Dispensing – With discharge assistant – With material supply container and discharge assistant with...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-23
2001-07-10
Kaufman, Joseph A. (Department: 3754)
Dispensing
With discharge assistant
With material supply container and discharge assistant with...
C222S541500, C222S541900
Reexamination Certificate
active
06257461
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to media dispensers and to methods for producing a dispenser unit or other workpiece. Such media may be pellets or fluid media, such as gaseous, liquid, pasty, creamy or powdery, i.e. trickling media. The dispenser is held single-handedly and actuated simultaneously by the same hand to discharge the medium. It may be provided merely for a single medium discharge or for any number of repeated discharges, e.g. by it automatically returning to its initial or rest position after each discharge. Most or all components of the dispenser are composed of plastics or as injection-molded parts insensitive to the medium.
Usually the cooperating and thus complicated components of the dispenser are produced separately and then assembled, involving corresponding expenditure. This often also applies when the components are produced in one part and then dismembered before being assembled. It is therefore advantageous to produce or cast the components integral as a module, to then avoid dismembering and to directly transfer the components from their mutual production posture or casting position into their mutual operating posture. In this positon the components are either mutually movable, i.e. able to assume numerous operating positions or they may be rigidly interconnected. When so produced, fragments or ridges of the severed joint or nominal severing point may interfere, e.g. by damaging the guiding faces or others with their division faces when transferring the two components. Also the division or fracture faces may have differing, for example, jagged shapes for which a corresponding accommodating space needs to be created in the operating posture.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a dispenser or a method for producing a module which obviates the disadvantages of prior art constructions or as described. Another object is to achieve the cited advantages. A further object is to achieve precisely definable parting faces when severing the joint. A still further object is to permit simple production. Another object is to make the dispenser functionally reliable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention the severable joint between the two components is separated by shearing or any other equivalent disconnecting procedure. Thereby the cutting force flow in the joint while being severed leads to a crack-free or smooth parting face without release of particles because of slight plastification of the connecting material. This is particularly assured when the maximum transverse strain reaches only the yield point of the connecting material. Contrary thereto the parting face may be grainy and rough in a stress condition in which the higher shear breaking limit is reached. It is particularly simple to achieve this shear cutting when the two components are configured like the punch and die of a stamp.
The invention is suitable for numerous components of a dispenser or other workpieces. For example, the components may be two casing parts, such as a main casing and a cover of a pressure cylinder, pump, valve, piston unit, discharge head or the like or two valve elements. Furthermore, the components may be sections of a medium duct. The components may be divided or reciprocally transferable into the operating posture transverse respective parallel to their axis.
The invention is particularly useful for an outlet or nozzle unit, the nested components or nozzle bodies of which serve to transversely deflect the medium once or more times. Reference is made to U.S. Ser. No. 794,983 (filed: Feb. 5, 1997) for including the features and effects in the present invention.
The connecting member joining the two components in the first position, namely in production, is a projection directly connecting in one part to two smooth and mutually angular faces of the two components. The connecting member extends up to the common corner zone of these faces and connects these faces via an inclined surface which may be planar, concave or convex. Cross-sectionally this projection is thus triangular or isosceleous. The legs of the projection adjoin the cited flange facings of the two components.
The connecting member is spaced from one or both remote faces of the individual component, which transversely adjoin the associated flange or connecting face. Thus no ruptured faces occur when severed at these faces. The edges commonly formed by these faces and the connecting face may, however, in the casting state directly adjoin the associated edges of the other component similar to a microthin joint. This joint has, as compared to the connecting member, significantly less strength, such as shear strength, so that it may be parted by shearing or shear cutting practically without additional need of force and may be already parted when the connecting member is not yet entirely severed. Only a single connecting member is or opposing connecting members are provided on two mutually opposing sides. Such connecting members are absent on the sides oriented transverse thereto which may only have the microthin joints. The microthin joint may thus be arcuated or annularly closed. Thereby interconnected edges of the two components extend directly up to each other at a sharp angle. Thus in cross-section the associated internal surface of the one component transits linearly into the associated external surface of the other component at the butt joint of these two edges.
The largest cross-section of the connecting member measures less than two, one, half or two-tenths of a millimeter. The length of the cited joining legs may be e.g. a tenth of a millimeter. Over its length the connecting member has constant cross-sections. This length too amounts less than one of the values cited, particularly a third of a millimeter. Thus the latter length is greater than all cross-sectional edge dimensions of the connecting member. A suitable material is polyethene or a material having similar properties.
For operationally positionally securing the components catch or snap members are provided. When attaining the operating posture these members resiliently snap back into mutual positive engagement. Prior to attaining this working or operating posture these members mutually resiliently urge each other back. Thereby only one snap member may be resilient whilst the other remains rigidly positioned.
In the operating posture the individual component may also be positionally secured by abutting on the other component. This stop can act counter the locking action of the catch member. The stop of the one component comes into engaging contact with the other component only on a very last and small portion of the entire displacement path.
The adjoining corner edges of the two components or the associated microjoint may also not be annular, i.e., interrupted along an edge which is non-angled continuous. Correspondingly, the guide opening serving as the cutting socket or die may be cross-sectinally open on this side, i.e. in the casting state thus that the internally received component is not at all guided on this side over a first portion of the displacement path and then enters a guiding part which positively guides the component also on this side. In a transverse view this guiding side may be overlapped on the left and right by guide projections, whilst being freely exposed inbetween. Thus a medium passage is formed between the guide projections. This passage emanates from the opposite guiding face of the receiving component and traverses the received component, namely straight. The medium can flow along between these guiding faces of the two components.
In a preferred arrangement the connecting member is left only on a sole of the components, after severing, particularly on the received component. The division face of the other component then serves over the full displacement path firstly as a sliding face and then for positionally holding the counter component by permanently resting on this member in the operating posture. For this and the other effects cited the
Ing. Erich Pfeiffer GmbH
Kaufman Joseph A.
Quarles & Brady LLP
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