US3431953A

US3431953A - Measured liquid dispenser

Info

Publication number: US3431953A
Application number: US552803A
Authority: US
Inventors: Russell G Rutherford
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1966-05-25
Filing date: 1966-05-25
Publication date: 1969-03-11
Anticipated expiration: 1986-03-11
Also published as: GB1158398A

Description

I March 11, 1969 R. G. RUTHERFORD MEASURED LIQUID DISPENSER Sheet 1 of 3 Filed May 25. 1966 INVENTOR. RUSSELL G. RUTH ERFORD March 11, 1969 R. e. RUTHERFORD 3,431,953

MEASURED LIQUID DI SPENSER Filed May 25, 1966 Sheet 2 of 5 g El LQ 'MM INVENTOR. RUSSELLIT. RUTHERFORD March 1969 R. e. RUTHERFORD 3,431,953

MEASURED LIQUID DISPENSER Filed May 25. 1966 Sheet 3 of 5 FIG. 6

m VENTOR. RUSSELL .G.RUTHERFORD United States Patent 3,431,953 MEASURED LIQUID DISPENSER Russell G. Rutherford, RR. 6, Hutchins Park, Rockford, Ill. 61103 Filed May 25, 1966, Ser. No. 552,803 US. Cl. 141361 12 Claims Int. Cl. B65b 1/04, 3/00; B67c 3/00 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A discharge pipe, with a downwardly directed outer end serving as a nozzle disposed over a can or the like to receive a measured amount of liquid, is connected with the discharge port of a pump cylinder, whose intake port has a stand-pipe extending downwardly into a small tank that contains the liquid at a constant level by reason of float control, there being an overhead supply tank delivering the liquid to the small tank. An air operated piston in an air cylinder behind the pump cylinder operates the piston of the pump cylinder once per can as a spring-pressed arm that controls an air valve for the air cylinder is swung in one direction by a can fed past it and the arm thereafter returns to normal position under spring pressure. The discharge of liquid from the pipe is regulated by a manually adjustable valve to avoid splatter, this being possible by virtue of the operation of the pump piston under air pressure. A pair of check valves seating inwardly in the discharge pipe and another pair of check valves seating outwardly in the intake port and its related stand-pipe cut off the liquid discharge positively at the end of each discharge even if one of a pair of valves fails to seat fully, thus assuring exactly the same amount of liquid being dispensed in every operation.

This invention relates to a measured liquid dispenser which, while specially designed for use in canning plants to dispense brine in an accurately measured amount into each can as it is being fed to the filler in a canning line and constructed to assure continuous operation properly in such humid environments where electrical components would not be at all satisfactory, making air operation the ultimate in reliability, and requiring operation as fast as the can fillers, even on lines handling up to 360 cans per minute, is not limited to that specific application, inasmuch as any brines, syrups, or solutions may be dispensed and the amount dispensed at each operation is variable to suit practically any requirement that may arise.

The versatility of the present dispenser in the dispensing of any liquid, water-like or syrup-like, containing ingredients in canned food products, or even liquids containing soft undissolved solids in suspension, is best emphasized by listing below typical materials that can be dispensed:

Ascorbic acid Artificial coloring Barbecue sauce Bean sauce Beef gravy Benzoate of soda Broth Butter Butter sauce Calcium in tomato juice Calcium cyclamate Chicken fat Citric acid Clam juice Concentrated flavors Cottonseed oil Dill brine Fumaric acid Sauces Tomato brine Seasonings Tomato puree Soya bean oil Tomato sauce Spice oils Vinegar Spiced syrups Water Syrups Salient features of the dispenser are:

(1) It is fully automatic in that the unit offers the all important no-can, no-fill feature;

(2) It is easy to take apart for cleaning and servicing;

(3) A constant level liquid tank is in one assembly with and below the liquid cylinder, liquid being supplied to it through a level control mechanism on the liquid tank from an overhead gravity supply tank, thereby erasing any likelihood of any variation in the volume dispensed per stroke by reason of change of level in the liquid tank from which the liquid is pumped in each dispensing operation;

(4) A manually operated volume control adjustment at one end of the air cylinder accurately predetermines the intake stroke of the air piston and accordingly of the liquid piston 50 that infinite adjustment of volume of liquid dispensed is made possible, and, once the desired adjustment is obtained, a lock-nut on the adjusting screw can be tightened to eliminate any likelihood of alteration accidentally or otherwise,

(5) A trip valve for controlling the operation of the dispenser has an arm oscillated in one direction once per can as they are fed into position under the dispenser nozzle, this arm being returned to initial position after the can passes by spring pressure on the valve plunger by reason of engagement thereon of a finger provided on said arm, whereby to shut off air to the air cylinder automatically and thus eliminate any likelihood of any liquid being dispensed in the absence of a can to receive it, and

(6) A shut-ofl valve in the discharge line to the nozzle is adjustable to regulate discharge and prevent splatter, regulation of the movement of the pistons being made possible by the operation with compressed air.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a typical brine dispensing installation using the measured liquid dispenser of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through said dispenser, omittting the float mechanism seen in FIGS. 3 and FIG. 3 is a cross-section on the broken line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 44 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of the trip valve shown on a smaller scale in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a section on line 66 of FIG. 3, showing the rest of the dispenser in side elevation, and

FIG. 7 is a sectional detail on the line 7--7 of FIG. 3.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring to the drawings and at first mainly to FIG. 1, the reference numeral 9 designates the measured liquid dispenser of my invention generally, which is shown set adjacent a filler 10 in a canning plant and having cans 11 delivered to the filler one by one from a table 12 by an indexing rotor 13, the indexing movement of rotor 13 being timed with the indexing movement of the filler 10 so that in the pausesbetween these indexing movements the foremost can 11 disposed in the station below the nozzle 14 will receive its measured amount of brine or other liquid as indicated at 15 from the nozzle 14, the can being then moved out of the way and to the filler 10 to position another can in that same station. The cans are conveyed to the filler in any suitable way from a supply source for final discharge down a chute 16 leading to the table 12, so that there will always be another can ready to receive the brine or other liquid from the nozzle 14. Should there be a failure of supply of cans for any reason, the trip valve 17, which is operated automatically by the oscillation of the arm 18 against the resistance of a tension spring or rubber band 19 by abutment of the foremost can with the arm 18, as shown in FIG. 1, will automatically cut off the dispensing of the brine or other liquid and presumably the filling means for filler will be automatically shut ofl at the same time. Compressed air for operating the dispenser 9 is delivered to the trip valve 17 through a flexible hose 20 from a pipe 21 connected to the canning plant air supply system, a gauge 22 at the point of connection of hose 20 with pipe 21 indicating the air pressure to the operator so that, in starting up, if there is not sufficient air pressure indicated by the gauge 22 to operate the dispenser 9, the operator can stop the feeding of cans 11 to the filler 10 until the right pressure is indicated. A handle is shown at 23 to operate an air shut-off valve 24 provided on the back of the gauge 22. With each retracting movement of the arm 18 under action of spring 19, air is delivered, as shown best in FIG. 2, from the trip valve 17 through a flexible hose 25 connected to the forward end of the air cylinder 26 to force the piston 27 therein to the rear, and, by virtue of its rod connection 28 with the piston 29 working in the liquid cylinder 30, pump a measured amount of brine or other liquid from the con stant level liquid tank 31 into the cylinder 30, so that when the foremost can 11 engages and moves the arm 18 forwardly against the action of the spring 19 this measured amount of brine or other liquid will be discharged from the cylinder through the nozzle 14 by reason of air being discharged through the flexible tube 32 to the rear end of the air cylinder 26 to force the piston 27 forwardly and with it piston 29 in cylinder 30 on the discharge stroke. Hose 25 serves as an exhaust line during the forward movement of piston 27, and hose 32 serves as an exhaust line during the rearward movement of piston 27.

The brine or other liquid being dispensed is supplied from a large overhead tank OT by gravity through a downwardly extending flexible hose 33 to the constant level liquid tank 31 disposed directly under and connected to cylinder 30. The hose 33 has its lower discharge end connected to a supply valve 34 at 35 (see FIG. 4) and the brine or other liquid is conducted through bore 36 into the liquid tank 31 through an end opening 37 in the valve body and a registering opening 38 in the side wall of the tank, the flow being controlled by an air operated shut-off valve 39 reciprocated by a piston 40 working in cylinder 41, compressed air for operating the piston being delivered from air supply hose 20 through the end connection 42 from a hose 43 extending to the float controlled valve 44 provided on one side of the constant level liquid tank 31. A float 45 rigidly secured to a bell-crank lever 46 pivoted at 47 in the upper portion of the tank 31 on one side thereof operates the valve 44 downwardly to close the valve 39 when the desired level is attained in the tank 31. For such operation, the lever 46 has an arm 48 extending through a slot 49 provided in the side wall of the tank. A leaf spring 50 fixed at one end to the body 51 of valve 44 normally urges the valve upwardly to its other extreme position in which air is delivered through hose 43' to the cylinder 41 on the other side of piston 40 to open valve 39 for delivery of brine or other liquid to tank 31 by gravity from the higher level supply tank OT.

The manually operated volume control adjustment provided by the screw 52 at one end of the air cylinder 26 for accurately predetermining the length of the intake stroke of the air piston 27 and accordingly predetermining the stroke of the liquid piston 29 so that infinite adjustment of volume of liquid dispensed is made possible follows, in general, the teaching of my Patent 3,142,258, but, in the present construction, the piston rod 28 has an extension 28' extending from the air cylinder 26 for abutment at its outer end with the screw 52 outside the air cylinder, the cross-head 53, in which the screw 52 is threaded, as indicated at 54, being rigidly mounted on the end of the air cylinder 26 on two parallel bolts 55. A lock-nut 56 threaded on the adjusting screw 52 can be tightened against the cross-head 53 after the screw 52 has been properly adjusted, whereby to maintain the adjustment and eliminate any likelihood of alteration of the adjustment, accidentally, or otherwise.

The pump and tank assembly forming the present dispenser, designated generally by the reference numeral 9, is unique even though the pump shown follows generally the disclosure of my earlier patent mentioned above. The base plate 57 for support of the pump structure serves as the central part of a top closure plate for the liquid tank 31, the head 58 for one end of the pump structure being loosely held in place on the plate by a cross-bar 59, as will soon appear, the cross-bar being fastened by screws to the plate. Head 58 has a counterbore 60 in one side receiving one end of the tube forming the liquid cylinder 30, the other end of which is received in a counter-bore 61 provided in one side of a plug 62 forming the other end of the liquid cylinder 30. The other side of plug 62 forms One end of the air cylinder 26 and is of reduced diameter, as indicated at 63, and has a telescoping fit in one end of the tube forming the air cylinder, the other end also having a telescoping fit on the reduced portion 64 of a plug 65 forming the other end of the air cylinder 26. A back plate 66, which is fastened by screws to the plate 57 and to which the plug 65 is secured by means of screws 67, has bolts 68 extending through parallel holes provided therein and through registering holes in the cross-bar 59 previously mentioned and head 58, nuts 69 threading on the projecting ends of said bolts whereby not only to draw all of the parts of the pump assembly tightly together in liquid tight and air-tight relationship to one another, and yet permit the entire assembly to be taken apart fairly easily and thoroughly cleaned to meet all sanitary requirements fully, but also utilize the bolts 68 and cross-bar 59 as a means of detachably securing the head 58 t0 the plate 57. The head 58, tube 30', plug 62, tube 26, plug 65, and back plate 66 are all of polyvinyl chloride or other plastic material not subject to attack by acids and alkalies, and the same is true of the two parts forming the piston 29 and its scraper ring 70 in the liquid cylinder 30. The metal parts, like the piston rod 28, and the lock-nut 71 and other metal parts coming into contact with the liquids are of stainless steel to resist corrosion. Rubber O-rings are indicated at 72-75 to provide liquid-tight joints at opposite ends of the liquid cylinder 30 and airtight joints at opposite ends of the air cylinder 26. Other O-rings are indicated at 76 and 77 cooperating with the shaft 28 and its extension 28 to prevent leakage of air along the shaft at either end of the air cylinder 26, and still another O-ring is indicated at 78 in the piston 29 within the scraper ring 70 to maintain the ring 70 under radial compression to prevent leakage of liquid past the piston 29 in the reciprocation thereof in the liquid cylinder 30.

The liquid tank 31 and the plate 57 and 78' forming the closures for the opposite ends of the tank are also of polyvinyl chloride or other plastic material, as is also the body of the valve 34 that is fastened to one side of the cylinder 31 by means of screws 79, so that none of these parts are subject to attack by acids and alkalies. Here again, all of the metal parts that come into contact with the liquids, like the screws 79, are of stainless steel to resist corrosion. The stand-pipe 80 extending downwardly into the liquid tank 31 and threaded at its upper end in the bottom of the head 58, as indicated at 81, and the body 82 for the check-valve threaded on the lower end of the stand-pipe are also of polyvinyl chloride or other suitable plastic material for the same reasons previously indicated. Two parallel plastic side plates 83 and 84 suitably fastened by means of screws to the upper end of the liquid tank 31 are disposed in close abutment with opposite sides of the generally rectangular plate 57 to cooperate with said plate to complete a closure for the upper end of the liquid tank, and a dowel pin 85 mounted on the upper end of the tank fits freely in a vertical hole provided in one end of the plate 57 to locate the plate 57 and hold it against endwise movement so that a pair of turn type fasteners 87 pivotally secured at one end to the previously mentionesd plates 83 and 84, as at 88, are enough to hold the plate 57 securely in place on top of the liquid tank 31 and yet permit the entire pump structure to be removed and replaced without any difficulty, as required for easier disassembly and reassembly in cleaning, or for other purposes.

The operation of this measured liquid dispenser should be fairly clear from the foregoing description. Assuming a can 11 has just received its charge of brine or other liquid from nozzle 14 and has been shifted over to the filler by the indexing rotor 13, the arm 18 on the trip valve 17 is accordingly pulled back by spring 19, causing the spring pressed finger 89 to shift the valve plunger 90' of trip valve 17 to its other extreme position, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 5, to deliver compressed air through hose to the forward end of air cylinder 26 and move piston 27 to the rear, thereby moving piston 29 in the liquid cylinder 30 on its intake or suction stroke. Under these circumstances, the two stainless steel

ball check valves

91 and 92 at opposite ends of the stand pipe 80 are unseated allowing the brine or other liquid pumped from tank 31 through the stand-pipe 80 to flow into the liquid cylinder 30 through the port 93 in the plug 58, the other stainless steel ball check valve 94 controlling flow between the passage 95 that leads from the cylinder 30 and the passage 96 that leads out to the plastic nozzle 14, through plastic pipe 97, being closed under atmospheric pressure. Then, as soon as the next can 11 engages the arm 18 and moves it forwardly to shift the valve 90' to its other extreme position against the action of the spring 19, air is delivered through tube 32 to the rear end of air cylinder 26 moving the piston 27 and piston 29 forward on the discharge stroke,

check valves

91 and 92 being closed under pressure, and check valve 94 being opened so as to allow the measured amount of liquid to be dispensed through nozzle 14. Another stainless steel ball check valve 98 in the plastic swivel fitting 99 cooperates with check valve 94 at opposite ends of the discharge line in the same way as the

check valves

91 and 92 at opposite ends of the intake line to insure stoppage of flow even if one of the two check valves operating in tandem fails to close due to some solid particle lodging between the ball and its seat. A hand-operable all plastic, shut-off valve 100 is provided in the discharge line, as shown. This valve serves also to reduce (flow if and when the liquid being dispensed would otherwise splatter when it hits the bottom of the cam 11, such regulation in discharge being a further advantage obtained by the use of compressed air for operating the dispenser. Obviously, if the last can 11 available is shifted from table 12 to filler 10, leaving the arm 18 in the retracted position, to which it is operated by spring 19, as mentioned before, there will be no further discharge of brine or other liquid being dispensed, because the discharge stroke of

pistons

29 and 27 requires the forward oscillation again of the arm 18 by the next can. For any protracted shutdown of the dispenser, the operator will close the shutoff valve 100 to prevent seepage of the liquid to and consequent drippage from the nozzle 14. After any protracted shut-down, the operator should after opening valve 100 swing the nozzle 14 on its swivel 99 to an out of the way position and put the dispenser 9 through a few operations by hand manipulation of the arm 18 to be sure that the device is operating correctly. In that way, there is eliminated any likelihood of one or more cans 11 not receiving the same predetermined amount of brine or other liquid being dispensed. The hand-operable all plastic, drain valve 101 on the bottom of the liquid tank 31 enables draining all of the liquid from the tank whenever the dispenser 9 is to be cleaned and whenever it is to be changed from dispensing of one liquid to dispensing another.

It is obvious that the valve plunger of trip valve 17 can be removed for cleaning or replacement by merely throwing finger 89 over dead-center to an opposite extreme position. The plunger 44 in body 51 is also easily removable and replaceable by removal of the screw securing the return spring 50 to body 51. In both cases, the bore from which the plunger is removed is then open from end to end for easy cleaning.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In combination in a measured liquid dispenser, a single action reciprocating type pump comprising a pump cylinder and a pump piston reciprocable therein, a small liquid tank directly under and in a fixed close relation to one end of said pump cylinder in which an intake port and a discharge port are provided, a vertical standpipe extending downwardly from the intake port into said tank and having an outwardly seating check valve therein, a discharge pipe extending from the discharge port having an inwardly seating check valve therein and terminating in a downwardly directed discharge nozzle in spaced relation to said tank, an upper level large liquid supply tank delivering liquid by gravity to said small liquid tank, float operable means controlling delivery of liquid from said upper level large supply tank so as to maintain a constant level of liquid in said small liquid tank regardless of appreciable changes in level of liquid in said upper level large supply tank, an air cylinder in fixed coaxial relation to said pump cylinder and having a piston reciprocable therein which is connected in a fixed spaced relation to said pump piston and has a rod extending therefrom and from the end of said air cylinder remote from said pump cylinder to measure the back-up stroke of said air piston and accordingly of said pump piston so as to predetermine the amount of liquid pumped per back-up stroke and subsequently discharged from said nozzle per forward stroke, a source of compressed air supply, valve means communicating therewith controlling the delivery and exhausting of air to and from opposite ends of said air cylinder, and a manually adjustable abutment in an adjustable fixed spaced relation to said air cylinder and arranged for. engagement by the aforesaid rod to vary and predetermine the liquid dispensed per operation of said dispenser, the valve means controlling the delivery and exhaust of air to and from opposite ends of said air cylinder including an arm spring-pressed to one extreme position corresponding to the suction stroke of the piston in the pump cylinder, said arm being movable'automatically by a container as one is positioned under the discharge nozzle to receive the liquid dispensed, whereby a predetermined amount of liquid is discharged into it, the arm returning immediately thereafter under spring pressure to its ini tial position to be moved again by the next container.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, including a manually adjustable flow valve in the discharge pipe, the adjustment of which regulates the discharge of the liquid into the container so as to avoid splatter, such regulation being made possible by the operation of the piston in the air cylinder by compressed air.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1 including a flow regulating valve in the discharge pipe to reduce the rate of discharge enough to avoid splatter, such operation being made possible by the operation of the piston in the air cylinder by compressed air.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1, in which the float operable means controlling delivery of liquid from the upper level large liquid supply tank to the lower level small liquid tank includes a reciprocable shut-off valve between the two tanks operable by air operated means, and a valve operable in one direction by spring means and in the opposite direction by float, said last named valve controlling delivery of air to the aforesaid air operated means, whereby said shut-off valve is moved to closed position by fioat operation of the other valve and to open position by spring operation of said other valve.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 1 including a second outwardly seating check valve operable in tan dem with the check valve in said stand pipe whereby to insure successful shut-off of communication between said small liquid tank and said pump cylinder in the discharge stroke in the event of failure of one of said check valves to seat fully, the other check valve then serving to fully closed said pipe.

6. The combination as set forth in claim 1 including a second inwardly seating check valve operable in tandem with the check valve in said discharge pipe whereby to insure successful shut-off of cmmunication between said small liquid tank and said discharge nozzle in the suction stroke in the event of failure of one of said check valves to seat fully, the other check valve then serving to fully close said pipe.

7. In combination in a measured liquid dispenser, a single action reciprocating type pump comprising a pump cylinder and a pump piston reciprocable therein, one end of said pump cylinder having an intake port and a discharge port provided therein, a discharge pipe extending from the discharge port having an inwardly seating check valve therein and terminating in a downwardly directed discharge nozzle, an inlet pipe extending from the intake port and having an outwardly seating check valve therein, constant level liquid supply means communicating with the inlet pipe, an air cylinder in fixed coaxial relation to said pump cylinder and having a piston reciprocable therein which is connected in a fixed spaced relation to said pump piston, manually adjustable stop means measuring the backup stroke of said air and pump pistons to predetermine the amount of liquid pumped per back-up stroke and subsequently discharged from said nozzle per forward stroke, a source of compressed air supply, and valve means communicating with said source controlling the delivery and exhausting of air to and from opposite ends of said air cylinder and including an arm springpressed to one extreme position corresponding to the suction stroke of the piston in the pump cylinder, said arm being movable automatically by a container as one is positioned under the discharge nozzle to receive liquid dispensed therefrom, whereby a predetermined amount of liquid is discharged into it, the arm returning immediately thereafter under spring pressure to its initial position to be moved again by the next container.

8. The combination as set forth in claim 7 including a a manually adjustable fiow valve in the discharge pipe, the adjustment of which regulates the discharge of the liquid into the container so as to avoid splatter, such regulation being made possible by the operation of the piston in the air cylinder by compressed air.

9. The combination as set forth in claim 7 including a flow regulating valve in the discharge pipe to reduce the rate of discharge enough to avoid splatter, such operation being made possible by the operation of the piston in the air cylinder by compressed air.

10. The combination as set forth in claim 7 including two closure plugs fixed on the remote ends of said pump and air cylinders, a third closure plug between and common to the two cylinders having its opposite ends fixed in the adjoining ends thereof to maintain their coaxial relationship, the last mentioned plug having an axial hole provided therein through which a rod connecting the air and pump pistons extends, one of the first mentioned two closure plugs being substantially rectangular to serve as a mounting block, another substantially rectangular mounting block fixed to the other of said first two closure plugs, a supporting base parallel to said cylinders, means for securing one of said mounting blocks to said supportmg base, bolts extending in parallel relation to said cylinders passing through holes in one of said mounting blocks and through registering holes in the other of said mounting blocks and having nuts threaded on the outer ends thereof which when tightened serve to draw the mounting blocks together compressing the inner ends of the two cylinders against opposite sides of the third closure plug common to the two cylinders While pressing the first two plugs firmly onto the outer ends of said two cylinders, the constant level liquid supply means comprising an open top liquid tank the open top of which is partially covered by said supporting base, the inlet pipe extending downwardly from the mounting block abutting one end of the pump cylinder to provide communication through said pipe between the inlet port of said pump cylinder and the lower port1on of said tank, two cover plates in spaced parallel relationship to one another on opposite sides of said base secured to the open top of said tank to complete the closing thereof, and means detachably securing said supporting base between said cover plates.

11. A device as set forth in the last claim 10 wherein the last mentioned means comprises turn fasteners pivoted on said cover plates on opposite sides ofsaid base and swxngable to a position over said base, the top of which lies substantially flush with the top of said cover plates.

12 A device as set forth in claim 10 wherein the last mentioned means comprises turn fasteners pivoted on said cover plates on opposite sides of said base and swingable to a position over said base, the top of which lies substantially flush with the top of said cover plates, and means for holding the base against endwise movement relative to the open top of said tank.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,339,237 5/1920 Thompson 222-382 X 2,388,662 11/1945 Anderson et al. 3,120,241 2/1964 Parks 137-413 3,190,507 6/1965 MacMillin 222-383 3,231,136 1/1966 Rotter et al 222-334 X 3,353,537 11/1967 Knox et al 222334'X FOREIGN PATENTS 813,365 5/1959 Great Britain.

SAMUEL ROTHBERG, Primary Examiner. E. I. EARLS, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. CL. X.R.