MXPA00009835A - Liquid dispenser and control system - Google Patents

Abstract

A liquid dispenser and control system includes a base member (1) having an intake cavity (3) with an axis for orientation in an upward direction, the intake cavity being sealingly mateable with a mouth opening of a replaceable liquid container (2) which, when mated with the intake cavity, is in an inverted position for draining liquid through the mouth opening into the intake cavity. The intake cavity includes a sump (22) into which liquid from the container can drain by gravity. The vent tube assembly (5) has an intake end connectable to atmosphere or a source of gas, the vent tube assembly (5) extending from the base member (1) through the intake cavity (3), and has a venting end for positioning inside the container. A passageway extends through a portion of the base member, the passageway having an entry end and an exit end, the entry end connected to the sump, through which liquid from the sump can drain into the passageway. A sensor (16) has a fluid path therethrough connected to the exit end of the passageway, the sensor for detecting when liquid flow through the passageway from the container ceases and is followed by gas from the container entering the sensor (16). A liquid conduit (12) is connected to the fluid path of the sensor, for receiving liquid passing through the sensor.

Description

LIQUID SUPPLIER AND CONTROL SYSTEM Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of liquid delivery with precision, such as when it is desired or required to account for all the liquid dispensed per unit volume. One such application is the distribution of controlled substances in a clinical setting.

Background of the Invention Currently, controlled substance distribution systems extract liquid directly from a bottle in which the material is supplied by the manufacturer. This is carried out by aspirating liquid through a submerged tube that has been inserted through the opening or lid of the bottle, with the bottle standing or fixed at a slight angle. As the doses are dispensed, the material is extracted from the bottle until the level drops below the intake of the submerged tube, at which time air begins to be sucked into the distribution system, the pumping device loses its charge and the distribution ends At this point a partial dose has been dispensed and this must be accounted for, together with the residual liquid left in the bottle. It is required to weigh these left quantities and cover the weight for the appropriate unit / volume using the specific gravity of the material. After accounting for the partial dose and the residual liquid left in the bottle, the empty bottle should be replaced with a new full bottle. Because the pumping device has lost its liquid charge after emptying the previous bottle, it is necessary to prime the system with the liquid from this new bottle. By doing this, a certain amount of liquid from this new bottle will be expelled from the dispensing nozzle and must be collected, weighed and accounted for as described above.

The disadvantages of the aforementioned system are the inconvenience of collecting, weighing and accurately accounting for the liquid losses for the partial dose and the residual liquid left in the bottle that can not be drained completely, as well as the need to prime the system after each bottle change Additionally, it must be understood that this is an entirely manual system and that the reliability of the human operation in the material, heavy handling and data collection gives rise to many opportunities for inaccuracies and errors to occur. There is a need in the art for improvements in fluid distribution and control systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, a liquid dispenser and its control system comprises a base member having an intake cavity with an axis for orientation in an upward direction. The intake cavity is capable of sealingly engaged with a mouth opening of a container of liquid capable of being replaced and which, when coupled to said intake cavity, said container of liquid is in an inverted position to drain liquid to through said mouth opening and into said intake cavity. The intake cavity includes a sump into which liquid from said container can be drained by gravity. included is a vent tube assembly having an intake end capable of connection to the atmosphere or a gas source, the vent pipe assembly extends from said base member through said intake cavity, and having one end of ventilation to be placed inside said container. A passageway extends through a portion of said base member, the passageway having an inlet end and an outlet end, the inlet end is connected to said sump, through which liquid from said sump may be drained within said passageway. A detector having a flow path through it is connected to the exit end of said passageway, said detector registers when liquid flowing through said passageway from said container, stops passing and is followed by gas from said passageway. container and penetrates said detector. A liquid conduit is connected to said fluid path of said detector, to receive liquid passing through said detector.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of a liquid dispenser and its control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a perspective view, partially sectional and with dismembered parts, showing internal details of the device of Figure 1. Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view, partially sectional and with dismembered parts, similar to Figure 2. Figure 4 is a perspective view, partially sectional and with dismembered parts, showing internal details of the device of Figure 2. Figure 5 is a mainly schematic drawing of a dispensing system according to one embodiment, to which the present invention is applicable.

Detailed Description of Preferred Modes The present invention is useful for dispensing controlled substances, such as liquid methadone, in a clinical setting. With reference to Figure 1, a liquid spout and its control system according to the present invention includes a base member 1. As shown in Figure 2, the base member includes an intake cavity with a vertical axis for orientation in an upward direction. The intake cavity 3 is capable of sealingly engaging the opening 20 of the mouth of a liquid container capable of being replaced, such as a bottle 2. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, when the liquid container replaceable 2 is coupled with the intake cavity 3, the liquid container 2 is in an inverted position to drain liquid from the container 2 through said mouth opening 2 into the intake cavity 3. In preferred embodiments, the member base 1 is not fixedly mounted to any surface or structure, allowing it to be reoriented and fixed with the bottle 2 in a vertical upward position, and subsequently inverted. In the embodiment shown, a washer 4 provides a liquid-tight seal between the opening of the bottle 2 and the intake cavity 3. It can also be seen in Figure 2 that the container 2 has a threaded mouth opening 20 for coupling in form sealed with the corresponding threads of the intake cavity 3. With further reference to Figure 2, the intake cavity 3 includes a sump 22 within which liquid from the container can be drained by gravity. A vent pipe assembly 5 is provided by extending from the base member 1 through the intake cavity 3. In preferred embodiments, a check valve 8 is provided at the vent end of the vent pipe assembly 5 to be positioned inside the container 2. The check valve 8 provides a gas flow in a direction outside the vent tube assembly 5 and prevents liquid from penetrating the vent pipe assembly 5. The vent tube assembly 5 allows air another gas enters the container 2 to replace the liquid that is drawn from it through the base member 2. The check valve 8 prevents liquid from flowing into the vent pipe assembly 5. In these embodiments shown, the pipe assembly Ventilation 5 extends substantially coaxially through the sump 22. In preferred embodiments, the vent pipe assembly 5 is composed of This is provided by an upstanding tube portion 6 having upper and lower ends 6a 6b respectively, shown in Figure 4. In the embodiment shown, the upright tube 6 is substantially rigid. The lower end 6b of the upright tube 6 is connected to a gas conduit 19 in the base member 1, gas conduit 19 which is capable of being connected to the atmosphere or to a gas source. Figure 2 shows in dotted lines the gas conduit 19 in the base member 1, which communicates the lower end of the portion 6 of the upright pipe with the atmosphere or a gas source. In the modality shown, the connection is by means of a gas pipe fitting 26. The vent pipe assembly 5 further includes a flexible pipe portion 7, having upper and lower ends 7a and 7b, respectively. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, tube clamps 9 are used to hold the upper end 6a of the portion 6 of the upright tube to the lower end 7b of the portion 7 of the flexible tube, as well as to hold the check valve 8 to the upper end 7a of the portion 7 of the flexible tube. In the embodiment shown, the base member 1 comprises an upper base portion 10 and a lower base portion 11. See Figure 3. The upper and lower base portions 10 and 11 are held together by any suitable means, such as screws (not shown). The upper base portion 10 includes the intake cavity 3, as well as a passageway 12 extending through the upper portion 10 of the base member 1. The passage 12 has an inlet end 12a and an outlet end 12b . The inlet end 12a is connected to the sump 12 of the container 2. With reference to Figures 3 and 4, a detector 16 having a flow path 28 through it and connected to the outlet end 12b of the passageway 12 is provided. The detector 16 records when liquid flowing through the passageway 12 from the container 2 stops and is followed by air or gas from the container and penetrating the detector through the passageway 12. The detector 12 can be an optical device, or any another suitable type of flow device through, to detect a change in the flow of liquid to gas. In the embodiment shown, the detector has a vertical viewing tube which is composed of the flow path 28.

In preferred embodiments, the passageway 12 is at a positive angle with respect to the axis of the intake cavity 3, more preferably at an angle of between approximately 5 ° and approximately 45 °, even more preferably at an angle of between 20 ° and approximately 30 °. °, and in the mode shown, at an angle of approximately 25.7 °. As shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, the lower base member 11 includes the detector 16 mounted therein. As clearly shown in Figure 4, the upright tube 6 extends from the lower base portion 11 through the upper base portion 10. The lower base portion 11 further includes the liquid conduit 17 for directing liquid toward a liquid spout, which may be capable of being connected to a liquid tube attachment 18. Figure 4 also shows a portion of gas conduit 19. As shown in Figure 2, gas conduit 19 is connected to gas pipe fitting 26. The detector 16 includes a detector output 24, the fourth connected to a pump 30 to shut off the pump 30 when air is detected in the fluid path 28 by the detector 16. The pump 30 is connected to the liquid tube attachment 18 by a line 32 shown in Figure 5. The pump 30 is also connected to a dispensing nozzle 34 by a line 36, to supply the liquid material. Also shown in Figure 5 is a vent line 38 which is connected to the gas pipe fitting 26 shown in Figure 2. The line 38 may be connected to the atmosphere, or to a gas source. The upper portion 10 of the base member includes cavities to house washer seals 4, as well as seals 13 and 14 shown in Figure 3. The present invention provides a device that allows a container such as a bottle 2 to be completely drained from its contents and provides output signals to stop the distribution of the liquid before air is introduced into the pump 30 and the pump loses its charge. The device of the present invention allows the content of each bottle to be counted at will. The present invention also provides, full automatic detection, to monitor the amount of liquid dispensed within a partial dose at the time of cutting. This eliminates the need for an operator to weigh and account for this partial dose since the system will be able to complete the prescribed dose after the empty bottle has been replaced with a full bottle. The present invention in this way significantly improves the traditional method of dispensing controlled liquid substances by providing improved material handling capabilities and an automatic liquid detection feature to provide automatic monitoring and control of the liquid volume used. Since many modifications, variations and changes in the detail can be carried out in the described manner, it is intended that all the material in the preceding description and that was shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a sense limitative.

Claims (13)

1. Novelty of the Invention 1. A liquid jet and control system, which comprises: a base member having an intake cavity with an axis for orientation in an upward direction, the intake cavity being able to be coupled in a sealed to a mouth opening of a container of liquid capable of being replaced, which when coupled with said intake cavity, said liquid container is in an inverted position for draining liquid through said mouth opening into the intake cavity; said intake cavity including a sump into which liquid from said container can be drained by gravity; a vent pipe assembly having an inlet end capable of being connected to the atmosphere or a gas source, the vent tube assembly extending from said base member through said intake cavity, and having an end of ventilation to be placed inside said container; a passageway extending through a portion of said base member, the passageway having an inlet end and an outlet end, the inlet end connected to said sump, through which liquid from the sump can be drained into the sump. said passageway; a detector having a fluid path through it and which is connected to the outlet end of said passage, said detector for recording when liquid flowing through said passageway from the container stops passing and is followed by gas coming from said container and penetrating said detector; a liquid conduit connected to said fluid path of said detector, for receiving liquid passing through said detector. The system of claim 1, wherein said container is a bottle having a threaded mouth opening, and wherein said intake cavity has coupling threads for sealingly engaging said mouth opening. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein said vent end of said vent tube assembly includes a check valve for flow in a gas direction away from the vent pipe assembly, and which prevents liquid from penetrating said assembly. of ventilation tube. The system of claim 1, wherein said vent tube assembly extends through said sump. The system of claim 4, wherein said ventilation tube assembly extends substantially coaxially through said sump. The system of claim 3, wherein said vent pipe assembly comprises an upright pipe portion having upper and lower ends, the upper end connected to a gas conduit in said base member, gas conduit which is liable to be connected to said atmosphere or said gas source, the upper end of the upright tube portion connected to a lower end of a hose portion of said vent tube assembly, the hose portion having an upper end connected to said check valve. The system of claim 6, wherein said upright tube is substantially rigid. The system of claim 7, wherein said base member comprises upper and lower base portions, the upper base portion including said intake cavity and said passage, the lower base portion including said detector mounted therein and said tube erect extending from said lower base portion through said upper base portion, said lower base portion further including said liquid conduit for directing liquid toward a liquid jet, said lower base portion further comprising said gas conduit. The system of claim 8, wherein said passageway is at a positive angle with respect to said axis of said intake cavity. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein said angle is between about 5o and about 45o. The system of claim 10, wherein said angle is between about 20 ° and about 30 °. The system of claim 8, wherein said lower base member further comprises a liquid tube attachment connected to said liquid conduit in a gas tube attachment connected to said gas conduit 13. The system of the claim 12, wherein said liquid tube attachment is connected to a pump, which is further connected to a dispensing nozzle for dispensing said liquid.