Hand-held food product dispenser

Abstract

A hand-held dispenser is provided for use with a container having a body defining a hollow cavity to store flowable material under pressure. The container also includes a nozzle in communication with the hollow cavity, which opens when deflected so as to dispense the flowable material. A contactor carried by the housing moves between an extended position deflecting the nozzle and a retracted position in which the nozzle is not deflected. A manually operable trigger carried by the housing is coupled by linkage to the contactor. The linkage includes a paddlewheel with paddles engaging the contactor to move the contactor to the extended position for a predetermined amount of time as the paddle is rotated past the contactor.

1 . A hand-held dispenser for a container with a body defining a hollow cavity to store flowable material under pressure and a nozzle in communication with the hollow cavity, which opens when deflected so as to dispense the flowable material, the dispenser comprising:
 a housing for receiving the container;   a contactor carried by the housing adjacent the nozzle and movable between an extended position deflecting the nozzle and a retracted position in which the nozzle is not deflected;   a manually operable trigger carried by the housing so as to be movable between on and off positions;   linkage coupling the trigger to the contactor and operable, when the trigger is moved to the on position, to move the contactor from the retracted position to the extended position and to maintain the contactor in the extended position for a predetermined duration;   a contactor spring biasing the contactor toward the retracted position; and   the linkage operable, when the trigger is moved to the off position, to allow the contractor spring to move the contactor from the extended position to the retracted position;   whereby, with the trigger moved to the on position, the contactor is moved to the extended position for a predetermined duration so as to dispense a predetermined amount of flowable material.   
     
     
         2 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the trigger comprises a thumb piece for engagement by the thumb of a user to operate the linkage. 
     
     
         3 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the nozzle has a longitudinal axis and deflection is perpendicular to the axis. 
     
     
         4 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the contactor has opposed nozzle-contacting and cam surfaces and includes an upstanding fin with a cam extension surface extending from the cam surface. 
     
     
         5 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 4  wherein the cam extension surface is concave. 
     
     
         6 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the linkage includes a rotatable paddlewheel having a plurality of paddles with free ends for engaging the contactor so as to move the contactor to the extended position. 
     
     
         7 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 6  wherein the paddle wheel has a set of paddlewheel teeth and the linkage further includes a gear wheel having a set of gear wheel teeth meshing with the paddlewheel teeth so as to rotate the paddlewheel to move the paddle free ends into and out of engagement with the contactor. 
     
     
         8 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the linkage includes a unidirectional clutch operable to move the contactor to the extended position when the trigger is moved to the on position. 
     
     
         9 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the linkage includes a clutch arrangement that is operable in a first direction to move the contactor and in a second direction to allow the contactor to be moved by the contactor spring to the retracted position. 
     
     
         10 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the product is a whippable material that undergoes whipping when discharged through the nozzle. 
     
     
         11 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the nozzle is adapted to dispense a whippable milk product. 
     
     
         12 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the nozzle is adapted to dispense a dairy cream. 
     
     
         13 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the linkage includes a rotatable paddlewheel having a central hub with a plurality of paddles extending radially outwardly from the hub, with free ends for engaging the contactor so as to move the contactor to the extended position. 
     
     
         14 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 13  wherein the paddlewheel is made of plastic and the free ends are rounded to form camming lobes. 
     
     
         15 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the paddlewheel has a set of paddlewheel teeth arranged in a circle about the hub and the linkage further includes a gear wheel having opposed major surfaces and a set of gear wheel teeth arranged in a circle about one of the major surfaces, for meshing with the paddlewheel teeth so as to rotate the paddlewheel to move the paddle free ends into and out of engagement with the contactor. 
     
     
         16 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the paddlewheel teeth each have opposed ends, with one end beveled to slip over the gear wheel teeth. 
     
     
         17 . The hand-held dispenser according to  claim 1  wherein the gear wheel teeth each have opposed ends, with one end beveled to slip over the paddlewheel teeth. 
     
     
         18 . A method of hand-held dispensing from a container with a body defining a hollow cavity to store flowable material under pressure and a nozzle in communication with the hollow cavity, which opens when deflected so as to dispense the flowable material, the method comprising:
 receiving the container at a fixed position within a housing;   mounting a contactor in the housing for reciprocation between an extended position deflecting the nozzle and a retracted position in which the nozzle is not deflected;   mounting a trigger to the housing so as to be movable between on and off positions;   coupling the trigger to the contactor with linkage operable, when the trigger is moved to the on position to move the contactor from the retracted position to the extended position and to maintain the contactor in the extended position for a predetermined duration;   biasing the contactor with a contactor spring toward the retracted position; and   moving the contactor from the extended position to the retracted position while connected to the linkage, when the trigger is moved to the off position;   whereby, by moving the trigger to the on position, the contactor is moved to the extended position so as to dispense a predetermined amount of flowable material.   
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein the step of coupling the trigger to the contactor comprises the step of coupling the trigger to a gear wheel, coupling the gear wheel to a paddlewheel having a plurality of outwardly extending paddles for engaging the contactor. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein the step of coupling the trigger to the contactor further comprises providing the gear wheel and the paddlewheel with a circular series of inter-meshing teeth.