Patent ID: 8127971

Claim:
A dispenser for flowable material, comprising: a cartridge assembly for retaining flowable material, said cartridge assembly comprising a dispensing piston sealingly and slidably retained within a cylinder, the cylinder having a distal cylinder dispensing end to which a material passing attachment can be sealingly mounted and having a proximal cylinder mounting end with a proximally extending cartridge assembly mounting protrusion, and the piston including a piston head for creating a slidable seal within the cylinder and a rack comprising a slat with a series of rack gear teeth along its length and connected to and protruding proximally from the piston out of the cylinder and along to the cartridge assembly mounting protrusion; and a drive structure for engaging and mounting said cartridge assembly and progressively driving the flowable material out of said cartridge assembly and onto a target surface, said drive structure comprising a cartridge assembly engagement structure and having a channel distal end and a channel proximal end, said channel containing a piston drive mechanism which drivably and releasibly engages said piston rack upon fitting said cylinder into said channel, for driving said piston distally to dispense the flowable material out of said cartridge assembly through said cylinder dispensing end.