[0001] The present invention relates to a device for dispensing liquid or paste products
from a container, said device comprising a pump housing which is connected to the
mouth of the container and is provided with inlet and outlet valves.
[0002] Up to now there have been problems in manufacturing dispensing devices of this type
which function satisfactorily in all respects.
[0003] In one attempt at a solution, the valves are made of an elastic material and are
conically tapered with an opening in the form of a slit across the lateral surface
of the cone. Since the lower valve opens directly into the ambient air, there is an
unavoidable oxidation of the liquid or paste product both at the opening and directly
inside the same. The result will be the formation of a plug in this valve which will
make the functioning of the apparatus impossible.
[0004] Another solution is described in Swedish Patent Specification 325 680. The funnel-shaped
valves described in this publication function well but are complicated to manufacture
and difficult to mount in the flow channel of the pump housing. The funnel-shaped
valve must be fixed at its point securely to a supporting body which is arranged to
center the valve funnel in the flow channel and at the same time allow the fluid to
pass. A pressure bubble is required in the device, which is mounted to generate over
or under pressure in the valve chamber between the two valves. The pressure bubble
is relatively complicated to mount and it is not uncommon that leakage occurs where
the bubble is fastened. It is clearly evident from the above that such a pump device
is complicated to manufacture and assemble and is therefore expensive.
[0005] The present invention achieves a pump device in which the above mentioned disadvantages
have been completely eliminated. The pump device according to the invention is even
so simple and inexpensive that it is suitable as a disposable product. The characterizing
features of the invention are revealed in the attached claims.
[0006] The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to an example
which is shown in the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal section through
the pump device itself. Figs. 2 and 3 show views from above of inlet and outlet valves
respectively, in the device according to Fig. 1. Figs. 4 and 5 show two different
side views of a screw cap. Figs. 6 and 7 show two different views of a button. Fig.
8 shows the button according to Figs. 6 and 7 mounted on the cap according to Fig.
5. Figs. 9 and 10 show perspective views of two different parts of a bracket. Finally,
Fig. 11 shows a front view of a dispenser composed of the parts according to Figs.
9 and 10 and provided with a cap and pump device according to Figs. 1-8.
[0007] The pump housing 1 is cast in one piece of rubber with a through-channel 2, in which
cavities 3 and 4 are arranged for inlet and outlet valves 5 and 6, respectively, which
enclose between them a valve chamber 13. At the top, the pump housing is provided
with a collar 7 and tapers conically down to an outlet opening 8, the size of which
is suitably adapted to the pump medium so that the pump housing does not drip.
[0008] The inlet and outlet valves 5 and 6, respectively, are made of rubber and have a
cylindrical form with a membrane 9 and 10 respectively, at one end. As can be seen
from Fig. 2, the membrane 9 of the inlet valve 5 has a V-shaped through-slit 11, thus
forming a flexible valve tongue 12. The slit 11 is bevelled in relation to the surface
of the membrane so that the tongue surface facing the interior of the valve chamber
13 is greater than the opposite surface of the valve tongue. The tongue 12 can thus
only be opened in the direction towards the interior of the valve chamber from its
normal sealing position. 'The outlet valve 6 is provided with a normally sealing slit
14 in the membrane 10. When an overpressure is generated in the interior of the valve
chamber 13 by pressing the elastic walls of the pump housing radially inward, the
valve tongue 12 is pressed into sealing contact while the slit 14 opens when a certain
pressure in the interior of the valve chamber has been exceeded.
[0009] When the elastic walls of the pump housing return to their original shape after being
compressed, an underpressure arises in the interior of the valve chamber 13, whereby
the flexible tongue 12 in the inlet valve opens in the direction towards the interior
of the valve chamber, so that an amount of liquid or paste product in a container
(not shown) connected to the inlet of the pump housing is fed into the interior of
the valve chamber 13. When the walls of the pump housing are again compressed, the
above described process is repeated. With the aid of the pump shown in Fig. 1, a liquid
or paste product can be dispensed in dosed amounts from a container. Figs. 4 and 5
show a cap 15 adapted to the pump according to Fig. 1. In addition to the screw top
16 it is also provided with an axial flange 17 made in one piece therewith, which
has an elongated hole 18. There is a central hole (not shown) in the topside of the
screw top, the diameter of which essentially agrees with the outer diameter of the
cylindrical pump housing according to Fig. 1. Furthermore the inner dimensions of
the screw top are adapted to the collar 7 on the pump housing so that the collar forms
an effective seal between the cap and the surroundings when the cap is screwed tightly
onto a container. Figs. 6 and 7 show a special button 19 which is designed to fit
into and be displaceable across the hole 18 in the cap flange 17. The button consists
of a button portion 20 and a central extension 21 therefrom. Fig. 8 shows the cap
15 with the button 19 in place. The button 19 is provided with spring hooks 22,23,
which are snapped into the elongated hole 18 when mounting the button in the cap flange.
When the pump device according to Fig. 1 has been mounted in the cap according to
Fig. 8, the button 19 with its extension 21 will be in front of the elastic walls
of the valve chamber. Pressing the button 19 will thus press the extension 21 against
the pump housing, and since a fixed member is mounted against the opposite side of
the pump housing, the pump housing walls will be compressed so as to achieve the intended
and previously described pump effect.
[0010] The cap according to Fig. 8 with a pump mounted therein according to Fig. 1, is,
as was mentioned, designed to be screwed onto a container (not shown here) containing
the product for dispensing. Figs. 9 and 10 show an example of a holder designed to
carry such a container with associated capsule and pump housing. Fig. 10 shows the
actual bracket 24, which is designed to be screwed to a wall, and Fig. 9 shows an
associated cover 25. The bracket 24 is arranged with an upwardly open gutter 26. When
the container with the cap 16 with the associated pump device are mounted, the flange
17 of the cap will be in front of the narrow portion 27 of the gutter, so that this
portion and the flange 17 will completely, and with a suitably selected fitting, enclose
the cylindrical pump device. The composite device described above is shown in Fig.
11.
[0011] The invention is not limited to the above described embodiment. Rather, a number
of modifications are possible within the scope of the attached claims. For example,
no special holder according to Figs. 9-11 or caps with associated buttons according
to Figs. 4-8 are required. Likewise, a cap similar to that in Fig. 4 but without a
flange can be used to screw a pump device according to Fig. 1 onto a container, whereafter
the pump housing can be actuated directly using one's fingers.
[0012] It is also conceivable to securely join a pump device similar to that in Fig. 1 to
a container by using the collar. A device of this type can be suitable at a disposable
product.
[0013] If the container consists of a compressible bag member, the user may be tempted to
press the bag to dispense the contents. In previously known pump devices, the contents
would then flow out in an uncontrolled manner, but with the special pump construction
according to the invention, and especially with the valves in the same, an uncontrolled
dispensing is practically impossible.
[0014] The inlet valve of the pump device, if required because of dimensions and materials,
can be reinforced with a detachable plastic body, which fits into the cylindrical
hole in the same and in order to permit through-flow is provided with a central hole.
This plastic body then serves primarily as a support for the inlet valve and prevents
it from being deformed when the walls of the pump housing are pressed in. Deformation
of the valve could result in pressing the valve into the container.
Device designed for dispensing liquid or paste products from a container, comprising
a pump housing (1) connected to an opening in the container and provided with inlet
and outlet valves (5 and 6, respectively), characterized in that the pump housing
(11 consists of a sleeve-like portion made in one piece of elastic material, preferably
rubber, that the valves (5,61 are also made of an elastic material, preferably rubber,
and have a sleeve-like shape with a membrane (9 and 10, respectively) at one end,
that said valves are mounted in cavities (3,4) designed therefor next to either end
of the sleeve-like pump housing, that the outlet valve (6) has a normally sealing
slit (141 in the membrane (101, said slit opening upon overpressure in the pump housing,
that at least one essentially V-shaped or semicircular through-slit (11) is arranged
in the membrane (9) of the inlet valve to form a flexible tongue (121, said tongue
slit being bevelled in relation to the plane of the membrane so that the tongue can
only bend from its normal sealing position in the direction towards the interior (13)
of the pump housing, whereby radial compression of the pump housing dispenses a dosed
amount of the product through the outlet valve and the pump housing is refilled via
the inlet valve as the pump housing recovers its normal shape.
