Multiple orifice valve

Details Multiple orifice valve Multiple orifice valve

2001-03-02

2003-03-11

Yuen, Henry C. (Department: 3754)

Dispensing

Outlet element operated by pressure of contents

Spring form, resilient or compressible flow controller or...

C222S212000, C222S490000, C222S493000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06530504

ABSTRACT:

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
Not applicable.
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not applicable.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a valve for dispensing a product from a container. The valve is especially suitable for use in a dispensing closure for a flexible container which is squeezable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS POSED BY THE PRIOR ART
There are a wide variety of packages which include (1) a container, (2) a dispensing system extending as a unitary part of, or attachment to, the container, and (3) a product contained within the container. One type of such a package employs a dispensing valve for discharging a single stream of product (which may be a liquid, cream, or particulate product). See, for example, the package shown with the valve identified by reference number 3
d
n FIGS. 26-29 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,877.
The disclosures of U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,877 are incorporated herein by reference hereto. The package disclosed in the patent includes a flexible, resilient, self-sealing, slit-type valve at one end of a generally flexible bottle or container. The preferred embodiment of the valve is normally closed and can withstand the weight of the product when the container is completely inverted, so that the product will not leak out unless the container is squeezed. When the container is squeezed and the interior is subjected to a sufficient increased pressure, and/or when the exterior of the valve is subjected to suction, the valve opens. In the preferred embodiments described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,877, the valve stays open until the pressure differential across the valve drops below a predetermined value, then the valve then snaps closed. The valve can also open inwardly to vent air into the container when the pressure within the container is less than the ambient external pressure, and this accommodates the return of the resilient container wall from an inwardly squeezed condition to the normal, unstressed condition.
The accompanying drawings that form part of this specification include
FIGS. 1-4
which are simplified illustrations of the above-identified conventional valve. In
FIGS. 1-4
that form part of this specification, the valve is indicated generally by the reference number
303
. As shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, the valve
303
includes a marginal portion or flange
304
, and a valve head or head portion
305
connected to the flange
304
with a flexible connector sleeve
307
. The valve
303
has a single orifice
306
(
FIGS. 3 and 4
) which is normally closed and which is defined by four slits
350
which radiate laterally from an origin defined by a longitudinal axis
349
through the valve
303
as shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, the valve has an exterior side or surface
338
and an interior side or surface
339
. The valve
303
is installed on a container (not shown) so that the exterior side
338
faces outwardly and is exposed to the external ambient atmosphere. The interior side
339
faces the interior of the container and is exposed to the product and internal atmosphere within the container.
When a pressure differential is applied across the valve
303
as shown in
FIGS. 3 and 4
, the valve head portion
305
moves from an inwardly located position (
FIGS. 1 and 2
) to an outwardly located position (FIGS.
3
and
4
), and the slits
350
open. Flaps or petals
357
are defined by the slits
350
, and the flaps or petals
357
open as shown in
FIGS. 3 and 4
to permit the contents of the container to be discharged. Typically, the valve
303
can be opened in response to a pressure differential applied across the valve by sucking on the exterior of the valve and/or squeezing a flexible container to which the valve is mounted.
In one conventional form of the valve
303
, the valve closes after the pressure differential across the valve is reduced to, or below, a predetermined value which is lower than the minimum pressure differential necessary for initially opening the valve
303
.
The conventional valve
303
has a reduced thickness region at its center—at and adjacent the valve longitudinal axis
349
. The laterally outer peripheral portion of the valve head portion
305
is thicker than the center. Such a structure has been found to provide desirable operating characteristics, including various opening characteristics and closing characteristics as more fully described in the above-identified U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,877.
While the above-discussed conventional valve
303
functions extremely well in many applications for which it is designed, there are some applications and potential uses for a dispensing valve wherein it would be desirable to provide different discharge flow characteristics. The inventor of the present invention has discovered that it would be beneficial in some applications to be able to provide multiple streams of product from a dispensing end of a closure on a container.
The inventor of the present invention has considered modifying the conventional valve
303
so as to include two or more orifices which could dispense two or more product streams simultaneously from a single valve.
FIGS. 5-10
illustrate a prototype specimen of such a modified valve having three orifices, and the modified valve is designated generally by the reference number
403
in
FIGS. 5-10
.
The modified valve
403
has substantially the same shape and cross-sectional configuration as the conventional valve
303
discussed above with reference to
FIGS. 1-4
. The only difference is that the modified valve
403
has three orifices
406
, each defined by four slits
450
in the valve head portion
405
. Each orifice
406
defined by the slits
450
is laterally offset from the center of the valve (i.e., laterally offset from a longitudinal axis
449
passing through the center of the valve as shown in FIGS.
5
and
6
). With reference to
FIG. 6
, it can be seen that the three orifices
406
defined by the slits
450
are necessarily located in the thicker part of the valve head portion
405
. Further, some of the slits
450
or some portions of the slits
450
extend into thinner areas of the valve head portion
405
, while other slits
450
or portions of the slits
450
extend into thicker areas of the valve head portion
405
.
When a sufficient pressure differential is applied across the valve head portion
405
as shown in
FIGS. 7 and 8
, the valve head
405
moves from the inwardly recessed position to the outwardly extended position. As the pressure differential is increased, the valve orifices
406
begin to open (FIGS.
9
and
10
). As shown in
FIGS. 9 and 10
, each orifice
406
defined by the slits
450
is surrounded by four flaps or petals
457
A,
457
B,
457
C, and
457
D. Flap
457
A is closest to the center of the valve, flap
457
C is furthest from the center of the valve, and flaps
457
B and
457
D are at intermediate positions relative to the center of the valve compared to flaps
457
A and
457
C.
As can be seen in
FIG. 10
, flap
457
A can open further or wider than flap
457
C because flap
457
A has a thinner section
460
about which it bends compared to the thicker bending section
462
of the flap
457
C. The orifice flaps may be characterized as being unbalanced and opening unequally. The flaps which are closer to the center of the valve are generally thinner and weaker, and they open further than do the flaps which are in the thicker, outer region of the valve head portion. Also, the thin central region of the valve head portion
405
tends to temporarily deform into an outwardly convex configuration so that the orifices
406
are positioned in an angled orientation relative to the valve longitudinal axis
449
such that the open flow path for the discharging product tends to be oriented at a diverging angle relative to the longitudinal axis
449
. These conditions can cause the discharging product stream to be oriented at significant diverging angle relative to the longitudinal axis
449
of the valve. The product stream is schematically represented by the a

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