US3508685A - Dispensing device - Google Patents

Description

April 28, 1970 J. B. FLYNN DISPENSING DEVICE Filed Nov. 21, 1968 United States Patent 3,508,685 DISPENSING DEVICE John Barry Flynn, Needham, Mass., assignor to The Gillette Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 716,827,

Mar. 28, 1968. This application Nov. 21, 1968, Ser.

Int. Cl. B65d 35/22 US. Cl. 222-94 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pressurized dispensing device has two containers, each of which has an outlet orifice. A valve assembly for controlling the selective dispensing of a mixture of materials from the two containers includes a flexible tubular nozzle structure and a rigid core structure, the upper portion of which is disposed inside the nozzle structure. Secured to the lower end of the valve assembly is a cylindrical self-supporting polyethylene bottle whose cylindrical main wall has a thickness of 0.025 inch. A coupling depending from the valve assembly projects into an opening in the bottle and an annular surface supporting this coupling is sealed to a cooperating surface of the bottle.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending patent application Ser. No. 716,827, filed Mar. 28, 1968, and entitled Dispensing Device, now Patent No. 3,454,198 of July 8, 1969.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION This invention relates to dispensing devices and more particularly to inner container constructions for use in pressurized aerosol-type dispensing devices.

Frequently it is desired to dispense a product that results from mixing, at the time of dispensing, two or more different ingredients that are stored separately from each other so that those ingredients will maintain their effective properties for an indefinite period of time during storage. In dispensing devices of the pressurized type which employ separate ingredients, one of the ingredients is often stored in a flexible container disposed within a larger container containing a second ingredient.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide such an inner container that is designed for easy handling, precludes intermixing of the ingredients before discharge, and assures complete mixing and interaction at the time of discharge. It is a further object to provide a container that will provide such complete mixing and interaction even when the mixed product is dispensed from the areosol device several times within a short time.

The invention features, in an aerosol-type dispensing device of the type mentioned, an inner container including a substantially cylindrical, flexible, self-supporting peripheral wall that is permeable to the propellant and impermeable to the ingredients of the dispensing device. In preferred embodiments there is featured a relatively rigid handling portion intermediate the flexible wall and the mouth of the container and the container is molded from low density polyethylene.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of a particular embodiment thereof, together with the attached drawing which is a plan view, partially in section, of the particular embodiment.

3,508,685 Patented Apr. 28, 1970 DESCRIPTION OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENT The aerosol device shown is of the general type shown in Nissen Patent 3,241,722 and includes an outer container 10 that has an aluminum top wall member 12 to which is secured a valve assembly 14. That valve assembly includes an upstanding flexible tubular nozzle and core housing member 20 of ethylene acrylate copolymer (Union Carbide DPDB 6169) that receives within it a core 22. Secured to the lower end of the core is a spring 24 and a valve plug 26. The lower end of the core is received in a valve housing 28 molded of an ethylene copolymer (Marlex #5603). A gasket 30 (of 90 durometer NBR rubber) is interposed between a flange portion 32 of the nozzle 20 and the annular upper surface 34 of housing 28. The metal container wall 12 includes an inwardly extending horizontal annular flange 36 at its upper end which overlies nozzle flange 32 and an intermediate portion 38 which is crimped inwardly against the annular wall of housing 28 so that the ridge 34 of the housing is forced into gasket 30 to provide a seal at that point and against the nozzle flange 32 as reinforced by top flange 36,

In this form, housing 28, together with gasket 30 and core 22, defines a chamber 40 which is connected to container 10 via orifice 42. A second orifice 44 is formed in the bottom wall 46 of the housing and depending from the housing bottom wall is a coupling portion 48 to which container 50 is secured.

Inner container 50 is a cylindrical, self-supporting, flexible walled bottle of low density polyethylene that has a melt index of 1.0. By self-supporting, I mean that the thickness, shape and material of the inner container are such that the container maintains its shape when placed on a surface and further where the container has a flexible wall when that wall is distorted, the stresses thereby created within the Wall tend to return the wall towards its original, undistorted configuration and are sufliciently strong to do so if the pressure without the container is equal to or only slightly greater than the pressure within the container. In the particular embodiment the cylindrical flexible main wall 51 of container 50 has a thickness of 0.025 inch and the container upper wall 53 is provided with a relatively rigid annular projection 52 which defines the open mouth of the inner container. A radially outwardly projecting flange 54 and an inwardly extending ridge are provided adjacent the end of projection 52 most distant from flexible wall 51 so that an inner mouth opening of 0.422 inch diameter and a top flange surface of 0.640 inch outer diameter are defined. Intermediate flange 54 and upper wall 53 is a relatively rigid container handling section 55.

Coupling 48 has a cooperating radially outwardly projecting ridge 58 of 0.470 inch diameter and an annular recess above ridge 58 of 0.012 inch depth into which the cooperating inwardly projecting ridge 56 on the bottle 50 is snapped. A flange 60 of 0.640 inch diameter extends radially from the bottom wall of the housing and provides a mating positioning stop for the top surface of bottle flange 54.

In assembling the dispensing device, the core 22, spring 24 and valve 26 are assembled together. Gasket 30 is seated against flange 32 of the discharge nozzle 20, the core assembly is inserted into the discharge nozzle in the position indicated shown, the preformed metal can top is slid over the discharge nozzle, and the housing 28 is then seated against gasket 30. The metal can top 12 is then crimped at 38 to secure the assembly together. Container 50 is filled with its ingredient, in this particular embodiment hydrogen peroxide; the upper surface 54 of the inner container 50 and the lower surface of flange 60 of the housing 28 are heated to melting condition; and then the container is snapped onto coupling section 48 so that the molten plastic portions are in engagement and form a seal wih a bead 130. During filling, heating and sealing, the container is supported in an upright position by engaging the annular handling section 55.

This assembly is then secured to the rolled ridge 132 of the outer container in which in this embodiment is disposed a soap solution and a reductant selected from the class disclosed in Moses et a1. U.S. Patent 3,341,418 (a preformed gasket 134 carried by the top wall 12 providing a seal when bead 136 is crimped to container ridge 132), thus providing a sealed container.

A suitable pressure generating propellant such as halogenated alkane sold under the trade name Freon, or a hydrocarbon propellant such as butane may be introduced into the outer container in liquid phase before the container is sealed or, after the container is sealed, under pressure in liquid phase through the valve assembly in a manner which forces the core 22 downwardly in an axial direction against the biasing force of spring 24 to open the valve between gasket 30 and core 22. In the latter operation the propellant flows through valve chamber 40 into the outer container without entering the inner container as valve plug 26 maintains the orifice 44 to the inner container closed.

To dispense a mixture of the two ingredients, the can is first inverted so that its discharge nozzle points downwardly. In this position the soap reductant in the outer container flows through orifices 42 into the chamber 40 defined by the housing 28. A lateral force is applied manually to the discharge nozzle 20 as to displace it angularly and pivots it about an axis defined by flange 36 of the top Wall 12. This tilting movement of the core 22 opens the orifice between chamber 40 and the helical discharge passage formed by the core and the core housing 20 and also swings the coupling section which carries the valve plug 26 laterally to fully open the orifice 44 to the second container and release the oxidant from the inner container 50 for the flow into and through the chamber 40 and the discharge passageway with the ingredient from the outer container. The chamber 40 and the passageway formed by the core 22 and nozzle 20 enable the ingredients to be mixed .and the chemical reaction to occur before the discharge of the mixture from the nozzle.

In this device, the ingredients in inner container 50 and outer container 10 initially are dispensed by the pressures of the propellant within the outer container. During dispensing, however, the pressure within inner container 50 decreases much more rapidly than does the pressure in the larger outer container. As the inner container pressure drops, the ingredient within inner container 50 is dispensed, at least in part, by the propellant within outer container 10 which presses against and collapses the flexible wall 51 of the inner container.

As previously noted, flexible wall 51 is both self-supporting and permeable to the propellant. After discharge nozzle 20 is released to close the dispenser, therefore, propellant will pass through wall 51 into inner container 50 and the inner container will tend to resume its normal cylindrical form and the pressures within the inner and outer containers are the same. If the dispensing valve is then again opened, the ingredient within inner container 50 will be dispensed by the propellant within the inner container. If, on the other hand, the dispensing valve is opened before the pressures have equalized and the inner container resumed its normal form, the ingredient within the inner container will be dispensed, at least in part, by pressure of the propellant in outer container 10 against flexible wall 51, as indicated above.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art and therefore it is not intended that the invention be limited to the disclosed embodiment or to details thereof and departures may be made therefrom within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an aerosol dispensing device adapted for storing at least two different materials in isolation from each other and dispensing said materials simultaneously through a common outlet, said device including an outer container for initially storing one of said materials and a propellant, an inner container for initially storing a second of said materials, and a valve normally maintaining said isolation and preventing flow of said one material into said inner container while permitting discharge of said second material from said inner container so that both materials may be dispensed simultaneously through said common outlet, that improvement wherein said inner container includes a resilent, semi-rigid, self-supporting peripheral wall of organic plastic material incapable of complete collapse under the influence of said propellant, said wall being permeable to said propellant and impermeable to said materials so that said propellant will permeate said inner container to facilitate complete discharge of said second material when said valve is opened.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said wall is cylindrical.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said inner container is of low density polyethylene material.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said inner container includes an annular portion defining the mouth thereof and a relatively rigid supporting portion intermediate said mouth and said flexible wall.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said annular portion defines an axially-facing flange adapted for engaging a surface of a valve assembly and said inner container is of low density thermoplastic polyethylene material having a melt index of 1.0.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein said wall is cylindrical.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,295,727 1/1967 Kates et al 222136 3,372,839 3/1968 Hayes 222--94 3,416,709 12/1968 Schultz et al 22294 ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner H. S. LANE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 222l36

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