Information
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Patent Grant
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6257446
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Patent Number
6,257,446
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Date Filed
Thursday, February 18, 199925 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, July 10, 200122 years ago
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Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Douglas; Steven O.
- Huynh; Khoa D.
Agents
- Lariviere, Grubman & Payne, LLP
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CPC
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US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 222 4647
- 222 95
- 222 4007
- 222 394
- 222 66
- 222 52
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International Classifications
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Abstract
A liquid dispenser system uses a container that has a reservoir in the bottom of the container and an opening in the top of the container. The dispenser has a cover, which covers the opening in the container and a draw tube that extends from the cover into the reservoir. An end of the draw tube in the reservoir has a plurality of inlets. The average cross-section of the reservoir below the inlets of the draw tube is less than one fourth of the average cross-section of the rest of the container. As a result of the difference in average cross-sections, the invention reduces the amount of liquid that the dispenser is not able to dispense, which reduces wasted liquid. In a production environment, the reduction in waste results in a reduction in down time.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to liquid containers. More particularly, the invention relates to a container that uses a dispenser mounted on the liquid container to dispense the liquid. More particularly the invention relates to liquid containers with top mounted dispensers where the container holds a removable bag which holds the liquid.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Liquid containers with a built in dispenser often have a dispenser mechanism mounted at the top of the container. Top dispensers use a draw tube that extends to the bottom of the liquid container. Many such containers have a flat interior bottom. Once the level of the liquid goes below the bottom of the draw tube the dispenser is unable to dispense the remaining liquid, which is often disposed with the container. Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a container and dispenser that dispenses a larger percentage of liquid.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the foregoing object is accomplished by providing a container such as a bottle with a reservoir at the bottom of the container and an extended draw tube that extends into the reservoir.
Other features of the present invention are disclosed or apparent in the section entitled: “DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION.”
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
For fuller understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1
illustrates a side view of a prior art container with a prior art dispenser.
FIG. 2
illustrates a side view of a container with a dispenser in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 3
illustrates a side view of another embodiment of a container with a dispenser in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
Reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent parts of the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As briefly discussed above, and as shown in
FIG. 1
, in the prior art a container
10
with a flat interior bottom
11
is lined by a plastic bag
12
, which contains a liquid
13
. A dispenser
17
is placed over an opening in the top of the container
10
and into the container
10
. The dispenser
17
comprises a cover
18
and a draw tube
19
extending from the cover
18
to near the interior bottom
11
of the container
10
, where inlets
24
are placed near the bottom of the draw tube
19
. The dispenser
17
may also have a fluid delivery tube
20
, which is used in industrial production lines to provide fluid from the dispenser
17
to a production line.
In a production line, a bubble sensor
21
is connected to the delivery tube
20
. The bubble sensor
21
is able to detect the presence of bubbles in the delivery tube
20
and either sounds an alarm or stops production when a bubble is detected. The dispenser
17
stops drawing liquid when the surface level of the liquid reaches a minimal surface level
22
determined by the depth of the draw tube
19
. The container
10
is then removed from the dispenser
17
, and a new container
10
with a new plastic bag are connected to the dispenser
17
. The old plastic bag
12
is removed from the old container
10
, and a new plastic bag
12
is placed in the old container
10
. The remaining liquid in the old plastic bag
12
may be disposed with the plastic bag
12
causing a waste of liquid. The failure to use the large volume of remaining liquid causes more frequent stopping of production to change the containers, thereby increasing down time. Since many of these chemicals have a high cost of disposal, in addition to paying to purchase the wasted liquid, there is the additional payment to dispose of the wasted liquid. In addition, the large surface area near the bottom of the draw tube
19
increases the amount of bubbles when the surface of the liquid is just above the inlets
24
and the container
10
is disturbed, thereby causing the bubble sensor
21
to create more false alarms and which further increases down time.
FIG. 2
illustrates a container
40
, used in a preferred embodiment of the invention, with a reservoir
42
formed by a concave portion of the interior of the bottom
44
of the container
40
. In the preferred embodiment, the container
40
is a bottle, preferably a glass bottle or a plastic (polycarbonate) bottle. The container
40
is lined by a plastic bag
46
, which contains a liquid
47
. The exterior of the bottom
44
of the container
40
in this embodiment is flat. The bottom
44
of the container
40
is thick to allow the formation of the reservoir
42
on the interior part of the bottom
44
, while keeping the exterior of the bottom
44
flat.
A dispenser
49
is placed over an opening in the top of the container
40
and into the container
40
. The dispenser
49
comprises a cover
51
and a draw tube
52
with a first end and a second end opposite from the first end. The first end of the draw tube
52
is mechanically connected to the cover
51
. The second end of the draw tube
52
is placed into the reservoir
42
of the container
40
. Inlets
53
into the draw tube
52
are located near the second end of the draw tube
52
so that when the second end of the draw tube
52
is placed into the reservoir
42
, the inlets
53
are placed into the reservoir
42
. In the preferred embodiment, the dispenser
49
has a fluid delivery tube
57
, which is used in industrial production lines to provide fluid from the dispenser
49
to a production line. The delivery tube
57
is mechanically connected to the cover
51
and is outside of the container
40
and is in fluid connection with the draw tube
52
.
In a production line, a bubble sensor
59
is in fluid connection with the delivery tube
57
. The bubble sensor
59
is able to detect the presence of bubbles in the delivery tube
57
and either sounds an alarm or stops production when a bubble is detected. The dispenser
49
stops drawing liquid when the surface level of the liquid reaches a minimum surface level
61
determined by the depth of the inlets
53
of the draw tube
52
. The container
40
is then removed from the dispenser and a new container
40
is attached to the dispenser. The old plastic bag
46
is removed from the old container
40
. The remaining liquid may be disposed with the old plastic bag
46
.
In this embodiment the container
40
and reservoir
42
have round cross-sections, and thus have a diameter. If the container
42
and reservoir were square or had other shapes, the width would be used in place of the diameter. In the specification and claims, the term “width” also includes a diameter for objects with a round cross-section. The reservoir
42
has a width
63
that is less than
{fraction (1/4 +L )} of the width 65 of the remainder of the container 40. Therefore, the cross-sectional area of the reservoir 42 would be less than
{fraction (1/16 +L )} of the cross-sectional area of the container 40. This would mean that the invention fails to dispense less than
{fraction (1/16 +L )} of the liquid (by volume) that is not dispensed of in a prior art container if both containers have the same diameters and the inlets of the prior art container are spaced the same distance from the bottom of the container as the inlets in the preferred embodiment are spaced from the bottom of the reservoir, since the volume of the reservoir below the inlets in the invention is less than
{fraction (1/16 +L )} the volume of the container below the inlets in the prior art. This reduction in waste also causes less frequent stopping of production to change the container decreasing down time. In addition, the small surface area near the bottom of the draw tube 52 decreases the amount of bubbles allowing for fewer false alarms from the bubble sensor 59 and thus further decreasing down time.
In the preferred embodiment, the reservoir has a lowest section
67
, where the inlets
53
for the draw tube
42
are placed adjacent to the lowest section
67
.
FIG. 3
illustrates a container
73
, used in another preferred embodiment of the invention. The container
73
has a top
96
with an opening
97
, a bottom
75
, and a side wall
99
forming a tubular section extending from the top
96
to the bottom
75
. A reservoir
74
is formed by a concave portion of the interior of the bottom
75
of the container
73
. In the preferred embodiment, the container
73
is a bottle, preferably a glass bottle or a plastic bottle. The container
73
is lined by a plastic bag
77
, which contains a liquid
78
.
A dispenser
79
is placed over an opening in the top of the container
73
and into the container
73
. The dispenser
79
comprises a cover
81
and a draw tube
82
with a first end and a second end opposite from the first end. The first end of the draw tube
82
is mechanically connected to the cover
81
. The second end of the draw tube
82
is placed into the reservoir
74
of the container
73
. Inlets
83
in the draw tube
82
are located near the second end of the draw tube
82
so that when the second end of the draw tube
82
is placed into the reservoir
74
, the inlets
83
are placed into the reservoir
72
. In the preferred embodiment, the dispenser
79
has a fluid delivery tube
85
, which is used in industrial production lines to provide fluid from the dispenser
79
to a production line. The delivery tube
85
is mechanically connected to the cover
81
and is outside of the container
73
and is in fluid connection with the draw tube
82
.
In a production line, a bubble sensor
87
is in fluid connection with the delivery tube
85
. The bubble sensor
87
is able to detect the presence of bubbles in the delivery tube
85
and either sounds an alarm or stops production when a bubble is detected. The dispenser
79
stops drawing liquid when the surface level of the liquid reaches a minimum surface level
89
determined by the depth of the inlets
83
of the draw tube
82
. The container
73
is then removed from the dispenser
79
, and a new container
73
is attached to the dispenser
79
. The old plastic bag
77
is removed from the old container
73
. The remaining liquid may be disposed with the old plastic bag
77
.
Because the reservoir
74
is tapered, as shown, the reservoir
74
has a varying width and therefore a varying cross-section. The volume of the of the remaining liquid when the surface level of the liquid reaches the minimum surface level
89
is the average cross-sectional area of the reservoir below the minimum surface level
89
times the height of the minimum surface level
89
. The average cross-sectional area is a function of the average width of the reservoir
74
below the minimum surface level
89
. When the tubular section formed by the side wall
99
has a round or square cross-sectional area the average cross-sectional area is related to the square of the average width. For the embodiment shown in
FIG. 3
, the container
73
and reservoir
74
have square cross-sectional areas. In addition, the tapered reservoir
74
has an average width below the minimum surface level
89
, which is equal to a width
92
which is about half way between the minimum surface level
89
and the bottom of the container
73
. The width
92
is less than
{fraction (1/4 +L )} of the width 93 of the container 73. This would mean that the invention fails to dispense less than
{fraction (1/16 +L )} of the liquid (by volume) than the volume of liquid that is not dispensed of in a prior art container if both containers have the same widths and the inlets of the prior art container are spaced the same distance from the bottom of the container as the inlets in the preferred embodiment are spaced from the bottom of the reservoir, since the volume of the reservoir below the inlets in the invention is less than
{fraction (1/16 +L )} the volume of the container below the inlets in the prior art. This reduction in waste also causes less frequent stopping of production to change the plastic bag decreasing down time. In addition, the small liquid surface area near the bottom of the draw tube 52 decreases the amount of bubbles producing fewer false alarms from the bubble sensor 87 and thus further decreasing down time.
Since the exterior bottom of the container
73
, in this embodiment, is not flat the container
73
is held in a support such as a cradle or stand that provides a stable placement of the container
73
.
In other embodiments the ratio of the average cross-sectional area of the container above the reservoir to the average cross-sectional area of the reservoir below the inlets could be different that 16:1. Preferably the ratio would be greater than 4:1.
In the illustrated embodiments, the dispenser provides air into the plastic bag, so that the plastic bag maintains the shape of the container as the liquid is dispensed. In other preferred embodiments, the dispenser provides air to the container instead of the plastic bag, which causes the plastic bag to collapse from the container walls as the liquid is dispensed.
The present invention has been particularly shown and described with respect to certain preferred embodiments and features thereof. However, it should be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and modifications in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventions as set forth in the appended claims. The inventions illustratively disclosed herein may be practiced without any element which is specifically disclosed herein.
Claims
- 1. An apparatus for dispensing liquid, comprising:a container, comprising; a top with an opening; a bottom spaced from the top; a tubular section extending from the top of the container to the bottom of the container; and a reservoir formed by a concave section of the bottom of the container, said reservoir having an average cross sectional area, wherein the ratio between the average cross-sectional area of said reservoir to the average cross-sectional area of said container is greater than 4:1; and a dispenser, comprising: a cover extending across the opening of the top of the container; a draw tube extending from the cover into the reservoir; and inlets in a part of the draw tube in the reservoir.
- 2. The apparatus, as recited in claim 1, wherein the dispenser further comprises a delivery tube in fluid connection with the draw tube and outside of the container.
- 3. The apparatus, as recited in claim 2, further comprising a bubble sensor in fluid connection with the delivery tube.
- 4. The apparatus, as recited in claim 3, further comprising a bag lining the inside of the container.
- 5. The apparatus, as recited in claim 4, wherein the bag is a plastic bag.
- 6. The apparatus, as recited in claim 5, wherein the container has a round cross-section.
- 7. The apparatus, as recited in claim 5, wherein the container has a square cross-section.
- 8. An apparatus for dispensing liquid, comprising:a container, comprising: a top with an opening; a bottom spaced from the top; a tubular section extending from the top of the container to the bottom of the container, and a reservoir formed by a concave section of the bottom of the container, said reservoir having an average cross sectional area, wherin the ratio between the average cross-sectional area of said reservoir to the average cross-sectional area of said container is greater than 16:1; and a dispenser, comprising: a cover extending across the opening of the top of the container; a draw tube extending from the cover into the reservoir; and inlets in a part of the draw tube in the reservoir.
- 9. The apparatus, as recited in claim 8, wherein the dispenser further comprises a delivery tube in fluid connection with the draw tube and outside of the container.
- 10. The apparatus, as recited in claim 9, further comprising a bubble sensor in fluid connection with the delivery tube.
- 11. The apparatus, as recited in claim 10, further comprising a bag lining the inside of the container.
- 12. The apparatus, as recited in claim 11, wherein the bag is a plastic bag.
- 13. The apparatus, as recited in claim 12, wherein the container has a round cross-section.
- 14. The apparatus, as recited in claim 12, wherein the container has a square cross-section.
US Referenced Citations (11)