during its traverse, as it were, from a 12-o'clock to a 3-o'clock position, also engaging the inner surfaces of the “top” and “bottom” of the quarter cylinder. Two or more inner compartments with corresponding pistons can be provided in one housing to dispense two or more separate materials apart from one another or for mixing together with dispensing. An actuating connection to the piston is provided internal the housing. The actuating connection may embrace a flexible contrivance such as a belt, string or chain, or a rigid contrivance such as a rod, which is connected to the piston, with, say, one such contrivance connected about the center of the piston, or several of such contrivances connected at several points on the piston surface. With its internal actuating connection, the piston is “pulled,” not “pushed,” through its course of travel. Among other benefits of this pulling on the connection inside the piston for actuation are that the dispensing device can “get it all” or, if not, nearly all, of the material to be dispensed; it can do this neatly; and it can do this without need for auxiliary equipment such as the case in known caulk tubes, which require a caulk gun. A pump, too, is avoided. The inefficient and oftimes messy squeezing or crushing of side walls such as with toothpaste tubes can be avoided as well.

Any suitable material may be employed to make the component parts of the device. Material(s) such as wood, metal, ceramic, glass and/or plastic may be employed.

A material for dispensing can be supplied to the inside of the hollow housing, and dispensed through the opening by actuation and movement of the piston. The selection of the material(s) for dispensing can be quite vast. The material may be a solid such as a graphite lubricant; a liquid, which may be highly viscous such as a caulk or a heavy grease, be of an intermediate viscosity such as a light grease, toothpaste, hair gel, shampoo, hand lotion or cream, glue or glue components such as epoxy glue and its hardener, medical ointment, or liquid food, e.g., ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, or be of a lower viscosity such as a motor or cooking oil, a liquid medicine, e.g., cough syrup, or a syrup such as pancake syrup or molasses; a liquid emulsion not previously mentioned (such as the hand lotion or cream and foods) such as, in generally, a solid in liquid emulsion, a liquid in liquid emulsion, or a gas in liquid emulsion; a gas and/or a solid or liquid in gas emulsion.

With more particular reference to the drawings, dispensing device100includes hollow housing10, opening20, piston30, and actuating connection40. Actuation of the connection40can be by plunger50or gear60. Material70can be dispensed.

The hollow housing10has top wall11; side walls12; optional bottom wall13, which may have vacuum-releasing opening14; and piston-engaging inside wall surface15. The side walls12are imperforate along the piston-engaging surface15.

The opening20opens through the top wall11. The opening20may embrace spout21, which may have dispensing opening22and on-off stop engagement button23and cup24to position the same. The opening20may culminate in an aerosol spray head, especially for less viscous material for dispensing.

The piston30sealingly engages the inside wall surface15along its course of travel, beginning somewhere away from and moving toward the top wall11. It has piston body31and sealing edge35, which sealingly engages the inside wall surface15.

The actuating connection40is made to the piston30internal the housing10. The actuating connection40is made also to a distal end of a flexible contrivance, for example, flexible gear rack41, which may be commercially obtained in a form of a flexible plastic tie such as a Zip-Tie, which has flexible belt body42and teeth43. Weak spots44may be provided along the length of the flexible belt body42so that spent portion45of the flexible gear rack41can fold up after the flexible gear rack41has been pulled to actuate the piston30. Actuation of the actuating connection40can be accomplished in various ways.

For example, pulling of the flexible gear rack41can be accomplished through activation of the plunger50(FIG. 1). The plunger50may embrace a spring-return along with a ratchet head, which can reside in hollow top housing11H, and can include push button51, which is pushed down by a thumb or finger, and which is in contact with upper washer52so that when the push button51is pushed down the upper washer52moves down as well. Attached to or part of the upper washer52is upper ratchet head53, which has an orifice through which the flexible gear rack41can pass in one side and out another. As, for example, with the securing end of a Zip-Tie plastic tie, inside the orifice of the upper ratchet head53is attached tongue53T; the free end of the tongue53T is disposed upwardly to slip by the teeth43of the flexible gear rack41when the push button is pushed down but engage the teeth43of the flexible gear rack41when the upper washer52and upper ratchet head53experience pushing up from spring54so as to permit the upper washer52and upper ratchet head53to move the flexible gear rack41and hence the piston30upward. The spring54is in contact with a lower surface of the upper washer52, and is driven downward into compression when the push button51is pushed down. Compression of the spring54results because its lower end is in contact with an upper surface of lower washer55, which resists the downward force of the pushing by having rim56that rests on shoulder11S in the hollow housing11H. Attached to or part of the lower washer55is lower ratchet head53′, which, like the upper ratchet head53, has an orifice through which the flexible gear rack41can pass in one side and out another. As again with the securing end of a Zip-Tie plastic tie, inside the orifice of the lower ratchet head53′ is attached tongue53T′; the free end of the tongue53T′ is disposed upwardly to engage the teeth43of the flexible gear rack41so that the flexible gear rack41does not move downward. Thus, the piston30is prevented from moving downward. When compression of the spring54is released, the spring54extends upward, pushes the upper washer52and upper ratchet head53upward, and, owing to the grip on the flexible gear rack41provided by the tongue53T attached inside the orifice of the upper ratchet head53on a tooth43of the flexible gear rack41, and the slippage of the flexible gear rack41when it moves upward through the lower washer55and lower ratchet head53′ and past the tongue53T′, the flexible gear rack41moves up with the force of the spring54and draws the piston30connected by the actuating connection40upward. The strength of the spring54may vary depending on the size of the opening20, the nature of the material70, and so forth. Cap56may be present.

As another example, pulling of the flexible gear rack41can be accomplished through activation of the gear60, which may be a manually spinnable, clip-in planetary gear (FIGS. 2 and 3). The gear60has teeth63and is rotated to engage the teeth43of the flexible gear rack41. Thus, the piston30is pulled up. Anti-reverse rotation device such as tongue63T may be provided to keep the piston30from falling down. Handle57may be present, say, for holding by the fingers.

The material70for dispensing, say, which embraces a liquid or liquid emulsion, can be supplied inside the hollow housing10, confined by the top wall11, inside wall surface15, and piston30. The material70is dispensed through the opening20by actuation of the piston30with the actuating connection40.

The present invention is thus provided. Various feature(s), part(s), step(s), subcombination(s) and/or combination(s) can be employed with or without reference to other feature(s), part(s), step(s), subcombination(s) and/or combination(s) in the practice of the invention, and numerous adaptations and modifications can be effected within its spirit, the literal claim scope of which is particularly pointed out as follows: