Apparatus and method for filling and dispensing a highly viscous product from a container

A method and apparatus for filling of a dispensing container with a product to be dispensed, particularly useful for highly viscous products, in which the container has a vented dip tube structure which is inserted into the container before it is filled. Filling is accomplished by inserting a filling nozzle into the container so that it cooperates with the top of the dip tube. Filling of the container therefore occurs through the dip tube. The vent in the dip tube structure allows the air in the container to be vented as the container is filled. Because the container is filled through the dip tube, the product completely fills the dip tube at the time when the pump structure is inserted into the container. The vent structure can be used as a vent for the container during a dispensing operation as well.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to the dispensing of products from a 
container using an attached pump, and more particularly to an apparatus 
and method for allowing a dispensing device to be advantageously used for 
highly viscous products. 
Container-mounted pumps are often used for the dispensing of liquid 
home-care or personal products from a container or bottle. Generally, the 
pump is supplied with a syphon or "dip" tube which has been attached to 
the pump during assembly of the pump, and which is of a relatively narrow 
diameter. In this arrangement, the container or bottle is first filled 
with the product to be dispensed, and then the pump/dip tube combination 
is inserted into the filled container and attached to the bottleneck. This 
filling and assembly procedure leaves a column of air within the dip tube 
and in the pump. The column of air occurs because the dip tube is inserted 
into the liquid from above, and the air has no means for escaping from the 
dip tube during insertion, the pump inlet and/or outlet valves being 
normally sealed. 
The column of air in the dip tube must be removed from the dip tube and 
pump before the product can be dispensed. The pump therefore must be 
"primed" by a user before any product will come out of the pump nozzle. 
Priming is the procedure whereby the actuator is pushed in one or more 
times to clear trapped air from the pump and dip tube and to draw product 
up the dip tube, into the pump, and out the nozzle. 
The process of priming is relatively simple when the product to be 
dispensed is of low viscosity, as with most personal and home-care 
products. However, certain cosmetic products, such as makeup, are highly 
viscous. The high viscosity of these products makes the priming of a pump 
filled in the above-described conventional manner extremely difficult and 
time-consuming. This is because of the high viscosity of the product makes 
it necessary for a substantial force to pull the product up the entire 
length of the dip tube. Even when a dip tube of relatively large diameter 
is used, it may take more than 35 actuations of the actuator to prime the 
pump. For a consumer, this result is very undesirable. To prevent this 
result additional steps can be taken during the packaging operation. One 
method for preventing additional priming is to place a vacuum onto the 
pump after it has been attached to the container, thereby drawing the 
product up the dip tube. This procedure requires the additional assembly 
and disassembly steps of removing and replacing the actuator, as well as 
the need for opening the normally closed inlet and/or outlet valves. These 
additional steps can be expensive and time consuming, and can add to the 
cost of packaging the product. 
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for solving the 
above problems. The present method and apparatus are particularly useful 
in that they do not require disassembly and reassembly of the pump 
structure during the filling process, unlike the procedure mentioned above 
using vacuum priming. The present invention therefore is much more 
economical and efficient than this method, and still provides the same 
advantages in terms of priming.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
FIG. 1 represents the present invention during a filling operation. A 
container or bottle 1 of any conventional type used for holding a product 
to be dispensed has inserted therein a syphon or dip tube structure 2. The 
dip tube structure 2 can be a separately formed, as shown in FIG. 1, or 
could be integrally molded with container 1. Dip tube structure 2 has a 
radially-extending flange 3 which cooperates with the neck 4 of container 
1 to seat dip tube structure 2 in container 1. Dip tube structure 2 also 
has a dip tube 8 and an upper portion 9. Dip tube structure 2 is inserted 
into container 1 before container 1 is filled with product 5. 
After insertion of dip tube structure 2 into container 1, container 1 is 
filled with a product 5 to be dispensed from container 1. Filling is 
accomplished by inserting a filling nozzle 6 into the upper portion 9 of 
dip tube structure 2. The bottom of filling nozzle 6 cooperates with a 
flange 10 on upper portion 9. Product 5 is then pumped or forced out 
filling nozzle 6, down dip tube 8, and into container 1. Upper portion 9 
has a vent path 11. As product 5 flows into container 1, the air in the 
container which it displaces is pushed up to the top of the container 1 
and out vent path 11. Filling of product 5 into container 1 is continued 
until the quantity of product 5 in container 1 reaches a desirable level, 
generally when product 5 reaches the level of the flange 10. 
FIG. 2 represents the apparatus of the present invention after filling has 
been completed, and immediately after insertion of a pump 12 (shown 
schematically in FIG. 2). The internal structure of pump 12 can be of any 
type known to those skilled in the art for dispensing product from a 
container. As can be seen in FIG. 2, because of the manner in which 
container 1 was filled according to the description above, the product has 
filled the interior of the dip tube 8 all the way up to the flange 10. 
Therefore, when pump 12 is inserted into upper portion 9, as shown in FIG. 
2, there is no air in dip tube 8. The lower inlet 13 of pump 12 is 
inserted directly into product 5. Priming the pump requires only drawing 
the product 5 through inlet 13 and into pump 12. This arrangement makes 
priming of pump 12 much easier, since only the air in pump 12 must be 
evacuated, and there is no air in dip tube 8 which must be drawn up and 
out of the nozzle. To aid in the filling and priming of the pump-container 
combination when highly viscous products are used, it is advantageous to 
make the dip tube 8 of a relatively large diameter. 
As shown in FIG. 2, pump 12 has an upper flange 14 which may cooperate with 
the flange 3 and neck 4 to secure the pump 12 to the container 1. Flange 
14 can have a vent path 15. Vent paths 11 and 15 cooperate to allow 
venting of the container during dispensing operations, i.e., during 
operation of pump 12. Thus, as product 5 is drawn out of container 1 by 
the action of pump 12, air will travel through vent paths 11 and 15 to 
fill the resulting space in container 1. 
FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment where the vent path 11 is located on 
flange 3. This embodiment allows the filling nozzle to cooperate with both 
the flange 10 and sidewalls 16 of upper portion 9. FIG. 4 shows this 
embodiment with the pump 12 inserted. As can be seen in FIG. 4, this 
embodiment allows the pump 12 body to cooperate with the flange 10 as well 
as sidewalls 16. There is therefore no need for an engaging flange on pump 
12. Venting of the container during a dispensing operation can occur 
directly through vent path 11. 
FIG. 5 demonstrates that the dip tube 8 of the present invention need not 
be straight-sided as shown in FIGS. 1-4. Dip tube 8 may have a narrowed 
portion 20, or alternatively a series of stepped portions gradually 
increasing in diameter. The size and shape of dip tube can be designed to 
be particularly effective for the degree of viscosity of the product to be 
dispensed. Stepping of the dip tube 8 allows the portion of product left 
in the dip tube after the container is empty to be reduced. 
FIGS. 6-7 show an alternative design of the dip tube in the present 
invention. FIGS. 7 and 8 are cross-sectional views of the dip tube in this 
alternative design. As can be seen from these figures, the dip tube is 
corrugated along its length. The dip tube is constructed of a resilient 
material so that it is normally in the configuration shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 
8 represents the dip tube configuration during a filling process. Thus, 
when filling nozzle 6 is inserted into upper portion 9 and product is 
pumped or forced out of filling nozzle 6, the pressure of the product 
pushes the walls of dip tube 8 outwardly so that the dip tube assumes the 
configuration shown in FIG. 8. The increase in size of the diameter of the 
dip tube 8 allows filling of the container 1 to proceed rapidly. After 
filling is completed, the resiliency of the dip tube 8 causes the 
corrugations to collapse to the configuration of FIG. 7. This 
configuration allows the volume of the dip tube 8 to be reduced. Reducing 
the volume of the dip tube 8 ensures that there is a relatively small 
volume of product left over in the dip tube after all of the product 5 has 
been evacuated from the container 1 during a dispensing operation. 
Although FIG. 6 shows the corrugated dip tube structure used with the 
upper portion structure of FIGS. 1-2, this dip tube structure could be 
used equally well with the upper portion structure of FIGS. 3-4. 
One technique which can be used to assist in the filling of the apparatus 
of the present invention is to apply a vacuum to vent 11, thereby drawing 
out excess air in container 1 and assisting in drawing product 5 from 
filling nozzle 6 into container 1. This use of a vacuum is easily 
accomplished during a filling operation, and does not require disassembly 
of any of the parts of the apparatus, unlike the circumstance where the 
product must be drawn up a dip tube by the application of a vacuum to the 
pump.