Single piece actuator with slider lock
AssigneePrecision Valve Corporation
InventorsRainer Heetfeld, Matthew L. Brett, John B. Fore
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An actuator has a slidable body that is slidable between a first position in which the actuation of a valve is blocked by the slidable body and a second position in which the valve can be actuated. The actuator, together with the slidable body, is formed as one piece. In an initial state, the actuator and the slidable body are connected by gates that are frangible. A tether can connect the actuator to the slidable body so that after the gates are fractured, the actuator, together with the slidable body, is still one piece.
Claims23
An actuator attachable to a container and that actuates a valve to dispense product from the container, the actuator comprising:
- an initial state of the actuator;
- an operating state of the actuator in which the actuator can be in a blocked position and an unblocked position;
- a shroud mountable on the container, the shroud having a slot defined therethrough, the slot having a first side and a second side opposite the first side;
- a conduit fluidly communicating a dispensing orifice at a first end of the conduit and the valve at a second end of the conduit that is opposite first end;
- a pushbutton levered to the shroud to be reciprocally movable in the shroud between an actuated valve position and an non-actuated valve position, the pushbutton comprising a tab that projects downward from a bottom surface of the pushbutton;
- a slidable body having a slider and a blocker, wherein the blocker extends from the slider and is disposed perpendicular or at an angle to the slider;
- and
- a gate connecting the blocker to the shroud in the initial state of the actuator, the gate being frangible by an inward radial movement of the slidable body to position the slidable body in the operating state of the actuator;
- wherein the blocker is disposed through the slot and the slider is disposed adjacent to an outside surface of the shroud when the slidable body is positioned in the operating state of the actuator,
- wherein the slidable body is slidable between the blocked position at the first side of the slot and the unblocked position at the second side of the slot when the slidable body is in the operating state of the actuator, and
- wherein the blocker is positioned below the tab in the blocked position to prevent movement of the pushbutton to the actuated valve position when the slidable body is in the operating state of the actuator.
A method of making a slidably lockable actuator for actuating a valve to dispense a product from a container, the method comprising:
- injecting plastic into a mold via a gate to form a component that has:
- a shroud mountable on the container, the shroud having a slot defined therethrough, the slot having a first side and a second side opposite the first side,
- a conduit fluidly communicating a dispensing orifice at an end of the conduit with the valve at an opposite end of the conduit,
- a pushbutton levered to the shroud to be reciprocally movable in the shroud between an actuated valve position and an non-actuated valve position, the pushbutton comprising a tab that projects downward from a bottom surface of the pushbutton,
- a slidable body that has a slider and a blocker extending from the slider that is disposed perpendicular or at an angle to the slider,
- wherein the gate connects the blocker to the shroud;
- and
- assembling the actuator by applying an inward radially directed force to the slidable body to fracture the gate and push the blocker through the slot until the slider is adjacent to an outside surface of the shroud.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.