US3439839A - Sealant dispensing device - Google Patents

Description

April 22, 1969 Y J. M. scHuMANN ET A1. 3,439,839

SEALANT DlsPENsING DEVICE Filed sept. 16, 1965 sheet of 3 April 22, 1969 J, M SCHUMANN ET AL 3,439,839

SEALANT DISPENSING DEVICE Filed sept. 1e, 1965 sheet Z of 5 April 22, 1969 1, M SCHUMANN ET AL y3,439,839

SEALANT DISPENSING DEVICE Filed sept. 16, 196s sheet 3 of s umu United States Patent O 3,439,839 SEALANT DISPENSING DEVICE `loseph M. Schumann, Inglewood, Paul I. Stayboldt, Los

Angeles, and Ralph J. Cook, Inglewood, Calif., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Products Research & Chemical Corporation, Burbank, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Sept. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 487,700 Int. Cl. B65d 35/28, 5/72, 25/40 U.S. Cl. 222-95 8 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a device for dispensing a viscous material such as a sealant, and more particularly, pertains to such a device in which the viscous material is purchased in a cartridge having a piston-like rear wall which is advanced to discharge the material from a -dispensing nozzle at the forward end of the cartridge. In preparation for a -dispensing operation, the cartridge is placed in the barrel of a dispensing gun with the nozzle of the cartridge protruding from the forward end of the gun. The gun may be adapted to advance the piston-like rear wall of the cartridge by mechanical force but preferably the gun is adapted to advance the piston-like rear wall of the cartridge by fluid pressure and for this purpose the gun may be adapted for connection to a suitable source of compressed air.

A typical dispensing gun of this general type as heretofore produced has a limited range of applications because it is designed to employ only a specific `dispensing cartridge having a specic dispensing nozzle. The present invention is directed to the problem of making such a dispensing gun flexible in the sense that it may be employed with different cartridges for different purposes over a wide range of fields.

With regard to ilexiblity, a special feature of the invention is that it provides for a wide range of interchangeable nozzles for use selectively and makes it possible to purchase a cartridge with an integral general purpose dispensing nozzle and then substitute a particular nozzle for a particular application. With further reference to flexibility, the invention also makes it possible to employ the dispensing gun for dispensing viscous material from a container in the form of a conventional collapsible tube, the collapsible tube having a tapered dispensing nozzle.

In the preferred practice of the invention, a basic gun structure is provided with interchangeable barrels to 'be used in different ways for different dispensing operations. Some of the interchangeable barrels -may be made of plastic material with suitable provision for keeping the barrels from being subjected to internal fluid pressure of a destructive magnitude. As will be explained, the interchangeable barrels overhang the forward ends of the dispensing cartridges to confine the dispensing cartridges in the barrels.

Some of the interchangeable barrels are adjustable longitudinally relative to the base structure of the gun for the purpose of placing an enclosed dispensing cartridge under longitudinal compression against an annular 3,439,839 Patented Apr. 22, 1969 ICC elastomeric sealing member at the base end of the barrel. With the cartridge sealed around its rear end 'the pressurized uid for carrying out the dispensing operation is confined to the interior of the cartridge.

Other of the interchangeable barrels are arranged for sealing contact with the front end of an enclosed cartridge. In such an arrangement the pressurized fluid has access to the outer periphery of the cartridge as well as the interior of the cartridge and the gaseous uid exerts a relatively high thrust on the cartridge to maintain sealing pressure between the cartridge and the barrel at the front end of the barrel.

When a conventional commercially available dispensing cartridge is employed having a tapered general purpose nozzle and it is desired to substitute `another nozzle from a wide range of interchangeable nozzles, the forward end of the barrel of the dispensing gun is closed by a special end member which may be termed an adapter. The adapter has an axial passage therethrough with the inner or rear end of the passage adapted to embrace the base portion of the dispensing nozzle of the cartridge and with the forward or outer end of the passage formed with a screw thread for engagement with the interchangeable nozzles selectively. This structural combination makes it possible to truncate the dispensing nozzle of the cartridge and to wedge the truncated nozzle into the inner end of the axial passage of the adapter. When the pressurized fluid is introduced into the barrel it urges the cartridge forward to wedge the truncated nozzle of the cartridge into sealing engagement with the adapter. With the cartridge nozzle truncated, any selected specialized dispensing nozzle may be mounted in the adapter for use in dispensing the content of the cartridge.

When it is desired to dispense viscous material from a collapsible tube having a tapered dispensing nozzle, a special adapter is employed at the leading end of the barrel. The special adapter has a smooth cylindrical bore to permit the tapered nozzle of the collapsible tube to t therein with a wedging action. When pressurized iluid is introduced into the barrel around the collapsible tube the pressurized fluid thrusts the collapsible tube forward to create sealing pressure where the nozzle of the tube fits into the adapter and at the same time the pressurized fluid progressively collapses the tube to cause discharge of the viscous material through the dispensing nozzle of the tube.

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, which are to be regarded as merely illustrative FIG. l is la side elevation of a preferred embodiment of the gun with a plastic barrel of the gun enclosing a disposable dispensing cartridge, the plastic barrel being selected from a set of interchangeable plastic and metal barrels;

PIG. 2 is a front end elevation of the gun shown in FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a rear end elevation of the gun;

FIG. 4 is ya fragmentary section on an enlarged scale of the base structure of the gun on which the interchangeable barrels are mounted;

3 nozzles, one such specialized nozzle being shown in the figure;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of the forward end of a conventional cartridge showing how the dispensing nozzle of the cartridge may be truncated for use with the adapter;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the forward end of the arrangement such as the arrangement shown in FIG. 6, the adapter and the forward end of the cartridge being shown in section;

FIG. 9 is a side elevatoinal view of another specialized nozzle;

FIG. 10 isa side elevation of the same nozzle as viewed along the line 10-10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 1l is a view partly in section and partly in side elevation showing how the gun may be employed with a metal barrel selected from interchangeable barrels for a different method of operation with a conventional dispensing cartridge;

FIG. 12 is a similar view showing how another metal barrel selected from the set of interchangeable barrels may be employed with an adapter to dispense material from a cartridge having a truncated dispensing nozzle; and

FIG. 13 is a longitudinal sectional view showing how another barrel selected `from the set of interchangeable barrels may be employed with a special adapter to dispense material from a collapsible tube.

FIGS. 1 to 4 show what may be termed the base structure of the preferred embodiment of a gun that is adapted for use interchangeably with a set of barrels. The gun is of the same general construction as the gun disclosed in the Detrie et al. Patent 2,838,210 entitled Sealant Dispensing Device, issued June 10, 1958, which disclosure is incorporated into the present disclosure by reference. The gun has what may be termed a base structure, generally designated 20, which forms a cylindrical socket 22 to receive the rear end of a selected gun barrel. In FIGS. l and 4, the selected gun barrel, designated 24, is made of plastic material and is formed at its rear end with an external screw thread 25 for engagement with an internal screw thread 26 in the socket 22. The rear wall of the socket 22 is provided with an annular elastomeric member or sealing ring 28.

Compressed air from a suitable source is supplied to the gun by a flexible hose 30 which connects with an angular pasage 32 communicating with the socket 22 within the inside diameter of the sealing ring 28. Air ow through the angular passage 32 is controlled by a normally closed valve 34 which may be opened by mechanical pressure against an operating plunger 35.

A longitudinal portion 36 of the base structure under the socket 22 is formed with a -longitudinal slot 38 in which is mounted a suitable operating lever 40 for actuation of the operating plunger 35. The operating lever 40 is mounted on a pivot 42 and normally backs against a transverse stop pin 44. The forward end 45 of the operating lever is exposed outside of the slot 38. It is apparent that the base structure shown in FIG. 4 may be gripped by one hand for a dispensing operation, the forward end of the operating lever 40 being manipulated by one linger to control the dispensing operation. To facilitate such a dispensing operation the portion 40 of the base structure of the gun is of undulating configuration in profile as shown to conform with the fingers of the h-and lthat grips the base structure.

As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower longitudinal portion 36 of the base structure is further formed with a pair of external grooves 46 on its opposite sides respectively for cooperation with a hand grip 50 which may be used with the gun if desired. The hand grip 50 has a pair of side plates 52 with inwardly turned flanges 54 for sliding engagement with the external grooves 46. A pair of telescoping coaxial screws 55 and 56 mount the side plates 52 on the end groove and may be tightened to immobilize the hand grip at any desired position along the CII .4 length of the pair of grooves. The advantage of this arrangement is that the position of the hand grip 50 longitudinally of the base structure of the gun may be adjusted to suit the operator.

The hand grip 50 may be adapted in any suitable manner to actuate the operating lever 40 at any position at which the hand grip may be adjusted long the length of the grooves 46. In the construction shown the hand grip is provided with a trigger 58 which is pivotally mounted on the telescoping screws 55 and 56, the trigger being formed with a finger 60 that extends into the slot 38 of the longitudinalportion 36 of the base structure. It is apparent that operating the trigger 58 by finger pressure causes the nger 60 to swing the operating lever upward to open the valve 34.

Since a gun barrel is mounted in the socket 22 by screw threads, any number of gun ibarrels may be used selectively. For example, the gun barrel 24 shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 may be used in cooperation with a dispensing cartridge in the manner shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5 where the previously described base structure 20 is indicated in dotted lines, the plastic gun barrel 24 encloses a conventional dispensing cartridge, generally designated 62, that has a cylindrical cardboard shell 64 with a thin metal front end wall 65. The end wall 65 is formed with an outlet port which may be initially closed by a plastic or foil membrane 66 shown in FIG. 7, and which communicates with a conventional general-purpose tapered plastic dispensing nozzle `68. The rear end of the cardboard shell 64 is open and is spanned by a piston-like end wall 70 which may be advanced by pressurized fluid to discharge the viscous content of the cartridge through the dispensing nozzle 68. In the construction shown, the piston-like end wall 70 is a cup-shaped plunger made of a suitable plastic material.

The plastic gun barrel 24 is formed with an inwardly curved forward rim or inner flange 72 which overhangs the front end of the cartridge 62 and abuts the front end wall 65 of the cartridge in an annular zone. The inner diameter of the curved rim 72 is dimensioned so that the curved rim reinforces the front end wall of the cartridge against buckling in response to yfluid pressure inside the cartridge.

It is important to note that the plastic gun barrel 24 is longitudinally adjustable by virtue of its screw threaded engagement with the socket 22 of the base structure 20 and that the gun barrel is dimensioned in length to serve as means for compressing the dispensing cartridge 62 rearward against the sealing ring 28 to cause the rear end of the cardboard shell 64 to make sealing contact with the ring. The advantage of this arrangement is that the compressed air that is introduced into the socket 22 is confined substantially to the interior of the dispensing cartridge. The plastic gun barrel 24 telescopes snugly over the dispensing cartridge 62 to reinforce the cartridge and thus enable the cartridge to withstand the fluid pressure. At the same time the cardboard shell of the cartridge reinforces the plastic gun barrel.

It is desirable that suitable provision be made to keep the plastic gun barrel 24 from being subjected to internal iluid pressure Without the reinforcement effect of the cartridge shell. For this purpose the plastic barrel 24 may be provided with a vent hole 74 to release any compressed air that may enter the annular space between the shell of the cartridge and the surrounding gun barrel. Preferably the plastic gun barrel 24 is provided with longitudinal grooves 75 at its forward end forming longitudinal ribs to facilitate screwing the gun barrel into and out of the socket 22. To replace an exhausted dispensing cartridge, it is merely necessary to unscrew the gun barrel 24, remove the old cartridge from the gun barrel, insert a new cartridge and then screw the gun barrel tight in the socket 22 to press the rear end of the dispensing cartridge in sealing contact with the sealing ring 28.

FIG. 6 shows a second plastic gun barrel 76 which may be substituted for the plastic gun barrel 24 for cooperation with an adapter 78 which serves as a forward end member for the barrel. As best shown in section in FIG. 8, the adapter 7,8 has an axial passage therethrough. The inner end of the axial passage is formed |by an inlner cylindrical skirt 80' that is dimensioned for wedging engagement with the base portion of the tapered dispensing nozzle 68 of the previously mentioned dispensing cartridge 62. The forward or outer end of the axial passage of the adapter 78 is formed with an internal screw thread y82 for engagement with the external screw thread y84 of a special dispensing nozzle that is selected from a set of interchangeable nozzles. Such a specialized dispensing nozzle may be what is termed a duckbill nozzle 8S shown in FIG. 6. As another example, the specialized nozzle may be what is termed a comb nozzle 86 shown in FIG. 8. As another example, a specializednozzle may be the nozzle 88 shown in FIGS. 9 and l0 which is provided with a guiding lip 90. The lip 90 may be employed to guide the nozzle along the edge of a panel for application of a viscous composition to the margin of the panel. Thus the nozzle y88 may be employed to apply a strip of sealant to a glass plate in preparation for installing the glass plate in an automobile. Still another specialized nozzle that may be used is the angular nozzle 92 shown in FIG. 12.

As shown in FIG. 8, the gun barrel 76 has an inwardly curved forward rim or inner dange 94 Iwhich abuts the forward surface of the adapter 78 to retain the adapter in opposition to the thrust exerted on the adapter by internal uid pressure.

To prepare a conventional dispensing cartridge l62 for use with the adapter 78, the dispening nozzle 68 of the cartridge is truncated as indicated in FIG. 7, the result being a tapered truncated nozzle 68a of relatively short axial dimension. The cartridge 62 with the truncated nozzle 68a is positioned inside the gun barrel 76 in the manner shown in FIG. 8 with the truncated nozzle 68a wedged into the cylindrical skirt 80 in a fluid tight manner. The plastic gun barrel 76 is then screwed into the socket 22 of the base structure of the gun to force the rear end of the dispensing cartridge into sealing contact with the sealing ring 28- as indicated in FIG. `6r. Any selected specialized nozzle may then be substituted for the original nozzle `68 by simply screwing the specialized nozzle into the adapter 78 as shown in FIG. 8. The plastic gun barrel 76 may have the usual vent hole 74.

FIG. 11 shows how a metal gun barrel 95 may be employed with the base structure 20. In this instance the metal barrel is screwed tight against the sealing ring 28. The forward end of the steel barrel 9S is formed with an inwardly curved rim or inner ilange 96 and a suitable tapered elastomeric internal sealing ring 98 is seated against the curved rim. A conventional dispensing cartridge 62 is enclosed by the gun barrel 95 andthe forward rim 100 of the dispensing cartridge seats against the tapered sealing ring 98 with a highly effective wedging action. The compressed air introduced into the base end of the steel barrel 95 thrusts the dispensing cartridge forward against the sealing ring 98 and at the same time acts on the piston-like end wall 70 to dispense viscous material from the cartridge. It is to be noted that since the compressed air has access to the outer periphery of the cartridge the cartridge itself is not subjected to radial air pressure.

FIG. l2 shows how a metal barrel 102 may be threaded into the socket 22 of the base structure to cooperate with the previously mentioned adapter 78. A conventional dispensing cartridge 62 with the usual tapered dispensing nozzle 68 is employed and the dispensing nozzle is severed to provide a truncated dispensing nozzle 68a for cooperation with the adapter 78 in the previously described manner. The compressed air that is introduced into the socket urges the dispensing cartridge `62 forward with the consequence that the truncated nozzle 68a of the dispensing cartridge makes sealing contact with the adapter and the adapter in turn makes sealing contact with an inwardly curved rim 104 of the forward end of the gun barrel 102. FIG. 13 shows a steel barrel 105 that may be screwed into the socket of the base structure for cooperation with a collapsible tube 106 having a tapered dispensing nozzle 108. The dispensing nozzle 108 is made of plastic and is of stepped configuration to permit the nozzle to be shortened selectively for different effective nozzle diameters. The steel barrel is similar to the steel barrel 102 and in like manner is formed with a forward inwardly curved rim or inner ange 110. In fact the steel barrel 102 may be substituted for the steel barrel 105.

The cuved rim 110 of the steel barrel 105 overhangs a special plastic adapter 112 in abutment with the forward surface of the adapter. The plastic adapter 112 has a plain axial bore 114 which is of a diameter for wedging engagement by the dispensing nozzle 108. When compressed air is admitted into the rear end of the barrel 10S, the cornpressed air urges the collapsible tube forward to tighten the wedging fit of the nozzle 108 in the adapter 112 and to seal the adapter against the curved rim 110 and at the same time the confined compressed air acting on the peripheral surface of the collapsible tube throughout the length of the tube vcauses the tube to collapse progressively for dispensing the viscous material through the nozzle 108.

My description in specific detail of the selected embodiments of the invention will suggest various changes, substitutions and other departures from my disclosure within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim: 1. In a device of the character described for dispensing viscous materials wherein a disposable cylindrical cartridge containing the viscous material and formed with an outlet for the material has a rear cylindrical rim and is equipped with a piston-like rear wall and the cartridge is positioned inside the barrel of a gun for advance of the piston-like rear wall of the cartridge by Ipressurized uid introduced into the rear end of the gun, the improvement comprising:

said rear end of the gun being formed with an internal screw thread and being provided with an annular elastomeric sealing member having an outside diameter greater than the inside diameter of the barrel;

said barrel of the gun overhanging the front end of the cartridge in abutment with the front end of the cartridge and being formed with a screw thread at its -rear end to engage said internal screw thread of the rear end of the gun for longitudinal adjustment to apply pressure to the front end of the cartridge thereby to place the cartridge under longitudinal compression to press the rear rim of the cartridge against the sealing member to substantially restrict the pressurized fluid to the interior of the cartridge;

said barrel of the gun being made of plastic material and being provided with a vent hole to release pressurized fluid trapped between the outer circumference of the `cartridge and the inner circumference of the barrel to prevent the creation of excessive fluid pressure against the inner circumference of the barrel.

2. In a device of the character described for dispensing viscous materials wherein a cylindrical cartridge containing viscous material is provided with a piston-like rear wall and a forward tapered dispensing nozzle and the cartridge is positioned inside the barrel of a Igun for advance of the piston-like wall of the cartridge by pressurized uid introduced into the rear end of the gun, the improvement comprsing:

the forward end of the barrel being spanned by an end member for engagement with the front end of the cartridge,

said end member being formed with an axial passage,

the inner end of the passage being -dimensioned for engagement with the outer circumference of said dispensing nozzle near the base of the nozzle, the outer end of said passage being adapted for releasable enga gement with a substitute nozzle whereby the nozzle of the cartridge may be truncated and the truncated nozzle may be wedged into the rear end of said passage and a substitute nozzle may be mounted in the front end of the passage to be used instead of the original nozzle of the cartridge for dispensing the viscous material;

said end member being movably mounted in the barrel and the front end of the barrel being shaped for overhanging engagement with the forward surface of the end member.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 2 in which an annular elastomeric sealing member is mounted inside the barrel at the rear end thereof; and

in which the rear end of the barrel is provided with screw threads for longitudinal adjustment of the barrel to press rearwardly on the end member and thereby compress the cartridge longitudinally against the sealing member to substantially restrict the pressurized fluid to the interior ofthe cartridge.

4. In a device of the character described for dispensing viscous material from a collapsible tube having a tapered dispensing nozzle, the combination of a barrel to enclose the collapsible tube, said barrel having a forward end wall with a circular opening therein dimensioned for wedging engagement therewith by the dispensing nozzle of the collapsible tube; and

means to introduce uid under pressure into the barrel to urge the collapsible tube forward fpr wedging engagement of the nozzle with the aperture and to progressively collapse the tube todispense the material into the nozzle.

5. In a dispensing device of the character described wherein a barrel extends forward from a base structure and a hand grip on the base structure is provided with a trigger for actuating a valve to control the admission of compressed air into the barrel, the improvement comprising:

said hand grip being adjustable along the length of the base srtucture; and

an operating member extending along the length of the base structure to actuate said valve and to be operated by said trigger throughout the range of positions of the hand grip. p

6. An improvement as set forth in claim 5 in which said base structure has a downwardly open longitudinal slot;

in which said operating member extends longitudinally along said slot; and f in which a portion of said trigger extends into said slot for actuation of the operating member. 7. An improvement as Set forth in claim 6 in which said operating member protrudes from the slot for manual manipulation independently of the trigger whereby the hand grip may be removed from the base structure and the protruding portion of the operating member may be manipulated by inger pressure to control the valve.

8. In a device of the character described for dispensing viscous material wherein a cylindrical disposable cartridge containing the viscous material and formed with a forward dispensing nozzle is contractable in response to external uid pressure and for a dispensing operation the cartridge is placed inside the barrel of a dispensing gun with provision for introducing pressurized fluid into the rear end of the barrel, the improvement comprising:

said barrel being formed with a forward radially inwardA ange;

said nozzle of the cartridge being truncated;

an adapter having an inner circular portion embracing the truncated nozzle and having a radial flange interposed between the forward end of the cartridge and said forward radially inward flange of the barrel; and

a nozzle mounted on said inner circular portion of the adapter to dispense the content of the cartridge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,282,473 11/ 1966 Moore 222-3 89 X 1,418,263 5 1922 Kennedy. 2,784,878 3/ 1957 Theodorou 222-95 2,884,166 4/ 1959 Vosbikian et al 222-323 3,136,456 6/ 1964 Sherbondy 222-3 27 3,221,947 12/ 1965 Penn 222-327 FOREIGN PATENTS 660,031 10/ 1951 Great Britain.

809,161 2/ 1959 Great Britain.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner. FREDERICK R. HANDREN, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. C1. X.R.

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