DESCRIPTION TEXT

INVENTIVE SCOPE

The present invention falls within the scope of dispensing devices for viscous materials such as silicone.

BACKGROUND

To date, typically, silicone is sold in factory-loaded plastic cartridges ready to be inserted and used with special pistol dispensers. The use of this system is widespread and if there is a great advantage in the simple use of this system, the problem of recycling all empty cartridges, wasteful empty cartridges that must be disposed of without the possibility of recycling, is not negligible.

In fact, once the cartridge is exhausted, since the piston compresses the material contained therein when it reaches the end of the stroke, it becomes a useless object without any usefulness although made of robust plastic material.

Disadvantageously, therefore, said cartridges, while representing an ideal solution for a first use, then become an important waste to be disposed of both for their important plastic consistency and for the material that, as a residue, remains inside without being able to be removed in any way, this at the expense of a difficult recycling procedure that must provide not only for the recovery of the plastic but also the separation from it of all the residual materials contained in it (silicone in the first place).

Known art document DE 297 18 237, of 1998, describes a cartridge for receiving injectable materials, in particular silicone masses, acrylates or the like, with a cylinder for receiving the material and a piston for ejecting the material, characterized in that the piston has a connecting means (internal thread) for connecting an activation element (threaded nut) in such a way that the piston with the activation member can be returned to a starting position after the material has been ejected, i.e. the classic silicone gun known in the art. The document JP 2010 042361 discloses a manual dispenser for controlling the compressive force, comprising a piston connecting means, a piston disconnecting means, a rod handle disconnecting means, a rod handle and a rod handle sealing portion, which can be extracted on a piston contained in a syringe for spray dispensing systems, said document not having the purposes or implementation as in the present invention.

Finally, the document JP H06 283856 of 1994 similarly describes a kind of cartridge for glue-like material comprising a float and a piston for dispensing the same, the purpose being to stabilize an amount of adhesive coating and reduce the production unit price of a float by preventing the float for pressing the adhesive with air from floating, in this case the adhesive is loaded into a cylindrical tank having a spreading nozzle at one end thereof and an air supply port at its base end. The adhesive surface is pressed by a float through the air pressure A to be diffused by the opening, and the adhesive is discharged from the nozzle. A float is formed into a cylindrical shape having a bottom. An upper opening side of an inner periphery of the float is formed into an inverted conical shape. An annular projection protrudes integrally from a base of the float opening. In this way, a tow mask hook is engaged with the protrusion of the float and the float can be extracted easily and instantly from the tank. This is also a well-known art system.

An object of the present invention is to describe a reuse system for dispensing cartridges that can make a normal dispensing cartridge of known art usable for an indefinite number of times.

It is still an object of the present invention to describe a reuse system for dispensing cartridges which is simple in construction and therefore also very economical.

It is still an object of the present invention to describe a reuse system for dispensing cartridges suitable for any dispensing cartridge already on the market. It is still an object of the present invention to describe a system for reusing dispensing cartridges that can also allow the residual material present inside the exhausted cartridge to be recovered.

These and further objects will be elucidated hereinafter in the description of the present invention. SHORT DESCRIPTION

The innovative reuse system object of the present invention is for dispensing cartridges comprising at least one hollow container body (an exhausted cartridge), typically cylindrical, a piston or plunger adapted for sliding inside said hollow body, said hollow body comprising on a first end a dispensing opening and on a second end a wider opening for the inlet of said piston. Said system being characterized in that it comprises an assembly comprising a stem comprising at a first end a threaded tip and a guide ring and comprising on a second end a cap/handle. Said threaded tip can be screwed on a locking nut, on said guide ring and on said stem constituting an assembly. Said cap/handle can be screwed onto said stem. Said stem being able to be inserted into said hollow container body when the cartridge is exhausted or when said piston is near said first end of said container body. Said threaded tip being able to pierce said piston and being able to coming out of said dispensing opening. Said locking nut being screwed onto said threaded tip when it comes out of said dispensing opening to act as a stop on the piston to be able to exert, by means of the stem and said handle, a force in the direction of the second end of the hollow body in order to be able to extract the piston from said hollow body through said second end without said piston being able to come off said threaded tip and then release from the stem. Said locking nut can be unscrewed from the threaded tip to release the extracted piston.

Said threaded tip, piston, guide ring constituting a thrust subassembly being able to free itself from the stem to be able to be inserted again on the second end of said hollow body once the residual material has been cleaned and the hollow body filled with new material, even different from the original, this I order to be able to reuse the container with dispensers suitable for the purpose (guns) as if it were new.

Said piston being able to remain integral with said stem between said locking nut and said guide ring being able to be used as a tool for push to dispense new loaded material inside the hollow body by manually applying force on the handle/cap and pushing the stem towards the first end of the hollow body. Or said assembly being able to be used as a suction tool in order to create a depression inside the hollow body and to be able to suck material from said dispensing opening located on the first end of said hollow body. Said dispensing opening can be equipped with an adapter to be able to connect to any threaded nozzle or cap. Said system comprising in a variant an expansion plug comprising an actuator, an elastic sealing ring and a abutment ring, said actuator having a diameter preferably greater than that of the hollow container body and is connected to a threaded rod. Said elastic sealing ring comprising a through hole in its center and having a diameter slightly smaller than that of the hollow container body. Said abutment ring comprising a threaded hole in its center and having a diameter slightly smaller than that of the hollow container body. Said threaded rod passing through said through hole of the elastic sealing ring and screwing itself on said threaded hole of said abutment ring to make a squeezing of the sealing ring between the abutment ring and the actuator following a rotation of the actuator causing a radial expansion of said sealing ring to hermetically close the end of the hollow body.

In a further variant, said cap or handle, released from the stem, being able to engage by pressure with the second end of said hollow body synergistically creating a watertight container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1a and 1 b show a view of the hollow body (exhausted cartridge) and the assembly inserted inside the hollow body.

Fig. 2 shows a view of the stem, threaded tip, guide ring assembly and a cap/handle.

In fig. 3a and 3b a detail of the end of the stem and of the threaded tip engaged in the piston.

In fig.4a, 4b, 4c, 4d the expansion plug and its component parts are visible.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

A view of an exhausted cartridge assimilable to a hollow body 2 comprising a first end 3, a dispensing opening 7, a second end 4 comprising a wider opening 6 is therefore visible in fig. 1 a and 1 b. Inside said hollow body 2 there is visible a piston 5 positioned near the first end 3 i.e. in a position of maximum stroke following the use of the cartridge. This is the situation in which the cartridges are found which, after use, are thrown away without being recovered. In fig. 1 b in particular is visible the system 1 comprising: a stem 14 comprising at a first end a threaded tip 11 , a locking nut 12 and a guide ring 10 and comprising at a second end a cap/handle 13, said parts constituting an assembly 100.

The assembly 100 is already positioned inside the hollow body 2 of the exhausted cartridge in order to extract the piston 5, remove it from the inside of the hollow body 2 and thus have the possibility of accessing the cavity by being able to remove the residual material remaining inside, being able to refill the cartridge and still use it indefinitely.

In particular, it should be noted that the system 1 is inserted inside the hollow body 2 by means of the thrust on the handle cap 13 (part gripped by the user) connected to the stem 14 for example with threaded connection, to said stem is also connected, on the opposite side, a guide ring 10 and a threaded tip 11 always for example by means of a thread. The guide ring 10 serves to be able to center the stem and therefore the threaded tip on the axis of the hollow cylindrical body 2, the threaded tip with the advancement of the assembly 100 in a first phase pierces the piston 5 and then inserts itself into the dispensing opening 7 already present by coming out of it for a length at least sufficient to have some threads completely exposed towards the outside. The locking nut 12, with a diameter smaller than that of the dispensing opening but obviously greater than the diameter of the threaded tip, is then screwed onto said threaded tip 15, this allowing the tip not to be released from the piston by exerting a force of the opposite direction to that of thrust on the assembly 100.

It will then be sufficient to exert a force on the handle 13 in the direction of the second end 4 of the hollow body 2 (opposite to that of thrust) to be able to extract the piston from said hollow body through said second end without said piston being able to slide off from said threaded tip and thus be released from the stem. The hollow body 2 will then be completely free, ready to be cleaned or reused advantageously with the same material or with other material loaded inside.

In fig.2 a view of the stem, threaded tip, guide ring assembly and a cap/handle 100 is therefore visible.

In fig. 3a the result of the extraction of the piston 5 still constrained to the threaded tip 11 by means of the locking nut 12 is visible.

Fig. 3b instead shows the thrust subassembly 101 which can be advantageously reused to be advantageously reinserted into the hollow body 2 and act as a new piston to be able to use the cartridge with the means commonly used in the known art (guns in particular). The subassembly can in fact be detached, for example by unscrewing it, from the stem. The threaded tip 11 in fact can be screwed for example with threaded connection on the guide ring while it is simply embedded in the pierced and extracted piston 5.

It should also be noted that if instead the sub-assembly 101 remains constrained to the stem 14, the reuse system 1 can also be used as a dispensing/suction device for example of liquids or fluids in general, simply making a "syringe" type use of it by continuing to use the sealing function that already originally possessed the piston 5 and/or by making the guide ring in dimensions and materials suitable for realizing a second seal on the hollow body 2.

In fig. 4a. 4b, 4c, 4d is shown the expansion plug 69 inserted into the hollow container body 2. An actuator 70 connected to the threaded rod 80, an elastic sealing ring 72 with through hole 73, an abutment ring 50 with threaded hole 77 are visible.

Note that the actuator 70 is still outside the hollow container 2 and can be rotated to promote screwing of the threaded rod 80 on the threaded hole of the abutment ring when both the seal ring 72 and the abutment ring 50 are inserted into the hollow container body. With this maneuver, the elastic sealing ring 72 is progressively compressed between the actuator and the abutment ring, causing its radial expansion up to an interference with the hollow container 2, thus causing a solid and watertight seal that can allow any material, even liquid, to be contained inside said hollow container body. Note that said expansion plug can be removed and repositioned indefinitely.