Apparatus for dispensing flowable contents of a collapsible tube
A hand held tube squeezer facilitates emptying a tube of its contents. The squeezer has a gripping action on the tube to which it is applied, thus preventing rearward slipping of the squeezer. Top and bottom plates of the squeezer are connected by a loop which has a slot through which a tube extends when it is being emptied. Portions of the loop at opposite ends of the slot function as a line hinge between the top and bottom plates. The squeezer and a roller are packaged in a clear plastic wrap film.
A great many materials such as toothpaste, caulk, and the like are packaged in squeeze tubes, which are squeezed from the bottom up. It is difficult, if not impossible, to empty the contents of some tubes by hand squeezing the tube. Numerous devices have been proposed for assisting a person in dispensing the flowable contents from a collapsible tube; however, they have not proven entirely satisfactory as to ease of handling, operation, durability, maintenance and/or cost. There exits a need for an inexpensive durable maintenance free hand held device for compressing flowable material from a tube which is easily applied to and removed from the tube.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA handheld device in the form of a squeezer for emptying contents for a tube is made of a stiff, but resilient, segment of material, preferably plastic, having a uniform thickness. The squeezer has a lateral width slightly greater than the collapsed width of the tube for which it is designed and a length greater than its width. The segment is bent upwardly at about its midpoint about 165 degrees to form a loop and then is bent upwardly to form a rounded laterally extending tube gripping ridge or dimple. This results in a flat bottom plate connected by the loop to a slightly concave top plate disposed at about a 17 degree angle to the bottom plate. A laterally extending slot is formed in the loop just above the level of the bottom plate. The slot has a lateral dimension slightly greater than the width of tube in a flattened state and a vertical dimension slightly greater than the collapsed thickness of the tube. The lateral dimension of the slot is less than the lateral dimension of the loop thereby leaving narrow portions of the loop at opposite lateral ends of the slot which serve as a live hinge.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
As shown in
Claims
1. A hand held device for discharging contents of a collapsible tube comprising:
- a tube squeezer formed from an elongated thin flat resilient material segment wider than said tube, said segment being folded over near the mid point of its length forming a loop joining a flat bottom plate and a top plate inclining upwardly from said bottom plate, said loop including a laterally extending slot having laterally length slightly greater than the collapsed width of said tube, and a height slightly greater than the collapsed thickness of said tube, the portions of said loop at the laterally opposite ends of said slot constituting a live hinge between said top plate and said bottom plate.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein a downwardly extending dimple is formed across the lateral width of said squeezer at the junction of said loop with said top plate.
3. The device of claim 2 wherein said top plate is slightly concave in its direction of elongation.
4. The device of claim 2 wherein said device is made of a thermo plastic.
5. The device of claim 2 wherein said tube is gripped between said dimple and said bottom plate when said tube is placed in said squeezer and said top plate is pivoted downward.
6. The device of claim 2 wherein said top plate is disposed at an angle between 10 and 25 degrees relative to said bottom plate.
7. A package of tube squeezing products comprising
- a tube squeezer of thin flat resilient material having a flat bottom joined to a slightly concave top by a loop with a laterally extending slot through which a flattened tube may be extended, the portions of said loop at laterally opposite ends of said slot serving as a live hinge between said top and bottom,
- a cylindrically shaped roller having a parallel axially extending ridges on its circumference, said roller being between 12 mm and 24 mm in diameter and between 70 mm and 100 mm in axial length and
- a clear plastic film shrink wrapped around said squeezer and roller.
8. The package of claim 7 wherein said roller is beveled at its axially opposite ends.
9. The package of claim 8 wherein said tube squeezer and said roller are made of plastic.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 30, 2004
Publication Date: Mar 2, 2006
Inventor: William Burrell (Lyman, SC)
Application Number: 10/929,186
International Classification: B65D 35/28 (20060101);