Abstract: A battery powered solenoid actuated liquid tap dispenser has a solenoid coil, an armature extending through the coil, a valve seal coupled to the armature, a spout engaged by the valve seal, an electrical actuation button adjacent to the spout, and a manual actuation button atop the armature. The electrical actuation button is arranged to be engaged by the lip of a cup placed under the spout and cause the armature to move in the coil thereby moving the valve seal away from the spout. Alternatively, the armature may be moved by the manual actuation button.
Abstract: A manually operated trigger sprayer is constructed with a reduced number of parts and in a novel manner in which all of the component parts of the sprayer are constructed of a plastic material. The construction of the trigger sprayer replaces the conventional metal coil spring in the pump chamber with a pair of plastic bowed springs that are integral with the piston rod and are positioned outside the pump chamber. Constructing all of the sprayer parts of a plastic material enables a cost efficient recycling of the parts, which does not require disassembling the parts to remove a metal spring.
Abstract: A connector cap of a trigger sprayer is integrally formed with the sprayer housing of the trigger sprayer. The connector cap has a flexible cylindrical sidewall of varying thicknesses that enables the cap to be flexed and snap fit on a bayonet-type connector of a bottle neck by pressing the cap downwardly onto the bottle neck. The different thicknesses of the sidewall allow portions of the sidewall to flex, while maintaining a smooth, cylindrical exterior surface appearance of the sidewall.
Abstract: A child resistant manually actuated dispensing pump device includes a rotatable nozzle cap having a flange which defines a notch and an outer shroud having a tab which is dimensioned to engage the notch and lie substantially flush with or recessed relative to the flange so that it cannot be grasped and pulled out of the notch. When the tab is engaged in the notch, the nozzle cap cannot be rotated. The shroud is made of material which is flexible enough that it can be bent away from the nozzle cap, thereby lifting the tab out of the notch and permitting rotation of the cap. A second embodiment replaces the notch with a pair of ledges located on opposite sides of the nozzle cap, and provides a second tab on the opposite side of the shroud so that each tab engages a ledge.
Abstract: An electrically-powered fluid sprayer employs a piezoelectric fluid pump that includes an inlet port, an outlet port, a pump chamber, and a piezoelectric element that is deformed and displaced by electrical signals supplied thereto to vary the volume of the pump chamber. Such displacement pumps fluid into the inlet port and into the pump chamber and discharges fluid from the pump chamber out the outlet port. The inlet port is in fluid communication with a fluid reservoir. Spin mechanics may be disposed downstream from the outlet port of the fluid pump and upstream from the discharge nozzle. The piezoelectric fluid sprayer may be extended to include a dual chamber piezoelectric pump that pumps different fluids (e.g., a liquid and air). The output of the dual chamber pump is mixed in a manifold and supplied downstream to the discharge nozzle. Spin mechanics may be employed in the fluid stream upstream from the discharge nozzle after the mixing.
Abstract: A manually operated trigger sprayer includes a feature that limits the forward pivoting movement of the trigger. By limiting the forward pivoting movement of the trigger, the novel construction of the trigger sprayer prevents the trigger from engaging against the nozzle assembly attached to the sprayer housing of the trigger sprayer and potentially dislodging the nozzle assembly from its attachment to the trigger sprayer housing.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
September 7, 2007
Date of Patent:
November 25, 2008
Assignee:
Meadwestvaco Calmar, Inc.
Inventors:
Donald D. Foster, Philip L. Nelson, Walter J. Clynes
Abstract: A pressurized sprayer comprises a pump attachment. The pump attachment includes a body that defines a chamber in which a piston is reciprocally mounted. The piston is coupled to a handle by a shaft. The piston separates the chamber into a first portion and as second portion. The second portion in communication with an inlet valve and outlet passage. A spray nozzle is in communication with the outlet passage and is rigidly attached to the pump attachment.
Abstract: An improved liquid sprayer assembly for connection to a container (which preferably includes two liquid storage compartments) has a housing that includes a container mount having an underside with at least one structure that is operably interposed with corresponding structure on a neck portion of the container such that the container mount is fixed in a predetermined orientation relative to the container. A cap locks the container mount to the neck portion of the container. Preferably, the at least one structure of the container mount comprises a pair of wedge-shaped wall structures together with a plurality of wall structures that extend in a directional substantially parallel to the central axis of the mount/neck. The wedge-shaped wall structures are radially disposed opposite one another about the central axis of the container mount/neck and fit within wedge-shaped voids defined by the neck portion of the container.