Dispenser for paste-like products with a manually actuatable piston

Claim 1

A dispenser for paste-like products comprising a container having opposite ends which are spaced apart in a longitudinal direction and one of which is substantially closed by a wall wherein there is a hole, a head member on said one end of the container having a portion that is manually inwardly displaceable against a bias, said head member cooperating with said wall to define a pump chamber into which product can flow from the container through said hole and which has an outlet spaced from said hole, a slidable piston sealingly engaging the inner surface of the container to close its other end, and a pair of check valve elements, one arranged to prevent flow of product through said hole from the pump chamber into the container and the other arranged to prevent inward flow through said outlet towards the pump chamber, said dispenser being characterized by: A. said outlet being defined by a portion of said head member that is formed as a duct which is in laterally spaced relation to said hole and extends away from said wall in said longitudinal direction; and B. said dispenser further comprising an insert member of resilient material confined in said head member and having (1) a first flap portion which provides said one check valve element and which normally flatwise overlies said wall to close said hole therein but is flatwise flexible away from said wall, (2) a second flap portion providing said other check valve element, said second flap portion being spaced from said wall and normally extending across said duct to prevent inward flow therethrough but being resiliently flatwise flexible away from said wall, and (3) a medial portion to which said flap portions have flexing connections for flatwise movement, said connections being substantially parallel to one another, spaced apart in said longitudinal direction, and substantially contained in a plane that extends in said longitudinal direction, and said medial portion being formed to define a channel between said connections which extends transversely through said plane and through which product flows in passing from said hole to the space between said wall and said second-flap portion.