Pump pushbutton

Abstract

 A pushbutton for a pump or valve for dispensing fluid substances contained in a container on which the pump is mounted. The main portion of the pushbutton has a substance dispensing nozzle (11) and elements (7,8) for securely retaining said main portion (5) on the pump (2) or on a body rigid therewith. The pushbutton also has an upper or movable portion (6) with a seat for sealedly housing the free end of the pump stem (4). The two pushbutton portions can translate one relative to the other and are connected together by tubular appendices (13,9) which are inserted into and sealedly translatable one within the cavity of the other and are connected to said stem seat and to said nozzle (11) respectively.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a pushbutton for operating a pump or valve for dispensing a fluid substance contained in a container.

[0002] To controlledly dispense fluid substances (in particular liquid or creamy substances contained in a container under or not under pressure), it is known to use valves or pumps mounted on the mouth of such containers: these pumps have an outwardly projecting hollow stem, on the free end of which there is mounted an operating pushbutton with a nozzle, insert or hole through which the fluid substance originating from the pump can be dispensed through said nozzle following axial translation of the pushbutton, when the pushbutton is pressed with a finger of one hand.

[0003] In pushbuttons of known type the dispensing nozzle moves together with the pushbutton, to undergo a longitudinal translation in one direction or the other when the pushbutton is pressed or released: as a result, the fluid substance dispensed through the nozzle does not occupy a fixed position relative to the pump, but moves within space following the movement of the pushbutton: in many cases this represents a drawback, for example when the fluid substance is to be dispensed onto a well defined fixed point (which can be important if the substance is coloured or oily, or consist of a pharmaceutical substance which has to be applied to a well defined limited point).

[0004] The main object of the present invention is therefore to provide a pushbutton mountable on the movable stem of a pump or the like and having a dispensing nozzle which maintains its position at rest fixed relative to the pump, whatever the position assumed by the stem of the pump during its rest or operation.

[0005] Another object is to provide a pushbutton of the aforestated type which is of economical production and reliable operation.

[0006] These and other objects are attained by a pushbutton characterised by comprising:

• two separate pushbutton portions connected together and translatable axially one relative to the other, namely a movable free end portion operable by a finger of one hand and, respectively, a main pushbutton portion provided with elements for its retention on the pump or on a rigid body fixed to the pump;
• a seat provided in said pushbutton end portion, to sealedly house the free end of the stem of said pump;
• a nozzle for discharging the fluid substance to the outside of the pushbutton, said nozzle being provided within the pushbutton main portion in which there is also provided an aperture into which at least the pump stem can extend;
• two tubular appendices projecting one towards the other, one from said end portion and the other from said main portion of the pushbutton, the axes of said appendices being parallel to the axis of said seat for the stem end;
• conduits provided in the two pushbutton portions, to connect said seat for the stem to the cavity of that tubular appendix projecting from the pushbutton end portion and, respectively, to connect said nozzle to the cavity of that tubular appendix of the pushbutton main portion;
• one of said two tubular appendices being inserted into and sealedly translatable within the cavity of the other tubular appendix to hence directly connect said nozzle to said seat for the pump stem.

[0007] Preferably, said retention elements consist of a plurality of appendices or a continuous tubular wall projecting from said pushbutton main portion on the opposite side to that from which the tubular appendix forming part of the pushbutton main portion projects, said appendices or tubular wall having dimensions such as to fit over the ring cap by which the pump is fixed on to the mouth of a container, and being provided with inwardly projecting teeth or ribs to secure the pushbutton to the ring cap.

[0008] The structure and operation of the pump will be more apparent from the ensuing description of one embodiment thereof given by way of nonlimiting example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figures 1 and 2 are sectional views of the pump in its rest position and, respectively, in its operating position for dispensing fluid substance.

[0009] From the drawing it can be seen that a pump 2 is fixed by means of a ring cap 3 onto the mouth of a container 1 (containing a fluid substance, not shown, to be dispensed): both the pump and the ring cap are of any known type. A hollow stem 4, also of known type for operating the pump, projects from the pump upper end (with respect to the drawing).

[0010] The pushbutton of the present invention is shown in schematised section in Figure 1 (pump at rest) and in Figure 2 (pump operated to dispense fluid substance represented as a dashed-line cone on the right of Figure 2).

[0011] The pushbutton comprises two separate pushbutton portions, namely a main portion indicated by 5 and a movable free end portion indicated by 6.

[0012] The pushbutton main portion 5 presents a central aperture (not shown in the drawing) through which both the stem 4 and the top of the pump 2 extend, the pump being securely fixed sealedly on the mouth of the container 1 by the ring cap 3. From the bottom (with respect to the drawing) of the pushbutton portion 5 there downwardly extends a continuous tubular wall 7 (which can also consist of a plurality of flexible appendices) bounding a space into which the ring cap 3 is inserted and securely retained therein by a rib 8 or a plurality of teeth having the same purpose and snap-engaging below the lower edge of the ring cap, to hence lock the pushbutton main portion 5 in a fixed position.

[0013] From the top of the pushbutton main portion 5 there upwardly projects a cylindrical tubular appendix 9, the cavity 10 of which extends as far as a nozzle 11 provided on one side of the portion 5; as can be seen from the drawing, the axis of the appendix 9 is parallel to the axis of the stem 4. From the lower end of the pushbutton end portion 6, two hollow tubular appendices 12 and 13 extend downwards (i.e. towards the end portion 5) with their axes parallel to each other and to the axis of the stem 4 and of the appendix 9.

[0014] At the free end of the cavity of the appendix 12 there is provided a seat into which the free end of the stem 4 can be sealedly inserted by pressing; the cavities of the tubular appendices 12 and 13 are connected together via conduits 15 which are closed at one end by a seal plug 16.

[0015] The cavity of the appendix 13 has, at least in proximity to its free end, a diameter such as to enable at least an end portion of the appendix 9 to penetrate into and sealedly slide axially within it, as will be clear on comparing Figure 1 with Figure 2.

[0016] It will now be assumed that the pushbutton and pump are in the rest condition shown in Figure 1, in which fluid substance cannot flow from the container to the outside. On pressing the free upper end of the pushbutton portion 6 with a finger of one hand, the stem 4 translates axially downwards (to hence operate the pump) and the upper end of the tubular appendix 9 penetrates into the widened portion of the cavity of the appendix 13. In this manner, as is easily apparent, the pressurized fluid substance emerging from the stem 4 passes through the conduits 15 and the cavities 14 and 10 of the tubular appendices 13 and 9, and leaves via the nozzle 11.

[0017] A very important characteristic of the described pushbutton is that the nozzle 11 remains at rest on the container, i.e. it maintains a constant stable position on the pushbutton main portion, whether the pump is in its rest or operating condition.

Claims

1. An operating pushbutton for a pump or valve for dispensing fluid substances contained in containers, characterised by comprising:

- two separate pushbutton portions (5, 6) connected together and translatable axially one relative to the other, namely a movable free end portion (6) operable by a finger of one hand and, respectively, a main pushbutton portion (5) provided with elements (7, 8) for its retention on the pump (2) or on a rigid body (3) fixed to the pump (2);

- a seat provided in said pushbutton end portion (12) to sealedly house the free end of the stem (4) of said pump;

- a nozzle (11) for discharging the fluid substance to the outside of the pushbutton (5, 6), said nozzle (11) being provided within the pushbutton main portion (5), in which there is also provided an aperture into which at least the pump stem (4) can extend;

- two tubular appendices (13, 9) projecting one towards the other, one from said end portion (6) and the other from said main portion (5) of the pushbutton, the axes of said appendices being parallel to the axis of said seat for the stem end;

- conduits (10, 15) provided in the two pushbutton portions (5, 6), to connect said seat (12) for the stem (4) to the cavity of that tubular appendix (13) projecting from the pushbutton end portion (6) and, respectively, to connect said nozzle (11) to the cavity (10) of that tubular appendix (9) of the pushbutton main portion (5);

- one of said two tubular appendices (9, 13) being inserted into and sealedly translatable within the cavity of the other tubular appendix to hence directly connect said nozzle (11) to said seat (12) for the pump stem (14).

2. A pushbutton as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said retention elements consist of a plurality of appendices or a continuous tubular wall (7) projecting from said pushbutton main portion (5) on the opposite side to that from which the tubular appendix (9) forming part of the pushbutton main portion (5) projects, said appendices or tubular wall (7) having dimensions such as to fit over the ring cap (3) by which the pump (2) is fixed on to the mouth of a container (1), and being provided with inwardly projecting teeth or ribs (8) to secure the pushbutton to the ring cap (3).

Drawing