WO1996041765A2

WO1996041765A2 - Liquid dispensing apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO1996041765A2
Application number: PCT/GB1996/001370
Authority: WO
Inventors: Phillip Puncher; Lee Harris; Mark Hartin; Bill Bailey; Peter Jones; Bob Mccusker; Richard Little
Original assignee: The Body Shop International Plc
Priority date: 1995-06-09
Filing date: 1996-06-07
Publication date: 1996-12-27
Also published as: WO1996041765A3; GB2302087A; GB9511753D0; AU6009996A; GB2302087B

Abstract

Dispensing apparatus for dispensing a liquid product from a container (1) into a bottle (2), which is mounted on an upwardly biassed height adjustable plate (3). The bottle opening (4) abuts a container opening located in mounting means (5). The container (1) comprises a cylinder (6) closeable at one end by valve means and closeable at its other end by a piston (9). The valve means comprises a nozzle (8) with an operatively connected actuation member and a closure cap (35). The actuation member is movable between a closed position and a plurality of open positions by a detent pawl located on the mounting means (5). A piston actuating rod (10) is connected to an upwardly biassed control shaft (12), which may be lowered or raised by the belt system (14-18). In use the piston actuating rod exerts pressure via the piston base (25) on the contents of the container (1), thereby allowing the contents to be discharged into the bottle (2).

Description

Liquid dispensing apparatus

This invention relates to dispensing apparatus particularly but not exclusively for dispensing liquids such as toilet preparations, shampoos, liquid soaps and perfumes. However, it is also envisaged that the apparatus may also be used for dispensing other fluid or flowable products such as powder or granulated material.

In many types of retail outlets there is a demand for a refill service in which previously purchased containers can be refilled with the same or a similar liquid such as shampoo. Such systems are not only more cost effective but also have a positive environmental impact since they reduce the amount of packaging used. There is a further advantage in that the liquid can be transported in relatively large containers which facilitates the transport of products from the source of manufacture to the retail outlet.

In known refilling systems offered by retail outlets, the refilling is done essentially manually by pouring the product from a large container using a funnel. Other methods include having a tap on the container which is operated manually to fill the bottle but both of these systems have the disadvantage of lack of control over the amount dispensed which leads to spillage and also it is impossible to ensure that the purity of the product is maintained. The result is that the known systems are not commercially acceptable either to the shop operator or to the customer.

The present invention seeks to provide a dispensing apparatus which overcomes the disadvantages of the known systems.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided dispensing apparatus for dispensing fluid products , including mounting means adapted to receive. a reservoir containing the fluid product, the reservoir having valve means openable to release the contents of the reservoir, the valve means comprising a valve closure member movable between an open position to enable the contents of the reservoir to be discharged into a receptacle and a closed position, the mounting means including valve actuating means adapted to be operatively connected to said valve closure member when the reservoir is mounted on said mounting means, said valve actuating means, when so connected, being operable to move the valve closure member between its open and closed positions.

Preferably there is provided a container for fluid products, comprising a main cylinder, opening means at a first location openable to enable said fluid products to be discharged from the cylinder, and piston means in said main cylinder, the piston means being movable by a discharge force applied thereto to press the fluid product through said opening, the piston being held in position in said cylinder by a resilient holding force derived at least in part from the piston itself and acting between the piston and the cylinder, the holding force being increased when said discharge force is applied to the piston to provide a better seal between the piston and the cylinder wall, the resilient holding force being restored when said discharge force is removed.

Preferably, the piston is circular in plan having a substantially circular base and a peripheral wall upstanding therefrom, the peripheral wall having seal elements engageable with the wall of the cylinder, said discharge force being applied to the piston so that said base resiliently deflects to bias said seal elements radially outwardly to increase the force acting between the piston and the cylinder thereby improving the seal therebetween.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Figure 1 shows a side view of the dispensing apparatus, Figure 2 shows a rear view of the apparatus illustrated in figure 1,

Figure 3 shows an exploded view of a cylinder for the product to be dispensed,

Figures 4a and 4b show respectively a sectional side view and a plan view of the piston illustrated in figure 3,

Figures 5a and 5b show respectively a sectional view and an exterior side view of a nozzle body of a first valve means,

Figure 6 shows a part sectional schematic view of the valve and an operating member,

Figures 7a and 7b are, respectively, a sectional side view and an underside plan view of the mounting means and valve operating mechanism, and

Figure 8 shows an enlarged view of the over-centre mechanism shown in Figure 1.

Referring now to figures 1 and 2, there is shown a dispensing apparatus for dispensing liquid product from a container 1 into a bottle 2. The bottle 2 is mounted on a height-adjustable plate 3 which is biassed upwardly by a gas strut to bring the open neck of the bottle 2 into a filling position in which the opening 4 of the bottle abuts an opening on a container 1 located in mounting means 5 of the apparatus. The surface of the plate 3 consists of a plurality of concentric stepped surfaces on which a plurality of different sized cylindrical bottles may be securely supported. The plate has a latch arrangement to enable it to be held in a lowered position to facilitate loading bottles onto it.

Referring now to figure 3 in addition, the reservoir 1 comprises a cylinder 6 formed of synthetic plastics material and having an opening 7 at one end which is closeable and openable by valve means formed in a nozzle element 8 which is screwed on to the cylinder 6. At its end remote from the opening 7, the cylinder 6 is open but is closeable by a piston 9. The piston 9 will be described in greater detail hereinafter with reference to figures 4a and 4b. The piston is inserted in the open end of the cylinder to close the cylinder.

Referring now to figure 1, the apparatus includes an actuating rod 10 carrying a piston member 10a formed of a synthetic plastics material, the piston member 10a having a concentric recess 10b in its leading face which is designed to fit with an all-round clearance over a boss 27 on the piston 9. The rod 10 is secured by a cross-link 11 to a control shaft 12 which consists of an elongate member slidable longitudinally in bearings and biassed to its uppermost position by a gas strut 13. The shaft 12 is secured by a clamp arrangement 14 to a drive belt 15 which is rotatable by an operating lever 16 to move the drive member 12 vertically up and down in its bearings. At its uppermost position, the actuating rod 10 and the piston member 10a are sufficiently clear of the mounting station 5 to be pivotable laterally about the axis of the shaft 12 to enable a cylinder to be placed, and accurately located on, the mounting means. The actuating member 10 is then lowered by operation of the lever 16 until the piston member 10a is in contact with the piston 9 in the container. The drive belt 15 passes round two pulleys 17 and 18, the lever 16 being secured to a shaft which also carries the drive pulley 17 so that pivotal movement of the lever 16 is transmitted to the drive pulley 17 and hence to the drive belt 15. The friction drive connection between the pulleys 17 and 18, particularly the pulley 17, is achieved by an overcentre mechanism 19 which includes an idle roller 20 mounted on a pivot arm 21, the pivot arm 21 being pivotable about the axis of a shaft 22 by a further lever 23. The mechanism includes a gas strut 24 which in the position shown in figures 1 and 8 serves to bias the idle roller 20 into contact with the driver belt in a direction towards the drive pulley 17. This action serves to ensure that the drive belt is wrapped tightly round the drive pulley 17 to ensure that drive imparted by the lever 16 is transmitted through the pulley 17 to the drive belt 15 to move the control member 12 and hence the actuating rod 10 vertically. In order to release the frictional drive between the belt 15 and the drive pulley 17, the lever 23 is operated to pivot the idle roller 20 away from the belt against the action of the gas strut 24. By this pivotable action, the end of the gas strut secured adjacent the idle roller 20 is pivoted by the pivotable movement of the link 21 to the other overcentre position clear of the drive belt 15 shown in dotted outline as references 21' and 24' in Figure 8. The movement of the pivot arm in this over-centre position is limited by a stop (not shown).

Referring now to figures 3, 4a and 4b, the piston 9 comprises a substantially circular base part 25 and a cylindrical wall 26 extending upwardly from the periphery of the base 25. The height of the wall 26 in the axial direction is approximately one third of the diameter of the base 25. This depth of the piston serves to stop the piston tilting in the cylinder. The base 25 incorporates the central boss 27 which is surrounded by the piston member 10a when the cylinder containing the piston 9 is mounted on the dispensing apparatus. The base 25 has a slightly inverted dish shape in cross-section having a peripheral rim 28 inclined downwardly towards the side wall 26 out of the plane of the central part of the base 25. The base also includes adjacent the junction between the peripheral rim 28 and the main flat part of the base, inner and outer annular upstanding walls 29a and 29b respectively. Radial ribs 29c which extend from the boss 27 to the annular walls are designed to give stability to the piston when it is subjected to load applied through the actuating rod 10, the boss 27 being slightly proud of the walls 29a, 29b and ribs 29c. The outer annular wall member 29b is slightly proud of the inner wall 29a so as to be contacted first by the piston member 10a. On its outer periphery adjacent the upper end of the side wall 26, the piston contains a curved or arcuate bead 30 which forms a seal between the piston and the wall of the cylinder 6. Adjacent the lower end of the peripheral wall 26 adjacent the base 25, the wall 26 contains two outwardly extending annular seals which form a further seal between the piston and the wall of the cylinder 9.

In operation, when the piston member 10a contacts the piston 9 it first of all contacts the outer annular wall 29b and a load is applied to the piston 9 by the actuating rod 10 and piston member 10a through this wall. Thus, the base 25 is resiliently depressed slightly by movement at the peripheral rim 28 acting through the outer annular wall and this movement tends to push the lower edges of the peripheral wall 26 outwardly so that the seals 31 tend to be urged into firmer contact with the wall of the cylinder 6. In this way, a better seal is formed between the piston and the wall which reduces leakage back past the piston when pushing liquid out of the nozzle 8, when the nozzle is open. The additional lateral force generated does not materially increase after the piston member 10a contacts the inner annular wall 29a. When the force of the actuating rod 10 on the piston 9 is removed, the base 25 of the piston reverts to its normal position in which the seals 31 are held less firmly against the wall of the cylinder 6, but still firmly enough not to be moved in normal handling of the container by the weight of the contents or shaking etc.

Figures 5a, 5b and 6 show details of the valve arrangement which control the discharge of liquid from the container. Figures 3, 5 and 5b show details of the nozzle member 8 which is screwed on to the open end 7 of the cylinder 6. The cylinder 6 has a peripheral rim 32 which sealingly engages with annular walls 33 located on the inside of the nozzle member 8 when the nozzle is screwed on to the cylinder 6. As shown in figure 5b, the exterior of the nozzle 8 has a plurality of webs 34 spaced about its periphery. The nozzle 8 has a chamber in a downwardly extending cylindrical section 36 having an opening 37 in the peripheral wall thereof which enables fluid to leave the nozzle 8.

As shown in figure 6, a valve with a valve closure member formed by a nozzle cap 35 is formed between the cap 35 and the nozzle 8. The nozzle cap 35 is screwed securely on to the nozzle 8. The cap 35 has a cylindrical section 38 which encloses the cylindrical section 36 of the nozzle 8 and has at its lowermost end an opening 39 which is bounded by a radially inwardly extending peripheral rim 40. When the nozzle cap 35 is in the closed position, the peripheral rim 40 engages the end of the cylindrical section 36 of the nozzle 8 to close the valve opening formed between the nozzle 8 and the cap 35. The cap 35 includes a lug 41 which when the cap is fully closed is aligned with a corresponding web on the nozzle 8. The cap and nozzle incorporate coacting frictional interengaging elements (not shown) which serve to hold the cap and nozzle in the aligned, closed condition. Thus it is clear at a glance to a user when the nozzle cap is securely closed.

Referring now to Figures 7a and 7b, the mounting means includes a fixed support 42 which is adapted to receive and support a container 1. The support includes at least one recess adapted to receive one of the webs 34 on the nozzle 8 to prevent the container from rotating. A valve actuating member 43 is pivotably mounted on the support 42 and has a slot or recess adapted to engage the lug 41. The member 43 is pivotable between a closed position in which the valve is closed and a fully open position in which the valve is fully open. These two positions are defined by detent recesses in the support 42, the member 43 having a spring loaded detent engageable in the detent recesses. In a further development, a plurality of detent recesses may be provided so that the valve may have more than one defined degree of opening. This will assist in selecting a desired opening to accommodate different viscosities in the various liquids which may be dispensed. When in the closed position, the member 39 lies in the path of movement of the lever 16, thus preventing pressure from being applied to the container when the opening valve is closed.

In operation, the dispensing apparatus forms part of a dispensing station in which a plurality of cylinders containing different solutions is provided. When a customer wishes to have a bottle refilled, the operator places the bottle on the stand 3 and allows the stand to rise until the bottle abuts a container in the mounting means 5. The container is placed on the mounting means upside down, and the actuating rod 10 is moved into contact with the piston as described previously. The lever 23 is then pivoted round to tighten the drive belt around the pulley 17 to enable drive to be transmitted. The member 43 is then pivoted round to pivot the cap 35 relative to the nozzle 8 and cylinder 6 to open the valve formed between the opening rim 40 and the section 36 of the nozzle 8.

The lever 16 is then pivoted to rotate the drive pulley 17 and this motion is transmitted through the drive belt 15 to urge the actuating rod 10 downwardly to force the piston down to thereby expel solution from the cylinder. The gearing of the lever 16 is such that one complete arcuate movement of the lever 16 between predetermined stops dispenses a predetermined amount of solution which, in this embodiment is 600ml. The gearing between the lever 16 and the rod 10 can be varied to suit the application. For example,it may be set to fill a bottle with one stroke. This may be 125ml, which is a standard size of bottle. Other standard sizes are 250ml and 500ml which can be filled by, respectively two and four strokes of the lever 16.

When dispensing has been completed, the nozzle cap 35 is moved to the closed position by pivoting the member 43 round to the closed position. Since the base 25 of the piston 9 is deflected slightly by the applied force of the actuating rod 10, when this force is removed, the base of the piston returns to its original position under its own inherent resilience. This action creates a slight reduction in pressure in the cylinder. This slight reduction in pressure serves to substantially reduce the risk of drips and excess solution oozing out of the valve after this is closed. Any traces of solution on the outside of the nozzle cap 35 can easily be removed with a conventional wipe. Although described with reference to the dispensing of solutions such as toilet preparations and shampoos, it will be understood that the apparatus may be used for dispensing other fluid products such as powders or granulated materials and may be used for dispensing portions of food products such as dressings, sauces, soups etc.

When a cylinder is completely emptied, it is relatively easy to dissemble. The nozzle 8 is screwed off and then the piston is easily pushed out of the open end of the cylinder by using a rod which locates in the recess in the underside of the boss 27 so that all parts of the piston/cylinder assembly are exposed for easy cleaning and sterilising.

Claims

1. Dispensing apparatus for dispensing fluid products, including mounting means adapted to receive a reservoir containing the fluid product, the reservoir having valve means openable to release the contents of the reservoir, the valve means comprising a valve-closure member movable between an open position to enable the contents of the reservoir to be discharged into a receptacle and a closed position, the mounting means including valve actuating means adapted to be operatively connected to said valve closure member when the reservoir is mounted on said mounting means, said valve actuating means, when so connected, being operable to move the valve closure member between its open and closed positions.

2. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the valve means has a plurality of selectable open positions, thereby enabling the rate of discharge of the contents to be varied.

3. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the valve closure member comprises a nozzle and a nozzle cap.

4. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 3, wherein the nozzle comprises an elongate cylindrical member and the nozzle cap has a peripheral rim, the peripheral rim engaging, in the closed position, the elongate cylindrical member, thereby closing the valve.

5. Dispensing apparatus according to Claims 1 to 4, wherein the valve closure means includes a lug and the valve actuating means comprises a pivotable member including a recess adapted to co-operate with said lug.

6. Dispensing apparatus according to Claims 1 to 5, including means to apply pressure to the reservoir to facilitate the discharge of the contents.

7. Dispensing apparatus according to Claims 1 to 6, wherein the pressure is applied by means of a lever mechanism.

8. Dispensing apparatus according to Claims 1 to 7, wherein the valve actuating means is provided with a member adapted to prevent application of pressure to the reservoir, by substantially preventing motion of the lever mechanism.

9. Dispensing apparatus according to Claims 1 to 8, wherein the valve actuating means has a spring loaded detent adapted to hold the valve means in an open or closed position, said spring loaded detent, in the closed position, preventing pressure from being applied to the reservoir.

10. Dispensing apparatus according to Claims 1 to 9, wherein the receptacle is supported on a height adjustable plate.

11. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 10, wherein the height adjusting plate is provided with a plurality of concentric stepped surfaces adapted to receive different sizes of receptacle.

12. Dispensing apparatus according to Claims 6 or 7, wherein the pressure member is adapted to engage the piston by means of an arm pivotable to a non-operative position to enable the reservoir to be loaded on to the mounting means.

13. Dispensing apparatus according to Claims 6, 7 or 12, wherein the pressure member is mounted on a rod.

14. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 7, wherein the lever mechanism is connected to the pressure member by means of a belt system, which belt system comprises a belt and a drive pulley.

15. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 14, wherein the belt system is provided with an overcentre mechanism adapted to move the belt between a driving and non-driving position.

16. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 15, wherein the overcentre mechanism comprises an idle roller mounted on a pivot arm, which pivot arm is actuable by means of a further lever.

17. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 16, wherein a gas strut biases the idle roller into contact with the belt in a direction towards the drive pulley.

18. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the reservoir is a container for fluid products, comprising a main cylinder, opening means at a first location openable to enable said fluid products to be discharged from the cylinder, and piston means in said main cylinder, the piston means being movable by a discharge force applied thereto to press the fluid product through said opening, the piston, when not subject to the discharge force, being held in position in said cylinder by an initial resilient holding force derived at least in part from the piston itself and acting between the piston and the cylinder, the holding force being increased when said discharge force is applied to the piston to provide a better seal between the piston and the cylinder wall, the initial resilient holding force being restored when said discharge force is removed.

19. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 18, wherein the piston is circular in plan having a substantially circular base and a peripheral wall upstanding therefrom, the peripheral wall having seal elements engageable with the wall of the cylinder, said discharge force being applied to the piston through the base so that said base resiliently deflects to bias said seal elements radially outwardly to increase the force acting between the piston and the cylinder thereby improving the seal therebetween.

20. Dispensing apparatus according to Claims 18 or 19, wherein the base of the piston has a central boss to which the discharge force is applied, which boss stands slightly proud of the peripheral wall in the axial direction.

21. Dispensing apparatus according to Claims 18 to 20, wherein radial ribs extend from the central boss to the peripheral wall.

22. Dispensing apparatus according to Claims 18 to 21, wherein when the force is removed from the base, the base resumes its original state thereby slightly lowering the pressure in the cylinder.