Trigger pump and breather valve dispensing assembly

Claim 2

In coMbination: a container having pump means for pumping the contents of the container from the interior to the exterior, said container including a plate portion separating the interior of said container from the exterior thereof, said plate portion having an aperture therethrough, a vent-valve having a stem extending loosely through said aperture, the stem having on one side of the aperture an enlargement converging toward the aperture and adapted to seal the aperture, the stem having on the other side of the aperture a resilient mushroom-like cap of which the periphery extends outwardly and toward the plate-like member and bears against the plate-like member, thereby to bias the enlargement into sealing relation with the aperture, the pump means including a probe member adapted to move toward and into displacing contact with said cap in the general direction from the cap to the enlargment as the pump means is activated, thereby to unseal the said aperture and permit the passage of fluid therethrough.

Claim 3

The combination claimed in claim 1, in which the enlargement tapers substantially conically toward the cap, and in which the aperture has a circular cross-section with a diameter less than the maximum diameter of the conically tapering enlargement.

Claim 4

The combination claimed in claim 2, in which the vent-valve is a single integral item of resilient material.

Claim 5

The combination claimed in claim 3, in which the plate portion has discrete, raised breather ribs adjacent the aperture on the side remote from the enlargement, the breather ribs being disposed to contact parts of said cap, thereby to permit the free passage of air at all times between the cap and the plate.

Claim 6

The combination claimed in claim 4, in which the aperture is counter-sunk on the side of the plate portion remote from the enlargement.

Claim 7

The combination claimed in claim 1, in which the pump means includes a first swingable member pivoted to said plate portion about a first pivot axis remote from said aperture and adapted to swing toward and away from said vent-valve on the side of said plate portion remote from the enlargement, a second swingable member pivoted to said first swingable member about a second pivot axis parallel to said first pivot axis, said plate portion rigidly supporting pin means spaced from said first pivot axis, said second swingable member having slot means adapted to receive said pin means and to establish sliding pivotal motion thereabout, thereby to permit said first swingable member to move toward and away from said plate portion as the second swingable member is slidingly pivoted about said pin means, the first swingable member having a probe member adapted to push the vent-valve cap toward the said aperture as the first swingable member approaches said plate portion, the second swingable member having trigger means by which it can be manually rotated to bring the first swingable member toward the plate portion.

Claim 8

The combination claimed in claim 6, in which said pump means includes a depressable pump located on said plate portion and having a part adapted to be moved toward the plate portion by an outside agency, said last-mentioned part being adapted to restore itself upon cessation of the outside agency, said first plate portion also having a push-member adapted to move said part toward the plate portion as the first swingable member moves toward said plate portion.

Claim 9

The combination claimed in claim 6, in which the first swingable member is biased away from the plate portion.

Claim 10

The combination claimed in claim 1, in which the plate portion constitutes one side of a triangular linkage in which the first and second sides are of constant length and the third side is of changeable length by virtue of a pin-and-slot connection with the first side, the plate portion defining said first side, the second side being defined by a first swingable member pivoted to said plate portion at the vertex between said first and second sides, the third side beIng defined by a second swingable member pivoted to said first swingable member at the vertex between said second and third sides and slidably pivoted to said plate portion at the vertex between said third and first sides, the second swingable member having an integral trigger which may be moved digitally to swing the first swingable member closer to said plate portion, said probe member being supported on said first swingable member.