Adhesive dispenser

A dispenser suitable for dispensing flowable liquid adhesive is provided which comprises a squeezable reservoir body closed at one end and having an opening at the other end, an elongated, cylindrical, narrow bore nozzle attached to the opening to form an outlet, the wall of the reservoir body being generally cylindrical at least at that portion which is adjacent the nozzle, the nozzle and the cylindrical portion having a common longitudinal axis, a groove inclined at an angle to the common axis in the cylindrical portion of the reservoir body adjacent the nozzle or in the nozzle, a control cap which is mountable on the reservoir body and over the nozzle so that the nozzle projects through a corresponding close-fitting hole on the control cap which is sized to receive the nozzle, the control cap having an external surface suitable for spreading liquid adhesive adjacent the hole through which the nozzle projects and a locating stud disposed on the lower portion of the control cap sized to fit into the groove.

This invention relates to dispensers, suitable for dispensing flowable 
liquid adhesives. 
When using adhesives, it is commonly necessary to apply the adhesive to the 
substrate in two quite different ways. Sometimes fairly large areas must 
be covered with adhesives, requiring some sort of spreading tool, and 
sometimes spots or drops or fine lines of adhesive must be applied, 
requiring a pointed application nozzle. This invention provides a 
dispenser capable of providing both of these facilities. 
According to the present invention there is provided a dispenser, suitable 
for dispensing flowable liquid adhesives comprising: 
A SQUEEZABLE RESERVOIR BODY HAVING AN OUTLET THROUGH AN ELONGATE, 
CYLINDRICAL, NARROW BORE NOZZLE, THE WALL OF THE RESERVOIR BODY BEING 
GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL AT LEAST ADJACENT THE NOZZLE, THE NOZZLE AND THE 
CYLINDRICAL T OF THE RESERVOIR BODY ADJACENT THE NOZZLE HAVING A COMMON 
LONGITUDINAL AXIS, 
A GROOVE, INCLINED AT AN ANGLE TO SAID COMMON AXIS, BEING PROVIDED IN THE 
CYLINDRICAL T OF THE RESERVOIR BODY ADJACENT THE NT NOZZLE OR IN THE 
NOZZLE, 
A CONTROL CAP BEING MOUNTED ON THE RESERVOIR BODY WITH THE NOZZLE 
PROJECTING THROUGH A CORRESPONDING CLOSE FITTING HOLE IN THE CONTROL CAP, 
WITH A LOCATING STUD ON THE CONTROL CAP PROJECTING INTO THE GROOVE, THE 
CONTROL CAP BEING MANUALLY ROTATABLE ABOUT SAID COMMON AXIS WITHIN THE 
LIMITS SET BY THE STUD TRAVELLING IN THE GROOVE AS THE CONTROL CAP 
ROTATES, THE CONTROL CAP HAVING AN EXTERNAL SURFACE, SUITABLE FOR 
SPREADING THE CONTENTS OF THE RESERVOIR BODY, ADJACENT THE HOLE THROUGH 
WHICH THE NOZZLE PROJECTS, 
THE DISTANCE, ALLEL TO SAID COMMON AXIS, BETWEEN THE STUD AND THE 
SPREADING SURFACE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE DISTANCE, ALLEL TO 
SAID COMMON AXIS, BETWEEN THE NOZZLE OUTLET AND THE END OF SAID GROOVE 
NEAREST THE NOZZLE OUTLET. 
Usually, the dispenser will be equipped with a removable and replaceable 
plug or cap to seal the nozzle, and this plug or cap may be held captive 
to the control cap by a flexible tie. 
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, as the control cap is rotated 
so that the locating stud approaches the end of the groove nearest the 
nozzle outlet, the external spreading surface of the control cap forces 
the cap or plug from the nozzle to unseal the nozzle.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4 of the Drawings, a dispenser in accordance with the 
present invention comprises a bottle shaped reservoir body 1, constructed 
of a squeezable material such as polyethylene, having an outlet through an 
elongate cylindrical narrow bore nozzle 2. The nozzle 2 is formed as part 
of a nozzle unit 3 which is internally screw-threaded and mounted on the 
external screw threads of a neck portion 4 of the reservoir body 1, the 
wall of the reservoir body is generally cylindrical (best seen in FIG. 4) 
adjacent the nozzle end and is splayed at its base to provide 
free-standing stability. The nozzle and the cylindrical upper end of the 
reservoir body have a common longitudinal axis (which, in the embodiment 
shown is also the longitudinal axis of the entire dispenser). 
A groove 5 (FIGS. 3 and 4) is recessed into the upper cylindrical part of 
the reservoir body. The groove is inclined at an angle to the common 
longitudinal axis of the nozzle and the reservoir body, and terminates at 
upper and lower stop surfaces 6 and 7. 
A control cap 8 is mounted on the reservoir body with the nozzle 2 
projecting (FIG. 1) through a closely fitting hole 9 in the control cap. A 
locating stud 10 projects into the groove 5 and the control cap is 
manually rotatable, about the common longitudinal axis of the nozzle and 
the reservoir body, from the position shown in FIG. 1 to the position 
shown in FIG. 2, within the limits set by the movement of the stud 10 in 
the groove 5. In practice this means that as the control cap is rotated 
from the position of FIG. 1, with the stud seated against the lower stop 
surface 7 of the groove 5, a camming action is exerted on the stud by the 
groove and the control cap is forced upwards along the longitudinal axis 
of the nozzle, until the stud finally seats against stop surface 6 of the 
groove (FIG. 2). If desired, a notch (not shown) could be provided in the 
reservoir body wall adjacent stop surface 6 to receive the stud 10 and 
render the control cap stable in the position of FIG. 2. 
The control cap 8 has a surface 11 adjacent the hole 9 which may be used to 
spread the contents of the reservoir body in the following manner: With 
the control cap in the position of FIG. 2, the dispenser is inverted or 
tilted and some of the contents of the reservoir body are squeezed through 
the bore of the nozzle 2. 
These contents emerge from the nozzle outlet and flow onto surface 11 which 
can then be rubbed over the work area. Intermittent squeezing of the 
reservoir body as the surface 11 is rubbed over the work area delivers 
more of the contents to the surface and the spreading operation continues. 
FIG. 2 thus shows the dispenser in its spreading mode. 
In contrast, when the control cap is in the position of FIG. 1, the surface 
11 is retracted from the nozzle outlet which can then be used to deliver 
small quantities of the contents of the reservoir body of the workpiece, 
e.g. as fine lines of threads or as drops. FIG. 1 thus shows the dispenser 
in the point application mode. 
It will be apparent that in order for the nozzle outlet and surface 11 to 
co-operate in the spreading mode (FIG. 2) the distance, parallel to the 
common axis of the nozzle and reservoir body, between the stud 10 and the 
surface 11 (distance a-b) must be substantially equal to the corresponding 
distance (c-d) between the nozzle outlet and the end of the groove nearest 
the nozzle outlet, (see FIG. 1). 
Referring now to FIG. 5, a sealing cap 12 is mounted on the nozzle outlet 
and is held captive to the control cap by means of a flexible tie 13. The 
tie carries a stud 14 which can be forced into the cap 12 when it is 
removed from the nozzle outlet, thereby holding the cap out of the way 
while the dispenser is used. If desired two parallel ribs (one of which is 
shown as 15 in FIG. 5) may be provided on the control cap, spaced at a 
distance equal to the width of the flexible tie 13 so that the tie can be 
bent back and forced between the ribs. The ribs then grip the tie and hold 
it securely away from the nozzle outlet. It will be seen by comparing 
FIGS. 2 and 5 that as the control cap is rotated to its spreading mode, 
the spreading surface 11 will force the sealing cap 12 off the nozzle 
outlet, thereby unsealing the nozzle. This facility can be of great value 
if adhesive from a previous usage of the dispenser has glued the cap in 
position on the nozzle. Considerable force would, in such a case, have to 
be exerted to pull the sealing cap off manually, and small children might 
find this difficult and messy. However, by turning the control cap, the 
required force is automatically and easily applied. To assist in the 
turning of the control cap, its external surface might be ribbed or 
otherwise contoured to provide a good finger grip. 
In the embodiment shown in the Drawings, the dispenser is given a smooth 
contour by the provision of narrow shoulder 16 (FIG. 4) which steps the 
reservoir body and provides a seat for the base of the control cap 8. This 
shoulder is shown as slanting at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the 
reservoir body, but this is not important; it could equally well be 
parallel to the base, with the control cap being correspondingly 
symmetrical.