LIQUID DISPENSING SYSTEM

SYSTEME DE DISTRIBUTION DE LIQUIDES

English Abstract

A system is provided for dispensing fluids comprising a housing and a flexible
refill pouch (1), whereby the housing comprises a reservoir (2) into which the
pouch can be positioned, and which contains a piercing member (5) tightly
connected to the bottom part thereof and projecting therefrom outwardly into
said reservoir, and further a platform (3) for positioning the pouch which
platform is movably attached around the piercing member to the bottom part of
the reservoir such that it will move down into the direction of said bottom
part when a full pouch is placed onto it and will return to its original
position when the pouch becomes empty. This system can be effectively operated
with a blunt piercing member (6).

French Abstract

On décrit un système de distribution de liquides comprenant un logement ainsi qu'une poche (1) de recharge flexible, le logement comportant un réservoir (2) dans lequel on peut placer la poche et qui contient un élément (5) de percement, relié fermement à sa base et saillant de celle-ci à l'intérieur du réservoir, ainsi qu'également une plate-forme (3) servant au placement de la poche, laquelle plate-forme est fixée de façon mobile à la base du réservoir et autour de l'élément de percement, de manière à se déplacer vers le bas en direction de la base du réservoir lorsque l'on place sur cette plate-forme une poche pleine, et à retourner à sa position originale lorsque la poche est vide. Ce système peut être actionné de manière efficace à l'aide d'un élément (6) de percement émoussé.

Claims

CLAIMS
1. System for dispensing fluid, comprising a housing and a
flexible refill pouch (1), whereby the housing comprises a
reservoir (2) into which the pouch can be positioned, and
which contains a piercing member (5) tightly connected to
the bottom part thereof and projecting therefrom outwardly
into said reservoir,
characterised in that said reservoir (2) further contains a
platform (3) for positioning the pouch which platform is
movably attached around the piercing member to the bottom
part of the reservoir such that it will move into the
direction of said bottom part when a full pouch is placed
onto it and will return to its original position when the
pouch becomes empty.
2. System according to claim 1, wherein the piercing member
contains a blunt knife (6).
3. System according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the platform
is spring-loaded.
4. System according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the
piercing member is provided with one or more retaining
hooks (7).
5. System according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the
reservoir is connected to a pump for dosing the liquid
poured into said reservoir from out of a refill pouch.
6. System according to claim 5, wherein the liquid is
detergent liquid and the pump is suitable for dosing this
liquid into a washing machine.

Description

CA 02211847 1997-07-28
W O 96/26312 PCTAEPg6JO0678
~IOUID DISPENSING ~Y~'l'h'~
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THB lNv~NllON
The present invention is concerned with a system for
5 dispensing liquid product, in particular liquid detergent
product, from a refill pack. The dispensing system o~ the
invention is particularly suitable for use in combination
with a dosing pump for dosing said liquid detergent product
into a washing machine.
BACKGROUND OF l~IE lNV~'N'l'lON
Dispensing systems of the above-indicated kind have been
described in the artO
For example, EP-A-014,805 discloses a system for dispensing
15 a liquid product comprising a flexible refill pouch con-
t~;n;ng said liquid and a refill reservoir for positioning
said pouch. Furthermore~ said reservoir comprises a pier-
cing member which is suitable for penetrating the pouch
when it is positioned in the refill reservoir.
20 It was found that the piercing member needs to contain a
sharp knife for easy operation of such a dispensing system.
As a consequence, this type of dispensing systems is poten-
tially hazardous in that there is a significant risk of
operating people injuring themselves.
We have now surprisingly found a new type of liquid dispen-
sing system which can be effectively operated with a blunt
piercing member, thus considerably reducing the above-in-
dicated risk.
DEFINITION OF THE lNv~NllON
Accordingly, the present invention provides a system for
dispensing fluid, comprising a housing and a flexible
refill pouch, whereby the housing comprises a reservoir
35 into which the pouch can be positioned, and which contains
a piercing member tightly connected to the bottom part

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thereof and projecting therefrom outwardly into said
reservoir, characterised in that said reservoir further
contains a platform for positioning the pouch which plat-
form is movably attached around the piercing member to the
5 bottom part of the reservoir such that it will move into
the direction of said bottom part when a full pouch is
placed onto it and will return to its original position
when the pouch becomes empty.
10 DETAI~ED DESCRIPTION OF THE lNv~NllON
The movable platform is generally a plate having an opening
of sufficient size for achieving its movability around the
piercing member. The effect of the movable platform present
in the system of the invention is that it will move
lS downward under the weight of a fresh completely ~illed
refill pouch when said pouch is placed onto it. It was
found that, as a result of this downward movement, the
pouch will be easily penetrated by the piercing member,
more easily than when the movable platform were not present
20 in the system of the invention.
Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that
said ph~nQm~no~ of easy penetration is caused by increased
tension build-up in the flexible film material of which the
25 pouch is made, resulting from the movement of the platform.
In other words, it appears that the film material of the
fresh pouch cannot fowl itself around the piercing member -
or indeed only to a minor extent - when the pouch is
positioned on to the platform, whereas said fowling
30 behaviour of the pouch is present to a much larger extent
when the platform is absent.
Because of this ph~nnmenon of easy penetration, piercing
members with both sharp and blunt knifes can be effectively
35 used. In view of the above mentioned reduced risk of in-
jury, piercing members with blunt knifes are preferred.

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For easy operation of the movable platform, knife-shaped
pierciny members are desirably applied. Piercing members
having widely varying shapes and configurations, such as
those having a triangle shape or cont~;n;ng a curved blade,
S may be effectively used, provided that these members have
an oblong pyramid-type shape so as to enable the platform
to move downward around them thereby creating a suf-
ficiently large hole in the pouch for the liquid to smooth-
ly flow out. Preferably, the piercing member is positioned
10 at the central axis of the reservoir such that its own lon-
gitll~; nA 1 axis coincides with this central axis.
The reservoir cont~; n; ng the movable platform may have a
rectangular or a circular cross-section. For practicle
15 rea80ns, the movable platform present therein is preferably
a plate of which the outer shape corresponds with the
internal cross-section of the reservoir.The opening in the
platform ha~ preferably a round shape.
20 Preferably, the pouch is not only flexible but also
disposible. Flexible films made of one single layer as well
as multilayer films can be suitably used as pouch material.
Examples of such sui~able materials are polypropylene and
polyethylene.
A movable platform having suitable movability can be ob-
t~; n~ by the application of both springs and an hydraulic
system. For economic reasons, a spring-loaded platform
which is connected to the bottom of the reservoir by way of
30 springs, is preferred.
J It is desirable that during operation of the dispensing
system of the invention the pouch is completely emptied and
that no residue is left behind therein.
35 In order to achieve this, the piercing member is preferably
provided with one or more ret~; n; ng hooks. These hooks keep

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the film of the pouch in a fixed position around the
penetration hole while the movable platform is gradually
moving upward by decompression of the springs when liquid
is flowing out of the pouch, thus creating a funnel around
5 the penetration hole and allowing all the liquid to flow
out of the pouch. For facilitating the formation of this
funnel, the platform is preferably funnel-shaped.
The system of the invention is particularly suitable for
10 use in combination with a dosing pump for dosing the liquid
poured out of the pouch into the reservoir. When said
liquid is a liquid detergent product, the dosing pump may
be effectively used for dosing said liquid into a washing
machine.
The invention is further illustrated by Figures 1-3 which
show schematic cross-sectional views of the dispensing
system of the invention at consecutive stages when
operating the system.
20 Referring more in detail to the drawings, in Figure 1 (1)
indicates a flexible pouch filled with liquid. Also a
reservoir (2) is shown, cont~;n;ng a spring-loaded platform
(3) attached to the bottom of the reservoir by springs (4)
and movable in the verticle direction around a piercing
25 member (5) having a blunt knife (6) on its upper side.
Figure (1) depicts the first step when operating the sys-
tem, i.e. the step in which the pouch is put into the
reservoir (2) and just before it is positioned onto the
platform (3).
Figure 2 shows the second step, wherein the platform has
moved down under the weight of the pouch (1) and the blunt
knife (6) has penetrated the film material of the pouch,
thus creating a hole through which the liquid can move out
35 of the pouch into the reservoir.

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Finally, Figure 3 shows the situation in which at least
part o~ the liquid in the pouch has ~lown out causing the
pouch to loose weight and the platform to move upward by
the action of the springs. It can be seen that ret~; n; ng
5 hooks (7) keep the f ilm o~ the pouch surrounding the
penetration hole fixed in the lowest position thus creating
a funnel centered around this hole and allowing all the
liquid to flow out o~ the pouch.
10 It is ~m~ ized that the system shown in the Figures
illustrates a only pre~erred embodiment of the invention
and that various constructional alternatives will be im-
me~; ~ tely evident to the man skilled in the art, without
departing from the scope of the present invention as
15 described in the claims.

Representative Drawing