Shutoff Nozzle For Caulking Cartridge

Abstract

The caulking cartridge includes an end closure disc fixed in place at one end of the cylindrical body of the cartridge. The shutoff discharge nozzle comprises a circular base or flange portion seated against the end closure disc and rotatably mounted relative thereto. The dispensing opening formed in the closure disc and the discharge passage in the nozzle, which are radially offset with respect to the axis of rotation of the nozzle by substantially the same distance, may be aligned to permit dispensing of the material or nonaligned to prevent dispensing and drooling of the material upon rotation of the cartridge body relative to the discharge nozzle without removing the cartridge from the caulking gun.

Description

This invention relates to a cartridge for mastic or caulking material and includes a shutoff arrangement so that the material may be prevented from discharging or drooling when the cartridge is not in use.

In prior known cartridges for dispensing caulking material or other like mastic substance, there is no provision for preventing the undesirable drooling or discharge of the mastic material from the cartridge tip as a result of the internal compressive forces on the mastic material in the cartridge which is not immediately relieved when the plunger of the caulking gun no longer applies pressure to the material.

It is therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a cartridge for mastic material arranged so that undesirable drooling or discharge of the material contained therein may be prevented.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shutoff nozzle for a caulking cartridge which is operable without removing the cartridge from the caulking gun.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shutoff tip for a mastic material cartridge which is readily mountable on one end of a conventional cartridge body.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a dispensing cartridge for mastic material having a shutoff nozzle for controlling the discharge of the material.

Additional objects of the invention are to provide a rotatable, shutoff nozzle for a caulking cartridge which is convenient to operate, of rugged construction, and inexpensive to produce.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent from the following specification when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view, partly broken away, of a caulking gun with a caulking cartridge mounted therein;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the caulking gun as viewed from the left of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical, sectional view taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 2 showing the dispensing opening in the end of the cartridge aligned with the discharge passage in the discharge nozzle;

FIG. 4 is a transverse, vertical, sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of FIG. 3 showing the dispensing opening in alignment with the discharge passage;

FIG. 5 is a transverse, vertical, sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing the cartridge rotated with respect to the discharge tip and with the dispensing opening in the cartridge in a closed position out of alignment with the tip discharge passage; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view similar to FIG. 3 showing a modified arrangement of the discharge nozzle and the end of the cartridge.

The cartridge 1 shown in the drawings includes an elongated cylindrical body portion 3 formed of treated cardboard, plastic or other suitable material for holding caulking or like mastic material 5. A slidable piston 7 is mounted in the body 3 in the conventional manner and forms a movable end wall for the mastic material 5.

As shown in FIG. 3, the end of the cartridge 1 from which the mastic material 5 is discharged includes a circular end wall 9 fixed to the end of the cartridge body 3 by an adhesive or by other suitable means. The end wall 9 may be formed of molded polyethylene, treated cardboard, or other suitable material and is provided with a dispensing opening 11 which is offset radially a substantial distance from the center of the end wall.

The outer surface of the end wall 9 is formed with a circular depression 13 which is concentric with the end wall 9 and which has a flat bottom surface 14. The inner surface of the end wall 9 is formed with an annular shoulder 16 which fits snugly within the end of the body 3 and strengthens the end of the cartridge.

A unitary shutoff nozzle 15 preferably formed of molded plastic material, such as polyethylene, includes a flat circular base portion 17 and a discharge tip portion 19. The diameter of the circular base 17 is slightly smaller than the diameter of the circular depression 13 so that the shutoff nozzle 15 may rotate relative to the end wall 9.

The circular base 17 is maintained seated in the circular depression 13 and in engagement with the end wall 9 by means of an annular metal collar 21 of generally L-shaped configuration as viewed in transverse cross section.

One edge of the metal collar 21 is crimped inwardly as at 23 into the outer surface of the cartridge body 3 for fixedly anchoring the collar 21 in place on the cartridge body. The other edge of the metal collar 21 is turned inwardly as at 25 toward the circular base 17 of the shutoff nozzle 15. The edge 26 of the turned-in portion 25 of the metal collar 21 is disposed a short distance inwardly from the periphery of the circular base 17 and is spaced from the outer surface of the end wall 9 a distance which is only very slightly greater than the thickness of the circular base 17 so that the circular base may rotate freely in the circular depression 13 while being held in contact with the end wall 9 by the edge 26.

The depression 13 and the metal collar 21 provide means for rotatably mounting the shutoff nozzle 15 on the end wall 9 of the cartridge.

The discharge tip 19 is of generally conventional configuration and includes a cylindrical portion 27 terminating in an outwardly extending conical portion 29. When molded the outer end of the discharge tip 19 is closed but, as shown in FIG. 3, the tip end has been cut off.

The dispensing opening 11 is offset for a substantial distance with respect to the axis of the cartridge body 3 and with respect to the center of the circular depression 13. The discharge tip 19 is also offset with regards to the axis about which the circular base 17 rotates and the distance which the discharge tip is offset from the center of the circular base 17 is substantially the same distance that the dispensing opening 11 is offset from the center of the circular depression so that the discharge passage 31 extending through the discharge tip 19 and through the circular base 17 may be moved into and out of alignment with the dispensing opening 11 upon rotation of the shutoff nozzle.

The caulking gun 35 shown in FIG. 1 is of generally conventional construction and includes a handle portion 37, a piston rod 39 having a piston head 41 at one end for pressing against the dispensing piston 7 and a bent handle portion 43 at the other end thereof for manually moving the piston rod 39; a chamber portion 45 for receiving a caulking cartridge and a front end wall 47.

The caulking cartridge 1 is confined between the front end wall 47 and the head 49 of the handle portion 37 with the discharge tip 19 of the cartridge extending through a vertical slot 51 formed in the front wall 47. The piston rod 39 is advanced for applying pressure to the mastic material 5 in the cartridge by means of a trigger mechanism 53 engageable with the ratchet teeth 55 formed on the piston rod 39.

The width of the vertical slot 51 is slightly greater than the diameter of the cylindrical portion 27 of the discharge tip 19 so that the tip can slide in the slot as the caulking cartridge is inserted and removed from the caulking gun 35 but lateral movement of the shutoff nozzle 15 is prevented by the opposed walls of the slot.

When the cartridge is in the caulking gun and it is desired to dispense the mastic material 5 from the cartridge, the body 3 is gripped and manually rotated relative to the caulking gun and the shutoff nozzle 15 until the nozzle and the cartridge are disposed in the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 with the dispensing opening 11 in alignment with the discharge passage 31. It is understood, of course, that the shutoff nozzle 15 does not rotate when the cartridge body is turned. The piston head 41 of the caulking gun is then moved against the dispensing piston 7 and the trigger mechanism 53 is operated to apply pressure to the mastic material in the cartridge.

When it is no longer desired to dispense the mastic material, the piston rod 39 may be turned manually by means of the bent handle 43 to relieve the piston rod pressure on the material. Whether or not the pressure has been so relieved, the body 3 of the caulking cartridge may then be gripped by hand and rotated to move the dispensing opening 11 out of alignment with the discharge passage 31 so that the mastic material will not drool or be discharged from the tip 19.

The flat surface of the circular base 17, which is in engagement with the flat surface of the depression 13, covers the dispensing opening 11 when it is not in alignment with the discharge passage 31 and forms a valve for effectively closing the discharge passage 31. By closing the shutoff nozzle immediately after finishing dispensing the mastic material, the internal compressive forces on the material which are not immediately relieved, cannot force additional undesirable material out of the tip but these forces may dissipate by acting in the opposite direction to move the dispensing piston 7 rearwardly. As shown in FIG. 5, the cartridge body has been rotated from the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and the dispensing opening 11 is out of alignment with the discharge passage 31 of the tip 19.

Since the dispensing opening 11 is not visible, a reference depression 75 is formed on the outer surface of the body 3 adjacent the collar 21 and in alignment with the point where the periphery of the opening 11 is nearest the outer edge of the end wall 9, to indicate the location of said dispensing opening. It will be seen that the opening 11 may be readily and accurately aligned with the passage 31 by aligning the reference depression 75 with the axis of the tip 19.

In the modification shown in FIG. 6, the discharge tip 19a is provided with a circular base 17a seated in a circular depression 13a formed in the end wall 9a. A cylindrical projection 60 formed at the center of the circular base 17a extends through a circular opening 62 formed in the center of the depression 13a. A head 64 formed on the outer end of the projection 60 engages the inner surface 66 of the end wall 9a and assists in holding the base 17a against the wall 9a. This arrangement assures that the contiguous flat surface of the end wall 9a and the flat surface of the circular base 17a will remain in sliding contact when the cartridge body is rotated relative to the discharge tip 19a. The head 64 may be molded on the end of the projection 60 or it may be in the form of a metal rivet fixedly secured to the projection.

Claims

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact construction shown and described herein but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

1. In combination, a caulking gun having an open top, cartridge-receiving chamber; pressure-applying mechanism mounted at one end of the chamber; and an end plate having a caulking cartridge discharge tip receiving slot formed therein fixed to the other end of the chamber, and a caulking cartridge having a discharge nozzle extending outwardly from the discharge end thereof disposed in said chamber with the discharge tip of the nozzle extending through said slot, the end wall of the cartridge at said discharge end having a dispensing opening formed therein which is radially offset a substantial distance from the longitudinal axis of the cartridge, said discharge nozzle having a discharge tip and a base disposed contiguous to the outer surface of said end wall, and means mounting the base of said discharge nozzle on said cartridge for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the cartridge, the surface of the base being in sliding frictional engagement with the opposed surface of the end wall and providing a valve closure for said dispensing opening, the discharge tip and the discharge passage in the tip and base being offset radially with respect to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge by substantially the same distance that the dispensing opening is offset, the tip of the discharge nozzle having a close sliding fit in said slot and being held against rotation relative to said end plate by the opposed sidewalls of the slot, whereby by manually grasping the exposed body of the cartridge while it is in operative position in the caulking gun and rotating it relative to the discharge nozzle the discharge passage may be selectively brought into alignment with said dispensing opening for discharging material from the cartridge and tip or moved out of alignment therewith for closing the dispensing opening and preventing the flow of material through said dispensing opening.

2. The combination according to claim 1 in which indicating means is carried on the outer surface of the cartridge adjacent the discharge end thereof and is located in radial alignment with the dispensing opening where it is nearest the peripheral surface of the cartridge.

3. The combination according to claim 1 in which the base of the discharge nozzle is flat and circular and the means mounting the discharge nozzle on the end wall comprises a circular depression formed in the outer surface of the end wall, the circular base being seated in said depression for rotation therein, and an annular collar fixed to the body of the cartridge and bearing against the outer face of said base.

4. The combination according to claim 3 in which visual indicating means is carried on the outer surface of the cartridge body adjacent the end carrying the discharge nozzle, said indicating means being located in alignment with the dispensing opening at the point where the periphery of the dispensing opening is at the least radial distance from the peripheral surface of the cartridge.

5. In combination, a caulking gun having a cartridge-receiving chamber with an access opening along the top thereof; pressure-applying mechanism mounted at one end of the chamber; and an end plate having a caulking cartridge discharge tip receiving opening formed therein fixed to the other end of the chamber, and a caulking cartridge having a discharge nozzle extending outwardly from the discharge end thereof disposed in said chamber with the discharge tip of the nozzle extending through said opening, means mounting said discharge nozzle on said cartridge for rotation relative thereto, said cartridge having an end wall formed with a dispensing opening, and valve means for said dispensing opening actuated by rotation of said cartridge relative to said nozzle for controlling the discharge of material from the cartridge through said dispensing opening, the tip of the discharge nozzle having a close fit in the end plate opening and being held against rotation relative to said end plate by the opposed walls of said end plate opening, whereby by manually grasping the exposed body of the cartridge while it is in operative position in the caulking gun and rotating it relative to the discharge nozzle, the discharge passage may be selectively brought into alignment with said dispensing opening for discharging material from the cartridge and tip or moved out of alignment therewith for closing the dispensing opening and preventing the flow of material through said dispensing opening.

6. In combination, a caulking gun having an open-top, cartridge-receiving chamber; pressure-applying mechanism mounted at one end of the chamber; and an end plate having a caulking cartridge discharge tip receiving opening formed therein fixed to the other end of the chamber, and a caulking cartridge having a discharge nozzle rotatably mounted thereon and extending outwardly from the discharge end thereof disposed in said chamber with the discharge tip of the nozzle extending through said opening, the wall of said opening engaging said discharge tip preventing rotation of said discharge nozzle relative to said end plate, said cartridge comprising an elongated, substantially rigid, cylindrical body; an end wall closing the discharge end of the body and having a dispensing opening formed therein; a dispensing piston slidably mounted in said body for movement from the end of the body opposite said end wall to adjacent said end wall in response to pressure applied thereto by said pressure-applying mechanism; and valve means operable for controlling the discharge of caulking material from the cartridge through said dispensing opening and discharge nozzle when pressure is applied to material in said body by way of said sliding piston, said valve means being operable by manually grasping the exposed body of the cartridge while it is in operative position in the caulking gun and rotating it relative to the cartridge-receiving chamber.