Dispensing – With discharge assistant – Insertable cartridge or removable container
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-18
2002-10-15
Doerrler, William C. (Department: 3754)
Dispensing
With discharge assistant
Insertable cartridge or removable container
C222S105000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06464112
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to self contained cartridges containing chemicals for use in conventional caulking guns, and more particular, the present invention relates to small, single-use, hand-held packaging for the containment and delivery of viscous, pasty reactive chemicals (primarily of the 2-component type, but also comprising 1-component reactive types) that are frequently used as adhesives, sealants, potting compounds, anchoring pastes, etc.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Both 1-component and multi-component (but preponderantly, 2-component) chemistries, which include adhesives, sealants, potting compounds, anchoring pastes, and the like (represented by such chemistries as epoxies, polyurethanes, polysulfides, acrylics, silicones, polyesters, etc.), are used throughout the world for bonding, sealing, encapsulating, anchoring and coating many different items in construction, manufacturing, aerospace, medical, transportation, consumer and other market areas. With 2-component chemistries, the two reactive materials are maintained separate from one another and unmixed until just prior to use. To use 2-component chemistries, the components are often mixed in a separate container and applied either using an automatic dispenser or manually. Alternatively, one frequently uses a specialized or custom dispenser having parallel cartridges to dispense the 2-component chemistries with the mixing being accomplished by a static mixer inside the dispensing nozzle.
Despite the inconvenience of having to mix 2-component chemistries or purchase specialty components prior to use, the industry considers 2-component chemistries superior in performance and prefers using 2-component chemistries in most applications. Generally, the industry prefers 2-component chemistries because they frequently have better physical and chemical properties than 1-component chemistries. However, while 2-component chemistries are currently and widely used in certain industries (both from bulk containers and from pre-loaded specialized packaging), such use has been restricted to using relatively expensive and relatively specialized application or dispensing equipment. Therefore, there is a need to provide a reactive-chemical dispensing cartridge packaging, which could be used for both 1-component or multi-component chemistries, that is capable of use in common, standard, inexpensive caulking guns of the type generally found in hardware stores, home centers, paint stores and the like.
It has been recognized previously by such inventors as, for example, Creighton (U.S. Pat. No. 3,323,682), Maziarz (U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,922) and Konuma (U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,066) that it would be advantageous to have a package that permitted the dispensing of 2-component chemistries from common, standard caulking guns, so that all users in all markets could take advantage of the high performance provided by such 2-component chemistries, while enjoying the low cost and ready availability of such standard dispensing equipment. Yet, none of the prior invention disclosures disclose a package design that is: uncomplicated to use by the applicator, technically feasible to manufacture (especially regarding the factory-filling of such containers with high viscosity, pasty materials), sufficiently rugged in its resistance to damage before use, economically viable overall, suitable for dispensing even high viscosity sealants or adhesives, easily recyclable, or comprehensively practical enough to be introduced into or gain acceptance by commercial markets.
Creighton, for instance, discloses no practical design, feasible method of manufacturing, or reasonable method of factory-filling his package with adhesives or sealants (and, consequently, this design has never been commercialized). The Maziarz design, while having found some commercial success, requires the use of a separate rigid adapter to permit the primary all-rigid package to be used in a standard caulking gun, and the maximum volume of material that can be placed into this primary package is only about ¼ to ½ the volume normally possible from packages typically used in such dispensing equipment (and the package cannot be readily recycled). The Konuma design also requires the use of a separate rigid adapter in order to be usable in a standard, common caulking gun. Also, the Konuma design involves a primary collapsible-film package that is much more prone to damage during transport, storage, adapter-insertion or use than typical rigid cartridges that are widely used in standard, common caulking guns.
One commercial package and product currently being sold in Europe (by Artur Fischer (UK) Ltd.—named “FIP 300 SF”) has a 2-part “sausage” or “chub”, sealed at each end with a strong metal clip, inserted into a rigid plastic caulking cartridge that can be installed in a common, standard caulking gun. Before use, the user pulls one end of the collapsible sausage, with a metal clip attached to it, through the treaded cartridge outlet port and cuts the metal clip is cut off with a knife—thus opening the sausage for dispensing. Then, the user screws a nozzle on the threaded outlet a, with the nozzle typically having a static mixer inside, and mixes/dispenses the 2-component, low viscosity, polyester anchoring mortar.
Several problems exist with this design. First, because the plastic film of the sausage is pulled into and left inside the narrow outlet of the cartridge, the wad of plastic film bunched up inside the outlet port can greatly restrict the flow of the chemical components during dispensing—which may only be a moderate problem if the viscosity of the fluids is very low (as in the case of this commercial “FIP 300 SF” product), but can be a great problem if the product viscosity is high and the product is pasty. Second, it is possible for the chemical components to contact and foul portions of the interior of the rigid cartridge either during dispensing or during spent-sausage removal from the rigid cartridge—making cartridge reuse or recycling very problematic or impossible, and messy in either case. Third, the rigid cartridge has several avenues of gaseous fluid communication between the outside atmosphere and the interior of the package that could partly endanger the shelf life of certain reactive sealants or adhesives during prolonged storage.
It is important to note that many previous inventors have described and, in some cases, commercialized 2-component specialized packaging that is suitable for use only in specialized, relatively expensive dispensing equipment, but not suitable for use in common, standard and inexpensive caulking guns. The commercial market place and the patent literature are replete with many instances of such inventions. Examples of such designs can be found in the works of Blette (U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,928), Sauer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,028), Koga (U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,251), Camm (U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,770), Vidal (U.S. Pat. No. 6,047, 861), Anderson (U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,919), Penn (U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,373), Schiltz (U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,860), Giannuzzi (U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,757), etc. The present invention, however, permits the use of such reactive materials in simple, affordable and readily available caulking guns, so that virtually everyone, in all industries, can enjoy the benefits of said reactive materials at a low overall cost.
Notably, previous attempts at creating a practical 2-component package for this use have not addressed the need to be able to factory-fill, in a practical manner, such packaging with high viscosity, pasty adhesives and sealants. Either this issue has not been dealt with at all in previously disclosed designs, or, when addressed, the methods outlined or implied have not been feasible. For instance, Keller (U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,510) describes a device that has some similarities to the present invention, but Keller's design calls for the collapsible-film pouches within the device to be attached to one or more relatively small diameter dispensing nozzles that cannot be practically used for filling the p
Summons Elliot P.
Summons Wayne L.
Bui Thach H.
Doerrler William C.
Holland & Hart LLP
Sashco, Inc.
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