US3731851A

US3731851A - Particulate material dispenser

Info

Publication number: US3731851A
Application number: US00119302A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Rauh
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-02-26
Filing date: 1971-02-26
Publication date: 1973-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 1990-05-08

Abstract

A particulate material dispenser from which a metered amount of particulate material can be discharged. The dispenser includes a flexible resilient container having a bottom end provided with a tubular neck portion forming a discharge opening for the container. A plug at the tubular neck portion has an outer closure end normally closing the container and an inner closure end also closing the container when the latter is compressed to discharge material, the plug being formed with an annular groove between its outer and inner closure ends so that this groove which normally communicates with the interior of the container will determine the amount of material discharged therefrom when the inner closure end of the plug is displaced into the tubular neck portion. The plug is connected with a stem which extends axially along the interior of the container to the top end thereof where the stem is fixed with the container so that when the top end of the container is displaced toward the bottom end thereof the plug will be shifted to discharge material from the container. A base is connected either with the tubular neck portion or with the plug itself to provide a support for the container. The container wall is formed with grooves and ridges which are designed to facilitate compression and expansion of the container without capturing any particulate material in these grooves.

Description

United States Patent [191 Rauh [54] PARTICULATE MATERIA DISPENSER [75] Inventor: James Rauh, Union City, NJ.

[73] Assignees: Milton R. Stanson, New York, N.Y.; James Rauh, Union City, NJ. part interest to each 22 Filed: Feb. 26, 1971 21 Appl.No.:119,302

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 796,760, Feb. 5, 1969,

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,154,222 10/1964 Heckman ..222/2l3 3,342,379 9/1967 Foley 3,465,921 9/1969 Mullan ..222/2 1 2 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 681,646 3/1964 Canada ..222/365 May 8, 1973 Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner.lohn P. Shannon Att0rney-Steinberg & Blake [57] ABSTRACT A particulate material dispenser from which a metered amount of particulate material can be discharged. The dispenser includes a flexible resilient container having a bottom end provided with a tubular neck portion forming a discharge opening for the container. A plug at the tubular neck portion has an outer closure end normally closing the container and an inner closure end also closing the container when the latter is compressed to discharge material, the plug being formed with an annular groove between its outer and inner closure ends so that this groove which normally communicates with the interior of the container will determine the amount of material discharged therefrom when the inner closure end of the plug is displaced into the tubular neck portion. The plug is connected with a stem which extends axially along the interior of the container to the top end thereof where the stem is fixed with the container so that when the top end of the container is displaced toward the bottom end thereof the plug will be shifted to discharge material from the container. A base is connected either with the tubular neck portion or with the plug itself to provide a support for the container. The container wall is formed with grooves and ridges which are designed to facilitate compression and expansion of the container without capturing any particulate material in these grooves.

7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED 81975 SHEET 1 OF 2 FIG! FIG. 4

FIG.3

' INVENTOR. JAMES .RAUH

. ATTORNE Y5 BY I P -mm 8W 3,731,851

' sum 2 UP 2 FIG. 5

70' FIG. 8

INVENTOR. JAMES RAUH BY I ATTORNEYS PARTICULATE MATERIAL DISPENSER CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 796,760, now abandoned, filed Feb. 5, 1969 and entitled DISPENSER FOR PAR- TICULATE MATERIALS.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to dispensers for particulate materials.

In particular, the present invention relates to that type of dispenser which is capable of being actuated to dispense a metered amount of particulate material.

The dispenser of the invention may be used for any powdery or granular materials.

Although dispensers of this general type are known, up to the present time such dispensers have been burdened with serious drawbacks. Thus, for example, considerable difficulty has been encountered in connecting the plug which normally closes the container to the latter for proper movement with respect to the container so as to discharge the metered amount of particulate material. This problem has been aggravated by the fact that known dispensers of this type rest in an upright position where their discharge ends are at the top of the container, thus making it necessary to fix the plug internally to the bottom end wall which must at the same time serve as a support for the container. Therefore, it has been essential to provide the bottom end wall of such conventional containers with the relatively large dimensions and with complex configurations for providing the required fixing of the plug to the bottom end wall of the container, and this latter fixing has often required parts which must be assembled with and disassembled from the container in order to fix and release the plug thereto.

There are also containers of the above general type provided with convolutions or the like to facilitate expansion and contraction of the container. However, the

drawback with such construction is that the particulate material becomes situated within the grooves of the convolutions so that the particulate material itself works against the desired compression and expansion of the container.

Also, when conventional containers of the above general type become empty, considerable difficulties have been encountered in refilling the containers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a particulate material dispenser which will avoid the above drawbacks.

In particular, it is is an object of the present invention to provide a particulate material dispenser which'is capable of connecting the plug to the container in an exceedingly simple and highly effective manner avoiding all of the problems encountered with the conventional containers.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a particulate material dispenser with a container which will not have any tendency to capture particulate material in the grooves of convolutions of the container so that there is no resistance to compression of the container.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a container of the above general type which can readily be refilled as required.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a container of the above general type which can be very stably supported when it is not used and which can be very easily manipulated for the purpose of discharging a metered amount of material from the container.

Also it is an object of the present invention to provide a dispenser of the above general type which is made up of components which are small in number and of simple rugged construction rendering the dispenser of the invention easy and inexpensive to manufacture and providing it with components which are easy to as semble and disassemble.

According to the invention the particulate material dispenser includes a container which is made of a flexible resilient material and which has a bottom end formed with a discharge opening defined by a tubular neck portion of the container which is situated at the bottom end thereof. The container has a top end which is at a given distance from the bottom end thereof when the container is in an expanded position of non-use. A plug means is situated at the region of the. bottom end of the container in the interior thereof for closing the tubular neck portion to prevent material from discharging from the container. This plug means has a bottom end portion provided with an outer closure end slidably engaging the tubular neck portion at the interior thereof when the container is in its expanded position of non-use so as to close the discharge opening at this time. This plug means has an inner closure end situated inwardly of its outer closure end and the plug means is formed between its inner and outer closure ends with an annular groove which communicates with the interior of the container when the latter is in its expanded position of non-use. Thus, when the plug means is displaced outwardly particulate material in the groove of the plug means will be discharged with the inner closure end closing the tubular neck to control the amount of particulate material which is discharged. An elongated stem extends along the central axis of the container from the plug means and has an upper end situated at the region of the top end of the container. A connecting means connects the upper end of the stem to the top end of the container so that the top end of the container can be displaced toward the bottom end thereof for displacing the plug means to discharge a metered amount of particulate material. The bottom end portion of the plug means and the tubular neck portion of the container form a pair of portions situated at the region of bottom of the container. A base means is fixed to one of these portions to provide a support for the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of this application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a partly sectional elevation of one embodiment of a dispenser according to the invention, part of the container of FIG. 1 being broken away to show details at the interior of the container;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the enlargement at the top of the stem which extends from the plug means;

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of the manner in which the structure of FIG. 1 operates;

FIG. 5 is a partly sectional elevation of another embodiment of a dispenser according to the invention;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the structure of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of part of the container of FIG. 5 in its expanded position of non-use;

FIG. 8 is a schematic representation of the structure of FIG. 7 in the position which it assumes upon compression of a container to dispense material therefrom.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a dispenser 10 according to the present invention for dispensing a metered amount of particulate material. This dispenser 10 includes a container 12 which is made of a flexible resilient material. Thus, the container 12 may be molded from any suitable plastic material which is elastic in nature so that it can be compressed and will then by its own inherent resiliency expand back to its original unstressed condition. The container 12 has a bottom end 14 provided with a tubular neck portion 16 which defines a discharge opening 18 through which particulate material in the container will discharge. The container 12 has a top end 20 situated at a given distance from the bottom end 14 when the container 12 is in its expanded position of non-use. The container 12 is shown in this latter position in FIG. 1.

Situated within the container 12 at the region of its bottom end 14 is a plug means 22. This plug means 22 is made of any solid material such as a suitable plastic from which the plug means is molded. The plug means 22 has a bottom end portion 24 where the plug means is provided with an outer closure end 26 slidably engaging the inner surface of the tubular neck portion 16 in the position of the parts shown in FIG. 1, so that in this way the plug means 22 will close the container 12 to prevent the material from discharging therefrom. This plug means has also an inner closure end 28 of the same diameter as the outer closure end 26. Thus, when the plug means 22 is displaced downwardly, as viewed in FIG. 1, with respect to the container 12, the inner closure end 28 will slidably engage the inner surface of the tubular neck portion 16 to close the container 12 and also prevent material from discharging therefrom. Between the outer closure end 26 and the inner closure end 28 the plug means 22 is formed with an annular groove 30 which communicates with the interior of the container 12 in the position of the parts shown in FIG. 1. Thus, when the plug means 22 is displaced downwardly with respect to the container 12, an amount of material which is determined by the volume of the groove 30 will be dispensed out of the container.

An elongated stem 32 is fixed to and extends upwardly from the plug means 22. This stem 32 is for example, molded integrally with the plug means 22. The stem 32 has an upper end 34 where a connecting means 36 serves to connect the upper end 34 of the stem 32 to the top end 20 of the container 12, so that when this top end 20 is displaced downwardly the stem 32 together with the plug means 22 will be displaced downwardly with respect to the container for discharging material therefrom in the manner described above.

As is apparent from FIG. 1, the container 12 has a side wall 38 extending upwardly from the tubular neck portion 16. This side wall 38 is connected at the edge 40 to the top end wall 42 which forms the top end 20 of the container. It is at the central region of the top end wall 42 that the connecting means 36 is situated with the stem 32 extending along the central axis of the container which is surrounded by the tubular neck portion 16.

The connecting means 36 is formed by an upper hollow part 44 of the container at the central region of the top end wall 42. Between the central top hollow part 44 and the wall 42 which is of a generally frustoconical configuration the container has an annular constricted part 46. The connecting means 36 also includes an enlargement 48 capable of snapping into the hollow part 44 and normally situated above the constricted part 46 for the purpose of releasably connecting the stem 32 with the top end 20 of the container 12. As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3, the enlargement 48 as well as the hollow part 44 are of a non-circular cross section which in the illustrated example is of a gnerally square configuration, in a plane normal to the central axis of the container. The enlargement 48 is formed with a pair of perpendicular slits 50 which intersect each other and extend axially along the container, these slits providing the enlargement 48 with springy portions capable of adapting themselves to the particular dimensions of the hollow part 44. Because of the resilient yieldability of the material of the container 12 it is a simple matter for the operator to introduce the enlargement 48 into the container through the neck portion 16 thereof, and to then displace the stem 32 and the plug means 22 into the position shown in FIG. 1 with the hollow part 44 yielding sufficiently at the constricted part 46 to permit the enlargement 48 to snap into the hollow part 44. Through these simple operations it is possible to assemble the components.

The container 12 normally has the position shown in FIG. 1 where the discharge opening 18 is at the bottom end 14 of the container. In order to provide a stable support for the container a base means 52 is provided. In the illustrated example this base means is in the form of a simple plate which may be either molded with or joined in any way to the bottom end portion 24 of the plug means 22. The plate 52 has a fiat bottom surface providing a stable support for the dispenser 10 on any suitable horizontal surface such as a table top, counter top, or the like. The base plate 52 has a peripheral edge extending laterally beyond the bottom end portion 24 of the plug means 22 and engaging the bottom end face of the tubular neck portion 16 when the container 12 is in its expanded position of non-use as shown in FIG. 1. Thus, the base means 52 will on the one hand provide a stable support for the container and will on the other hand limit the extent to which the plug means 22 can be moved inwardly toward the interior of the container so that the parts will assume the position shown in FIG. 1 when they are not used.

In order to facilitate expansion and contraction of the container the top end wall 42 is provided with the wavy configuration illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4. Thus, the top end wall 42 is provided for this purpose with a series of annular convolutions 56 which are distributed as illustrated in FIG. 1 approximately along an angle of 45 with respect to the axis of the container, so that the generally frustoconical top end wall 42 extends inwardly from the edge 40 where it intersects the side wall 38 generally along a cone which has an apex angle of 90. This construction provides the container, as viewed at its interior, with a series of grooves 58 and ridges 60 which alternate with each other. It will be noted that the interiors of the grooves 58 are inclined downwardly toward the interior of the container and situated at the top end 20 thereof so that there is no tendency for any of the particulate material to remain in the grooves 58.

In order to operate the dispenser the operator will simply depress the part 44 generally along the central axis toward the bottom end 14. The filling of the hollow part 44 by the enlargement 48 provides the hollow part 44 with a hard substantially incompressible characteristic which greatly facilitates engaging the container at the part 44 and depressing this part 44 downwardly along the container axis. This will result in an operation as illustrated in FIG. 4 according to which the top wall 42 will become of asomewhat shorter length. Actually the extent to which the radial length of the top wall 42 diminishes during compression of the container is ap proximately one-half the actual distance that the hollow part 44 is moved downwardly along the axis, so that l the size of the ridges 60 and grooves 58 is altered only to a small degree while the convolutions 56 are crowded somewhat closer to each other with the grooves 58 remaining open and directed downwardly toward the interior of the container. In this way a relatively small number of convolutions 56 suffice to provide for proper operation of the container without any possibility of capturing particulate material in the convolutions. The diameter of the wall 38 along its top edge 40 does not change during compression and expansion of the container so that below the edge 4t) the container remains substantially unchanged during expansion and compression of the container.

It is to be noted that the container is never filled so that the entire interior space thereof is occupied by particulate material. In order to till the container, once it has emptied, the plug 22 and stem 32 are simply pulled out with the hollow part 44 yielding also at this time. The container 12 with its axis generally horizontal can now be held and particulate material can be poured into the container until the particulate material fills approximately below a half of the horizontal container 12. Then the plug can be reintroduced with the enlargement 48 passing over the particulate material and again being snapped into the hollow part 44 after which the container can be set on its base 52 and dispensing again taking place as required. It will be noted that if during filling of the container any particulate material should happen to enter into the grooves 58, this particulate material will simply fall out of the grooves when the container is set on the base 52.

It is to be noted that due to the non-circular configuration of the hollow part 44 and the mating enlargement 48 the stem 32 and the plug means 22 cannot turn about the container axis with respect to the container.

According to the embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in FIGS. 5-8, the dispenser 70 has a con tainer 72 which may be made of the same material as the container 12. This container 72 has a bottom end 74 provided with a tubular neck portion 76 which coacts with a plug means 78 in the same way that the tubular neck portion 16 coacts with the plug means 22. Thus, the plug means 78 has an outer closure end 80 at its bottom end portion 82 and an inner closure end 84 separated from the outer closure end 80 by an annular groove 86. This plug means 78 coacts with the tubular neck portion 76 in exactly the manner described above in connection with FIG. 1. The bottom end portion 82 is provided with a peripheral lip 88 engaging the bottom end of the tubular neck portion 76 when the container 72 is in its expanded position of non-use shown in FIG. 5. At its top end 90 the container 72 has a cen tral region provided with the hollow part 92 into which the enlargement 94 of the stem 96 can snap, with a constricted part 98 being provided between the hollow part 94 and the substantially frustoconical top end wall 100, so that with this construction also it is possible to assemble the stem 96 with the top end 90 of the container 72 in the manner described above in connection with FIG. 1;. The enlargement 94 is identical with the en largement 48 and is split in the same way, and the hollow part 92 and constriction 98 are identical with the hollow part 44 and constriction 46.

The embodiment of FIG. 5 differs from that of FIG. 1 in that it has a base means 102 in the form of an extension of the container 72 at the bottom end of the neck portion 76 thereof. Thus the base means 102 of this embodiment includes an inner annular region 104 which extends laterally from the bottom end of the .tubular neck portion 76 and an outer annular portion 106 which extends downwardly from the outer periphery of the annular portion 104. Thus, this portion 106 of the base means 102 terminates in a bottom circular edge 108 which forms a stable support for the container 72 by reason of the relatively large diameter of the edge 108.

A further distinction of the embodiment of FIG. 5 with respect to that of FIG. 1 resides in the fact that the embodiment of FIG. 5 does not have the annular convolutions 56. The top wall which is also of a generally frustoconical configuration does have a wavy configuration, and of course the top wall 42 of FIG. 1 has a wavy configuration.

However, in the case of FIG. 5, the wavy configuration is provided by way of a plurality of grooves 110 which extend radially with respect to the central axis of the container 72 and which are of a substantially V- shaped cross section. These grooves 110 start at the region of the constricted part 98 and extend radially to the edge 112 defined between the side wall 114 and the top wall 100. The grooves 110 provide the edge 112 with a wavy configuration also. From the edge 112 the grooves 110 continue downwardly along the side wall M4 while becoming gradually narrower until they terminate substantially at the region of the widest part of the container 72, as indicated in FIG. 5. Thus, it will be noted that with this construction there are also ridges and grooves formed at the top wall 100, and there is no possibility of any particulate material being captured within the grooves.

With this embodiment the enlargement 94 will also lend rigidity to the hollow part 92 so that the latter is available for pushing the top end 90 toward the bottom end 74 of the container 72 when it is desired to dispense material out of the container 72. The grooves 110 have the configuration shown in FIG. 7 when the container 72 is in its expanded position of non-use, and at this time there is a dimension a along the edge 112 at each groove 110. As a result of depression of the hollow part 92 in order to displace the plug means 78 downwardly with respect to the container 72, the groove 110 tends to flatten, straightening the groove along the edge 1 12 and slightly increasing the diameter of the container 72 at the edge 112 so that now each groove will have a configuration as schematically represented in FIG. 8 according to which the groove extends circumferentially around the axis and has at the edge 112 the dimension b shown in FIG. 8 which is slightly larger than the dimension a shown in FIG. 7. Therefore, with this construction the container is readily compressed to dispense material and quickly assumes automatically due to its inherent resiliency its expanded position of non-use shown in FIG. 5.

The stem 96 and plug means 78 can be removed and replaced with the embodiment of FIGS. 58 in exactly the same way as described above in connection with FIGS. 1-4. Also the container is filled in the same way.

It will be noted from FIG. 6 that the hollow part 92 as well as the enlargement 94 have the non-circular substantially square configuration described above in connection with FIGS. 1-4.

It will thus be seen that with both embodiments of the invention the entire dispenser is made up of only two primary components namely the container and the unit which forms the plug means and stem together with the enlargement which snaps into the hollow part of the container.

No additional parts are required for the purpose, for example, of fastening the stem to the container. The end of the container to which the stem is connected need not be enlarged for the purpose of accommodating the stem. The situation of the tubular neck portion of the container at its bottom end eliminates the necessity of inverting the container each time it is to be put away and each time it is to be used. It is furthermore to be noted that with the embodiment of FIG. 5 the ho]- low circular base 102 forms a shield which protects the bottom end portion 82 of the plug means 78 and the tubular neck portion 76. Of course, the same is true of FIG. 1 in that the base plate 52 will protect engagement between the bottom end of the tubular neck portion 16 and any surface and at the same time the interface between the outer closure 26 and the inner surface of the neck 16 is covered by the plate 52.

All of the components of both embodiments are readily molded from readily available plastics in an inexpensive manner which enables the dispenser of the invention to be manufactured at low cost.

While with the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 there is a reduction in the length of the top wall 42 in the manner described above during compression of the container, it is to be noted that with the embodiment of FIGS. 5-8 the length of the top wall 100 considered radially from the constricted part 98 to the edge 112 does not change during compression and expansion of the container.

What is claimed is:

l. A particulate material dispenser comprising a container for the particulate material which is to be dispensed, said container being made of a flexible,

resilient material and having a bottom end formed with a discharge opening through which material discharges out of the container, said container having a central axis and including at the region of its bottom end a tubular neck portion which defines said discharge opening and which surrounds said axis, said container having a top end distant from said bottom end and situated when said container is in an expanded position of nonuse at a given distance from said bottom end, plug means situated in said container at the region of said tubular neck portion thereof for closing said tubular neck portion to prevent material from discharging therethrough, said plug means having a bottom end portion provided with an outer closure end which slidably engages said tubular neck portion at an inner surface thereof when said container is in said expanded position of non-use for closing said tubular neck portion, said plug means having an inner closure end situated inwardly of said outer closure end thereof and slidably engaging said inner surface of said tubular neck portion when said container is compressed with said top end thereof situated closer to said bottom end thereof than said given distance for closing said tubular neck portion also upon compression of said container to discharge material therefrom, said plug means being formed between said outer and inner closure end thereof with an annular groove communicating with the interior of said container when the latter is in its expanded position of non-use, so that a metered amount of particulate material will be discharged from the container when the latter is compressed to situate said inner closure end of said plug means in said tubular neck portion, an elongated stem extending along said axis and connected at one end to said plug means at the region of said inner closure end thereof and having an upper end situated at the region of said top end of said container, and connecting means connecting said upper end of said stem to said top end of said container for moving said stem and plug means along said axis when said container is compressed to situate said top end thereof closer to said bottom end thereof than said given distance for discharging material out of the container, and base means connected with one of said portions and forming a support for the container in its expanded position of non-use, said container including a side wall surrounding said axis and extending from said tubular neck portion upwardly toward said top end of said container, said container having at said top end a top wall of generally frustoconical configuration extending inwardly from a top edge of said side wall and terminating in a central region where said connecting means connects said upper end of said stem to said top end of said container, said container having at least at said top end wall thereof a wavy configuration defining grooves and ridges which facilitate expansion and contraction of said container and said grooves having hollow interiors inclined downwardly toward the bottom end of said container for preventing particulate material from being captured in said grooves.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said base means is fixed to said bottom end portion of said plug means, is situated downwardly beyond said tubular neck portion, and has a bottom flat surface for providing a support for the container.

above said annular constricted part thereof for releasably connecting said stem to the top end of said v container.

4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said enlargement is axially split for facilitating compression and expansion thereof and for adapting said enlargement to the dimensions of said top hollow part of said container.

5. The combination of claim land wherein said grooves are of a V-shaped cross section and extend radially with respect to said axis along said top end wall to said edge between said top endwall and side wall of said container, said grooves of V-shaped cross section extending downwardly along said side wall from said top end wall and forming along said edge between said top end wall and side wall portions capable of expanding outwardly when said top end of said container is displaced toward said bottom end thereof for increasing the diameter of'said container at the edge'between said top end wall and sidewall thereof when the con tainer is compressed to displace material out of said container.

6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said grooves and ridges are of an annular configuration surrounding said axis and distributed i along said frustoconical top end wall of said container between said central region thereof'and said edge between said top end wall and said side vifall of said container, said top end wall being radially compressible into the space surrounded by said edge of the top of said side wall when said container is compressed.

7. A particulate materialdispenser comprisingia container for the particulate material which is to be dispensed, said container being made of a-iflexible,

resilient material and having a bottom endformed with when said container is in an expanded position of nonuse at a given distance vfrom said bottom end, plug means situated in said container at the region of said tubular neck portion thereof for closing said tubular neck 5 portion to prevent material from discharging therethrough, said plug means having a bottom end portion provided with an outer closure end which slidably engages said tubular neck portion at an inner surface thereof when said container is in said expanded position of non-use for closing said tubular neck por tion, said plug means having an inner closure end situated inwardly of said outer closure end thereof and slidably engaging said inner surface ofsaid tubular neck portion when said container is compressed with said top end thereof situated closer to said bottom end thereof than said given distance for closing said tubular neck portion also upon compression of said container to discharge material therefrom, said plug means being formed between said outer and inner closure ends thereof with an annular groove communicating with the interior of said container when the latter is in its expanded position of non-use, so that a metered amount of particulate material will be discharged from the container when the latter is compressed to situ'ates'a'id inner closure end of said plug means in said tubular neck portion, an elongated stem extending along said axis and connected at one end to said plug means at the region of said iii-ner'closure end thereof and having an upper end situated at the region of said top end of said container, and connecting means connecting said upper end of said stem to said top end of said container for moving said stem and plug means along said axis when said container is compressed tofsituate said top end thereof closer to said bottom end th'ereof than said given distance for discharging material out of the con- 4 tainer, and base means connected with one of said pori tionsand forming a support for the container in its exganded position of non-use, said base means being fixed to said bottom end portion of said plug means, 1; being situated downwardly beyond said tubular neck portion, and having a bottom flat surface for providing a support for the container, said base means being in the form of a plate having a peripheral lip extending beyond said bottom end portion of said plug means and provided with an upper surface engaged by a bottom end surface of said container at said tubular neck portion thereof when said container is in said expanded position of non-use.

Claims

1. A particulate material dispenser comprising a container for the particulate material which is to be dispensed, said container being made of a flexible, resilient material and having a bottom end formed with a discharge opening through which material discharges out of the container, said container having a central axis and including at the region of its bottom end a tubular neck portion which defines said discharge opening and which surrounds said axis, said container having a top end distant from said bottom end and situated when said container is in an expanded position of non-use at a given distance from said bottom end, plug means situated in said container at the region of said tubular neck portion thereof for closing said tubular neck portion to prevent material from discharging therethrough, said plug means having a bottom end portion provided with an outer closure end which slidably engages said tubular neck portion at an inner surface thereof when said container is in said expanded position of non-use for closing said tubular neck portion, said plug means having an inner closure end situated inwardly of said outer closure end thereof and slidably engaging said inner surface of said tubular neck portion when said container is compressed with said top end thereof situated closer to said bottom end thereof than said given distance for closing said tubular neck portion also upon compression of said container to discharge material therefrom, said plug means being formed between said outer and inner closure end thereof with an annular groove communicating with the interior of said container when the latter is in its expanded position of non-use, so that a metered amount of particulate material will be discharged from the container when the latter is compressed to situate said inner closure end of said plug means in said tubular neck portion, an elongated stem extending along said axis and connected at one end to said plug means at the region of said inner closure end thereof and having an upper end situated at the region of said top end of said container, and connecting means connecting said upper end of said stem to said top end of said container for moving said stem and plug means along said axis when said container is compressed to situate said top end thereof closer to said bottom end thereof than said given distance for discharging material out of the container, and base means connected with one of said portions and forming a support for the container in its expanded position of non-use, said container including a side wall surrounding said axis and extending from said tubular neck portion upwardly toward said top end of said conTainer, said container having at said top end a top wall of generally frustoconical configuration extending inwardly from a top edge of said side wall and terminating in a central region where said connecting means connects said upper end of said stem to said top end of said container, said container having at least at said top end wall thereof a wavy configuration defining grooves and ridges which facilitate expansion and contraction of said container and said grooves having hollow interiors inclined downwardly toward the bottom end of said container for preventing particulate material from being captured in said grooves.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said connecting means includes a top hollow part of said container and an annular constricted part of said container situated between said top hollow part thereof and said frustoconical top end wall, and said connecting means including an enlargement at said upper end of said stem for snapping into said top hollow part of said container above said annular constricted part thereof for releasably connecting said stem to the top end of said container.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said grooves are of a V-shaped cross section and extend radially with respect to said axis along said top end wall to said edge between said top end wall and side wall of said container, said grooves of V-shaped cross section extending downwardly along said side wall from said top end wall and forming along said edge between said top end wall and side wall portions capable of expanding outwardly when said top end of said container is displaced toward said bottom end thereof for increasing the diameter of said container at the edge between said top end wall and side wall thereof when the container is compressed to displace material out of said container.

6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said grooves and ridges are of an annular configuration surrounding said axis and distributed along said frustoconical top end wall of said container between said central region thereof and said edge between said top end wall and said side wall of said container, said top end wall being radially compressible into the space surrounded by said edge of the top of said side wall when said container is compressed.

7. A particulate material dispenser comprising a container for the particulate material which is to be dispensed, said container being made of a flexible, resilient material and having a bottom end formed with a discharge opening through which material discharges out of the container, said container having a central axis and including at the region of its bottom end a tubular neck portion which defines said discharge opening and which surrounds said axis, said container having a top end distant from said bottom end and situated when said container is in an expanded position of non-use at a given distance from said bottom end, plug means situated in said container at the region of said tubular neck portion thereof for closing said tubular neck portion to prevent material from discharging therethrough, said plug means having a bottom end portion provided with an outer closure end which slidably engages said tubular neck portion at an inner surface thereof when said container is in said expanded position of non-use for closing said tubular neck portion, said plug means having an inner closure end situated inwardly of said outer closure end thereof and slidably engaging said inner surface of said tubular neck portion when said container is compressed with said top end thereof situated closer to said bottom end thereof than said given distance for closing said tubular neck portion also upon compression of said container to discharge material therefrom, said plug means being formed between said outer and inner closure ends thereof with an annular groove communicating with the interior of said container when the latter is in its expanded position of non-use, so that a metered amount of particulate material will be discharged from the container when the latter is compressed to situate said inner closure end of said plug means in said tubular neck portion, an elongated stem extending along said axis and connected at one end to said plug means at the region of said inner closure end thereof and having an upper end situated at the region of said top end of said container, and connecting means connecting said upper end of said stem to said top end of said container for moving said stem and plug means along said axis when said container is compressed to situate said top end thereof closer to said bottom end thereof than said given distance for discharging material out of the container, and base means connected with one of said portions and forming a support for the container in its expanded position of non-use, said base means being fixed to said bottom end portion of said plug means, being situated downwardly beyond said tubular neck portion, and having a bottom flat surface for providing a support for the container, said base means being in the form of a plate having a peripheral lip extending beyond said bottom end portion of said plug means and provided with an upper surface engaged by a bottom end surface of said container at said tubular neck portion thereof when said container is in said expanded position of non-use.