BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a liquid dispenser according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is schematic drawing showing that the liquid dispenser of the present invention is connected with a pump and a control valve;
FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing showing an operation status of the liquid dispenser according to the present invention;
FIG. 6 is another schematic drawing showing an operation status of the liquid dispenser according to the present invention, and
FIG. 7 is still another schematic drawing showing an operation status of the liquid dispenser according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As shown in FIGS. 1-3 and FIG. 7, a liquid dispenser 100 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a dispenser body 10 having a liquid input passage 20, a liquid distribution passage 30, two liquid output passages 40, four air distribution passages 60, an air accumulation passage 70, and an air output passage 80, and eight needle cannulas 50.
The dispenser body 10 has a top side 11 and a bottom side 12 opposite to the top side 11.
The liquid input passage 20 extends downwards from the top side 11 of the dispenser body 10 to a predetermined depth.
The liquid distribution passage 30 is formed inside the dispenser body 10, having its middle part in liquid communication with the bottom end of the liquid input passage 20.
The two liquid output passages 40 are respectively formed inside the dispenser body 10, each having one lateral side respectively in liquid communication with the liquid distribution passage 30 and the opposite side provided with four outlets 41.
The eight needle cannulas 50 are respectively fastened to the bottom side 12 of the dispenser body 10, each having a top end respectively connected to the outlets 41 of the liquid output passages 40 and a bottom end suspending below the bottom side 12 of the dispenser body 10.
The four air distribution passages 60 are formed inside the dispenser body 10 and arranged in two pairs respectively connected to the two liquid output passages 40.
The air accumulation passage 70 is formed inside the dispenser body 10 in air communication with the four air distribution passages 60.
The air output passage 80 extends downwards from the top side 11 of the dispenser body 10 to a predetermined depth and disposed in air communication with the air distribution passages 60.
After understanding of the structure of the liquid dispenser 100, the operation of the liquid dispenser 100 is described hereinafter:
Referring to FIG. 4, a liquid tube 1 is connected with its one end to the liquid input passage 20 and its opposite end to a liquid container (for example, catalyst solution container) 2 through a power unit (for example, pump) 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the power unit 3 is connected between the liquid tube 1 and the liquid container 2 and operable to deliver liquid 4 from the liquid container 2 to the dispenser body 10 of the liquid dispenser 100 through the liquid tube 1. Further, a sensor 5 is installed in the liquid tube 1 near the pump 3 and adapted to detect flowing of the liquid 4 through the liquid tube 1 and to output a control signal at a predetermined length of time after detection of flowing of the liquid 4 through the liquid tube 1. Further, an air tube 6 is connected with its one end to the air output passage 80 and its opposite end to a control valve 7 that is controllable to close/open the air tube 6.
During operation, the control valve 7 is operated to open the air tube 6, and then the power unit 3 is operated to deliver the liquid 4 from the liquid container 2 to liquid input passage 20 in the dispenser body 10 of the liquid dispenser 100 through the liquid tube 1. At this time, the liquid 4 flows from the liquid input passage 20 to the liquid distribution passage 30 and the two liquid output passages 40 (see FIG. 5). Because the inner diameter of the needle cannulas 50 is quite small, the pressure of the liquid 4 in the dispenser body 10 of the liquid dispenser 100 is insufficient to force the liquid 4 out of the needle cannulas 50 at this time, and the continuous input flow of the liquid 4 goes from the liquid output passages 40 to the 4 air distribution passages 60, the air accumulation passage 70 and the air output passage 80 (see FIG. 7), and therefore the dispenser body 10 of the liquid dispenser 100 is fully filled up with the liquid 4 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). At this time, air 8 is expelled out of the dispenser body 10 of the liquid dispenser 100 into the liquid tube 6 (see FIGS. 6 and 7). When the predetermined dispensing time is up, the sensor 5 controls the control valve 7 to close the air tube 6, thereby increasing the pressure of the dispensed liquid 4 to force the liquid 4 out of the needle cannulas 50 at an equal amount.
Patent Application
20070290004
