JP2013524977A - Liquid delivery system - Google Patents

Abstract

An alternative method for replenishing a base unit is provided for a liquid delivery system.
A liquid inlet at an upward surface, a liquid duct leading from the liquid inlet to a liquid outlet above the inlet, a pump for pumping liquid from the liquid inlet to the liquid outlet, a motor for driving the pump, and a liquid inlet A liquid delivery system comprising a base unit (2) including a shroud extending upwardly to surround the shroud, wherein the system is in a reverse arrangement with the outlet at the lowest end and in fluid communication with the liquid inlet The container (1) further includes a container (1) accommodated therein, and the container (1) has a supply opening (20) facing an end facing the outlet.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid delivery system. In particular, the present invention relates to the base unit of a liquid delivery system as described in the applicant's earlier application UK application number 0820981.9.

  The liquid delivery system comprises a base unit to which the liquid container containing the substance to be supplied is mounted in an inverted arrangement, i.e. with the outlet at the bottom end. The base unit surrounds the liquid inlet at the upward surface, the liquid duct leading from the liquid inlet to the liquid outlet above the inlet, the pump for pumping liquid from the liquid inlet to the outlet, the motor driving the pump, and the liquid inlet An upwardly extending shroud is provided, the shroud having an upper edge. Such a base unit is hereinafter referred to as “of the type described above”.

  When in use, the replenishment unit is equipped with a valve at the lowest end. The replenishment unit is attached to the base unit. An outlet that protrudes upward and surrounds the liquid inlet can open the valve of the replenishment unit to allow liquid to flow from the replenishment unit to the base unit.

UK application number 0820981.9

  The present invention provides another method of replenishing the system.

  In accordance with the present invention, a liquid delivery system is a base unit of the type described above, which is housed within a shroud in fluid communication with the liquid inlet in a reverse arrangement with the outlet at the lowest end. The container has a replenishment opening facing the end facing the outlet.

The presence of a refill opening at the top of the container in use allows the user to refill without removing the container from the base rather than disposing of the container and replacing it with a new one.
In UK application number 0820981.9, the container is a bottle with a valve at the outlet, which is elastically biased to close the outlet, and when inserted into the base, opens the flow path out of the container and into the base Configured as follows. This valve can be provided in the present invention. However, this valve is not necessary because the container does not need to be removed for refilling. Therefore, as a modification, there is no valve for controlling the flow from the outlet. In this case, to alleviate the hassle, the container can be initially inserted into the base when empty and substantially filled, or before the base and container are flipped into operation. Can be inverted and placed on top of the container.

In a simple form, the container may be a cup-shaped liner that contains the liquid. The liner can include a removable cap for storage, transportation, and replenishment operations. Alternatively, it can be in the form of a bottle that can be selectively closed with a closure element. The closure element can be, for example, in the form of a self-closing valve or a removable cap and can be separate from the bottle or attached in some way, such as a sliding mechanism or hinge.
Embodiments of the system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a dispenser having a bottle according to UK application number 0820981.9, which is merely related to the background art. FIG. 2 is a cut perspective view of the supply container of FIG. 1 introduced into the dispenser but prior to engagement. It is a front perspective view of the 1st example by the present invention. It is a front perspective view of the 2nd example by the present invention.

  Before describing the present invention, the operation of a dispenser with a replenisher container of UK application number 0820981.9 will be described as background art. The dispenser is a hands-free dispenser and is generally suitable for home use. The dispenser is primarily intended to deliver liquid soap, but hand cream, body lotion, moisturizer, facial cream, shampoo, shower gel, foaming soap, shaving cream, dishwashing liquid, toothpaste, acne. It can also be used to deliver other liquid or semi-liquid products (ideally greater in viscosity than water) such as therapeutic creams, surface cleansers, or disinfectants such as alcohol gels.

  The dispenser comprises two main parts, a container 1 and a base unit 2. The container 1 provides a container for the liquid to be supplied and is attached to the base unit 2 as described below.

  The base has a connection 3 to which liquid is supplied from the replenishment unit. The connection 3 is in fluid communication with the delivery tube 4. The pump 5 pumps a fixed amount of liquid out of the supply head 6 along the feed tube 4.

  The base includes an infrared transmitter 7A that transmits an infrared beam through the window 8 to the receiver 7B and detects that the user's hand is near the dispenser. The control circuit starts the pump in response to a signal from the proximity sensor. An exemplary sensor is a shielded beam type sensor, but a reflective sensor can also be used. Although an infrared sensor is shown, any known proximity sensor such as a capacitive sensor can be used. The apparatus can be commercial or battery powered.

The connection between the bottle 1 and the base unit 2 will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.
The base unit 2 includes a cowling 10 that surrounds most of the replenishing container to protect and support the bottle. The insertion port 11 protrudes from the base of the cowling 10. The insertion port has a plurality of castellations 13 on the upper surface thereof. The O-ring seal 14 surrounds the insertion port 11 below the castellation 13.

  When the supply container 1 is placed in the base unit 2, the insertion port 11 enters the annular outlet 15 at the base of the supply container 1 to which the O-ring seal 14 is sealed. Next, the insertion port lifts the outlet valve element 16 against the action of the elastic biasing member 17 and opens the flow path to the base. Two pressure relief valves 18 allow air to enter the bottle when liquid is supplied.

  A supply container according to the present invention is shown in FIG. The replenishing container has the same overall shape as the aforementioned replenishing container, but can have a different shape. The refill container can have a valve element and / or one or more pressure relief valves. However, these are not essential for the operation of the supply container.

The supply container 1 has a supply opening 20 at the upper end, which can be selectively closed by a cap 21 attached to the upper end of the bottle with an elastic hinge 22.
The replenishing container 1 can be filled with liquid or can be emptied. If filled with liquid, a removable cover should be required. Prior to flipping all assemblies to the configuration shown in FIG. 3, the cover must be removed and the base ideally flipped over and placed on the top of the housing, after which the device can operate normally.
Alternatively, the supply container 1 can be emptied, in which case the supply container can simply be arranged in the base 2 in the direction shown in FIG. If the bottle is empty, that is, if the entire bottle needs to be refilled, the user simply opens the cap 21 and injects new liquid into the refill container 1 and continues to use the device as usual.
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, all of the upper end portion of the supply container 1 ′ can be removed so that the supply container has a cup shape instead of the bottle shape shown in FIG. 3. This cup-shaped replenishing container can be closed with a cap (larger than the cup 21) fitted to the upper end of the replenishing container.

Claims (8)

  A liquid inlet at the upward surface; a liquid duct leading from the liquid inlet to the liquid outlet above the inlet; a pump for pumping liquid from the liquid inlet to the liquid outlet; a motor for driving the pump; A liquid delivery system comprising a base unit including a shroud extending upwardly to surround the liquid inlet, wherein the system is in a reverse arrangement with the outlet at its lowest end and in fluid communication with the liquid inlet. A liquid delivery system further comprising a container housed within the shroud, the container having a replenishment opening facing an end opposite the outlet.   The system of claim 1, wherein there is no valve at the outlet from the container.   The system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the supply container can be closed by a closing element.   The system according to claim 1, wherein the base unit further comprises a sensor for detecting the presence of an object near the outlet and triggering a feeding operation.   The system according to claim 1, wherein the base unit is an independent unit.   The system according to claim 1, wherein the base unit includes a battery that drives the motor.   The system according to claim 1, wherein the container is in a bottle-like form.   The system according to claim 1, wherein the container is in a cup-like form.

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