US3148401A - Liquid applicator attached to container - Google Patents

Description

p 1964 J. R. GILCHRIST ETAL 3,148,401

LIQUID APPLICATOR ATTACHED TO CONTAINER File d March 18 United States Patent 3,148,461 LEQUED APPLZ'CATQ'R ATTAQHED Til CGNTAHJER James Ralph Gilchrist, fllarenee, and h'farvin C. Park,

ilnfiaio, N.Y., assignors to Truly-Magic froducts, Inc,

Bufialo, N.Y., a corporation of York Filed h lar. 18, 1963, $21". No. 255,819 4 Qlairns. {$1. 15-565) This invention relates to a liquid applicator adapted to be attached to a container, that is, such an applicator which forms a closure for the mouth of a bottle and which transfers the liquid from the bottle in the form of a layer to the surface to be coated, the present applicator being particularly applicable for home use in applying coatings to shoes to renew and preserve appearance.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide such an applicator which will not leak or loose the liquid contents of the bottle even when the liquid filled bottle with the attached applicator is held in an inverted position and shaken up and down, or when the bottle and applicator are left supported by the working surface of the applicator, even immediately following use in both cases.

Another important object is to provide such an apphcator in which the liquid is positively pumped or fed from the supply to the working surface of the applicator, in contrast to a gravity feed, and in which the rate of release of the liquid is only as desired, being under full and easy control of the user as to the depth of the coating being applied.

Another object is to provide such an applicator in which such pumping action requires little effort or skill so that it can readily be performed by small children and those having little aptitude.

Another object is to provide such an applicator which has a two stage positive feed or pumping action, a light pumping action being achieved by a distortion of the pad directly forming the working surface and a heavy pumping action being achieved by a distortion of the side wall of the body supporting this pad, and the heavy pumping action being under control of a slitted control diaphragm.

Another object is to provide such an applicator in which there is a positive shut-off of the flow of liquid from the applicator, elfected by the simple expedient of releasing pressure on the working surface of the applicator.

Another object is to provide such an applicator which is readily adapted to flow control for liquids of different viscosities, such control being effected by adjusting the slot length in an internal control diaphragm.

Another object is to provide such an applicator in which a large amount of the liquid can be stored in the pad forming the working surface of the applicator both to provide uniformity in the depth of the coating over a large area, and also to provide storage of instantly available liquid during the operation of shining coated shoes.

Another object is to provide an applicator having softness of working surface and flexibility of body to readily follow irregularities in the conformation of the surface being coated.

Another object is to provide at least one straight edge termination of the working surface to provide for application exactly to the desired areas only.

Another object is to provide such an applicator which will provide a coating in crevices such as the crevices between the soles and the uppers of a pair of shoes.

Another aim is to provide a working surface which distributes the liquid uniformly and which avoids a squeege action, that is, removing any part of the already applied coating in traveling over the same.

Another aim is to provide such an applicator which Bfldhfibl Patented Sept. 15, 1%64 can be attached to a transparent bottle so that the color and any condition of solids settlement can be observed.

Another object is to provide such an applicator which can be inexpensively capped both to provide long shelf life and also long life in the home where the contents are subject to successive use.

Another object is to provide such an applicator in which the tendency of the liquid to dry out on the working surface of the applicator is greatly reduced but in which the working surface can readily be restored to its original condition by rinsing in warm water.

Another object is to provide such an applicator which will work, however, even with very substantial drying out and incrustaticn of solids on the working surface.

Another object is to provide such an applicator which can be mass produced at low cost to produce an article which can be thrown away with the empty bottle to which it is attached, it being a feature of the invention that the application of adhesive to join certain parts together is confined to the contacting surfaces of these parts and cannot blind or impair necessary openings adjacent these surfaces.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a container for the liquid to be applied and having a neck to which the applicator of the present invention is secured, a protective cap for the applicator being shown in dot-dash lines.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical central section through the container and applicator illustrated in FlG. l and showing the container inverted and held at an angle preparatory to applying a layer of the contained liquid to the surface to be coated.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing pressure applied to the applicator to force or pump a desired quantity of the liquid onto the surface to be coated.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing further pressure applied from the container to the applicator to distort a side wall thereof and force a greater quantity of liquid onto the surface to be coated.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 55, FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary vertical sec tion through the bottom of the applicator pad to illustrate its open cell formation and the manner in which flock is adhered to the working face.

The liquid applicator forming the subject of the present invention is shown as applied to a container in the form of abottle 10 containing the liquid to be applied and is preferably in the form of a relatively rigid walled bottle to serve as a handle through which pressure of the desired value can be applied through the applicator to the surface to be coated for the positive release or pumping of any desired quantity of liquid uniformly upon the surface to be coated. As shown, the body of thebottle 10 preferably has anannular shoulder 11 terminating in aneck 12 surrounding themouth 13 of the container, theshoulder 11 having an annular outwardly protrudingannular head 14 and theneck 12 having an outwardly protrudingannular head 15. Thebead 14 serves to releasably anchor acap 16 which can be made of a flexible organic plastic and which encloses theapplicator 18 forming the subject of the present invention which is anchored on the head and forms a closure for the open mouth 3 of thebottle 10.

The applicator forming the subject of the present invention comprises an open endedtubular body 20 of rubher or other soft, resilient, flexible material having an enlargedend collar 21 provided with an internal .annular groove 22 mating and firmly embracing thebead 15 on theneck 12 to securely seal the tubular body on this neck and to permit substantial manual pressure to be 1mpressed through the bottle, as a handle, against theapplicator 18 without displacing the applicator from theneck 12.

The applicator includes a flexible control membrane ordiaphragm 23 across the interior of thetubular body 20 near the outboard end thereof and forming achamber 24 at the inboard end of the tubular body in communication with the interior of thebottle 10 and achamber 25 of substantial depth at the outboard end of thebody 20. Thiscontrol membrane 23 is provided with a control slit 26 the effective length of which is adjusted to the viscosity of the liquid being handled. The surface to be coated is designated at 28.

Thetubular body 20 additionally includes anoutboard end face 30 terminating in astraight edge 31 parallel with arounding heel 32 at the opposite end of thisend face 30 and the sides of whichend face 30 are defined by parallelstraight edges 33. Theend face 30 is arranged at an acute included angle to the axis of thetubular body 20 andbottle 10 so that oneside wall 34 of thetubular body 20 is substantially longer than theopposite side wall 35 thereof, thislong side wall 34 being directed toward thestraight edge 31 and essentially forming a long side wall for thechamber 24, themembrane 23 being disposed parallel with the workingface 30 for this purpose.

A pad of polyurethane sponge is secured to theface 30 by alayer 41 of adhesive. This pad is preferably of rectangular form in plan to conform to and register with theedges 31, 32 and 33, of theend face 30, but is preferably of parallelogram shape in vertical section through the plane of theslit 26 to facilitate its use as an applicator pad with the bottle held at the angle shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. Thispolyurethane sponge pad 40 is of the open cell type in which the walls 42 between the cells 43 are ruptured to establish communication between these cells, and with the external surface cells forming craters 44 so that a substantial quantity of liquid can be absorbed into the body of the sponge pad to be released through the craters on the external workingface 45 of the sponge pad.

This workingface 45 of thispad 40 is preferably in part faced with a small amount offlock 46. This flock is preferably in the form of short fibers which are adhesively united to the working face in such small amount as not to blind its openings but in suflioient amount to smooth out the liquid as it is applied and reduce any tendency toward foaming action. To this end the flock is applied first by subjecting the workingface 45 of thepolyurethane pad 40 to a very fine mist of polyester base adhesive, illustrated at 48, to provide a very thin coating on the edges of the craters 44 which form the workingface 45, following which theflock 46 is blown .against the working face, those fibers adhering which actually contact the adhesive which is principally present at the edges of these craters.

With an applicator constructed as above, thecap 16 serves to protect the applicator against injury or drying out aswell as to protect against the working surface of the applicator from accidently coming in contact with other articles in storing the bottle and applicator.

Thebottle 10 is preferably transparent or translucent, if the contained liquid is pigmented, to permit the user to select the color desired and also to permit of observing the settling out of any constituents in the liquid.

Theprotective cap 16 is first removed by forcing it free from theretaining bead 14 of theshoulder 11, this cap being preferably made of a flexible plastic which will yield for this purpose. Following this the bottle, with the'applicator attached, is inverted for applying a coating to thesurface 28. Such inversion causes the liquid in thebottle 10 andchamber 24 to pass through thecontrol slit 26 and fill thechamber 25. In so inverting the bottle and applicator there is no danger of any leakage, or of liquid being shaken out, even if thebottle 10 and applicator are shaken up and down while in an inverted position. Such leakage is prevented both by combined impedance of thecontrol membrane 23 and also by thepolyurethane sponge pad 40, the control slit 26 in the former and the open cells 43 in the latter offering sufficient impedance to prevent such leakage merely from the head of liquid contained within the bottle even when subject to violent handling such as to vertical shaking.

The workingface 45 of the polyurethane opencell foam pad 40 is then pressed into contact with thesurface 28 to be coated so as to compress this pad vertically and to force abulge 50 of this pad up into the filledchamber 25 as illustrated in FIG. 3. This liquid will be forced by the displacement resulting from thisbulge 50 through the cells 43 of thepolyurethane sponge pad 40 to the craters 44 formed in theworking surface 45 thereof. By successively moving thebottle 10 and theapplicator 16 up and down as the workingface 45 is drawn along thesurface 28 to be coated, a stripe of liquid of remarkable uniformity is applied to thesurface 28 and the amount of this liquid is under ready control of the user by varying the degree of pressure with which he successively brings theworking surface 45 into contact with thesurface 28 to be coated. This requirement for such oscillation or progressively alternating pressure on thepad 40 is an important feature of the invention, since it is through the sucecssive productions of thebulge 50 in thechamber 25 that increments of liquid are progressively and positively forced or pumped through theopen cell pad 40 onto the surface. This is in distinct contrast to a gravity feed.

If this coating is not heavy enough still greater increments of liquid can be positively forced or pumped through the applicator to be produced as a uniform but heavier stripe on thesurface 28 to be coated. This is done by tilting thebottle 10, as a handle, to a more vertical position, as indicated in FIG. 4, while exerting pressure against theend 31 of thetubular body 20 suflicient to collapse thelong wall 34 inwardly. When this is done the effective size of thechamber 24 is reduced and an increased amount or increment of liquid is forced through thecontrol slit 26 to thepolyurethane sponge pad 40 to be distributed through its open cells 43 and craters 44 at an increased rate. This results in a heavier application of a stripe of liquid on thesurface 28 to be coated, this rate being under the accurate control of the user and being dependent upon the amount of pressure he uses to collapse thelong side wall 34 of thetubular body 20 in so forcing increased flow of liquid through the applicator.

Thestraight edge 31 of the applicator permits application in desired areas only, this edge permitting of an exact patterning of the liquid being applied.

After a uniform layer of liquid has been applied to the shoe orother surface 28 to be coated, the bottle is placed right side up and the flexibleplastic cap 16 reapplied to thebeaded shoulder 11. The replacement of this cap retards drying out of thepolyurethane sponge pad 40 and also permits thebottle 10 to be reshelved without danger of bringing this pad accidently in contact with other objects. If thepad 40 should dry it is still useable but if it is desired to restore it to its original condition after extensive incrustation resulting from drying out, it can be readily washed in warm water and squeezed dry.

In addition to providing space for displacement ofthebulge 50 in pumping liquid through thepolyurethane sponge pad 40, thechamber 25 permits the application of theglue 41 and thepolyurethane sponge pad 40 to the workingface 30 of thebody 20 without danger of binding or blinding the control slit 26 in themembrane 23 or unnecessarily blinding any cells 43 on the top side of thepad 40. Thus the layer ofglue 41 can be applied to theface 30 of thebody 20 by means of conventional glue rolls and since themembrane 23 is spaced a substantial distance from theface 30 by depth of thechamber 25 there is no danger of this glue coming in contact with themembrane 23, much less blinding or bridging theslit 26. The polyurethane sponge forming thepads 40 can be brought into contact with the adhesive 41 without danger of blinding any of its cells 43. Accordingly the construction of the applicator with the relativelydeep chamber 25 below themembrane 23 adapts the applicator to production in automated equipment thereby to greatly reduce its cost and to permit of its being thrown away with the empty bottle.

The rate of flow of the liquid in response to distorting thelong wall 34 of thetubular body 20 inwardly as illustrated in FIG. 4 is a function of the durometer hardness of the rubber or other soft resilient plastic material used for thisbody 20 and themembrane 23. The response of the applicator to liquids of difierent viscosities can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the length of theslit 26.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the present applicator can be produced at very low cost on automatic machinery; is free from danger of leakage even with violent handling; is actuated by a positive pumping action in two stages; produces a coating of remarkable uniformity and in which the rate of flow can be accurately controlled within a wide range to produce a coating of any desired depth.

We claim:

1. An applicator for the liquid in a container having a neck surrounding a mouth through which the liquid is discharged from the container, comprising (A) a tubular body of soft, resilient, flexible material capable of being distorted by manual pressure and open at its ends and including (a) means securing and sealing one open end of said body to said neck to form a continuation thereof, (B) a flexible control membrane across the interior of said body near the opposite end thereof to form (a) a chamber at the inboard end of said body in communication with the interior of the container and (b) a chamber of substantial depth at the outboard end of said body and having (c) a through slit,

(C) and a pad secured across said opposite end of said body to (a) protrude from said body,

(b) form a wall enclosing said chamber at the outboard end of said body,

() have an external working face and being (d) composed of a flexible plastic sponge of the open cell type in which the walls between the cells are ruptured to establish communication between said cells and with the external surface cells forming craters so that a substantial quantity of liquid can be absorbed into said sponge pad, to be released through the craters on the external working face thereof (D) whereby upon moving said container to compress and displace said pad against the surface to be coated a substantial proportion of said pad is displaced into said chamber at the outboard end of said body to force the liquid in said chamber at the outboard end of said body positively into said pad and to distribute it through the open cells thereof to said craters on said external working face for application to said surface to be coated, and (E) upon moving said container to release said pad from said surface to be coated, said pad springs from said chamber at the outboard end of said body to move liquid through said slit into said chamber at the outboard end of said body, and (F) in response to manual pressure from said container through said body and pad against said surface to be coated, the side wall of said body is displaced inwardly into said chamber at the inboard end of said body to force additional liquid through said slit and pad onto the said surface to produce a heavier coating thereon. 2. An applicator as set forth in claim 1 wherein said tubular body additionally includes (b) an outboard end face terminating in a (c) straight edge and said pad is (a) adhesively secured to said outboard end face and has (b) a straight edge in register with said straight edge of said body for application of a uniform stripe of a width equal to the length of said straight edge. 3. An applicator as set forth in claim 1 wherein said tubular body additionally includes (b) a generally flat outboard end face arranged at an acute included angle to the axis of said body whereby (G) one side wall of said body is longer, lengthwise of said axis, than the opposite sidewall of said body whereby (a) the displacement of said longer side wall inwardly into said chamber at the inboard end of said body to force additional liquid through said slit and pad can be effected by changing the inclination of the container with reference to the surface to be coated. 4. An applicator as set forth in claim 1 additionally including (G) small fibers and an adhesive uniting said small fibers with the rims only of said craters of said working face (a) to assist in the streakless release of said liquid.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,919,859 Phillips July 25, 1933 2,820,234 Rigney Jan. 21, 1958 2,913,748 Felter Nov. 24, 1959

Claims (1)

1. AN APPLICATOR FOR THE LIQUID IN A CONTAINER HAVING A NECK SURROUNDING A MOUTH THROUGH WHICH THE LIQUID IS DISCHARGED FROM THE CONTAINER, COMPRISING (A) A TUBULAR BODY OF SOFT, RESILIENT, FLEXIBLE MATERIAL CAPABLE OF BEING DISTORTED BY MANUAL PRESSURE AND OPEN IS ITS ENDS AND INCLUDING (A) MEANS SECURING AND SEALING ONE OPEN END OF SAID BODY AND TO SAID NECK TO FORM A CONTINUATION THEREOF, (B) A FLEXIBLE CONTROL MEMBRANE ACROSS THE INTERIOR OF SAID BODY NEAR THE OPPOSITE END THEREOF TO FORM (A) A CHAMBER AT THE INBOARD END OF SAID BODY IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE INTERIOR OF THE CONTAINER AND (B) A CHAMBER OF SUBSTANTIAL DEPTH AT THE OUTBOARD END OF SAID BODY AND HAVING (C) A THROUGH SLIT, (C) AND A PAD SECURED ACROSS SAID OPPOSITE END OF SAID BODY TO (A) PROTRUDE FROM SAID BODY, (B) FORM A WALL ENCLOSING SAID CHAMBER AT THE OUTBOARD END OF SAID BODY, (C) HAVE AN EXTERNAL WORKING FACE AND BEING (D) COMPOSED OF A FLEXIBLE PLASTIC SPONGE OF THE OPEN CELL TYPE IN WHICH THE WALLS BETWEEN THE CELLS ARE RUPTURED TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SAID CELLS AND WITH THE EXTERNAL SURFACE CELLS FORMING CRATERS SO THAT A SUBSTANTIAL QUANTITY OF LIQUID CAN BE ABSORBED INTO SAID SPONGE PAD, TO BE RELEASED THROUGH THE CRATERS ON THE EXTERNAL WORKING FACE THEREOF (D) WHEREBY UPON MOVING SAID CONTAINER TO COMPRESS AND DISPLACE SAID PAD AGAINST THE SURFACE TO BE COATED A SUBSTANTIAL PROPORTION OF SAID PAD IS DISPLACED INTO SAID CHAMBER AT THE OUTBOARD END OF SAID BODY TO FORCE THE LIQUID IN SAID CHAMBER AT THE OUTBOARD END OF SAID BODY POSITIVELY INTO SAID PAD AND TO DISTRIBUTE IT THROUGH THE OPEN CELLS THEREOF TO SAID CRATERS ON SAID EXTERNAL WORKING FACE FOR APPLICATION TO SAID SURFACE TO BE COATED, AND (E) UPON MOVING SAID CONTAINER TO RELEASE SAID PAD FROM SAID SURFACE TO BE COATED, SAID PAD SPRINGS FROM SAID CHAMBER AT THE OUTBOARD END OF SAID BODY TO MOVE LIQUID THROUGH SAID SLIT INTO SAID CHAMBER AT THE OUTBOARD END OF SAID BODY, AND (F) IN RESPONSE TO MANUAL PRESSURE FROM SAID CONTAINER THROUGH SAID BODY AND PAD AGAINST SAID SURFACE TO BE COATED, THE SIDE WALL OF SAID BODY IS DISPLACED INWARDLY INTO SAID CHAMBER AT THE INBOARD END OF SAID BODY TO FORCE ADDITIONAL LIQUID THROUGH SAID SLIT AND PAD ONTO THE SAID SURFACE TO PRODUCE A HEAVIER COATING THEREON.

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