US2964220A - Dispenser for dispensing pressurized contents from a container - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 13, 1960 H PE F. DISPENSER FOR DISPENSING PRESSURIZED CONTENTS FROM A CONTAINER Filed May 15, 1958 FHA NK INVENTOR.,,

H. A PEL DISPENSER FOR DISPENSING PRESSURIZED i CONTENTS. FROM CA CONTAINERUJ' Theinvention relatesrto valve, dispenseraandzcontainer.s units which are ,designedtor the. dispensing of anaenated. liquid. content from, containers in which..the;liquid1prod 1o uct is pressurized for dispensing. A commonillustrationar. of such a product isaerated whipped cream;

An object. of the ,presentinventionisto providefa-..va1ve 220 of the characterdescribed which is constructed of a mini-:1: mum, number. of simply formed and inexpensive,partseoq, functioning in a most direct' andbighlyaeflective mannerze to provide. ;a.' particularly 1 safe and; foolproof adispensing valve mechanism.;,,

Another. object of theipresent. invention. isto provide-Ea: valve mechanismof the character above-which willafiord easy and precise 'controlof the dischargegof the aerated; product; and will seal effectively even undenlowppressurere and. whereinv the :several parts i are designedand: .dimen.-.:,; sioned to limit theimaxirnumrate of dischargea; q,

A furtherobject of the present invention is to provide .1 a valve mechanism of thecharacter above whichsiscomez pactand light in weight ,and designed-, for easy ne-hands. operation and wherein the .discharge .;orifi ce is disposed.; close to the topswall-of the container for complete..self.-,.: draiuageof the contents.

Stil1anot h er object vof the present invention is to provide a valve structure of the charactenabove which mayi-be... easily kept and maintainedin a .cleamand sanitarycondie. A0 tion and afiords ready visual inspection .andeasy. replaeee ment of the single wearablepartwhereby thevalve mechh anismmayibe keptjn good.operatingcondition ovenan s indefinitely long and useful life.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage,.ome,of which, with the vforegoi ng,,-.will be set forth in the followingdescriptiomof the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanyingand forming .part of the specification.'- It is-tobe .llnderstood, however,.that variationssin thelshowing detby thesaid drawings and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section of a pressure container equipped with a dispensing valve mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale of the valve.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the valve similar to Figure 2 but showing the valve in open position.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the valve body.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the valve body partly in section.

The valve mechanism of the present invention is, as above noted, particularly designed for the dispensing of pressurized contents from a container 6 and consists briefly of a valve body 7 adapted for sealed mounting in and extending through a wall 8 of the container and being formed with an annular groove 9 and a normally interior side 11 of the wall 8, the body 7 being formed with a discharge passage 12 extending from the groove 9 to the ice normally. exteriorkside .13 .of the'nbody; an 50-rings14i6f soft. lcompressiblezrnaterial such .as .naturalnor :syntheticl rubber. mountedein ggroove t 9 in sealing: relation across 1 passageg12;;andnmanua1ly :disp-laceable -means 16 :move-- able; in .the ipassage ;to engage andsdisplaceto-ring list-to M an -.unsealed:position withrespect to passage 12. Preferably; thez-groove 9. is formedain a shoulder 17 -:-projectingz from thenorrnally interior-side; 18 of the body the' shoulder 17;here ibeingzformedzas a central or axial extension of the. body ;and .thev groove 9 being .tormeddn the exterior:

periphery-of the shoulder. directly at the under-side- 18 of thebody so as to provide good1drainagecharacteristics as above noted; The means lfimay -consistlsimplyof an H actuating.stem.mounted tor: reciprocationoin passage 12 with the interior end 19 of the stenrin engagement with a the O-ring. 14v fordisplacement of the lattenaway from its normal sealed position across the passage uponmanual depressingof the stem to eliect an opening-of thelvalve as depictedin Figure 3.

Anothersfeatureof the .foregoing construction lies in the factathatthe depressing of thedispensing stem v16 moves the stem. intosthe dispensing orifice .21 defined by the joinder of passage 12 .and gro,ove 9.to thuslimihthe size.

of this orificevduringtthe. dispensing operation. AlSOJSlIlCe themaximum -rate..of discharge regardless .of howhard thestemis depressed considering normalzmanually applied force to the stem.

The" present valve construction thus provides; a soft action and ,easy and-precise control of thefrate of.di'scharge of the pressurized contents. TheO-ring 14"shou'ld have a normal. dimension..snugly fitting thegroove 9 soas to I constantly coverand sealthe discharge orifice 21 evenat lowpressures. As willbe further observed the O-ring may be readily. slipped off fromthe lower end '17 "of the valve" body for cleaning, inspection and lreplacement. "when then-ring; is removed, thei'whole ofitheconnectingpas sagewayportions 12,21, and .9. are readily visible 'for' inspection;cleaning and straight'through brushing action in the case of passage 12 whichis of importance'where" the handling of a toodproduct such as cream-is involved.

Also cooperating in a desired expansionflovv' of the discharged products is :thepre'cise :forming of the'lbore 12 and thetadjacentstemfifiu Asi-here shown;' passage 1'2 is of tapered'zfornrrdiverging outwardly from the discharge orificefll to the'outer side :'13 of the bodyi;iAlsodhestem 16 is: formed :with :a recess: 22 adjacent ---its inner rend =19 and which cooperates with the passage 12 to provide an immediate expansion of the contents pouring past the open O-ring and into the tapered bore 12.

The valve body 7 also projects externally of wall 8 to provide a cylindrical shoulder or head portion 23 which is used to support a detachable dispenser nozzle 24. The latter may be of more or less conventional form as generally illustrated in Patent No. 2,699,890 and is desirably moulded from plastic or rubber of hollow tubular form so as to provide a tubular base portion 26 and an angularly extending nozzle portion 27. As here shown, the tubular base portion 26 is dimensioned for detachably mounting on the external end or head portion 23 of the body for supporting the dispenser nozzle on the container. If desired, and as here shown, the base of the nozzle may be formed with an internal flange 28, which is dimensioned for snapping into and out of an external groove 29 formed in the head 23. The stem 16 is here carried by the nozzle and is mounted for reciprocation through an opening 31 in a wall portion 32 of the nozzle aligned with the open central axis of flange 28 so that Patented Dec. 13, 1960 the stem 16 will be supported in alignment with and for reciprocal engagement in passage 12 for engagement with the O-ring as above described.

The head 23 is also dimensioned to fit a chuck (not shown) used in charging the container with gas. During the charging operation the stem 16 is not in place and accordingly the entering gas passes directly through the tapered bore 12 and past the O-ring 14 and into the container. In practice it is frequently desirable to charge the container in stages so as to increase the total gas absorption by the liquid to be aerated. With other types of sealing valves heretofore used, an outward spray of cream or other contents takes place at each of the several charging stages. This outward spray is effectively eliminated in the present design. Also due to the absence of the stem 16 during charging, gas may be let into the container at a relatively high rate of flow to thusreduce fill time to a minimum.

Mounting of the valve body in the container wall 8 may be conveniently effected by the provision of an enlarged flange 33 on the body having an edge rim 34 engageable against the underside 11 of container wall 8. The flange 33 may be readily resistance welded to the wall 11 by the application of pressure and electricity causing the edge rim 34 to fuse into a continuous weld bead 36 as depicted in Figures 2 and 3.

In the construction here illustrated, shoulder 17 and groove 9 are concentrically arranged and passage 12 is eccentrically arranged so that the lower end of the bore 12 will properly intersect the groove 9 in the discharge orifice 21. The alternate construction providing the same result would be to form the shoulder 17 and groove 9 eccentric to the axis of the valve body and form the bore 12 concentric, or bore 12 may be slant-drilled so as to provide the proper intersection of the lower end of the bore with the O-ring groove.

The container 6 here illustrated is formed of a twopiece construction including a container body 41 having integral side and bottom walls with the side wall terminating in an open top rim 42 formed with an annular groove or socket in which is mounted an -ring 43 of rubber or other soft compressible material. The outer periphery of O-ring 43 overhangs the side wall so as to slidably engage the inside surface of a depending skirt 44 formed on a detachable cap section 46. The valve body 7 is here mounted in the top wall of the cap section.

The cap section 46 is retained on the can body by a bayonet connection composed of a plurality of circumferentially spaced pins 47 on the side Wall of the body and which engage in bayonet guideways 48 formed by embossments in the skirt 44. The internal pressure in the container functions to constantly urge the O-ring into sealed engagement with the opposed surfaces of the body and cap sections. and easy attachment and detachment of the sections for filling and cleaning and a simple positive seal between the parts when in attached position. The specific construction of the container is being covered in a separate application.

I claim:

1. A dispenser for dispensing pressurized contents from a container comprising, a valve body adapted for sealed mounting in and extending through a wall of said container and being formed with a shoulder projecting from the normally interior side of said body, said shoulder being formed with an external annulargroove, said body being formed with a discharge passage extending from said groove to the normally exterior side of said body, an O-ring mounted in said groove in sealing relation across said passage, and a manually displaceable actuating stern mounted for reciprocation in said passage for engagement of one end of said stem with said O-ring to displace the latter away from its normal sealed position across said passage.

2. A dispenser as characterized in claim 1 wherein said passage is of tapered form diverging outwardly from said groove and said stern is formed with a recess adjacent its said end cooperating with said passage to provide an expansion chamber for the released pressurized contents.

3. A dispenser for dispensing pressurized contents from a container comprising a valve body adapted for sealed mounting in and extending through a wall of said container and having a middle portion and two ends projecting from the external and internal sides of said wall, the external end of said valve body being substantially en- 'larged with respect to said middle portion, the internal end of said body being formed with an external annular groove, said body being formed with a discharge passage extending from said groove to said external end, an O-ring mounted in said groove in sealing relation across said passage, a resilient dispenser nozzle having a tubular base portion formed with an inwardly-directed resilient flange and detachably snap-fitted over. the enlarged external end of said valve body with said resilient flange engaging the middle portion thereof, and a manually engageable actuating stem carried by said nozzle and being mounted for reciprocation in said passage for engagement of the internal end of said stem with said O-ring to displace the latter away from its normal sealed position across said passage.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,429,003 Trapet Oct. I4, 1947 2,699,890 Appel et al. Jan. 18, 1955 2,772,035 Collins et al. Nov. 27, 1956 The construction thus affords quick

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