Patents by Inventor Robert S. Dirksing
Robert S. Dirksing has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 5224763Abstract: An improved method for fastening thermoplastic bristle tufts to a thermoplastic bristle carrier. The bristle carrier includes premolded holes with outwardly extending generally concentric collars to receive the bristle tufts. The bristles in each of the tufts to be secured to the carrier have their fastening ends melted and fused together to form a thickened fastening end portion. The thickened fastening end portion of each tuft has a cross-section which is no greater than the corresponding cross-section of the premolded hole and outwardly extending collar on the carrier.Type: GrantFiled: December 30, 1991Date of Patent: July 6, 1993Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventor: Robert S. Dirksing
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Patent number: 5215221Abstract: A disposable unit dose dispenser is provided for fluidizing and dispensing a predetermined quantity of powdered product, such as an antihistamine or a decongestant. The dispenser includes a first layer and a second layer connected together to form a gas chamber and a product reservoir adjacent one another. The product reservoir includes a delivery tube adapted to dispense the powdered product. The dispenser also includes a seal which separates the gas chamber from the product reservoir such that when pressure is applied to the gas chamber by squeezing the dispenser the seal ruptures causing a jet of gas to discharge from the gas chamber into the adjacent product reservoir fluidizing and dispensing substantially all of the powdered product from the product reservoir through the delivery tube.Type: GrantFiled: May 7, 1992Date of Patent: June 1, 1993Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventor: Robert S. Dirksing
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Patent number: 5209376Abstract: A finger actuated dispenser for a multi-component reactant toothpaste, or other fluent materials. The dispenser preferably comprises at least two coaxial cylindrical product reservoirs wherein the uppermost end of each product reservoir communicates with the other reservoirs through generally coaxial nozzles. The lowermost end of each reservoir is equipped with a concentric piston connected rearward of its leading face to the rearward portions of the other pistons by a plurality of radially oriented spokes having knife edges on their forwardmost surfaces. The knife edges taper outwardly at an acute angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the reservoirs from the interior of the innermost reservoir toward the outermost reservoir, thereby outwardly expanding the innermost surface of the innermost reservoir wall as the pistons and knife edges are advanced upwardly relative to the product reservoirs.Type: GrantFiled: March 13, 1992Date of Patent: May 11, 1993Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventor: Robert S. Dirksing
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Patent number: 5165761Abstract: A method of making toothbrushes having bristle tufts with ends in two or more distinct planes, all of said bristle tufts having individual bristles which are substantially uniformly rounded at their free ends. The method of making is a repeated sequence of steps used to attach all of the bristle tufts of the shortest overall length followed by cutting and end rounding of the individual bristles in the first group of tufts while all of the free ends of the bristles are in a first plane. This is done prior to affixing the next group of bristle tufts of greater overall length. The cutting and end rounding sequence is thereafter repeated for each ascending bristle tuft elevation. The final toothbrush bristle contour is a function of the pattern of attachment for each bristle tuft elevation.Type: GrantFiled: December 30, 1991Date of Patent: November 24, 1992Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventor: Robert S. Dirksing
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Patent number: 5146645Abstract: A toothbrush employing a force indicator which visually and tactually signals the user that a predetermined brushing force has been exceeded. The force indicator is comprised of a resilient twin beam structure located between the toothbrush handle and the toothbrush head which includes a scrubbing or polishing medium, typically bristles. The twin beam structure is itself comprised of a back side beam and a face side beam. During normal use, the back side beam is subjected to compressive stress whereas the face side beam is subjected to tensile stress. The at rest configuration of the back side beam permits it to behave as an upwardly convex arch upon initial application of compressive force resulting from a user gripping the handle and bringing the bristles or other cleansing or scrubbing medium in contact with the teeth and gums. When a predetermined force is exceeded, the back side beam resiliently buckles and inverts to a downwardly convex arch configuration.Type: GrantFiled: March 1, 1991Date of Patent: September 15, 1992Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventor: Robert S. Dirksing
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Toggle closure which permits uninterrupted glug-free pouring from a resiliently deformable container
Patent number: 5147072Abstract: A toggle closure for a resiliently deformable container which provides substantially continuous, uninterrupted, glug-free dispensing of liquid products. The toggle closure has two conduits, the first of which comprises a liquid discharge conduit that will always dispense liquid upon inversion of the container and the second of which comprises a vent conduit that will either dispense liquid if the container is undergoing resilient deformation tendency toward collapse during liquid dischage or, alternatively, vent air into the container during liquid dispensing if the container is not undergoing resilient deformation tendency toward collapse during liquid discharge.Type: GrantFiled: June 24, 1991Date of Patent: September 15, 1992Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventor: Robert S. Dirksing -
Patent number: 5105499Abstract: A toothbrush employing a non-pinching resilient twin beam structure to connect the brush handle to the brush head, the twin beam structure having one beam which is wider in cross-sectional width than the other beam in order to prevent soft oral tissue from entering the opening formed between the beams and being pinched between by the interior surfaces of the beams during deformation of the twin beam structure.Type: GrantFiled: March 1, 1991Date of Patent: April 21, 1992Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventor: Robert S. Dirksing
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Patent number: 5102017Abstract: A mechanical actuator for liquid dispensing taps which provides a mechanical advantage by means of a combination of levers, linkages, and sets of floating and fixed hinges. In a preferred embodiment the actuator improves the ergonomics of using the dispensing tap by providing a more natural hand position and better visibility of the product flow from liquid dispensing taps typically used on large volume liquid containers such as bag-in-box packages.Type: GrantFiled: June 7, 1990Date of Patent: April 7, 1992Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventor: Robert S. Dirksing
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Patent number: 5006004Abstract: A dispenser for the topical application of a liquid product. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the dispenser comprises a compressible reservoir, a feed tube, a smooth, substantially non-porous applicator tip, and a tip cover. Compression of the reservoir causes liquid product to flow onto the exposed surface of the applicator tip and form an encapsulating sheet of the liquid product. The liquid product may then be transferred from the applicator tip to the surface to be treated by contacting the surface with the liquid product coated applicator tip.Type: GrantFiled: November 25, 1987Date of Patent: April 9, 1991Assignee: The Proctor & Gamble CompanyInventors: Robert S. Dirksing, Theodore F. Merz
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Patent number: 4966780Abstract: Packaging for coffee which is to be packed as quickly as is feasible after roasting, i.e., without undergoing substantial off gassing. The packaging preferably comprises a semi-rigid, substantially gas-impervious container capable of withstanding the pressures generated by the release of carbon dioxide and other gases from the fresh roasted coffee in the container. The semi-rigid container is preferably comprised of plastic and predetermined portions of the container are preferably capable of undergoing limited deformation. This prevents instability of the base of the container, thereby keeping its vertical axis erect, and ensures that the container does not become jammed within the shipping case in which it is transported due to lateral expansion.Type: GrantFiled: May 26, 1989Date of Patent: October 30, 1990Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventors: Peter J. Hargraves, Robert S. Dirksing, Theodore P. Merz
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Patent number: 4939795Abstract: The present invention is a passive dosing dispenser for containing a solution which is to be isolated from a body of liquid when the dispenser is at least partially immersed therein. The dispenser is adapted to have a dose of the solution issue from the dispenser in response to the level of the body of liquid being lowered from a first elevation to a second elevation, and to have liquid taken into the dispenser as the level of the body of liquid rises from the second elevation to the first elevation. The dispenser has an internal reservoir which contains the solution, and an inlet/dishcarge passageway which, in use, provides fluid communication between the reservoir and the body of liquid. The inlet/discharge passageway has an intermediate, inverted, generally u-shaped section in which a gas-lock is formed to isolate the solution from the body of liquid.Type: GrantFiled: September 28, 1987Date of Patent: July 10, 1990Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventors: Stephen H. Iding, Robert S. Dirksing
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Patent number: 4937893Abstract: The present invention is a passive dosing dispenser for containing a solution which is to be isolated from a body of liquid when the dispenser is at least partially immersed therein. The dispenser is adapted to have a dose of the solution issue from the dispenser in response to the level of the body of liquid being lowered from a first elevation to a second elevation, and to have liquid taken into the dispenser as the level of the body of liquid rises from the second elevation to the first elevation. The dispenser has an internal reservoir which contains the solution, and an inlet/discharge passageway which, in use, provides fluid communication between the reservoir and the body of liquid. The inlet/discharge passageway has an intermediate, inverted, generally u-shaped section in which a gas-lock is formed to isolate the solution from the body of liquid.Type: GrantFiled: October 11, 1989Date of Patent: July 3, 1990Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventors: Stephen H. Iding, Robert S. Dirksing
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Patent number: 4892247Abstract: A package comprising a paperboard carton having an open end which is closed by a hingedly connected plastic lid, the lid and the carton together forming a latch to hold the lid in its closed position prior to initial opening of the package and between dispensing cycles. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the plastic lid includes a "U" shaped channel about its periphery, the channel having a projection located on one of the innermost surfaces of the "U". The open end of the paperboard carton includes a folded over flap. Either the flap or the carton sidewall to which it is attached includes an aperture which is complementary in size and shape to the projection on the plastic lid. The lid is maintained in its closed position by entry of the projection on the "U" shaped channel of the plastic lid into the aperture in the paperboard.Type: GrantFiled: August 19, 1988Date of Patent: January 9, 1990Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventors: Robert S. Dirksing, Theodore P. Merz
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Patent number: 4873100Abstract: A bistable expandable bottle preferably including a concentrated material to be diluted, said bottle being comprised of convex shaped bellows when in its expanded condition, said bottle also including opposed handle means for facilitating the extension of the bottle from its collapsed to its expanded condition. In a preferred embodiment a self-venting closure is also employed to seal the orifice in said bottle to permit extension of the bottle from its collapsed to its expanded condition without loosening or removing of the closure.Type: GrantFiled: April 15, 1987Date of Patent: October 10, 1989Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventors: Robert S. Dirksing, Richard M. Girardot, Theodore P. Merz
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Patent number: 4730381Abstract: A plural-chambered, gravity-activated dispensing device that incrementally dispenses two or more flowable products at a substantially constant, predetermined ratio. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, an inner container is positioned within an outer container, each container defining a chamber adapted to contain a flowable product, and having a discharge opening therein. An empty third container is sized and positioned within the inner container to impose on the inner chamber's pouring characteristics an effect similar to that imposed on the outer chamber's pouring characteristics by the inner container to thereby achieve a substantially constant dispensing ratio between the pourable products dispensed therefrom. In another particularly preferred embodiment, the effect of the third empty container mentioned above is superimposed on the inner container's shape and position within the outer container, thereby eliminating the third empty container.Type: GrantFiled: February 20, 1987Date of Patent: March 15, 1988Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventor: Robert S. Dirksing
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Patent number: 4729880Abstract: An article for sanitizing toilets comprising a dosing dispenser with a calcium hypochlorite cake composition characterized in that the article is designed (when used) to dispense from 1 ml to 4 mls of a 5% to 15% liquid bleach over the life of the article. When in use, the article is designed to maintain a reserve of liquid bleach in the dispenser wherein the reservoir to dose volumetric ratio of 3:1 to 6:1.Type: GrantFiled: April 29, 1985Date of Patent: March 8, 1988Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventors: Robert S. Dirksing, Bruce Brown, Ray D. Lotts, Louis F. Wong
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Patent number: 4678103Abstract: A plural-chambered, gravity-activated dispensing device that incrementally dispenses two or more flowable products at a substantially constant, predetermined ratio. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, an inner container is positioned within an outer container, each container defining a chamber adapted to contain a flowable product, and having a discharge opening therein. An empty third container is sized and positioned within the inner container to impose on the inner chamber's pouring characteristics an effect similar to that imposed on the outer chamber's pouring characteristics by the inner container to thereby achieve a substantially constant dispensing ratio between the pourable products dispensed therefrom. In another particularly preferred embodiment, the effect of the third empty container mentioned above is superimposed on the inner container's shape and position within the outer container, thereby eliminating the third empty container.Type: GrantFiled: March 27, 1986Date of Patent: July 7, 1987Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventor: Robert S. Dirksing
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Patent number: 4664651Abstract: Method and apparatus for distending the blood vessels comprising the veins and the arteries in an isolated portion of a patient's body remote from the patient's heart to facilitate puncture with a cannula. The preferred method comprises placing the isolated portion of the patient's body within a chamber capable of supporting at least a partial vacuum and forming a substantially airtight seal between the chamber and the isolated portion of the patient's body. Venous blood flow from the isolated portion of the patient's body is then gradually restricted by circumferentially constricting the patient's body at a point approximately coinciding with the point at which the substantially airtight seal is formed.Type: GrantFiled: March 1, 1985Date of Patent: May 12, 1987Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventors: Eugene Weinshenker, Robert S. Dirksing
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Patent number: 4462121Abstract: A passageway resistant to capillary transport and which is defined by a circumscribing wall made of heat sealable plastic sheets which are joined along longitudinally extending fin-type heat seals. The joints each have a fillet section which is in intimate contact with the wall along portions contiguous the heat seals and which fills the capillary channels therebetween. The fillets are made of a material which will not be displaced by a liquid which contacts the passageway in use.Type: GrantFiled: March 19, 1982Date of Patent: July 31, 1984Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventors: Robert S. Dirksing, Bruce A. Yeazell
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Patent number: 4436269Abstract: A hanger for supporting an article such as a dispenser for toilet tank chemicals on a vertical wall member such as a toilet tank at a predetermined height adjustably selected by the user. The hanger includes a means for securing its uppermost end to the wall member, a bayonet member, a channel means into which the bayonet member inserts, at least one resiliently deformable projection located along a longitudinal edge of either the bayonet member or the channel means and a multiplicity of spaced, projection receiving means, complementary to the projection, located on a longitudinal edge of the other of either the bayonet member or the channel means and in the same plane as the projection. The projection extends outwardly from the longitudinal edge and is resiliently deformable in the plane of the member to which it is attached. The hanger is manually adjusted by the movement of the resiliently deformable projections between the projection receiving means.Type: GrantFiled: November 28, 1980Date of Patent: March 13, 1984Assignee: The Procter & Gamble CompanyInventors: Robert S. Dirksing, Dale E. Barker