US2921718A - Flexible sack contents extractor - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 19, 1960 w. E. MEESSNER FLEXIBLE SACK CONTENTS EXTRACIOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 2, 1957 Jan. 19, 1960 w. E. MEISSNER FLEXIBLE SACK CONTENTS EXTRACTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 2, 1957 United States Patent FLEXIBLE SACK CONTENTS EXTRACTOR William E. Meissner, Devon, Pa., assignor to American Viscose Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application 'July 2, 1957, Serial No. 669,679

9 Claims. (Cl. 222-103) The present invention relates to a dispensing or extracting device and, more particularly, to an apparatus for removing the contents from flexible sacks.

In the packaging industry, flexible wall containers, generally known as flexible or plastic sacks, have been long employed in packaging dry articles. The relatively inexpensive packaging material normally employed, taken with the apparent economies in transportation and storage costs, would naturally dictate the utilization of this form of packaging with a variety of different materials. With fluid and semi-fluid or viscous plastic materials, however, removal of the package contents by merely puncturing the sack and squeezing the material therefrom has not met with full approval. In addition to providing no assurance that all of the container contents will be removed, this conventional dispensing practice offers no control over the packaged material, which is often expelled into the hands of the user and the outside of the container itself. Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a new or improved and more satisfactory device for dispensing materials from flexible containers.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device by means of which a flexible container may be ruptured and rapidly emptied and stripped of its entire contents with a squeezing action.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for collapsing the opposite walls of a flexible container against each other successively along the container length to discharge the contents therefrom.

A further object is the provision of a dispensing device having at least one door or flap hingedly mounted for pivotal movement in a first direction, and which cooperates with a similar door or a fixed abutment in squeez- Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section of the dispensing device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 illustrating a second embodiment of the invention;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one element of the structure shown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4 illustrating another embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of still another embodik ment of the invention; and

Figure 8 is a bottom view of the structure shown in- Figure 7.

In general, the device of the present invention is designed for removing or dispensing the contents from flexible containers or sacks which, in the usual constuction,

have their walls sealed to each other at opposite ends of the container. The device includes a main body having an aperture through which a filled flexible container may be easily passed. At least one door or flap is hingedly 'mounted on the dispenser body for pivotal movement toward and away from its normal position of rest in which it closes the aperture of the device. Dispensing is effected by initially passing a filled flexible container into the dispenser aperture while the door or flap is deflected from its rest position. The container is lowered until its :uppermost .seal is adjacent the dispenser aperture, after I which the door or flap is allowed to assume its normal position. Applying an upward pull on the container causes the free edge of the door to cooperate with the edge of a similar door or a fixed abutment to squeeze successive portions of the container. In this manner, the

initial pull on the container serves to compress its contents and effect a rupture of its lowermost seal, while a continued upward movement on the container causes the package contents to be stripped from the container itself.

Referring now to the drawing, and particularly to Figures l-3, the dispensing device there illustrated and generally indicated at 9 includes a main body or plate 11 having a rectangular aperture 13 substantially centrally 11 by extensions 25, each disposed at an angle to the plane of its respective door 19. The angular relationship between each door 19 and its extension 25 may of course bevaried, but must be at least to insure that a turning moment, equal to the weight of the extension multiplied by the distance from its center of gravity to the pivot axis 21, acts on each door to automatically urge the same into its rest position. Further, it is essential that the inclination of each extension 25 be such as to prevent the extensions themselves from engaging with the underside of the plate 11 before the doors 19 have opened sufficiently to allow the filled flexible container, shown at 27, to pass easily therebetween.

As heretofore mentioned, the dispensing device of the present invention is particularly suited for removing the contents from flexible Wall containers or sacks. While the present invention is not limited to any particular form of packaged material, it is apparent however that the consistency of the contained matter may vary from a freely flowing fluid, as for example a lubricating oil or soup, to a semi-solid or'stiflf plastic material, such as a frozen fruit juice concentrate, baby foods, or a viscous table syrup. The flexible container is preferably formed as shown at 27 in Figures 1 and 3 and is, in effect, a flat tube sealed transversely at 29 and 31. For ease in handling and dispensing, a pulling tab 32 is provided at one end of the container and has a suitable finger grip opening shown at 33. It will also be apparent that the tab 32 may carry advertising matter and/ or instructions for package dispensing or article use.

In use, the dispensing device is first engaged over the open end of the collection container 17, as explained above. The flexible Walled package 27, being held by its pulling tab 32, is then lowered toward the aperture 13. As the package contacts the doors 19, its weight deflects the same from their normal rest position as shown by the arrows 35, and swings the extension 25 upwardly toward the bottom of the plate 10, as indicated by the arrows 37. Downward movement of the package in the direction of the arrow 39 is continued until its uppermost reduced "portion, adjacent the seal 29, enters between the free ends of the doors 19. In this position of the container 27, the

.doors 19.are f ree to swing back into their rest position underthe actionoi the turning moment provided by the action in preventing the sack contents from moving upwardly along with the container 27; Thus, the sack contents are initially and progressively compressed as the container 27 is drawn upwardly between the doors 19.

Ultimately, the lowermost seal'31 of the sack 27 is overstressed and ruptured, thereby allowing the major portion of the contents to fall into the container 17, as seen in Figure 1. It will be noted however that once the contamer has been ruptured, the free edges of the doors 19 squeeze successive portions of the container walls against each other and thus strip away any of the remaining package contents therefrom. To avoid any unnecessary frictional force which may retard the movement of the sack 27 during its upward travel, the free edges of the doors 19 are spaced apart slightly, as shown in Figure 2, preferably; a distance equal to the thickness of the container wal s;

It is apparent from the above description of the dispensing procedurethat the device of the present invention is designed to discharge the packaged contents directly into a collection cup, without any special care being taken on the part of the operator and under the most sanitary conditions. Further, since all parts of the dispensing device are readily accessible, any of the package material Which may spatter onto its under surface or collect at the .free edges of the doors 19 may be easily removed by a fast rinsing of the device.

In lieu of the arrangement described above, there is disclosed in Figure 4 a dispensing device having a single door or flap, the free edge of which cooperates with a fixed abutment in squeezing the contents from a flexible sack in substantially the same manner as heretofore explained. Specifically, the embodiment shown in Figure 4 includes a main body or plate 111 having a substantially rectangular opening 113 and a downwardly projecting peripheral flange 115 which frictionally engages the outer wall of the collection container shown in part at 117. A door 119 is hingedly mounted to the upper surface of the plate 111 and adjacent one edge of the opening 113 by the trunnions 121 and the bearings 123. To permit the door 119 to be removed from the plate 111, as for example during replacement or thorough cleaning, the bearings 123 are formed with reduced entrance slots so that the trunnions 121 may be snapped into and out from the bearings 123 with a slight flexing of the bearing itself.

edge of the door 119 during the dispensing operation as hereinafter described. As with the structure shown in Figures 1-3, the extension or arm 125 is disposed at an angle relative to the plane of the door 119. In this embodiment, however, the angularrelationship between these parts is such that the free edge of the door 119 will be spaced slightly away from the abutment 129 when the extension 125 is in its rest position on top of the plate In the operation of this last described embodiment of the invention, the filled flexible container is inserted-down- Wardly into and through the opening 113 until the uppermost seal of the package is disposed between the free edge of the door 119 and the abutment 129. During this downward movement of the container, the door 119 will of course be deflected away from the opening 113, that is in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 4. The turning moment provided by the weight 127 will then urge the door 119 and the extension into their positions of rest as indicated by the arrows 131 and 133 respectively. An upward pull then applied to the container will efle'ct a rupture of its lowermost seal and'a stripping of the container contents in a manner as described above. It will be noted that with the structure of Figure 4, the upward force applied to the'door119 is counteracted by the engagement of the arm 125 against the plate 111, and that this upward pull-serves to more firmly urge the door trunnions 121 into the bearings 123, thus prevent- 'ing any unintentional disassembly of the parts.

formed integrally with each of the doors 219 and carries at its outermost end a weight 227. As explained with reference to'Figure 4, the weights 227 provide turning moments sufiicient to constantly urge the doors 219 and the arms 225 into their rest position as illustrated.

The operation of the invention modification illustrated in Figure 6 is substantially the same as that shown in Figures 1-4 and the description of the same is believed unnecessary. As with the structure shown in Figure 4, it will benoted that the doors 219 of the structure shown in Figure 6 are inclined angularly relative to their respective arms 225 so that their free edges are spaced apart slightly when the arms themselves are restlng on the uppermost surface of the plate 211. Further, the bearings 223 utilized in therstructure of Figure 6 are the same as those. described with regard to the structure of Figure 4, and it will be apparent that any upward pull applied to the doors 19 serve to more snugly engage the trunnions 221 with their respective bearings 223..

Thelast embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 7 and 8 is particularly desirable from the standpoints of economy and extreme simplicity. As will be apparent from the following description, this embodiment of the invention is especially suited for manufacture from flexible plastic materials, as for example polyethylene, by inexpensive and conventional molding procedures. More specifically, the structure shown in Figures 7 and 8 includes a main body or plate 311 having a peripheral flange 315 which is adapted to engage with the outer wall of a suitable collection container, not shown. The plate 311 is provided with a pair of spaced parallel slits 317 which are interconnected by'a relatively wide cross-slit 318 to form a pair of flexible doors or flaps 319 having their confronting edges spaced apart preferably a distance equal to the thickness of 'walls of the flexible container. On its undersurface, each of the doors 319 is formed with a plurality of stifiening ribs 321 and 325, the latter of which extends along the free edge of its respective door. These ribs together serve to impart rigidity to each of the doors and permit the same to flex as a single unit, as more fully described hereafter. As best seen in Figure 8, the outermost ends of the ribs 325 projectoutwardly beyond the edges of the doors319 and form abutments 327 which are adapted to engage with the underside of the plate 311 during the dispensing operation and thus prevent movement of the flaps 319 above their normal horizontal rest positions shown in Figure 7.

In using this embodiment of the invention, the doors 319 are first deflected downwardly and the filled flexible container is passed therethrough until its uppermost seal lies between the opposing free edges of the doors 319. In this case however the weight of the filled container is not relied upon to move the doors 319 inwardly of the collection container, but instead the operator is required to manually urge the doors downwardly during this initial dispensing operation. To assist in this preliminary step and, more important, to encourage the user to apply the deflecting force substantially essentially of the doors 319, a pair of finger grip buttons are provided at 329 as shown in Figure 7. Once the package is lowered into its desired position, the operator merely releases the doors 319, which automatically return to their horizontal positions in view of their inherent resiliency. As with the structureheretofore described, the operator needs now merely to pull the filled container upwardly between the doors 319 to effect a rupture and a stripping of the contents therefrom. During this upward pull on the flexible sack, it will be noted that the abutments 327 bear up against the underside of the plate 311 and thus prohibit any movement of the doors 319 in an upward direction.

If desired, the devices heretofore described may serve as covers while the contents, such as fruit juice concentrate, is stirred as with a swirling movement. In addition, each of the embodiments may be provided with a pouring spout and removable stopper, such as shown at 331 and 333 in Figures 7 and 8.

In all embodiments of the invention described above, it will be noted that the features incorporated into the devices impart simplicity to the invention both from the standpoints of construction and operation. Further, it will be noted that all parts of the device are readily accessible for thorough cleaning and that replacement of theflaps, in the structure shown in Figures 1-6, can be made with ease. From the operation standpoint, the squeegee action exerted on the walls of the flexible containers or sack assure complete removal of the container contents in a rapid, neat, and sanitary fashion.

It will be seen from the above description that the objects of the invention are well fulfilled by the structure described. The description is intended to be illustrative only and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for dispensing contents from flexible walled containers including a body member, walls defining an opening in said body member into which a flexible walled container may be inserted, a door on said body member mounted for movement into a first position away from said opening when the container is inserted therein along a first direction and into a second position in which said door at least partially closes said opening, means on said body member cooperating with the free edge of said door for squeezing the contents from the container as it is moved therebetween in a direction opposite the first direction, and means for preventing movement of said door beyond said second position.

2. A device for dispensing contents from flexible walled containers including a body member, walls defining an opening extending through said body member, a door hingedly connected to said body member adjacent to one wall of said opening for covering at least a portion thereof, said door being movable into a position away from said opening as a flexible walled container is inserted therein along a first direction, means normally urging said door toward said opening whereby the free edge of said door engages with one wall of a flexible walled container disposed within said opening, and means on said body memher adjacent to said opening and opposite to free edge of 6 squeeze contents from the flexible walled container disposed therebetween as the container is moved in a direction opposite to the first direction.

3. A device for dispensing contents from flexible walled containers including a body member, walls defining an opening extending through said body member, a door hingedly connected to said body member adjacent to one wall of said opening for substantially covering the same, said door being movable into a position away from said opening as a flexible walled container is inserted therein along a first direction, a weighted extension connected to said door for normally urging the same toward said opening whereby the free edge of said door engages with one wall of a flexible walled container disposed within said opening, and a fixed abutment on said body member adjacent to said opening and opposite to the free edge of said door for engaging another wall of the flexible walled container disposed within said opening, said abutment cooperating with the free edge of said door to squeeze contents from the flexible walled container disposed therebetween as the container is moved in a direction opposite to the first direction.

4. A device as defined in claim 3 wherein said weighted extension is disposed at an angle to the plane of said door and engages with a surface of said body member when said door is in closing relationship with said opening to thereby prevent movement of said door through said opening when the flexible walled container is moved in a direction opposite to the first direction.

5. A device for dispensing contents from flexible walled containers including a body member, walls defining an opening extending through said body member, a pair of doors hingedly connected to said body member adjacent to opposite walls of said opening for substantially covering the same, said doors being movable into positions away from said opening as a flexible walled container is inserted therein along a first direction, and means normally urging said doors toward said opening whereby the free edges of said doors engage with oppoite sides of a flexible wall container disposed within said opening and together cooperate to squeeze contents therefrom as the container is moved in a direction opposite to the first direction.

6. A device for dispensing contents from flexible Walled containers including a body member, walls defining an opening extending through said body member, a pair of doors hingedly connected to said body member adjacent to opposite walls of said opening for substantially covering the same, said doors being movable into positions away from said opening as a flexible walled container is inserted therein along a first direction, a weighted extension connected to each of said doors for normally urging the same toward said opening whereby the free edges of said doors engage with opposite sides of a flexible walled container disposed within said opening and together cooperate to squeeze contents therefrom as the container is moved in a direction opposite to the first direction.

7. A device as defined in claim 6 wherein said weighted extensions are each disposed at an angle to the plane of its respective door and engage with a surface of said body member when said doors are in closing relationship with said opening to thereby prevent movement of said doors through said opening when the flexible walled container is moved in a direction opposite to the first direction.

8. A device as defined in claim 6 further including projections along opposite sides of said doors, said projections engaging with said body member to prevent movement of said doors through said opening as the flexible walled container is moved in a direction opposite to the first direction.

9. A device for dispensing contents from flexible walled containers including a body member formed of flexible and resilient material, a pair of spaced substantially paral- -1e1 slits extending through said body member, a cross slit Referencesflited in the file of this patent extending between said pair ofslits apnroximately mid- UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Way between thelr ends to provide a pair of cooperating doors, said'doorsbeing movable away from each other 1,617,917 Lawton 1927 to permit a flexible Walled container to be inserted there- 5 2,008,213 Johnner July 1935 between-along a first direction and resiliently engaging 2,037,989 Mecklanburg 1936 with the flexible Walled container to squeeze the contents 2,197,958 watfls 1940 therefrom as the container is moved in a second direc- 2,390,314 Massey e 1945 tion opposite to the first direction, and means for pre- 2,596,310 Vlta May 1952 2,790,579 Woldorf Apr. 30, 1957 venting movement of said doors beyond the plane of 10 said body member as the flexible Walled container is moved in the second direction.

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