Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SP~CIFICATION
TITL~ OF TH~ INV~NTION
A ManuallY-operated Llquld Dlscharqe Contalner
Havlnq a Flnqer Knob
T~CHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a manual type
llquld ln~ectlon contalner such as a spraylng contalner, a
foamlng contalner or a container for dlscharglng a llquld as
lt 18, and a contalner capable of ln~ectlng one of spray, foam
and llquld selectlvely by swltchlng a llquld ln~ectlon passage
formed ln a head.
BACKGROUND ART
As the manual type spraylng contalner, a foamlng
contalner or a contalner for ln~ectlng a llquld as lt ls,
there ls commerclally sold a llquld ln~ectlon contalner whlch
comprlses: a contalner body; a cyllnder dependlng lnto the
contalner body from a cap-shaped member fltted on the outer
face of the mouth/neck portlon of the contalner body; and an
actuator havlng a stem erected through the top wall of the
cap-shaped member from a cyllndrlcal plston, whlch ls fltted
ln the cyllnder, and a head fltted on the upper end of
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the stem and having a nozzle opened forward. The ae-
tuator is moved up and down with respect to the eyl-
inder for sueking a liquid in the eontainer body into
the eylinder and diseharging the liquid in the eylin-
der out of the nozzle through the stem. Also sold is
a container whieh is enabled to in~eet one of those
spray, foam and liquid seleetively by switehing a liq-
uid inJeetion passage formed in the head.
Ineidentally, these containers have different
nozzle struetures but are substantially similar exeept
the structure of the head having the nozzle.
In the aforementioned liquid injection containers
of the prior art, the actuator composed of the cylin-
drical piston, the stem and the head is biased upward
by the spring so that it is raised back by the spring
after it has been depressed. As a result, the depres-
sion of the actuator is accomplished against the bias-
ing force of the spring so that it requires a consid-
erable force.
The present invention eontemplates to provide a
liquid in~eetion eontainer, from which the spring is
eliminated and in which the finger knob is added to
the top face of the head of the actuator, so that the
aetuator may be moved up and down by the finger in-
serted into the finger knob. These aetuations are
CA 0207~176 1999-02-19
facilitated by erecting auxiliary walls along the two sides of
the head of the actuator for acting as a finger grip and
guiding the head.
Thus, in a broad aspect, the present invention
provides a liquid discharge container comprising: a container
body having a neck portion; a cap-shaped member fitted on the
outer face of said neck portion; a pump cylinder depending
into said container body from the cap-shaped member; a suction
pipe further depending from the pump cylinder to the bottom
portion of the container body; an actuator having a
cylindrical piston fitted in said pump cylinder, a stem
erected through the top wall of said cap-shaped member from
said cylindrical piston, and a head fitted on the upper end of
said stem and having a nozzle, said actuator being allowed to
move up and down with respect to the pump cylinder, in which
said cylindrical piston moves vertically for sucking a liquid
in said container body into the pump cylinder through said
suction pipe and for discharging the liquid in the container
body from the nozzle through the stem, said actuator further
having a finger knob attached to the top face of said head and
having a finger receiving hole, without any spring for pushing
up said actuator, said finger knob being used to move the
actuator up and down causing discharging of the liquid;
wherein said finger knob is arranged to be moveable relative
to said head between a first position in which said finger
receiving hole is closed by said head, and a second position
in which said finger receiving hole is opened to insert a
finger into said hole.
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CA 0207~176 1999-02-19
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Of Figs. 1 and 2 showing a first embodiment, Fig. 1
is a longitudinal section showing a container of the present
invention, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged section showing an
essential portion of Fig. 1 with an actuator being in a lower
position. Of Figs. 3 and 4 showing a second embodiment,
Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the state, in which a U-
shaped bail forming a finger knob is fallen down forward, and
Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing an erected state. Of
Figs. 5, 6 and 7 showing a third embodiment: Fig. 5 is a
perspective view showing the state, in which an inverted U-
shaped bail forming the finger knob is in a lower position;
Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the state, in which the
inverted U-shaped bail is pulled up to carry the head upward;
and Fig. 7 is an enlarged elevation showing an essential
portion half in section with the inverted U-shaped bail being
in the lower position. Of Figs. 8 to 10 showing a fourth
embodiment: Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section showing a
container; Fig. 9 is a front elevation showing the container;
and Fig. 10 is a top plan view showing the container. Fig. 11
shows respective modifications of the finger knob at A, B, C,
D and E.
In an elevated state of the actuator 20, as shown in
Figs. 1, 6 and 8, the finger tip of a hand holding the upper
portion of the container is slightly inserted into the finger
knob 30 and is pulled up and down so that the actuator 20
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composed of the cyllndrlcal plston 16, the stem 17 and the
head 18 1B moved up and down to suck the llquld in the
contalner lnto the cyllnder 10 and to dlscharge the llquld ln
the cyllnder out of the nozzle 19 of the head 15. The
auxlllary walls 6 and 6 of Flg. 8, whlch are erected along the
righthand and lefthand slde portlons of the top wall of the
cap-shaped member, partly provlde a flnger grlp, when the
contalner is held at lts upper portlon by the hand, and partly
gulde the head 18 when the head ls moved down, to prevent the
head from movlng to the rlght and left.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Flrst of all, the flrst embodlment shown ln Flgs. 1
and 2 wlll be descrlbed ln the followlng. Reference
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numeral 1 designates a container body having an erect-
ed mouth/neck portion 2. On the outer face of the
mouth/neck portion, there is screwed the lower half of
a circumferential wall 5 which depends from the outer
circumference of the top wall of a cap-shaped member
3. Said member is formed with a hole 8 at the central
portion of the top wall 4. The upper half of the cir-
cumferential wall is radially reduced to have a smal-
ler internal diameter than the external diameter of
the mouth/neck portion, and the reduced portion has
its lower end face mounted through a packing 9 on the
upper end face of the mouth/neck portion.
In the upper half of the aforementioned circum-
ferential wall 5, there is fitted a short cylinder 12
which is erected from the ~uter circumference of an
external flange 11 formed in the upper portion of a
cylinder 10. This cylinder 10 has a larger-diameter
portion lOa at its upper portion and a smaller-diame-
ter portion lOb at its lower portion and is equipped
in the inner face of its lower end with a suction
valve 13 of a ball valve. A pipe 14 depends to the
bottom portion of the container body from the lower
end of the cylinder 10. An air vent hole 15 is formed
in the aforementioned larger-diameter portion lOa.
From the inside of the aforementioned cylinder
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10, there is erected through the aforementioned hole 8
a stem 17 which is equipped with a cylindrical piston
16 at its lower end. On the upper end of said stem,
there is fitted a head 18 which has a nozzle 19 opened
forward. The cylindrical piston 16 and the stem 17
may be made of different members, as shown. In the
shown embodiment, the cylindrical piston has its smal-
ler-diameter cylindrical portion 16b erected from the
upper end of its cylinder portion 16a through an in-
ward flanged portion and fitted in the lower portion
of the stem 17. These cylindrical piston 16, stem 17
and head 18 constitute altogether an actuator 20,
which is equipped with a discharge valve. This dis-
charge valve is formed, in the shown embodiment, by
fitting a valve member 21, which has longitudinal
grooves in its outer face, vertically movably in the
stem 17 so that it is defined by the lower end face of
said valve member and the upper end of the bore of the
aforementioned smaller-diameter cylinder portion. The
valve member 21 is biased downward by a spring 22
which is fitted in the stem. This spring has its up-
per end engaging with the lower face of the inward
flange formed at the upper end of the stem. On the
outer face of the lower portion of the stem 17, there
may be fitted a sliding cylinder 25, which has its
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lower portion formed on its outer circumference with a
ring-shaped sealing member 26 fitted in the cylinder
larger-diameter portlon lOa and which has its lower
end engaging with the upper end face of the cylinder
portion of the cylindrical piston 16. As shown in
Fig. 2, said sliding cylinder is moved down together
with the stem 17 by depressing the head 18, until it
is stopped when said sealing member has its lower end
contacting with the upper end of the cylinder smaller-
diameter portion lOb so that the sealing member 26
shuts out the air vent hole 16. However, the stem 17
is further moved down with respect to the sliding
cylinder 25. When the stem is to be moved up, on the
other hand, the cylindrical piston has its cylinder
portion 16a contacting with the lower end of the slid-
ing cylinder 25 to push up said slider cylinder. If
the container has its inside evacuated as the liquid
decreases, the sealing member 26 is moved upward of
the air vent hole 15. After this, the ambient air is
introduced into the container body through the clear-
ance between the inner edge of the hole 8 and the
outer face of the sliding cylinder 25, through the
clearance which is established between the sealing
member 26 and the inner face of the larger-diameter
portion of the cylinder by deforming said sealing mem-
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ber 26 elastically, and through the air vent hole 15.In the shown embodiment, the nozzle opened in the
front face of the head is used for atomizations. De-
spite of this fact, however, there can be provided a
foaming container or a liquid discharge container
either, as is well known in the art, by changing the
nozzle structure into a foaming one or by making a
head for inJecting a liquid as it is. To the upper
face of the head 18, there is attached a ring-shaped
finger knob 30 which has its ring hole directed for-
ward or backward. Said finger knob is sized to admit
the finger tip into the ring-shaped portion. Said
finger knob 30 has its finger hole 31 opened forward
or backward.
Next, the following description is directed to
the second embodiment shown in Figs. 3 and 4.
Said embodiment is formed by hinging the righ-
thand and lefthand two end portions of a U-shaped bail
30a of the finger knob 30 to the righthand and lef-
thand two side faces of the head 18 such that the
finger knob 30 can be turned up and down. When the U-
shaped bail 30a is erected, the finger hole 31 is
formed by the upper face of the head 18 and the inner
face of the U-shaped bail 30a. When the U-shaped bail
is fallen down forward, it shuts out the front face of
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the nozzle 19. As shown, the U-shaped bail 30a may
preferably be formed at its intermediate portion with
an operation pro~ection 32. Moreover, the upper end
portion of the front face of the circumferential wall
of the cap-shaped member 3 and the U-shaped bail 30a
are respectively formed with a pro~ection 33 for lock-
ing the U-shaped bail in its forward fallen position
and an engagement member 34 for engaging with said
pro~ection.
In the third embodiment shown in Figs. 5, 6 and
7, said finger knob 30 is formed of an inverted U-
shaped bail 41 which is erected from the righthand and
lefthand two sides of a sliding cylinder 40 fitted
vertically movably on the outer face of the head 18.
The outer end of the head 18 and the lower end of the
sliding cylinder 40 are formed at their respective
outer and inner circumferences with first and second
engagement ridges 42 and 43. Slightly below the first
engagement ridge 42 of the head, as shown in Fig. 7,
there may be formed a third engagement ridge 44 which
is given such a slightly smaller external diameter
than that of the first engagement ridge 42 as to allow
the second engagement ridge of the sliding cylinder to
forcibly ride thereover. Then, the sliding cylinder
40 can be prevented from automatically moving down,
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when lt ls pulled up, so long as the lnverted U-shaped ball 41
ls not depressed while leavlng the second engagement rldge 43
posltloned between the thlrd engagement rldge 44 and the flrst
engagement rldge 41. In thls embodlment, the discharge valve
of the flrst embodlment ls replaced by one whlch ls formed of
a ball valve dlsposed ln the upper end portlon of the stem 17.
In the embodlment shown ln Flgs. 8 to 10, auxlllary
walls 6 and 6 for actlng as the flnger grlp and guldlng the
head are erected from the rlghthand and lefthand two portlons
of the top wall 4 of the cap-shaped member 3 of Flg. 1, and a
rear wall 7 for connectlng the rear portlons of the lower
halves of those auxlllary walls ls erected from the rear
portlon of the top wall. In thls embodlment, the head 18 ls
formed generally lnto such a square shape that lt can be moved
up and down whlle havlng lts rlghthand and lefthand slde faces
contactlng wlth the lnner faces of the auxlllary walls 6.
These auxlllary walls 6 and 6 can be added to the
respectlve cap-shaped members 3 of the second embodlment shown
ln Flgs. 3 and 4 and the thlrd embodlment shown ln Flgs. 5, 6
and 7.
The flnger knob 30 can be concelved to have a
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variety of shapes, as showrl at A, ~, C, D and E in
~ig. 11, in addition to those of t~e foregoing embodi.-
ments. The finger knob has a shapc Or letter C at A
in ~ig. 11, a shape, in which arcuate members are
proJected upward and inward from the righthand and
lefthand side faces of the head 18 to have their upper
ends ad~acent to each other, at B in ~ig. 11, a shape
of inverted l.etter U at C in ~lg. 11, a shape o-f in-
verted letter I. a~ D in ~lg. 11, and a sllape of letter
T at E in ~lg. 11. In case o~ the finger Icnob of said
shape of ~et.ter T, tlle rlsing porti.on may be pinc}Ied and
moved up and down by two fingers.
INDIISTRIAL API'LICA13ILITY
With the strlIctllre thus far described, according
to the present invention, tlIe sprlng for pushirIg up
tlle actuator of tlle liqllld discIIarge contaJner of the
aforemeIltioned example Or the prior art is eliminated
to make thc force unnecessary -for compressing the
spring at the time of depressing the actuator so that
the actuator can be depressed by a less force than
that of the prior art. Since, moreover, the finger
knob is attaclled to the upper face of the head, the
actuator can be casily moved up and down by havlng the
flnger Isnob hooked by tlle finger tlp of the hand hold-
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lng the contalner.
Because of the absence of the actuator depressingsprlng, still moreover, the actuator can be stopped in its
lower posltion, when the container ls not used, so that the
contalner can be made lower and more compact than that of the
prior art. Since, furthermore, the finger knob 30 is attached
to the upper face of the head, the finger on the head can be
set ln a constant posltlon so that the posltion of the finger
knob on the head can be made proper. As a result, the head
can always be depressed substantlally vertlcally unllke the
prlor art whlle belng prevented from belng pushed transversely
or from the back, so that the llquld can be prevented from
leaking otherwlse due to the transverse push or the push from
the back.
Moreover, the flnger knob has the U-shaped ball
havlng lts two end portlons so hlnged to the righthand and
lefthand two side faces of the head that it can stand up to
define the finger hole wlth the top face of the head and the
lnner face of the U-shaped ball and can fall down to shut out
the front face of the nozzle wlth the lnner face of the U-
shaped ball. As a result, the nozzle can be kept away from
dust or the llke so that it can be prevented from gettlng
clogged.
The flnger knob has the inverted U-shaped bail
erected from the rlghthand and lefthand two sides of the
sliding cyllnder, which is fltted vertically slidably on the
outer face of the head. As a result, the upper portlon of the
flnger knob can be posltloned, whlle the container ls unused,
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ln the vlclnlty of the upper face of the head because the
sllding cyllnder ls ln the lower posltlon, thus ralslng an
advantage that the overall helght of the contalner can be
reduced.
The auxlllary walls actlng as the flnger grlp and
gulding the head are so erected from the rlghthand and
lefthand two slde portlons of the top wall of the cap-shaped
member along the rlghthand and lefthand two slde faces of the
head as to allow the vertlcal movements of the head. As a
result, the actuator can be operated by gripplng the upper
portlon of the contalner body and the lower portlons of the
auxlllary walls when the contalner ls held for operatlng the
actuator. Thus, the grlp posltion of the hand can be made
higher than that of the case of no auxlllary wall, to ralse
the flnger tlp engaglng wlth the flnger knob thereby to
lncrease the stroke of the actuator. Moreover, the head can
be prevented from shaklng by the guldance of the auxili-
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ary walls, while it is being moved up and down, so
that the operation of the actuator can be facilitated.
