GB1559542A

GB1559542A - Material dispenser

Info

Publication number: GB1559542A
Application number: GB1745977A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Powell G B
Current assignee: Powell G B
Priority date: 1977-11-02
Filing date: 1977-11-02
Publication date: 1980-01-23

Description

(54) MATERIAL DISPENSER (71) I, GEORGE BERTRAM POWELL, a British Subject, formerly of 177, Buryfield Road, Solihull, West Mids. B91 2BB, of Quay House, Brockweir, Chepstow, Gwent, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a Patent may be granted to me and the method by which it is tombe performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement :- This invention relates to a material dispenser for use in dispensing flowable materials such as liquids.

According to the invention, a material dispenser comprising a main reservoir having a flexible wall portion and a secondary reservoir arranged in or on the upper part of said main reservoir and adapted to have fluid transferred to it from the said main reservoir by gravity when the dispenser is inverted, and means for restricting the transfer of fluid from he said secondary reservoir to the said main reservoir at most attitudes of the dispenser, and passage means extending from the interior of the said secondary reservoir to the exterior thereof whence it provides a dispensing orifice, the arrangement being such that the internal end of said passage means is covered by the contents of a replenished secondary reservoir for most attitudes of the dispenser, enabling material to be discharged from the dispensing orifice by flexing of said flexible wall portion of the main reservoir.

With the secondary reservoir replenished, the container is capable of applying fluid in most or all directions, whilst there is sufficient fluid in the secondary reservoir.

Should a fixed quantity of fluid need to be dispensed (pre-determined by the dimensions of the secondary reservoir), the secondary reservoir is replenished, and the container inclined such that the secondary reservoir is not continuously replenished; all the contents of the secondary reservoir that are capable of being dispensed may then be dispensed by flexing the container walls a number of times, the dispensable contents being the aforesaid fixed quantity of muid.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying draines, in which :- Figure I shows one embodiment of the dispenser of the invention in cross ; Figure 2 shows a variant of the secondary reservoir of the dispenser of Figure ; Figure 3 shows a further variant of the secondary reservoirs of the embodiments of Figure 1 and Figure 2; Figure 4 shows a plan view of a dispenser including the variant of Figure 3; Figure 5 shows a further variant of the secondary reservoir of Figure 1 and Figure 2 ; Figure 6 shows a further embodiment of the dispenser of the invention; Figure 7 shows one form of ejection spout for use in the secondary reservoirs of the embodiments of Figures 1 to ; Figures 8 and 9 show another embodiment of the dispenser of the invention in a mode of assembly convenient for transportation; Referring to Figure 1, this shows a material dispenser having a flexible container 1 defining a main reservoir containing fluid 7. A secondary reservoir is defined by a further container 2 retained by a cap 3 within an upper part of the container 1 and having an ejection spout 4 fitted in and extending through the cap 3, with one end of the tube disposed so as to be immersed in the secondary reservoir 2 when the latter is replenished. A ball valve 8 is included at the hole 6 to enable the secondary reservoir to be filled and the fluid retained. The ball 8 is located between guides 2a and these may be moulded or pinched together to restrict the travel of the ball valve 8, The component parts of the dispenser may conveniently be made from plastics material, and the ball from steel.

Holes 5 and 6 respectively in a side wall and base of the container 2 act to permit replenishing af the secondary reservoir when the dispenser is inverted. Should a user leave the secondary reservoir 2 full of fluid, some changes in climatic conditions, eg changes in temperature, tend to pump fluid out of the container. If a leak path is included at the ball valve 8, the fluid in the secondary reservoir can leak back to the main reservoir when the container is in its normal rest position.

The container is shown in Figure 1 in its normal rest position, but with the secondary container replenished. Such replenishment would have been effected by inverting or at least inclining the dispenser to permit material to flow from the main reservoir in the container 1 through the holes 5 and 6 into the secondary reservoir. It will be seen that the lower end of the spout 4 is covered by material in the secondary reservoir in the position shown and would be so for a considerable range of inclination of the dispenser. With the spout so covered, material may be ejected from the spout by applying pressure to flex the walls of the container 1.

Referring to Figure 2, this shows a variant of the secondary reservoir 2 where the ball valve of Figure 2 is in the shape of a bobbin valve 9.

Figures 3 and 4 show a secondary reservoir 2 with the ball valve 8 of Figure !, but includes a primitive maze Sa protected by a washer 55. The cap 3 and ejection spout 4 are not shown. This refinement regulates emptying of a replenished secondary reservoir 2, back to the main or primary reservoir when the container is being used, especially in some positions substantially midway between the normal rest position and the inverted position, ie in a horizontal mode. The maze 5a can conveniently be moulded integrally with the container 2 in plastics material. Figure 5 shows a view of the top of the secondary reservoir 2 with the washer 5b removed.

As shown in Figure 5, it is possible to add a ball valve 8 at the maze entrance 5, and to omit the ball valve and guides 2a previously associated with the hole 6. The leak rate (if any) at the ball 8 and/or the size of the hole 6, regulates the rate of emptying the secondary reservoir 2.

Referring to Figure 6, this shows an arrangement in which the ejection spout 4 and secondary reservoir 2 are integrally formed, in this case moulded in a plastics material. The ball valve 8 is restrained by suitable guides 2a, which may be pinched together to limit the travel of the ball 8.

The hole 6 is to permit replenishment of the secondary reservoir 2 when the container is inverted. The continuation of the moulded hole 6 forms the junction of the end of the ejection spout 4 in the secondary reservoir 2. Lugs 11 may be moulded in such a manner that the hole 6 may be easily reduced in cross sectional area by pinching the lugs 11 together.

Figure 7 shows a manually moveable spout 11 which may be fitted to the secondary reservoir of any dispenser of the invention. The container of the invention may be converted to a normal container by pulling the spout 11 out of the container from the protrusions l la up to the protrusions I I b.

The dispenser shown in Figure 8 can be assembled in alternative ways, respectively for use and transport. The container is basically similar to those of the previous embodiments and previously used reference numerals are employed where applicable.

The spout 4 is smaller than the hole 6 and is capable of receiving the portion 4a in the manner shown in Figure 8. This is the transport mode of assembly in which a washer 13 is placed across the inside of the lid 3 to seal a hole 12 therein which is of the same size as the hole 6. The ball 8 is trapped between the guides 2a, but displaced from the hole 6. The spout is thus protected within the dispenser until required for use, whereupon the lid 3 is removed, the washer 13 discarded and the spout reversed with its portion 4a extending through the hole 12. The ball 8 will take up an appropriate position over the hole 6 by means of the guides 2a and, with the lid replace as shown in Figure 9, the dispenser may be used as described previously.

The spout of the dispenser of the invention may be angled in any convenient direction so that fluid may be dispensed to a desired location, ie into a container placed under the spout. If desired, the spout can be arranged to point downwardly when the container is in its normal rest position and the contents of the replenished reservoir dispensed into a container simply by depressing the walls of the container l.

Claims

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A material dispenser comprising a main reservoir having a flexible wall portion and a secondary reservoir arranged in or on the upper part of said main reservoir and adapted to have fluid transferred to it from the said main reservoir by gravity when the dispenser is inverted, and means for restricting the transfer of fluid from the said secondary reservoir to the said main reservoir at most attitudes of the dispenser, and passage means extending from the interior of the said secondary reservoir to the exterior thereof whence it provides a dispensing orifice, the arrangement being such that the internal end of said passage means is covered by the contents of a replenished secondary reservoir for most attitudes of the dispenser, enabling material to be discharged from the dispensing orifice by flexing of said flexible wall portion of the main reservoir.
2. A dispenser according to claim 1 wherein the secondary reservoir is disposed substantially wholly within the main reservoir and has an opening in a wall thereof through which it communicates with the main reservoir.
3. A dispenser according to claim 2 wherein said opening is adjacent the end of the secondary reservoir which is uppermost.
4. A dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the secondary reservoir is provided with a slow leak path to the main reservoir.
5. A dispenser according to Claim 4 wherein said leak path is valve controlled.
6. A dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said communication means connects the main and secondary reservoirs together via a path extending in a plane generally transverse to the secondary container.
7. A dispenser according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein said communication means is valve controlled.
8. A dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said passage means is formed integrally with the secondary reservoir.
9. A dispenser according to Claim 8 wherein the communication means is in axial alignment with the passage means, part of the latter being cut away laterally to provide communication between the communication means and the secondary reservoir in order to permit replenishment of the latter.
10. A dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the passage means is an elongate spout extending through a wall of the secondary reservoir.
11. A dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said passage means is an elongate spout, which may be stored wholly within the dispenser when the latter is not in use, means being provided to seal the orifice through which the spout projects when the dispenser is in use.
12. A dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the secondary reservoir has a pair of generally opposed openings of similar size one at either end thereof, the spout has a normally outer portion of small cross-section than each one of the pair of openings and is such as to fit closely in one or other of said openings, the arrangement being such that, in use, the smaller spout portion may be disposed to project through the outermost of said openings for normal use, and when the container is not in use, the smaller spout portion may be disposed to project through the innermost opening into the main reservoir with the larger spout portion wholly within the secondary reservoir, means being provided to seal the outermost opening for this latter disposition of the spout.
13. A dispenser according to Claim l l or Claim 12 wherein a valve member is provided to co-operate, in use of the dispenser, with the lowermost opening, means defining a compartment within the secondary reservoir for housing the valve member in use, the spout being partially housed within such compartment when in its non-use position, with the ball lying within the compartment.
14. A material dispenser substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1, Figure I as modified by Figure 2, Figures 3 and 4, Figures 3 and 4 as modified by Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7 or Figures 8 and 9, of the accompanying drawings.
15. A material dispenser comprising a main reservoir for material to be dispensed having a flexible wall portion, a secondary reservoir for assembly in or on the upper part of said main reservoir and adapted to have fluid transferred to it from the said main reservoir by gravity when the dispenser is inverted, and means for restricting the transfer of fluid from the said secondary reservoir to the said main reservoir at most attitudes of the dispenser, and passage means extending from the interior of the said secondary reservoir to the exterior thereof whence it provides a dispensing orifice, the arrangement being such that the internal end of said passage means is covered by the contents of a replenished secondary reservoir for most attitudes of the dispenser, enabling material to be discharged from the dispensing orifice by flexing of said flexible wall portion of the main reservoir.