Abstract:
A manual pump is provided having a corrugated section defining a spring walled short chamber and enabling the pump to be manufactured with only three integrally formed pieces utilizing blow or vacuum molding processes, and optionally one or two check valve balls.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims the benefit of the Aug. 21, 2003 filing date of U.S. Ser. No. 60/498,679. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention relates to manual dispensing pumps and particularly those adapted to dispense the contents of bottles or other containers.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The manual dispensing pump is a common device in many consumable product packages. A popular application for manual pumps is personal hygiene products, such as soft soap and skin moisturizer. In a typical pump, the push-member-distributor is pressed down with the hand, and the liquid pressed out of the piston cylinder is dispensed into the hand. Releasing the push-member-distributor allows the return spring action to lift the piston to the extended position, thereby refilling the cylinder with fresh liquid. Generally, such pumps have common features, which are dip tube, check valves seats, piston, cylinder, cap seal, return spring, cap, push-member-distributor, cap spindle, support ring, and check valve balls.  
         [0004]     The manufacture and assembly of this many parts necessarily involves cost, and as dispensing pumps are mass produced for use with consumer products, even small cost savings on each device may become substantial. In the consumer product field, it is also very desirable to provide tamper evident features during mass manufacture to minimize costs.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     This invention provides lower costs of manufacture by reducing the number of parts required and by producing the parts in a plastic forming process not previously applied to manual pump production.  
         [0006]     This invention, in the preferred arrangement, combines the dip tube, check valve seal, and support ring in a lower part. The threaded cap, cylinder, piston, return spring and cap spindle are combined in an upper part, however, a corrugated shot reservoir provides the function of the prior art cylinder, piston and return spring. An alternative arrangement combines the dip tube, support ring, return spring, and cap spindle in the lower part, with a threaded cap and cap-cover combined in the upper part. The cost of manufacturing the pump assembly is reduced, since the number of parts has been reduced.  
         [0007]     In most current pumps, all plastic parts other than the dip tube are injection molded. Dip tubes are commonly extruded. Compared to the vacuum corrugation plastic thermo-forming process, injection molding is slow, and therefore more expensive. This invention is compatible with the blow molding and vacuum corrugation process. Blow molding is a well known art and the vacuum corrugation process is generally described in Dickhut, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,496 and Berns, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,430.  
         [0008]     A new tamper evident feature is easily incorporated in this invention. A fin added to the push-member-distributor can be sealed with the tamper evident-structural stiffener at assembly. The end user breaks this seal and rotates the dispensing nozzle a quarter turn to unseal the product.  
         [0009]     Another variation of this invention is to integrate a reed valve into either of the two valve seats to eliminate two additional parts, the check valve balls.  
         [0010]     A second variation eliminates one of the check valve balls by adding an attached flap to the dip tube-annular support ring or the cap-bellows-return spring member. This flap acts as a reed valve, eliminating the need for one of the movable check valve balls. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]      FIG. 1  is a right elevation view of an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a section view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  taken along line A-A.  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of the components of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a section view of an alternate configuration for the lower check valve of the invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is an expanded view of the section view of  FIG. 5 .  
         [0017]      FIG. 7  is a side elevation view of the embodiment of  FIG. 5 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 5 .  
         [0019]      FIG. 9  shows a side elevation of an alternate pump assembly of the invention with tamper-evident structural stiffener.  
         [0020]      FIG. 10  is a section view of the embodiment of  FIG. 9 .  
         [0021]      FIG. 11  is a detailed section view of part of the embodiment of  FIG. 10 , showing the seal formed by the cap-cover and annular support ring.  
         [0022]      FIG. 12  is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0023]     Turning first to  FIG. 4 , a lower segment  12  may be referred to as dip tube-annular support ring member and is generally constituted of thermo-formed plastic. The annular support ring  18  generally positions the dip tube  20  in the center of a container opening. The container  17 , as shown in  FIG. 9 , holds a fluid to be pumped. The dip tube  20  is a straw-like member, or a tube with lumen therein which connects to the base  30  of the annular support ring  18 . An opening in the center of annular support ring  18  connects to an opening in the base  30  and serves as a lower check valve seat  19   b . The base  30  has retaining detents  21  that prevent lower check ball  22   b  from passing upward through the opening in the annular support spring  18 . In use, the dip tube  20  draws fluid from the container and directs the fluid into the upper segment  33 , here defined as the cap-bellows-return spring component. In a preferred structure, the outer circumference of the annular support ring  18  fits on the top of the container opening and the cap  15  with annular thread  16  is screwed onto mating annular threads at the container top to thereby clamp the annular support ring  18  between the cap  15  and the container top.  
         [0024]     The upper segment  23  generally has a cap  15  with internal annular thread  16  and a bellows return spring portion  13  that in its expanded state defines an internal shot reservoir  25 . However, when the bellows return spring  13  is collapsed so that its corrugated external walls are folded upon one another, it correspondingly reduces the height of the shot reservoir  25  and expels the contents of the shot reservoir  25 . At the upper end of shot reservoir  25  is a short tube with annular thread  23  and in a preferred embodiment, tamper evident-structural stiffener  24 . An upper check ball  22   a  is received in the top of this tube and rests on an upper valve seat  19   a . A push member distributor  11  having a channel therein is initially mounted upon the short tube and turned upon annular thread  23 . A tamper evident fin  27  on push member distributor  11  may be heat staked, sonically welded or otherwise joined to tamper evident stiffener  24 .  
         [0025]     A container utilizing this manual pump would be shipped with the pump  10  in the configuration of  FIGS. 1, 2  mounted to the container  17 . When used for the first time, push member distributor  11  is rotated counterclockwise. This rotation breaks the seal between tamper evident stiffener  24  and tamper evident fin  27 . As the push member distributor  11  is rotated one quarter turn, the push member distributor  11  is lifted upwards upon the annular threads  23  of the short tube and away from upper check valve ball  22   a . To complete the setup product, the push member distributor  11  is pressed downward to prime the shot reservoir  25  with liquid from the container  17 . The downward push causes the shot reservoir  25  to collapse and the air to be expelled upward and outward through the channel in the push member distributor  11 . After the air has been expelled, upper check ball valve  22   a  returns to its rest on upper valve seat  19   a , and the spring pressure of corrugated bellows return spring  13  causes the shot reservoir to again expand. The expansion of shot reservoir  25  creates a vacuum that is filled by drawing fluid up dip tube  20  into shot reservoir. Lower check valve ball  22   b  then prevents liquid from returning to the container by sealing lower check valve seat  19   b . Retaining detents  21  prevent the lower check valve ball  22  from flowing upward into the shot reservoir with the liquid. So long as the pump remains primed, every subsequent press of the push member distributor  11  will deliver fluid from the container to the end user.  
         [0026]     When the push member distributor  11  is pressed by the user, the bellows return spring  13  reduces the volume of shot reservoir  25  increasing pressure. The upper check valve ball  22   a  and lower check valve ball  22   b  are pushed away from the shot reservoir  25  by this pressure, forcing the lower check valve ball  22   b  against the lower check valve seat  19   b , while lifting the upper check valve ball  22   a  above the upper check valve seat  19   a . This permits the liquid to pass through only the upper opening past the upper check valve so that liquid passes around the upper check valve ball  22   a  which has been pushed upward away from the upper check valve seat  19   a  but without closing the channel passing through push member distributor  11  through which the liquid is dispensed. When the push member distributor  11  is released by the user, the spring feature of the corrugated bellows return spring  13  lifts the push member distributor  11  and correspondingly increases the volume of shot reservoir  25 . The upper check valve ball  22   a  and lower check valve ball  22   b  are correspondingly drawn toward the shot reservoir  25 . This seals the upper check valve ball  22   a  against the upper check valve seat  19   a  while lifting the lower check valve ball  22   b  from the lower check valve seat  19   b  and thereby allowing fluid from the container to flow upward through the dip tube  20  into the shot reservoir  25 .  
         [0027]     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  in its initial shipping position, the pump  10  has the push member distributor  11  collapsed upon the upper segment  13  which holds upper check valve ball  22   a  against upper check valve seat  19   a  and thereby effectively blocking fluid flow during shipment. Push member distributor  11  presses against the check valve ball  22   a  until the user has rotated the push member distributor  11  a quarter turn so that the rotary action of threads in push member distributor  11  and the annular thread  23  above the shot reservoir moves push member distributor  11  upward and releases the upper check valve ball  22   a  so that it can move above upper check valve seat  19   a  and thereby permit liquid to pass through the upper check valve. It will be noted that particularly through the use of a corrugator to form pump components, the lower segment  12  can be integrally formed, the upper segment  33  comprising a cap bellows and tamper evident stiffener being integrally formed, and the push member distributor  11  being integrally formed so that with check valve balls  22   a ,  22   b  the entire pump assembly consists of only five separate components.  
         [0028]      FIGS. 5 through 8  show an alternative configuration for the lower segment  112  with dip tube  20  and annular support ring  18 . In this structure, the lower check valve ball  22   b  of  FIGS. 1-4  has been eliminated by adding a reed valve hinge  28  and reed valve flap  29 . The reed valve hinge and flap  28 ,  29  may be integrally formed when lower member  112  is constructed, as on a corrugator, and then folded into place. The elimination of lower check valve ball  22   b  from the structure of  FIGS. 1-4  reduces further the number of parts required to create pump  10 . The detents  21  shown in  FIG. 7  are also not required in the absence of lower check valve ball.  
         [0029]      FIGS. 9 through 12  show a third alternative configuration for the pump assembly as mounted in container  17 . Rather than having the shot reservoir  25  formed as a part of the upper pump segment, instead the bellows return spring  13  and shot reservoir  25  are integrated into the lower segment  212 . This segment consists of dip tube  20 , a lower check valve ball  22   b  (shown in  FIG. 10 ), a bellows return spring  13  terminating in a lower wider annular segment  14  that extends to the approximate width of the container opening. As shown in  FIG. 11 , the outermost portion of this fold  14  comprises the annular support ring  18  that is captured by the cap  15  where it joins the top of the opening of the container  17 . The shot reservoir  25  in this instance is preferably concealed within an upper cap cover  15   a  to better support push member distributor  11  due to the inherently narrower bellows return spring segment  13  in this construction.  
         [0030]     The tamper evident-structural stiffener of  FIGS. 1-4  may be added to the cap cover  15   a  if desired, or tamper evident fin  27  may be welded directly to cover  15   a  if a tamper indicator is desired. When this third embodiment of the pump  210  is in use, air is drawn into the container  17  when the shot reservoir  25  extends from compressed to extended condition. The air may easily flow into the cap cover  15   a , but it may be necessary to notch one or both of the annular support ring  18  or top of container opening to provide a flow path into the container  17 .  
         [0031]     In each instance described above, the number of components of the manual pump is considerably reduced. The use of a corrugated bellows section to provide return spring action for the push member distributor and to refill the shot reservoir  25  effectively eliminates the requirement of separate piston, cylinder and return spring present in most manual pumps.  
         [0032]     Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed in detail herein, it will be understood that various substitutions and modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiment described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention as recited in the appended claims.