Paint dispensing method and apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10124356-B2
Application number	US-201615291450-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 12, 2016
Priority date	Apr 1, 2014
Publication date	Nov 13, 2018
Grant date	Nov 13, 2018

Abstract

A fluid dispensing apparatus may be used to dispense a paint fluid from a paint container that is under pressure and that has a pierceable membrane. The fluid dispensing apparatus may include a valve body having a bore, an adaptor having a bore and a piercing member, and a nozzle having a bore. The fluid dispensing apparatus may be operable to pierce the pierceable membrane to communicate the paint within the paint container with the adaptor bore and with the valve body bore. The nozzle may be operable to permit the paint to flow under the pressure out of the paint container, through the adaptor bore, through the valve body bore and through the nozzle bore to ambient.

First claim

I claim:

1. A paint container for use with a reusable dispensing apparatus, the paint container comprising:
a housing defining an interior space;
a combination comprising a propellant combined with paint within the interior space;
a container cap comprising a membrane that seals the propellant combined with the paint within the interior space at an elevated pressure relative to an ambient pressure of the paint container, wherein the membrane is pierced by a portion of the reusable dispensing apparatus when the reusable dispensing apparatus is installed on the paint container to establish fluid communication between the interior space and the reusable dispensing apparatus, the container cap being installed on the housing to enclose the interior space containing the combination of the propellant and the paint under pressure, and wherein the interior space enclosed by the container cap is devoid of a valve that controls emission of the paint from the interior space; and
a threaded fastener comprising threading that engages a compatible fastener provided to the reusable dispensing apparatus to releasably couple the reusable dispensing apparatus to the container cap and establish a seal that interferes with an escape of the propellant between the container cap and the reusable dispensing apparatus after the membrane has been pierced.

2. The paint container of claim 1 , wherein the threading is provided to an exterior surface of a cylindrical coupling element that extends between the membrane and another surface of the container cap.

3. The paint container of claim 2 , wherein the threading extends along a suitable length of the cylindrical coupling element to urge the reusable dispensing apparatus close enough to the container cap to compress a gasket provided to the reusable dispensing apparatus against a surface of the container cap and form the seal that interferes with the escape of the propellant from the interior space between the container cap and the reusable dispensing apparatus.

4. The paint container of claim 1 , wherein the container cap comprises:
an annular channel extending about a periphery of the container cap; and
a laminate coating applied to a surface defining at least a portion of the annular channel receiving a rim of the housing defining an aperture that is closed by the container cap.

5. The paint container of claim 4 , wherein at least a portion of the rim of the housing is deformed within the annular channel to establish a suitable friction fit between the surface provided with the laminate coating and the housing to form the seal and interfere with an escape of the propellant between the container cap and the housing.

6. The paint container of claim 4 , wherein seal is established without a separate, compressible gasket arranged between the container cap and the rim of the housing.

7. The paint container of claim 1 , wherein an underside of the container cap comprises a laminate coating, and a region of the laminate coating provided to an underside of the membrane has a thickness that is less than a thickness of the laminate coating provided to another portion of the underside of the container cap.

8. The paint container of claim 1 , wherein the membrane comprises an elevated region that protrudes upward from a neighboring region of the membrane.

9. The paint container of claim 1 , wherein the membrane is formed from a metal or metal alloy.

10. The paint container of claim 1 , wherein the container cap comprises a handling member extending from a bore defined by a coupling element that supports the membrane on the container cap.

11. A method of producing a paint container, the method comprising:
introducing liquid paint into an interior space defined at least in part by a housing of the paint container through an aperture defined by a rim of the housing;
positioning a container cap adjacent to the aperture;
placing a containment device adjacent to the aperture to form an enclosure in which a pressure above atmospheric pressure can be maintained;
while the aperture is arranged within the enclosure, introducing a quantity of a propellant into the interior space through the aperture to establish a pressure within the interior space suitable to propel the paint from the interior space; and
installing the container cap on the housing within the enclosure after said introducing the propellant to close the aperture and seal the interior space for containing a combination comprising the liquid paint and the propellant.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising removing the paint container from the containment device after the container cap is installed on the housing.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein said introducing liquid paint occurs before the containment device is placed adjacent to the aperture.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein said placing the containment device adjacent to the aperture comprises:
positioning the containment device over a portion of the housing comprising the aperture, and abutting a portion of the containment device against the housing to collectively form the enclosure between the containment device and the housing.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein said installing the container cap on the housing comprises:
placing an annular channel extending about a periphery of the container cap over the rim of the housing defining the aperture; and
without first installing a valve within the interior space to control the release of the propellant from the housing, deforming the rim of the housing within the annular channel to establish a friction fit between the container cap and the housing suitable to interfere with an escape of the propellant between the container cap and the housing.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein said installing the container cap on the housing within the enclosure occurs within a pressure above atmospheric pressure within the enclosure.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein said positioning the container cap adjacent to the aperture comprises aligning a longitudinal axis of a handling member extending downward from the container cap with the aperture.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein said installing the container cap on the housing comprises establishing a seal between the container cap and the paint container while the handling member is disposed within the paint container.

19. A paint container for use with a reusable dispensing apparatus, the paint container comprising:
a housing forming an interior space and comprising a rim defining an aperture leading into the interior space;
a combination comprising a propellant combined with paint contained within the interior space at an elevated pressure relative to an ambient pressure of the paint container;
a container cap closing the aperture leading into the interior space, the container cap comprising:
a membrane that seals the propellant combined with the paint at the elevated pressure within the interior space, wherein the membrane is pierced by a portion of the reusable dispensing apparatus when the reusable dispensing apparatus is installed on the paint container to establish fluid communication between the interior space and the reusable dispensing apparatus, and
an annular channel extending about a periphery of the container cap receiving the rim of the housing, wherein the rim of the housing is deformed from a state in which the rim was initially received in the annular channel to establish a friction fit between annular channel and the rim to form the seal that interferes with an escape of the p

Assignees

• Sherwin Williams Co

Inventors

• Johnson James J

Classifications

• B65D83/70

  Pressure relief devices · CPC title

• B65D83/382 Primary

  the container body or a closure attached to the container body must be punctured before first use · CPC title

• B05B11/0054 Primary

  Cartridges, i.e. containers specially designed for easy attachment to or easy removal from the rest of the sprayer (attachment arrangements between pump and container B05B11/1043) · CPC title

• B09B3/0058

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B65D83/207

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic