GB2261653A - Dual liquid dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

A dual dispensing system for delivering aliquots of a liquid product is provided, said system comprising a housing (1), two rollers (2,3) and two collapsible pouches (4, 5) for the liquid product, each of said pouches comprising a reservoir and a dosing section which dosing section is located adjacent to manually operable dosing means, and the upper side of said pouches being removably connected to each of the rollers, whereby the rollers turn at each dose of the liquid from the pouch to which they are connected and whereby there is provided means (14, 15 and 17) to automatically switch over from one pouch to the other when the liquid product in the first pouch is exhausted, and vice versa, said switch-over means being actuated by one of the rollers when the pouch to which it is connected, is fully collapsed. <IMAGE>

Description

DUAL LIOUID DISPENSING SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is concerned with a dispenser of the kind for delivering aliquots of a liquid product from a reservoir by actuating a dosing means which is manually operable. Such dispensers are often used in washrooms etc.

for dispensing small amounts of a liquid soap product for hand washing purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various dispensers of the above-mentioned kind have been described- in the literature. For example, the US-patent 4,256,242 (Christine) discloses a liquid soap dispenser comprising a housing, a collapsible bag for holding the liquid soap product and an operating lever or handle for actuating controlled amounts of soap from the bag. The collapsible bag is connected to an outlet by means of a flexible conduit which comprises a pump.

These known type of dispensers offer hygiene and ease of handling for the user. However, a commonly encountered problem with this kind of dispensers is the fact that the dispenser may run out of soap unnoticed which causes annoyance and hygiene risks for the user. Frequently checking by janitors will reduce the likelihood of a soap dispenser being out of soap for a long time, but this is not an economical solution.

It has also been suggested in EP-A110,686 (Kimberley-Clark) to provide the soap dispenser with a window through which the reservoir level may be seen. This offers only a partial solution to the above-mentioned problems because it is not possible to determine when exactly the reservoir will run out of soap. It may even lead to a waste of liquid soap product if it becomes customary to replace the reservoirs before they are completely emptied.

In EP-A-450,687 (Unilever) a dual dispensing system is disclosed comprising a housing, two reservoirs for the liquid product to be dispensed, each reservoir being connected to a pump which can be manually operated via actuating means.

Furthermore, there is provided means to automatically switchover from one pump to the other pump when the liquid product in the first reservoir is exhausted, and vice versa. In the disclosed embodiment this switch-over means is actuated by the vacuum which is created in a reservoir when it is fully collapsed. This type of switch-over means is very suitable for dispensers, wherein immediately after the dispensing action liquid product is sucked into the dosing section by the pump when it returns to its original position. However, when flexible pouches are applied which comprise a liquid product reservoir and a dosing section, this method of refilling the dosing section after each dose of liquid cannot be applied.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a dispenser of the afore-mentioned kind in which pouches comprising an outlet or dosing conduit as an integral part, can be applied. We have now found that this can be achieved by the dispensing system of the present invention.

DEFINITION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a dual dispensing system for delivering aliquots of a liquid product, comprising a housing (1), two rollers (2.3) and two collapsible pouches (4,5) for the liquid product, each of said pouches comprising a reservoir and a dosing section which dosing section is located adjacent to manually operable dosing means, and the upper side of said pouches being removably connected to each of the rollers , whereby the rollers turn at each dose of the liquid from the pouch to which they are connected and whereby there is provided means (14,15 and 17) to automatically switch over from one pouch to the other when the liquid product in the first pouch is exhausted, and vice versa, said switch-over means being actuated by one of the rollers when the pouch to which it is connected, is fully collapsed.

The present invention also provides a pouch adapted for use in a dual dispensing system according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Preferably the collapsible pouches applied in the dispensing system of the present invention are made of plastic material such as polyethylene, polypropylene and PVC. Desirably, these pouches are made of one piece whereby there is full liquid communication between the main reservoir and the smaller dosing section, which generally has the shape of an outlet conduit. As there is full liquid communication, the dosing section is generally refilled after each dose by freely flowing liquid out of the reservoir into the dosing section.

The switch-over means is actuated by movement of one of the rollers when the pouch to which it is connected is fully collapsed. These rollers are preferably turnable along verticle racks, whereby at each dose the pouch from which liquid product is dosed is folded around the roller to which it is connected so as to push liquid product into the dosing section of the pouch. As a consequence of this pushing action by the pouch when it is folded around the roller, liquid products of relatively high viscosity can be effectively applied.

The dispensing system according to the invention preferably comprises indicating means to indicate that a switch -over has occurred. It is especially preferred that these indicating means are visual indicating means.

The flexible dosing sections of the pouches may have an internal dosing volume of from about 0.1 to 10 ml. Their preferred inter dosing volume ranges from about 1 to 5 ml.

The invention will now be better explained by way of the following preferred embodiment, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1A and 1B show schematically a pouch which is applicable for use in a dispenser of the invention and its cross-section; Figure 2 shows a schematic view of a liquid soap dispenser according to the invention as seen from the front; Figure 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the same dispenser as seen from the side; Figure 4 shows a schematic view of the same dispenser as seen from the front, at the moment that the switch-over means switches from the first collapsible pouch to the second.

Figures 1A and 1B show a pouch which is suitable for a dispensing system of the invention, comprising a collapsible reservoir 10 and a flexible dosing section 11, whereby a hook strap 12 is provided at the upper side of the reservoir and an outlet nozzle 13 is provided at the bottom side of the dosing section. Through this outlet nozzle the liquid soap is to be dispensed from the pouch when the dispenser is operated. The hook strap 12 is provided so as to be able to removably position the pouch inside the housing of the dispenser system of the invention.

Figure 2 shows a dual dispenser system of the invention which system features a housing 1 surrounding two separate rollers 2,3 and two collapsible pouches 4,5 equal to the pouch depicted in Figure 1 for holding the liquid soap product.

Although there are two pouches, only one of them is operative at a time. In the depicted situation this is pouch 4. Each pouch is connected to its own roller which is turnable in a verticle direction along a verticle rack 8,9 . These racks are connected to the bottom side of the housing by way of a spring.

There are also provided pressure plates 14,15 situated behind the dosing sections of the pouches which plates are turnable on a spindle but in a fixed position when the respective pouch is operative.

The liquid soap product is dosed from pouch 4 by pushing operating means 16 as shown in Figure 3 in the indicated direction towards the pressure plate 14. During each dose the rack 8 which is connected to the bottom of the housing 1 through a spring 8a, is pushed downwards by the push movement of operating means 16. When after the dose the rack returns to its original position, the roller 2 is slightly turned in a downward direction. As the pouch 4 is connected to roller 2 by way of a hook strap 12, the pouch is folded around the roller during the downward movement of the roller. As a result of this, liquid soap product is pushed into the dosing section of the pouch. This process is repeated for each consecutive dose from pouch 4 until this pouch is run out and a switch-over occurs.

As mentioned above, the pressure plates 14 and 15 behind the dosing sections of the pouches are turnable on a spindle.

Only when the pressure plates are in a fixed position such as pressure plate 14 in Figure 2, liquid soap product can be dispensed out of the respective pouch. During operation of the dual dispenser only one of the pressure plates is in a fixed position.

In Figure 4, the dual dispenser of the invention is shown at the stage that pouch 4 is almost completely emptied and as a result most of this pouch is folded over the roller 2 to which it is connected. In this situation the roller 2 has moved downward along the rack 8 to such a level that it pushes a switch-over hinge 17 so as to loosen pressure plate 14 and fix pressure plate 15. As a consequence, pressure plate 14 that is not fixed anymore will be turned backward by action of the actuating means 16 and will block rack 8.

For refilling the dispenser, the emptied and folded pouch 4 is taken out of the dispenser, the roller is positioned at the top side of the rack and a new full pouch is inserted.

After the switch-over has occurred, the liquid soap product is dosed from out of pouch 5 by pushing the operating means 16 until this pouch is fully collapsed and roller 3 pushes switch-over hinge 17 so as to make the new full pouch 4 operative. This way this automatic switch-over process may be repeated many times. If the empty and fully collapsed pouch is replaced in time before the product in the other pouch is run out, the supply of soap is never interrupted. Furthermore, because the switch-over occurs automatically , the user does not have to draw the attention of an operator if the liquid soap in one of the pouches is run out.

In order to further reduce the probability that the supply of soap is interrupted, the dispenser may be equipped with indicating means to indicate that a switch over has occurred.

The operator will then be able to determine whether one of the pouches has run out of liquid soap without having to open the dispenser.

It should be mentioned here that although reference is made to liquid soap, it is to be understood that the dispenser is in fact suitable for any liquid, gel or paste-like product, for cleaning or sanitizing purposes or even for other products like food products, for instance mayonnaise, all within the scope of the present invention.

It is emphasized that the dispenser shown in the Figures illustrates only a preferred embodiment of the invention and that various constructional alternatives will be immediately evident to the man skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (7)

1. A dual dispensing system for delivering aliquots of a liquid product, comprising a housing (1), two rollers (2.3) and two collapsible pouches (4,5) for the liquid product, each of said pouches comprising a reservoir and a dosing section which dosing section is located adjacent to manually operable dosing means, and the upper side of said pouches being removably connected to each of the rollers , whereby the rollers turn at each dose of the liquid from the pouch to which they are connected and whereby there is provided means (14, 15 and 17) to automatically switch over from one pouch to the other when the liquid product in the first pouch is exhausted, and vice versa, said switch-over means being actuated by one of the rollers when the pouch to which it is connected, is fully collapsed.

2. A dispensing system according to claim 1, wherein the rollers are turnable along verticle racks (8,9), whereby at each dose the pouch from which liquid product is dosed is folded around the roller to which it is connected so as to push liquid product into the dosing section of the pouch.

3. A dispensing system according to claim 1 or 2, comprising indicating means to indicate that a switch over has occurred.

4. A dispensing system according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the dosing sections of the pouches have an internal dosing volume of about 0.1-10 ml.

5. A dispensing system according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the automatic switch-over means comprises a switch over hinge (17) and two turnable pressure plates (14,15) adjacent to the dosing sections of each of the pouches, of which pressure plates only one is fixed during operation, whereby the switch over hinge is pushed by one of the rollers when the pouch to which it is connected is fully collapsed, so as to bring the other pressure plate in a fixed position.

6. A dispensing system according to claim 5, wherein the manually operable dosing means comprise the pressure plates (14,15) and sections of the housing 1 which can be pushed in the direction of the pressure plates.

7. A pouch adapted for use in a dual dispensing system according to any of the preceding claims.