US2772820A - Valve for aerosol dispenser - Google Patents

Description

w. R. oDoNNELI. 2,772,820

VALVE RoR AEROSOL DISPENSER Dec. 4, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 20, 1953 l f l-f 57 W r I a 3/ JNVENTOR BY m Dec. 4, 1956 w; R. O'DONNELI. I 2,772,820

VALVE FOR AEROSOL DISPENSER Filed Nov. 20, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Flqf 36 K. INVENTOR. WM MM e 0 aon/M5L L VALVE FOR AEROSOL DISPENSER William R. ODonnell, Trumbull, Conn., assignor to Valve Corporation of America, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application November 20,1953, serial No. 393,420

s claims. (Cl. zzz-394) The present invention relates to dispensers and relates more particularly to an improved valve construction to control the discharge of a solution from a container as a fine mist or aerosol spray. t

As is well known, various forms of aerosol spray dispensers have been used including a container and a manually controlled valve for the discharge of a spray of finely divided material. The character of the discharge, controlled by the valve, diifers with different mixtures employed, It is desirable therefore to provide a valve that will operate eifectively for various aerosol products which may include airborne insecticides, deodorants, air sanitizers as well as for lacquers, waxes, paints, etc. which are discharged for deposit on a surface.

Valves of this type although in the nature of a precision instrument of diminutive proportions, must be made available at relatively low cost and of simple construction capable of meeting the demands of high speed production including fabrication of the parts and assembly into an operating unit. The finished valve unit must be positive and effective in operation and conveniently controlled with a minimum of manual effort.

An object of the present invention is to provide a valve of simple construction for dispensing or dispersin spray from a liquid under pressure.

-Another object of the inventionis to provide a spray dispensing valve capable of manufacture at relatively low cost and capable of convenient and effective manual operation. v

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be more clearly understood byreference to the following description together with the accompanying drawings in which: t

Vvalve in closed position;

Fig. 3 is a view taken on line III- -III in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but shows the valve parts in position for spray discharge; andV Fig. 5 is an exploded View showing the individual valve parts. v

It'will be understood that the drawings showing the present discharge valve have, for the sake of clearness, been made on an enlarged scale as compared to the actual valve.` Valves of the type to which the present invention relates are relatively small but by reason of the novel combination of the correlated elements the present Valves operate with accuracy and reliability for the purpose intended.

One practical example of the present valve is indicated as a whole by the reference character as applied to a container 11in Fig. 1. The valve proper or valve unit includes a sheet metal housing 12 comprising what may be termed an upper section 13 and a lower section 14. Upper sheet metal nited States Patent '2,772,820 Patented Dec. 4, 1956 ICC section 13 is cylindrical and the inner surface of the wall thereof is in contact with the edge 14 of a sealing disk 15 of a selected resilient material which, as will be later described, serves to close a passage having the function of one element of a slide valve.

The disk 15 is held in a fixed position relative to housing 13 between :an inturned ange 16 at the upper end of lower section 14 which is in contact with one lsurface of disk 15 and in turn is engaged by ilange 17 integral with upper section 13.`

The upper surface of disk 15 is engaged by an annular boss 18, substantially semi-circular in transverse crosssection, and formed from the sheet metal wall of housing 13. As will be evident the shaping or forming operation to produce the boss 18 may be so regulated as to cause the boss to compress the disk between the boss and ange 16 to a selected degree. The boss 18 being of sheet metal provides an annular channel 19 to receive a resilient packing ring 21. One edge of the packing ring is rounded to conform to and contact with the inner surface of the channel 19.' The other edge 20 of the ring 21 is at for intimate contact with the under surface of a cover or cap 22. The valve proper is secured to a wall of the cap 22 by a hollow annular bead 23 which is crimped to engage the outer surface of the cover wall and compress the packing ring 21 into intimate contact with the channel 19 and the wall of the cap 22. As the packing is compressed to provide a seal the under surface of cover 22 engages an annular rib 19 constituting a part of the wall of sheet metal section 13. p Thus when bead 23 is formed from the sheet `metal wall of the housing it clamps the cover between the bead edge 23' and the rib 19 to secure the housing to the cover.

The housing therefore, including sections 13 and 14,

Vconstitutes a Vvalve casing held in fixed relation to cover 22 and in which a piston 24 is reciprocal endwise while in contact with the surface of a center bore or aperture 30 in disk 15 and in combination with disk 15 constitutes what may be termed a slide valve as hereinafter described.

The piston 24 is in the form of a drawn or swaged seamless tubular member with a stop collar 25 and a stem or extension 26 axially disposed with respect to a helical spring 27. One end of the'spring engages stop collar 25` and the other end engages bottom wall 28 of housing section 14. Said bottom wall being provided with an inlet passage or `aperture 29. The lower section 14 of the valve housing may be cylindrical for insertion into one end of a dip tube 31 of any suitable flexible material as for example polyethylene or the like. t

A mixture to be dispensed under pressure passes through aperture 29 is normally sealed against discharge by reason of the sealing relation between the piston 24 and disk 15. This sealingcontact between the piston surface and the bore 30 is made more effective by reason of the tension of spring 27 which causes stop collar to force the material of the disk into contact with boss 18 whereby the resilient material of the disk is distorted thereby increasing the degree of Contact between the disk and the piston surface. Normally therefore under the action of the spring 27 the container is sealed against the escape of any material even though subjected to a substantial pressure.

The piston 24 being tubular provides a central passage or chamber 33 which extends from an orifice 34, at one end of the piston, vto a transverse or lateral passage having an inlet orifice 35 in the cylindrical wall of the piston. The orifice 35 is so positioned .as to be closed by surface of aperture 30 in disk 15 when flange 25 of piston 24 is "maintained in contact with one side of disk 15 under the expansive action of spring 27. Thus the valve is closed against the discharge of pressurized mixture.

The upper end of piston 24 may lbe provided with a solid .body -rnemberof suitable material to serve as .finger piece 36 and having pocket 37 to tightly t the upper end of piston 24. The fingerpiece or press knob is formed `with an .internal :passage .3S which may 'have the same diameter las fthe chamber of passage 33 gof :the piston and in iaxial alignment therewith and provides a-continuation of the Vchamber .33. This passage 38 .is Aclosed Vat .end39 and is' open .to the atmosphere by means of a ilateral passage 41 of reduced diameter :preferably of :019 `of an Yinch in diameter for vthe discharge of finely divided mia- `terial. The orifice of .passage 33 is disposed in concave surface 42 formed in .the body member or finger piece to serve as a reflector for .the dispensed material.

As set :forth above .the spring 27 Iengages stop flange .25 and vholds :the piston 24 in its upper position with inlet .orifice 35 closed by the Wall 'of the .aperture of 'disk 15. Thus the escape of material under `pressure is prevented. When the finger piece is moved in opposition to the laction of spring 27, to move .the piston 24, the orifice 35 is moved out of contact with the disk 15 to permit the passage o-f pressurized material to expand and pass through the expansion chamber composed of passages 33 'and 38 and be discharged from orifice 41. Release of the finger piece results in a closure ofthe valve since under the -action of the spring the piston is moved Ito return orifice 35 to position intermediate opposite sides of disk 15.

Although it is important to provide a valve which is readily loperable for opening and closing a discharge passage, itis equally important to'mount the valveV in such manner that its connection to the container avoids any leaks.

It is desirable with valves of the type employed for spray discharge to locate the valve within the container to prevent damage during shipment or general handling. As shown, and pointed out above the present valve is contained in a housing comprising ,two united sections V13 and 14 mounted on `the under side of a cover or cap 22. Thus when the cover is secured to the rim of the container the major .portion of the valve proper is within the contamer.

With this arrangement it is necessary to effectively seal the valve housing to the cover and the presentl invention as shown provides a multiple seal against leakage of the container during storage.

The disk 15 while serving in conjunction with piston 24 as a slide valve also serves as a seal by contact, on its lower surface, with flange 16 of section 14 of the valve housing. This seal is augmented by a second seal effected through Contact between boss 18, formed from section 13of the valve housing, and -t'he upper surface of disk 15. A third seal is produced by the packing ring or gasket 21 in contact with the under surface of .the cover 22.

As will be evident, section 13 of the valve housing being of sheet metal may be initially cyclindrical `and as it is shaped to form annular rib 19', channel 19 seats on `the surface of disk 15 in effective sealing relation by compressing the disk between the wall of channel 19 and flange 16 of the lower section 14. The formation ofthe annular bead 23 may then be effected to compress the packing ring 21 into sealing relation with the under surface of cover 22 and to draw annular rib 19 into tight contact with the under surface of the cover 22 .thereby Arigidly securing the valve housing in fixed alignment relative to the cap or cover 22. l

As above described the piston 24 is readily moved by finger piece 36 to open and close the inlet orifice 35. The cylindrical aperture in the resilient disk 15 through which the cylindrical piston surface moves maybe of a diameter slightly less than the outside diameter of the pistonv to effectively close the orifice 35 when covered by the wall ofthe aperture, As stated hereinabove this intimate contact between the piston surface and the aperture wall `is increased by the compressive force applied to opposite sides of the disk result-ing from the pressure .exerted by spring 27. Under the action of the spring the flange 25 is forced against the lower side of the resilient disk 1S. The boss 18 at the opposite side of the disk contacts the surface thereof and resists bodily movement of the disk.

Whereas inspray discharge valves `as heretofore constructed the manual actuation of the valve required an appreciable amount of effort lowing to the arrangement of the valve control elements, the present valve may be actuated with a light vtouch of the 'finger on the finger piece. This is due to the present novel .arrangement of `the parts whereby the valve control element is a single slide member, lfreely movable lto open and close a discharge passage.

As stated hereinabove, discharge Valves employed for dispensing a fluid under pressure are of relatively small size. In fact the housing 12 of the valve such as shown and described as one embodiment of the present invention has its `greatest diameter (section 13) of about .300 of an inch out-side diameter. The disk 15 which is incased in housing section 13 has a thickness of .about .050 of an inch. The other parts vbeing in proportion will give an understanding as to the size of .the valve. By reason of the ,present construction wherein the several parts are formed from sheet metal an economy of space is attained.

Furthermore it is important to provide an adequate eX- pansion chamber. By reason of the sheet metal fabricated parts a relatively large space is, in the present oase, available as van expansion chamber since the interior of the tubular piston may beused. As will be evident when considering the proportions of a valve of this type the ef fective utilization of vthe limited space available is important for successful operation.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and describedherein it is to be understood that modifications may be made therein without departing from .the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the .appended claims.

'What is claimed is:

1. A spray discharge valve for dispensing a fluid from a container, comprising a cover member for said container, said cover member having an aperture, a sheet metal tubular valve housing disposed in said aperture, one end of said housing .having the wall thereof crimped -to form annular surfaces for contact with opposite surfaces of said cover member to support said housing within said container, a disk of flexible material positioned in said housing and having a central aperture, a tubular member slidably fitting said disk aperture, said tubular member being closed at one end to provide a chamber, an annular flange formed from the wall of said tubular member and disposed intermediate the ends of said tubular member, a tension member for normally holding said flange in contact with one surface of .said disk, said tubu- .lark member having a lateral passage in the wall thereof positioned to be closed by the wall of said disk aperture when said annular flange is in contact with said disk, the other end of said housing having an aperture for the passage of fluid to said chamber when said annular flange is moved from contact with said disk, a packing ring surrounding the perimeter of the aperture in said cover, said crimped Wall of said housing retaining said packing ring in sealing relation to said cover aperture.

2,. A spray discharge valve for dispensing a fluid from a container, comprising a cover member for said contaner, said cover member having an aperture, a sheet metal tubular valve housing disposed in said aperture, one end of said housing having the wall thereof crimped to form annular surfaces for contact with opposite surfaces of said cover member to support said housing withing said container, a disk of .flexible material positioned in said housing and having a central aperture, a tubular member slidably fitting said disk aperture, said tubular member being closed at one end to provide a chamber, an .annular flange intermediate the ends of said tubular memal* a ber, a tension member for normally holding said flange vin contact with one surface of said disk, said tubular member having a lateral passage in the wall thereof positioned to be closed by the Wall of said disk aperture when said annular ange is in contact with said disk, the other end of said housing having an aperture for the passage of uid to said chamber when said annular flange is moved from contact with said disk, a packing ring surrounding the perimeter of the aperture in said cover, said crimped wall of said housing retaining said packing ring in sealing relation to said cover aperture and with an annular surface of said Wall in contact with a surface of said disk.

3. A spray discharge valve for dispensing liquid from a container comprising a resilient sealing disk, said disk having a circular aperture, a sheet metal cylindrical tubular piston reciprocal axially in contact with the wall of said aperture, said tubular piston being closed at one end and providing an expansion chamber, an inlet orice in the wall of said piston, said piston having an annular ange formed from the wall thereof and adjacent to said inlet orifice, a tension member for normally holding said flange in contact with one side of said disk to position said inlet orifice in contact with the wall of said disk aperture, a cover member for said container, a sheet metal housing section enclosing and supporting said disk within said container, an annular bead formed from the wall of said section for contact with one side of said cover member and an annular rib formed from the wall of said section for engaging the other side of said cover member to secure said valve to said cover, and a packing ring surrounding said piston and held in contact with a surface of said cover by said bead and rib.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,506,449 Greenwood May 2, 1950 2,565,954 Dey Aug. 28, 1951 2,667,991 Boyer Feb. 2, 1954 2,670,106 Ayres Feb. 23, 1954

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