US3606963A - Aerosol dispenser for dispensing a multicomponent product - Google Patents

Abstract

AN AEROSOL DISPENSER OF THE TYPE IN WHICH THE PROPELLANT AND A PLURALITY OF COMPONENTS OF THE PRODUCT TO BE DISPENSED ARE KEPT SEPARATE UNTIL DISPENSED. THE DISPENSER HAS AN OUTER CONTAINER WITH A VALVE MEANS ON SAID OUTER CONTAINER. A PROPELLANT CARTRIDGE IS PROVIDED IN SAID OUTER CONTAINER AND IS COUPLED TO SAID VALVE MEANS. AT LEAST ONE FLUID TIGHT FLEXIBLE SAC IS PROVIDED IN SAID OUTER CONTAINER AND CONTAINS ONE COMPONENT OF THE PRODUCT TO BE DISPENSED IN A FLUID CONDITION. A SECOND COMPONENT CAN BE CONTAINED IN EITHER THE OUTER CONTAINER OR A SECOND FLEXIBLE SAC. MEANS IS PROVIDED COUPLING SAID OUTER CONTAINER AND SAC OR SACS TO SAID VALVE MEANS FOR ASPIRATING THE COMPONENTS WHEN THE VALVE MEANS IS OPENED TO ALLOW PROPELLANT TO FLOW FROM SAID PROPELLANT CARTRIDGE.

Description

J. MARAND sept. 21, 1971 AEROSOL DISPENSER FOR DISPENSING A MULTICOMPONENT PRODUCT 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 5, 1969 FK-ilv INVENTOR JEAN MARANO ATTORNEYS Sept 21, 1971 J. MARANp 3,606,963

AEROSOL DISPENSER FOR DISPENSING A MULTICOMPONENT PRODUCT Filed July s, 1969 s Sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR JEAN MARANO f /7 BY mmdz/Mf/W ATTORNEYS' Sept.v 21, 1971 J. MA'RAND I 3,606,953

AEROSOL DISPENSER FOR DISPENSING A MULTICOMPONENT PRODUCT Filed July 3, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INV ENTOR JEAN MARANO ATTORNEYS United States Patent O U.s. ci. 222-132 14 claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE An aerosol dispenser of the type in which the propellant and a plurality of components of the product to be dispensed are kept separate until dispensed. The dispenser has an outer container with a valve means on said outer container. A propellant cartridge is provided in said outer container and is coupled to said Valve means. At least one fluid tight diexible sac is provided in said outer container and contains one component of the product to be dispensed in a fluid condition. A second component can be contained in either the outer container or a second flexible sac. Means is provided coupling said outer container and sac or sacs to said valve means for aspirating the components when the valve means is opened to allow propellant to flow from said propellant cartridge.

This invention relates to an improved aerosol dispenser for spraying a multicomponent fluid product, generally liquid, by aspirating it with a liquefied gas propellant which is released in the gas phase as a valve means is actuated by the user of the aerosol dispenser.

More specifically, this invention relates to an aerosol dispenser of the type in which the components of the material to be sprayed are held in different parts of a product container, and a separate cartridge is provided within the product container for holding the propellant, generally consisting of a gas liquefied under pressure, so that the components of the material are kept separate from each other and from the propellant in the dispenser.

Such aerosol dispensers differ from those having only a single container with a single liquid therein, which is a mixture of the liquid to be sprayed and the propellant, which is partly in a gas phase above the liquid. Such dispensers require a rigid and strong container to hold the liquid and gas phases under pressure.

In addition, aerosol dispensers are known in which the product to be sprayed is a liquid contained in a flexible and collapsible bladder-like sac. This sac is housed in a strong, rigid container holding the propellant under pressure in such a way that the propellant exerts compression on the sac, yet it is not placed in direct contact with the liquid to be sprayed, which is desirable in many instances. In dispensers such as these, the pressure of the gas around the flexible sac tends to compress the latter and to expel the liquid it contains as soon as a valve in the rigid container is opened. Thus, the sac is emptied by pressure of the gas around it.

The invention in the present case relates to dispensers where the components of the product to be sprayed and the propellant are all kept separate from each other and in which at least one flexible sac is used for storage of one component of the product to be sprayed.

According to the invention, the aerosol dispenser includes an outer container having a valve means thereon and inside of which container are (a) a cartridge containing a propellant under pressure, (b) at least one tight flexible sac having means placing the interior of the sac in communication with the valve means, the sac containing one component of the product, generally liquid, to be dispensed, and (c) either a second flexible sac having ice means placing the interior of the sac in communication with said valve means, or a dip tube opening into the interior of the product container, a second component of the product being contained in the second flexible sac or the container. The components are aspirated when the lpropellant is released through the valve means. The valve means has separate flow paths therethrough for the propellant and the components of the product, the flow paths having obturating means therein which are actuated to open and close the flow paths by the depression and release of a pushbutton. The `arrangement can be made such that the components of the product are brought into contact just ahead of the point at which they are aspirated into the stream of propellant, or are not brought into contact until the time they are actually aspirated into the stream of propellant. All of the parts of the dispenser are constructed so that they can be molded of plastic material by conventional molding techniques, thus making possible the provision of such dispensers at a low cost.

Other features of the invention will be made clear by the following description, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. l is an axial section of the upper part of a first embodiment of the dispenser according to the invention;

FIG. Z is a section taken on line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of a second embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of an embodiment similar to IFIG. 2, but having a different stem and nozzle construction;

FIG. 5 is a section taken on line 5 5 of FIG. 4; and

FIIG. 6 is a section taken on line 6 6 of FIG. 4.

The particular embodiment of the dispenser according to the invention as shown in IFIGS. 1 and 2 is designed for spraying a multicomponent product in liquid form. This dispenser has an outer container 1 made of plastic, metal or other material which has a valve means mounted on the top thereof. The valve means includes a cap 3 mounted on upper edge 4 of container 1. At its center, the cap 3 has an annular body 5 depending therefrom which has held therein a flexible annular gasket 6 just below a central opening 2in cap 3. The body 5 has an opening 5b extending generally radially thereof which is blocked off from the central opening 2 by engagement of gasket 6 .with a depending projection 3a around opening 2. Opening `5b opens into the top of container 1. Attached to body 5, for example, by having the upper edge formed tightly 'around a flange on the lower end of the body '5, is a propellant cartridge 7 containing propellant (not shown) under pressure, a great part of which is in a liquefied state. A truncated cone-shaped first retaining ring 9, held between cartridge 7 and body 5, retains a high pressure annul-ar gasket 11 provided for obturating the flow of the propellant.

Slidably mounted in a bore along the axis of the valve body 5 is a hollow stern 12' which has an enlarged portion 13 about in the middle thereof which cooperates with gasket 6 to form a rst low pressure obturator for the liquid product to be dispensed. In addition, stem 12 has a second enlarged portion 14 at the lower end thereof which cooperates with gasket 11 to form a high pressure obturator.

An annular chamber 15 is provided in body 5, into which dip tube -16 opens, and in which enlarged portion 13 on stem 12 moves up and down. The upper end of stem 12 projects through the opening in cap 3, and has a plurality of splines 12a therealong. An annular tube 17, which depends from pushbutton 19, i's positioned around the splines 12a to define a plurality 0f outer passages 12e along the stem 12. The annular tube 17 terminates short of the enlarged portion 13 to define openings 13a into the passages 12e. rIhe openings 13a are obturated by the inner edge of gasket 6. Annular tube 17 has a space 17a at the upper end thereof into which the passages 12e between the splines open. Space 17a opens into space y18a around nozzle 18 housed in pushbutton 19. The hollow center 21 of stern 12 conducts propellant to the space 18b at the rear end of nozzle 1-8 from radial openings 20` just above second enlarged portion 14, which openings are normally closed by gasket 11.

Intermediate the hollow center 21 of the stem 12 and the outer passages 12e Iand concentrically disposed around the hollow center 21. is a plurality of inner passages 12b separated by webs l12a` extending from the outer portion of the 'stem cross section to the inner portion thereof and supporting the inner portion relative to the outer portion. At the upper end of the stem the passages 12b open into the space 17a within the tube 17, and at the bottom they open out of the stem at openings 12d within the hollow interior 15 opposite a shoulder 15a therein. A further gasket 22 is held on the shoulder 15a by a second retaining ring 23 positioned in the hollow interior 15 and held in position by a retaining projection a. A spring 24 around the stem 12 extends between the bottom of the iirst enlarged portion l13 and the second retaining ring 23, and urges the stern upwardly. The gasket 22 has the inner periphery thereof obturating the openings 12d and serves as a second low pressure obturator.

Opening into the space below the second low pressure obturator a is a bore 25 in which is xed a sac adapter 26 to which is secured a liquid tight flexible sac 27 which is placed in and only partly lls container 1. Flexible sac 27 is preferably a thin rwalled type and has great flexibility. This sac can be made of one of the following products:

(a) Polyethylene, either extruded, blown directly in its final shape, or obtained by sealing a film or sheath into the proper form, if the product is an aqueous or water-alcohol liquid product;

(b) Unplasticized polyinvyl chloride or polyamide, if the product to be sprayed is a material in solution in a hydrocarbon or contains fragrant substances, since these two materials have good impermeability with respect to hydrocarbons and odors;

(c) Thin metal aluminum foil, for instance, if the solution contains solvents that are very incompatible with respect to most plastic materials, as, for example, halogenated, ketone or benzene solvents;

(d) Compound or laminated materials, e.g. polyethylene-regenerated cellulose, polyethylene-aluminum, polyethylene-polyesters, etc., for special uses, such as when solvents are involved for which no single plastic material is suitable, or for very good impermeability. The very broad range of flexible material presently available on the market makes it possible to find satisfactory solutions for a very large number of problems.

With the parts in the positions shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and with propellant in the cartridge 7, one component of the product to be dispensed in the container 1 and the other component in the sac 27, the propellant in cartridge 7 is prevented from escaping by the gasket 11 which obturates the openings opening into the hollow center 21 of the stem 12, and at the same time is kept separate from the interior of the container l1 by the retaining ring 9 and the seal at the upper and lower edges thereof. The contents ofthe sac 27 are blocked oif from the atmosphere 'by the gasket 22 which obturates the openings 12d opening into the inner passages 12b. The interior of the container 1 is also sealed off from the outside atmosphere by the engagement of the enlarged portion 13 with the gasket 6. The gasket 6 also is pressed against the projection 3a to block the opening 5b. Thus, all of the spaces within the dispenser which contain either propellant or product to be dispensed are lsealed off from the atmosphere and each other.

When the pushbutton is depressed, the gasket 11 is flexed downwardly to open the openings 20, thus allowing propellant gas to escape up to .the hollow center 21 of the stem, through the space 18b and through the nozzle f18. Both the gaskets I6 and 22 are also exed to open the openings at the bottoms of the passages 12e and 12b, respectively, so that the interior of the container 1 is in communication with the chamber 18a around the nozzle 18 through the dip tube, the hollow interior 15, passages 12e and chamber 1761. The interior of the sac 27 is in communication with the chamber 18a around the nozzle 18 through the adapter 26, the passages '12b and chamber 17a. As the propellant ows through the nozzle, it will therefore aspirate -the contents of the container 1 and the sac 27 from the chamber 18a and dispense them in the form of a line spray.

The components of the product to be dispensed are not mixed with each other until they reach the chamber 17a just ahead or upstream of the nozzle 1'8 from which they are dispensed. Thus, if they are incompatible if stored together, they can nevertheless be dispensed by the dispenser since they are stored separately, in the container and the sac, respectively, and do not come into contact with each other until just before being drawn into the stream of propellant flowing through the nozzle.

The flexing of the gasket 6 also moves it away from the projection 3a, thus opening the opening 5b to allow air yto flow through the opening 2 in the cap 3 and through the opening 5b into the dispenser. This not only compensates for the component which is aspirated from the container 1, but also for the component which is aspirated from the sac 27 which is within the container 1.

It is not necessary that one of the components be contained within the container 1 itself. It is possible to have a plurality of sac's, each connected by means of a sac adapter to `the valve means. An embodiment in which two such sacs are provided is shown in lFIG. 3. The dispenser is the same a's that shown in FIGS. l and 2, except that in place of the dip tube, there is provided a second sac adapter 26a.' which opens into the hollow interior 15 through a second bore 25a and `a vertical groove 15b along the wall of the hollow interior 15. A second sac 27a is attached to the second sac adapter 26a for containing a component of the product to be dispensed.

The arrangement lends itself to the provision of a third, fourth and even more sacs. All that is necessary is an additional sac adapter for each sac which opens into the space beneath a corresponding flexible gasket which in turn obturates the openings into a corresponding concentric passageway. Alternatively, the space beneath the gasket 22 could be partitioned olf into spaces corresponding in number to the number of passages 12b, and each passage 12b used for a separate component.

Further, the rate of flow of the propellant and the components can be easily controlled by making the sizes of the various openings proper. For example, if it is desired to supply twice as much of the one component as the other, the cross-sectional area of the sac adapter 26 can be made one half that of the dip tube 16. Other variations in the sizes of the various openings can, of course, be made.

Moreover, the provision of the chamber 17a makes it possible to mix the components ahead of the time at which they are drawn into the propellant stream. This gives them time to react, where this is necessary or desirable, before being sprayed.

However, there are a number of products which it would be desirable to dispense, but which have components which react very quickly with each other, but which should not be reacted until immediately before being sprayed. Such products cannot be properly dispensed by the embodiments of FIGS. l-3 described above because the components will react between the time they come in contact in the space 17a and the time they reach the stream of propellant flowing through the nozzle 18. An embodiment of the invention for dispensing such quick reacting components is shown in FIGS. 4-6. This embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 3 insofar as it has two sacs in the container 1 and has a valving arrangement like that of FIG. 3. It is diterent in the construction on the upper end of the valve stern and the passages within the pushbutton. As shown in the figures, the portion of the stem above the upper end of the splines 12a has a somewhat smaller diameter than the corresponding end of the stem in the other embodiments, and the pushbutton 19 has an outer depending tube 17 and an inner depending tube 31. The outer depending tube iits tightly over the outer surfaces of the splines 12a, and the inner depending tube 31 fits tightly over the reduced diameter portion 12h at the upper end of the stern 12. The passages 12e between the splines thus open into an outer annular space 32 between the outer and inner tubes 17 and 31, while the passages 12b open into an inner annular space 33 between the inner tube 31 and the center of the stem 12 defining the hollow center 21. The separate components from the two sacs will thus be kept separate after they leave the passages 12e and 12b.

In the pushbutton around the outside of the nozzle 18 are two diametricaly opposed chambers, a left hand chamber 34 (as viewed from the front of the dispenser in FIG. 6) and a right hand chamber 35. Extending upwardly through the pushbutton 19 from the space 32 into the left hand chamber 34 is a passage 38, here shown as being curved in cross-section to match the cross-section of the annular space 32. Also extending upwardly through the pushbutton from the space 33 into the right hand chamber 35 is passage 39, also here shown as being curved in cross-section to match the cross-section of the annular space 33. These passages can have other cross-sectional shapes, if desired.

By the provision of the separate passages 38 and 39 and the separate chambers 34 and 35 around the outside of the nozzle, the components of the product will be kept separate from the time they leave the spaces 32 and 33 until they are actually drawn into the constricted portion of the nozzle 18 by the ow of propellant therethrough. They cannot react with each other until this time.

There has thus been provided an aerosol type dispenser from which a multi-component product can be dispensed, the components of which are stored separately from each other and from the propellant and are not brought into contact at the earliest until just before being aspirated into the stream of propellant, and at the latest until actually being aspirated into the stream of propellant. The construction of the container and the separate storage means and the valve means is relatively simple, and because of the provision of the valve stem with the concentric passages for the propellant and the various components and the obturating gaskets positioned one above the other and obturating the entrances to the separate passages, the dispenser is adapted to be used for a product having two or more components. All that is necessary is to add concentric passages for each component and add an additional obturating gasket, and provide an additional bag adapter and flexible sac. The construction is also such that all of the parts, the valve stern with the concentric passages, the pushbutton with the separate passages, and the Valve body with the hollow interior and several bores and openings, can be molded by conventional plastic molding techniques. This makes possible the quick and inexpensive production of the dispenser on a mass production basis.

What is claimed is:

1. An aerosol dispenser for dispensing a multicomponent product, comprising a product container, a cap on said product container, valve means depending from said cap into said container and including a valve stem projecting through the cap and movable in the valve means for actuating the valve means, a pushbutton on said valve stem and having an aspirating and dispensing nozzle therein and passages extending from said nozzle to said valve stem, a propellant cartridge on the valve means and positioned within said product container, said valve means and valve stem having a propellant flow path therethrough to said nozzle in said pushbutton, a dip tube depending product container, said valve means and valve stem having a first product component flow path therethrough from said dip tube at least to said pushbutton and separate from said propellant flow path, at least one flexible sac positioned within said product container and connected to said valve means, said valve means and valve stem having a second product component ow path therethrough from said ilexible sac at least to said pushbutton and separate from said rst product component flow path and said propellant flow path, said valve means including obturating means for each flow path actuated to open the flow paths by depression of said valve stem.

2. An aerosol dispenser as claimed in claim 1 in which said valve stem has a hollow center serving as the propellant ow path and a plurality of grooves on the outer surfaces thereof and a concentric passage between said grooves and said hollow center, the pushbutton having a depending tube around said stem and closing the grooves to define one of the product ow paths said concentric passage being the o'ther product flow path.

3. An aerosol dispenser as claimed in claim 1 in which said pushbutton has a space therein into which said product ow paths open, and has a chamber around the nozzle and a passage between said space and said chamber, whereby the components of the product are mixed in said space.

4. An aerosol dispenser as claimed in claim 1 in 'which said pushbutton has separate passages therethrough and separate chambers around said nozzle with said separate passages opening into different chambers, whereby the components of the product are not mixed until they are aspirated into said nozzle.

5. An aerosol dispenser as claimed in claim 1 inwhich said valve stem has a hollow center having lateral openings at the lower end thereof and said obturating means for said propellant flow path is a rst flexible gasket in the lower end of said valve means engaged around said valve stern over said openings and flexed away from said openings to open said openings to the interior of said propellant cartridge when said valve stem is depressed, said valve stern further having a plurality of grooves on the outersurface thereof and said pushbutton having a depending tube around said stem and terminating short of the lower ends of said grooves to define lateral openings at the lower ends of said grooves, and said obturating means for said grooves is a second flexible gasket in the upper end of said valve means engaged around said valve stem over said openings and flexed away from said openings to open said openings to the interior of said valve means when said valve stem is depressed, and said valve stem further having a concentric passage between said grooves and said hollow center having lateral openings opening out of said stem between the openings of said grooves and the openings of said hollow center, and said obturating means for said passage is a third exible gasket in said valve means engaged around said valve stem over said openings and exed away from said openings to open said openings to the interior of said valve means when said valve stem is depressed, said dip tube opening into the interior of said valve means between two of the adjacent gaskets, and the valve means having an opening from said flexible sac and opening into the interior of said valve means between the other two of the adjacent gaskets.

6. An aerosol dispenser as claimed in claim 1 further having aperture means for admitting air to said product container when said pushbutton is depressed.

7. An aerosol dispenser as claimed in claim 6 in which said aperture means for admitting air to said product container comprises a valve means portion having an opening therethrough between the opening in said cap through which said valve stem extends and the interior of said product container, said valve means portion opening being obturated by one of the obturating means for a prod-` uct flow path.

8. An aerosol dispenser for dispensing a multicomponent product, comprising a product container, a cap on said product container, valve means depending from said cap into said container and including a valve stern projecting through the cap and movable in the valve means for actuating the valve means, a pushbutton on said valve stem and having an aspirating and dispensing nozzle therein and passages extending from said nozzle to said valve stem, a propellant cartridge on the valve means and positioned within said product container, said valve means and valve stem having a propellant flow path therethrough to said nozle in said pushbutton, a rst flexible sac positioned within said product container and connected to said valve means, said valve means and valve stem having a first product component ow path therethrough from said first flexible sac at least to said pushbutton and separate from said propellant flow path, at least one furt ther exible sac positioned within said product container and connected to said valve means, said valve means and said valve stem having a second product component flow path therethrough from said further ilexible sac at least to said pushbutton and separate from said first product component ilo-w path and said propellant flow path, said valve means including obturating means for each flow path actuated to open the flow paths by depression of said valve s'tem,

9. An aerosol dispenser as claimed in claim 8 in which said valve stem has a hollow center serving as the propellant flow path and a plurality of grooves on the outer surface thereof and a concentric passage between said grooves and said hollow center, the pushbutton having a depending tube around said stern and closing the grooves to detine one of the product flow paths, said concentric passage being the other product ow path.

10. An aerosol dispenser as claimed in claim 8 in which said pushbutton has a space therein into which said product flow paths open, and has a chamber around the nozzle and a passage between said space and said chamber, whereby the components of the product are mixed in said space.

11. An aerosol dispenser as claimed in claim 8 in which said pushbutton has separate passages therethrough and has separate chambers around said nozzle with said separate passages opening into different chambers, whereby the components of the product are not mixed until they are aspirated into said nozzle.

12. An aerosol dispenser as claimed in claim 8 in Iwhich said valve stern has a hollow center having lateral openings at 'the lower end thereof and said obturating means for said propellant ow path is a rst flexible gasket in the lower end ofsaid valve means engaged around said valve stern over said openings and ilexed away from said openings to open said openings to the interior of said propellant cartridge when said 'valve stem is depressed, said valve stem further having a plurality of grooves on the outer surface thereof and said pushbutton having a depending tube around said stem and terminating short of the lower ends of said grooves to dene lateral openings at the lower ends of said grooves, and said obturating means for said grooves is a second flexible gasket in the upper end ot said valve means engaged around said valve stem over said openings and ilexed away from said openings to open said openings to the interior of said lvalve means when said valve stern is depressed, and said valve stem further having a concentric passage between said grooves and said hollow center having lateral openings opening out of said stem between the openings of said grooves and the openings of said hollow center, and said obturating means for said passage is a third exible gasket in said valve means engaged around said valve stem over said openings and ilexed away from said openings to open said openings to the interior of said valve means when said valve stem is depressed, said first flexible sac opening into the interior of said valve means between two of the adjacent gaskets, and the valve means having an opening from said further flexible sac and opening into the interior of said valve means between the other two of the adjacent gaskets.

13. An aerosol dispenser as claimed in claim 8 further having aperture means for admitting air to said product container when said pushbutton is depressed.

14. An aerosol dispenser as claimed in claim 13 in which said aperture means for admitting air to said product container comprises a valve means portion having an opening therethrough between the opening in said cap through which said valve stem extends and the interior of said product container, said valve means portion opening being obturated by one of the obturating means for a product flow path.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,506,158 4/1970 Duda Z22-193 3,465,918 9/1969 Webster 222-136 3,289,949 12/1966 Roth 239-308 ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner J. M. SLATTERY, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. Z22-402.18

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