| 摘要 |
An aerosol valve having a valve stem, valve stem housing, compression spring, and a hard stop formed by the interaction of valve stem and valve stem housing is provided. The hard stop prevents the compression spring from becoming fully compressed, or coil-bound, when the valve stem is pressed to dispense a product formulation from the container, thereby creating open spaces between coils of the compression spring and providing a defined flow path for the product formulation. The aerosol valve increases mixing and turbulence of the product formulation that reduce agglomerations of solids that might otherwise block the flow paths. The additional defined flow path also directs more of the product to the valve stem aperture, further increasing dispensing of the product formulation from the container. A method of using the aerosol valve is provided. |
| 主权项 |
1. An aerosol valve for dispensing a product formulation from a container, comprising:
a mounting cup on the container for orientating the aerosol valve on the container; a seal positioned on the mounting cup; a valve stem housing positioned below the mounting cup and adjacent the seal, the valve stem housing having an interior surface; a dip tube positioned below the valve stem housing, the dip tube being connected to a reservoir of the product formulation in the container; a valve stem in the valve stem housing, the valve stem having a top portion that protrudes through and above the seal and a bottom portion in the valve stem housing, the valve stem further comprising a valve stem aperture and a center hole; and a compression spring positioned in the valve stem housing contacting the valve stem, the compression spring comprising:
a spring coil that, in a first position, forms a plurality of spaces with each space between adjacent spring coils; anda center space circumscribed by the spring coil with a center space diameter, wherein the valve stem is movable from a top position when the aerosol valve is in an unactuated, closed position, to a bottom position when the aerosol valve is fully actuated, wherein the interior surface interacts with the valve stem to form a hard stop that prevents the downward-moving valve stem from fully compressing the spring coils when the aerosol valve is fully-actuated, wherein when the aerosol valve is actuated, the product formulation in the reservoir flows upwardly under pressure through the dip tube, with a first portion of the product formulation flowing into and through the center space of the compression spring, around the outside of the valve stem body, enters the valve stem aperture, and into the center hole to dispense the product formulation from the container, forming a first flow path, and a second portion of the product formulation flowing into and through the spring coils and the spaces therebetween, forming a second flow path. |
