Patent ID: 7850045

Claim:
A dispenser for flowable material, comprising: an elongate housing for containing a flowable material, the housing having a first end including an outlet through which the flowable material in the housing may be dispensed; a piston in and slidable along the housing for pressing and thus dispensing the flowable material in the housing; a shaft extending into the housing for sliding the piston, the shaft incorporating a thumb piece outside the housing for engagement by a user's thumb to drive the shaft in a forward direction into the housing for sliding the piston to dispense the flowable material in the housing, wherein the thumb piece is slidable along the shaft; and a unidirectional clutch located between the thumb piece and the shaft, the clutch being operable in the forward direction to fix the thumb piece to the shaft such that the shaft may be driven forward by the thumb piece and being inoperable in an opposite, rearward, direction and releasing the thumb piece from the shaft such that the thumb piece may slide rearward along the shaft for operation at another position.