Detachable front fluid dispensing head

Claim 1

A dispensing tube compressor comprising a vertically elongated body having a front portion provided with a vertical channel which is defined by a pair of sidewalls of the body and is open at the front thereof so that a dispensing tube may be laterally inserted in or removed from said channel through the open front thereof, a removable cover plate for the open front of said channel, quickly separable means for retaining said cover plate in position, a tube compressing member slidable in said body and projectable forwardly into said channel to compress a dispensing tube in the channel against said cover plate, and means for sliding said member, said cover plate being positionable against front edges of said body sidewalls and including an inner portion which is receivable in said channel for coaction with said tube compressing member, said quickly separable means for retaining said cover plate in position comprising a pair of vertically spaced pins extending transversely through and projecting laterally to opposite sides of said inner portion of the cover plate, said sidewalls being provided with two vertically spaced pairs of bayonet slots open at the front edges of the sidewalls and extending inwardly and then downwardly in the sidewalls, said pins being receivable in said bayonet slots so that the cover plate may be quickly applied to said body by placing the plate against the sidewall front edges and sliding the plate downwardly while said pins are received in said slots.