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US 8,899,451 B2Granted
Rodless dispenser
AssigneePrince Castle LLC
InventorsLoren Veltrop, Karl Heinze, Edward Eaton, Brian W. Mathews, Eugene L. Di Monte
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dispenser for viscous, extrudable materials uses a sprocket-driven push chain that is drawn from a chain magazine responsive to actuation of a user trigger. The sprocket for the chain is driven by a toothed wheel, which is driven by a first, ratcheting drive pawl, which is actuated by the trigger. A second ratcheting locking pawl prevents the toothed wheel and hence the chain sprocket from rotating backward when the trigger is released. A single “button” or actuator can be actuated by one hand of a user while the user's other hand grasps a chain retractor to pull an extended chain back to a starting position whereat the dispenser can be reloaded.
Claims20
A dispenser comprising:
- a first pawl coupled to a first axle and configured to engage and disengage notches on a toothed wheel coupled to a second axle responsive to angular translation of the first pawl about the first axle, the first pawl being configured to drive the toothed wheel in a first direction responsive to engagement of the first pawl with a notch in the toothed wheel and angular translation of the first axle around the second axle in said first direction;
- a second pawl coupled to a third axle, the second pawl having first and second portions, both of which extend away from the third axle, the first portion extending from the third axle toward the toothed wheel and configured to engage and disengage notches in the toothed wheel responsive to rotation of the second pawl around the third axle, the first portion being biased to engage notches on the toothed wheel, the first portion capable of being disengaged from the notches responsive to a force applied to the second portion of the second pawl;
- the first pawl, toothed wheel and second pawl being configured such that engagement of the first end of the second pawl with notches in the toothed wheel allows the toothed wheel to be driven in the first direction by the first pawl but prevents the toothed wheel from rotating in an opposite second direction, disengagement of the first end of the second pawl from the toothed wheel responsive to a force applied to second end of the second pawl also causes the first pawl to disengage from the toothed wheel and thereby allows the toothed wheel to rotate in the second direction;
- a sprocket having a plurality of teeth, the sprocket being attached to and configured to rotate with the toothed wheel;
- a push chain having first and second ends and a plurality of substantially U-shaped chain links between said ends, each chain link having a first side that is open and an opposite, substantially smooth second side, the first side being configured to receive a chain sprocket tooth, the plurality of chain links being configured such that they are able to fold toward each other such that when fully folded, open first sides face each other, when fully unfolded, adjacent and fully unfolded links provide a substantially planar surface comprised of the substantially smooth second sides of adjacent, fully unfolded links, and which when unfolded are capable of providing a section of chain links that are rigid and substantially columnar, the chain links and sprocket being configured such that at least some of the chain links wrap part way around the sprocket;
- wherein the push chain, when wrapped part way around the sprocket, comprises first and second substantially straight sections of chain, the corresponding links of which are fully unfolded, the first and second substantially straight sections extending away from the sprocket, the push chain being additionally comprised of a curving third section of chain between the first and second substantially straight sections of chain, the curving third section being comprised of chain links that engage sprocket teeth, the curving third section extending part way around the sprocket, the rodless dispenser being additionally comprised of first and second push chain retainers fixed at locations proximate to where the first and second substantially straight sections of the chain meet the third section of the chain as the sprocket rotates and moves the chain.
3 more elements
A rodless dispenser comprising:
- a tube support configured to hold extrudable material, the tube support having first and second ends, each end having an opening;
- a push chain magazine coupled to the tube support;
- a push chain having first and second ends and a plurality of substantially U-shaped chain links between said ends, the first end being located in the magazine and capable of translating back and forth therein responsive to rotation of a sprocket having teeth engaged with push chain links, the push chain extending through the opening in the second end of the tube support such that the second end of the push chain is located in and translates back and forth in the tube support;
- a piston inside the tube support and comprised of a piston head having a center and first and second opposing sides;
- a piston rod having first and second opposite ends, the first end being attached to and extending from the second side of the piston at a first location on the second side of the piston, the second end of the piston rod being attached to the second end of the push chain, the piston rod having a length defined by the distance between the first and second ends of the piston rod, the first location on the piston being offset from the center of the piston head;
- a push chain drive mechanism comprising:
- a toothed wheel comprised of notches;
- a toothed sprocket having a predetermined number of chain teeth engaged with a corresponding number of U-shaped links of the push chain, the toothed sprocket being coupled to and capable of rotating with the toothed wheel;
- a first axle coupled to and supporting at least one of the toothed wheel and toothed sprocket;
- a drive pawl configured to engage and disengage notches of the toothed wheel responsive to angular translation of the first pawl about a second axle, the first pawl being configured to rotate the toothed wheel and the sprocket in a first direction, responsive to engagement of the first pawl with a notch in the toothed wheel and an angular displacement of the second axle and drive pawl around the first axle in said first direction;
- a second pawl having first and second portions, both of which extend away from the third axle, the first portion of the second pawl extending from the third axle toward the toothed wheel and configured to engage and disengage notches in the toothed wheel responsive to rotation of the second pawl around the third axle, the first portion of the second pawl being biased to rotate on the third axle to engage the notches on the toothed wheel, the first portion of the second pawl capable of being disengaged from notches of the toothed wheel responsive to displacement of the second portion of the second pawl;
- the first pawl, toothed wheel and second pawl being configured such that rotation of the toothed wheel in the first direction responsive to the first pawl, causes the sprocket to also rotate in said first direction, which causes the second end of the push chain and the piston to move toward the second end of the tube support, disengagement of the first end of the second pawl from the toothed wheel also causing the disengagement of the first pawl from the toothed wheel thereby allowing the toothed wheel and sprocket to rotate in the second direction thereby causing the piston and second end of the push chain to move toward the first end of the tube support.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.