|Publication number||US5579959 A|
|Application number||US 08/442,021|
|Publication date||Dec 3, 1996|
|Filing date||May 16, 1995|
|Priority date||May 16, 1995|
|Publication number||08442021, 442021, US 5579959 A, US 5579959A, US-A-5579959, US5579959 A, US5579959A|
|Inventors||Paul A. Bennett, James W. Brown, Michael Petrushko|
|Original Assignee||Star Manufacturing International, Inc.|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (24), Non-Patent Citations (4), Referenced by (20), Classifications (9), Legal Events (12)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This invention relates to pumps and dispensers for edible viscous food products having the viscosity of ketchup, mustard, melted cheese or the like, dispensed from a container, and more specifically relates to a pumping and dispensing housing and valve apparatus for dispensing food products with such viscosity.
In the prior art, viscous food product containers with pump and dispenser assemblies have comprised a pumping chamber and dispensing chamber with ball valves contained therein. In one such device, a check pin extends through holes in a pump chamber to check movement of a ball that is part of a valve. Such device also has a separate pin contained within the dispensing chamber to check upward movement of a ball forming a part of a valve assembly. A separate plug holds the latter pin within the dispensing chamber. The plug has another lower pin that interlocks with a projection that extends from the pump tube to be held in position. This design has several deficiencies. It is extremely difficult to clean the lower interior end of the pump tube. Such lack of proper cleaning can lead to gum build up which can promote bacteria growth and decrease pumping efficiency. Such a design further has too many individual parts, including the plug and the separate pins. These parts make the unit more difficult to produce, assemble and to maintain, than with the present invention.
Other viscous food product pumps are known in the prior art, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,5852 to Cox and U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,404 to Elliott. The designs of these patents also lack the advantages of the present invention.
The present invention overcomes these serious prior art problems. The present invention generally comprises a housing having a pump chamber and a dispensing chamber for viscous edible food products. The dispensing chamber has an opening that can receive an end of a dispenser. The dispenser can have a spout. The pump chamber has an opening which can receive pump components such as a piston and shaft. A passage such as a conduit connects the pump chamber to an opening in the dispensing chamber to permit the flow of viscous food products between the pump chamber and dispensing chamber. The passage in a preferred embodiment is linear and extends, most preferably, at an angle of about 41° relative to the axis of the pump chamber, and more generally preferably extends at an angle of about 48° to 15° relative to the axis of the pump chamber. The housing has an inlet opening to the pump chamber to allow flow of viscous food products from the container into the pump chamber. The angle of the passage from the pump chamber to the dispenser chamber allows a cleaning device, such as a brush, to be easily inserted through the inlet of the pump chamber and through the angled passage to easily clean the passage. This is an improvement over prior art viscous food product dispensers that have had a horizontal passage connecting a pump chamber to a dispensing chamber, which does not allow for such use in cleaning. The angled passage also allows for the housing to be constructed easily by machine manufacture for a plastic housing by drilling the passage through the pump chamber inlet.
The invention further comprises a valve associated with the pump chamber and a valve associated with the dispensing chamber. The valves operate to open and close during pumping strokes to cause viscous food product to flow through the pump inlet, through the connecting passage to the dispensing chamber, and thence through the dispenser spout.
In a preferred embodiment, a pump valve comprises a ball and a dispenser valve comprises a ball. A single member holds the dispenser to the housing, and also acts as an upward check on the dispenser valve, while further acting as a check on upward movement of the pump valve. In a preferred embodiment the valve check and dispenser lock member is a U-shaped pin which has one leg that passes through the housing through the base of the dispenser and through the dispensing chamber, and which has another leg that passes through the housing into the pump chamber.
A notch in the side of the housing permits easy grasping of the valve check and lock pin to remove it, to disassemble the unit. The use of a single member to lock the dispenser to the housing and to check valve movement also allows for ease in assembly and disassembly.
The invention hence provides many advantages over the prior art by providing for viscous food product pump and dispenser operations with fewer components and installation steps, better and more efficient cleaning of the housing, easier manufacture, assembly and disassembly, and convenient and ease in shipment and storage.
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the hol sing of the invention, showing the locking and check pin, and parts of the dispenser and pump;
FIG. 2 is a section through the housing, pump and dispenser of FIG. 1, showing the balls that act as part of the valve mechanism, showing the holes through the dispensing and pump chambers and extension of the lock and check pin therethrough, and showing the angled passage connecting the pump chamber to the dispensing chamber;
FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line 3--3 of FIG. 1, showing the lock and check pin extending through the housing walls through the dispensing chamber and through the base of the dispenser;
FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line 4--4 of FIG. 1, showing the lock and check pin extending through the housing walls through the pump chamber above the valve ball, and extending through the housing walls through the dispensing chamber and the dispenser base above the dispensing ball valve; and
FIG. 5 is a section through part of the housing as in FIG. 2, but without showing the dispenser and the lock and check pin.
First, a general description of the preferred embodiment will be given, followed by a more detailed description. The drawings show a preferred embodiment of the invention. The pumping and dispensing assembly 10 is mounted to the top wall of a container 12 shown in phantom lines, which holds edible viscous food products such as ketchup, mustard, melted cheese or other edible viscous food products. The viscous food product pumping and dispensing assembly 10 generally comprises a housing 16, a pump assembly 18, and a dispenser 20. Dispenser 20 has a base 22 and a spout tube 23. Housing 16 has a pump chamber 26 which has a lower inlet opening 28. Part of the pump assembly 18 is received within the pump chamber 26. Housing 16 also has a dispensing chamber 30 which has a lower opening 32. The dispenser base 22 is received within the dispensing chamber 30 and sits on a ledge thereof to provide a seal thereabout.
A passage 34 extends at an angle and acts as a viscous food product flow conduit, to allow viscous food product flow from the pump chamber 36 to the dispensing chamber 30. The viscous food product pumping and dispensing assembly 10 further comprises valves 36 and 38 which comprise balls 40 and 42, respectively, which can seat in the pump chamber and dispensing chamber lower openings 28 and 32, respectively.
The viscous food product pump and dispensing assembly 10 further comprises means for checking valve position and means for locking the spout to the housing, shown in the preferred embodiment as a U-shaped pin 46. One leg 48 of U-pin 46 passes through the housing pump chamber 26, while the other U-pin leg 50 passes through the dispensing chamber 30 and through spout base 22. On the upstroke of the pump assembly 18, viscous food product is drawn from the container 12 through pump chamber inlet 28 in to pump chamber 26. During this upstroke, the leg 48 of pin 46 checks upward movement of ball 40. On the pump downstroke, the viscous food product is pumped through the passage conduit 34 through the lower opening 32 around valve ball 42 into the dispensing chamber 30. On the pump upstroke, U-pin leg 50 checks the upward movement of ball 42 to prevent ball 42 from blocking the flow through the spout tube 23. Notches 52 and 54 are provided in the lower sides of housing 16 to permit a finger and thumb to easily grip pin 46 to remove it for disassembly or cleaning.
Now a more detailed description of the preferred embodiment is given. The housing 16 comprises a longer tubular pump housing section 60 and a shorter tubular dispenser housing section 62, which are connected by a middle housing section 64. In the preferred embodiment, the housing 16 is a unitary integral piece which can be of plastic and made by injection molding and/or by machining, or can also be of stainless steel or an aluminum alloy The housing tubular section 60 has a top exterior end 66 with external threads for receiving a nut to be described. An external annular flange 68 is therebeneath, with its upper surface abutting the bottom of viscous food product container top wall 12. Housing tube 60 has an upper internal cylindrical bore 72 that extends downwardly to an inwardly tapered section 74. Tapered section 74 extends downwardly into a smaller internal cylindrical bore 76. Bore 76 extends downward to a tapered section 78 which slopes inwardly toward pump chamber inlet opening 28. The pump chamber 26 thus comprises the pump housing bore 72, the tapered section 74, the bore 76 and the lower tapered section 78. Ball 40, together with opening 28, the surrounding tapered section 78, and housing tubular section 60, operates as valve 36. A pair of holes are located in the walls of pump housing tube section 60 to extend into bore 76, to slidingly and telescopically receive leg 48 of U-pin 46.
Turning now to the dispensing part of the housing 16, the dispenser housing section 62 has an upper cylindrical interior bore 82 which extends downwardly to a horizontal ledge 84 upon which seats the outer part of the bottom of dispenser base 220 The dispensing chamber 30 then extends downwardly from ledge 84 into a cylindrical counterbore 86, and from there extends downwardly into a tapered funnel section 88. Chamber 30 thence extends downwardly into another cylindrical counterbore 90. The bottom of cylindrical counterbore 90 extends into the top of the conduit 34. From that point, conduit 34 extends at an angle downwardly to intersect the bottom of pump chamber bore 76, to thus establish a viscous food product flow path from pump chamber bore 76 through conduit 34 to counterbore 90 and counterbore 86. In the preferred embodiment, the angle of conduit 34 is about 41° relative to the axis of the pump chamber bore 76. The axis of bore 76 extends vertically, in FIG. 2, through the center of bore 76. The conduit 34 can extend at an angle of about 48° to about 15° relative to the axis of the pump chamber bore 76. The range of the angle of conduit 34 relative to the axis of the pump chamber bore 76 can also less preferably extend to as low as 5° in which case the height of the dispensing chamber would be considerably higher than shown.
The tapered chamber section 88 causes ball 42 to seat to close the upper opening in counterbore 90 to block food product flow when no upward force is exerted upon it. The dispenser housing section 62 has a pair of bores extending through opposite facing walls thereof to telescopically and slidingly receive leg 50 of U-pin 48. Ball 42, together with counterbore 90, tapered section 88 and the surrounding housing tubular section 62, operate as valve 36.
As seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, the notches 52 and 54 are of generally semicylindrical shape. Notches 54 and 52 extend longitudinally on the exterior of housing midsection 64. The U-pin 46 has a bite section 96 that connects the two legs 48 and 50, so that pin 96 is an integral unitary piece which can be of metal, such as stainless steel. As seen in FIG. 4, when the legs 48 and 50 extend through the holes in the housing 16, the bite 96 fits flush against the exterior of housing 16, but the notch 54 is sized to permit the finger and thumb to be inserted therein to easily grasp the bite 96. U-pin 46 is shown extending through the housing 16 in one direction in the drawings, but its position can be reversed from that shown. In this reversed position, the bite 96 would be flush against the opposite side of the housing 16, to permit the finger and thumb to fit in the notch 52 to grasp bite 96.
The angled conduit 34 also allows the housing 16 to be made easily of unitary and integral piece, made of plastic by injection molding, or by machining. The manufacture of the conduit 34 of housing 16 by machining can be accomplished by extending a drill bit through the pump chamber inlet opening 28 to drill conduit 34 to connect to dispenser chamber opening 32. In a preferred embodiment the pump chamber inlet 28 can be a hole with a diameter of 0.437 inches (1.11 cm.) and the balls 40 and 42 can be stainless steel spheres with a diameter of 0.5 inches (1.27 cm.). The passage 34 can have a diameter of 0.31 inch (0.79 cm.). The counterbore 90 can have a diameter of 0.437 inches (1.11 cm.) while counterbore 86 can have a diameter of 0.781 inches (1.98 cm.), and bore 82 a diameter of 0.875 inches (2.25 cm.). The diameter of pump chamber bore 76 can be 0.864 inches (2.19 cm.), while the diameter of pump chamber bore 72 can be 0.95 inches (2.41 cm).
The axis of the passage 34 extends to intersect the center of the circular pump inlet opening 28, in the preferred embodiment. This permits a drill bit to be extended through the pump inlet opening 28 to drill the passage 34. It further permits a cleaning instrument such as a brush to be inserted through the inlet 28 and through the passage 34 to the top thereof at the intersection with counterbore 90. More generally and less preferably the axis of passage 34 intersects the pump inlet opening 28 at some point other than the center of that opening 28.
Having now described housing 16, attention is directed to the components of the pump assembly 18. Pump assembly 18 generally has a plunger portion 100 that comprises a cylindrical shaft 102. The top of shaft 102 extends into a smaller cylindrical tip 104 which is threaded at is upper end to receive the threaded bore of a pump handle 106. At the bottom of plunger shaft 102 is a cylindrical piston 105. Piston 105 has an annular groove that receives an O-ring 106 which can be of rubber, plastic or the like. The piston 105 and shaft 100 components can be of metal such as stainless steel, plastic, or the like. The pump assembly 18 further comprises an upper outer sleeve 110 which can be of stainless steel. The upper end of sleeve 110 rests against the bottom of pump handle 106, and the bottom end of sleeve 110 extends through an opening in an annular nut 112 that screws about the exterior threads of pump tube 66. The lower end of sleeve 110 flares outwardly to allow it to hold against the underside of the top wall of nut 112 to resist upward movement therefrom. Within sleeve 110 at the upper end thereof is an inner sleeve 118 whose upper end rest against the inwardly slanting upper end of sleeve 110 to be held against upward movement. Sleeve 118 has a bore and counterbore which slidingly and telescopically receive the upper end of shaft 102 and the smaller shaft tip 104. Pump assembly 18 further comprises an annular washer 122 which can be of metal such as stainless steel, and which has an outer diameter greater than the diameter of tapered section 74 of housing tube 60, to seat thereagainst. Pump assembly 18 further comprises a helical spring 126 which has its upper end resting against the bottom of inner sleeve 118, and it lower end resting against the top of washer 122.
Thus when the foregoing pump assembly parts are all mounted as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pump handle 106 can be pushed downwardly to force the piston 105 downwardly while washer 122 remains in position. Sleeve 110 moves downwardly with handle 106 until the outer bottom of handle 106 contacts the upper surface of nut 112. Upon release of the handle 106, the force of spring 126 pushes against inner sleeve 118 and outer sleeve 110 to force the handle 106 upwardly during the pump upstroke until handle 106 returns to the FIGS. 1 and 2 position.
Turning now to the dispenser 20, the base 22 has a lower cylindrical walled section 130 that extends upwardly into a horizontal section 132 and thence into spout tube 23. Spout tube 23 extends upwardly and then bends at 136 and 138 to an outlet 140. An annular flange 142 is secured as by spot welding or by being integral with the spout tube 23, to be in fixed position relative thereto. The upper surface of flange 142 abuts the underside of container top wall 112. The spout tube 23 has exterior threads located above flange 142 to which a nut 146 can be threaded. The bottom of nut 146 presses against the top of container upper wall 12, so that together with flange 142 the nut holds spout tube 23 in fixed position.
The cylindrical section 130 of dispenser base 22 has a pair of holes extending therethrough, which are aligned with holes of the same diameter through walls of housing tube section 62, as seen in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. Leg 50 of U-pin 46 extends through the holes in housing tube 62 and said holes in dispenser base section 130, to thus hold the dispenser base 22 within the dispenser chamber 30. The telescopic fit of dispenser base cylindrical walls 130 within the housing tube cylindrical bore 82, along with the seating of the bottom edge of the cylindrical wall 130 against ledge 84, provides a good seal to prevent viscous food product from passing around the exterior of the dispenser base 22 during operation.
In operation, the downward pump stroke moves the pump plunger 100 and its piston 105 downwardly. Then the pump upstroke, through suction, lifts valve ball 40 to permit viscous food product flow through pump chamber inlet 28 into the pump chamber lower bore 76. During this pump upstroke, upward movement of ball 40 is checked by contact with U-pin leg 48. On the pump downstroke, the pressure brought by piston 105 causes ball 40 to seat against pump chamber opening 28, and the downward force of piston 105 forces viscous food product upwardly through conduit 34. The pumping strokes can be repeated. The force of the viscous food product coming through conduit 34 lifts valve ball 42 upwardly so that viscous food product can pass through bore 90 through the dispenser chamber opening 32 into the dispensing chamber 30. During this pump downstroke, the upward movement of valve ball 42 is checked by U-pin leg 50. As a result, ball 42 does not block the lower opening of spout tube 23, so that flow is not blocked through tube 23 and to spout outlet 140. At the same time, U-pin leg 50 acts to retain the dispenser 20 in fixed position relative to the housing 16. The repeated pump stroke action can cause continuous flow of viscous food product out of spout outlet 140.
If it is desired to clean the conduit passage 34, the assembly 10 can be removed from the container 12 by unfastening nuts 112 and 146, and removing the top of container 12. A cleaning instrument such as a brush can be inserted through lower pump chamber opening 28 to extend at an angle through conduit passage 34 into counterbore 906 The brush can be moved back and forth to dislodge any gelled, gummed or solidified viscous food product within conduit 34. The brush can be removed and cleaned and re-inserted until a satisfactory amount of removal.
To disassemble the unit for better cleaning or storage, the U-pin bite 96 is easily grasped by extending the thumb and finger into notch 54 or notch 52 depending upon the position of the U-pin 46, and removing U-pin 46 from housing 16. Dispenser 20 can then be lifted upwardly to remove base 22 from the dispenser chamber 30. Ball 42 can then be removed. The pump assembly nut 112 can be removed to allow the pump assembly to be moved upwardly out of pump chamber 26. Valve ball 40 can then be moved out of the pump chamber 26 for cleaning, and the unit can also be stored following such disassembly.
The present invention thus allows ease of assembly and disassembly through the use of a single valve check and dispenser lock member shown in the preferred embodiment as U-pin 46, which member not only acts to hold the dispenser 22 to the housing 16, but further acts to check the pump chamber valve 36 and dispenser chamber valve 38. The angle of the conduit 34 relative to the axis of the pump chamber allows for compact structure for the assembly 10, as well as for ease in cleaning the conduit 34 through a pump chamber opening.
Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, the invention is not to be limited thereto. It is understood that various modifications and changes in the form and details of the viscous food product dispenser, pump, valve assembly, and valve check and dispenser lock, and their operation, may be made by others with ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.
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|1||*||Description Ex. 2 (attached hereto) Author Star Manufacturing International, Inc. Title Instruction Sheet and Drawing Date At least as early as May, 1988 Pertinent pages all.|
|2||*||Description Ex. 3 (attached hereto) Author Star Manufacturing International, Inc. Title NSF Documentation with photograph Date Feb. 1993 Pertinent pages all.|
|3||*||Description FIG. 1 of Initial IDS Author Star Manufacturing International, Inc. Title Product Photograph Date At least as early as 1992 Pertinent pages all.|
|4||*||Description FIG. 2 of Initial IDS, and additional p. 11 attached as Ex. 1 hereto Author Server Products, Inc. Title Product Photograph and Description Date At least as early as 1992 Pertinent pp. 10,11.|
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|US6016935 *||Aug 1, 1998||Jan 25, 2000||Star Manufacturing International, Inc.||Viscous food dispensing and heating/cooling assembly and method|
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|USD718621||Aug 29, 2014||Dec 2, 2014||Gehl Foods, Inc.||Fitment for interconnection between product packaging and a product dispenser|
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|Cooperative Classification||B05B11/3074, B05B11/3015, B05B11/3052, A47G19/183|
|European Classification||A47G19/18B, B05B11/30C6, B05B11/30H8B|
|May 16, 1995||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: STAR MANUFACTURING INTERNATIONAL, INC., MISSOURI
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:BENNETT, PAUL ANDREW;BROWN, JAMES WALLACE;PETRUSHKO, MICHAEL;REEL/FRAME:007493/0919
Effective date: 19950515
|Feb 15, 2000||AS||Assignment|
|Mar 29, 2000||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|May 21, 2003||AS||Assignment|
|Sep 11, 2003||AS||Assignment|
|Jun 23, 2004||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|Sep 30, 2004||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 8
|Sep 30, 2004||SULP||Surcharge for late payment|
Year of fee payment: 7
|Jan 3, 2008||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: STAR MANUFACTURING INTERNATIONAL, INC., MISSOURI
Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:ANTARES CAPITAL CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:020309/0378
Effective date: 20071231
|Jun 3, 2008||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 12
|Jun 9, 2008||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|Sep 23, 2011||SULP||Surcharge for late payment|