Caulking gun and sealant cartridge

Abstract

A cartridge suitable for containing a sealant material and a matching caulking gun. The cartridge comprises an elongate hollow body defined by a peripheral wall. A coupling flange extends outwardly from at least a portion of the peripheral wall and has an abutment surface configured to enable engagement with a corresponding abutment surface of a caulking gun, to thereby connect the cartridge to the caulking gun. The abutment surface of the coupling flange faces upwardly towards the top end of the cartridge body and is disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to the peripheral wall so as to enable a downward force to be applied to the flange by a corresponding downwardly facing abutment surface of a caulking gun.

Claims

1. A cartridge suitable for containing a sealant material and configured to be coupled to a caulking gun having a caulking gun body and an annular fastening ring, the cartridge comprising: an elongate hollow body defined by a peripheral wall extending between a top end and a bottom end of the body, the top end having an outlet for dispensing sealant material from the cartridge and the bottom end being closed by a slidable piston, wherein the piston is adapted to retain the sealant material within the body and is slidable within the body to thereby cause the sealant material to be discharged through the outlet, the cartridge further comprising a coupling flange extending outwardly from at least a portion of the peripheral wall and having an abutment surface configured to enable engagement with a corresponding abutment surface of a caulking gun to thereby couple the cartridge to the caulking gun, wherein the abutment surface of the coupling flange faces upwardly towards the top end of the body and is disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to the peripheral wall, to thereby enable a downward force to be applied to the flange by a corresponding downwardly facing abutment surface of the annular fastening ring of the caulking gun, such that when the annular fastening ring is fully threadably coupled to the caulking gun body, a rearward end of the annular fastening ring makes abutting contact with a portion of the caulking gun body, and wherein the coupling flange includes a downward facing channel or groove to assist alignment of the cartridge with a corresponding locating lip of a caulking gun.

2. A cartridge as defined in claim 1 wherein the obtuse angle is about 135 degrees.

3. A cartridge as defined in claim 1 wherein the flange is located adjacent the bottom end of the peripheral wall.

4. A caulking gun for dispensing sealant material from a cartridge, the cartridge being a cartridge as defined in claim 1, and the caulking gun comprising a coupling mechanism to enable the cartridge to be releasably connected to the caulking gun, wherein the coupling mechanism surrounds at least a portion of the cartridge body and includes an abutment surface which is configured to engage the abutment surface of the cartridge.

5. A cartridge as defined in claim 1 wherein the flange is continuous about the peripheral wall such that the flange surrounds the body.

6. A cartridge as defined in claim 5 wherein the body of the cartridge is cylindrical and the flange is of uniform cross section, such that the flange has an outer diameter greater than an outer diameter of the body and has a height which is uniform about the body.

7. A cartridge as defined in claim 1 wherein the length of the cartridge body is no longer than 215 millimeters.

8. A cartridge as defined in claim 7 wherein the length of the cartridge body is about 150 millimeters.

9. A cartridge as defined in claim 1 wherein the outlet includes a hollow protrusion through which the sealant material can be dispensed.

10. A cartridge as defined in claim 9 wherein the protrusion extends from a top wall of the body and is centered in the top wall.

11. A cartridge as defined in claim 9 wherein the protrusion extends from a top wall of the body and is off-centered in the top wall.

12. A cartridge as defined in claim 9 wherein the protrusion extends from an external surface of the peripheral wall.

13. A cartridge as defined in claim 9 wherein the protrusion extends from the body at a location adjacent an intersection between the peripheral wall and a top wall of the body.

14. A cartridge as defined in claim 9 wherein the protrusion includes an external thread to enable a dispensing nozzle having a corresponding internal thread to be secured thereto.

15. A caulking gun for dispensing sealant material from a cartridge, the cartridge comprising an elongate hollow body defined by a peripheral wall extending between a top end and a bottom end of the body, the top end having an outlet for dispensing sealant material from the cartridge and the bottom end being closed by a slidable piston, wherein the piston is adapted to retain the sealant material within the body and is slidable within the body to thereby cause the sealant material to be discharged through the outlet, the cartridge further comprising a coupling flange extending outwardly from at least a portion of the peripheral wall and having an upwardly facing abutment surface disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to the peripheral wall and a downwardly facing channel or groove, and the caulking gun comprising a coupling mechanism to enable the cartridge to be releasably coupled to the caulking gun, wherein the coupling mechanism includes an annular fastening ring configured to surround at least a portion of the cartridge body and threadably couple to the caulking gun body to thereby couple the caulking gun to the cartridge, such that when the annular fastening ring is fully threadably coupled to the caulking gun body, a rearward end of the annular fastening ring makes abutting contact with a portion of the caulking gun body, wherein the annular fastening ring includes a downwardly facing abutment surface, disposed at an obtuse angle to correspond with the upwardly facing abutment surface of the coupling flange, and wherein the caulking gun body includes an upwardly projecting locating lip which is shaped and positioned to assist alignment of the caulking gun with the corresponding downwardly facing channel or groove of the cartridge.

16. A caulking gun as defined in claim 15 wherein the coupling mechanism fully surrounds the cartridge body to enable engagement with a continuous flange surrounding the cartridge body.

17. A caulking gun as defined in claim 15 wherein the coupling mechanism includes a clamping arrangement to pull the respective abutment surfaces together and thereby rigidly couple the cartridge to the caulking gun.

18. A caulking gun as defined in claim 15 wherein the coupling mechanism includes a fastening band which is shaped to surround the flange and body of the cartridge, the band having an inwardly projecting lip which is configured to extend over the flange towards the peripheral wall of the body, and the abutment surface of the coupling mechanism is disposed beneath the lip.

19. A caulking gun as defined in claim 18 wherein the fastening band is circular in cross section so as to form an annular ring which, when in use with a cartridge having a cylindrical body, encircles the body of the cartridge, the inwardly projecting lip thereby forming an aperture having a diameter which is smaller than an internal diameter of the remainder of the annular ring.

20. A caulking gun as defined in claim 19 wherein the annular ring includes an internal thread which is configured to engage with an external thread associated with a body portion of the caulking gun such that rotation of the annual ring causes the respective abutment surfaces to be drawn together.

21. A caulking gun as defined in claim 19 wherein the abutment surface of the annular ring is disposed at said obtuse angle with respect to an internal wall of the annular ring.

22. A caulking gun as defined in claim 21 wherein the angle is about 135 degrees.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) To gain a better understanding of the present invention, certain preferred embodiments are described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a compact sealant cartridge in accordance with a particular preferred embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a side view of the cartridge of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the cartridge of FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a compact caulking gun in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

(6) FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the compact caulking gun of FIG. 4 showing an annular fastening ring as separate from the gun body;

(7) FIG. 6 is a side view of the compact caulking gun depicted in FIG. 4;

(8) FIG. 7 is a top view of the compact caulking gun depicted in FIG. 4;

(9) FIG. 8 is a cross sectional side view of the compact caulking gun depicted in FIG. 4;

(10) FIG. 9 is a close up partial cross sectional view along a centerline of the caulking gun depicted in FIG. 4;

(11) FIG. 10 is a top angled view of the cartridge depicted in FIG. 1 with the fastening ring installed;

(12) FIG. 11 is a bottom angled view of the cartridge with the fastening ring installed;

(13) FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the fastening ring feature of the caulking gun depicted in FIG. 4 separate from the gun body;

(14) FIG. 13 is a side elevation view of the fastening ring feature of FIG. 12;

(15) FIG. 14 is an angled internal view of the fastening ring feature of FIG. 12;

(16) FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the caulking gun of FIG. 4 separate from the sealant cartridge of FIG. 1 before insertion;

(17) FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the caulking gun of FIG. 4 and the sealant cartridge of FIG. 1 assembled;

(18) FIG. 17 is a close up partial section view, along a centerline of the cartridge and gun, depicting the interconnection between the cartridge and gun.

(19) FIG. 18 is a top view of the caulking gun of FIG. 4 and the cartridge of FIG. 1 assembled;

(20) FIG. 19 is perspective view of another particular embodiment of the compact sealant cartridge with the cartridge outlet positioned off-center;

(21) FIG. 20 is a longitudinal cross section of the cartridge of FIG. 19;

(22) FIG. 21 is a side view of the cartridge of FIG. 19;

(23) FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the caulking gun of FIG. 4 and the cartridge of FIG. 19 assembled;

(24) FIG. 23 is a perspective view of another particular embodiment of the compact sealant cartridge with the cartridge outlet positioned on a top shoulder edge between the top wall and side wall of the cartridge;

(25) FIG. 24 is a longitudinal cross section of the cartridge of FIG. 23; and

(26) FIG. 25 is a side view of the cartridge of FIG. 23.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(27) Referring initially to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings, there is depicted a sealant cartridge 1 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention. The cartridge 1 comprises an elongate hollow body 3 defined by a peripheral wall 5 extending between a top end 7 and bottom end 9 of the body 3. The top end 7 has an outlet 11 for dispensing sealant material from the cartridge 1 and the bottom end 9 is closed by a slidable piston 13 as can be seen in the cross-section view depicted in FIG. 3. The piston 13 is shaped and sized to retain the sealant material within the body 3 and is slidable along the internal surface of the peripheral wall 5 of the body 3 to thereby cause the sealant material to be discharged through the opening 11.

(28) The cartridge 1 further includes a coupling flange 15 extending outwardly from the peripheral wall 5 of the cartridge and has an abutment surface facing upwardly at an angle towards the top end 7 of the body 3. As will be described below, the abutment surface 17 enables a downward force to be applied to the flange 15 by a corresponding downwardly facing abutment surface of a caulking gun, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is the engagement of the respective abutment surfaces which connects the cartridge 1 to the caulking gun.

(29) As can be best seen in the side view depicted in FIG. 2, or the cross-sectional view depicted in FIG. 3, the abutment surface 17 of the coupling flange 15 is disposed at an obtuse angle relative to the peripheral wall 5 of the cartridge. The angle could be anything from 90 (thereby projecting horizontally from the vertical wall 5) to almost but not quite 180. The key point is that there must be some projection from the wall surface to enable a vertical force to be applied.

(30) In the preferred embodiment depicted, the abutment surface 17 of the coupling flange 15 is disposed at an angle of about 135 degrees relative to the peripheral wall 5. In other words, the angle is about 45 degrees to the horizontal. The abutment surface 17 thus forms a conical shape to nest inside the annular fastening ring 45 of the caulking gun, described further below.

(31) In alternative embodiments, not depicted, the coupling flange could be of any other form, such as a rounded bead having a uniformly curved outwardly projecting surface, or could be square or diamond shaped. The exact form of the coupling flange is not critical but the key point is that there is an abutment surface facing at least somewhat vertically upward towards the top end of the cartridge.

(32) Further, the flange 5 depicted in FIGS. 1-3 is located adjacent the bottom end 9 of the body 3 but could instead be located further up the wall 5. Having said that, however, location of the flange at the bottom of the wall 5 allows for the most compact form of caulking gun, as will become apparent from the description of the gun further below.

(33) As can also be seen in FIGS. 1-3, the outlet 11 includes a protrusion 19 through which the sealant material can be dispensed. The protrusion 19 is provided with a seal 21 having a square cross-section which can be grasped by a suitable tool (built into the caulking gun handle) to enable the seal 21 to be twisted and hence broken away from the protrusion 19. For this purpose, a weakened side wall of the protrusion 19 may be provided.

(34) In the embodiment depicted, the protrusion 19 extends from a top wall 23 of the body 3 and is centered in the top wall. The protrusion 19 also includes an external thread 25 to enable a dispensing nozzle (not shown) to be secured thereto. Accordingly, the dispensing nozzle would be provided with a corresponding internal thread.

(35) In an alternative embodiment depicted, the protrusion forming the outlet may instead include an internal thread to enable a dispensing nozzle having a corresponding external thread to be secured.

(36) From the cross-section depicted in FIG. 3, it can be seen that the coupling flange 15 includes a downward facing channel or groove 27 which assists in aligning the cartridge 1 with a locating lip (described below) of the caulking gun.

(37) It can also be seen that the inside wall of the cartridge 1 extends to the bottom edge of the cartridge to maximize the length of the bore. This enables improved assembly of the piston 13 into the cartridge during manufacture. It also maximizes the volume of sealant material the cartridge can hold.

(38) Finally, although the cartridge 1 could be made of any size, the preferred form would be less than the size of conventional cartridges. In other words, the body 3 would be no longer than 215 mm and could be made within the range of 50 mm to 200 mm but more preferably within the range of 100 mm to 150 mm.

(39) Typically, the cartridge 1 would be used to contain sealant materials (including adhesives, gels, or other viscous products) and would be prefilled with the material for convenient sale in hardware stores and the like.

(40) Referring now to FIGS. 4-9 of the drawings, there is depicted a caulking gun 41 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention. The caulking gun 41 is designed for use with the sealant cartridge 1 depicted in FIGS. 1-3. For this purpose, the gun 41 comprises a coupling mechanism 43 in the form of an annular fastening ring 45 which, when in use with the cylindrical cartridge 1, encircles the body 3 of the cartridge 1. This arrangement can be seen in the perspective views depicted in FIGS. 10 and 11 of the drawings and the detailed cross-sectional view depicted in FIG. 17. This coupling mechanism 43 including the annular fastening ring 45 enables the cartridge 1 to be releasably connected to the caulking gun 41.

(41) Many of the features of the caulking gun 41 are similar to conventional caulking guns and, in this regard, the caulking gun 41 includes a gun body 47, a piston rod 49, a stationary hand grip 51 and a trigger grip 53. The trigger 53 pivots about a pivot point 55 to cause forward movement of a trigger pin 57 and hence forward movement of a drive lever 59 and forward movement of the piston rod 49. A spring 61 is provided to cause the trigger 53 to return to its starting position. Similar to some conventional caulking guns, the caulking gun 41 of the preferred embodiment includes a thumb lock lever 63 which is spring loaded by means of a second spring 65. At the forward end of the piston rod 49 is a push plate 67 which acts to push against the piston 13 of the cartridge 1.

(42) Unlike conventional caulking guns, the caulking gun 41 of the preferred embodiment of the invention includes a cylindrical opening 69 which includes an external thread 71 enabling the annular fastening ring 45 to be secured to the gun body 47. At the forward end of the opening 69 is a locating lip 73 which is shaped and positioned to engage the channel or groove 27 of the cartridge 1 (see FIG. 3).

(43) In addition, the caulking gun 41 depicted in the drawings includes a square shaped hole 75 to provide a convenient tool so as to remove the seal 21 of the cartridge 1. The seal 21 is removed by inserting it within the hole 75 and then twisting the cartridge or the caulking gun so as to fracture the weakened portion between the seal 21 and the protrusion 19 of the cartridge outlet 11.

(44) Referring now to the cross-sectional view of the caulking gun 41 depicted in FIG. 8, as well as the detailed cross-section view depicted in FIG. 9, it can be seen that the annular ring 45 has an inwardly projecting lip 77. This lip 77 has an abutment surface which faces downwardly (towards the right hand side in FIGS. 8 and 9) towards the bottom end of the cartridge body 3 when the cartridge 1 is attached to the caulking gun 41. The abutment surface 79 is angled so as to correspond to the angle of the abutment surface 17 on the coupling flange 15 of the cartridge 1.

(45) This relationship can best be seen in the detailed cross-sectional view of FIG. 17 wherein the cartridge 1 is depicted connected to the caulking gun 41. In this view, it can be seen that the upwardly facing (to the left in the drawing) abutment surface 17 of the cartridge flange 15 mates with the downwardly facing (to the right in the drawing) abutment surface 79 of the annular fastening ring 45 of the caulking gun 41.

(46) Referring now to FIGS. 12-14, there are depicted a number of views of the annular fastening ring 45. The inwardly projecting lip 77 is at the forward, or top, end 81 of the ring 45. The lip 77 thereby forms a hole of a reduced diameter relative to the ring 45 for holding the cartridge 1 by its flange 15 and preventing it from penetrating all the way through the forward end 81 of the ring 45. The rearward, or bottom, end 83 of the ring 45 is hollow with an inner cavity extending to the forward end 81 of the ring 45. As can be seen, the internal wall of the ring 45 includes an internal thread 85 extending from the rearward end 83 towards the forward end 81, suitable for mating with the external thread 71 of the opening 69 of the gun body 47 when the ring 45 is positioned over the opening and is fastened or unfastened to the gun body 47.

(47) In the embodiment depicted, the ring 45 includes segmented grooves 87 on its outside surface to provide easy grip when fastening and unfastening the ring 45 from the opening 69 of the gun body 47. In this embodiment, the segmented grooves 87 are parallel to each other and parallel to a central axis of the ring 45. Alternative formations could however be included to facilitate grip as would be understood by a person skilled in the art.

(48) As stated above, the ring 45 is hollow to enable the ready insertion of the sealing cartridge 1. Upon insertion, the sealant cartridge extends through the ring until the conically shaped abutment surface 17 of the flange 15 meets, and nests within, the corresponding shaped abutment surface 79 of the ring 45. This prevents the cartridge from passing all the way through the ring 45. Once the cartridge is inserted through the ring 45, it can be screwed onto the opening 69 of the gun body 47. Since the fastening ring 45 is the primary holding device for the cartridge 1, the angled surfaces help spread the load over a wider area as the flange 15 of the cartridge 1 seats into the retaining ring 45. This is an improvement over a 90 degree flange where the corner becomes a stress concentrator and an area for potential failure. Also, since the cartridge 1 may be filled with various types of materials having different viscosities, the angled flange helps to support the pressure applied to it from across this broad range of materials.

(49) Referring now to FIGS. 15, 16 and 18, FIG. 15 depicts the cartridge 1 separate from the caulking gun 41 before it is connected. FIG. 16, on the other hand, depicts the cartridge 1 connected to the caulking gun 41 by means of the annular fastening ring 45. FIG. 18 depicts a top view of the connected cartridge 1 and caulking gun 41.

(50) Referring now to FIGS. 19-22, there is depicted a sealant cartridge 101 in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention. Similar reference numerals are used in these figures as have been used in the preceding figures to identify equivalent features in this embodiment. Thus, the cartridge body 103 in FIG. 19 is equivalent to cartridge body 3 in FIG. 1. All remaining reference numerals follow a similar pattern.

(51) As can be seen, the primary difference between the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 19-22 and that depicted in the earlier figures is that the outlet 111 of the cartridge 101 is off-centered in the top wall 123 so as to be closer to the peripheral wall 115. This arrangement allows for improved accessibility and maneuverability in restricted spaces. Despite the difference in the cartridge 101, it can be used with an identical caulking gun 41, as depicted in FIG. 22.

(52) Along similar lines, a further alternative cartridge 201 in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention is depicted in FIGS. 23-25. Similar reference numerals have again been used to identify features corresponding to the features of the earlier embodiments. In this embodiment, the outlet 211 projects laterally from a location adjacent the intersection between the peripheral wall 205 and the top wall 223. In all other respects, the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 23-25 is the same as the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 1-3 and 19-21.

(53) Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described herein for the purposes of illustration. Such variations and modifications are to be considered within the scope of the invention, the nature of which is to be determined from the foregoing description and/or the following claims.