CA1176216A - Soap dispensing system - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract A liquid soap dispensing system includes a closed soap container having a manually actuated dis-pensing pump carried therebeneath, the container being separated by a partition into a lower soap reservoir and an upper refill compartment, the latter adapted to en-close therein a removable refill cartridge and having a downwardly extending refill well with a plurality of keys upstanding from the bottom thereof. The cartridge has an outlet neck, the outer bottom surface of which has a like plurality of slots. The neck is closed by a pierce-able membrane recessed therein and adapted to be received into the well so that a cartridge opening member pierces the membrane to accommodate free flow of liquid soap from the cartridge to the reservoir. the cartridge is entirely closed to define the liquid level in the res-ervoir at the bottom of the neck, and a drain hole in the reservoir wall above the bottom of the neck but below the tops of the keys prevents bootleg cartridges from being used in the soap dispenser. A slot in the wall of the refill compartment prevents the accumulation of free liquid soap therein.

Description

1~L7~;Z16 The present invention relates to apparatus for dispensing liquid soap, normally in discrete small quan-tities or charges. Such dispensing apparatus is used particularly for hygienic purposes, inpublic or in-5 stitutional washrooms or the like or wherever thereare a relatively large number of different users.
The present invention is an improvement on the soap dispensexs and refill systems therefor dis-closed in our U.S. Patent Nos. 4,018,363, 4,149,573 10 and 4,173,858O While all of these systems and dis-pensers work effectively, they are all to some ex-tent subject to having the refill cartridges designed for use therewith bootlegged by third parties. That is, although the dispenser is designed to accept a 15 specific cartridge, third parties often attempt to enter the replaceable cartridge market and bootleg in-ferior soap products into the dispenser.
Therefore, it is a general object of this invention to provide a liquid soap dispensing system, 20 which includes a refillable dispenser, and which avoids the disadvantages of prior art dispensing systems while affording additional structural and opexating advantages.
The present invention provides a system 25 for dispensing liquid soap comprising a closed wall structuxe defining a container, partition means separating said container into a lower liquid soap reservoir ~1'76Z16 and an upper refill compartment, dispensing means carried by said container for dispensing liquid soap from said reservoir, a refill aperture in said partition means providing communication between said 5 reservoir and said refill compartment, a refill car-tridge containing liquid soap and having an outlet, and s-lot and key mechanism carried by the end of said refill cartridge outlet and said container for maintaining said cartridge in a predetermined refill 10 configuration and in communication with said refill aperture, s-aid refill cartridge being removabley en-closed within said refill compartment in a refill configuration with the end of said refill cartridge outlet disposed for cooperation with said refill 15 aperture to permit flow of liquid soap from said refill cartridge to said reservoir thereby to refill said reservoir.
The soap dispensing system of this invention accommodates free flow of liquid soap from the refill 20 cartridge through the refill aperture into the soap reservoir of the container while preventing the in-troduction of liquid soap into the upper refill com-partment and the use of refill cartridges without a specific neck design.
The invention, both as to its organiza-tion and method of operation, together with further features and advantages thereof, will best be un-derstood by reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, 30 in which:
FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a liquid soap dispenser constructed in accordance with and embodying the features of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in horizontal 35 section taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a view in vertical section taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2, and illustrating the in-ternal construction of the soap dispenser;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary ele-5 vational view in partial vertical section of the outletneck of the refill cartridge of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a view in vertical section taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a bottom elevational view of the 10 refill cartridge outlet neck illustrated in FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 iS a fragmentary view in vertical section taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 3, with the cover plate of the dispenser removed;
FIG. 8 iS a view in hori~ontal section 15 taken along the line 8-8 in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 iS an enlarged view in vertical section of the refill well and cartridge opening member illustrated in FIG. 3 particularly showing the upstanding keys;
FIG. 10 is a view in vertical section taken along line 10-10 in FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a top elevational view of the refill well illustrated in FIG. 9;
FIG. 12 is a view like FIG. 11 for another 25 embodiment; and FIG. 13 iS a view like FIG. 6 for another embodiment.

:1~76Z16 Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 3 of the drawings, there is illustrated a soap dispenser 100, constructed in accordance with and embodying the features of the present invention. The soap dispenser 5 100 includes a mounting bracket, generally designated by the numeral 101, which includes a generally flat rectangular wall 102 disposed substantially vertically in use to provide a bearing surface, and having along each side of the side edges thereof an integral curved 10 side flange 103 which projects forwardly from the wall 102. Formed in the vertical wall 102 and projecting rearwardly therefrom in a direction away from the di-rection in which the side flanges 103 extend, are two substantially vertically aligned embossments 104, each 15 having an opening 105 extending therethrough cen-trally thereof. Also formed in the wall 102 and pro-jecting rearwardly therefrom are two embossments (not shown) which are disposed substantially in horizontal alignment with each other along a line disposed sub-20 stantially midway between the embossments 104, withthe embossments (not shown) projecting the same dis-tance as the embossments 104, and each having an open-ing (not shown) extending therethrough centrally thereof.

iZ16 Integral with the wall 102 at the upper end thereof is an extension flange 108 which is inclined forwardly in the same general direction as the side flange 103, and which is integral at the 5 distal end thereof with an upwardly extending flange 109 which is substantially parallel to the wall 102.
Punched from the wall 102 adjacent to the lower end thereof are two forwardly and upwardly extending sup-port fingers 110.
Integral with the bottom end of the wall 102 and extending forwardly therefrom substantially nor-mal thereto is a wall 111 which is disposed sub-stantially horizontally in use and is provided around the periphery thereof with an integral upturned 15 flange 112, which is in turn integral with the side flanges 103. Integral with the wall 111 and pro-jecting upwardly therefrom substantially normal thereto are two parallel and laterally spaced apart pivot brackets 113, a portion of the wall 111 between the 20 pivot brackets 113 being cut out to define a generally rectangular opening 114. Formed in the wall 111 adjacent to the forward edge thereof and substantially midway between the side edges thereof is a circular soap discharge opening 115, the purpose of the opening 25 114 and 115 being described more fully below. A
circular retaining plate 118 is pivotally secured to the inner surface of the upwardly extending flange 109 as by a rivet 119.
In use, the mounting bracket 101 is mounted 30 on a wall 50, generally above and closely adjacent to a sink or washbasin or the like. The mounting bracket 101 is fixedly secured to the wall 50 by means of mounting screws 55 which are passed through the open-ings in the embossments 104 and threadedly engaged in 35 the wall 50, the wall 102 being disposed substantially 1176Z~6 parallel to the surface 53 of the wall 50, and being - in contact therewith only at the embossments 104 and those not shown, which serve to space the mount-ing bracket 101 a slight distance from the surface 5 53 of the wall 50.
The dispenser 100 also includes a soap container or housing 120, which is preferably formed of a translucent or transparent plastic, although it will be understood that any suitable material, either 10 opaque or light-transmitting, could be used. The con-tainer 120 is generally box-like in configuration and includes a generally rectangular front wall 121, a pair of oppos.ed side walls 122, a rear wall 123 and a rec-tangular bottom wall 125, the container 12Q preferably 15 being molded so that the walls 121, 122, 123 and 125 are all formed integrally with one another. The rear wall 123 is proYided at the lateral side edges thereof with inturned forwardly inclined portions 124.
The side walls 122 have rearwardly extending portions 20 127 which project rearwardly beyond the rear wall 123, whereby the rear wall 123 is recessed with respect to the side walls 122. In addition, the rear wall 123 extends downwardly below the bottom wall 125 to form a downwardly extending portion or mounting flange 128.
25 Similarly, the front wall 121 and the side walls 122 extend downwardly well below the bottom wall 125 and below the bottom edge of the mounting flange 128 to form a skirt 129.
Mounted below the bottom wall 125 of the 30 container 120 is a pump assembly or dispensing means 130.
The pump assemb.ly or dispensing means 130 includes an operating handle 131 provided with a pivot pin 132, the opposite ends of which are respectively mounted in the pivot brackets 113 on the mounting bracket 111 35 for pivotal movement of the operating handle 131 about 1~76216 the axis of the pivot pin 132, which extends substantially horizontally above the bracket wall 111 substantially parallel thereto and to the bracket wall 102. The handle 131 projects in use downwardly through the 5 opening 114 in the bracket wall 111 and terminates at the lower end thereof in an enlarged gripping por-tion. The handle 131 also includes a stop member 134 which projects rearwardly from the pin 132 above the housing wall 111, and an actuating arm 135 which 10 projects forwardly from the pin 132 above the bracket wall 111 and is substantially longer than the stop member 134.
The pump assembly or dispensing means 130 also includes a unitary pump housing 140, which is 15 preferably of molded construction. The pump housing 140 is fixedly secured to the bottom wall 125 of the container 120 by suitable fasteners. Securely sand-wiched between the pump housing 140 and the bottom wall 125 of the conainer 120 is a flexible diaphragm 20 141 having a plurality of suction apertures there-through in aurrounding relationship with a suction conduit or opening 143 in the bottom wall 135 of the container 120. The diaphragm 141 also has a plurality of discharge apertures therein disposed insurrounding 25 relationship with a discharge conduit 144 in the bot-tom wall 125, the suction conduit and the discharge conduit being joined by a passageway 148 normally covered in use by insert 149. A flexible resilient bowl 145 is disposed below the diaphragm 141 in the 30 region of the suction conduit 143, the outer surface of the bowl 145 normally just touching the actuating arm 135 when the handle 131 is in its normal rest position il-lustrated in full line in FIG. 3. Disposed below the diaphragm 141 in the region of the discharge conduit 35 144 is a delivery conduit 146 in a spout 147 disposed immediately above and in alignment with the soap discharge opening 115 in the mounting bracket wall 111.
In operation, the soap container 120 is mounted on the mounting bracket 101. The operating 5 handle 131 is pulled forwardly by a user thereby to compress the bowl 145 with the actuating arm 135 and expel a predetermined quantity of li~uid soap from the delivery conduit 146, release of the operating handle 131 permitting re-expansion of the bowl 145 thereby 10 to suck a fresh charge of liquid soap from the con-tainer 120 through the suction conduit 143 in prep~
aration for the next dispensing operation.
The soap container 120 has a partition 150 which is disposed generally horizontally in use, the 15 partition 150 being substantially rectuangular in shape with the peripheral edges thereof resting upon a ledge 151 formed in the inner surfaces of the soap container walls 121-123 ànd fixedly secured thereto as by ultrasonic welding. The partition 150 com-20 prises four generally triangular sectors 152, theupper surfaces 153 of which slope gently downwardly toward the center of the partition 150 at which there is formed a well, generally designated by the numeral 155, as best seen in FIGS. 3 and 9-11. The well 155 25 includes a cylindrical side wall 154 integral at the upper end thereof with the par-tition 150 and ex-tending downwardly therebelow. The well 155 has an inner surface 156 with the lower end thereof being terminated by a circular bottom wall having an inner 30 bottom surface 157 and an outer bottom surface 159.
Formed in the bottom of the well 155 adjacent to the outer edge thereof are diametricaily opposed small drain apertures 158.
Extending upwardly from the inner surface 157 35 of the well bottom are two keys 160, the keys 160 being diametrically opposed and displaced 90 from the drain 11~6216 g apertures 158. Each of the keys 160 is generally rectangular and has a top surface 161 with opposed parallel side surfaces 162. The keys 160 extendin-wardly from the longitudinally extending inner surface 5 156 to an upstanding cartridge opening member 165.
Integral with the bottom inner surface 157 of the well 155 and extending upwardly therefrom centrally thereof and coaxially with the cylindrical side wall 154 is a hollow cartridge opening member 10 165 which is generally cylindrical in shape having a top surface 166 slanting upwardly toward the front wall 121 of the soap container housing 120, the top peripheral edge of the member 165 being sufficiently sharp to pierce a membrane, and forming a central 15 refill aperture 169. The outer surface 167 of the cartridge opening ~ember 165 is in contact with the two keys 160 and joined to the inner surface 156 of the well 155 thereby. Preferably, the partition 150, well 155, cartridge opening member 165 and keys 160 20 are all integral and molded in one step.
It can be seen that the partition 150 co-operates with the bottom wall 125 and the walls 121~123 of the container 120 to define therebetween a liquid soap reservoir, generally designated by the numeral 25 175, which is adapted to be filled with a ~uantity of liquid soap 176 to a level 177, the position of the partition 150 in the soap container 120 being such that the reservoir 175 occupies slightly less than half the interior volume of the container 120.
30 The container 120 and more particularly the rear wall 123 thereof has a drain opening 178 therein vertically spaced above the bottom inner surface 157 of the refill well 155 and below the top surfaces 161 of the keys 160, which vertical position is 35 critical to the operation of the invention, as will be explained.

1~76216 The container 120 is also provided with a top plate, generally designated by the nu~eral 180, the outer perimeter of which conforms to the peri-meter of the upper edge of the container 120 and is 5 adapted to be seated on a ledge 181 formed in the in-ner surfaces of the container walls 121-123 and fixedly secured thereto as by ultrasonic welding. The top plate 180 has a large octagonal opening formed therein so that the top plate 180 essentially com-10 prises a relatively narrow flange projecting hori-zontally inwardly from the walls of the container 120.
Formed in the upper surface of the top plate 180 ad-jacent to the rear edge thereof is a shallow recess 182 adapted to receive therein the circular re-15 taining plate 118 fixedly to hold the container 120in place on the mounting bracket 101. Extending up-wardly from the top plate 180 at ther rear corners thereof are two rear abutments (not shown) while two forward abutments 184 respectively extend upwardly from 20 the top plate 180 adjacent to the front corners thereof, the forward abutments 184 each having a notch 186 formed in the front surface thereof. Integral with the top plate 180 respectiYely adjacent to at least some of the corner edges and extending downwardly therefrom 25 are positioning members 185, for a purpose to be ex-plained.
The container 120 is also provided with a cover plate 190 which includes a flat rectangular top wall 191, a front wall 192, a pair of opposed side 30 walls 193 and a rear wall 194, all integrally con-nected to a unltary structure. Fixedly secured to the top wall 191 adjacent to the rear edge thereof is a key-~perated '.atch mechanism 195. Fixedly secured tothe inner surface of the front wall 192 is an elongated 35 bearing plate 196 provided at the opposite ends thereof 1:~76Z16 with rearwardly extending fingers 197, each pref-erably co~ered with a resilient cushioning material, the fingers 197 being respectively adapted to be re-ceived in the notches 186 in the forward abutments 184 5 of the top plate 180. The cover plate 190 is dimensioned so as completely to cover the top wall 180 of the con-tainer 120, with the walls 192-194 having a vertical extent sufficient to accommodate the inclined flange 108 and the upwardly extending flange 109 of the mounting 10 bracket 101. In use, the fingers 197 are inserted into the notches 186 of the forward abutments 1~4, and the cover plate 190 is then pivoted down into position completely covering th.e top of the container 120, as il-lustrated in FIG. 3, a latch hook of the latch mech-15 anism 195 engaging in a complementary keeper opening(.not shown) in the upwardly extending flange 109 of the mounting bracket 101. Formed in the rear wall 123 of the container 120 is a vertical slot 200 which extends from just above the partition 150 to 20 the top wall 180, for a purpose to be explained more fully helow. It can be seen that the cover plate 190 cooperates with the partition 150 and the walls 121-123 of the container 120 to define a closed reflll com-partment, generally designated by the numeral 205 25 com~unication between the refill compartment 205 and the liquid soap reservoir 175 being provided by the refill aperture 169.
The soap dispensing system also includes a ~efill cartridge 210 which is semirigid and preferably 30 formed of a translucent soft plastic material, and is adapted to hold a supply of liquid soap for reEill-ing the liquid soap reservoir 175 of the container 120, as best seen in FIGS. 3 to 7. The refill cartridge 210. is generally in the shape of a polyhedron having top 35 and bottom walls 211 and 212 interconnected by a pair of :~176216 opposed side walls 213 and a pair of opposed end walls 214, the side walls 213 and the end walls 214 being perpendicular to each other and to the top and bottom walls 211 and 212. Connecting the side walls 213 to 5 the end walls 214 and inclined substantially at 45 angles to each are four guide or corner walls 215, each of which is also perpendicular to the top and bottom walls 211 and 212. Formed at the junctions of the top wall 211 with the side walls 213 inter-10 mediate the ends thereof are two indentations or re-cesses 216 for recel~ing the fingers of a user.
Integral with the bottom wall 212 and pro-jecting outwardly therefrom centrally thereof is a cylindrical neck 220 being coupled at the upper end 15 thereof to the bottom wall 212. The neck 220 has a tubular wall portion 221 having an upper surface 222 the tubular wall portion being integral with an en-larged circular flange 223 having a bottom surface 224 provided with slots or grooves 225 therein.
20 The slots 225 are diametrically opposed and each ha~e a top wall 226 connected to two downwardly extending opposed side walls 227, the neck 220 defining a cen-tral passageway 228 therethrough. The neck 220 and particularly the tubular wall portion 221 is closed 25 or sealed hy means of a closure member 229 recessed into the passageway 228 from the bottom 224, which closure member may be a pierceable membrane.
When it is desired to refill the liquid soap reser~oir 175 of the container 120, the cover 30 plate 190 is unlocked and removed and a new refill cartridge 200 is inserted into the refill compartment 205. The refill cartridge 210 is shaped and dimensioned to just fit within the octagonla opening defined by the top plate 180, with the guide walls 215 of the re-35 fill cartridge 210 being respectively disposed forsliding engagement with positioning mem~ers 185 which cooperate to guide the neck 220 of the refill cartridge 210 into the well 155.

1~76216 The neck 220 and particularly the tubular wall portion 221 thereof along with the slots 225 in the bottom flange 223 are positioned in registry with the keys 160 extending inwardly from the inner surface 5 156 of the well 155 to the cartridge opening member 165. As the refill cartridge 210 is moved downwardly, the upper surface 166 of the cartridge opening member 165 and more particularly the upper end thereof con-tacts the closure member 229 in the neck 220 and pierces 10 the same. Continued downward movement of the refill cartridge 210 causes the neck 220 to seat in the well 155 with top surfaces 226 of each slot resting on the top surface 161 of the respective key 160 and with the bottom surface 224 of the cartridge 210 on the bot-15 tom inner surface 157 of the well 155, thereby toslidably fit the cartridge within the well.
Because the cartridge 210 is closed, that is i~perforate except at the neck 220, the liq~lid soap 176 in the cartridge 210 feeds into the reseryoir 175 20 only to the level of the effective outlet of the car-tridge 210 which is the bottom surface 224 of the cartridge neck 220, thereby to maintain the liquid level 177 in the reserYoir at that fixed position which is always below the drain hole 17~ in the rear 25 wall 123 of the soap container housing 120, until the supply of soap 176 in the cartridge 210 is exhausted.
Accordingly, it is now clear how the anti-bootleg fea,ture of the invention is accomplished.
By means of the keys 160 extending upwardly from the 30 bottom inner surface 157 of the well 155, the car-tridge 210 must haye the neck 220 thereof specifically designed to seat all the way to the bottom inner sur-face 157 of the well 155, as disclosed. In the event a bootlegger attempts to use a standard cylindrical 35 neck in the soap dispenser 100, the keys 160 will pre-1~6Z16 yent the neck from extending down to the liquid level 177 shown in FIG. 3. The bootlegged cartridge will only seat to the top 161 of the keys 160, whereby the liquid level in the reservoir 175 will rise to 5 that level which is specifically designed to be above the bottom of the drain hole 178 thereby causing soap to run out of the reservoir and the dispenser 100.
Only cartridges 210 having the specific key accom-modating slots 225 therein will fully seat in the well 10 155 thereby to permit liquid soap 176 contained in the cartridge to drain through the central refill aperture 169 of the memb.er 165 and into the reservoir 175 to a level 177 below the drain hole 178.
When the refill cartridge 210 has thus 15 been inserted to its refill configuration in the refill compartment 205, that is with the neck 220 fully seated into the well 155, thereby to establish the liquid level 177 as illustrated in FIG. 3 of the drawings, the cover plate 190 is then locked in place 20 to close the refill compartment 205 and the enclosed xefill cartridge 210 therein. It will be appreciated that the entire cartridge replacement operation can be performed in a matter of seconds.
When the next service call is made~ the service-25 man can im~ediately tell from inspection of the trans-lucent refill cartridge 210 whether or not it is empty.
If it is empty, it is removed and discarded and a new refill cartridge 210 is inserted into its place in the manner described above. If the refill cartridge 30 210 is not empty, then the serviceman knows that the reservoir 175 still has a substantial quantity of soap 176 th.erein and that no further refill is needed.
The soap dispenser 100 is usable only with the refill cartridge 210 specifically designed ~5 th.erefor, so that the container 120 cannot be re-filled with.the liquid soap from an unauthorized source.

~1762~6 This purpose is furthered by the slot 200 in the rear wall 123 of the container 120. More particularly, it will be understood that by reason of the di-mensions of the central refill aperture 169 in the 5 cartridge opening member 165 which permit free flow of liquid soap therethrough by gravity under ambient pressure, there would be a temptation for unauthorized puryeyors of liqui~d soap to simply pour free or bulk liquid soap into the refill compartment 205 and let 10 it drain through the refill aperture 169. If this is attempted, however, the soap will immediately also flow out through the slot 200, running down the back of the container 100, onto the bracket wall 111 and along the outside of the pump assembly 130 creating 15 a messy overflow and possibly fouling the dispensing mechanism. Thus, it will be appreciated that the slot 200 effectiyely prevents the accumulation of free liquid soap in the reservoir 175.
The above anti-bootleg feature of the slot 20 20~ in combination with the cooperating design of the refill well 155, the upstanding cartridge opening member 165 and the cartridge neck 220 fully prevents the use of unauthorized soap refill cartridges 210 in the dispenser 100 of the present invention. Since boot-25 legging refill cartridges is the single most importeconomic factor in the liquid soap dispensing business, this inYention has attained its principal ob]ects by the aforementioned combination of features.
It will be noted that the finger recesses 30 216 in the refill cartridge 210 serve to facilitate handling thereof during insertion into and removal from the refill compartment 205. These recesses are par-ticularly useful in removal of the spent refill car-tridge 210 because of the very close fit between the 35 walls of the cartridge 210 and the top plate 180 and ~176Z16 because when fully inserted into its refill configura-tion, the refill cartridge 210 only extends a slight distance above the top plate 180.
In storage of the refill cartridge 210 5 it is generally preferably to dispose the top wall 211 downward, since this affords a more stable base than does the neck 220. It will be appreciated that the up-standing ribs provide bearing surfaces for support-ing the refill cartridge 210 thereon during storage.
iO Referring now to FIG. 12, there is disclosed another embodiment of the inventlon wherein a partition 250 is mounted in the soap contalner 120 ln the man-ner aforesaid, the partition 250 having the upper surface 253 thereof sloping generally downwardly 15 toward the center thereof to a well 255. The well 255 has a downwardly extending cyllndrlcal outer wall 254 and an inner wall 256. The well 255 has a flat bottom having a bottom lnner surface 257 provlded with three equilaterally spaced apart small drain 20 holes 258. Upstandlng from the bottom lnner surface 257 of the well 255 are three equllaterally spaced apart rectangularly shaped keys 260. Each of the keys 260 has a generally flat upper surface 261 and op-posed parallel flat side surfaces 262. Each of the 25 small drain holes 258 is interleaved between adjacent keys 260. Als~ upstanding from the bottom inner surface 257 of the well 255 is a cartridge opening member 265 having a slanted upper surface 266 and a central refill aperture or passageway 269 providing 30 communlcatlon between the upper reflll chamber and the lower reservoir.
The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13 operates in the same manner aforesaid with the ex-ception that the complementar cartridge 310 has the 35 bottom wall 312 formed into a neck provided with three 11~6Z16 equilaterally spaced apart grooves 325 therein shaped and dimensioned with a top surface 326 and sides 327, to fit over the seat on the three upstanding keys 260, thereby to provide a specially designed cartridge 5 310 to fit with the keys 260 in the well 255, there-by to provide an anti-bootleg system comprising a dispenser and cartridge designed therefor. The car-tridge 310 and the neck thereof forms a central pas-sageway 328 and is provided with a closure member 329, 10 all as aforesaid.

Claims (21)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are de-fined as follows:

1. A system for dispensing liquid soap comprising a closed wall structure defining a con-tainer, partition means separating said container into a lower liquid soap reservoir and an upper refill com-partment, dispensing means carried by said container for dispensing liquid soap from said reservoir, a refill aper-ture in said partition means providing communication between said reservoir and said refill compartment, a refill cartridge containing liquid soap and having an outlet, and slot and key mechanism carried by the end of said refill cartridge outlet and said container for maintaining said cartridge in a predetermined refill configuration and in communication with said re-fill aperture, said refill cartridge being removably en-closed within said refill compartment in a refill con-figuration with the end of said refill cartridge outlet disposed for cooperation with said refill aperture to permit flow of liquid soap from said refill cartridge to said reservoir thereby to refill said reservoir.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said car-tridge is imperforate except at the outlet thereof, thereby to provide a sealed dispensing system wherein the liquid level in said reservoir never rises above the refill cartridge outlet.

3. The system of claim 2, and further com-prising a drain hole in said upper refill compartment to cause bulk liquid soap poured thereinto to flow therefrom, and a drain hole in said lower liquid soap reservoir vertically spaced above the cartridge out-let when said cartridge is in the refill configuration thereof.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said mechanism is a slot and key.

5. A system for dispensing liquid soap comprising a closed wall structure defining a container, partition means separating said container into a lower liquid soap reservoir and an upper refill compartment, dispensing means carried by said container for dis-pensing liquid soap from said reservoir, a refill well extending downwardly from said partition means having a refill aperture therein providing communica-tion between said reservoir and said refill compart-ment, and a refill cartridge containing liquid soap and having an outwardly extending neck defining an outlet, one of said refill well and the bottom of said neck having a key extending therefrom and the other having a slot therein shaped to receive said key, said refill cartridge being removably enclosed within said refill compartment in a refill configura-tion with the bottom of said neck disposed for co-operation with said refill well and with said key in said slot to permit flow of liquid soap from said re-fill cartridge to said reservoir thereby to refill said reservoir.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein said refill well has the refill aperture in the bottom thereof and said refill cartridge being imperforate except at the outlet thereof.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein said key extends from the inner surface of said refill well.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the bottom of said refill cartridge neck has a slot therein shaped to receive the said key.

9. The system of claim 7, and further compris-ing a drain hole in said upper refill compartment to cause bulk liquid soap poured thereinto to flow there-from, and a drain hole in said lower liquid soap reser-voir vertically located above the inner bottom sur-face of said refill well and below the top surface of said keys.

10. The system of claim 5, wherein there is an even number of keys and an even number of slots.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said even number of keys extends from the inner bottom surface of said refill well and said even number of slots are on the bottom of said refill cartridge neck.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein two of said keys are diametrically opposed on said inner bottom surface of said refill well and there are slots in registry therewith on the bottom of said neck.

13. A system for dispensing liquid soap comprising a closed wall structure defining a con-tainer, partition means separating said container into a lower liquid soap reservoir and an upper re-fill compartment, dispensing means carried by said container for dispensing liquid soap from said reser-voir, a refill well extending downwardly from said partition means having a refill aperture therein pro-viding communication between said reservoir and said re-fill compartment, the inner bottom surface of said re-fill well having a key extending upwardly therefrom, and a refill cartridge containing liquid soap and having an outwardly extending neck defining a tubular out-let the outer bottom surface thereof forming a slot shaped to receive said key, said refill cartridge being removably enclosed within said refill com-partment in a refill configuration with said key in said slot to permit flow of liquid soap from said re-fill cartridge to said reservoir thereby to refill said reservoir.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said cartridge is imperforate except at the outlet thereof, thereby to provide a sealed dispensing system wherein the liquid level in said reservoir never rises above the bottom of said neck.

15. The system of claim 14, and further comprising a drain hole in said upper refill compart-ment to cause bulk liquid soap poured thereinto to flow therefrom, and a drain hole in said lower liquid soap reservoir vertically spaced above the inner bottom surface of said refill well and below the top surface of said key extending upwardly therefrom.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein there are three keys.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein there are two diametrically opposed keys.

18. A system for dispensing liquid soap comprising a closed wall structure defining a con-tainer, partition means separating said container into a lower liquid soap reservoir and an upper re-fill compartment, dispensing means carried by said container for dispensing liquid soap from said reservoir, a refill well extending downwardly from said par-tition means having a portion of the inner bottom sur-face thereof forming a key and having a refill aperture therein providing communication between said reservoir and said refill compartment, an upwardly extending cartridge opening member in said refill well having the outer peripheral surface thereof spaced from the inner surface of said well and connected thereto by said key extending therebetween, and a refill car-tridge containing liquid soap and having an outwardly extending neck with the outer bottom surface thereof having a slot therein shaped complementary to said key and defining an outlet having a closure member therein, said refill cartridge being removably enclosed within said refill compartment in a refill configuration with said neck disposed in the space between said cart-ridge opening member and the inner surface of said refill well with said key in said slot and said closure member opened by contact with said cartridge opening member to permit flow of liquid soap from said refill cartridge to said reser-voir thereby to refill said reservoir.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein said cartridge is imperforate except at the outlet thereof, thereby to provide a sealed dispensing system wherein the liquid level in said reservoir never rises above the bottom of said neck.

20. The system of claim 19 and further comprising a drain hole in said upper refill compartment to cause bulk liquid soap poured thereinto to flow therefrom, and a drain hole in said lower liquid soap reservoir vertically spaced above the inner bottom surface of said refill well and below the top sur-face of said key extending upwardly therefrom.

21. The system of claim 197 wherein said cartridge opening member is a piercing member and said closure member is a pierceable membrane, said piercing member being tubular and defining said refill aperture.