Dispensing – Processes of dispensing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-16
2001-11-20
Shaver, Kevin (Department: 3754)
Dispensing
Processes of dispensing
C222S101000, C222S390000, C100S210000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06318596
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to product dispensers. More specifically, this invention relates to an improved product dispenser for compelling a product from a container.
BACKGROUND
Product dispensers for compelling a flowable product from a deformable container are known in the art and are generally seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,206 issued to Wilson on a toothpaste dispenser; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,242 issued to Wolfe on a toothpaste extractor.
Certain prior art product dispensers include a screw or worm gear retained within a frame having a squeezing member received upon the screw to travel from a first end of the screw to a second end of the screw to compel a flowable product from a container. Once the squeezing member has reached the end of its travel at the second end of the screw, a user must actuate the squeezing member and, therefore, the screw in a reverse direction so that the squeezing member travels along the screw back towards the first end.
These prior art product dispensers require the squeezing member to travel along the length of the screw first to dispense product from a container and then reverse its direction along the screw without any work performed other than to return the squeezing member back to its origin. This requires unproductive time on the part of the user to reconfigure the dispenser for subsequent use. Further, this type of mechanism is inefficient and causes undue fatigue upon a user's fingers with manually actuated product dispensers and undue stress upon mechanical and electrical parts in an automatically actuated product dispenser, leading to accelerated mechanical and/or electrical failure of prior art product dispensers. In addition, these prior art product dispensers are generally complex in order to accommodate both forward and reverse travel of the squeezing member retained within the frame. These product dispensers have many moving parts and are not economical to manufacture or repair.
OBJECTIVE OF THE INVENTION
It has therefore been an objective of the present invention to provide an improved and relatively inexpensive apparatus to manufacture for compelling a product from its container.
It has been a further objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus for dispensing product from a container that is of simple and reliable construction.
It is another objection of the present invention to provide an apparatus for dispensing product from a container which is manually and efficiently operated and less prone to excessive wear and premature mechanical failure than prior art product dispensers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other objectives of the present invention are achieved with a product dispenser which has a frame with opposed first and second end walls defining first and second sockets and a dispensing hole through which a container nozzle may be received. The first and second sockets are preferably axially aligned to receive an elongate drive member releasably engaged therein. The drive member has a bearing member threadably received thereupon positioned proximate the second end wall opposite the dispensing hole when in an initial position. A product container positioned within the frame is acted upon by a user forcing the bearing member to travel along the drive member towards the dispensing hole while bearing against the product container so as to compel the product from the container. Once the bearing member has reached a terminal position proximate the dispensing hole, the user may remove the drive member from the frame and thereafter re-engage the drive member within the frame so that the bearing member is once again at the initial position opposite the dispensing hole to allow a user to once again actuate travel of the bearing member towards the dispensing hole.
The present inventive product dispenser has very few moving parts, is simply constructed and manually operated, thereby reducing costs and enhancing ease of manufacture. A user compels product from a container by simple mechanical actuation of the bearing member traveling along the drive member and, once the container has been emptied, the user simply removes the drive member from the frame, turns it around, re-engages the drive member with the frame after a new product container has been inserted and continues to use the product dispenser without having to reverse travel of the bearing member along the drive member away from the dispensing hole.
The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention shall be made apparent from the accompanying drawings and the description thereof.
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Shaver Kevin
Willatt Stephanie L.
Wood, Herron and Evans, L.L.P.
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