EP0691284B1 - Dispenser for pasty substances - Google Patents

Abstract

The press button (4) when activated opens and closes a centrally mounted closure valve (5) which is coupled to the piston (30) by a tie rod (25). This tie rod passes axially through the dispenser housing (1) so that the valve and piston interact with each other with each stroke of the press button. The tie rod has a holder (26) formed by a perforated radial disc so that it is held with a slight axial clearance in a guide cylinder (6) of the valve body (7). The housing has at the top edge area a neck (9) with reduced diameter to hold an applicator (10). <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a dispenser for pasty masses with a housing in which a piston which can only be displaced in the emptying direction and can be supported in the opposite direction by a locking mechanism against the inner wall of the housing is arranged and which has a head part and a pushbutton for displacing a portion of the mass to be dispensed , This has a centrally arranged shut-off valve which can be opened or closed with the actuation of the pushbutton, the valve and the piston being coupled by a pull rod which axially penetrates the housing and interacting with each stroke of the pushbutton. Such a dispenser is known from DE-U-83 07 898.

A different type of dispenser is known from EP 0 282 791 B1. In this case, a portion of the mass to be dispensed is displaced from the contents of the housing by a stroke of the pushbutton with simultaneous opening of a valve arranged centrally in the head part and emerges from a concave wall of the head part designed as an application surface. As soon as the pushbutton is relieved and the valve in the head part is closed, a vacuum is created in the level column below the head part that straightens up again, which pulls the piston in the direction of emptying. The portion of pasty mass displaced by actuating the deformable head part is added for the next dispensing operation. This means that there must be no air pockets in the filling column between the top of the piston and the bottom of the head section. This would partially or completely cancel the pumping effect. The known dispenser is consequently filled with the dispenser head pointing downward. In order that air trapped between the piston and the filling material can escape, the initial area of the housing inner wall is formed with longitudinal grooves.

From DE 30 45 048 C2, a dispenser for pasty masses is also known, with a piston which is displaceably arranged in the dispenser housing, migrates in the discharge direction and is blocked in the opposite direction, and with a pushbutton actuation on a bellows-type compressible head piece, with which a pull rod penetrating the piston is coupled. The pull rod is coupled to the piston with the interposition of an axial free passage in the head piece. The headpiece has a channel-shaped dispenser mouthpiece opening, the mouth of which can be closed with a stopper for storage. This stopper is removed when the dispenser is opened, after which the mouthpiece opening remains unlocked for further withdrawals. This can lead to the fact that the mass dries out in the area of the mouthpiece opening during a long period of inactivity, or that mass escapes when stored horizontally. Because after the headpiece has been actuated, pasty mass continues to penetrate for a while with the elasticity of the straightening headpiece again, under these circumstances the escape of mass from the unsealed mouthpiece cannot be ruled out.

The invention has for its object to further develop a dispenser for pasty masses of the type mentioned and to improve that the disadvantages and difficulties mentioned are overcome and the operating range of the push button is improved and in particular subsequent leakage of mass is prevented after actuation, and that a safe addition of the displaced portion Mass without damage even from small air pockets takes place and the dispenser is inexpensive to manufacture and assemble using simple structural means.

The object is achieved with the invention in a dispenser for pasty masses of the type mentioned in the preamble of claim 1 in that the push button is arranged laterally next to the head part and the head part is pressed together by a stroke of the push button (4) or Depressable head part is that the pull rod has a holder in the form of a perforated radial disc, with which it is held in a guide cylinder of the valve body with little axial clearance and with its end part facing the piston, with the interposition of an inner part acting on the piston head and acting opposite the wall-side locking mechanism Locked is non-positively coupled to the piston.

In the embodiment of the dispenser according to the invention, on the one hand the valve is opened when the pushbutton is actuated and on the other hand a predetermined portion of mass is brought out of the valve opening through the opened valve and made available. When the pushbutton is released, the valve closes, and the head part, which straightens up again to its relaxed shape, pulls the piston so far over the pull rod that it replenishes the dispensed mass regardless of a more or less large suction. The clearance of the tie rod connection in the head part produces a shorter stroke of the piston compared to a relatively larger actuation stroke when the shape of the head part changes.

The design of the dispenser according to the invention results in a simple and safely functioning actuation with a tight closure of the dispensing opening of the dispenser after the actuation while avoiding subsequent leakage or drying of mass.

At the same time, the special design of the actuators fulfills the requirement for using structurally simple means and a design that is favorable in terms of assembly, because the pull rod in the head part is gripped and held in such a way that it can be clipped in from the lower edge of the guide cylinder by its holder in the form of an open radial disk in the guide cylinder of the head part its end part can be inserted through the piston and clipped into the guide cylinder with the interposition of the internal locking mechanism present on the piston head without any assembly effort.

Further expedient refinements are provided in accordance with the subclaims.

The invention is shown in schematic drawings in preferred embodiments, further advantageous details of the invention being apparent from the drawings.

Fig. 1

im Längsschnitt einen Spender,

Fig. 1a

im Längsschnitt sowie in Vergrößerung das Oberteil des Spenders,

Fig. 2

eine Seitenansicht des Spenders nach Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

einen Längsschnitt durch das Spenderventil, in stark vergrößertem Maßstab,

Fig. 4

einen Längsschnitt durch eine andere Ausführung des Spenders,

Fig. 5

einen Schnitt durch den Spender entlang der Schnittebene V-V in Fig. 4,

Fig. 6

eine Seitenansicht eines Spenders mit Kindersicherung,

Fig. 7

eine Draufsicht auf den Spender mit Kindersicherung gem. Fig. 6,

Fig. 8

eine gegenständliche Darstellung eines Spenders beim Entsichern der Kindersicherung,

Fig. 9

eine gegenständliche Darstellung eines Spenders nach Entsichern der Kindersicherung,

Fig. 10

eine Ansicht eines Spenders mit einer anderen Kindersicherung.

Show it:

Fig. 1

in longitudinal section a donor,

Fig. 1a

in longitudinal section and in enlargement the upper part of the dispenser,

Fig. 2

2 shows a side view of the dispenser according to FIG. 1,

Fig. 3

a longitudinal section through the dispenser valve, on a greatly enlarged scale,

Fig. 4

a longitudinal section through another embodiment the donor,

Fig. 5

3 shows a section through the dispenser along the section plane VV in FIG. 4,

Fig. 6

a side view of a dispenser with child lock,

Fig. 7

a top view of the dispenser with child lock acc. Fig. 6

Fig. 8

a representational representation of a donor when unlocking the child lock,

Fig. 9

a representational representation of a donor after unlocking the child lock,

Fig. 10

a view of a donor with another parental control.

The dispenser for pasty masses shown in FIG. 1 has a housing (1) in which a piston (30) is arranged, which can only be moved in the emptying direction and supported in the opposite direction by a locking mechanism (31) against the inner wall (2) of the housing (1) is. The latter has elastic sealing lips (34) that seal in both directions on its outer circumference in the usual way. The dispenser has a head part (3) which can be pressed together or depressed by a stroke of a pushbutton (4), the pushbutton (4) being arranged laterally next to the head part (3) and pressing the pushbutton (4) openable or closable, in the middle arranged shut-off valve (5). The head part (3) can be covered by a cap (23) which can be assigned to the dispenser.

The valve (5) and the piston (30) are coupled by a pull rod (25) which axially penetrates the housing (1), interacting with each other in a special manner with each stroke of the pushbutton (4). This interaction is achieved according to the invention in that the pull rod (25) is held by a holder (26) in the form of a perforated radial disk in a guide cylinder (6) of the valve body (7) with little axial clearance and with its, the piston ( 30) facing end part (28) with the interposition of a locking mechanism (32) present on the piston crown (33) is non-positively coupled to the piston (30). With each working stroke of the push button (4), the housing cover (18) is pressed down and displaces a predetermined portion of the filling compound in the direction of the closing valve (5). To make this possible, the housing cover (18) is designed to be very elastic in the manner of a membrane with a relatively thin wall thickness, so that it yields under the pressure of the pushbutton (4) and practically performs a "pump stroke". At the same time, the valve mechanism is activated and the valve (5) opens by the head part (3) connected to the housing cover (18) with the funnel-shaped discharge (19) and the discharge tube (12) arranged thereon within the cap (11) of the Applicator (10), as can be seen from the enlarged representation of Figures 1a and 3, slides down in the direction of arrow (24) and thereby releases the valve plug (14) from its closed position in the valve opening (8) and releases it.

An expedient embodiment provides that the The housing (1) forms a neck (9) with a reduced diameter on the upper area, which receives the applicator (10), said neck having a cylindrical cap (11) which is provided with a valve opening (8) and can be opened downwards, in which a tube (12), which first extends upward from the head part (3) and forms part of the valve (5), slides axially displaceably and carries a valve plug (14) at its tip on star-shaped arms (13). In order to prevent filling compound from passing into the cap (11) from the tube (12) into the annular space formed between them, the tube (12) is designed with an annular, elastic sealing bead (50), as is better can be seen from Figure 3. This seal could alternatively be formed with a highly elastic sealing lip or with an O-ring.

The applicator (10) has a lateral opening (15) within which the pushbutton (4) is arranged, said pushbutton (4) being movably articulated on the gusset-like ribs (16) formed inside the applicator (10). Furthermore, the pushbutton (4) has on its outside a stop bead (17) designed as a stroke limiting element. This sits on the outer edge of the recess (15) and in this way limits the stroke. This prevents the housing cover (18) from being deformed too much and thus being overstretched or overstressed.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 1a, the pull rod (25) protrudes into the discharge (19) and is thus extended upwards over the holder (26). At the extended end it carries a centering plate (27). This has a valve function, by pressing the Housing cover (18) first reduced an annular gap with respect to the discharge (19) and then blocked, whereby the amount of filling material escaping during the working stroke of the key (4) is limited. In the interest of rational production in the plastic injection molding process and because of the possibility of easy demolding, the centering plate (27) and the pull rod (25) are each designed as an independent molded part and the two parts can be joined together by plugging on. The assembly of both parts - as is common in the mass production of small parts - can then be carried out inexpensively using automatic assembly machines.

The dispenser has an advantageous embodiment in that the pull rod (25) is provided with a corrugation (29) in an area just below the neck (9) of the housing (1). If the piston (30) slides over this corrugation (29) shortly before the final emptying, a clicking noise is caused, which indicates that the dispenser is about to be emptied.

The very advantageous embodiment shown in Figure 1 also provides that the housing (1) with stand base (20), storage cylinder (21), neck (9), cover (18) and head part (3) consists in one piece of medium-hard thermoplastic material. This simplifies assembly, reduces the number of parts belonging to the dispenser assembly and enables very economical production in large quantities. The more highly stressed elements of the dispenser, such as the piston (30), applicator (10), pushbutton (4), assignable cap (23) and the pull rod (25), on the other hand, can consist of a comparatively hard thermoplastic material.

Figure 1a shows the top of the dispenser in an enlarged view, from which the assignments of the aforementioned elements can be seen better. All elements are provided with reference numerals corresponding to FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 shows the dispenser in a side view, from which the shape of the applicator (10), which can be recognized, for example, by a transparent cap, can be seen.

In Figure 3, which has been partially described above, the structure of the valve (5) can also be seen particularly clearly in an enlarged representation. The valve plug (14), which tapers conically at both ends, is suitable for achieving a hermetic seal of the valve opening (8) with a low axial sealing force. When sliding down in the direction of arrow (24) of the discharge (19) belonging to the head part (3) with the discharge tube (12), the valve plug (14) is moved downward and releases the valve opening (8). The valve arrangement is uncomplicated, expedient and suitable for inexpensive manufacture.

Figure 4 shows a slightly different embodiment of the dispenser. The housing (1) is open at the top and forms an annular groove (35) with an inward diameter and open at the top and a collar (36) with a clip groove (37) on the outside. The head part (3) has a dome-shaped attachment (38) which can be inserted into the annular groove (35) and has a flange (39) which overlaps the annular groove (35) and which is separated from an inner flange (40) of the collar (36). clip-on applicator (10) is held. This version also shows a corrugation (29) on the piston rod (25). The head part of the piston (30) is Dome-shaped in accordance with the dome-shaped design of the attachment (38) in a compatible design, whereby an almost complete emptying of the filling content of the dispenser is achieved. The remaining elements of the head part (3) with the valve body (7) and further elements correspond to the design and arrangement according to FIG. 1.

Figure 5 shows a section of the plane (VV) in Fig. 4, the tie rod holder (26) in the form of a perforated disc within the guide cylinder (6), the arrangement of the push button (4) and the applicator (10) and also the housing with the open annular groove (35) only partially indicated for reasons of clarity.

Figure 6 shows a side view of a dispenser with the cap removed and a double push button (4 ', 4'') designed as a child safety device. The element (4 '') in the part (4 ') is axially telescopically displaced against the pressure of a spring in the locked state, as shown in FIG. 6, and lies on the edge (47) of the opening (15) of the applicator (10). In this state, it is not possible to depress the actuation button (4 ', 4'') for the working stroke. For this purpose, the part (4 '') must be pushed telescopically into the part (4 ') against the pressure of a return spring in the direction of the arrow (48). Only then can the push button elements (4 ', 4'') be depressed for the working stroke. This process is illustrated in Figures 8 and 9. In FIG. 8, the index finger first presses the part (4 '') into the pushbutton part (4 '), thereby unlocking the lock. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the pushbutton consisting of the two parts (4 ', 4'') can be used depressed and thus the working stroke can be carried out, in which case dispenser mass (45) can then emerge from the valve opening (8).

Figure 10 shows another version of the child lock. The dispenser has a locking ring (46) on the housing (1). This is designed in cooperation with the push button (4) so that it only releases the push button (4) in a certain position and recognizable by markings (44) if they match.

The measures and configurations according to the invention are not restricted to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing figures. Possible modifications of the device according to the invention can consist, for example, in that the valve and / or the storage container have different cross-sectional shapes, and that instead of plastics, parts also consist of metal. The respective structural design is free to the person skilled in the art in adaptation to special uses.

Claims (12)

1. A dispenser for paste-like materials with a housing (1) containing a piston (30), which is displaceable only in the emptying direction and arranged to be braced in the opposite direction, against the inner wall (2) of the housing (1), by a locking mechanism (31), and including a top member (3) and a push button (4) to expel a portion (45) of the material to be dispensed, wherein the housing has a centrally located closing valve (5) which can be opened or closed on operation of the push button (4), and herein the valve (5) and piston (30) are coupled by a connecting rod (25) extending axially through the housing (1) and cooperate at each stroke of the push button (4), characterised in that the push button (4) is arranged beside the top member (3) and the top member (3) can be compressed and/or depressed by each stroke of the push button (4), and that the connecting rod (25) has a holding device (26) in the form of a radial disc containing an opening, whereby the rod is held in a guide cylinder (6) of the valve body (7) with slight axial play and its piston end (28) is coupled non-positively to the piston (30) with an internal locking mechanism (32) provided at the bottom (33) of the piston interposed, the locking mechanism (32) acting in the opposite direction to the locking mechanism (31) at the wall side.
2. A dispenser according to claim 1, characterised in that the housing (1) forms a neck (9) of reduced diameter at the upper edge region, the neck receiving an applicator (10) which has a downwardly opening cylindrical cap (11) provided with a valve orifice (8), in which cap a small tube (12), extending upwardly from the top member (3) and forming part of the valve (5), slides axially displaceably, telescoping with a sealing bead (50) to produce a sealing effect, the tip of the tube carrying a valve plug (14) on star-shaped arms (13).
3. A dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the applicator (10) contains a lateral opening (15) inside rich the push button (4) is arranged, the push button being coupled movably to gusset-like ribs (16) formed inside the applicator (10), opposite the opening (15).
4. A dispenser according to one or more of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the push button (4) has a stop bead (17) at the outside, in the form of a stroke limiting member.
5. A dispenser according to one or more of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the top member (3) comprises a flat housing cover (18) with a guide cylinder (6) above it and, extending upwardly from the cylinder, a discharge member (19) tapering in a funnel shape with the small valve tube (12) placed on it.
6. A dispenser according to one or more of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the connecting rod (25) is extended upwardly through the holding device (26), projecting into the discharge member (19), and its end carries a preferably detachable centring plate (27).
7. A dispenser according to one or more of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the connecting rod (25) has ribbing (29) in a region below the neck (9) of the housing (1).
8. A dispenser according to one or more of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the housing (1) is made integrally with the base (20), storage cylinder (21), neck (9), cover (18) and top member (3) from medium-hardness thermoplastic material.
9. A dispenser according to one or more of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the piston (30), applicator (10), push button (4), an associated cap (23) and the connecting rod (25) are made of a comparatively hard thermoplastic material.
10. A dispenser according to one or more of claims 1 to 9, characterised in that the housing (1) is upwardly open and forms an interior annular groove of reduced diameter open upwardly and at the exterior a collar (36) with a snap-in groove (37), and the top member (3) has a domed element (38) which can be inserted in the annular groove (35) and has a flange (39) which overlaps the annular groove (35) and which is held by an inner flange (40) of the applicator (10) which can be snap-fitted on to the collar (36) (Fig. 4).
11. A dispenser according to one or more of the preceding claims 1 to 10, characterised in that it has a childproof device, the push button (4') being made in two parts with a locking key (4'') which is telescopically disengageable by a restoring force and which can be unlocked by pressure (48) in an axial direction against the restoring force of a spring before the push button (4') is depressed.
12. A dispenser according to one or more of the preceding claims 1 to 10, characterised in that the childproof device has a locking ring (46) which frees the push button (4) for depression only in a preferred rotary position.

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