Carrier assemblies for portable dispensers

• US 9,387,976 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2012
• Issued: 07/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SC Johnson & Son Incorporated
• Original Assignee: SC Johnson & Son Incorporated
• Inventors: Geis, Mark W., Schumacher, Donald J., Vizcarra, Damien, Hennen, Alexandre
• Primary Examiner(s): Newhouse, Nathan J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zettl, Jennifer N
• Application Number:
  US13/570,643
• Publication Number:
  US 20140042195A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,433 Days
• Field of Search: 224/148.4, 224/148.7, 220/4.01, 220/4.21, 220/4.22, 220/212, 220/212.5, 220/253, 220/786
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 83/384 comprising an aerosol container disposed in an outer shell or in an external container
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 83/388 with means for suspending the aerosol container
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 83/40 Closure caps actuator caps B65D83/205

Abstract

A carrier assembly facilitates the carrying (e.g. by a hiker) of a dispenser for materials such as insect repellents. There are two housings that couple together to form a sealed vault for storing the dispenser between uses. There is also a connector section of one housing in the form of a clip for mounting the housing structure on a backpack or belt loop. A sealing sleeve and a locking sleeve cooperate with the vault to achieve quick opening of the housing parts when desired, without compromising sealing between openings of the vault.

Claims

1. An assembly for removably carrying a dispenser, the assembly comprising:

an upper housing having an internal cavity, a connector section and a downwardly depending skirt;

a lower housing that has an internal cavity and a groove formed aroundan entire perimeter of an inner surface of the lower housing adjacent the lower housing'"'"'s upper end, the lower housing'"'"'s internal cavity being suitable to receive and carry the dispenser if the dispenser is inserted therein;

a sealing sleeve positioned partially inside the skirt, the sealing sleeve having a lower sealing ring portion extending outwardly along a perimeter of a lower edge of the upper housing; and

a latching sleeve positioned within the sealing sleeve within the upper housing'"'"'s internal cavity, and with at least one lower foot being radially inwardly movable in response to pressing force being applied to the assembly;

wherein if the lower foot is positioned in, and thereby coupled to, the lower housing'"'"'s groove, the lower housing can thereby be held together with the upper housing; and

wherein if thereafter said pressing force is applied the foot can be decoupled from the groove, thereby facilitating the lower housing being decoupled from the upper housing, and thereby permitting access to the lower housing'"'"'s internal cavity.

2. The assembly of claim 1, further comprising the dispenser.

3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein the dispenser is positioned in the lower housing'"'"'s internal cavity.

4. The assembly of claim 2, wherein the dispenser is selected from the group consisting of aerosol spray containers and pump spray containers.

5. The assembly of claim 4, wherein the dispenser contains an insect control ingredient.

6. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the connector section comprises a clip.

7. The assembly of claim 6, wherein the clip has been mounted on a loop that is an item selected from the group consisting of a belt loop, a backpack loop and a lanyard loop.

8. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the latching sleeve and sealing sleeve have corresponding alignment tabs to align those two parts with respect to each other.

9. The assembly of claim 3, wherein the upper housing and lower housing can be coupled together to have their internal cavities together form an essentially fluid tight internal vault for the dispenser.

10. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the latching sleeve comprises two axial slots that are spaced apart to form a flexible leg, the foot extending from a lower portion of the leg.

12. The assembly of claim 6, wherein the clip includes a spring and a rotatable latch.

13. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the latch is biased by the spring into a closed position and rotating the latch toward a central axis of the upper housing defines an open position.

14. The assembly of claim 13, wherein the clip further includes an arm having a free end, wherein a distal end of the latch and the free end of the arm are in contact when the clip is in a closed position.

15. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one lower foot is contained completely within the lower housing when the at least one lower foot is positioned in the lower housing groove.

19. The assembly of claim 1, wherein an outer surface of the sealing sleeve is in communication with an inner surface of the of the depending skirt along the perimeter of the inner surface of the depending skirt and an outer surface of the of the latching sleeve is in communication with an inner surface of the sealing sleeve along the perimeter of the inner surface of the sealing sleeve.

11. An assembly for removably carrying a dispenser, the assembly comprising:

an upper housing having an internal cavity, a connector section and a downwardly depending skirt;

a lower housing that has an internal cavity suitable to receive and carry the dispenser if the dispenser is inserted therein;

a sealing sleeve positioned partially inside the skirt, the sealing sleeve having a lower sealing ring portion extending outwardly along a perimeter of a lower edge of the upper housing; and

a latching sleeve including a groove located proximate a lower end and about the entire perimeter of the latching sleeve, wherein the latching sleeve is positioned radially inward within the sealing sleeve in the upper housing'"'"'s internal cavity;

wherein the latching sleeve and lower housing can be coupled together, thereby coupling the lower housing to the upper housing, and the sealing ring is in communication with the latching sleeve groove, the lower perimeter edge of the upper housing, and an upper perimeter edge of the lower housing when the upper housing is coupled to the lower housing.

16. An assembly for removably carrying a dispenser, the assembly comprising:

an upper housing having an internal cavity, a connector section and a downwardly depending skirt;

a lower housing that has an internal cavity and a groove adjacent the lower housing'"'"'s upper end, the lower housing'"'"'s internal cavity being suitable to receive and carry the dispenser if the dispenser is inserted therein;

a sealing sleeve positioned partially inside the skirt, the sealing sleeve having a lower sealing ring portion extending outwardly along a perimeter of a lower edge of the upper housing; and

a latching sleeve positioned within the sealing sleeve within the upper housing'"'"'s internal cavity, and with at least one lower foot being radially inwardly movable in response to pressing force being applied to the assembly,

wherein if the lower foot is positioned in, and thereby coupled to, the lower housing'"'"'s groove, the lower housing can thereby be held together with the upper housing,

wherein if thereafter said pressing force is applied the foot can be decoupled from the groove, thereby facilitating the lower housing being decoupled from the upper housing, and thereby permitting access to the lower housing'"'"'s internal cavity,

wherein the groove adjacent the upper end of the lower housing is disposed on a inner surface of the lower housing,

wherein the at least one lower foot is contained completely within the lower housing when the at least one lower foot is positioned in the lower housing groove, and

wherein the upper housing further includes at least one aperture, the sealing sleeve further includes at least one projection region, and the latching sleeve includes at least one pressing projection, and wherein the at least one projection region and the at least one pressing projection are configured to extend into the at least one aperture of the upper housing.

17. The assembly of claim 16, wherein the at least one pressing projection is disposed on an upper portion of at least one leg defined by slots on either side thereof, and the at least one lower foot is disposed proximate a lower end of the at least one leg, and wherein the at least one leg is radially inwardly moveable in response to the pressing force being applied to the pressing projection through the at least one aperture.

18. The assembly of claim 17, wherein the pressing force being applied to each of the at least one pressing projections allows the upper housing to be decoupled from the lower housing.