Patent Publication Number: US-10759590-B1

Title: Portable paste dispenser

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The invention relates to the field of portable paste dispensers. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Presently portable sauce dispensers, such as ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard dispensers, are well known. Usually they are in the form of a flexible container in which a nozzle is disposed at the top thereof. In order to dispense the container&#39;s substance, a user turns the dispenser upside-down, and squeezes the flexible container. 
     One of the known problems of this type of dispensers is that some of their content cannot be dispensed, and actually it remains in the container. 
     The same problem applies also to toothbrush dispensers, jelly soap dispensers, and so on. 
     As such, there is a long felt need for a portable paste dispenser which is able to dispense its entire contents. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one aspect, the invention is directed to a portable paste dispenser ( 100 ), comprising: 
     a container ( 10 ), for storing therein paste ( 30 ), the container comprising a cylindrical part ( 11 ) and a conical part ( 13 ); 
     a nozzle ( 18 ) at the end of the conical part ( 13 ); 
     a piston ( 20 ), disposed inside the cylindrical part ( 11 ) of the container; and 
     a shaft ( 26 ) connected to the piston, the shaft having a limited foldability so that when the shaft is pushed towards the piston, it still is able to move the piston along the cylindrical part ( 11 ); 
     wherein the piston comprises foldable bellows walls, thereby upon applying force on the piston, the piston straightens up, resulting in a conical form correspondingly to the conical part ( 13 ), thereby allowing fully emptying the container. 
     The dispenser may further comprise a pedestal ( 12 ) connected to the container from outside, for allowing detachably attaching the shaft ( 26 ) to the pedestal. 
     According to one embodiment of the invention, the shaft ( 26 ) comprises a plurality of mating links ( 27 ), each having a limited tilting ability with reference to its subsequent link. 
     According to one embodiment of the invention, the container ( 10 ) is rigid. 
     According to another embodiment of the invention, the container ( 10 ) is flexible, thereby allowing dispensing the paste also by squeezing the container ( 10 ), and emptying the container by pressing the piston towards the nozzle ( 18 ) musing the shaft ( 26 ). 
     The paste ( 30 ) may be ketchup, mayonnaise, toothpaste, shoe polish, etc. 
     The reference numbers have been used to point out elements in the embodiments described and illustrated herein, in order to facilitate the understanding of the invention. They are meant to be merely illustrative, and not limiting. Also, the foregoing embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated in conjunction with systems and methods thereof, which are meant to be merely illustrative, and not limiting. 
     Other aspects of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments, features, and aspects of the invention are described herein in conjunction with the following drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a portable paste dispenser, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a sectioned-perspective view of a portable paste dispenser, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a sectioned-perspective view of a portable paste dispenser illustrating the first step of using thereof, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a sectioned-perspective view of a portable paste dispenser illustrating the second step of using thereof, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a sectioned-perspective view of a portable paste dispenser illustrating the third step of using thereof, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a sectioned-perspective view of a portable paste dispenser illustrating the fourth and last step of using thereof, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a sectioned view of a piston in a folded state, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view thereof. 
         FIG. 9  is a sectioned view of a piston in an unfolded state, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view thereof. 
         FIG. 11  illustrates some links (sections) of a shaft, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 12  illustrates a bent shaft, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The invention will be understood from the following detailed description of embodiments which are meant to be descriptive and not limiting. For the sake of brevity, some well-known features, methods, systems, procedures, components, circuits, and so on, are not described in detail. 
     In the figures herein, the dispenser  100  and its parts are turned upside-down. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a portable paste dispenser, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
     The portable paste dispenser, which is marked herein by reference numeral  100 , comprises a container  10  having a cylindrical part  11 , and a conical part  13 ; a piston  20  disposed in the inner side of the cylindrical part  11  of the container  10 ; and a foldable shaft  26  connected to the piston  20 . The shaft may be detachably attached to a pedestal  12  which is connected to the container  10  from its outer side. Reference numeral  14  denotes a lid of the container  10 . 
     As will be detailed hereinafter, the piston  20  is foldable such that in its unfolded state it turns to a conic form, correspondingly to the inner side of the conical part  13  of the container  10 . 
       FIG. 2  is a sectioned-perspective view of a portable paste dispenser, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
     The illustrated dispenser contains no content, i.e., is empty. 
       FIG. 3  is a sectioned-perspective view of a portable paste dispenser illustrating the first step of using thereof, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
     The illustrated dispenser contains paste  30 , such as ketchup, mayonnaise, toothpaste, etc. 
     In order to dispense the content of container  10 , a user firstly pulls (see arrows  50 ) the shaft  26  from its pedestal  12 , and straightens it up. 
       FIG. 4  is a sectioned-perspective view of a portable paste dispenser illustrating the second step of using thereof, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
     A user pushes shaft  26  downwards (see arrows  50 ). As a result of pushing shaft  26  downwards, the shaft pushes the piston  20  (to which it connects to) downwards, which results with pouring some of the dispenser&#39;s content out of the container through its nozzle ( 18 ). 
     After finishing the dispensing, the user returns the shaft back to pedestal  12 . 
     Reference numeral  15  denotes a stopper in a form of a ring, which prevents from piston  20  to go out of container  10 . 
       FIG. 5  is a sectioned-perspective view of a portable paste dispenser illustrating the third step of using thereof, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
     In this figure, the piston  20  has reached to a point in which the conical part of the container  10  prevents from piston  20  to continue to move downwards. 
     As illustrated, in this situation not all the content  30  of the dispenser has been dispensed. Some of the content  30  remains in the conical part  13  of the container. 
       FIG. 6  is a sectioned-perspective view of a portable paste dispenser illustrating the fourth and last step of using thereof, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
     As the user continues to push the shaft  26  downwards (see arrows  50 ), the piston  20  expands to a conical form. The conical part of the piston is marked by reference numeral  24 . The dimensions of the conical part  24  of the piston correspond to the dimensions of the inner side of the conical part  13  of the container. As a result the entire content of the container is dispensed. The conical part  24  may be, for example, in a bellows form, plastic, etc. 
     The Structure of the Piston 
       FIG. 7  is a sectioned view of a piston in a folded state, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view thereof. 
       FIG. 9  is a sectioned view of a piston in an unfolded state, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 10  is a perspective view thereof. 
     In these  FIGS. 7 to 10 ), reference numeral  32  denotes a cross-sectioned area. 
       FIGS. 7 and 8  show the bellows form walls  24  of piston  20  in a folded state thereof, according to one embodiment of the invention. The bellows form walls  24  are connected to a washer (ring)  22 , which is used as a base to which the shaft  26  is connected. Numeral  21  denotes a cover. 
     Upon pushing the shaft  26  downwards, the bellows form folded walls  24  straighten up, and as a result the piston gets a conical form. The conical form of the piston, i.e., in the unfolded state, is illustrated in  FIGS. 9 and 10 . 
     The structure of the shaft 
     Shaft  26  has a limited foldability so that when the shaft is pushed towards the piston, it still is able to move the piston. 
     Shafts of limited foldability are used, for example, as camping tent poles. They are made of mating stiff links. 
       FIG. 11  illustrates links (sections)  27  of a shaft, according to one embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 12  illustrates the way links  27  of a shaft mate in order to form an arc. 
     Of course, an elastic pole may also provide limited foldability. The solution illustrated in  FIGS. 11 and 12  is only an example. 
     In the figures and/or description herein, the following reference numerals (Reference Signs List) have been mentioned:
         numeral  100  denotes a portable paste dispenser, according to one embodiment of the invention;   numeral  10  denotes a container;   numeral  11  denotes a cylindrical part of container  10 ;   numeral  12  denotes a pedestal;   numeral  13  denotes a conical part of container  10 ;   numeral  14  denotes a lid of the container  10 ;   numeral  15  denotes a stopper in a form of a ring, which prevents from the piston  20  to go out of the container  10 ;   numeral  18  denotes a nozzle through which the paste is dispensed;   numeral  20  denotes a piston;   numeral  21  denotes a cover;   numeral  22  is a washer (ring);   numeral  24  denotes a foldable walls in a bellows form of piston  20 ;   numeral  26  denotes a shaft having a limited foldability;   numeral  27  denotes a link (section) of shaft  26 ;   numeral  30  denotes paste;   numeral  32  denotes a cross-sectioned area; and   numeral  50  denotes arrows which demonstrate a direction in which a force is applied.       

     The foregoing description and illustrations of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the above description in any form. 
     Any term that has been defined above and used in the claims, should to be interpreted according to this definition. 
     The reference numbers in the claims are not a part of the claims, but rather used for facilitating the reading thereof. These reference numbers should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any form.