CN111094147B

CN111094147B - Self-sealing airless metering distributor

Info

Publication number: CN111094147B
Application number: CN201880036159.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 罗杰·J·拉弗拉米; 吉姆·华纳
Original assignee: 1 Taichi Holding Co ltd
Current assignee: 1 Taichi Holding Co ltd
Priority date: 2017-03-30
Filing date: 2018-03-30
Publication date: 2022-08-12
Anticipated expiration: 2038-03-30
Also published as: CN111094147A; EP3601096A4; EP3601096A1; EP3601096B1

Abstract

A dispensing device for attachment to the exterior of a flexible container comprises a top portion of the device, and a bottom portion including a pump chamber, a neck portion, and a dispensing head having an outlet at the end of a dispensing passage. The dispensing passage and the outlet are located in a portion of the dispensing head extending below the plane of the neck. The top is sealed to the bottom, forming a passageway between the pump chamber and the dispensing side of the dispenser. The region of the dispensing element between the pump chamber and the distal end of the dispensing head, referred to herein as the neck, is not sealed to the container, causing the neck of the dispensing device to flex, squeezing closed the passageway connecting the pump chamber and the dispensing head.

Description

Self-sealing airless metering distributor

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to dispensing devices and packaging. More particularly, the present invention relates to a metering device capable of controllably dispensing a fluid medium from a fluid medium source.

Background

Various types of fluid materials and media are used commercially and industrially for different purposes. For example, various products in the personal care, home care, aviation care, medical, transportation care, and food industries require the dispensing of certain types of fluid materials from these material sources. When such a material is sold commercially, it must be contained in some sort of container and stored. When such a product is used, it must be dispensed from its storage container to a location for use.

In the prior art, there are many different types of dispensers for delivering fluid materials. For example, flexible container bodies having nozzle tips are commonly provided for such purposes, including a separate one-way valve that must be inserted into the nozzle to prevent dripping or contamination. The application of this use is for dispensing ketchup, in which the container body is squeezed by the user to cause the liquid material to flow from the nozzle tip and accurately to the desired location. The amount of fluid delivered depends on the degree to which the user squeezes the container body. However, this can produce unstable results in which more or less fluid material is delivered with each successive squeeze of the container body. Furthermore, the container must be kept upright to avoid leakage, since no valve is used.

In another example of a prior art dispensing apparatus, a flexible container contains a quantity of fluid material to be delivered. A single one-way check valve is provided as the outlet of the flexible container. When the flexible body is squeezed, the material is squeezed out through the valve under pressure.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention retains the advantages of prior art dispensing devices. It also provides new advantages not found in currently available devices and overcomes many of the disadvantages of such currently available devices.

The present invention relates generally to a novel and unique dispenser for delivering measured amounts of fluid material with an optional applicator for evenly distributing the dispensed fluid material on each dispensing operation. The invention also includes self-sealing features to prevent dripping and contamination.

The invention comprises a dispensing device, preferably a flexible bag, attached to the exterior of the container. The dispensing device has a top and a bottom. The top portion includes a pump chamber dome, a pump chamber ridge, and a pump chamber flange, a portion of which extends from the center of the pump chamber dome to a bulge or "neck". The base comprises a pump chamber, a pump chamber flange, a neck and a dispensing head having an outlet at the end of the dispensing passage. The dispensing passage and the outlet are located in a portion of the dispensing head extending below the plane of the neck.

The top portion is sealed to the bottom portion along the entire edge of the top portion, forming a first passage between the pump chamber and the dispensing side of the dispenser, wherein the first passage is in liquid communication with a second passage (dispensing passage), integrally formed in the bottom side through the first port. The second passage leads to an outlet at one end of the dispensing device. The pump chamber has a second port through its bottom surface to allow fluid from the container to enter the pump chamber under the action of the pump dome.

The bottom side of the flange bottom of the pump chamber of the dispensing device is sealed to the container along the edge of an opening or aperture in the container, wherein the opening or aperture preferably has substantially the same shape and diameter as the inner diameter of the flange of the pump chamber or the outer diameter of the pump chamber.

The container is preferably a flexible bag made of a film material. According to a preferred embodiment, the container is a flexible bag made of two sheets of film material, which are sealed to each other along their respective edges.

In addition to being sealed to the container at its opening, the dispensing device is also sealed to the outer surface of the container, at the bottom surface of the dispensing side distal end of the dispenser ("dispensing head").

The seal of the dispensing element to the container is discontinuous. That is, the dispensing element is sealed to the container in two discrete regions, namely the pump chamber flange and the bottom of the distal end of the dispensing head. The region of the dispensing element between the pump chamber and the distal end of the dispensing head, referred to herein as the neck, is not sealed to the container.

When the dispensing element is sealed to the top film of the container, the dispensing head portion at the bottom of the dispensing element extends below the level of the pump chamber flange. This geometry, the coupling of the discontinuous seal of the membrane of the top of the container to the dispensing element, is such that when the container is filled with fluid, the neck of the dispensing device bends, causing the rigid bottom to bend out of its planar orientation/configuration, pinching off the passage connecting the pump chamber to the first port, which is formed in the neck when the top is sealed to the bottom, effectively forming a valve without additional valve structure, i.e. a "pinch valve".

Pressing the pump chamber dome will force liquid from the pump chamber into the neck passage, through the pinch valve, and finally out of the dispense head through the outlet, but when the pump chamber is not activated, the geometry of the device will force the passage to close at the pinch valve, preventing unwanted fluid leakage from the outlet. When the fluid is located at the distal end of the neck passage and in the passage through the dispensing head, the fluid is held in place by the vacuum due to the narrow diameter of the passage.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the top of a dispensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the bottom of a dispensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a dispensing apparatus attached to a top surface of a container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a dispensing apparatus attached to a top surface of a container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a side view of a dispensing apparatus attached to a container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a perspective cut-away view of a dispensing device attached to a container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a photograph of a dispensing apparatus attached to a container, which has been divided by a longitudinal centerline, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a top view photograph of a dispensing apparatus attached to a container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a side view of a dispensing apparatus attached to a container according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Referring to the drawings, the dispensing apparatus 1 of the present invention comprises a top portion 10 and a bottom portion 20. The dispensing device is configured to be attached to a surface of the liquid or gel container 40. The container 40 is preferably flexible on at least one side, and more preferably is constructed of an upper film 42 and a lower film 44, sealed to each other along their respective edges. When the container 40 is filled with its liquid or gel contents, it preferably contains little to no air, and preferably collapses as its contents are emptied. The container preferably has an opening in its flexible surface sized to receive a portion of the base.

The top 10 of the dispensing apparatus 1 comprises a flexible pump chamber dome 12 surrounded by a pump chamber ridge 14, the pump chamber ridge 14 being surrounded by a pump chamber flange 16. A portion of the pump chamber flange 16 extends centrally from the pump chamber dome in the top flange projection 18. The top is preferably made of a flexible elastomeric shape memory material to allow the pump chamber dome to be squeezed by a user and then return to its original shape upon release. The top is preferably moulded as a single unit.

The bottom 20 of the dispensing device 1 comprises a pump chamber 21 having a receiving port 22 for receiving the liquid/gel from the container 40. The shape of the pump chamber is preferably annular and generally preferably corresponds to the shape and size of the pump chamber dome 12. The pump chamber 21 is preferably bounded along its edges by a pump chamber lower ridge 23, which in turn is surrounded by a bottom flange 24. The port 22 may be located on an inclined area 25 of the pump chamber 21. A portion of the bottom flange may extend from the center of the pump chamber 21 in a bottom flange projection or neck 26. The shape and size of the bottom flange projection 26 may preferably correspond to the shape and size of the top flange projection 18. However, the bottom flange projection 26 extends past the end of the top flange projection 18 and terminates at a dispensing head 27. The dispensing head 27 of the base 20 comprises a dispensing port 28 on the top surface of said dispensing head 27 which communicates with a dispensing channel 29 in said dispensing head which is open at the other end of the outlet 30. The dispensing head may also have side flanges or "wings" 31, preferably coplanar with the top surface of the bottom when the bottom is not deformed by attachment to a liquid filled container. The bottom portion is preferably constructed of a more rigid material than the top portion and is preferably molded as a single unit.

The dispensing apparatus 1 is constructed by attaching the bottom surface of the pump chamber flange 16 to the top surface of the bottom flange 24, including attaching the bottom surface of the top flange projection 18 to the top surface of the bottom flange projection 26, leaving a transfer passage 32 between the top and bottom, along its central axis, between the pump chamber/pump chamber dome and the dispensing port 28. The projecting distal end of the top flange may terminate only beyond the location of the bottom of the dispensing port 28.

The assembled dispensing device 1 is attached to the container 40 by inserting the pump chamber section 21 of the base 20 into a correspondingly sized and shaped opening in a flexible surface of said container. The container is then sealed to the bottom surface of the bottom flange, optionally including the raised proximal portion of the bottom flange and the bottom surface of the dispensing head. However, according to a key feature of the present invention, a discontinuity or lack of attachment area between the container 40 and the dispensing apparatus is provided at the bottom flange projection area near (in front of) the dispensing head. This discontinuity (no connection between the dispensing apparatus and the container) may be only the last 2-3 mm before the dispensing head, or may be all or almost all of the flange projection between the dispensing head and the pump chamber flange.

When the dispensing element is sealed to the top film of the container, the portion of the dispensing head at the bottom of the dispensing element, in particular the portion containing the dispensing passage, extends below the level of the pump chamber flange due to the rigidity of the bottom. Thus, the base must be sufficiently rigid to maintain this configuration at rest/without force. The geometry of the dispensing device, the coupling of the discontinuous seal of the membrane at the top of the container to the bottom of the dispensing device, will cause the neck of the dispensing device (formed by the extension of the top and bottom flanges) to flex and squeeze shut the passageway connecting the pump chamber to the first port, which is formed at the neck when the top is sealed to the bottom, effectively forming a valve without additional valve structure, i.e., a "pinch valve".

In operation, when a user presses the pump chamber into the pump chamber, the contents of the dome are pressed from the pump chamber into the neck passage, pressure from the user's thumb or finger overcomes the force of the pinch passage closing through the pinch valve, and fluid is pushed out of the dispensing head through the outlet via the delivery port and the delivery passage. However, when the pump chamber is not activated, the geometry of the device will force the passage at the pinch valve to close, preventing unwanted liquid leakage from the outlet. When the fluid is located at the distal end of the neck passage and in the passage through the dispensing head, the fluid is held in place by the vacuum due to the narrow diameter of the passage.

According to an alternative embodiment, the bottom of the dispensing head extends past the rim of the container, as shown in FIG. 9. According to this embodiment, the position of the dispensing head is no longer at the top of the container and therefore no longer causes a grip in the conveying channel. Instead, nubs or other features 50 are molded or otherwise provided on the underside of the bottom flange projection 26. The proper operation of the present embodiment does not require discontinuity in the connection. For a very secure connection, the dispensing device may optionally be attached to the container through the entire bottom surface (except for the dispensing head, which extends through the rim of the container). When the dispensing apparatus is secured to the container, the liquid in the container forces the nubs upward, squeezing the delivery channel with sufficient force to prevent leakage. User activation of the pump chamber provides sufficient force to force fluid through the pinch valve, delivery port, dispensing passage, and outlet.

According to a further alternative embodiment, the gripping element may be provided on the container or between the container and the conveying device.

Claims

1. A liquid dispensing device comprising:

a container having a flexible surface comprised of an upper film and a lower film;

a resilient shape memory top having a pump chamber dome, a ring pump chamber ridge surrounding a rim of the pump chamber dome, and a planar top pump chamber flange surrounding a rim of the ring pump chamber ridge, wherein a portion of the planar top pump chamber flange extends from a center of the pump chamber dome to define a pump chamber flange extension;

a rigid base having a ring-shaped pump chamber section surrounded by a ring-shaped lower pump chamber flange, wherein the rigid base ring-shaped pump chamber section is disposed within a correspondingly sized and shaped opening defined in a container flexible surface and the ring-shaped lower pump chamber flange is attached to the container; and a dispensing head section connected by a neck to the annular pump chamber section, wherein a bottom surface of the dispensing head section is secured to an upper film of the container, wherein the dispensing head section defines a delivery port on a top side thereof proximate the neck; a fluid outlet defined in said dispensing head section distal end, and a dispensing channel defined in said dispensing head section, wherein said dispensing channel fluidly connects said delivery port and said fluid outlet;

wherein

Said neck being an extension of said annular lower pump chamber flange;

the annular lower pump chamber flange and the neck are coplanar in an unstressed state; and is

The resilient shape memory top is connected to the rigid bottom along edges of the planar top pump chamber flange and the pump chamber flange extension to define a neck passage in the neck, wherein the neck passage extends between the annular pump chamber portion and the delivery port, and

wherein said neck is adjacent to and above said flexible surface at said dispensing head portion and extends below the plane of said planar top pump chamber flange, thereby flexing said neck and pinching off said neck passage, thereby defining a pinch valve.

2. The liquid dispensing device of claim 1, further comprising a discontinuity region, wherein at least a portion of the neck is not connected to the container.

3. The liquid dispensing device of claim 1, wherein a portion of the dispensing head containing the dispensing passage is not coplanar with the lower pump chamber flange and the neck.

4. A liquid dispensing device according to claim 2, wherein the discontinuity and the stiffness of the stiff base form the pinch valve in the neck passage between the pump chamber portion and the delivery port.

5. The liquid dispensing device of claim 1, wherein the dispensing head includes side flanges that are coplanar with the neck and the annular lower pump chamber flange when the annular lower pump chamber flange is unstressed.