US2975943A - Actuation assistant for aerosol dispenser valves - Google Patents

Description

March 21, 1961 (3. DE WAYNE MILES ET AL 2,975,943

ACTUATION ASSISTANT FOR AEROSOL DISPENSER VALVES Filed March 51, 1958 vii GILB m 7 DE WAYNE MIL ES RUSSELL PARK MCGH/E CHARLES W. FRIES INVENTORS ATTORNEY rates ACTUATION ASSISTANT FOR AEROSOL DISPENSER VALVES Gilbert De Wayne Miles, Ossining, Russell Park McGhie, New York, and Charles W. Fries, Long Island City, N.Y., assignors to Colgate-Palmolive Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed 31, 1958, Ser. No. 725,255

'5 Claims. (Cl. ZZZ-3%) many different types of dispensing valves and valve actuators for containers of pressurized or aerosol materials. Most of these actuators have been of the so-called button design but diaphragm types have also found acceptance. In US. Patent No. 2,819,116, another valve operator has been shown which is apparently an improvement on the button and diaphragm designs. As stated by the inventor in that patent, an advantage of this valve actuator is that less force is required to open the valve associated with the actuator than is needed where a similar diaphragm cap is employed. Although this is a real advantage of the patented valve operator, applicants have found that in some cases the force required to cause dispensing of pressurized contents is still greater than is convenient for the average user of aerosol products. This is especially true when the material being dispensed is not as freely flowing as a thin spray or a foam consisting largely of vaporizable propellant. With products such as syrups, sauces, heavy oils and paste or cream dentrifices, as well as other materials of similar viscosities and flow characteristics, it is usually necessary to employ a comparatively insoluble and inert gas such as nitrogen or air at a relatively high pressure, e.g., 100 pounds per square inch. Such high pressures opposing the opening of the valve, combined with the longer time for which the valve must be held depressed to allow dicharge of sulficient amount of comparatively slowly flowing product, serve to increase the difiiculty of holding these valves open and thereby decrease the convenience of aerosol dispensing. Applicants have invented a lever-type actuation assistant which can be made economically and is easily attachable to an aerosol valve actuator. It is compact, convenient, functional and efficient. It decreases the force required to actuate an aerosol valve and presents a greater contact surface which distributes this force over a comparatively large finger area, decreasing stress on the fingertip. The invented actuation assistant may be used to facilitate the dispensing of aerosol pastes, creams, sprays, foams, powders and pressurized material in any other physical form.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided, for a dispensing container for pressurized material having at its top a normally closed discharge valve which opens when depressed and a spout through which contained material is dispensed upon depression of the valve, that improvement which comprises a substantially horizontal lever actuation assistant for the valve adapted at one end to slip on the spout, retaining means for holding that end of the actuation assistant to the spout so as substantially to prevent relative vertical movement, a stop joined to the lever member andadapted to hold the lever in position by preventing horizontal movement in the di- Patented Mar. 21, 1961 rection of the spout and a downwardly extending portion on the lever which, in position over the discharge valve, will open that valve when the lever is depressed.

In a particular useful embodiment of the invention, the actuation assistant has, as a part thereof, a rider element movable between operating and guard positions. In the operating position depression of the lever actuator causes flow of pressurized material while in the guard position such depression is prevented and in eifect the valve is locked closed. In a preferred commercial embodiment the rider itself contains a downwardly extending actuating portion which, when positioned over the discharge valve of the aerosol package will operate that valve but when in guard position will not effect such actuation.

The structure, function and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from reference to the following detailed description of the best mode of the invented device now contemplated, taken in conjunction with the drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a cut-away front elevation of the lever actuation assistant depressed in operating position on a valve actuator attached to a dispensing container;

Fig. 2 is a plan -view of the actuation assistant in inoperative or guard position on the integral valve actuator;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the actuation assistant minus rider;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the rider; and

Fig. 5 is a partial section of the actuation assistant along plane 55 of Fig. 3.

Number 11 denotes a dispensing container for pressurized material having an upper wall portion 12 which is outwardly and downwardly turned at the end thereof 13. Closure 14 is flared and pressed over end 13 and is staked to normally closed discharge valve 15 and container wall 12, thereby sealing the dispensing container when hollowstemmed or tubular vertically reciprocable valve stem 17 is in rest position. from valve 15 to a point near the bottom of the container (not shown) below the surface of contents to be dispensed (not shown). Integral valve actuator 18 comprises a body portion 19 adapted at its lower end 20 to grip the container closure at the flared end thereof. The valve actuator also contains a horizontally or sidewardly extending spout member 21, preferably of flexible and resilient material such as polyethylene or the like, which is also the preferable material of construction of the balance of the integral valve actuator. Body portion 19 of the valve actuator 18 terminates at its upper end in a circular bead 22. As shown in the drawing this bead is raised and continuous about the entire uppermost body periphery but as will be evident from subsequent discussion and teachings the bead need not be either so raised or continuous providing that it is high enough at 23 to prevent horizontal movement of the actuator assistant, to be described later. Horizontal resilient diaphragm 25 is attached to the body portion of the actuator at a point 27 near spout 21. Diaphragm 25 is relatively free moving at other peripheral locations and clearance 26 between the diaphragm and actuator body prevents binding thereon. Passageway 28 is adapted to fit valve stem 17 and will move it vertically downward when depressed at a point over the valve element. Such movement will open valve 15 .and allow communication of container contents (not shown) and spout 21. The existing pres- Dip tube 16 extends downwardly tion thereto of the present actuation assistant. Combination lever-type actuation assistant and guard 29 comprises a horizontally disposed lever member 30 having a lower offset end 31 forming a channel 32 so that it may slip on resilient spout 21 up to body member 19. The term horizontally disposed describes the lever position relative to a vertically disposed container equipped with a valve dispensing at the top. Cross piece 33 connects the open ends of the channel and thereby serves as a retaining member, preventing vertical motion of the actuation assistant when the offset channeled end thereof is slipped over spout 21. Stop 34 extends downwardly from the relatively flat horizontally disposed lever member 30 and is adapted to contact the interior wall of bead 22 at 23. Such contact prevents horizontal movement of the actuation assistant in the direction of the spout. Since the body portion 19 restricts movement of the device in the other direction and the walls of channel 32 and cross piece 33 limit vertical movement, it is seen that the actuation assistant is held firmly in place. On horizontal lever member 30 there is mounted rider 35 movable along a substantial portion of the lever length. Rider 35 has a downwardly extending projection 36 of sufficient length to enable it to depress diaphragm 25 and valve stem 17 when in position directly above said element when finger pressure is applied downwardly to lever 30. When rider 35 is moved to the inoperative position, as illustrated in Fig. 2, depression of the lever 30 will not cause actuation of valve 15 because the resilient diaphragm 25 Will be merely distorted at the point of application of the force and will not sufliciently depress valve stem 17. Bead 22, as illustrated, is continuous at constant height around the periphery of body portion 19 and at 24 serves to halt the downward movement of rider 35 and lever 30 and thereby prevent sufficient depression of diaphragm 25 to actuate valve 15. It is not necessary that this head be as high as illustrated at point 24 so long as it effectively stops rider 35 and lever 30 sufficiently to prevent actuation of the valve when the rider is in inoperative position. The rider is the only part of the actuation assistant extending downward far enough to be able to open the valve. As shown in the drawing, stop 40 limits the travel of rider 35 along lever 30 so'that projection 36 is always within the circle defined by head 22. Of course, to secure a greater mechanical advantage the lever itself may be lengthened and the limiting stop position may be moved nearer to the end of the lever so that in inoperative or guard position projection 36 will be outside head 22. Stops 38, 39 and 40 are provided on lever 30 to define the operating and guard positions of rider 35. The stops are of sufficient thickness to increase the height of the lever at those points to a dimension greater than the height of mortise 37 in rider 35. The rider itself is of sufficient resilience so that it may be moved past stop 39 into operating position 41 or guardposition 42 but, once on the lever, cannot easily be pushed past stop 4t which is of slightly greater thickness than stop 39. Although stop 39 allows movement of rider 35 past it it does impose a slight but definitely perceptible resistance to such movement, thereby defining the operating and guard positions of the rider.

The actuation assistant shown in the drawing is composed of two molded plastic pieces. The larger of these, which shall be called the lever, is molded of a sufficiently rigid plastic material, such as polystyrene, so that it will not be objectionably distorted during operation. Among other plastics that may be employed are cellulose acetate, nylons, melamine resins, polyesters, phenol-formaldehyde polymers, polymethylmethacrylates and similar dimensionally stable polymeric materials, to name only a few. The use of reinforcement or greater thicknesses of the more flexible, resilient plastics will increase their rigidity and may make them acceptable for the lever part. Instead of plastics, the lever may be made of one or more molded, diecast, stamped or joined parts of other sufficiently rigid materials of construction such as aluminum, steel, zinc die-castings and wood. The rider is prefer ably of a molded resilient and flexible plastic such as polyethylene, plasticized polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate or other poly lower alkylene addition polymer, but other materials, such as those previously listed, may be crnployed providing that they are sufficiently flexible in the thickness used to allowslipping, with slight resistance, past stop 39 into guard and operating positions. In other designs of equivalent rider elements operating with different types of stops it may not be necessary or even desirable to utilize the more flexible plastics.

The best mode of this invention, in which a lever-type actuation assistant has associated with it a rider element,

has been described in detail and is illustrated in the drawing. Although not possessing the safety guard feature of the improved device described, also within the present invention is the lever member alone. It has a downwardly extending portion capable of opening the discharge valve of an aerosol dispenser, is adapted at one end to slip on the spout, has retaining means for holding that end of the actuation assistant to the spout to prevent vertical movement and includes a stop on the lever member to prevent horizontal movement in the direction of the spout. Such a device may be illustrated by Fig. 1 of the drawing if the rider is considered as fixed to the lever in the position shown. It is clear that this novel lever will be subject to accidental displacement and fails to assure that the contents of the pressurized container will not be unintentionally discharged In another more useful embodiment of the basic invention, the projection 36 shown in Fig, 1 may be a permanent part of the lever and rider 35 may be movable between operating and guard positions. In such a device the lower thickness of the rider will be such that in the guard position contact of the rider and actuator body portion 19 will prevent the downwardly extending projection on the lever from depressing diaphragm 2.5 sufiiciently to open valve 15.

The invention has been illustrated with respect to a particular type of aerosol valve actuator 18 but it is evident that by use of the disclosed principles and structure, the invention may be applied to other valves and 'valve actuators.

In operation the lever portion 30 of the actuation assistant illustrated is slipped over flexible resilient spout 21 and lifted upward against the resistance of the spent to deformation until stop 34 clears head 22 at 27. The lever is then pushed past the bead and allowed to spring into place, in which position it is held fast against both horizontal and vertical movements. If desired, the lever may be removed by reversal of these operations. The spout of the valve operator, in conjunction with the channel 32 and cross-member 33, holds the actuation assistant to the valve operator but, due to the flexibility of the spout, allows sufiicient temporary deformation thereof to permit placement of the lever in position. A similar effect is obtained by having the spout rigid but constructing the cross-member 33 or other suitable part of elastic or flexible resilient material. Either before or after the lever has been placed on the actuator, preferably before, rider 35 is forced over wedge-shaped stop 40 into position on the lever member.

In use the aerosol dispenser is held in one hand and the thumb or index finger is used to depress the end of the actuation assistant. Due to the ease of operation it is unnecessary to rest the container on an unyielding supporting member such as a table or sink to enable the user to apply enough force to open the valve. The actuation assistant also allows better control of dispensing rate since it is more easily adjusted to the desired valve opening. It also provides a protection against accidental dispensing which does not necessitate the inconvenience of removal and replacement of a cap element.

The present actuation assistants are of inexpensive construction and are both functional and attractive. They are not integral parts of the actuator or dispensing container and need not be disposed of when the container contents have been consumed. Due to the construction of the invented devices they may be readily attached or removed by the consumer from the aerosol dispenser and can be used many times over on various products of this type.

The present invention has been described in conjunction with a drawing of a specific embodiment thereof. The invention is not limited to the specific embodiment shown but, on the contrary, it is obvious that modifications may be made and equivalents substituted without departing from the spirit of the invention or going outside the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For a dispensing container for pressurized material having at its top a normally closed discharge valve which opens when depressed and a spout through which contained material is dispensed upon depression of the valve, that improvement which comprises a substantially horizontal lever actuation assistant for the valve adapted at one end to slip on the spout, retaining means for holding that end of the actuator to the spout so as substantially to prevent relative vertical movement, a stop on the lever member, which stop holds the lever in position by preventing horizontal movement in the direction of the spout in both operative and guard positions of the lever actuation assistant, a rider slidably mounted on the lever which rider can be moved between operative position in which depression of the lever will actuate the discharge valve and guard position in which downward movement of the lever will not actuate the discharge valve and an actuating projection extending downwardly from the lever, which projection, in position over the discharge valve, will open the valve when the lever is depressed and the rider is in operative position and will not actuate the valve when the lever is depressed and the rider is in guard position.

2. For a dispensing container for pressurized material having at its top a normally closed discharge valve, which opens when depressed and a spout through which contained material is dispensed upon depression of the valve, that improvement which comprises a substantially horizontal lever actuation assistant for the valve adapted at one end to slip on the spout, retaining means for holding that end of the actuator to the spout so as substantially to prevent relative material movement, a stop on the lever member, which stop holds the lever in position by preventing horizontal movement in the direction of the spout in both operative and guard positions of the lever actuation assistant, a rider slidably mounted on the lever having a downwardly extending actuating portion which, when positioned over the discharge valve, vw'll open the valve when the lever is depressed and, when positioned to the side of the valve, will not actuate the valve, though depressed, the rider being the only part of the actuator capable of actuating the valve.

3. For a dispenser for pressurized material comprising a container capable of holding material under pressure, a closure at the top of the container, anormally closed discharge valve fastened to the closure member, a dip tube extending from the valve to below the surface of the contained material being dispensed, a hollow stemmed vertically reciprocable valve element which will open the discharge valve and pass pressurized material when it is depressed, an integral valve actuator comprising a body portion adapted to grip the container closure, a sidewardly extending resilient spout member, a bead, raised on the body portion adjacent the spout, a horizontal resilient diaphragm below the raised portion of the bead and peripherally attached to the body portion adjacent the spout and relatively free moving at other peripheral locations, and a passageway adapted to fit with the hollow stemmed valve element and to move it vertically downward when the diaphragm is depressed at a point over the valve element, so communicating spout and pressurized material, said integral valve actuator being made of a resilient plastic material of such thickness and construction that the diaphragm is easily flexible but the body portion and bead are resistant to vertically downward force, that improvement which is a combination lever-type actuation assistant and guard against accidental actuation comprising a relatively flat and horizontally disposed lever member having a lower otfset'channeled end to slip on the spout up to the body member and engage it so as to prevent vertical motion of said end with respect to the spout, a stop downwardly extending from the lever and adapted to contact the interior wall of the raised bead and thus prevent horizontal movement of the positioned lever, a rider on the lever having a downwardly extending projection of sufiicient length that, when located substantially above the hollow stemmed valve element it depresses the diaphragm and valve element on downward application of finger pressure to the lever, while allowing the valve element to remain in closed position when depressed near the wall of the head, the rider in the latter position limiting downward movement by contact with the head, said rider being the only portion of the actuation assistant capable of depressing the valve element.

4. A combination lever-type actuation assistant and guard against accidental actuation as set forth in claim 3 in which the channeled end of the lever member has a cross piece connecting the open ends of the channel which engages the spout, preventing ventical motion of the lever with respect to the spout while allowing horizontal sliding motion, the lever member has stops for defining the operating and guard positions of the rider, and the rider is made of resilient material which can be easily temporarily deformed under finger pressure to allow placement of the rider on the lever and movement between operating and guard positions.

5. For a dispensing container for pressurized material having at its top a normally closed discharge valve which opens when depressed and a spouted valve actuator, through the spout of which contained material is dispensed upon opening of the valve, that improvement which comprises a substantially horizontal lever actua tion assistant for the valve having means at one end to slip onto the spout and to contact the actuation assistant I with a movement restricting part of the actuator held fast to the container, retaining means on said lever for holding the same end of the actuation assistant to the spout so as substantially to prevent relative vertical movement of the lever and spout at that point, stop means on the actuation assistant which prevents horizontal movement of the lever in the direction of the spout by making contact with a part of the actuator held fast to the container and, in conjunction with the lever actuation assistant being held against movement in the opposite direction by contact with the actuator, holds the actuation assistant firmly in place, preventing horizontal movement and, extending downwardly from the lever actuation assistant, a projection over the discharge .valve which is movable far enough downwardly when the lever is de-,

pressed to open the discharge valve, the lever being of sutficient length so that the force required at the end thereof to actuate the discharge valve is appreciably less than that otherwise required for direct actuation of the valve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,558,272 Rubenstein June 26, 1951 2,678,147 Abplanalp May 11, 1954 2,753,214 Abplanalp July 3, 1956 2,772,819 Poarch Dec. 4, 1956 UNITED STATES PATENT oTTTcE CETlFlQA'llN F C@ f'iECllON Patent N00 2 975 943 March 21 1961 Gilbert De Wayne Miles et a1,

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column l line 47 for dieharge read em discharge column 5 line 47 for material read vertical =0 Signed and sealed this 24th day of April 1962e (SEAL) Attest:

DAVID LU LADD ESTON Ge JOHNSON Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

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