Dispensing valve
View Patent ↗A dispensing valve includes a resiliently flexible mounting portion, a resiliently flexible opening portion disposed radially inwardly of the mounting portion, and a resiliently flexible isolating portion disposed radially between and coupled to the mounting and opening portions. The isolating portion extends both radially outwardly and axially to form a first radial space between the opening and isolating portions, and is spaced radially inwardly of the mounting portion to form a second radial space between the mounting and isolating portions. The opening portion may include one or more slits.
1. A dispensing assembly adapted to mount on a neck finish of a container to control discharge of a product stored in a body of the container to surroundings outside of the container through a container mouth established by the neck finish along a longitudinal axis of the container, the dispensing assembly comprising
a base adapted to mount to the neck finish of the container, the base including a deck, an opening wall extending inward in an axial direction from the deck toward the body of the container around a dispensing opening arranged to receive product discharged from the container through the neck finish, and an annular wall extending inward in the axial direction along the longitudinal axis from an undersurface of the deck toward the body of the container, and
a dispensing valve coupled to the base to lie in the dispensing opening, the dispensing valve including an opening portion adapted to allow product to be dispensed through the dispensing valve, a mounting portion adapted to mate with the base, and an isolating portion extending outward from the longitudinal axis in a radial direction from the opening portion to the mounting portion to couple the opening portion to the mounting portion for movement relative thereto so that radial forces on the mounting portion induced by a user squeezing the container causing distortion of the mounting portion are absorbed by the isolating portion rather than being transmitted to the opening portion thereby reducing distortion of the opening portion when a user squeezes the container to dispense product in the container, and
wherein the annular wall of the base includes a main portion surrounding an outer diameter of the mounting portion of the dispensing valve and a crimped portion extending inward in the radial direction from the main portion of the annular wall toward the longitudinal axis of the container, a portion of the deck is arranged to extend above and mate with a topside of the mounting portion of the dispensing valve, and the crimped portion of the annular wall mates with an underside of the mounting portion of the dispensing valve so that the mounting portion of the dispensing valve is blocked from movement outward and inward in the axial direction relative to the deck when the dispensing valve is coupled to the base.
2. The dispensing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the crimped portion has an annular shape and is arranged to surround the longitudinal axis of the container.
3. The dispensing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the deck includes an annular inner segment arranged to interconnect the annular wall and the opening wall and an annular outer segment arranged to surround the annular inner segment and the annular inner segment of the deck, the main portion of the annular wall, and the crimped portion cooperate to form an annular channel opening toward the longitudinal axis and receiving peripheral portions of the mounting portion of the dispensing valve therein.
4. The dispensing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the deck includes an annular inner segment arranged to interconnect the annular wall and the opening wall and an annular outer segment arranged to surround the annular inner segment, and the mounting portion of the dispensing valve includes an annular disc portion and a plurality of annular rings arranged to extend outward in the axial direction from the annular disc portion away from the body of the container.
5. The dispensing assembly of claim 4 , wherein the base includes a plurality of annular rings arranged to extend inward in the axial direction from the annular inner segment toward the body of the container.
6. The dispensing assembly of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of annular rings included in the mounting portion interdigitate with the plurality of annular rings included in the base to retain the mounting portion of the dispensing valve in place relative to the base.
7. The dispensing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the main portion of the annular wall included in the base mates with an outer diameter of the mounting portion of the dispensing valve to block movement of the dispensing valve in the radial direction.
8. The dispensing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the topside of the mounting portion is spaced above the opening portion along the longitudinal axis of the container so that the mounting portion is spaced further from the body of the container than the opening portion.
9. The dispensing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the opening portion includes a web formed to include a first slit and an annular wall extending outward from the longitudinal axis in the radial direction from the web and inward in the axial direction from the web toward the body of the container.
10. The dispensing assembly of claim 9 , wherein the isolating portion includes an intermediate annular wall that extends outward in the radial direction from the annular wall of the opening portion and extends outward in the axial direction from the annular wall of the opening portion away from the body of the container.
11. The dispensing assembly of claim 10 , wherein the annular wall of the opening portion and the intermediate annular wall of the isolating portion cooperate to establish a wedge-shaped space between the annular wall of the opening portion and the intermediate annular wall of the isolating portion.
12. A dispensing assembly adapted to mount on a neck finish of a container to control discharge of a product stored in a body of the container to surroundings outside of the container through a container mouth established by the neck finish along a longitudinal axis of the container, the dispensing assembly comprising
a base adapted to mount to the neck finish of the container, the base including a deck, an opening wall extending around a dispensing opening arranged to receive product discharged from the container through the neck finish, and an annular wall extending inward in the axial direction along the longitudinal axis from an undersurface of the deck toward the body of the container, and
a dispensing valve coupled to the base to lie in the dispensing opening, the dispensing valve including an opening portion adapted to allow product to be dispensed through the dispensing valve, a mounting portion adapted to mate with the base, and an isolating portion extending outward from the longitudinal axis in a radial direction from the opening portion to the mounting portion, and
wherein the annular wall includes crimped means for mating with and for trapping the mounting portion of the dispensing valve in a stationary position relative to the deck of the base.
13. The dispensing assembly of claim 12 , wherein the annular wall includes a main portion arranged to mate with an outer diameter of the mounting portion and a crimped portion arranged to extend inward in the radial direction from the main portion to form the crimped means.
14. The dispensing assembly of claim 13 , wherein a portion of the deck is arranged to extend above and mate with a topside of the mounting portion of the dispensing valve to block movement of the dispensing valve outward in the axial direction relative to the deck away from the container.
15. The dispensing assembly of claim 14 , wherein the crimped portion of the annular wall is arranged to extend under and mate with an underside of the mounting portion of the dispensing valve to block movement of the dispensing valve inward in the axial direction relative to the deck away from the container.
16. The dispensing assembly of claim 13 , wherein a topside of the mounting portion is spaced above the opening portion along the longitudinal axis of the container so that the topside of the mounting portion is further from the body of the container than the opening portion.
17. The dispensing assembly of claim 14 , wherein an underside of the mounting portion is spaced above the opening portion along the longitudinal axis of the container so that the underside of the mounting portion is further from the body of the container than the opening portion.
18. The dispensing assembly of claim 13 , wherein the opening portion includes a web formed to include a first slit and an annular wall extending outward from the longitudinal axis in the radial direction from the web and inward in the axial direction from the web toward the body of the container.
19. The dispensing assembly of claim 18 , wherein the isolating portion includes an intermediate annular wall that extends outward in the radial direction from the annular wall of the opening portion and extends outward in the axial direction from the annular wall of the opening portion away from the body of the container.
20. The dispensing assembly of claim 19 , wherein the annular wall of the opening portion and the intermediate annular wall of the isolating portion cooperate to establish a space between the annular wall of the opening portion and the intermediate annular wall of the isolating portion.
21. The dispensing assembly of claim 13 , wherein the crimped portion has an annular shape and is arranged to surround the longitudinal axis of the container.
22. The dispensing assembly of claim 13 , wherein the deck includes an annular inner segment arranged to interconnect the annular wall and the opening wall and an annular outer segment arranged to surround the annular inner segment and the annular inner segment of the deck, the main portion of the annular wall, and the crimped portion cooperate to form an annular channel opening toward the longitudinal axis and receiving peripheral portions of the mounting portion of the dispensing valve therein.