NON-CYLINDRICAL BEAD FOR CAULKING TUBE
An example tube for receiving a fluent material includes a generally large container portion and a nozzle molded with the container portion. The nozzle has a dispensing tip shaped to dispense a non-cylindrical bead.
This application relates to a caulking tube that has the tip of its nozzle shaped to create a non-cylindrical bead.
Caulking tubes are known, and typically have a frustro-conical nozzle that can be cut off to allow caulking to be dispensed onto a work surface, typically to seal the surface. As an example, shower and bath fixtures, windows, etc. are often provided with caulking.
In the prior art, the caulking tube has its nozzle formed as a frustro-cylindrical shape. Thus, the resulting bead is also cylindrical. An installer places the bead along the surface to be sealed, and then must smooth the surface to fit into the area to be sealed. As an example, in many such locations, the area to be sealed would be formed as a right angle, and thus the cylindrical shape does not conform to the right angle.
Various tools are used to flatten and smooth the bead after it has been deposited. The tools include removable nozzles that are placed over the frustro-cylindrical calking tube nozzle. The removable nozzles smooth the surface of the bead and are typically clamped or press fit to the calking tube nozzle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAn example tube for receiving a fluent material includes a generally large container portion and a nozzle molded with the container portion. The nozzle has a dispensing tip shaped to dispense a non-cylindrical bead.
The example tube for receiving a fluent material may include a container portion and a nozzle extending from the container portion. The nozzle has a rearward portion and a forward portion extending from the rearward portion. The rearward portion is shaped to form a cylindrical bead, and the forward portion is shaped to form a triangular bead.
The example tube for receiving a fluent material includes a generally large container portion and a rearward nozzle portion having a cylindrical cross-section extending from the container portion. A forward nozzle portion has a triangular cross-section extending from the rearward nozzle portion. The container portion is molded together with the rearward nozzle and the forward nozzle.
These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description.
An example caulking tube 20 is illustrated in
The nozzle 26 has a forward area 34 that includes a non-cylindrical shape to provide a non-cylindrical bead. The forward area 34 forms the dispensing tip for the caulking tube 20. As seen in
As can be appreciated from
Referring again to
Molding the nozzle 26 with the container 23 facilitates smooth transition of the fluent material from the container 23 to rearward area 36 of the nozzle 26. As fluent material moving from the rearward area 36 has a smaller cylindrical cross-section that the fluent material within the container, the rearward area 36 transitions the fluent material from the container 23 into the forward area 34 of the nozzle 26. In addition, if a cylindrical bead is desired, an installer may choose to remove the forward area 34 so that fluent material exits the caulking tube 20 from the rearward area 36.
The nozzle 26 includes transition faces 38 that are generally aligned with the end of the container 23 and are generally perpendicular to the central axis C. In this example, the rearward area 36 extends rearward from the transition faces 38, and the forward area 34 extends forward from the transition faces 38.
Although an embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.
Claims
1. A tube for receiving a fluent material comprising:
- a generally large container portion;
- a nozzle molded with said container portion; and
- said nozzle having a dispensing tip, said dispensing tip being shaped to dispense a non-cylindrical bead.
2. The tube of claim 1, wherein said dispensing tip is formed of a plurality of generally planar sides to form the non-cylindrical bead.
3. The tube of claim 2, wherein there are three such generally planar sides such that the bead will be generally triangular.
4. The tube of claim 3, wherein an apex between at least two of said sides extends radially outwardly at an angle away from a central axis of the nozzle, such that the size of the triangular bead can be selected by cutting the at least two sides at a selected location along a length of said at least two sides.
5. The tube of claim 1, wherein said nozzle includes a portion having a cylindrical cross-section.
6. The tube of claim 1, where said portion having a cylindrical cross-section terminates at one end in at least one transition face.
7. The tube of claim 1, wherein said dispensing tip extends from at least one transition face transverse to a central axis of the nozzle.
8. The tube of claim 1, wherein said generally large container portion is for holding caulk.
9. A tube for receiving a fluent material comprising:
- a container portion;
- a nozzle extending from said container portion; and
- said nozzle having a rearward portion and a forward portion extending from said rearward portion, said rearward portion being shaped to form a cylindrical bead and said forward portion shaped to form a triangular bead.
10. The tube of claim 9, wherein said forward portion is formed of a plurality of generally planar sides to form the triangular bead.
11. The tube of claim 10, wherein an apex between at least two of said sides extends radially outwardly at an angle away from a central axis of the nozzle, such that the size of the triangular bead can be selected by cutting the at least two sides at a selected location along a length of said at least two sides.
12. The tube of claim 9, wherein said nozzle is molded with said container portion.
13. The tube of claim 9, wherein said forward portion extends from at least one transition face transverse to a central axis of said nozzle.
14. The tube of claim 9, where said rearward portion terminates in at least one transition face transverse to a central axis of said nozzle.
15. The tube of claim 9, wherein said forward portion has a generally circular cross-section.
16. The tube of claim 9, wherein said rearward portion has a generally triangular cross-section.
17. A tube for receiving a fluent material comprising:
- a generally large container portion;
- a rearward nozzle portion having a cylindrical cross-section extending from said container portion; and
- a forward nozzle portion having a triangular cross-section extending from said rearward nozzle portion, wherein said container portion is molded together with said rearward nozzle and said forward nozzle.
18. The tube of claim 17, wherein said forward nozzle includes an angled dispensing tip.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 17, 2007
Publication Date: Jun 18, 2009
Inventors: David Binder (Maidstone), Frederick Binder (Windsor)
Application Number: 11/957,601
International Classification: B65D 25/42 (20060101); B65D 35/38 (20060101);