DE8705573U1 - Liquid dispenser, especially for toothpaste - Google Patents

Description

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PATENT ATTORNEYS

&igr; 6lgurd Leine · Dlpl.-Phys. Dr. Norbert König

ÖUfdtherdlilrafl* i Phone (0511) 62 30 05

Michael Herträmpf ^D ' ^{m Hannover i} „

Under Sign Date

722/7 9, April 1987 f

Liquid dispensers, especially for toothpaste

The invention relates to a liquid dispenser of the type mentioned in the preamble of claim 1, in particular for toothpaste.

There are liquid dispensers of the type in question on the market which have a substantially bottle-shaped container which forms a storage space for the liquid and has a pumping device at the top by means of which the toothpaste can be pumped from the storage space to a dispenser opening arranged at the top for dispensing the toothpaste. In order to prevent a negative pressure from developing in the storage space, a ventilation opening is provided. This has the disadvantage that the toothpaste dries out in the storage space or toothpaste can escape through the ventilation opening if the container is not upright or is transported in any position.

The invention is based on the object of creating a liquid dispenser of the type in question in which drying out or leakage of the liquid is excluded.

The problem underlying the invention is solved by the teaching specified in the characterizing part of claim 1.

According to this teaching, in the space of the container intended for the liquid there is an additional casing, the volume of which can be easily changed, which on the one hand tightly encloses the liquid and thus prevents it from drying out through an additional ventilation opening in the container, and on the other hand also prevents the liquid from escaping.

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from the ventilation. The casing follows the reduction in volume during the emptying of the storage space with practically no resistance, so that the pumping process itself is not hindered.

Since the casing, which can be easily changed in volume, is tightly connected to the pumping device, it is ensured that the pumping device can never suck in air and thus lose its pumping effect with regard to the liquid to be pumped. The liquid dispenser according to the invention therefore has the additional advantage that it can function in any position.

According to the further development according to claim 2, a pipe extends between the pumping device and the dispenser opening* This is particularly useful when the pumping direction is on the side of the container remote from the dispenser opening. In order to avoid the pipe impairing the function of the casing in the container, according to the teaching of claim 2, this does not run outside the casing, but into it and through it.

To make this possible, the casing has an opening, the edge of which has a cylindrical, sealing lip that tightly and slidably surrounds the pipe. When the casing is emptied, this cylindrical lip slides along the pipe without allowing air to enter.

If the container has a base, the actuating element for the pumping device is expediently formed by the upper part of the container or an actuating part firmly connected to it. It is therefore only necessary to press on the container to allow liquid to flow out of the dispenser opening.

According to the teaching of claim 4, the container is formed by two container parts that can be moved telescopically against each other, which are pressed apart by a spring, whereby they expediently strike against a stop.

One of the container parts is connected to the pumping device and thus represents the actuating element for this. Basic principle

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I Iich it can be the upper or the lower

I holder part. One of the telescopic container parts

1 is expediently designed in the shape of a cap. It can

f other container part with its edge overlap or under

5 c/tyre. Does this cap-shaped, as a lower part,

I formed the container part on the support surface, the pump

I effect can be achieved by removing the entire upper

I holder part is grasped by hand. If the cap-shaped

If the container part is the upper part, the pumping effect

I 10 can be achieved by pressing the

I upper part of the container is pressed. But it is also possible.

I hold the lower, longer part of the container with the whole hand

« * grasp without having to stand on a base,

S and then with one finger on the upper, cap-shaped

jj 15 holder part to press.

|j The cover can be made in a very simple and inexpensive way

I be formed by a bellows which is shaped in a zigzag pattern

I' and can consist of a thin, flexible film, for example.

I The sealing of the edge of the filling opening of the envelope can be

I 20 very simply and conveniently by an elastic

Ring which presses the edge of the opening against a preferably cylindrical sealing surface of the pumping device or the

The elastic ring can be formed in a particularly 25 advantageous manner by an edge of an elastic cap belonging to the pumping device, which is inserted into an open end of the container and presses the edge of the filling opening of the casing against the inner wall of the container. ; A particularly advantageous embodiment of the

30 Invention in which the bellows has a cross-section that varies along its length and is adapted to the lateral expansion of the container. This embodiment therefore excludes

t that the inner wall of the container has any shape

it does not necessarily have to be cylindrical or the like. This is because the inner wall of the container is responsible for the function of enclosing the liquid.

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and the dispensing of the same has no particular significance. The container of the liquid dispenser can therefore have any shape for advertising, aesthetic or handling reasons.

The invention will be explained in more detail using exemplary embodiments based on the drawing.

Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of the invention schematically in section,

Fig. 2 shows, similar to Fig. 1, a second embodiment of the invention in section,

Fig. 3 is a section 3-3 through Fig. 2, Fig. 4 shows a third embodiment of the invention in section,

Fig. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the invention in section and

Fig. 6 shows an external view of the embodiment according to Fig. 5.

The embodiment shown in Fig. 1 has a container 1 which is formed from an upper, cylindrical container part 2 and a lower, cap-shaped container part 3, which has a base 4 for placing the container on a base.

The lower, cap-shaped container part 3 overlaps the lower end of the cylindrical container part 2 in a telescopic manner, whereby an inner bead 5 on the cap-shaped container part 3 interacts with an outer bead 6 on the container part 2 as a stop, which prevents the telescopic container parts 2 and 3 from sliding apart.

In the container part 2 there is a tube 7 in the center, which is firmly connected to the container part 2 and has a curved part 8 outside of it and at the top, the end of which forms a dispensing opening 9.

The lower end of the tube 7 is firmly connected to a part 10, which forms a cylinder 11 at the bottom, into which a V-shaped piston 12 engages, which is connected to a cap 14 via a web 13. The piston 12, web 13 and cap consist of a part made of elastic material, whereby a

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Edge 15 of the cap 14 is inserted under tension into the lower end of the container part 2 and presses a lower edge, not visible in the drawing, of a filling opening of a zigzag-shaped bellows 16 against the inner wall of the container part 2.

The tube 7 runs through the bellows 16, which has an opening at the top, such that a cylindrical lip 17 is formed which tightly and slidably encloses the tube 7.

On the upper container part 2 there is a ventilation hole 17' through which air can enter the interior of the container part 2 when the bellows 16 moves downwards during emptying.

The bellows 16 is, although this is not apparent from the drawing, filled with liquid, for example toothpaste, body care products or the like. If some of the liquid is to be dispensed through the dispenser opening 9, the upper container part 2 is simply grasped by hand and pressed downwards, with the support surface 4 resting on a base. This pushes the elastic cap 17 and thus also the piston 12 connected to it in the cylinder 11 upwards, so that liquid is transported through the tube 7 to the dispenser opening 9 and exits from it. If the pressure is then released, the elastic cap 14 returns to its shape shown in the drawing, pushing the container parts 3 and apart again and also moving the piston 12 downwards in the cylinder 11. Due to the flow resistance in the tube 7, liquid flows past the outer lips of the?

V-shaped piston 12 into the space of the cylinder 11, so that during the next pumping stroke liquid is again moved upwards in the pipe 7.

Fig. 2 shows an embodiment similar to Fig. 1. Matching parts are provided with the same reference numbers. The difference is that a lower container part 18 is long and an upper container part 19 is short and cap-shaped. The container part 18 rests

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normally with its base 20 on a base. Between a contact surface 21 on the container part 19 and a contact surface 22 on the container part 18 there is an elastic, tubular ring 23 which acts as a spring and presses the two container parts 18 and 19 apart and thus has the function of the cap 14 in the embodiment according to Fig. 1. A pressure part 24 also extends upwards from the tube 7, which makes it easier to press on the upper container part 19, although operation is also sufficient by simply pressing on the upper, cap-shaped container part 19. As can be seen from Fig. 3, which shows a section 3-3 through Fig. 2, an elastic ring 25 is tightly inserted into the interior of the container part, which presses a lower edge 26 of the bellows 16 tightly against the inner wall of the container part 18. Of course, it is also possible to guide the bellows 16 all the way down into the container part 18 and to clamp its edge 26 tightly between an elastic foot 27, which holds the stem 13, and the inner wall of the container part 18.

Fig. 4 shows an embodiment in which a zigzag-shaped bellows 29 is arranged in a container 28, the upper edge 30 of which is tightly clamped between a small extension 31 of an elastic cap 32 and the upper edge of the container 28, the essentially axial extension 31 of the cap 32 being supported internally by a disk-like part 33 which is clamped in place.

A cylinder 34 is formed in the cap-shaped part 32, in which there is again a V-shaped piston 35 made of elastic material, which is connected via a web 36 to a V-shaped part 37, the lower leg of which is supported on the disk-shaped part 33 and the upper leg of which leads to a push button 38.

By pressing the push button 38, the V-shaped part 37 is compressed, whereby its tip moves upwards to the left in the drawing and thereby moves the piston 35 in the cylinder 34, so that liquid to be dispensed flows through an opening 3 that forms a flow resistance.

to a dispenser opening 40.

Fig. 5 shows a cross-section of an embodiment which, in terms of its technical function and structure, largely corresponds to the embodiment according to Fig. 1 and corresponding parts are therefore provided with the same reference numerals. One difference is that the entire arrangement is upside down and the cap-shaped part of Fig. 1 is omitted, while at the same time the container part 2 has the shape of a load-bearing man, as shown in Fig. 6. In the embodiment according to Fig. 5, the bellows 16 has a different cross-section in its axial extension, and is therefore adapted to the interior of the container 1.

Claims (12)

Expectations 1. Liquid dispenser, in particular for toothpaste, with a container which has a storage space for the liquid, with a pump device which is arranged between the storage space and a dispenser opening for dispensing the liquid and which has an actuating member, characterized in that the storage space is formed by a casing which is easily variable in volume and which has an opening and is connected to the pump device (11, 12) via the edge of its opening, a space being formed between the inner wall of the container (1) and the casing which is in connection with the environment. 2. Liquid dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that between the dispenser opening (9) and the pumping device (11, 12) a pipe (7) is arranged, that the pipe (7) extends away from the inner wall of the container (1) and runs through the casing, and that the casing has an opening, the edge of which forms a cylindrical lip (17) which tightly and slidably surrounds the pipe (7). 3. Liquid dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that the container (1) has a standing surface (4) and that the actuating member for the pumping device (11, 12) is formed by the upper part of the container (1) or an actuating part firmly connected thereto. SL/N -2- *-2i 4. Liquid dispenser according to claim 3, characterized in that the container (1) is formed by two container parts (2, 3) which can be moved telescopically against one another and are pressed apart by a lever (14), one of the container parts (2, 3) being operatively connected to the pump device (11, 12) and forming the actuating member for the pump device. 5. Liquid dispenser according to claim 4, characterized in that one of the switch parts (2, 3) is designed to be substantially larger than the other and essentially accommodates the casing alone. 6. Liquid ^dispenser according to claim 5, characterized in that the smaller container part (3) is cap-shaped and slidably engages over or under the other container part (2). 7. Liquid dispenser according to claim 4, characterized in that a mutual stop (5, 6) is provided between the two container parts (2, 3), against which the two container parts (2, 3) are pressed by the spring (14). 8. Liquid dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that the sleeve is a zigzag-shaped folded bellows (16). 9. Liquid dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that the edge of the opening of the casing is pressed by an elastic ring against a preferably cylindrical sealing surface of the pumping device or the inner wall of the container (1) tightly connected to the pumping device. 10* Liquid dispenser according to claim 9, characterized in that the elastic ring is I I · < &iacgr; . 1 « l> IK. ; III 4 t 1 4 · « i ii iii j · if · · t an edge (15) of an elastic cap (14) forming the pumping device, which is inserted into an open end of the container (1) and presses the edge of the opening of the container against the inner wall of the container (1). 11. Liquid dispenser according to claim 1/characterized in that the casing rests against the inner wall of the container (1) in a slightly movable manner over substantially its entire longitudinal extent or is at a small distance from it. 12. Liquid dispenser according to claim 8, characterized in that the bellows (16') has a cross-section which varies over its length and is adapted to the lateral extent of the interior of the container (1).