Abstract: A relatively small product dispenser for cosmetics such as creams and lotions and adapted to be carried in a handbag or purse has a locking ring which is rotatable to a first orientation that prevents depression of an actuator and which is also rotatable a second orientation enabling actuator movement. The locking ring is coupled to a closure element in such a fashion that the element covers a discharge opening of the dispenser when the actuator is locked in position in order to retard the drying and consequent hardening of any products remaining within a passageway adjacent the discharge opening. As the locking ring is turned to its second orientation enabling the actuator to be depressed, the closure element moves away from the discharge opening to permit full flow of products therethrough.

Abstract: In a manually operated dispenser especially suited for striped toothpaste products and the like the reciprocable pumping piston is provided with a concave, product-engaging face that gently, yet forcibly, directs the product in a smooth, laminar flow out of the pump chamber and into the discharge spout when the piston is depressed through a pumping stroke so that stripes in the ribbon of toothpaste issuing from the spout are well defined and maintained in an aesthetically pleasing manner. The cooperating floating takeup piston at the opposite end of the chamber from the pumping piston is provided with a convex dome that becomes complementally received within the concavity of the pumping piston when the contents of the dispenser are nearly depleted, thereby maximizing the degree to which the dispenser is emptied.

Abstract: The actuating lever of the dispenser has a rigid valve flap integral therewith which covers the spout outlet to close the same when the actuating lever is in its normal, undepressed position but which then lifts off the outlet to open the same when the lever is depressed in a pumping stroke. One embodiment employs a reciprocable pumping piston at one end of the dispenser body and a free-floating take-up piston at the opposite end of the body which responds to the evacuationof material within the pump chamber to take up the space otherwise occupied by the evacuated product. Another embodiment utilizes a pumping piston which starts at the lower end of the dispenser body and is progressively drawn up toward the opposite end during successive pumping strokes by a rod connected to the actuating lever.

Abstract: An economical, non-clogging apparatus for dispensing premeasured amounts of liquid from a container placed on a shelf is provided which contains no spring, has a secure shipping mode, permits one-handed operation, has few moving parts, and avoids liquid wastage by preventing inadvertent removal of the rotatable outer cap. In preferred forms, the apparatus includes a tubular, stationary member received partly within the container's outlet neck a tubular, movable member coupled with and received partly within the stationary member, and a stem co-axially received within the movable member and coupled with the stationary member. These components cooperatively define a measuring chamber, an inlet opening, and an outlet aperture.

Abstract: The actuating lever of the dispenser has an integral valve flap which covers the discharge outlet of the dispenser when the lever is in its standby position, and in order to augment the sealing capabilities of such flap during shipment or storage prior to customer acquisition and use of the dispenser, a disposable sealing tape is provided which is factory-installed so as to overlie the outlet between the latter and the covering valve flap. The tape is provided with a layer of adhesive to promote retention of the tape in sealing relationship with the outlet, and a tab portion of the tape extends from the outlet and is adhered to adjacent portions of the dispenser in such a manner as to facilitate grasping and removal by the user.

Abstract: The actuating lever of the dispenser has an outlet valve flap integral therewith which moves in a shearing action across the outlet of the discharge spout as the actuator is returned to its standby position such that the returning valve flap cleanly slices through the bead of viscous product adhering to the spout and this fully separates the dispensed bead of product from that remaining behind in the spout. A lost-motion action permits the valve flap to uncover the spout outlet before further depression of the actuating lever shifts the pumping piston through its dispensing stroke to force product out the spout.

Abstract: The metering device is adapted to be installed on the neck of a liquid product container so that, when the container is upended or otherwise oriented to supply the device with liquid, actuation of the device results in the release of a pre-sized dose of the product by gravity. Several different embodiments of the invention are disclosed, all but one of which adapt the device for filling its dosage accumulation chamber when the device is in a standby condition ready for dispensing. The other embodiment adapts the device to maintain its dosage accumulation chamber normally empty and to fill such chamber only upon temporary actuation.

Abstract: The dispensing pump has an actuator button which is depressible immediately alongside of the stationary discharge spout of the pump so that, when the button is fully extended in its standby position, its upper surface is approximately flush with the upper end extremity of the spout. A locking cover on the button may be slid into a closed position at this time covering the open end of the spout to both seal the latter and securely lock the button against accidental depression. An alternative embodiment provides a discharge passage within the button itself which may be opened and closed by appropriate positioning of a slide cover carried by the button.

Abstract: The depressible actuator of the pump has a closure plug hingedly and integrally attached thereto in association with an integral toggle so that the plug may be snapped between a pair of opposite over-center positions about the hinge point. In one of the positions, the plug may be inserted snuggly into the otherwise open end of the dispensing spout of the pump so as to close and seal the latter, while in the other over-center position the plug is snapped back into a fully clearing relationship with the spout to not only open the latter but also remain out of the path of discharging travel of product emanating from the spout. When the plug is securely received within the spout, it cannot be pulled out merely by depressing the actuator, and thus the actuator becomes effectively locked against depression at that time.

Abstract: The atmospheric pressure-operated take-up piston of the dispenser is provided with releasable locking structure which retains the piston prior to first intentional actuation of the dispenser against jarring movements tending to pressurize the contents and promote leakage during shipment and storage. Once the piston has been intentionally unlocked from its starting position at one end of the dispenser, it is free to travel under the influence of atmospheric pressure to take up space left vacant by discharged product. Several different forms of structure means for the take-up piston are disclosed.

Abstract: Serrations on the upper end of the pump body are disposed for interlocking engagement with depending portions of the pump collar so that when the plunger is rotated in a counterclockwise direction to unlock the same from the collar in preparation for reciprocal operation, the collar is held securely by the body against rotation to assure unlocking. The serrations take the form of a plurality of equally circumferentially spaced ramps which are inclined in the direction of locking rotation of the plunger to thereby permit the collar to yieldably override the serrations when the locked plunger and collar are rotated as a unit in the locking direction relative to the body to orient a spout of the plunger in a desired location for factory packaging efficiency.

Abstract: The plunger of the pump has a radially extending lug near its upper end which can be inserted down into a notch in the stationary pump collar when the plunger is fully depressed, so that when the plunger is then rotated in a clockwise direction relative to the collar, the lug is brought under an overhanging ledge on the collar to releasably lock the plunger in its fully depressed position. In order to deter unlocking, the lug of the plunger and the interior wall of the collar are provided with mutually interengageable structures that permit the lug to be rotated substantially without significant resistance into a final or fully locked up position against a shoulder beneath the ledge but to be held in such fully locked up position against unlocking movement unless substantial, counterclockwise-directed force is applied.

Abstract: The pump is clamped to the top wall of a container closure by a pair of opposed, upper and lower clamping surfaces on the pump body which position the body to project down into the container. The lower clamping surface takes the form of a circular flange which is integral with the pump body and which is itself normally clamped between the top wall of the closure and the upper edge of the neck of the container when the neck is only slightly larger than the pump body, thereby preventing rotation of the body when the pump plunger is rotated to either lock or unlock the same from a fully depressed, stored position. When the pump is used on a large closure having a wide neck whose upper edge therefore fails to clamp against the pump flange, the pump body will nonetheless be held immobile by a series of flat surfaces therearound which matingly interlock with complimentally configured flat edges in the closure opening through which the pump body extends.

Abstract: The plunger of the pump has an axial lock by which the plunger can be locked down in its fully depressed position during periods of non-use and a rotary lock for preventing inadvertent rotation of the plunger out of its locked down mode. The rotary lock includes a pair of yieldably spreadable arms which circle the collar of the pump and latch against one another in overlapping, embracing relationship so that the lock is held tightly on the collar against rotation relative thereto. A locking bar integral with the arms and of essentially rigid construction projects up out of the plane of curvature of the arms and has a saddle-like notch at its uppermost tip which complementally receives a portion of the spout associated with the discharge head of the plunger, thereby rendering the plunger rotatively immobile relative to the collar.