EP0517682A1

EP0517682A1 - Liquid soap dispenser

Info

Publication number: EP0517682A1
Application number: EP92830296A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gianandrea Niada
Original assignee: QTS SRL
Current assignee: QTS SRL
Priority date: 1991-06-06
Filing date: 1992-06-04
Publication date: 1992-12-09
Anticipated expiration: 2012-06-04
Also published as: DE69209150D1; ES2085608T3; ITMI911549A0; IT1247991B; ITMI911549A1; EP0517682B1; DE69209150T2

Abstract

There is described herein a liquid soap dispenser (1), improved in that it is provided with a push-operated dispensing actuation lever (4), mounted on the front lid (2) portion of the box comprising said dispenser. Said lid is pivotally connected at a position close to the bottom of the fixed portion, fastened to a wall (3), in order to open completely at 180° relative to said fixed portion, for the purpose of providing a maximum ease of access during replacement of the supply cartridge and for the most convenient positioning of the dispensing arrangement within said dispenser. In addition, the pressure member (10) acting against the dispensing arrangement flexible wall is preferably comprised of an oscillating member, connected or integral with the actuating lever (4), in order to conform automatically to said flexible wall, by being maintained as much as possible in a parallel position thereto during the approaching motion thereof.

Description

This invention concerns an improved liquid soap dispenser, of the wall mounted type.
A number of types of liquid soap dispensers are already known, to be installed mainly in the toilet rooms of public premises, but they are still affected by a number of drawbacks, first among them the fact of requiring, for liquid soap dispensing, that a pulling action be performed in a direction from the wall towards the user, on an actuating lever handle. An action in this direction, besides involving the problem of a possible stripping of the dispenser from the wall, if a large force is applied, necessarily requires the user to insert his fingers on the back side of the handle in order to perform the pulling action. For sanitary reasons, sometimes it would instead be more appropriate to actuate the liquid soap dispensing with a minimum contact against surfaces already touched by others, and preferably by using areas of the body different from the fingers, preferably by means of the forearms, as for instance it is the case for surgeons before entering the operating room.
Further drawbacks of the liquid soap dispensers are, in addition, a poor accessibility to the internals for supply cartridge replacement, which is in any case by far preferred compared to the use of small tanks or containers refillable from the top, and related insertion of the thin tube or dispensing arrangement, because of the presence of the pushing member actuated through the handle, said pushing member being in turn often subjected to a relatively complicated motion due to the need for accomplishing a double function, i.e. in addition to compressing the side wall of the dispensing tube, also the function of a check valve, i.e. by performing first a complete squashing of the upper region of the tube and then a progressive downwards compression, to assist the liquid in coming out. The above takes place mainly when use is made of disposable supply bags or cartridges, provided with integral dispensing tubes without a check valve.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a liquid soap dispensing apparatus which is improved concerning both a simple construction and accessibily to the internals thereof, and especially the provision for an easier, more sanitary and safer actuation concerning the problem of a possible stripping of said apparatus from the point of fastening.
Said object is met by a substantially box-shaped liquid soap dispenser, whose front wall forms the lid of said apparatus, which can be completely turned over 180°, which lid carries a dispenser actuating lever handle mounted thereon, wich can be actuated by pushing towards the point of fastening of the apparatus, and wherein the pushing member is directly actuated through said handle, being integral or pivoted on the latter around the centerline thereof, in a transverse direction relative to the longitudinal direction of said dispensing tube against which it is preferably constantly bearing, with a slight squashing action, even when the handle is at rest.
The above and further objects, advantages and features of the dispenser according to this invention vill become more apparent to those skilled in the art from reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, reported herein for exemplary but non limiting purposes, and referring to the attached drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic front view of the dispensing device of this invention, in a closed position;
Figure 2 is a schematic sectional view, along line II-II of Figure 1;
Figure 3 shows a partial side elevational view of the device of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a front view of the dispenser, completely open, and with the lid in turned over, downwards position.

Referring now to the attached drawings, the device of this invention comprises a substantially box-like member 1 including a front wall or lid 2, and a back wall 3 provided with the means for the fastening thereof to a mounting wall. Lid 2 is pivoted relative to wall 3, at the lower end thereof, through opposite pivot pins 5. According to this invention, lid 2 carries a dispenser actuating lever or handle 4 which can be operated upon by pushing towards the mounting wall, i.e. towards the inside of the apparatus. As it is shown more clearly in Figures 2 and 4, actuating lever 4 is mounted on lid 2 by being pivoted at 12 around a pair of pivot pins integral with brackets 8 projecting perpendicularly from the lid internal surface, at the end of the handle opposite from the actuating end, and it projects towards the inside of the dispenser by entering an opening 9 provided on the bottom of lid 2. The latter, as it is shown more clearly in Figure 3, is preferably tapered downwards, as it is the case for back wall 3. The portion of actuating lever handle 4 located inside the dispenser has a pivoted member 10 adapted to freely oscillate around a pair of pivot pins 14 defining a transverse pivot axis, parallel to the line connecting the pivoting points 12 of said lever. Stop members (not shown), integral with said handle, limit the oscillating angle of member 10 around pivot pins 14. Actuating lever handle 4 is preferably provided, in the portion thereof received within the dispenser, with a raised edge 18, along the whole periphery thereof, projecting in particular from both sides thereof, for the pivot connection at 12 on the pair of brackets 8, and in order to support said oscillating member 10, pivoted at 14.
It should be noted that pushing member 10 may be mounted with a different arrangement on handle 4, possibly integral therewith, with a certain degree of flexibility to conform in any case to the wall of dispenser 20. A resilient member 4a, bearing against the inner surface of lid 2, biases the handle back, towards the rest position thereof, after each actuation.
In particular, as it shown more clearly in Figure 2, member 4a may comprise a portion integral with said handle, made for instance thinner than the portion to be actuated, in order to give more flexibility. On the side of the lid opposite from the pivoted one at 5, there is provided a lock 6, for locking by means of a corresponding stop member 6a provided on the upper side of back wall 3.
Inside the fastened half-box, comprising back wall 3 and the side edges thereof, supporting members 15 and 16 are provided, for supply cartridge 30 and for dispensing tube 20 respectively. The latter may be any known type and in particular, although not necessarily, like the one provided with the top threaded nut as disclosed and claimed in utility model N.MI91U000498 of the applicant. In this case, support 16 will preferably have a fork-like shape. Provision will as well be made for a wall or shim 17, integral with back wall 3, extending between said support member 16 and the lower region of wall 3, in order to counteract the action performed by member 10 against flexible tube 20, and to cause the latter to be squashed.
It should further be noted that, in order to reduce the stroke of handle 4, counteracting wall 17 and support 16 may be positioned so much ahead as to keep tube 20 in a slightly squashed condition all the time, also at rest. It is emphasized herein that such a condition does not cause any problem in positioning said tube, in that said operation is performed while lid 2 is completely open, and turned over downwards, then with member 10 completely out of the way. Only when the lid is closed this may cause the tube to be slightly squashed against the back stop member comprising portion 17. In this way, liquid can be dispensed with a very short stroke of handle 4, which will be completely effective in that there is no play.
As it may be seen on Figure 2, without any meaning of limitation, support member 15 for a bag or cartridge 30 may be advantageously obtained by molding an undercut on wall 3, whereby material thickness and weight of the apparatus may be reduced, while maintaining a satisfactory mechanical strength.
The bottom of wall 3 continues, beyond the tapered region mentioned above, in the area of the apparatus center line, where lid 2 is pivoted at 5, through a region 19 provided with a central opening 13 coaxial with dispensing tube 20 and immediately underlying the latter, for liquid soap ejection. Said opening 13 is located at about the same height as the lower side of handle 4, in order to be able to collect the dispensed product by the same hand used to operate the handle. It is preferred that bottom portion 19 is trough-shaped in order to collect liquid soap that while coming out would not pass directly through opening 13, by directing it in any case towards the latter.
It should eventually be noted that the dispensing device of this invention will preferably have the smallest possible size to be able to receive, in the compact box-like shape thereof, the product supply cartridge, in a position as close as possible to vertical, without any need for auxiliary cardboard containers as it is often the case for the liquid soap dispensers known in the art.
Those skilled in the art will be able to make additions and/or modifications to the above described embodiment of the liquid soap dispenser of this invention without exceeding the scope of the invention. In particular modifications may be made to the outer shape of the body walls and in general to the shape of the parts of the apparatus.

Claims

A liquid soap dispensing apparatus including a back wall (3) to be fastened to a vertical fixed support and a front wall (2), a container of a disposable cartridge type (30) holding the liquid to be dispensed, and a flexible dispensing tube (20), with an actuating handle (4), characterized by having a substantially box-like shape where front wall (2) comprises the lid, which can be completely turned over 180°, said lid carrying said lever handle (4) mounted thereon, for dispenser actuation, which can be operated by pushing towards back wall (3), and wherein a member (10) adapted to press said dispensing tube (20) is actuated directly by said handle (4) in that it is pivotably connected thereto, or flexibly integral therewith.
The dispensing device of claim 1, characterized in that said pressure member (10) is freely pivoting mounted on said handle (4), at opposite points (14), around a centerline thereof which is transverse relative to tube (20) longitudinal direction.
The dispensing apparatus of claim 2, characterized by including means adapted to limit oscillation of said pressure member (10) around points (14).
The dispensing device of claim 1, characterized in that said actuating lever handle (4) extends within the apparatus, by passing through an opening (9) provided at the bottom of said lid (2), and it is pivoted at the end thereof opposite from the outer actuating end, around a transverse axis connecting two pivoting points (12) relative to a pair of respective side brackets (8) projecting from the inner surface of said lid (2).
The dispensing device of claims 2 and 4, characterized in that said inner portion of actuating lever handle (4) has a raised edge (18) around the periphery thereof and on said edge (18) there is provided said pivoting points (12, 14) adapted to define mutually parallel rotation axes, for said handle and respectively for member (10) relative to the latter.
An apparatus according to one or more of the above claims, characterized in that it includes resiliently compressible means (4a) adapted to cause handle (4) to spring back to the rest position thereof, after each actuation.
The dispensing device according to claim 6, characterized in that said spring means (4a) comprises a portion integral with handle (4), extending beyond said pivot points (12) and adapted to react in a spring-like fashion against the inner surface of lid (2).
A dispensing device according to any one of the above claims, characterized in that it includes, as being mounted inside the half-box defined by said back wall (3), two mutually parallel support members (15, 16), for supply cartridge (30) and for dispensing tube (20), respectively, including coaxial recesses for respective positioning of said members.
The dispensing device of claim 8, characterized in that said back wall (3), at the central area of bottom (19) thereof, at a position corresponding to pivoting points (5) of lid (2), is provided with an opening (13) coaxial with said positioning recesses for cartridge (30) and for dispensing tube (20).
The dispensing apparatus of claim 8, characterized in that between said support (16) of dispensing tube (20) and bottom (19) of back wall (13) there is provided a surface parallel and integral therewith, whose distance from said pressure member (10) is slightly shorter than the cross section of said dispensing tube, whereby a slight squashing is present even when handle (4) is completely at rest.