Container valve having a weighted actuator

A valve for a fluid pressurized dispensing container that is useful for the low pressure dispensing of medium and low viscosity fluids at controlled rates and is actuated by merely inverting the container and in which the flow of the dispensed liquid begins practically instantly as soon as the container is inverted.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention concerns a valve for use with low pressure dispensing 
containers. It is particularly designed for the use with the type of self 
pressurized containers in which the pressure for dispensing is provided 
for by means of an elastic sleeve that surrounds a pleated liner pouch, 
such a type of container is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,829 issued to 
Hyman Katz and U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,737 issued to Clavin L. Kain. However, 
the valve described here may be used in conjunction with containers that 
are pressurized by other means. 
BACKGROUND ART 
The most common types of containers that are used for the pressure 
dispensing of fluids are of three types as follows: 
1. The aerosol containers in which the pressure is provided for by means of 
a fluid that is liquid when under pressure and becomes a gas when the 
pressure is reduced. 
2. Plastic containers, made of flexible material, that are pressurized when 
squeezed. 
3. Containers for which the pressure for dispensing is provided by a pump. 
All of the above types of containers have certain disadvantages. 
The aerosol types of containers are pressurized by gases that are 
environmentally and fire hazardous, also the pressure must be high enough 
that the pressurizing medium will be kept in a liquid state while in the 
container and therefor when the dispensed material comes out of the 
container nozzle it either sprays or is squirted. 
The squeeze type of container has the disadvantage that when it is partly 
empty and is inverted for dispensing and the material to be dispensed is 
somewhat viscous, it is necessary to wait for the material to flow by 
gravity down to the nozzle and for instance if the material is catsup or 
mustard the wait can be irritatingly slow and sometimes if the timing of 
the squeeze is not right a spattering occurs as air becomes trapped in the 
material. 
Pumping containers have many small parts and are expensive to manufacture. 
Many of the valves that are in service at present have small passageways 
between the valve seat and the atmosphere and these passageways retain 
material that can dry out or congeal and perhaps become contaminated with 
dirt or bacteria. 
Most of the valves presently being used require some muscular effort to 
operate them and this may cause some problems for elderly people who are 
weak or for people that have arthritic problems in their hands. 
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
This invention provides a valve for dispensing that is as easy as pouring 
out of a bottle. It dispenses liquids at a predetermined rate no matter 
how it is handled and this feature may be important especially in the 
medical field. No muscular strength is required except enough to invert 
the container. The flow is always instantaneous as soon as the container 
is inverted. The valve is very simple and inexpensive to manufacture. 
There is no place for a residue of material to be retained and exposed to 
the atmosphere. And there is a provision for a cap that when it is in 
place it prevents leakage no matter how rough the container is handled.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Refer to FIG. 1. a cylindrical shell 10 having at its top a central opening 
surrounded by a neck 11 is the outer component of a container. A liner 12 
(also open at the top) is an inner component and it is a cylindrical pouch 
for containing the liquid that is to be dispensed. The liner 12 when 
initially made is of a smaller diameter than is shown in this figure and 
is similar to the inner liner shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,829 that was 
issued to Hyman Katz. Surrounding the liner 12 is an elastic elastomeric 
sleeve 13 (also open at the top) that is usually made of rubber and the 
sleeve 13 serves as a pressure producing member as it normally has a small 
diameter and is expanded and stretched radially when the pouch 12 is 
filled with a liquid and its tendency to resume its initial diameter 
results in pressure on the liquid in the container. 
A discharge valve is mounted above the central opening of the container for 
controlling the discharge of the pressurized liquid. This discharge valve 
includes a valve body 14 that is cylindrical in shape and has a lower 
annular body portion 15 and an internal machined diameter 16 to which is 
tightly fitted Tube 17 that is long enough to reach nearly to the bottom 
of the liner 12. The valve body 14 has a threaded portion 18A and a nozzle 
portion 19. Lower body portion 15 fits over neck 11 so that the valve is 
supported above the container. Holes 18 are provided through the wall of 
tube 17 near the top so as to allow the flow of liquid that may be trapped 
near the top of the liner 12 when the liner 12 is nearly empty. A valve 
seat 20 having the shape of a frustum is located at the outermost end of 
the nozzle portion 19. A valve closure member 21 that has a frustum shape 
that corresponds and fits valve seat 20 is located so that its upper 
surface is flush with the outermost end of the nozzle portion 19 the 
larger ends of the frusta of the valve seat 20 and the valve closure 
member 21 are each at the outermost end of the nozzle portion 19 so that 
the valve closure member 21 opens by axial reciprocal movement outwardly, 
that is away from the valve body 14 and the container. This outward 
movement is downward when the container is inverted as shown in FIG. 2. 
Integral and attached to valve closure member 21 is a short rounded valve 
stem 22 which extends axially inwardly from the valve closure member 21 
and to which is applied an internally pronged ring washer 23. This ring 
washer 23 is a readily obtainable catalog item and is illustrated in FIG. 
3. It can be pushed onto valve stem 22 but because of the angle of the 
internal prongs it digs in and resists coming off. The ring washer 23 fits 
closely but is slidable on the inside diameter of the nozzle 19 and serves 
to maintain the lower end of the valve stem 22 central with the axis of 
the nozzle portion 19. Vanes 24 as illustrated in FIG. 4 are provided to 
maintain the frustum part of valve member 21 central in the valve opening 
20 when the valve member 21 is in an open position as shown in FIG. 2. 
A spring 25 provides force to normally hold the valve member 21 tightly 
against the valve seat 20 as shown in FIG. 1. Below the rounded end of the 
valve stem 22 is a fixedly mounted bushing 27 which supports a tack shaped 
member 26 having a convex head 28 and a shank 29 extending axially 
therefrom and having a rounded tip end 30. There is normally a small 
clearance between the top convex head 28 of the tack shaped member and the 
lower rounded end 30 of the valve stem 24 when the valve is closed. Inside 
the tube 17 is a very loosely fitted axially reciprocable rod 31 the 
purpose of which is to act as a weight to produce a force to actuate the 
valve when the container is inverted. 
Now refer to FIG. 2 that shows an inverted cross-section of the valve 
mechanism as it will be after the container is inverted and the contents 
of the container are being discharged. The purpose of the tack shaped 
member 26 is for it to act as a lever to multiply the force of the weight 
of the rod 31 so as to overcome the strength of the spring 25 and open the 
valve. In this design the pressure of the liquid tends to open the valve. 
The spring 25 is designed to be srong enough to oppose the liquid pressure 
on the valve member 21 and keep the valve closed and leak proof when the 
container is normally in the vertical position and also if it may be 
laying in a horizontal position. When the container is inverted the rod 31 
falls by gravity so that its beveled end 32 contacts the rounded tip 30 of 
the tack shaped member 26. A portion of the head 28 of tack shaped member 
26 contacts the bushing 27 at a fulcrum point and pivots about this 
fulcrum point. Another portion of the head 28 contacts the valve stem 22 
moving the valve stem 22 and the valve closure member 21 axially 
(downwardly as shown in FIG. 2) to the valve open position. Thus the tack 
shaped member (or lever)26 engages the valve closure member 21 through the 
valve stem 22 and also engages the rod 31 when the container is inverted. 
In this way the weight of the rod 31 is multiplied several times by the 
leverage effect of the tack shaped member 26 plus the pressure of the 
contents of the liquid content of the container will produce enough force 
to open the valve. A clear space between the beveled end 32 of the rod 31 
and the rounded end 30 of the tack shaped member 26 allows rod 31 to 
strike the tack shaped member 26 and through it force the valve member 21 
to move in case it sticks. A threaded cap 32 is provided for the 
protection of the nozzle portion 19 and the valve member 21 and inside the 
cap 32 is a projection 33 that contacts the valve member 21 and holds the 
valve closed to prevent leakage and damage when the container is roughly 
handled. The container can be filled through the valve with liquid when it 
is inverted but for speedily filling it may be desirable to mechanically 
hold the valve open and for this purpose a hole 34 is provided in the 
bottom of the shell 10 through which a prong can be inserted to press 
against the end of rod 31 to hold the valve open or the valve member 21 
may be provided with a temporary appendage 35 as shown on FIG. 5 that is 
attached to the valve member 21 that can be grasped to hold the valve open 
and that can be broken off or cut off after the container has been filled. 
The design described here shows the invention as it is adapted for use with 
one particular kind of container. The principles of this invention may be 
applied for use with other kinds of pressurized containers.