Liquid dispensing systems and methods

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6322337
  • Patent Number
    6,322,337
  • Date Filed
    Saturday, July 24, 1999
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, November 27, 2001
    22 years ago
Abstract
The present invention provides systems and methods of dispensing liquids. In one embodiment, the system includes a pump with a removable pump module with at least one displacement piston and at least one piston valve. A motor and base assembly provide the supporting components of the pump which can be used in environments where precise small volumes of ultra-pure liquids must be transferred from a reservoir to a point of use. The preferred embodiment of the system prevents contaminants and air bubbles from being introduced into the liquid to be dispensed by placing a filter across the discharge line downstream from the pump, and providing a separate drawback line for performing the drawback of the liquid in the dispensing nozzle.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




This invention relates to dispensing liquids in precise volumes and more particularly to the transfer of liquid from a reservoir to a point of use by a pump having a displacement piston and a rotating piston valve communicating with one of a plurality of liquid ports.




The ability to deliver precise small volume amounts of liquids without introduction of contaminants is quite important in the manufacture of many products, especially in the electronics industry. A semiconductor foundry has several principal areas—metrology, lithography, and track where resist and developer must be rapidly and precisely dispensed. More specifically, photolithography requires precise repeatable delivery of photoresist and developer at different rates such as volumes of 0-10 ml±0.1%, repeatable to within ±0.1 volume % with substantially no contaminants or air bubbles. If these requirements cannot be met consistently, it adversely impacts the yield of the process. See, e.g., Chang & Sze,


ULSI Technology


(1996) hereby incorporated by reference.




The semiconductor industry provides, for example, different pumps such as piston pumps, diaphragm pumps, and peristalic pumps to transfer liquid from a liquid reservoir to a dispense nozzle above a silicon wafer in a spin station. After the liquid is dispensed any residual liquid left in the tip of the nozzle is drawn back slightly so that the resulting meniscus force prevents uncontrolled drips on the wafer and the wafer is rotated at high rpm to spread the liquid uniformly over the wafer.




The liquid dispensing system must also provide a filter to capture contaminants which might be introduced in the liquid dispensed. When the filter is upstream of the pump, it captures the contaminants generated for example at the reservoir and/or the reservoir line leading to the pump but will be ineffective at capturing contaminants generated in the pump which then enter the liquid dispensed on the wafer. When the filter is downstream of the pump, the filter may capture pump generated contaminants but may still release air bubbles and contaminants into the dispensing system during draw back mode when the liquid reverses direction through the filter which tends to dislodge some of the particles caught in the filter.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The invention provides systems and methods of rapid delivery of liquids in precise volumes and with accuracy. The systems include a pump operating under the positive displacement principle. The pump includes at least one displacement piston, and at least one piston valve with a fluid slot, where the pistons in a cylinder define a pumping chamber. In general the displacement piston travels back and forth in the cylinder, producing suction, and discharging pumping action. The distance traveled by the displacement piston determines the dispensing volume of the pumping chamber and the direction of travel determines the direction of flow through any cylinder port. The piston valve rotates to align the fluid slot with a given cylinder port to communicate with the pumping chamber.




In refill mode, the piston valve rotates until the slot aligns with the intake port of the cylinder so the pumping chamber can communicate with the reservoir. The displacement piston retracts in the cylinder, expanding the pumping chamber, and drawing liquid from the reservoir though the intake port and into the pumping chamber. In dispense mode, the piston valve rotates closing the intake port so that the pumping chamber no longer communicates with the reservoir until the piston valve slot aligns with the discharge port out of the pumping chamber. The displacement piston slides forward, reducing the volume of the pumping chamber, expelling liquid through the discharge port.




In one embodiment, the piston valve includes a plurality of ports, such as an intake port, a discharge port, and a drawback port to permit precise delivery of liquids through a dispense nozzle without introducing contaminants, air bubbles, or liquid dripping. In drawback mode, in this embodiment, after the discharge step, the piston valve rotates closing the discharge port and the piston valve slot aligns with the drawback port, then the displacement piston slides back, expanding the volume of the pumping chamber, drawing liquid back in the dispense nozzle. The embodiment of the system also prevents contaminants and air bubbles from being introduced into the liquid to be dispensed from the nozzle by placing a filter across the discharge line downstream from the pump, and providing a separate drawback line for performing the drawback of the liquid in the dispensing nozzle so that drawback does not occur through the filter. This embodiment has special advantage in the precise control of semiconductor equipment used in dispensing liquid chemicals in ULSI technology.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective drawing of an embodiment of the pump, and illustrates the assembled pump including the pump module and the motor and base assembly.





FIG. 2

is a partial cross-section taken along A—A of

FIG. 5 and a

perspective drawing of an embodiment of the pump module.





FIG. 3

is an exploded view of the components of the pump module shown in FIG.


2


.





FIG. 4

is an exploded perspective view illustrating a preferred universal coupling for the piston valve.





FIG. 5

is an end view of the port fitting case, the valve bearing ball, the three ports of the port fitting case, and a clamp band around the port fitting case.





FIG. 6

is a schematic diagram illustrating the basic components of one embodiment of the precision liquid dispensing system.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS





FIG. 1

illustrates an embodiment of a pump


1


capable of transferring precise small volumes, e.g., 0-10 ml, of a liquid from a liquid reservoir to a dispense nozzle. The pump


1


can be used in a system such as that depicted in

FIG. 6

to deliver resist and developer to semiconductor wafers. As shown in

FIG. 6

, the components of the system include a liquid supply reservoir


143


, a liquid supply line


144


, a three-port pump


1


, an upstream discharge line


148


, a filter


149


, a downstream discharge line


150


, a dispense line


151


, a dispense nozzle


152


, and a drawback line


147


. The liquid reservoir


143


can be a variety of well known reservoirs, the liquid lines are preferably of Teflon, the tube hardware and fittings can be Parker, Parabound Adaptor, Paraflare x Pipe BA-4F4, one suitable filter


149


is the Pall model no. MCD9116UFTEH, and the materials of the pump


1


will be described in detail below.




In operation, the pump


1


and the liquid lines are preferably charged with liquid. In dispensing mode, the pump


1


displaces liquid through the upstream discharge line


148


, the filter


149


, the downstream discharge line


150


, the dispense line


151


, and out of the dispense nozzle


152


onto the wafer. In drawback mode, occurring preferably a short time after the dispense mode, the three-port pump


1


valve is actuated to communicate with the drawback line


147


and the displacement piston in the cylinder of pump


1


reverses direction to enable drip-free dispense by drawing the liquid back inside the nozzle


152


through the drawback line


147


avoiding the need to reverse the flow through the filter


149


. This feature helps to prevent contaminants from being dislodged from the filter


149


. In purge mode, the system can use the drawback line


147


to prime any air out of the nozzle


152


also without going through the filter


149


. This feature reduces air bubbles from being introduced into the liquid dispensed. Alteratively, the pump


1


might add a fourth port to allow purge of air from entering into the liquid supply reservoir


143


through a liquid purge back line (not shown) to conserve resist.




Referring again to the embodiment shown in

FIG. 1

, the pump


1


includes a pump module, a motor and base assembly, and an electronic controller (not shown), and operates by the positive displacement principle. As shown in

FIG. 2

, the displacement piston


80


pumps the liquid by traveling back and forth in a cylinder liner


30


, as indicated by the arrows, producing suction and discharging action. The distance traveled by the displacement piston


80


in the cylinder liner


30


is proportional to the volume of the pumping chamber


87


. For liquid intake the piston valve


81


rotates so that the fluid slot


82


aligns with an intake port


85


(

FIG. 5

) so that the pumping chamber


87


communicates with the liquid reservoir


143


(FIG.


6


). The displacement piston


80


retracts in the cylinder liner


30


, expanding the pumping chamber


87


, drawing liquid from the reservoir


143


(

FIG. 6

) though the intake port


85


(

FIG. 5

) and into the pumping chamber


87


. The piston valve


81


rotates closing the intake port


85


(

FIG. 5

) so that the pumping chamber


87


no longer communicates with the reservoir


143


(FIG.


6


). To discharge the liquid drawn into the pumping chamber


87


, the piston valve


81


rotates to align the fluid slot


82


with the discharge port


83


, and the displacement piston


80


extends into the cylinder liner


30


, expelling liquid from pumping chamber


87


through the discharge port


83


. To draw back liquid in the discharge line, the displacement piston


80


can retract immediately after the discharge step. However, in the preferred embodiment, the pump


1


draws back the liquid in the dispense nozzle


152


(

FIG. 6

) by rotating the piston valve


81


to align the fluid slot


82


with a drawback port


90


, and then retracting the displacement piston


80


.





FIG. 3

is an exploded view of the parts making up the pump module


10


. A valve bearing ball


96


is attached on a neck


35


(

FIG. 1

) of the piston valve


81


by a cone point socket set screw


161


. To form a liquid seal the pump module


10


preferably provides a cylinder end cap


160


, a Teflon thrust washer


158


, a flange


157


on the piston valve


81


, a Teflon thrust washer


163


, and a lip seal


162


. A conventional clamp band


43


is provided to hold a port fitting case


31


on the cylinder liner


30


. As shown in

FIG. 1

, a support


172


, preferably including a spacer


171


, is located under the port fitting case


31


to prevent rotation of the port fitting case


31


from torque produced by rotation of the motor


14


. The port fitting case


31


is preferably made of Teflon. Another liquid seal is provided by assembly of a cylinder end cap


79


, a lip seal


89


, and a cylinder liner


30


. A socket head cap screw


53


is provided which is inserted into a spherical bearing retainer


54


and a spherical bearing


75


with a race


154


(

FIG. 2

) and into the end of the displacement piston


80


to hold the retainer


54


, the bearing


75


, and the displacement piston


80


in fixed relationship with each other.




When the various parts shown in

FIG. 3

are assembled, the pump module


10


appears as shown in FIG.


2


.

FIG. 2

illustrates that the fluid seal includes a cylinder end cap


79


holding a lip seal


89


against the cylinder liner


30


and a contact surface


78


of the displacement piston


80


.

FIG. 2

illustrates when the fluid slot


82


described earlier is aligned with the drawback port


90


. The clamp band


43


holds the port fitting case


31


to the cylinder liner


30


so that the drawback port


90


aligns with the L-shaped port


91


of the port fitting case


31


. Similarly, the clamp band


43


holds the port fitting case


31


to the cylinder liner


30


so that the discharge port


83


aligns with the L-shaped port


84


. The L-shaped port


91


narrows to a passage


92


in a male connector


94


, and threads


93


engage a twist tight collar


33


(FIG.


1


). Likewise, the L-shaped port


84


narrows to a passage


99


of a male connector


101


and threads


100


engage a twist tight collar


32


(FIG.


1


). Again, the fluid seal at the valve bearing ball


96


end preferably uses the parts discussed earlier in connection with FIG.


3


. The piston valve


81


includes a relief band


156


which is slightly smaller in diameter than the rest of piston valve


81


to permit liquid to enter in the gap to prevent the curing of the liquid under the pressures and temperatures created by the tight fit and movement of the piston valve


81


. The piston valve


81


also includes an inner neck


159


, an outer neck


35


and is attached to the valve bearing ball


96


which has two slots


98


and


164


and a flat surface


97


for reasons discussed below.





FIG. 2

also shows that the spherical bearing


75


is held to a piston end cap


76


preferably made of stainless steel


316


. The piston end cap


76


is heat shrunk or glued on the end of the displacement piston


80


as shown in

FIGS. 2-3

. The displacement piston


80


, the piston valve


81


, and the cylinder liner


30


are preferably made of aluminum oxide or polished zirconia (YTZP) but can be also made of another suitable ceramic, a stainless steel, Delrin™, Tefzel™, or Kynar™. The advantage of aluminum oxide is it may not require lubrication beyond that provided by the liquid being dispensed or metered, it is extremely hard and resists abrasion, it exhibits little wear after many cycles, it is chemically stable, and it allows precision machining and diamond tooling with close running fits (100 millionths of an inch). Aluminum oxide's properties of low friction, hardness, and stability allow the pump module


10


to be primarily sealed by close clearance of the pistons


80


,


81


, and the cylinder liner


30


. This means no compliant seals may be needed which eliminates a set of parts which frequently fail and require replacement in conventional pumps.




As shown in

FIGS. 1-2

, the pump


1


includes motors


14


and


22


for driving the pump module


10


. First, a stepper motor


22


drives the displacement piston


80


by rotating a bottom pulley


65


coupled by a drive belt


23


to a set of pulleys


24


and


64


. In alternative embodiments, the motor


22


can be a servo motor or another suitable positioning motor. The pulleys contact the drive belt


23


with sufficient friction and tension to prevent slippage between the pulleys and the belt. One suitable drive belt is the Breco-flex 10T5/390. A suitable pulley is the LS21T5/20-2 made by Breco-flex. The tension of the drive belt


23


can be adjusted by loosening bolts


71


-


74


residing in the vertical slots of rigid plate


70


so that the pulley


65


can move up to reduce or down to increase the tension of the drive belt


23


. Thus, the rigid plate


70


provides an adjustable support structure for mounting the pulley


65


and the stepper motor


22


.




In a preferred embodiment if the stepper motor


22


rotates, the drive belt


23


transfers that force to the pulleys


24


and


64


which rotate precision lead screws


44


and


19


. Eastern Air Devices, Inc., motor series LH2318 together with Intelligent Motion Systems, Inc. Model IM483 drive electronics provide a compatible motor and controller combination for this purpose. One end of precision lead screw


44


attaches to the pulley


24


and the other end rotates in a lead screw and linear shaft bearing block


29


. One end of precision lead screw


19


attaches to the pulley


64


and the other end rotates in a lead screw and linear shaft bearing block like block


29


but not shown to expose other parts to view.




Spacers


63


and


62


space pulleys


24


and


64


from triangular shaped lead nuts


58


and


25


. Lead nut


58


is fixed to a displacement slide block


46


by bolt


57


hidden by drive belt


23


in

FIG. 1

, a bolt


55


partially hidden by spacer


63


in

FIG. 1

, and a bolt


56


. The lead nut


25


is bolted to a displacement slide block


21


by bolt


61


hidden by the spacer


62


, a bolt


59


, and a bolt


60


. A pair of parallel linear bearing shafts


17


and


45


guide the displacement slide blocks


21


and


46


. A piston coupling


28


is attached by bolts


51


and


52


to the displacement slide blocks


21


and


46


and to the displacement piston


80


by the socket head cap screw


53


, the retainer


54


, and the bearing


75


described earlier. Thus, the piston coupling


28


, and the displacement slide blocks


21


and


46


move as a unit to drive the displacement piston


80


in and out of the cylinder liner


30


as the precision lead screws


44


and


19


rotate and engage the threads of the lead nut


58


and the lead nut


25


, respectively. Preferably, the displacement slide blocks


21


and


46


have holes which are not threaded and therefore do not engage either the threads of the precision lead screw or bind the linear bearing shafts.




An adjustable flag


20


is held by bolts


49


and


50


to the displacement slide block


21


and overlaps an adjacent piston extended position sensor


15


when the displacement piston


80


fully extends into the cylinder liner


30


. Similarly, an adjustable flag


27


is held by bolts


47


and


48


to the displacement slide block


46


and overlaps an adjacent piston retracted position sensor


26


when the displacement piston


80


fully retracts in the cylinder liner


30


. One suitable sensor uses the Hall effect to detect when the metal flag interrupts a magnetic field emanating from the sensor. Another uses the photoelectric effect where a object fixed to the displacement block serves to partially or fully interrupt a light beam aimed at a photo detector. The Honeywell Microswitch 4AV series is suitable for performing this function.





FIGS. 1-2

illustrate that the pump


1


also includes a motor


14


for driving the piston valve


81


of the pump module


10


by rotating a pulley


38


coupled by a belt


13


to a pulley


12


. The pulleys


12


and


38


have sufficient friction with the belt


13


to avoid slippage. The motor


14


is preferably an air-powered rotary indexer because it quickly rotates the fluid slot


82


into alignment with a port when commanded by a conventional controller. In such a motor such as that manufactured by SMC, for example, the NCRBI-W30-1805 series motor, pneumatic air enters input


18


and a well known ratchet-gear mechanism converts the 180 degree movements of the motor


14


into the desired angular increment, e.g., 120 degrees for a three-port embodiment as shown in FIG.


1


. After an angular increment occurs the air is relieved at air exhaust


16


. In alternative embodiments, the motor


14


can be a servo motor or another suitable positioning motor. Preferably, a conventional controller using advanced solid-state electronics with microprocessor technology and sensors can be used to control the pump


1


, including the motors


22


and


14


to actuate the movement of the displacement piston


80


and the piston valve


81


at appropriate velocities, distances, and times.




A suitable drive belt


13


is the Breco-flex 10T5/390 and one suitable pulley is the LS21T5/20-2 made by Breco-flex. The tension of the drive belt


13


can be easily adjusted by loosening bolts such as bolts


40


-


41


in the vertical slots at corners of a rigid plate


39


and moving the rigid plate


39


supporting the pulley


38


up to reduce the tension or down to increase the tension of the drive belt


13


. Thus, the rigid plate


39


provides an adjustable support structure for mounting the pulley


38


and the motor


14


. A L-shaped bracket


37


includes a conventional sealed bearing for supporting the shaft of the pulley


12


and an universal coupling


11


shown in FIG.


1


.




The universal coupling


11


eliminates the problem of how to exactly align the axis of the pulley


12


with that of the piston valve


81


. The location of the universal coupling


11


in the pump


1


is best shown in

FIG. 1

, but the details are in FIG.


4


. As shown in

FIG. 4

, an exploded view, the universal coupling


11


includes a coupling body


8


with a receptacle for the valve bearing ball


96


, and a set of pins


2


and


9


to hold the valve bearing ball


96


in the receptacle. Pin


2


engages slot


98


and pin


9


engages slot


164


on valve bearing ball


96


to provide a positive rotational coupling. Thus, the pump module


10


is held by the universal coupling


11


on one end and by the piston coupling


28


on the other. This permits the pump module


10


to be quickly removed from the rest of the pump


1


for cleaning or autoclaving. For example, to remove the pump module


10


, one would remove piston coupling


28


, then pivot the pump module


10


approximately 90 degrees with respect to the operational axis on pins


2


and


9


to the dotted line position shown in FIG.


4


. When slots


98


and


164


are aligned perpendicular to coupling


8


, the pump module


10


can be removed. To assist in that removal, the flat surface


97


of the valve bearing ball


96


provides clearance to the button


5


in universal coupling


11


when the pump module


10


is pivoted 90 degrees.




A biasing means holds the valve bearing ball


96


in place during operation and includes a button


5


biased by a Belleville washer


6


(i.e., domed shaped for spring action) and held by a retainer washer


7


. To install the biasing means in the coupling body


8


the following steps are taken. The Belleville washer


6


is inserted in the retainer washer


7


, the button


5


is placed on the washer


6


, and preferably three dowel pins such as dowel pin


3


are partially inserted in holes 120 degrees apart to protrude in the coupling body


8


to guide the retainer washer


7


along corresponding slots


174


,


176


, and


178


. When each pin hits the end of its slot, where a hole exists, the pin can be driven into the hole of the retainer washer


7


. Because of the tight fit and flared shape of the pins, this technique firmly attaches the retainer washer


7


in the coupling body


8


. A cone point set screw


4


travels through the larger top hole in coupling body


8


and engages in threaded hole


180


in the retainer washer


7


, acting to fix the coupling body


8


to the shaft of the pulley


12


. As shown in

FIG. 1

, conventional spacers (not shown) maintain pulleys


12


and


38


at an appropriate distance from respectively the L-shaped bracket


37


and the plate


39


.





FIG. 5

is a detail end view of one embodiment of a three-port case fitting


31


. It shows where the cross-section A—A is taken in the embodiment illustrated in FIG.


2


and can be understood in conjunction with embodiments illustrated in

FIGS. 1-2

. In those embodiments, the top port dedicated to a drawback line, includes a male connector


94


defining a passage


92


and having threads


93


. The bottom right port, almost completely hidden in

FIG. 2

, and dedicated to an intake line, includes a male connector


168


defining a passage


167


and with threads


169


. The bottom right port communicates with the fluid slot


82


by the port


85


represented by dotted lines. The bottom left port, dedicated to a discharge line, includes a male connector


101


defining a passage


99


and with threads


100


.

FIG. 5

also illustrates an embodiment for the valve bearing ball


96


including the flat surface


97


as well as the slots


98


and


164


for engaging pins


2


and


9


of the universal coupling


11


as discussed earlier.




Any given port can function as an intake or a discharge liquid depending on whether the displacement piston


80


retracts or extends into the cylinder liner


30


after alignment. Further, the port fitting case


31


is not limited to three ports as illustrated but could be a plurality of ports depending on the application. Accordingly, the pump module


10


could have multiple outputs and/or multiple inputs and/or multiple drawbacks and/or purge lines. In addition, a pump


1


could have a plurality of pump modules


10


disposed in parallel each having a stepper motor


22


or driven by the same stepper motor


22


and each having their own piston valve


81


and motor


14


or driven by the same motor


14


. Of course, this permits the compact pumping of different liquid chemicals with isolation between the chemicals. The design of the piston valve


81


dispenses and meters liquid without any secondary mechanism such as check valves which allows for longer life, higher reliability, and greater accuracy.



Claims
  • 1. A liquid dispensing pump system, comprising:a pump module including a displacement piston and a piston valve disposed in a cylinder and defining a pumping chamber, wherein the displacement piston travels back and forth in the cylinder, producing suction, and discharging pumping action, a port case fitting with a plurality of ports able to communicate one at a time with a fluid slot in the piston valve based on rotation of the piston valve, and the direction of travel of the displacement piston determines the direction of flow out of any port; means for driving the displacement piston back and forth in the cylinder; means for rotating the piston valve in the cylinder without rotating the displacement piston so that the fluid slot of the piston valve communicates with one of the plurality of ports in the port case fitting; and means for supporting the pump module, the means for driving the displacement piston, and the means for rotating the piston valve.
  • 2. An apparatus for pumping fluid, comprising:a pump module, including a cylinder liner with a plurality of ports, a displacement piston slidably disposed in the cylinder liner, a separate piston valve with a fluid slot rotatably disposed in the cylinder liner, wherein the displacement piston and the piston valve and cylinder liner define a pumping chamber; and a first motor coupled to means for driving the displacement piston back and forth; a second motor coupled to means for rotating the piston valve to align the fluid slot with each of the liner ports; and a base supporting the pump module, the first motor, and the second motor.
  • 3. The apparatus of 2, further comprising a controller coupled to the first motor and second motors during refill, discharge, and drawback modes to actuate:the displacement piston to expand the volume of the pumping chamber and to rotate the fluid slot of the piston valve so the pumping chamber only communicates with an intake port, the displacement piston to reduce the volume of the pumping chamber and to rotate the fluid slot of the piston valve so the pumping chamber only communicates with a discharge port, and the displacement piston to reduce the volume of the pumping chamber and to rotate the fluid slot of the piston valve so the pumping chamber only communicates with a drawback port.
  • 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the means for driving the displacement piston back and forth includes a plurality of lead screws parallel to the pump module, a plurality of displacement slide blocks, each block having a lead screw hole parallel to the pump module, a member joined to the displacement slide blocks holding the pump module, and wherein each of the plurality of lead screw resides in a lead screw hole in one of the displacement slide blocks.
  • 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first motor is coupled to the plurality of lead screws by a plurality of pulleys, each pulley being attached to one lead screw or the first motor, and wherein the pulleys rotate together by a belt contacting each pulley for movement of the displacement piston back and forth.
  • 6. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a plurality of linear bearing shafts, wherein each of the plurality of linear bearing shafts resides in a linear bearing shaft hole in one of the displacement slide blocks.
  • 7. A pump, comprising:a pump module, including a cylinder liner with ports, a displacement piston in the cylinder liner, a piston valve disposed in the cylinder liner, wherein the piston valve includes a fluid slot and is fixed to a valve bearing ball; a first motor for driving the displacement piston; a second motor for rotating the valve bearing ball to align the fluid slot with one of the ports; and a base supporting the pump module, the first motor, and the second motor.
  • 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the second motor is an actuator having a shaft, rotating forward or in reverse within a first angle, wherein the means for rotating the piston valve includes means for converting the forward or reverse rotation to a single-direction rotation of the piston valve within a second angle, wherein the first angle is greater than the second angle.
  • 9. A liquid dispensing system, comprising:a liquid reservoir; a pump including an intake, a discharge, and a drawback port, wherein the pump is disposed downstream of the reservoir; a filter downstream of the pump; a supply line communicating with the reservoir and the intake port of the pump; an upstream discharge line communicating with the discharge port of the pump and the upstream end of the filter; a dispense line; a downstream discharge line communicating with the downstream end of the filter and the dispense line; and a drawback line communicating with the drawback port of the pump and the dispense line.
  • 10. A pump module, comprising:a cylinder liner with a plurality of ports; a port fitting case with ports aligned with the plurality of ports; a displacement piston slidably disposed in the cylinder liner; and a piston valve with a fluid slot, wherein the piston valve is rotatably disposed in the cylinder liner such that the fluid slot can rotate to align the plurality of ports, and wherein the piston valve includes a valve bearing ball disposed outside the cylinder liner.
  • 11. The pump module of claim 10, further comprising first and second cylinder end caps with lip seals for sealing each end of the cylinder liner.
  • 12. The pump module of claim 10, wherein the port fitting case is attached to the cylinder liner and provides ports leading to external connectors for each of the plurality of ports.
  • 13. The pump module of claim 10, wherein the piston valve includes a relief band slightly smaller in diameter than the rest of the piston valve to permit liquid to enter in the gap between the piston valve and the cylinder liner to prevent curing of liquid.
  • 14. The pump module of claim 10, wherein the piston valve includes an inner neck at least partially within the cylinder liner and an outer neck attached to the valve-bearing ball, which ball has a plurality of slots and a flat surface.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number Name Date Kind
5044889 Pinkerton Sep 1991
5312233 Tanny et al. May 1994
5863187 Bensley et al. Jan 1999
5996620 Bensley Dec 1999