Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D47/00—Closures with filling and discharging, or with discharging, devices
  • B65D47/04—Closures with discharging devices other than pumps
  • B65D47/20—Closures with discharging devices other than pumps comprising hand-operated members for controlling discharge
  • B65D47/24—Closures with discharging devices other than pumps comprising hand-operated members for controlling discharge with poppet valves or lift valves, i.e. valves opening or closing a passageway by a relative motion substantially perpendicular to the plane of the seat
  • B65D47/248—Closures with discharging devices other than pumps comprising hand-operated members for controlling discharge with poppet valves or lift valves, i.e. valves opening or closing a passageway by a relative motion substantially perpendicular to the plane of the seat the valve being opened or closed by imparting a motion to the valve stem

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a dome spring for sealing a liquid flow path of a liquid discharging outlet in an uncompressed state and opening a liquid flow path m a composed state, and more specifically to a rubber or plastic dome spring having a dome-shaped deformable spring section and a ey ⁇ mdHcally-shaped upper stem portion for creating and removing a liquid-seal with a cylindrical Iy- shaped outer valve housing, a liquid discharging outlet incorporating such a dome spring, and a dispensing pen incorporating such a dome spring.
• a portable stain remover for application to fresh stains or prior to laundering has become a common accessory used for preventing the permanent Inset of serious stains during, for example, .lunches or cofif ⁇ e breaks away from the home.
• These and other liquid discharging devices such as bag-in ⁇ box concentrated liquid dispensers and error correction pens, commonly ⁇ se a spring- loaded valve for tensioning a valve to & closed position to prevent the dispensing of a liquid stored in a liquid storage portion of the device.
• a metal valve spring within the liquid dispenser has several disadvantages.
• a metal spring component and supporting structures are expensive to manufacture and adjoin, and the prevalence of errors in production increases relative to the increase in the number of parts involved in the manufacture of the device.
• Second, a device containing a r ⁇ etaJ spring is not capable of being recycled using standard polymeric recycling techniques.
• the present invention overcomes the shortcomings and deficiencies of the prior art and is directed to systems and methods which eliminate or at least substantially reduce the impact of these problems associated with existing spring mechanisms and liquid dispensers.
• a dome spring element including a body having a first and second end and an axis, a bell-shaped wall at the first end defining a chamber with an opening into the chamber, a cylindrical wall attached to the bell-shaped wall at the second end; a rod attached to the body and extending through the chamber and extending axially outwardly from the opening; and the body being moveable from an extended position to a compressed position by application of a force along the axis, and capable of automatically returning to the extended position upon release of the force
• A. liquid dispensing container including a housing wall defining a first chamber having an axis, a first end section and an opposed second end section, and a dome spring element positioned within the first chamber.
• the dome Spring element has a body having a first and second end and an axis.
• a belt-shaped wall at the first en ⁇ defines a second chamber with an opening into the second chamber.
• a cylindrical wall is at the second end of the body and is attached to the bell- shaped wall..
• a rod is attached to the body and extends through the second chamber and axiaily outwardly from the opening.
• the body being moveable by an axiaily inwardly directed force applied to the second end from an extended position wherein the second end forms a fluid tight seal with an inner surface of the housing wall, to a compressed position where fluid can flow through the first chamber, and the body capable of automatically returning to the extended position upon release of the inwardly axiaily directed force.
• F ⁇ G. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an assembled liquid-discharge valve and applicator tip including a dome spring element in a closed position;
• FIG. 2 is a side view m partial cross section of an assembled liquid-discharging pen
• FfG.3 is a perspective view of a valve seat
• FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a dome spring element
• FlG.5 is a cross-sectional view of a dome spring element
• FIG. 6 is a side view of a dispensing nib
• FiG. 7 is an end view of a dispensing nib
• FIG. 8 is an exploded-view of a liquid-discharging pen
• FIG. 9 is an exploded-view of an alternate embodiment of a liquid-discharging pen.
• FIG. 1 shows a liquid dispensing member 10 for a liquid container 12
• FIG. 1 shows the dispensing member K ) in a closed position
• the dome spring can be moved from an extended position or dosed (FlO. J) to a compressed or dispensing position by application of a force along an axis of the dome spring, and capable of automatically, without the assistance of another energy source, of returning to the extended position when the compressing force is sufficiently removed or reduced,
• the housing 14 has a first end section 20, an opposed second end section 22 and an intermediate portion 24 therebetween.
• the first end section 20 has a generally cylindrical wall 26 having a first diameter and a radially Inwardly tapering, reduced diameter portion 28 at a proximal end.
• the intermediate portion 24 of the housing has an annular flange 30 having a second diameter greater than the first diameter and defining a shoulder 32 where the flange 30 meets a distal end of the first end section 20.
• the second end section 22 extends axially away irom the flange 30 and is divided into three distinct segments 22a,b,c.
• Hitch section has proximal and distal ends wherein the diameter of the proximal end is greater than that of the distal end.
• the cylindrical wall 26 and reduced diameter portion 28 are dimensioned to be inserted into a lumen of the container ⁇ 2 and attached thereto.
• the flange 30 acts as a stop that determines the rtill-insertiou position into the container 12.
• the housing 14 could be dimensioned to fit over an end portion of the container ⁇ 2 and form an interference fit therewith or be attached by other means.
• the housing 14 defines a chamber 40 that extends the full length dimension of the housing and has opposed first and second openings 42 and 44 into the chamber 40.
• the first md section 20 has an inner wall 46 having a first inner diameter and a second inner diameter smaller than the first inner diameter and a shotilder 48 therebetween.
• the inner wall in the first section has a plurality of axially extending, and circumferentially spaced grooves 49 to provide pathways for fluid ⁇ ow around the dome spring to the discharge opening.
• the valve seat. 17 is fixedly mounted within the first end section 20 and abuts against a portion of the dome spring 16.
• the dome spring 16 when in the extended position shown in FIO. 1 » extends between the first end section 20 and terminates at segment 22b.
• the nib 18 is mounted within a portion of the dome spring 16 and extends from segment 22a to a point outside of the housing.
• FiG. 3 shows the valve seat 17 having a first outer cylindrical wall 50, a pair of cireumferentislly spaced docking ears 52, an inner ring 54 connected to the docking ears 52 by a pair of axia ⁇ ly extending and circumferentially spaced spokes 56,
• the docking ears 52 extend axlally outwardly from the first outer cylindrical wall 50 and are dimensioned to attach to the inner wall 4 ⁇ S of the housing 14 and to provide space between the inner wail and the first outer cylindrical wall 50 for ease of assembly.
• the docking ears 52 can be attached to the inner wail by a snap fit connection, friction fit, by adhesive*, solvent bonding techniques, welding techniques including conductive and inductive heating and vibrational welding or other suitable method well known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
• the inner ring 54 has a centrally disposed through hole 58 which is dimensioned and positioned to act as a guide ibr the rod 72 of the dome spring clement J 6.
• FiGS. 4 and 5 show the dome spring element 16 having a first end portion 60 and an opposed second end portion 62 and an intermediate portion 64 therebetween,
• the first end portion 60 has a generally dome-shaped wall 66 having an opening 68 into a chamber 70.
• Coaxially disposed within the chamber is a segmented rod 72 having a first diameter 74 at a proximal end * a second diameter portion 76 and a shoulder 78 defined therebetween.
• the rod 72 terminates in an radially inwardly tapering portion 80 at its distal most end.
• The. wall 66 has a gradient of thicknesses from a first end 82 to a second end 84 with the thickness of the wall increasing from the first end 82 to the second end 84. While the rod is shown having two distinct diameters it is contemplated the rod could increase in thickness gradually to achieve the desired spring force constant.
• the second end portion 62 is connected to the first, end portion by a generally cylindrical wall 88.
• the second end portion 62 has a generally cylindrically shaped outer wall 100 having a first an ⁇ 102 and a second end 104.
• the outer wall 100 defines an inner chamber 106 with an opening 108 to the chamber, 'Hie chamber 108 is dimensioned to receive an end portion of the nib I 8.
• the second end 104 of the wall has an enlarged diameter portion having a rounded outer surface 110.
• the second end 104 forms a fluid tight seal with a surface of the inner wail of the housing when in the closed position as shown in FIG. 1.
• the dome spring element 16 can be fabricated from a material having elastomeric properties that can be deformed xmder pressure and resume its undeformed state when the pressure is removed.
• Suitable materials for forming the spring element 16, for example can include natural and synthetic rubber materials, and polymeric material such as poiyolefins, thermoplastic elastomers, polyamides, polyesters, polyethers, polyetheramides, siyrene and hydrocarbon copolymers, styrene and hydrocarbon block copolymers, silicone and other material suitable for its purpose.
• the dome spring element will be made from thermoplastic elasomers or islcone.
• FIGS. 1, 2, 6 and 7 show the dispensing nib 18 is diametrically segmented having a decreased diameter portion 110 that is dimensioned to fit within the chamber 106 and a larger diameter portion 112 extending axially therefrom.
• Hie distal most end 1 14 of the dispensing nib will be shaped to apply a liquid dispensed from the container 12 and can take on many different shapes and sizes for this purpose.
• the distal end of the nib will have a radially inwardly tapering section 1 16 and will terminate in a generally rectangular shaped outer surface I ⁇ 8.
• the tapering section 116 is shown having a semicircular shaped surface for spreading the liquid being dispensed onto a surface. However, the semicircular shape is optional and could be replaced with surfaces of differing shapes and surface textures, such as matte or dimpled.
• the dispensing nib 18 also is shown with an optional axially inwardly tapering surface 120.
• Hie dispensing nib 18 can be formed integrally with the dome spring element. 16 as shown in FKK 8 or separately as shown in PlG. 9.
• FIGS. 8 and 9 show the container 12 having a generally cylindrical shaped sidewall 130 with one open, end 132 tor containing a flowabie material and more preferably a liquid material.
• the liquid material can be applied to any surface in need of treatment and includes fabrics, hard surfaces, soil surlaees, synthetic materials, natural materials, surfaces on animals and plants to name a lew exemplary surfaces
• the material will be xised to apply to a fabric and more preferably will be a liquid for applying to a fabric and will contain one or more of the following components a cleaning solution, stain removal solution, stain masking solution, anti-static agent, water proofing agent, anti-bacterial agent, paini, stain, topical ointment and anti-viral agent.
• the cleaning or stain removal solution can contain chemicals including bleach, surfactants, solvents, enzymatic agents, ammonia, emulsifiers, anti-static agents, water, deionised water, demineralized water, hydrogen peroxide, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, ethers, acrylonitriles, aromatic hydrocarbons, compounds containing aryl, aryl halide and/or aryioxy groups, ethoxylated alcohols, ionic surfactants, non-ionic surfactants, alkyl phenols, alkyl sulfates, amine oxides, and mixtures thereof.
• Suitable cleaning solutions are disclosed in US Patent Nos.
• the dispensing member 10 can be used as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
• the dispensing member 10 can be used as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
• FIG. I the second end 104 of the dome spring element 16 is .pressed against the inner wall to form a fluid tight seal.
• sufficient axialiy inwardly directed ibrce must be applied in the direction of arrow 134 to cause the nib to move axially inwardly and compress the dome spring 16 against the valve seat 17.
• the bell-shaped wall 66 deforms and the second end 110 pulls away from the inner wall of the housing 14 to allow fluid to flow through the chamber 40 and through a .space 136 between the inner wall of the housing and an outer surface of the nib 18.
• the dome spring 16 Upon releasing the axial Iy inwardly directed force, the dome spring 16 applies an axially outwardly directed force to the dispensing nib 18 to return the dispensing member 10 to the closed position (FIG. 1 ).

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Containers And Packaging Bodies Having A Special Means To Remove Contents (AREA)
• Coating Apparatus (AREA)
• Pens And Brushes (AREA)
• Pharmaceuticals Containing Other Organic And Inorganic Compounds (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=42320091

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Families Citing this family (10)

Family Cites Families (14)

• 2009
  • 2009-05-20 US US12/469,242 patent/US20100296858A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2010
  • 2010-05-20 CA CA2761920A patent/CA2761920A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2010-05-20 WO PCT/US2010/035525 patent/WO2010135498A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2010-05-20 EP EP10720976A patent/EP2432708A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2010-05-20 AU AU2010249535A patent/AU2010249535A1/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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