Dispensing – With discharge assistant – With material supply container and discharge assistant with...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-24
2001-09-18
Bomberg, Kenneth (Department: 3752)
Dispensing
With discharge assistant
With material supply container and discharge assistant with...
C222S383100, C222S383200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06290104
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a dispenser for dispensing liquids in the form of aerosols.
An existing type of dispenser comprises a pump mounted in sealed manner in the neck of a container by means of a fixing collar, and provided firstly with a metering internal chamber and secondly with a spray tube which projects to the outside where it is engaged in a plunger knob.
The spray tube is suitable for being fed by the metering chamber and for communicating with a transverse ejection duct equipped with a spray nozzle.
Sometimes, the ejection duct and the spray nozzle are formed on the plunger knob which is mounted to move axially with the spray tube.
Unfortunately, such a configuration prevents any cladding from being disposed over the top portion of the dispenser, and in particular of the pump, because such peripheral cladding would then form a screen for the spray jet, whose position varies axially.
Furthermore, in conventional dispensers, the head loss between the metering chamber and the nozzle is often large, which gives rise to spraying defects in terms both of intensity and of precision or fineness.
In addition, certain liquids require good aeration before they are dispensed. That applies in particular when a foam of finely-divided liquid is to be obtained.
Finally, with prior dispensers, it is frequent for the ejection duct and the nozzle to retain a residue of the liquid after the desired metered quantity has been sprayed.
Unfortunately, if the liquid is quick-drying (as is the case, for example, for hair lacquers and thick liquids), there is a risk that the ejection duct and/or the nozzle might be blocked by the dry residue, thereby preventing any subsequent dispensing operation.
Moreover, the presence of a residual droplet of liquid on the nozzle or in the ejection duct, i.e. in contact with the outside environment, is not aesthetically pleasing and/or can lead to contamination.
An object of the present invention is to solve those technical problems satisfactorily.
The invention achieves this object by means of a dispenser for dispensing liquids in the form of aerosols, the dispenser being of the type comprising a pump engaged in sealed manner in the neck of a container and provided firstly with a metering internal chamber and secondly with a spray tube which projects to the outside, where it is engaged in a plunger knob, said spray tube being suitable for being fed by the metering chamber and for communicating with a transverse ejection duct equipped with a spray nozzle, said dispenser being characterized in that, upstream from the ejection duct, it is provided with a delivery or suction external chamber for delivering or for sucking in a mixture of air and of liquid, the spray tube opening out into said external chamber, and said external chamber enclosing a piston secured to the plunger knob.
According to an advantageous characteristic, said delivery external chamber surrounds the spray tube coaxially.
According to another characteristic, the bottom face of the plunger knob is provided with a cylindrical bore having grooved walls and serving to cover the end portion of the spray tube while enabling the liquid to pass through towards the delivery external chamber.
According to yet another characteristic, said piston is carried by the bottom edge of a cylindrical end-piece which is preferably formed by the wall of the bottom bore of the plunger knob.
In a particular embodiment, said delivery external chamber is defined laterally firstly by the outside wall of the spray tube and secondly by the inside wall of a cylindrical sleeve carried by the collar serving to fix the pump.
In a variant, the end wall of the delivery chamber is constituted by a portion of the top face of a flange which bears axially against the pump and transversely against the outside wall of the spray tube.
More specifically, the flange forms a link spacer between the side wall of the collar and the sleeve, and preferably the ejection duct is provided in the thickness of the flange.
In another variant, the inlet orifice of the ejection duct is situated in the bottom portion of the external chamber.
In yet another variant, said piston is formed by a plane annular face with a sloping peripheral edge, optionally formed by a flexible lip.
Operation of the dispenser of the invention is optimized when the volume of said delivery chamber is equal to the volume of the metering chamber of the pump.
In a specific embodiment, the dispenser further comprises a locking collar clad externally with a ferrule which is provided firstly with an orifice coming to face the spray nozzle, and secondly with a shoulder coming into abutment against the top edge of the collar, and forming a top abutment for the plunger knob.
To this end, the plunger knob has a peripheral retaining rim held captive under the shoulder of the ferrule.
In yet another embodiment, the bottom face of the collar is provided with a groove forming a vent for the pump.
Preferably, this groove is provided in the bottom face of the flange.
The dispenser of the invention enables a metering chamber that is internal to the pump to be coupled to a delivering and mixing chamber that is external to said pump.
This coupling makes it possible to compensate the head losses due to the liquid traveling from the container to the outlet of the nozzle, and thus to guarantee a spray rate that is more vigorous.
Mixing the liquid with the air contained in the delivery external chamber is performed under pressure and thus results in better uniformity of the sprayed metered quantity.
In addition, after spraying, the plunger knob rising again under the action of the pump mechanism generates suction in the external chamber, so that any liquid remaining in the ejection duct and/or in the nozzle is sucked back in.
Thus, it is no longer necessary to clean the nozzle after spraying.
Finally, the fact that the nozzle is in a fixed position makes it possible to clad the pump with the ferrule, and also to obtain higher jet precision.
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patent: 4227628 (1980-10-01), Parsons
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patent: 5181635 (1993-01-01), Balderrama et al.
patent: 5425746 (1995-06-01), Montaner et al.
patent: 5692650 (1997-12-01), Wolter et al.
patent: 5709325 (1998-01-01), Renault
Bougamont Jean-Louis
DuMont Pierre
Lompech Herve
Bacon & Thomas PLLC
Bomberg Kenneth
Rexam Sofab
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