GB2152590A - Dispensing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A finger-operable dispensing apparatus for a flowable medium such as a flowable food product comprises a housing (10) having a chamber (22) for containing the medium, the housing having an outlet (26) from the chamber for dispensing the medium (46), a removable seal (28) covering the outlet to preclude contamination of the medium while in storage and a piston (34) disposed in the housing and movable therein to force the medium out of the chamber and through the outlet when the seal has been removed. Another removable seal (48) can cover the open end of the housing. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Dispensing apparatus The present invention relates to an apparatus for dispensing a flowable medium. More particularly, the apparatus relates to an apparatus for dispensing individual portions of food products such as sandwich spreads, condiments and the like.

In typical fastfood operations, spreads and sauces such as mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup and the like are usually packaged in individual sized packets which contain enough of the condiment for a single serving. Typically, these packets are made of metal foil or the like in which the condiment can be sealed so as to be preserved and kept free of contamination. These packets are usually small, frangible, sealed bags, and it is necessary, in order to dispense the contents, to tear off a portion of the bag and then squeeze the contents out of the packet and onto the food product with which it is being used.

These individual-like packets have several distinct disadvantages. For one, they are not easily opened since, in most cases, it is necessary to actually tear a portion of the packet away to expose the contents. Additionally, opening of the packet frequently results in the contents being spilled on the hands of the user, on the table or other surroundings.

Moreover, because of the intrinsic shape and make-up of the packets, once opened and placed on the table or counter, the unused contents tend to seep out creating a generally messy environment. It is also difficult, using such packets, to easily dispense or evenly distribute the contents onto the food product.

Summary of the Invention It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for dispensing a fiowable medium.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for dispensing a food product such as a sandwich spread or the like.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing apparatus for a flowable medium which is easy to open and from which the contents can be dispensed uniformly and without spillage.

The above and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the drawings, the description herein and the appended claims.

The dispensing apparatus of the present invention includes a housing which defines a chamber for containing the flowable medium.

The housing includes an outlet from the chamber for dispensing the medium. A removable seal means covers the outlet so as to maintain the contents in an airtight, sanitary condition. There are also piston means disposed in the housing and movable within the chamber to force the medium out of the chamber and through the outlet when the seal means has been removed.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure I is a perspective view of a dispensing apparatus in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is an elevational view, in section, taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the seal removed and the flowable medium being dispensed.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the dispensing apparatus of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring now to the Figures, and particular Figs. 1 and 2, it can be seen that the dispensing apparatus of the present invention, shown generally at 10, includes a housing or body 1 2 having a first side wall 14, a second side wall 16, a third side wall 1 8 and a fourth side wall 20, side walls 14, 16, 18 and 20 being adjoined to form a chamber 22 being generally rectangular in cross section (Fig. 4). Housing 1 2 is also provided with a top wall 24 having a generally circular aperture 26 disposed therein. Aperture 26, which provides an outlet from chamber 22, is disposed in end wall 24 so as to open generally centrally of chamber 22, although it will be appreciated that outlet 26 could be disposed at virtually any location in end wall 24.

Overlying outlet 26 is a removable seal 28 provided with a tab 30. Seal 28 may be made from a heat sealable plastic, a metallic foil or the like provided with adhesive, by which seal 28 can be adhered to housing 10 and more specifically top wall 24 so as to compietely seal outlet 26 and hence chamber 22. Tab 30 provides an easy means for lifting seal 28 off of top wall 24 thereby exposing outlet 26.

Housing 1 2 also defines an end opening 32 (see Fig. 2), in the embodiment shown, end opening 32 having the same cross-sectional shape and dimension as chamber 22. Received in the housing 12, in end opening 32, is a piston, shown generally as 34. Piston 34 is a generally cup-shaped member, the cupshaped member being defined by a bottom wall 36 and flanges 38, 40, 42 and 44. As can be seen, the bottom wall 36 of piston 34 serves to define a movable wall partially defining chamber 22 and is in contact with the flowable medium 46 contained therein. The cup-shaped portion of piston 34 faces end opening 32 defined by housing 1 2. Although it is unnecessary that piston 34 have the cup shaped configuration, as seen hereafter, such a configuration facilitates movement of piston 34 and hence dispensing of medium 46.

Received over and sealing end opening 32 of housing 1 2 is a second removable seal 48 having a tab 50, much like tab 30 of removable seal 28. Like removable seal 28, seal 48 can be made of a plastic heat sealable material or a metallic foil provided with an adhesive whereby it can be securely sealed to housing 12.

In assembling and filling the dispensing apparatus 10, piston 34 is disposed in the end opening 32 of housing 1 2 and the flowable medium 46 introduced into chamber 22 through outlet 26 It will be recognized that piston 34, when viewed in transverse cross section, has a shape and size complementary to that of chamber 22 and is sized so as to be snugly received therein. Accordingly, there is an essentially leakproof seal formed between piston 34 and the walls defining chamber 22 which serves to prevent any leakage of medium 46 therebetween. It will be recognized that, in the preferred case, piston 34 and housing 1 2 are constructed of a plastic material such as polyethylene, poiypropylene or similar polymeric materials which are generally used for food packaging and the like.It will also be recognized that housing 1 2 and piston 34 will be dimensioned such that they possess sufficient structural integrity such that they are not easily collapsed, crushed or deformed in normal usage. Thus, for example, the wall thickness of the walls 12, 14, 1 6 and 1 8 may be from about 10 to about 40 mils.

End wall 36 of piston 34 as well as flanges 38. 40, 42 and 44 may have a similar thickness. It will be understood, however, that the type or dimension of the material used in constructing housing 1 2 and piston 34 is not critical.

Once the flowable medium 46 has been introduced into chamber 22 via outlet 26, removable seal 28 is disposed over outlet 26, seal 28 being secured to end wall 24 by heat sealing, adhesive or in any other well known manner. Likewise, second removable seal 48 is secured over end opening 32. It will be appreciated that once sealed, and until opened, chamber 22 and hence flowable medium 46 can be easily stored without fear of contamination or exposure to air which might degrade the contents of flowable medium 46.

Referring now to Fig. 3, the dispensing apparatus of Fig. 2 is shown in use. To this end, end seal 48 is removed by grasping tab 50 and pulling in the well known manner exposing the cup-shaped portion of piston 34.

Top seal 28 is then removed by means of tab 30 in a similar fashion. The finger of the user is then inserted into end opening 32 of housing 1 2 and into contact with the end wall 36 of piston 34. The cup-shaped configuration of piston 34 acts as a guide to position the finger against the central portion of bottom wall 36 of piston 34. Container 10 is then tipped into the position shown in Fig. 3 such that end wall 24 is facing in a generally downwardly direction relative to its position in Fig. 2 thereby orienting outlet 26 in a generally downward position relative to its position in Fig. 2. With housing 12 held between the thumb and forefinger, the index finger is used to urge piston 34 in the direction of arrow A thereby forcing piston 34 toward end wall 24 and forcing flowable medium 46 out of chamber 22 through outlet 26.Because the rate of flow of medium 46 can be easily controlled simply by the amount of pressure applied to piston 34, the flowable medium 46 can be easily distributed over the food product, e.g. a sandwich, in a uniform and relatively precise manner. Additionally, when the desired portion of flowable medium 46 has been dispensed, the dispensing apparatus 10 can simply be placed on the table or other support in the position shown in Fig. 2 with the result that no further amount of flowable medium 46 will be expelled from chamber 22. Accordingly, the user is provided with an efficient means to dispense the flowable medium without getting it on his hands or having it spill onto the table or other surroundings after use.

Referring now to Fig. 5, there is shown still another embodiment of the dispensing apparatus of the present invention. The dispensing apparatus, shown generally as 60 in Fig. 5, differs from that shown in Fig. 1 basically by the transverse cross-sectional shape of the housing. Referring then to Figs. 5 and 6, housing 62 has a cylindrical wall 64 which, as seen from Fig. 6, provides a chamber 66 having a generally circular transverse cross section. Housing 62 is provided with an end wall 68 having an outlet 70 into chamber 66.

A top seal 72 having a tab 74 is secured to and seals outlet 70 in substantially the same manner as seal 28 seals outlet 26 of the dispensing apparatus 10 shown in Fig. 1.

Disposed in housing 62 is a piston 76 which, like piston 34, is slidable in housing 62 to thereby force any flowable medium contained in chamber 66 through outlet 70. Piston 76 has a cross-sectional (circular) shape and size which is complementary to that of chamber 66 and is snugly received in chamber 66 so as to essentially form a tight seal with the cylindrical wall 64 of housing 62 to thereby prevent any leakage of flowable medium out of chamber 66 between piston 76 and wall 64. Piston 76 has a wall 78 similar to wall 36 which is in contact with any medium in chamber 66. Although not shown, piston 76 may have a cup-shaped configuration similar to that of piston 34 shown in Fig. 2. Dispensing apparatus 60, like dispensing apparatus 10, is also provided with a second removable seal 80 having a tab 82, seal 80 overlying the end opening 84 defined by wall 64 of housing 62.The materials of construction, method of filling and using of dispensing apparatus 60 is similar to that described above with respect to dispensing apparatus 10.

It will be appreciated that the dispensing apparatus of the present invention provides distinct advantages over the collapsible foil packet commonly used to hold food products such as mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup and the like. The dispensing apparatus of the present invention may be easily opened without the contents spilling onto the hands of the user or the surroundings. Unalike the frangible packets conventionally used, wherein it is difficult to uniformly dispense the contents, the present invention provides an extremely efficient means to uniformly and accurately dispense the contents. Unlike the collapsible or frangible packets conventionally used, once the desired amount of the contents has been dispensed, the apparatus can be disposed in an upright position such that no further amount of the contents will spill out.Because of the removable seals used with the dispensing apparatus of the present invention, the flowable medium is completely sealed from air or contamination. Since the dispensing apparatus of the present invention provides greater structural integrity than the frangible packets commonly used, there is less likelihood of accidental rupturing and spillage of the flowable medium.

The flowable medium can be virtually any food product. However, the dispensing apparatus of the present invention is particularly directed to flowable mediums of the food variety which are generally viscous or have a paste-like consistency such as ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard and other such condiments.

It will also be appreciated that while the dispensing apparatus of the present invention is primarily directed to the storing and dispensing of food products, it can be used with other materials such as glues, sealants and the like which are generally viscous and are normally dispensed from collapsible tubes. Indeed, by varying the size of the outlet and providing a seal which is not only removable but replaceable, the dispensing apparatus of the present invention can be used not only to dispense but to store unused material. It will also be appreciated that in the case of food products, the dispensing apparatus could be provided with a replaceable seal; however, in the usual case such as in fast-food restaurants, the dispensing apparatus of the present invention will be generally sized so as to provide an individual serving, thereby obviating the necessity for storing of any unused portion.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size, shape and materials as well as in the details of the illustrated construction, may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims (7)

1. An apparatus for dispensing a flowabie medium comprising: a housing defining a chamber for containing said medium, said housing including an outlet from said chamber for dispensing said medium; first removable seal means covering said outlet; and piston means disposed in said housing and movable to force said medium out of said chamber and through said outlet when said seal means is removed.

2. The apparatus of Claim 1 wherein said housing defines an open end, said piston means being received in said open end, and there are second removable seal means disposed over said open end.

3. The apparatus of Claim 1 wherein said chamber is generally rectangular in transverse cross section, said piston means being complementary shaped so as to be snugly received in said chamber.

4. The apparatus of Claim 1 wherein said chamber is generally circular in transverse cross section, said piston means being complementary shaped so as to be snugly received in said chamber.

5. The apparatus of Claim 1 wherein said housing defines an open end, said piston means being received in said open end, the portion of said piston means facing said open end being generally cup-shaped.

6. The apparatus of Claim 5 including a second removable seal means disposed over said open end.

7. The apparatus of Claim 1 wherein said housing includes an end wall, said outlet being formed in said end wall and generally centrally thereof.