CA2056408A1 - Fluid applicator apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A fluid applicator apparatus which may be used for insect control having a container (50), an applicator cap (20), a mechanism (82) for allowing a pre-determined volume of fluid to be pumped from the container (50) into a pad (40) on the applicator cap (20) and a protective overcap (54). A problem exists to control the fluid flow rate to the pad (40) in a vertical position or the opposite inverted position of use of the apparatus. The solution to the problem is providing the pumping mechanism (82) with an attached ball-check valve (94) arrangement which allows fluid transfer from either an upright or an essentially inverted position.

Description

2 0 3 6 4 Q 8 Rcr/lJsgo/03202 FLUID APPLICATOR APPllRt~TUS

This invention relates to the field of self-contained manually opersble appl~cators for flulds and particularly to a non~pressurlzed apparatus that is adapted fo~ one-handed use ~n any orientatlon snd 5 ls de~igned for appllcation of a fluid to a surface.
Back~round of the Invent~on Hsny types of ~elf-contained applicators for llqulds have been ~escribed in the prior art. The extremes may be said to be the pressurized serosol can and the manually operable spplicator combinations. ~anu~lly operable applic~tor combinations have been ba~ically of two type~: th~e that must be inverted so that the liquid contents Elow by ~ravity throu~h some kind of valving mech~nism, and pump and dip tube type di~penser~ that are intended to be operated from an upri~ht or nesrly upri~ht posltlon.
An example of the ~r~vity-feed valved appllcstor ls ~iven by U.S.
Pat. No. 3,147,512 to Gle~son, '-~hoe Polish Dispenser."
- Manually-actuated pump-container combinations that pump a liquld up ftom the bottom of a c~ntainer ~hrough a dip tube and out ~ nozzle which e~ects the liq~id in the form of a spray or mist are well kno~n. Such ~omblnations are mo~t frequently used for th0 s?plication o~ 6ush things as hair sprsys, colo~nes, cleaners, or weed ~illers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,163 to Xarlinet et al., "Liquld Appllcator w~th Scraper and Hethod of Use" di~closes a ~ravlty-flo~ type applicator. The applicator h~s a liqu~d container wlth an attached applicstor, a detachable s~rape overcap, ~nd a separate protectSve cover. Tran6fer o~ liquid bet~een the conta~ner and the appl~c~tor, w~ich has a spon~e on its outer sur~ace, i5 re~ulate~ by a nozzle and sprin~ valve as6embly located within the container. The sprln~ holds the nozzle ~in~t the inside of the neck of the container ~nd Yeats the container. When force is ~pplied to the applicator, the nozzle, which is located rl~ht under the apylicator pad, is pushed back into the cont~lner, opening a channel between the nozzle and the neck opening of the container, sllowin~ the liquid to flow out onto the applicator.

W O 90/15~67 2 ~ 8 PCT/US90/~3202 An applicator for liqu~ds having a container, a foam appllcator, and a ball vslve dispensin~ me~ns is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No.
37192,553, to Schwsrtzman, "Dauber Having Spher~cal Valve Head."
This applicator, whose main ~ntended use is the appllcation of shoe polish, has a hollowed tapered open~n~ to the top of the conta~ner.
A ball, which 1~ seated on a carrier supported by a sprin~ formed by ~elical coila~ is located within and pressed ~nto this openlng. When pressure is ~pplled against this ball, it ~s pushed backwards ~galnst the spring and lnto the container opening, allowing llqu~d to eqcape from the contslner around the ball V81VQ and onto a spon~e appllcstor which covers the contsiner open~ng bsll valve structure. Obviously, ~- no liquid ~ill escape the container unless the applicator device ~s inverted so that the liquid runs out the opened valve by gravity flow.
U.S. Pat. ~o. 4,091,~66 to Laa~e, "Squeeze ~ottle Cont~ining A
Po~dered Product and Operat~ve Whether Upright or Inv~rted" discloses a flexible bottle from which powder can be eJected by squeezing the bottle, the powder flrst entering a U-~haped tube withln the bottle ~nd connected to the di6pens3ng orlfice. The tube has an opening st ~, the bottom of the U, through which po~der enters the tube when the .
bottle is upright, and an aparatus at on~ top of the U, through wh~h po~der enters the tube w~en the bottl~ is inverted.
The problem ~ith existing manually operable applicator combinations having non-pressurized reservoirs is thst, as ~tated before, the operatin~ position6 for the two main types are not only opposite but mutually exclusive. ~ grsvity-feed device ~11 not work in th~ uprl~ht pos~tlon, nor will the traditional dip tube ~nd msnual pump ~ork in the lnverted pos~tion tsince the inverslon usually leaves the end of the dip tube above the surEace of the fluid). This llmits the method and direction of applieation of the fluld onto a surface and require~ creative angling on the part of the user. ~hus, a manually oper~ble fluid applicator capable of applying a fluid in either the upri~ht or inverted position would facil~tate fluld spplication over a variety of orientations of surfaGe6. In addltlon, such a device should have some means Oe metering the flow of the fluid, a ~eature bullt-~n to all pump-opsrated dev~ces but m~ssing from most gravity-feed dev~ces.
When the fluld to be spplled ls intended for insect control, the sdvantages of a device capable of applying a neat strlp of ..
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in~ect-killing or repelling solutlon to surfaces of difEerent orlentations become even greater.
To brie~ly summarl~e the current ~ethods of k~lllng lnqect~:
methods of introducin~ roach and ant, or other insect killers into an area range from the use of fumigators, w~ich disperse the insecticlde throughout the ares znd usually require the removal of food~tufEs from the area, to the application of insecticidal foams to selected areas, a method which ;s especially effective for cracks an~
crevices, but one that, when the foam Ss applied to exposed areas can leave an undesirable residue, to the placlng o~ ~n~ect devices such ~8 balt statlons ln an area.
Pressurized cans for the application o~ lnsectlcldes sre frequently used to contrul insect populatlons, but there are times when lt is desirable to be able to control placement o~ the insectlcide exactly, with no possibllity of drift.
~ espite this variety of spproaehes to the problGm of killing in~ects ~ith various types of insecticides, no method or apparatus exists whic~ allows direct and locall~ed applicatlon of a liquid insectlcide wlthout the necess~ty of d;rect user contact with the insecticide to a selected area, ~hether that area be the bottom of a csbinet or the underside of a shel~. Such a method and apparatus ~ould employ an applicator inte~rally connected to a container and ~ould allo~ the user to apply the contents manually and wlth one hand. Such 8 method and apparatus would allow the user to stripe insect "barriers" across zones o~ expected insect trsvel for maxiumum effectlveness, stripes that wuuld be invi6ible yet relatively lon~
lasting, depending u~on the formulation o~ the insecticide used.
Such a method and apparatus would avoid the need for the placlng cf a separate bait ~tation in an area, but obviously, should not be used on sn area that pet~ or ch~ldren would be expecte~ to eat from or l~c~.
Thus, it is an ob~ect of the pre~ent invention to provide an apparatus for applying a fluid that is self-contained, manually operable, and capable Df applying in any orientatlon, metered amounts of the fluid, so lon~ as enough ~luid remains in the reservolr to ~nter the pumplng mechanism.
It is a further ob~ect of the invention to provlde such an apparatus adapted for u~e as an insecticide applicator and to " ' ' ' " ' ' .

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descr~be a method of uslng such an app~ratus for con~rol of Ln~ect populat~ons or for keeping Lnsects from reac~ing an area.
8rlef DescriPtlon Df the Drawin~
FIGURE l ls a partLally exploded perspective drawln~ of one embodiment of the inventlon.
FISURE 2 is a partlally e~ploded perspectlvs dra~ing of a se~ond embodlment of the Lnventlon.
FIGURE 3 is a p~rtlsl sLde secti~nal view of the esnbodlment of FIGU~E 1 taken along cection l~nes 3-3 showin~ the lnvention in an e~sentlally uprlght position, with fluld transfer mechani~m deplcted sohematically.
FIGURRS 4 and 5 ~re illustrative drawing~ of the invention , showin~ the method of use of th~ applicator in the essentlally Lnverted posLtLon.
FIGURE 6 i~ a sectional detail view of the fluLd transfer mechsnism of the invention oriented ln an upright posltLon.
FIGURE 7 îs ~ sectional detail view of the fluid tran~fer mechanism of the invention oriented Ln an essentLally inverted posltlon.
FIGURE 8 is a top view of the spplicator cap ~urEace of the ~-embodim~nt oE FIGURE 1.
FIGURE ~ is an e~ploded detall side sectlcnal view of the spplic~tor cap, pad, and part of the fluid transfer means, taken along section line 3-3 of ~i~ute 1.
De~cription of the Preferred EmbodLment In ths descrlptLon of the preferred embodiments, lLke reference numberE are ~ed on the dLfEerent fi~res to refer to like parts.
FIGUR~S 1 ~nd 2 ~how partlally exploded v~ews of two posslble embodiments of Eluid applicator apparatus 10, functLonally simllar but d~fferinB in the orientstLon of the top sutface 20 of applicator C8p 30 and of pad of porous material 40. FIGURES 1 and 2 al50 show fluid reservoir 50, protective ovetcap 54, closure cap 60, which sLtq over the neck 52 Oe fluid reservoir 50, snd, emer~lng from clo~ure csp 60, fluid outlet 70 ~which i~ part of fluid transfer mean~ 80 whlch ~8 ltself not visible in FIGURES 1 and 2).
As FIGURE 3 shows, fluid transfer mesns 80 lncludes a pumping mechanism B2, a bsll check valve assembly 84, a dip tube 86 extendLng from the bottom of the comblned pumpin~ mechanism and ball check .
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W O 90/15~67 PCT/US~0/03202 _ 5 _ 2~

valve a3sembly tow~rd the bottom of fluid reservoir 50, the dip tube having fluid lnlet 87 at it5 bott~m end, Eluid outlet means 70 situsted on the top of pumplng mechanism 82 and extending thtough closure C8p 60. In manufact~re of the apparatus, fluld transfer mean~ sn can be crimped into the neck of the flu~d reservoir, m~k~ng reflll lmpos~ible but minimizin~ sccess to the contents and thus addln~ a ch~ld protective fe~ture to the device. Alternatively, the neck 52 of fluid teservoir 50 and closure cap 60 may be conf1gured with matching screw threads, uhich would allow the apparatu~ to be opened ~o allow re~ill. Detalls of the preferred embodiment of ball check valve 84 ~re further shown in ~IGUR~S 6 and 7.
FIGURE 3 ~hows the fluid ~pplicator appsratus in the upright po~i~ion, the posit~on in ~hich the apparatus would be or~ented to ~pply a strip of insecticide to t~e underside of a cabinet or l~ke lS ~urface, the applieator be~n~ filled with fluid 90 (lllustrated only in ~ 6 and 7). ~hen the apparatus is pushed again~t a surface, pressure is applied to the psd of porou~ material 40, ana to applicator cap 30. Thi6 ptessure forces applicator cap 30 and fluid - ra~ervolr 50 to telescope against each other as appllcator cap 30 slide~ back to~ard the main portion oP fluid reservoir S0 along slide ~rea 92 of fluid reservoir 50.
This telescoping and pumping action (described below) is illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5, which show the apparatus in the es~entlally inverted po~ition, as it would be oriented to apply a strip o~ in~ecticide along a Eloor, the inside lower surface o~ a cabinet, or like 6urEace. ~IGURE 4 6hows the apparatus wlth fluid r~aervoir 50 and ~pplic~tor cap 30 telescoped into each other 810n~
sllde ~rea 92 (visible in PIGURE 5) on fluid reservolr S0. This posltlon as described above, forces the fluid from the pumping mechanism 82 and hen~e into p~d of porous material 40. FIGURg 5 show3 fluid re~er~oir 50 and appllcator cap 30 in the extended po~itlon, ln ~hic~ a predetermined volume of fluld is pulled lnto pumping mechanism 82 through fluid inlet 100. obviously, protectlve overcap 54, which protects the appar~tus during tran~port and handling and prevents fluid trRnsfer mesng 80 from bein~ accldentally activated, has been removed before the applicator ls used.
Figures 6 and 7 show details of the pumping and ball check valve mechanism3, with dip tube 86 trunc~ted. While many variatlons of .. , . . . : . . ., . .. ~ .
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W O 90/lSS67 PS~tUS90/03202 20~6~ ~ 6 -pump and dip tube assemblies exlst and may be used ln the present inventlon, t~e preferred pumpin~ mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat.
No. 4,230,242, which is hereby incorporated by reference. ~he comblnation of this basic pump mechanism with the ball chec~ vslve, S wh~ch creates the unlque "any orientation- feature of the mechanism, : i8 disclosee by pendin~ U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 305,Z88. Whsn appllcator cap 30 is telescoped a~ainst the main body of fluld reservoir 50 (88 : shown in Fi~ures 4 and 5), fl~id outlet 70 ~a pressed back into pumpin~ mechanism 82 and eompresses biasing spring 94. ~hen the pressure on spplicator cap 30 is removed, by a sl~ht llft~n~ of the app~ratus away from the sureace, sprin~ 94 is relessed whioh crestes : a decrease in pres6ure within chamber ~6 of pumping mechani~m 82 an~
; thus draws fluid 90 up throu~h dip tube 86 into ~hamber 96. Whenpressure i5 a~in spplied to applicator cap 30, the enchambered fluid ~s then forced out throu~h fluid outlet 70 and thus out lnto pad of porous material 40.
When the apparatus 18 ~n the upri~ht orientation, the Fluid ~ :
transfer mechanism, as shown $n Figure 6, operates as follows: -:
ball 98 sits over and thus blocks fir~t fluld lnlet 100, so that fluid 90 can only be drawn into pumping mechanism 82 throu~h second fluid inlet 87 at the end of dip tube 86.
When the apparatus is held in an essentially inverted, angled ~ orientation, as s~own in FIGURE 7, the fluid transfer Mechanism : operates as follous: ball 98 has, as the apparatus is tilted, rolled 25 slong channel 102 and, by ~o doing, uncovered first Eluid ~nlet 10~.
: In thi~ orientatlon, as the pumpin~ mechanism 82 ~ actuated 88 described above, fluid is dra~n into chamber 96 throu~h flrst fluid inlet 100. Second fluid inlet 87, in this orientation, ~ill most llkely be above t~e level o flu~d 90.
With t~o potential fluid inlets, one (87) located near the bottom of the fluid reservoir and the other (100) located near the top of the fluid reservoir, fiuid may be pumped in any orientation. The only limitatlon would be that if the apparatus were held at 8 BhallOW
an~le and lnadequate fluid remained to cover fluid inlet 87. In ~uch a case, the user would only need to steepen the an~le to be able to pump out the remainin~ fluld.
FIG~RES 8 and 9 show desi~n and assembly details of applicator cap 30 and pad of porous material 40. ~s is ahown in ~i~ure 8, , .

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W O 90/1~567 PCT/US90/~3202 2 ~ 8 applicstor cap 30 has ~ormed wlthin ~ts top surEace 20 recess 106, des~gned to accept pad of porous material 40, central apertures 102, and channels 104 extending outwardly from apertures 102. Fluid outlet 70 interference fits lnto recei~ing area 108, creatin~ 8 S aeal. As is shown in FIGURE 9, when the appsratus ls sssembled, fluid outlet 70 sets just below and in contact with the portion of ~pplicator cap surface 20 that contains apertures 102. Pad of poruus material sits above apertures 102 and channels 104 ln recess 106.
When fluid tran~fer mesns 80 is activated, as described above, fluid 0 16 ejected from fluid outlet 70, snd then passes through spertures 102. Channels 104 then serve to spread the rluid ejected from spert~res 102 along the under6ide of pad of porous mater~al 40.
It should be noted that other types of dispersing means may Se used with the present invention For exsmple, a brush-type applicator might be preferable to the pad of poro~s material were the fluid applicator to be used to apply cleansing fluids to fabrics or irregulsr surfaces.
Other modificationr of the fluid applicator of the present invention will beeome sp?arent to those skilled in the ~rt from an examination of the above patent ~pecification and drawings.
Tnerefore, other v~riations of the present invention may be made w~ich fail witnin the scope of the following claims even though such : variations were not specifically discussed above.

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Claims (10)

What is claimed is:

1. A fluid applicator apparatus comprising:
fluid reservoir designed to hold the fluid to be applied, having a neck opening at one end;
a fluid applicator means; and fluid transfer means for effecting a metered transfer of the fluid from the fluid reservoir to said fluid applicator means, the fluid transfer means being located upon and within the neck opening of the fluid reservoir;
the fluid transfer means further comprising an extensible and retractable spring-biased fluid discharge means having a first and a second fluid inlet and, spaced from both first and second fluid inlets, a fluid outlet, the first fluid inlet being located adjacent to the fluid discharge means and the second fluid inlet being located toward the distal end of a hollow tube member attached to and in fluid communication with the fluid discharge means;
the fluid applicator means further comprising an apertured applicator cap, having on its outer surface a dispersing means, the aperture of the applicator cap being designed to receive the fluid outlet of the fluid discharge means, the applicator cap being moveable relative to the fluid reservoir in such a way that a predetermined force imposed on the applicator cap causes the fluid discharge means to be reacted and then extended, which in turn causes fluid to be transferred from the fluid reservoir to the dispersing means.

2. A fluid applicator apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the fluid discharge means further comprises a pumping mechanism including a spring-loaded piston within a pumping chamber, which, when the piston is retracted by a predetermined force upon the overcap, forces the fluid out the fluid outlet and hence into the dispersing means and, when the force is removed and the piston extended, draws fluid from the fluid reservoir through either of the fluid inlets into the pumping chamber.

3. A fluid applicator apparatus according to Claim 2 wherein the fluid outlet is interference fit into a recess in the interior of the applicator cap.

4. A fluid applicator apparatus according to Claim 2 wherein the fluid transfer means connected to and in fluid communication to the pumping mechanism further includes a ball check valve, the ball check valve having a ball moveable in a channel so that, when the apparatus is in an upright position and fluid is drawn into the pumping mechanism through the first inlet, the second fluid inlet is closed off, and, when the apparatus is in an inverted position, the second fluid inlet is exposed, and fluid is drawn into the pumping mechanism through the second inlet.

5. A fluid applicator apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the top surface of the applicator cap is, relative to the longitudinal axis of said fluid reservoir, oriented at an angle to the horizontal.

6. A fluid applicator apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the dispersing means is an element formed of porous material.

7. A fluid applicator apparatus according to Claim 5 wherein the element formed of porous material is a pad of porous material which sits in said recess in the top surface of the apertured applicator cap, the recess having therein channeled fluid distribution means, extending from the aperture of the applicator cap and designed to distribute fluid discharged through the fluid outlet over a substantial portion of part of the pad of porous material.

8. A fluid applicator apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the fluid transfer means is crimped into the neck opening of the fluid reservoir.

9. A fluid applicator apparatus according to Claim 1 further comprising a protective overcap which fits over the applicator cap and removably connects with a top section of the fluid reservoir.

10. A method of controlling an insect population comprising:
manipulating the fluid applicator apparatus of Claim 1 in such a way that the insecticide solution contained in the apparatus is transferred from the container to the porous material on the applicator cap;
pressing the porous material against a portion of a surface, and moving the applicator in such a direction that a strip of insecticide solution is applied upon the surface, applying further increments of pressure as necessary to effect the transfer of more insecticide solution if necessary to cover the area desired, thus applying an effective amount of the insecticide solution film to produce the desired kill effect.