Patent Application
20050127105
This patent application concerns a method and apparatus for delivery of a liquid soap, detergent, or viscous foodstuff such as ketchup, mustard or syrup, to a dispenser which might be mounted in an inaccessible or inconvenient location. Liquid soap dispensers have become ubiquitous in medical facilities, kitchens, lavatories, and showers because of their sanitary virtues, convenience, and cost effectiveness. Similarly, food dispensers of a similar construction are used in institutional and fast food settings to improve sanitation and ease of access, and to lower labor costs. Generally, the user, by triggering a sensor or applying a force, causes a dose of liquid to be dispensed. The motive force creating the flow might be gravity, a gas pressure differential, a spring, and/or the action of the user on a pump mechanism. There are many designs of liquid dispensers.
One general category of dispenser uses gas pressure differentials, generated by a remote foot pedal or a gas cartridge, for example, to drive a dose of liquid soap from a container to the dispenser tip. In this design, a volume of gas under a pressure higher than a pressure at the dispenser tip is introduced to the container holding the liquid soap and displaces it into a conduit leading to the dispenser tip.
Another category is that in which the dispenser pump operates by directly lifting the liquid itself by drawing it from the container through at least one valve to a dispenser tip. Although many liquid soap dispensers of this type are self-contained, disposable, and easily replaced, others are permanently mounted devices which frequently are incorporated as fixtures onto a kitchen or lavatory counter tops, for example. A liquid soap dispenser of this type is placed in a location which might be considered best by its designer on the basis of conformity with kitchen or bath conventions, ease of use by the consumer of the soap, esthetic and design considerations, ease of manufacturing and others. One or more of these considerations must be compromised to satisfy some of the others.
Another type of liquid dispenser, often used for milk, for example, uses a pinch valve to restrain the fluid, which is stored above, from flowing through a flexible tube to the open end which serves as the dispenser tip. In this arrangement, gravity is the motive force for the flow, and the valve is released by the user whenever flow is desired. The liquid is typically contained in a collapsible container including a flexible tube whose lumen is continuous with said container and is hermetically sealed according to food service standards. When the contents of the dispenser are ready to use, the sealed tip of the tube is removed, opening an access to the lumen.
As shown in
As illustrated, the reservoir 101 can be a cylinder equipped with a movable piston 109, in the illustration simply a slide-fit tube of smaller diameter than reservoir 101, driven by pressure applied by the user. The elastic element 102 is a spring which returns the piston 109 to its original position when the user-applied force is discontinued. As the piston 109 is retracted by the spring 102 it allows new soap to refill the reservoir. The valves 103, 104 can be simple check valves.
An alternate pump configuration may include a reservoir which is the lumen of a tube with elastic walls. The elastic walls of the reservoir can be collapsed by a force applied by the user. During the collapse the liquid is expelled toward the dispenser tip. In this case, the inflow valve may simply be an area of this tube which is pinched early in the cycle thus preventing a back-flow during the remainder of the cycle, or any other suitable valve. The outflow valve can be a simple check valve. When the user-applied force is discontinued, the tube returns to its original shape by elastic rebound allowing inflow of new liquid from the supply conduit.
The conventional dispenser pump mechanisms recharge the reservoir through a short conduit 106 immersed in the liquid held in an attached container 107 as explained above. The container 107 is conventionally a small bottle or ajar fixed to the pump mechanism, for example by screw threads 110, as shown. As the liquid is dispensed, the container 107 needs to be periodically refilled or replaced. Because of prevailing standards and limited space among the plumbing fixtures under the counter top, whether adjacent a sink or in a food dispensing stations:
In some conventional soap pumps, refilling can be done through a narrow opening in the counter top after removal of the pump mechanism. In another common design, the container is retrieved by unscrewing it from its position immediately under the counter and behind the sink and then replaced after filling. In the first case, other structures such as the back splash, the plumbing fixtures, and the counter top itself interfere with convenient refilling from what usually is a large bottle. Pouring the viscous liquid through a narrow orifice adds to the inconvenience of the process and likely tends to limit the usefulness of the dispenser. In the second case, the location behind the sink, in the back, upper corner of the sink cabinet, which is typically filled with supplies and traversed by plumbing pipes, is enough to discourage a user from refilling the dispenser.
According to an embodiment of one aspect of the invention, a viscous liquid dispenser, comprising a pump mechanism; a supply reservoir; and an extension hose having an adapter end adapted to connect to the pump mechanism and having an uptake end disposed within the supply bottle, to deliver the liquid from the supply reservoir to the intake tube, the supply reservoir otherwise unattached to the pump mechanism.
According to an embodiment of another aspect of the invention, a viscous liquid supply system for delivering liquid to a pump mechanism, comprising a supply reservoir adapted to hold a supply of liquid; and an extension hose having an adapter end adapted to connect to the pump mechanism, the supply reservoir remaining unattached to the pump mechanism while in use, and the extension hose having an uptake end disposed in contact with the supply of liquid.
According to an embodiment of yet another aspect of the invention, a package for holding a quantity of a viscous liquid, comprising a supply reservoir holding in the supply reservoir a portion of the quantity of liquid; and an extension hose having an adapter end adapted to connect to a pump mechanism remote from the supply reservoir, and having an uptake end disposed in contact with the portion of the quantity of liquid, the extension hose holding a remainder of the quantity of liquid outside the supply reservoir.
The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. In the drawings:
This invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “compromising,” or “having,” “containing,” “involving”, and variations thereof herein, is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.
An embodiment of the invention is now described in connection with
An exemplary apparatus 200 includes a length of flexible conduit 201, such as a plastic tube, which would allow the dispenser pump 100 to draw liquid 202 from a supply container 203 situated in a more convenient location, remote from the dispenser pump 100. The supply container 203 may be located in a position unattached to the dispenser pump 100 or its housing. That is, supply container 203 may be out of direct contact with the dispenser pump 100 nor in a specifically limited geometric configuration.
One end of the tube 204 is attached to the dispenser pump 100 establishing a hermetic seal, while the other end 205 is immersed in the liquid 202 to be dispensed, which is held in supply container 203. The end of the tube 204 is attached to the dispenser pump 100, preferably using a quick disconnect type of connection. An example of such attachment, shown
The tube should be flexible enough to be threaded from the dispenser to the soap bottle and yet be able to resist collapse. The tube may be of any suitable material, for example a polymeric material, including those materials that are elastic, elastomeric, semi-rigid, articulated or the like, as required to provide the stated properties. As mentioned above, Tygon is one such material. The maximum length and minimum diameter of the tube depend on the viscosity of the liquid to be transported. The maximum vertical difference between the pump reservoir and the soap level in the liquid soap container is limited by the strength of the rebound of the elastic element of the pump, the strength of the outflow valve of the pump, and the partial pressure of water, or other volatile solvents in the liquid soap. The theoretical considerations relating to vapor pressures of typical soap products suggest differences of less than fifteen feet, which is well beyond the expected applications within a vanity or a kitchen cabinet. In a typical vanity or kitchen cabinet installation, the remotely located soap container could be in a range of from several inches away from the pump to several feet away from the pump. The skilled artisan can readily adapt this computation to other viscous liquids, including oils, food products, such as ketchup, mustard, syrup or the like, etc.
The valves used in hand pumps of the type for which embodiments described are useful do not seal well enough to raise a column of liquid soap in a tube that is full of air. The leaky valves work well only when immersed in a relatively viscous fluid, such as the liquid soap.
The following method, described in connection with
As an example of implementation of this method, the cap 604 has two equal round openings 605, 607, either of which will allow the tube 601 to pass through and yet form a hermetic seal. The tube 601 is pulled far enough through one opening 607 so that when the cap 604 is placed on the container 603 it reaches the bottom. The cap 604 with the two openings 605, 607 is fitted with a disposable washer 608 that prior to the unsealing of the container 603 provides its seal. The seal formed when the washer 608 is held in place by the cap 604 allowing the cap 604 to serve during the storage, shipping, and retailing of the liquid to be dispensed, and during its end use by the consumer, thus eliminating the need for separate part. The washer 608 could include one or more flaps or resealable holes to effect the selective seal described above without discarding the washer 608 when the container 603 is in use.
In some embodiments, the tube 601 can be provided pre-filed with liquid, for example for use in connection with aspects of the embodiment of
Some further alternative embodiments of aspects of the invention are now described.
As shown in
In order to accommodate a flat stationary surface 903 or a surface 903 of another arbitrary contour, roller 902 may be forced against tube 901 by a spring 910. Arm 904 should therefore be slidably elongatable as it moves through its arc. Any other suitable means for keeping roller 902 in contact with tube 901 and stationary surface 903, with sufficient pressure to fully pinch off tube 901 may be used.
In this embodiment, tube 901 and container 908 may be constructed from one or more pieces joined to comprise a single, integrated unit, sealed from the interior of container 908 to the discharge end 909 of tube 901. The discharge end 909 of the tank 901 may be initially sealed, and may be unsealed upon installation by removal of the sealed discharge end 909 of tube 901, thus opening the lumen to the outside world. This sealed construction is particularly advantageous for fluids which may be foodstuffs or other products for which high levels of sanitation or sterility are preferable. The container 908 and tube 901, thus formed as a single, integral unit may be sold, as such and installed in the pump by the end user, by simply slipping tube 901 between roller 902 and the stationary surface 903. Guiding features, channels and the like may be provided in practical embodiments, to assist in the process of inserting tube 901 between roller 902 and stationary surface 903. Filling the tube 901may be accomplished by compression of the container 908. In alternative arrangements, the tube 901 and container 908 can be separate parts, such as in the case of fluids supplied for intravenous administration. The tube and bag would be joined using a conventional needle and septum or other suitable means.
In another alternative embodiment, illustrated in
Yet another alternative embodiment, this being a variation on that shown in
In the preceding three exemplary embodiments, particularly if container (
A prototype application in a typical kitchen environment with the following characteristics has been performing well for over one year dispensing several gallons of soap:
Embodiments of aspects of the invention employing long supply tubes provide for greater choice with regard to the most convenient placement of the liquid soap container. As opposed to the typical under-the counter, back-upper-corner location among the plumbing pipes behind the sink, the container can be kept near the front of the kitchen cabinet where it can be readily monitored and serviced.
Embodiments of aspects of the invention can also permit decreasing the frequency of refilling by facilitating the use of large container for example a one gallon standard refill bottle as compared to a standard one pint container, an eight-fold decrease in frequency of servicing the dispenser. Embodiments of aspects of the invention also reduce or eliminate the need for transferring a viscous liquid from a refill bottle to a smaller container that is a part of the fixture. A disposable refill bottle can itself be used as the container from which the soap is drawn.
Furthermore, some embodiments of the invention can completely eliminate the need for immediate proximity of the container holding the liquid to the dispenser pump. That in turn removes constraints on the design of the container holding the liquid soap. In fact the need for the small specialized container usually supplied with these fixtures is totally eliminated by embodiments of the invention. The manufacturer need only substitute a length of flexible tubing for the specialized bottle which is otherwise needed, resulting in net cost savings.
Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment of this invention, it is to be appreciated various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by the way of example only.
