Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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A LIQUID DELIVERY SYSTEM
The present invention is directed to a liquid delivery
system.
In particular, it is directed to the base unit of the
liquid delivery system described in our earlier application
GB 0820981.9.
The fluid delivery system comprises a base unit into
which a liquid container containing the material to be
dispensed is fitted in an inverted configuration, namely
with its outlet at the lowermost end. The base unit
contains a liquid inlet in an upwardly facing surface, a
liquid duct leading from the inlet to a liquid outlet above
the liquid inlet; a pump for pumping the liquid from the
inlet to the outlet; a motor to drive the pump; and a shroud
extending upwardly in a manner which surrounds the inlet,
the shroud having an upper edge. Such a base unit is
referred to subsequently as being "of the kind described".
In use, the refill unit is provided with a valve at its
lowermost end. As the refill unit is fitted into the base,
an upwardly projecting spigot surrounding the fluid inlet
opens the valve in the refill unit to allow fluid to flow
from the refill unit into the base.
The present invention provides an alternative method
for refilling the system.
According to the present invention, a liquid delivery
system comprises a base unit of the kind described and is
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characterised by the system further comprising a vessel
received within the shroud in an inverted configuration with
its outlet lowermost and in communication with the fluid
inlet, the vessel having a refill opening towards the end
opposite to the outlet.
The presence of a refill opening in what will be, in
use, the top of the vessel, allows the user to refill the
vessel without ever needing to remove it from the base,
rather than having to dispose of the vessel and replace it
with a new one.
In GB 0820981.9, the vessel is a bottle with a valve
at the outlet, the valve being resiliently biased to close
the outlet and arranged to be opened upon insertion into the
base to open the flow path out of the vessel and into the
base. Such a valve may also be provided in the present
invention. However, as the vessel does not need to be
removed in the refilling process, such a valve is
unnecessary. As an alternative, therefore, there may be no
valve to control the flow from the outlet. In this case, in
order to reduce mess, the vessel may initially be inserted
into the base when empty and subsequently filled, or the
base may be inverted such that it is placed on top of the
vessel before the assembly of the base and vessel is
overturned into its operating configuration.
In its simplest form, the vessel may be a liner with a
cup-like configuration to receive the liquid. The liner may
be provided with a removable cap for storage, transportation
and refilling purposes. Alternatively, it may have a
bottle-like configuration which itself may be selectively
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closable by a closure element. This may take the form of,
for example, a self-closing valve or a removable cap which
may be separate from the bottle, or may be attached in some
way, for example, by a sliding mechanism or hinge.
An example of a system in accordance with the present
invention will now be described with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a cross-section through a dispenser having a
bottle according to GB 0820981.9 which is included for
background interest only;
Fig. 2 is a cut-away perspective view of the refill of
Fig. 1 being introduced into the dispenser but not yet being
engaged;
Fig. 3 is a front perspective of a first example of a
system according to the present invention; and
Fig. 4 is a front perspective of a second example of a
system according to the present invention.
Before describing the present invention, the operation
of the dispenser with the refill of GB 0820981.9 will be
described for background interest.
The dispenser is a hands-free dispenser which is
generally suitable for domestic use. The dispenser is
primarily intended to dispense liquid soap, but may also be
used to dispense other liquid or semi-liquid products
(ideally with a viscosity greater than water), such as hand
cream, body lotion, moisturiser, face cream, shampoo, shower
gel, foaming hand wash, shaving cream, washing up liquid,
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toothpaste, acne treatment cream, a surface cleaner or a
sanitising agent such as alcohol gel.
The dispenser comprises two main parts, namely a vessel
1 and a base unit 2. The vessel 1 provides a reservoir of
liquid to be dispensed and is fitted to the base unit 2 as
set out below.
The base has an interface 3 into which liquid is
dispensed from the refill unit. The interface 3 is in fluid
communication with a dispensing tube 4. A pump 5 is
selectively operable to pump a metered dose of the liquid
along dispensing tube 4 and out of dispensing head 6.
The base has an infrared transmitter 7A which transmits
an infrared beam through a window 8 to a receiver 7B to
sense the presence of a user's hands in the vicinity of the
dispenser. Control circuitry reacts to a signal from the
proximity sensor to activate the pump. The illustrated
sensor is a break beam sensor, but may also be a reflective
sensor. Although an infrared sensor is shown, any known
proximity sensor such as a capacitive sensor may be used.
The device may be mains powered or battery powered.
The interface between the bottle 1 and base unit 2 will
now be described in greater detail with reference to Fig. 2.
The base unit 2 comprises a cowling 10 which surrounds
a significant portion of the bottle to protect and support
it. A spigot 11 projects at the base of the cowling 10.
The spigot has a plurality of castellations 13 in its top
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surface. An 0-ring seal 14 surrounds the spigot 11 beneath
the castellations 13.
When the refill 1 is placed into the base unit 2, the
5 spigot 11 enters an annular outlet 15 in the base of the
refill 1 against which the 0-ring seal 14 seals. The spigot
then lifts outlet valve element 16 against the action of
resilient biasing member 17 to open a flow path into the
base. Two pressure relief valves 18 allow air to enter the
bottle as liquid is dispensed.
The refill according to the present invention is shown
in Fig. 3. This refill has the same overall shape as the
previously described refill, although it may have a
different shape. The refill may have the valve element 16
and/or one or more pressure relief valves 18. However,
these are not necessary for its operation.
The refill 1 that has a refill opening 20 in the top
which is selectively closable by a cap 21 attached to the
top of the bottle by a flexible hinge 22.
The refill 1 may be supplied full of liquid or empty.
If it is full of liquid, it will require a removable cover.
This will be removed and the base 2 should ideally be
inverted and placed on top of the housing before the whole
assembly is turned over into the configuration shown in Fig.
3, whereupon the device can operate as normal.
Alternatively, the refill 1 may be empty in which case it
can simply be placed into the base 2 in the orientation
shown in Fig. 3. If the bottle is empty, or when a full
bottle requires refilling, a user simply opens the cap 21
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and pours fresh liquid into the refill 1 and continues to
use the device in the normal way.
Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 4, the entire top
section of the refill 1' may be removed so that the refill
has a cup-like configuration rather than the bottle-like
configuration shown in Fig. 3. This cup-like refill may be
closable with a cap (larger than the cap 21) which fits over
the top of the refill.
