A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to any reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates to the field of the field of soap dispensers, and more particularly to the field of automated soap dispensers.
To improve the cleanliness within public restrooms as many devices as possible are provided an automated solution, and this is nowhere more evident than with the sink area. It makes the most sense that in the sink area a hand-free operation is utilized because those are some of the last things we touch in a public restroom. One of the most recent developments in this area are the automated hand soap dispensers. Using a sensor, the automated hand soap dispensers are able to sense when a hand is placed underneath the device and then a portion of the hand soap is automatically dispensed. The main object of this device is to not only prevent the spread of bacteria through initiating less equipment contact, but also to dispense a predetermined amount of soap to conserve the usage.
Additionally, the use of a foaming hand soap has been recently widely adopted by many public restrooms. The advantages of this foaming hand soap are that since solutions require water to be premixed into them less soap needs to be utilized allowing for a lower overall overhead. Also, since the solution comes out pre-lathered the user is able to spend less time attempting to achieve this same lather as with a thick liquid soap.
Current automated foam soap dispensers achieve this, but not without their disadvantages. Existing automated foam soap dispensers require a motorized actuation to depress the nozzle to dispense the foam soap and require additional mechanical work to pump the foam soap through a tube. This is due to the fact that the dispenser for the soap contains a nozzle that is set perpendicular to the central axis of the dispenser container. This requires a design for a conventional automated foam soap dispenser to include a large cumbersome motor able to fulfill this task. These large motors are very aesthetically unpleasing and force the automated foam soap dispensers to be mounted underneath the sink area of a restroom.
The invention is advantageous in that it provides an improvement for an automatic foam soap dispenser that is more compact and simpler.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide an inline push bottom system that is able to actuate the pump nozzle of the foam soap dispenser.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide an inline push button system that is able to return the pump nozzle of the foam soap dispenser so its original position.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide more methods of mounting the automatic foam soap dispenser due to its more compact arrangement in comparison to the prior art.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide an inline dispenser nozzle for the dispenser whereby an additional motor is not required to pump the foam soap to the operator.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide an inline push button system that is able to translate the rotational movement of a motor to linear movement to actuate a link to pump the dispenser nozzle of the foam soap dispenser and return it to its original position in a single process.
Additional advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows, and may be realized by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particular point out in the appended claims.
According to the present invention, the foregoing and other objects and advantages are attained by automatic foam soap dispenser.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the present invention comprises a foam soap dispenser further comprising a fluid reservoir, an output nozzle, an inlet tube, a liquid to foam soap system, and a mounting arrangement, a corresponding mounting arrangement, a motorized push button system further comprising a plurality of gears and linkages able to translate the rotational motion of a motor into an reciprocating linear movement, a sensor, a tubing arrangement to dispense the foam soap, a power supply, and a housing.
The present invention of an automatic foam soap dispenser improves upon the conventional art by utilizing a motorized inline push button system to actuate a single reciprocating linear movement to pump an inline dispenser nozzle for a foam soap dispenser and return it to its position. The present invention comprises a foam soap dispenser further comprising a container, an output nozzle, a liquid to foam soap conversion mechanism, and a mounting arrangement, a corresponding mounting arrangement, a motorized push button system further comprising a plurality of gears and linkages able to translate the rotational motion of a motor into an reciprocating linear movement, a sensor, a tubing arrangement to dispense the foam soap. The advantages are that since a single the dispenser nozzle is an inline with the direction of the fluid flow, any additional motors required to pump the foam soap to the user are unnecessary. This improvement in design allows the present to be more compact and simpler to use than the conventional art.
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
The following description is disclosed to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present invention. Preferred embodiments are provided in the following description only as examples and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The general principles defined in the following description would be applied to other embodiments, alternatives, modifications, equivalents, and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The liquid soap dispenser 40 is further comprised of a pump 42, a pump cap 43, a fluid reservoir 44, and a liquid to foam system 45 that are mounted in an interior housing 60. The interior housing 60 allows all the elements of the liquid soap dispenser 40 to be retain in a proper orientation. The cavities provided by interior housing 60 allow each of the elements to be housed appropriately. The pump 42 and pump cap 43 are concentrically affixed to each other, wherein the pump 42 is able to move downward within the pump cap 43 a predetermined distance and is able to move back to its original upward position after it is released after being depressed, whereby an upward movement of the pump 42 within the pump cap 43 dispenses the liquid soap 90 from the fluid reservoir 44 as well as operates the liquid to foam system 45. Conversely a downward movement of the pump 42 within the pump cap 43 draws in the liquid soap 90 from the fluid reservoir 44 through an inlet tube 47 connected to the liquid to foam system 45, the pump 42, and the outlet nozzle 41 of the liquid soap dispenser 40. When the liquid soap 90 is drawn into the liquid to foam system 45 the depression of the pump 42 operates this liquid to foam system 45 and the output is a pre-lathered foam soap. The operational details of this liquid to foam system 45 are under protection of a prior art and thus are not necessary to be disclosed in this detailed description. Thus, the exterior elements directly connect to the liquid soap dispenser 40 via a tubing 10 which connects the outlet 32 of the present invention to the outlet nozzle 41 of the liquid soap dispenser 40.
The present invention of an automatic foam soap dispenser is able to automatically dispense a predetermined amount of liquid soap, such as pre-lathered soap, in the fluid reservoir 44 when the user triggers the sensor 31 that is located and permanently affixed on a surface facing the user of the exterior housing 30. The sensor 31 is electrically connected to the motor 20, and when the sensor 31 is triggered this activates the motor 20 to complete a predetermined function of rotating the linkage system 50 and thereby actuating the pump 42 of the liquid to foam system 45. Accordingly, the motor 20 is an electric motor. The operation of the motor 20 to generate a rotational power when the sensor 31 is triggered is the motor 20, which has a transmission shaft 21 rotates upon receiving signal from the sensor 31 which operates a linkage system 50. This linkage system 50 is able to translate the rotational movement of the transmission shaft 21 of the motor 20 into a linear movement to actuate the pump 42. The motor 20 and the sensor 31 are powered by a power source 70 which is embodied as a battery pack 701, but this power supply can be any source of appropriate voltage such as a wall socket. The motor 20 and sensor 31 are electrically connected to this battery pack 701 by a series of elongated conductive cables.
As shown in
As shown in
It is worth mentioning that the number of rotation of the transmission shaft 21 can be selectively configured in response to one single activation of the sensor 31. For example, the sensor 31 is activated in presence of the user, the motor 20 is actuated to generate the rotational power for driving the transmission shaft 21 in two full revolutions. As a result, the pressing member 51 is depressed twice via the driving member 52 for dispensing the liquid soap twice.
The interior housing 60 comprises an upper platform 61 and a lower platform 62 horizontal and parallel to the upper platform 61. The motor 20 is supported on the upper platform 61 and the pump 42 is supported below the lower platform 62. The upper platform 61 has an upper guiding slot 611 formed thereon. The pressing member 51 is slidably extended through the upper guiding slot 611, such that the pressing member 51 is guided to move at the upper guiding slot 611 to depress the pump 42 below the upper platform 61. The lower platform 62 further has a lower guiding slot 621 coaxially aligned with the upper guiding slot 611, wherein the pressing member 51 is downwardly extended from the upper guiding slot 611 toward the lower guiding slot 621.
The linkage system 50 further comprises an extension member 54 extended from the pressing member 51 end-to-end to the top side of the pump 42, wherein when the pressing member 51 is moved downwardly, the extension member 54 is driven to push downwardly to depress the pump 42. Accordingly, the extension member 54 is an extension of the pressing member 51 to prolong the length of the pressing member 51 from the driving member 52 to the pump 42. Preferably, the extension member 54 has a T-shape, wherein a bottom end of the extension member 54 slidably extended through the lower guiding slot 621 of the lower platform 62. In other words, the extension member 54 is located below the upper platform 61 and is driven downwardly toward the lower platform 62.
The linkage system 50 further comprises a resilient element 53 coupled at the extension member 54 for applying a resilient force to the extension member 54 so as to push the extension member 54 upward to back to its original position. Accordingly, the resilient element 53 comprises a compression spring coaxially coupled at the extension member 54, wherein an upper end of the resilient element 53 is biased against the extension member 54 and a lower end of the resilient element 53 is biased against the lower platform 62. Therefore, when the extension member 54 is pressed downwardly, the resilient element 53 is compressed to store the resilient force, i.e. the compression spring force. When the transmission shaft 21 is rotated back to its original position, i.e. the pressing member 51 is moved upwardly, the resilient element 53 will push the extension member 54 upwardly back to its original position.
The operation of the automatic foam soap dispenser is that when the sensor 31 detects the presence of user, the sensor 31 will generate a first activating signal to activate the motor 20. The motor 20 will generate the rotational power to drive the transmission shaft 21 to rotate at least one revolution. The pressing member 51 is driven to move down to depress the pump 42 and is then moved back up to release the depression of the pump 42. Once the pump 42 is depressed, the liquid soap is pumped out from the fluid reservoir 44 to the outlet 32. Accordingly, through a predetermined setting, the sensor 31 will generate a second activating signal to stop the motor 20 generating the rotational power. Preferably, the setting of the automatic foam soap dispenser is to selectively set the activating time of the motor 20 and/or the number of revolution of the transmission shaft 21, so as to controllably actuate the number of depression of the pump 42.
It is worth mentioning that the extension member 54′ can be integrally extended from the pressing member 51′ to form a one piece integrated member 55′, such that the pressing member 51′ can be directly press on the pump 42, as shown in
Additionally in this alternative, the resilient element 53 is omitted and thus the present embodiment relies on the linkage system 50′ to complete the full operation of the returning the pressing member 51 to its original position. The linkage system 50′ in the current alternative of the present invention is comprised of a series of transmission gears 52′, where on the last transmission gear 52′ is a rotatably mounted a horizontal linkage 56′ that is connected to a pressing member 51′. Since the horizontal linkage 56′ is rotatably mounted onto the last transmission gear 52′, when the transmission gears 51′ are rotated the horizontal linkage 56′ is kept horizontal due to it being rotatably mounted. This causes the horizontal linkage 56′ to displace a distance equal to twice the radius away the horizontal linkage 56′ is mounted from the radius of the last transmission gear 52′ it is mounted on. This distance is translated into a linear movement for the tip of the horizontal linkage 56′. If this tip of the horizontal linkage 56′ is firmly secure with no slippage to the pressing member 51′, this translates into a distance displaced by the pressing member 51′ also. This operation allows the pressing member 51′ to press the pump 42 for the liquid soap dispenser 40. The pump 42 and the horizontal linkage 56′ are returned to their original positions when the transmission shaft 21′ completes a full rotation and in turn does the last transmission gear 52′.
One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.
It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.
This is a Continuation application that claims the benefit of priority under 35U.S.C.§ 120 to a non-provisional application, application Ser. No. 16/293,603, filed Mar. 5, 2019, which is a Continuation application that claims priority to a non-provisional application, application Ser. No. 14/810,443, filed Jul. 27, 2015. The afore-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16293603 | Mar 2019 | US |
Child | 16687584 | US | |
Parent | 14810443 | Jul 2015 | US |
Child | 16293603 | US |