GB1576644A - Apparatus for the metered discharge of liquid - Google Patents

Description

(54) APPARATUS FOR THE MITERED DISCHARGE OF LIQUID (71) We, BRAUN AKTIENGESELL SCHAFT, a body corporate organised and existing under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, of 22 Rilsselsheimer Strasse, 6 Frankfurt/Main, Federal Republic of Germany, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following state ment ::- This invention relates to an apparatus for the metered discharge of liquid in which a liquid container is provided from which a liquid can be supplied to a clearly defined point by means of a dosing device, to which end the liquid container has at least one opening, whilst within the liquid container and in front of the opening, a liquid-storing and compressible object is provided which can be compressed by an operating member located at least partly outside the liquid container.

As a result of numerous tests, it has been established that particularly good fashioning of the hair is possible if the hair is wetted with steam and subsequently dried.

So-called steam curling irons or rods were developed which, unlike the conventional steam curlers, premitted both the wetting and the subsequent drying of the hair.

Although no particular technical difficulties were caused by the problem of heating the curling rod and consequently drying the hair, it is not particularly easy to produce the particular quantity of steam necessary for wetting the hair and to apply it to the latter in a planned manner.

Numerous proposals have been made for s. 2,254,66; 2,491,845; 2,880,299; 3,220,421 solving the problem of producing and supplying steam (cf U.S. Patent Specification Nos. 2,254,266; 2.491,845; 2,880,299; 3,220,421 and 3,610,259 and French Patent Specification No. 2,021,297). In a recently developed steam curling rod, a water container from which projects a wick is for example provided in addition to an electrically heatable heating element (U.S. Patent 3,835,292, German Utility Model 7,406,555). A sleeve with holes is arranged around the heating element, whereby the water which evaporates from the wick flows through these holes and is able to moisten the hair. The actual wick has a cylindrical central portion, an evaporator head and a rear flange.

As the wick projects into the water container, it becomes impregnated with water and feeds the absorbed liquid by means of capillary forces to the evaporator head. The evaporator head can now be pressed against a heating plate where a given quantity of water can evaporate. However, in practice, it has been found that when the wick is arranged in the manner described above, sealing problems can occur and in addition the evaporation process takes place in an irregular manner. If, for example, water is evaporated and the steam curling rod is pivoted downwards with the water container, a bubble of air rises upwards in the sleeve and escapes via the wick. Thus, a vacuum is formed in the water container which draws water to it so that hot water flows out of the container and consequently the evaporator head and possibly scalds the fingers of the user or drips onto the user's feet.Moreover, sealing problems occur not only when the device is in operation but also when the steam curling rod is out of use because a wick does not provide an absolute seal between two chambers so that water may drip out of the apparatus even when it is in the inoperative position.

A further disadvantage of supplying water via a wick is that the quantity of water can only be metered in an inadequate manner. As tests have shown, in connection with a steam curling rod of the type described above, the quantity of evaporated water depends greatly on the pressure with which the wick is pressed against a heating plate. Since, when dressing the hair, it is almost impossible to press the wick with an approximately constant force against the heating plate, irregular steaming of the hair occurs.

The present invention therefore aims to provide an apparatus for the metered discharge of liquid having a liquid container from which, by means of a dosing device, liquid can be supplied to a clearly defined point, whereby said apparatus does not have the above-mentioned disadvantages.

According to the invention, there is provided an apparatus for the metered discharge of liquid, comprising a liquid container having a chamber for containing liquid and at least one opening, a liquidstoring and compressible object within the liquid container and in front of the opening, an operating member located at least partly outside the liquid container, and means for holding and guiding the operating member, wherein said operating member is movable between a first position in which it blocks the passage of liquid from the said chamber to the liquid-storing object and a second position in which it permits the passage of liquid from the chamber to the liquid-storing object and is effective to compress said object.

The operating member preferably includes a rod arranged to contact at one end the liquid-storing and compressible object, said end being provided with a valve head which in said first position seals a passage leading from the chamber to the liquid-storing object under the action of a spring acting on said rod. Advantageously, said passage is formed by an annular clearance between the rod and the holding and guiding means.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the liquid-storing object is located in a chamber provided in a metering section which serves to close said opening in the liquid container and acts as a stopper for said container.

The particular advantages obtained with the invention are that an accurately defined quantity of liquid can be fed several times in succession from a liquid container to a heating plate or the like, whereby unintentional discharge of liquid is prevented, even if the assembly is vigorously shaken or its position is suddenly changed.

An embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention will now be further described with reference to the drawing.

The drawing shows an apparatus according to the invention which substantially comprises four parts, namely an operating member 1, a cover 2 for a liquid container, a liquid container 3 having a central chamber 16 and a metering section 4. A liquidstoring compressible object, for example a foam cushion 6 which is connected to a spring 7 is provided in the metering section 4 which faces a heating plate 5. The spring 7 can be incorporated into the object 6.

The metering section 4 has a nozzle 8 at one end which points in the direction of the heating plate 5, whilst, at its other end, it has a mounting support 9 which acts as a valve seat for a movable valve member consisting of a valve head 12 and a rod 10.

The rod 10 extends through the mounting support 9 with an annular clearance 11 for the passage of water. The spring 7 acts to maintain the valve head 12 against the seat on the mounting support 9 to close the valve.

The metering section 4 can be slid or screwed into the liquid container 3 at one end thereof so that they are firmly interconnected in water-impermeable manner.

The cover 2, which is elastic and waterimpermeable, is in contact with the rod 10 on one surface, and with the operating member 1 on its other surface.

For the purpose of filling the water container with water, the metering section 4 is removed. When this is done, water can be fed into the container 3 until the chamber 16 is full whereupon the section 4 is refitted. The actual discharge of water for the purpose of evaporation can now commence.

Firstly, the operating member 1 is pressed against the cover 2, so that the latter bends and the rod 10 is displaced to the right as viewed in the drawing to force the valve head 12 off the valve seat against the action of the spring 7 and thus the valve is opened.

As a result of deforming the cover 2, the water in the chamber 16 is forced along the annular clearance 11 and through the open valve and penetrates the object 6.

Further movement of the rod 10 towards the right as viewed in the drawing serves to compress the object 6 and water is pressed out of said object and sprayed through nozzle 8 onto heating plate 5.

After heating plate 5 has been sprayed with water the same process can be repeated several times in succession. Operating member 1 is returned to its initial position by the restoring force of spring 7 via rod 10, so that pressure can again be exerted in the direction of the cover 2.

It has been found that the heating plate 5 can even be sprayed with water if the water container contains only a little water.

Owing to the pumping movement of cover 2 and the suction movement of object 6, there is always sufficient water in the liquid-storing object 6. In order that water can only move from the left to the right, it is necessary for there to be the annular clearance 11 between mounting support 9 and the rod 10 for the passage of liquid in one direction and for said rod to carry at one end the valve head 12 to prevent the passage of water in the opposite direction.

A rubber disc 14 whose peripheral surface engages with the inner wall 13 of the container 3 and which is also slid onto the sleeve-like mounting support 9 prevents, with the apparatus in the horizontal position, any bubble of air present in the chamber 16 from moving into the annulus 15 but after removing the metering section 4 makes available for the filling process the entire internal cross-section of the liquid container.

It should be noted that while the foregoing description refers to water and the apparatus has been primarily designed for use in hair styling appliances, the invention is not restricted to such use and that the apparatus according to the invention is equally applicable to other uses in which apparatus designed for the metered discharge of water or other liquid is required.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1 An apparatus for the metered discharge of liquid, comprising a liquid container having a chamber for containing liquid and at least one opening, a liquidstoring and compressible object within the liquid container and in front of the opening, an operating member located at least partly outside the liquid container, and means for holding and guiding the operating member, wherein said operating member is movable between a first position in which it blocks the passage of liquid from the said chamber to the liquid-storing object and a second position in which it permits the passage of liquid from the chamber to the liquidstoring object and is effective to compress said object.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operating member includes a rod arranged to contact at one end the liquid-storing and compressible object, said end being provided with a valve head which in said first position seals a passage leading from the chamber to the liquidstoring object under the action of a spring acting on said rod.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said passage is formed by an annular clearance between the rod and the holding and guiding means.

4. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the liquid-storing object is located in a chamber provided in a metering section which serves to close said opening in the liquid container and acts as a stopper for said container.

5. An apparatus for the metered discharge of liquid substantially as described herein with reference to the drawing.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (5)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. clearance 11 between mounting support 9 and the rod 10 for the passage of liquid in one direction and for said rod to carry at one end the valve head 12 to prevent the passage of water in the opposite direction. A rubber disc 14 whose peripheral surface engages with the inner wall 13 of the container 3 and which is also slid onto the sleeve-like mounting support 9 prevents, with the apparatus in the horizontal position, any bubble of air present in the chamber 16 from moving into the annulus 15 but after removing the metering section 4 makes available for the filling process the entire internal cross-section of the liquid container. It should be noted that while the foregoing description refers to water and the apparatus has been primarily designed for use in hair styling appliances, the invention is not restricted to such use and that the apparatus according to the invention is equally applicable to other uses in which apparatus designed for the metered discharge of water or other liquid is required. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1 An apparatus for the metered discharge of liquid, comprising a liquid container having a chamber for containing liquid and at least one opening, a liquidstoring and compressible object within the liquid container and in front of the opening, an operating member located at least partly outside the liquid container, and means for holding and guiding the operating member, wherein said operating member is movable between a first position in which it blocks the passage of liquid from the said chamber to the liquid-storing object and a second position in which it permits the passage of liquid from the chamber to the liquidstoring object and is effective to compress said object.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operating member includes a rod arranged to contact at one end the liquid-storing and compressible object, said end being provided with a valve head which in said first position seals a passage leading from the chamber to the liquidstoring object under the action of a spring acting on said rod.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said passage is formed by an annular clearance between the rod and the holding and guiding means.

4. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the liquid-storing object is located in a chamber provided in a metering section which serves to close said opening in the liquid container and acts as a stopper for said container.

5. An apparatus for the metered discharge of liquid substantially as described herein with reference to the drawing.