Patent Publication Number: US-6340103-B1

Title: Dispensing mechanism for pressurized container

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates in general to dispensing valves for pressurized containers and more particularly to a manual actuator for use with a vertically movable valve assembly and dispensing nozzle. 
     Tilt action valves for pressurized containers are used to dispense a variety of products such as shaving cream, cheese products and whipped cream. Valve assemblies for such containers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,813; U.S. Pat. No. 2,965,270; U.S. Pat. No. 2,957,610; U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,224 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,808,806. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,301, issued on Jul. 28, 1998, describes a tilt action valve assembly. A portion of the grommet seal has a thin wall to provide a weakened area which bows to accommodate stem movement and avoid displacement of the lower portion of the grommet seal. The result is a valve stem which not only tilts but can also move downward in the can along the axis of the stem. This improves sealing and also enhances communication between the contents of the can and the flow orifices at the base of the stem. 
     This enhanced communication between the interior of the can, where the material to be dispensed is held, and the flow orifices for the stem is particularly important where viscous products such as caulk and urethane sealant are to be dispensed. 
     It is desirable that a dispensing valve and discharge nozzle be movable in an axial direction rather than tilted in order to increase this communication and facilitate dispensing of the material involved. 
     In addition, an axially movable valve can be more readily sealed to assure against leakage of the contents of the can. 
     It is important, for most practical applications, such as consumer usage in dispensing caulk, that the valve be readily movable by hand. One of the reasons that tilt valves are so frequently used is because it is easy for the user to force the valve over into a tilted position through movement with a single hand. 
     Accordingly, it is a major purpose of this invention to provide a manually actuated vertically movable dispensing valve arrangement in which the user through the application of actuating pressure by the user&#39;s hands can dispense material in the pressurized can. 
     It is a closely related purpose of this invention to provide such hand actuation with an actuator device that can readily be moved through force applied by a single hand of the user. 
     It is a further purpose of this invention to provide an axially actuated single hand dispensing valve arrangement in which the cost of the improved feature is relatively small so that it an be used or incorporated without substantially increasing the cost of the dispensing container. This last feature is important in order for the cost of the improvement to be comparable to the valve of the increased facility in dispensing materials involved. 
     It is a particular purpose of this invention to provide this enhanced actuating feature for an axially movable valve in the context of dispensing materials that are relatively thick and viscous such as caulk and urethane sealant. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION 
     The hand operated dispensing device includes a platform which is mounted onto the cap of a typical pressurized container for dispensing such items as urethane seal or caulk. A front part of the platform has openings into which a lever is pivotally mounted. The lever extends up from the platform and back with an upper portion having an opening to accommodate the nozzle. The lever thus extends around the nozzle into a handle that extends down along the side of the pressurized container. The nozzle has a shoulder against which the upper portion of the lever normally rests. When the nozzle is screwed up into the dispensing state, the handle of the lever rotates up into position where it extends at an angle away from the sidewall of the pressurized can. The user squeezes the handle with one hand thereby causing the upper portion of the pivotally mounted lever to bear down on the shoulder of the nozzle pushing the nozzle axially downward thereby pushing the valve, to which the nozzle is mounted, axially down and thus causing the valve openings to be exposed to the material in the can. Accordingly, the material in the can is dispensed through the valve and nozzle. 
     The platform of this actuating device has a rigid forwarding engaging lip which engages approximately 120° of the valve cap. A small flexible rearward engaging lip also engages the valve cap. This permits ready assembly of the platform and thus the lever on a pressurized container. It also permits removing this actuating device for use on multiple cans. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an illustration of a first embodiment of the dispensing actuator of this invention mounted on a pressurized can. In FIG. 1 the dispensing nozzle is screwed down on the valve stem into the shut state so that the contents cannot be dispensed. 
     FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 with the dispensing nozzle screwed up into the dispensing state with the actuator positioned so that the handle can be pressed to cause the contents of the can to be dispensed. 
     FIG. 3 is a view of the FIG. 2 dispensing state with the actuator handle pressed into the position where the contents are dispensed. 
     FIG. 4 is a side view of the lever component of the actuator of this invention. This is the actuator lever shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG.  5 . is a left side view of the FIG. 4 lever. 
     FIG. 6 is a right view of the FIG. 4 lever. 
     FIG. 7 is a top view the FIG. 4 lever. 
     FIG. 8 is a side view of the platform component of the actuator of this invention. This is the platform to which the lever of FIG. 4 is pivotally mounted. 
     FIG. 9 is a top view of the FIG. 8 platform. FIG. 9 a  is a sectional view along the plane A—A of the necked down opening in the platform that provides the fulcrum on which the lever pivots. 
     FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the FIG. 8 platform. 
     FIG. 11 illustrates the assembly of the FIG. 8 platform into engagement with the valve cap. 
     FIG. 12 is a elevation view of a second embodiment of the dispensing actuator of this invention in which the lever is formed from a flat sheet of metal rather than from a wire. 
     FIG. 13 is a left side view of FIG. 12 showing the flat plate handle portion of the lever. 
     FIG. 14 is a top view of the lever used in the FIG. 12 embodiment. 
     FIG. 15 is a top view of the platform employed in the FIG. 12 embodiment. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIGS. 1 through 10 illustrate a first embodiment which employs the wire-formed lever/handle  20 . This lever  20  is mounted at its front end on a platform  22  so that the lever can rotate or pivot about the pivot zone  24  near its front end. The platform  22  is mounted on the cap  26  of the dispensing valve. 
     More generally, the dispensing container  28  has a body  30  and a dispensing valve  32 . The dispensing valve  32  has a cap  26 , which cap  26  provides a lip onto which the platform  22  of the actuator of this invention is mounted. A dispensing nozzle  34  is screwed onto the screw threads  36  of the value stem. 
     In FIG. 1, the dispensing nozzle  34  is screwed down on the value stem to the point where the upside down cup shaped shoulder  38  bottoms out on the cap  26 . In this FIG. 1 closed state, the nozzle  34  and associated valve stem  36  can not either tilt or be moved down so that the can is in its closed state and the contents, which are under pressure, cannot be dispensed. The shoulder  38 , which operates as a stop when it bottoms out on the cap  26 , is part of the nozzle  34  and thus the shoulder  38  and nozzle  34  move axially as a unit. 
     In order to dispense contents, the nozzle  34  has to be screwed up into the state shown in FIG.  2 . In that state, the cup-shaped shoulder  38 , which is attached to the nozzle  34 , is in a position to move down. When this shoulder  38  is moved down by the lever  12  to the state shown in FIG. 3, the valve ports  39  are exposed to the pressured contents of the can  28  and the contents will be forced up through the valve stem and nozzle to be dispensed through an opening  40  at the upper tip of the nozzle  34 . 
     In use, the procedure followed is for the can  30  to be shipped in the FIG. 1 closed state. When product is to be dispensed, the user unscrews the nozzle  34  into the FIG. 2 state and then the user&#39;s hands are wrapped around the handle  42  and the body  30  of the can and by a squeezing action forces the nozzle  34  and valve down into the dispensing state shown in FIG.  3 . 
     FIGS. 4 through 7 illustrate the wire formed lever  20  used is this embodiment of this invention. The lever  20  is formed from a one-eighth inch diameter steel wire and has a handle portion  42 , a top force transmitting portion  44  and a front portion  46  that terminates in an L-shaped end that provides two pegs  47  which fit into openings  48  in the platform  22 . The two wire sides of the top portion  44  are spaced far enough apart so they do not bind on the nozzle  34 , but are close enough together that they abut against the upper surface of the shoulder  38 . 
     Thus, the actuating lever  20  has a handle portion, an intermediate force transmitting portion and a pivoting end. The pivoting end is mounted on the openings  48  of the platform  22 . The force transmitting portion rests against the upper surface of the shoulder  38 . When the valve is in its closed state (FIG.  1 ), the force transmitting portion  44  essentially rests against this shoulder  38 . 
     When the valve is open and product is to be dispensed (FIG.  2 ), the user grips the can and handle  42 , applies pressure and brings the handle into the state shown in FIG.  3 . This causes the force transmitting portion  44  to bear down on the top of the shoulder  38 , thereby forcing the valve in an axially downward direction so that the openings  39  at the lower end of the valve stem are in full communication with the contents of the can and the contents of the can are dispensed. 
     The platform  22  which is shown in FIGS. 8 through 11 has the two opening  48  into which the front ends  46  of the lever  20  are mounted. The platform  22  has a plate portion  50  that has a central opening  52  large enough to permit the walls of the cup-shaped shoulder  38  to pass through this opening  52 . The platform  22  has engaging lips  54 ,  56  which extend below the platform and which are designed to engage the cap  26  of the dispensing valve is best be seen in FIG. 11. A front rigid engaging lip  54  extends a substantial portion of the way around the periphery of the opening  52 . It extends preferably 120°, but less than 180°, around the periphery. This engaging lip  54  prevents the platform  52  from lifting out of position when pressure is applied to the handle  42 . Such pressure causes pivoting of lever  20  in the openings  48  that tend to pull the platform up. 
     A small flexible plastic engaging lip  56  at the rear of the platform also engages the cap  26  to hold the platform in place. In operation the forces tending to lift the platform  22  will be on the forward section of the platform and not on the rear section of the platform. Thus the lip  56  need only be large enough to position the platform. 
     As shown in FIG. 9 and 9 a , the openings  48  are formed in a necked down section of the plate  50 . This neck down section  58  is useful to facilitate inserting the forward end  46  of the lever  20  into the openings  48 . It also prevents binding during pivoting of the forward end of the lever in the openings  48 . By providing a relatively thin fulcrum, this binding is avoided. 
     As shown in FIG. 11, the platform  22  is assembled by first inserting the larger rigid lip  54  into engagement with the cap  26  and then snapping the flexible plastic smaller lip  56  into place. A small top  59  on the platform facilitates manual assembly and also disassembly of the platform  22  and lever  20 . Thus the dispensing device of this invention can be reused on multiple pressurized containers. 
     FIGS. 12 through 14 illustrate a second embodiment of this invention in which a flat plate lever  60  is employed. The handle  62  thus has no opening. However, at the top of the lever  60 , an opening  64  is formed therein to accommodate the nozzle  34 . A small boss  68  around the opening  64  serves to reinforce the upper portion  63  of the lever  60 . The platform  70  in the second embodiment is similar to the platform  22  of the first embodiment. In particular the platform  70  has the same type of lips  54  and  56  used to engage the platform with the valve cap  26 . One difference is that the front opening  72  is a single opening that is sized to pivotally engage a cut-down forward segment  74  of the lever  60 . 
     As it will be apparent to those skilled in this art, variations may be made on the embodiments disclosed and yet remain within the scope of the invention herein. 
     For example, the cup shaped shoulder  38  on the nozzle  34  could be a shoulder without the sidewalls since the nozzle and valve will normally be limited to their excursion by the handle abutting against the sidewall of the container.