Patent Application
20230365300
The field of the present invention and its embodiments are related to a liquid dispenser with an outer housing coupled to an inner container, the inner container configured to hold a bottle in an inverted position.
Buying lotion or other viscous liquid products in bulk can save a lot of money. However, when transferring the liquid to a dispenser, there is always a small amount of liquid that gets stuck at the bottom of the container. To get the liquid out, the bottle must be inverted on its cap, but some liquid still gets stuck at the top of the bottle. Once the liquid is transferred to a dispenser, not all of the liquid can be dispensed from the dispenser because typically the bottom is flat.
Both of these issues can be solved with a dispenser that includes a bottom surface that draws liquid to the center of the dispenser, and an inner container that is configured to hold a bulk container in an inverted position. In this way, the bulk container cap may be removed when it is inverted, and the liquid may be directly emptied into the dispenser. Further, by drawing the liquid towards the center of the dispenser, the pump on the dispenser can get all of the liquid out of the dispenser. Legacy solutions attempt to solve both of these problems, however, none of them provide a solution to both problems described herein. Examples of legacy solutions are provided below.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 9,433,958B2 pertains to a bottle that is adapted to waste less of its liquid contents, and may include a sump, a sloped internal lower surface, a pumping mechanism accessible from the outside of the bottle, and a suction straw. The suction straw may terminate in a flared suction bell, and may extend into the sump. The sloped internal lower surface may be sized to maximize the internal volume of the bottle while still ensuring that any liquids the bottle is intended to house may freely drain into the sump at the bottom of the bottle.
US20120132676A1 pertains to a liquid dispenser for dispensing liquid comprising: a bottle, where said bottle includes an opening and a base, where said base includes a concaved shape on the interior of the bottle; a pump, where said pump is secured within the opening; and a tubing extending downwardly into the bottle from the pump. The liquid dispenser may include a hand depressing pump or alternatively a spray type pump. For optimum dispensing, the tubing extends into the center of the concaved base.
US20090294468A1 pertains to an apparatus for dispensing product includes a container with a collection region. The collection region is characterized in part by a selected cross-section having an area smaller than a cross-section of the container preceding the selected cross-section while traveling in a direction of a gravity vector. The cross-sectional areas are proscribed by boundaries of the container on planes normal to the gravity vector. One end of a draw tube is disposed within the collection region. A pump draws product from the collection region through the draw tube. The pump dispenses the product external to the container.
US20060186144A1 pertains to a plastic spray bottle use for spraying multipurpose cleaners, window cleaners, furniture cleaners and other liquid agents has a slanted inner wall that slopes to the debit that brings all the liquid agent to a focus point. The slanted wall acts as a funnel that channel the liquid spraying agent around the suction tube to ensure the user the maximum spraying results every time the trigger is squeezed. This will allow the entire contents of the bottle to be dispensed with minimal effort.
US20050155990A1 pertains to a liquid dispenser wherein the inner surface is shaped to enable substantially all of the liquid to be able to enter the dispensing means.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,345,723B1 pertains to a storage holder for holding bottles and containers in an upright or inverted orientation as necessary to make the liquid contents readily available for use. The holder has a base section for supporting bottles and containers in an upright position and an opening to insert and surround a cap when holding a bottle or container in an inverted orientation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,651A pertains to a device for holding containers, particularly plastic oil bottles, in the inverted position whereby the container may be completely emptied without the need for someone to hold the container the entire time. The invention comprises a pair of container lock plates, pivotally secured together, and each having an aperture approximately one and five-sixteenths inches in diameter; larger than the approximate one inch diameter of the neck of standard oil bottles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,246A pertains to a vented self-supporting filling device for providing a fillings device that can be stably positioned within an opening of a receiving container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,298A pertains to a stand for container inversion is provided to allow for prompt, efficient, and full dispensing of viscous material from their containers. A cup-shaped stand is interposed between a bottle and its cap, the stand defining a support surface to allow the container to be maintained in an inverted posture. The stand may be an integral portion of the bottle or of the cap, or it may be a separate entity altogether. Additionally, the stand may be configured such as to nestingly receive the bottom of the container or bottle when the implementation of the stand is not desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,878A pertains to a device for use in draining ketchup and the like from a bottle wherein the device includes a portion having an opening for receiving the neck of a bottle with the bottle in an inverted position.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,078,149A pertains to a conical replacement cap having a bore provided with a screw threaded portion to receive the conventional screw threaded neck of the tube and having a slit portion open through the small end of the cap, and a base having a bell shaped supporting flange terminating in an annular bottom edge in the plane of the bottom of the base, the base having a conical bore adapted to receive the conical cap and support the tube in inverted position, the bottom of the base being closed to prevent contamination of the contents of the tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,236,417A pertains to a standable paste dispenser tube.
Various systems and methodologies are known in the art. However, their structure and means of operation are substantially different from the present disclosure. The other inventions fail to solve all the problems taught by the present disclosure. At least one embodiment of this invention is presented in the drawings below and will be described in more detail herein.
The current issues with liquid dispensers can be solved with a two-part liquid dispenser. The liquid dispenser includes an inner container, an outer housing. Bulk liquid containers, such as lotion or soap containers, typically have an amount of liquid that gets stuck at the bottom of the container. The inner container of the present invention may have an opening designed to hold a liquid container in an inverted position. This allows gravity to force all of the liquid out of the liquid container and into the inner container of the dispenser. The inner container includes flexible ends at the opening allowing different sized liquid containers to be inverted into the opening. The outer container may look like a more traditional liquid dispenser and may be placed over the inner container.
The pump is coupled to an opening on the outer housing. When the outer housing is placed over the inner container, a tube extending from the pump inserts into the inner container. Typically, the bottom surface of liquid dispensers is flat, but the present liquid dispenser has a surface with an angled bottom surface inside the inner container. This angled bottom surface draws the liquid towards the tube extending from the pump, allowing a user to dispense more of the liquid inside of the inner container. In this way, less liquid gets stuck at the bottom of the inner container than traditional liquid dispensers.
The pump is designed to hold the outer housing in an inverted position while a user is filling up the inner container. With legacy solutions, when refilling the container, the pump and tube must be placed on the counter. This is not ideal because any liquid stuck to the tube and pump gets all over the counter. However, if the pump and outer housing can be inverted, any liquid stuck to the tube drips down onto the inside of the outer housing, preventing any mess.
In one aspect, a liquid dispenser includes an inner container configured to hold a liquid, including an opening, at least one sidewall, and a bottom, where the opening is designed to receive a bottle, and the bottom of the inner container forms the bottom of the liquid dispenser, an outer housing includes a first opening, a second opening, and an interior volume, and a pump includes a first aperture and a second aperture, where the inner container is designed to be inserted into the interior volume of the outer housing through the second opening of the outer housing, and where the pump is coupled to the first opening of the outer housing, the first aperture is disposed in the inner container, the second aperture is disposed outside of the outer housing, and the pump is designed to draw liquid into the first aperture, and the pump is designed to dispense liquid through the second aperture.
The inner container may further include an inner bottom surface, the inner bottom surface includes a location, and the inner bottom surface is configured to draw liquid towards the location.
The liquid dispenser may also include where the opening of the inner container is configured to expand to the size of the bottle.
The pump may further include a top designed to support the pump and the outer housing when the outer housing is inverted.
The inner container may further include threading on an exterior surface, and the outer housing may further include threading on an interior surface, the threading of the inner container designed to threadably couple to the threading of the outer housing.
The liquid dispenser may also include where a top end of the at least one sidewall defines the opening of the inner container, the top of the at least one sidewall includes at least one flexible bottle receiver, where the at least one flexible bottle receiver is designed to conform to the shape of the bottle when the bottle is inserted into the opening of the inner container.
The liquid dispenser may also include at least one suction cup coupled to the bottom of the inner container.
In another aspect, a liquid dispenser includes an inner container configured to hold a liquid, including a top opening, at least one sidewall, a bottom, threading on an exterior surface, and an inner bottom surface includes a location, where the top opening is designed to receive a top of a bottle, and the bottom of the inner container forms the bottom of the liquid dispenser, an outer housing includes a top opening, a bottom opening, threading on an interior surface and an interior volume, and a pump includes a bottom aperture and a top aperture, where the inner container is designed to be inserted into the interior volume of the outer housing through the bottom opening of the outer housing, and where the pump is coupled to the top opening of the outer housing, the bottom aperture is disposed in the inner container, the top aperture is disposed outside of the outer housing, and the pump is designed to draw liquid into the bottom aperture, and the pump is designed to dispense liquid through the top aperture, and where the inner bottom surface includes a profile configured to draw liquid towards the location.
The liquid dispenser may also include where the location of the inner bottom surface is a location on the inner bottom surface closest to the bottom of the container.
The liquid dispenser may also include where the profile of the inner bottom surface is v-shaped.
The liquid dispenser may also include where the profile of the inner bottom surface is a semicircle.
In another aspect, a liquid dispenser includes a bottle, an inner container configured to hold a liquid, including a top opening, at least one sidewall, a bottom, and an inner bottom surface includes a location, where the top opening is designed to receive a top of the bottle, and the bottom of the inner container forms the bottom of the liquid dispenser, and where a top of the at least one sidewalls define the top opening, the top of the at least one sidewalls includes at least one flexible bottle receiver, where the at least one flexible bottle receiver is designed to conform to the shape of the bottle when the bottle is inserted into the top opening of the inner container, an outer housing includes a top opening, a bottom opening and an interior volume, and a pump includes a bottom aperture and a top aperture, where the inner container is designed to be inserted into the interior volume of the outer housing through the bottom opening of the outer housing, and the threading of the inner container designed to threadably couple to the treading of the outer housing, and where the pump is coupled to the top opening of the outer housing, the bottom aperture is disposed in the inner container, the top aperture is disposed outside of the outer housing, and the pump is designed to draw liquid into the bottom aperture, and the pump is designed to dispense liquid through the top aperture, and where the inner bottom surface includes a v-shaped profile configured to draw liquid towards the location.
The pump may include a pump head, where the top aperture is coupled to the pump head, and the pump head at least two semi-spherical extrusions designed to support the pump and the outer housing when the outer housing is inverted.
The liquid dispenser may also include where the pump head is a triangle shape.
The liquid dispenser may also include where the pump draws liquid into the bottom aperture and dispenses liquid through the top aperture when a downward force is applied to the pump head.
The liquid dispenser may also include where each flexible bottle receiver includes a first portion and a second portion, where the first portion is coupled to the top end of the at least one sidewall, and the second portion is coupled to the first portion at an angle.
The liquid dispenser may also include where the angle is an angle between 0 and 90 degrees.
The liquid dispenser may also include where the location of the inner bottom surface is the center of the inner bottom surface.
The liquid dispenser may also include where the location of the inner bottom surface is located where the inner bottom surface meets the sidewall.
Other technical features may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions, and claims.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid dispenser that can hold a bottle in an inverted position.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid dispenser with an inner surface designed to reduce the amount of liquid that gets left in the bottom of the liquid dispenser.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid dispenser with a pump designed to hold the liquid dispenser in an inverted position.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Identical elements in the various figures are identified with the same reference numerals.
Reference will now be made in detail to each embodiment of the present invention. Such embodiments are provided by way of explanation of the present invention, which is not intended to be limited thereto. In fact, those of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate upon reading the present specification and viewing the present drawings that various modifications and variations can be made thereto.
In this embodiment, the inner container 104 includes a shaped sidewall 206 wherein the bottom end 212 is coupled to the perimeter of the bottom 204. The bottom 204 may be plastic, metal, rubber, wood, or any other material. The at least one sidewall 206 may be plastic, metal, rubber, wood, or any other material. In the preferred embodiment, the bottom 204 is plastic, and the at least one sidewall 206 is rubber. The bottom 204 and the at least one sidewall 206 may define an inner volume 218. The top opening 202 may be defined by the top end 210 of the at least one sidewall 206. Although the top opening 202 may be any shape, in the preferred embodiment the top opening 202 is the same shape as the bottom 204.
In another embodiment, the top opening 202 may be configured to receive the top of a bottle. In this embodiment, the inner container 104 may further include at least one flexible bottle receiver 208. The at least one flexible bottle receiver 208 may be coupled to the top end 210 of the at least one sidewall 206. In one embodiment, the at least one flexible bottle receiver 208 may be permanently coupled to the top end 210 of the at least one sidewall 206. It at least one embodiment, there is a support structure within the at least one sidewall 206 and the at least one flexible bottle received. Such a support structure provides a level of rigidity and resiliency to the structures in which it is embedded. Such a material may include but is not limited to polymers, metals, reinforced textiles, and the like or some combination thereof.
In the preferred embodiment, the inner container 104 comprises four flexible bottle receivers 208. Each of the at least one flexible bottle receiver 208 may have a first portion 214, and a bottle receiving portion 216. The first portion 214 may be coupled to the top end 210 of the at least one sidewall 206, and the first portion 214 may have a profile the same shape as the perimeter of the top end 210 of the sidewall 206. The first portion 214 portion may be coupled to the top end 210 of the sidewall 206 at an angle of 0-90 degrees. In the preferred embodiment, the first portion 214 is coupled to the top end 210 of the sidewall 206 at 0 degrees, such that the first portion 214 is parallel with the sidewall 206. The bottle receiving portion 216 may be coupled to the first portion 214. The bottle receiving portion 216 may have a profile the same shape as the perimeter of the sidewall 206. The bottle receiving portion 216 may be coupled to the first portion 214 at an angle between 0-180 degrees. In the preferred embodiment, the bottle receiving portion 216 is coupled to the first portion 214 at an angle of 45 degrees.
In yet another embodiment, as shown in
When an inverted bottle is inserted into the top opening 202, the bottle receiving portion 216 of at least one flexible bottle receiver 208 may contact the bottle. The at least one flexible bottle receiver 208 may flex to conform to the size and shape of the bottle. In this way, a bottle bigger than the top opening 202 may be inserted into the top opening 202. When the at least one flexible bottle receiver 208 flexes, it may apply a force on the bottle to keep the bottle in the top opening 202 and hold the bottle in an inverted position. In this way, gravity may drain the liquid out of the bottle and into the inner volume 218 of the inner container 104.
In another embodiment, the inner container 104 may also include an inner bottom surface 116, shown in
In another embodiment, the inner bottom surface 116 may include a center location 118, and the inner bottom surface 116 may be designed to draw liquid or another substance contained within the inner volume 218 to the center location 118. In this embodiment, the center location 118 may be a height 222 from the bottom 204. The height 222 may be less than the height 220. In this way, gravity draws liquid to the center location 118. The inner bottom surface 116 may be an arc, a V-shape, or any other shape with the height 222 less than the height 220. In another embodiment, the height 222 may be greater than the height 220. In this embodiment, gravity may draw liquid away from the center location 118 and towards the at least one sidewall 206.
As shown in
In this embodiment, as shown in
In one embodiment, when the pump head 402 may be pushed down by a user. In this embodiment, when the pump head 402 is pushed down by a user, the pump 108 is designed to draw in liquid disposed inside the inner container 104, through the bottom aperture 404, and out the top aperture 406.
In another embodiment, the pump head 402 may include at least one extrusion 414, and a top 412. The one extrusion 414 may be on the top 412 of the pump head 402. The at least one extrusion 414 may be any shape, however, in the preferred embodiment the at least one extrusion 414 is a hemisphere. The at least one extrusion 414 may be designed to support the pump 108 and the outer housing 106 in an inverted position when the top 412 of the pump head 402 contacts a surface. In this way, a user may place the inverted pump 108 and outer housing 106 on a surface while a bottle is inserted in the inner container 104 and may allow a user to fill the inner container 104 with no mess.
Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.
This application claims priority to U.S. Application Ser. No. 63/341,427 filed on May 13, 2022, the entire contents of which is herein fully incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63341427 | May 2022 | US |
