Dual chamber pump dispenser

Details Dual chamber pump dispenser Dual chamber pump dispenser

1996-07-22

2001-05-15

Derakshani, Philippe (Department: 3754)

Dispensing

Plural sources, compartment, containers and/or spaced jacket

With discharge assistant for each source

C222S260000, C222S321800, C222S327000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06230935

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to multi-chamber pump dispensers for various products. More particularly, this invention relates to multi-chamber pump dispensers which can dispense the same quantities of viscous materials having differing rheologies. Further this invention relates to a multi-chamber dispenser which utilizes membrane closures for the segregated dispensing of substances.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are various substances which are not compatible. When they are to be used together they must be packaged separately. This can be in two or more fully separate containers, two or more separate containers that are held together by interfitting sections or by means of a tie band, or two or more compartments of a single container. The most cost effective packages are single unitary packages which have a plurality of chambers. These are the most stable in handling and use. Also, they usually will be more compact and will require less material of manufacture. However, a problem with these various packages is the uniform dispensing of the substances from each of the compartments.
One area where multiple chamber containers are useful is in packaging and dispensing pastes such as dentifrices. In dentifrice formulations there can be components that are not highly compatible. These can be basic components and acidic components that are used to produce effervescence in a dentifrice. Likewise, these can be components such as baking soda and a peroxide such as hydrogen peroxide, or an organic peroxide such as urea peroxide These components cannot be packaged in a common container. They must be kept separate until ready for use. The use of dual chamber dispensers solves the problem of keeping such components separate and in addition provides a method for dosing the approximate amount of each component. Another area of use is in dispensing adhesives such as epoxy adhesives. The two reactive components can be kept separate until the time of use. They are then dispensed and promptly used prior to reactively hardening.
The state-of-the-art of dual chamber dispensers for dentifrices is disclosed in several United States Patents. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,562 there is disclosed the separate storage of two components in pressurized containers. There is a common activator for these containers and a mixing chamber prior to the paste being dispensed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,020,694; 5,078,963; 5,332,124 and 5,335,827 are a series of patents directed to embodiments of the same dual chamber dispenser. In this dual chamber dispenser the dispensing is activated by a manual force of pushing pistons mounted on piston rods upward into dual chambers that contain the substances to be dispensed. These patents also are directed to the structure necessary to maintain the substances separate until dispensed, having the two substances converge when dispensed, the containment structure, and the refill structure. However, the dispenser in each of these patents is conceptually the same dispenser and is activated by a manual force on piston rods that is transferred to a piston in each chamber.
Dual chamber dispensers also are exemplified by the pump dispenser disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,627. This patent discloses a dual chamber dispenser which utilizes dual bellows pumps that are activated by means of a common lever actuator. In this dispenser the components of each of the chambers is delivered in a different ratio. The pistons in this dispenser are drawn upwardly by means of a suction force in distinction to the use of piston rods that push a piston and exert a positive pressure on the paste to be dispensed.
In the present dispenser various problems with regard to the prior art dispensers are overcome. The pumping mechanism is of the suction type and can dispense essentially equal amounts of substances having different rheologies. The dispenser is more compact and easier to handle and use. In addition, less plastic is needed for each dispenser resulting in an environmental saving. Further, since compact refill cartridges are used, the plastic usage is further decreased. The base and the pumping head are reused with only the cartridges disposed of after the contents have been depleted.
The present pump dispenser also has a unique technique for maintaining the two streams of substances being dispensed separate until use. The closure is a slit membrane closure which keeps each stream that is being dispensed separate. There is no cross-contamination of one substance with another. In a preferred embodiment each stream exists through a separate slit opening in the membrane. After dispensing the exterior surface of the membrane, closure can be cleaned if necessary. This can be done by cleaning the exterior surface.
This present multi-chamber dispenser solves these many problems. It is an advance in the art of multi-chamber dispensers, and particularly multi-chamber dispensers that pump substances by suction rather than by a direct force on a piston, such as through the use of an arrangement of a piston rod directly acting on a piston.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present pump dispenser is comprised of an upper section and a lower section. The upper section and the lower section preferably releasably fit together. The lower section is comprised of at least two tubular chambers which contain the substance to be dispensed. There also is a shroud which encircles the tubular containers and which connects to the upper section. This shroud preferable has apertures along each side wall which function as windows permitting an observation of the fill level of substance in each tubular container. The tubular containers preferably are removable from the shroud and the shroud separable from the upper section, and, as an option, the tubular containers are joined together at the top, bottom, or otherwise along a portion of their longitudinal surface. Additionally, in a preferred mode, the joined tubular containers are keyed to fit into the lower section in a single orientation. Replacement tubular chambers have a piston closing the bottom and a foil or other seal on the upper end. Further, at the lower end of the shroud of the lower section, as a part of the front surface, there is an extended foot portion to provide stability to the lower portion when supported on a surface during dispensing.
The upper section contains the pump means, pump actuator means and spout to deliver the substance contained in each of the tubular chambers. The pump means are adjacent to the lower part of the upper section and fit onto the top of each of the tubular containers of the lower section. The pump means preferably are a double valve, self-priming pump means, with a separate pump means fitted onto the top of each tubular chamber. Extending from each pump means is a channel that terminates in a spout, with each channel extending to the spout exit. At the spout exit there is a hinged closure which can be rotatable through a 180 degree arc or a slit membrane closure.
A slit membrane closure is a self-closing and self-sealing closure. It maintains the substance in the spout moist since there is minimal air contact. There can be one or more slits extending across both channel openings or separate slits for each channel. There will be a positive cut-off of the product being dispensed. Also, the membrane closure can be designed so that there is no mixing of the substances being dispensed through each channel, The slit can be a single slit traversing each channel or in the alternative there can be a pattern of slits across each channel. Optionally, the same slit can traverse both channels. The slit arrangement and design will be dependent on the substance being dispensed.
The pump consists of a two valve suction pump mechanism for each container. The pump mechanism can deliver essentially equal volumes of products from each chamber even if the rheologies of the products differ. It is a characteristic of the suction pump to be affected by the rheology of the substances being pumped. The delivery of equal volumes of such substances is

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