Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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IMPROVED LIQUID SOAP DISPENSER
Background of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved
liquid soap dispenser, of the type in which, upon a
simple manual operation of a lever, a predetermined
quantity of liquid soap is delivered from a container and
received by the user's hands.
Dispensers of this type are well known and have
been used and widely installed in public lavatories and
toilets in public places, such as restaurants, schools,
hospitals, trains, etc. However, the prior art liquid
soap dispensers have shown a number of inconveniences,
some of which have been overcome by the use of a
dispensing nozzle or valve-including pump cartridge.
However other difficulties and disadvantages are
still present in the liquid soap dispensers known in the
art. For example, the product container is usually made
integral with the back support to be fastened to the wall
resulting in certain constructional complications because
the dispensing nozzle being clamped to the support or
container is not easy to service or replace. For
- example, it could be difficult to feed the product
directly into the dispenser container by pouring the
;~ liquid from a big supply tank because the container is so
close to the wall. Some difficulties may also arise when
it is required to loosen screws for the replacement of
~; parts, particularly the dispensing nozzle or cartridge
pump, which are usually rusted and/or encrusted with the
soap.
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Summary Of The Invention
It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide an improved liquid soap dispenser having the liquid
container tank separate from the support structure fixed to
the wall, this structure being of reduced size and such that
the tank can be mounted thereon in the simplest way, without
screws or other fastening means.
Another object of the invention is to provide an
improved liquid soap dispenser having the dispensing nozzle
detachably connected to the tank, thus being readily
replaceable.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide
an improved liquid soap dispenser with a tank adapted to
house a disposable sealed cartridge container of the product
so that a given quantity of liquid is delivered through the
dispensing nozzle upon each actuation thereof by means of a
manual lever. In this case there can be provided means to
prevent the direct feed of liquid product into the tank
without using authorized cartridges suitable to cause the
formation of a liquid reserve in the tank, thus allowing the
continued dispensing of liquid soap even upon removal of an
empty cartridge before the insertion of a fresh full one.
Also, the cartridge container itself form part of the
present invention, as will be described herein.
As an alternative, the dispenser tank could be directly
fed with liquid soap from a supply tank without using
disposable cartridges, because the tank can be easily
removed from the support bracket during filling.
Further object, advantages and characteristics of the
liquid soap dispenser according to the invention will be
better understood from the following detailed description of
the preferred embodiment, with reference to the drawings.
Description of the Drawin~s
FIGURE 1 shows a side view, partially in cross-section,
of a dispenser unit according to the invention;
FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the various parts
forming the dispenser of FIG. l;
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FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the tank of the dispenser
seern in direction of the line 3 3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 shows a plan view of the dispenser with the tank
removed, as seen in the direction of line 4-4 of FIG. 2;
S FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a cartridge
according to the invention, suitable to be used in
association with the tank illustrated in the preceding
figures; and
FIG. 6 shows a vertical cross-section view of an
alternative embodiment of the tank for the dispenser
according to the invention, suitable to be used without said
cartridge container.
~` Description of the Preferred Embodiment
With reference to the drawings, the liquid soap
dispenser according to the invention comprises, as main
structural components, a support bracket 1, a tank 2 and a
cover 3.
The support bracket 1 is substantially a L-shaped
element with a vertical portion or rear plate 10 to be fis~ed
to a wall such as by screws passing through holes 12, or
also by adhesive strips (not shown) providing along plate
10. The support bracket 1 has a horizontal portion 11 which
comprise a bottom wall 13 with side walls 14 and a front
wall 14a for housing the tank 2. Centrally disposed along
the bottom wall 13, at right angles with the rear plate 10
and the front wall is a central zone 15 defined by
peripheral walls extending upward from the bottom wall 13 at
a height lower than side walls 14, and downward at a
position near to the front wall 14a. This zone 15 encloses
various ribs, ledges, shoulders and holes ~o form the
guides, seats and abutments for the dispensing pump
actuating mechanism, as will be hereafter disclosed.
~ The tank 2 can be made conveniently of the same
; material as the bracket 1, preferably plastics like ABS, and
in particular of the transparent type so as to allow that
the level of liquid in the tank be viewed and checked from
the outside. The shape of the tank 2 is such as to conform
to the rear plate and side walls of bracket 1, wherein it is
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housed and rests by gravity, supported by the bottom wall
13. The tank 2 has a downward projecting portion 20, of
circular cross-section, adapted to pass through an
5 associated hole 30 forming the seat therefor in the
bottom wall 13 of the above-mentioned zone 15 which
includes downwardly extending walls 16.
A cover plate 3, of the same material as the tank
2, is adapted to be snap shut onto the tank, such as by
10 having a recess 31 (Fig. 2) which cooperates with a
corresponding hook-shaped member 21 of the tank 2 and an
inwardly extending rib 32 to cooperate with a
corresponding recess 22 of the tank.
According to the invention, the projecting
15 cylindrical portion 20 of the tank 2 is adapted to be
connected with a dispensing nozzle 40 having a valve
including a diaphragm 44. As illustrated, the nozzle 40
and valve 44 are connected to the portion 20 of tank 2
through an internally threaded ring 50. The ring 50 can
20 be readily coupled to the tank portion 20 by means of a
bayonet-type fitting, wherein the cylindrical portion 20
has a one-pitch external thread 23 as shown in Fig. 2.
` Since the upper portion 41 of nozzle 40 is of deformable
character~ it can be firmly fitted between the projection
20 and the outer ring 50.
It should be appreciated that the cartridge pump
of the above-mentioned patent application is formed of
three parts, one of which is the nozzle 40, a second one
is a membrane or diaphragm 44 with a central slit 45 and
the third one is a rigid disc with a central hole, which
in this case is conveniently provided by the integral
bottom 28 of the cylindrical portion 20 of the tank 2,
with a central through hole 46 being coaxial with a slit
45 and the outlet aperture 43 of the nozzle 40.
In Figs. 2 and 3 a first embodiment of tank 2 is
represented which is adapted to be used in combination
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with a liquid soap supply cartridge 100, partly
illustrated in cross-section and in phantom in Fig. 2 to
show its position
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within tanl< 2 and in perspective, full line in Fig. 5. The
cartridge 100, preferably made of plastics, of the
disposable type, will be described more in detail in the
following, with reference to Fig. 5.
With reference to Figs. 2 and 3, it is seen that the
tank 2, at a position between the cylindrical projection 20
and the rear wall 24, is formed with a tubular mounting 25
C-shaped in horizontal cross-section which extends itself to
a certain height h from the bottom of tank 2 and is
defined by a number (three in the drawings, referred to as
26, 26a, 26b) of upright ribs also extending from the tank
bottom. The ribs 26-26b end at their top portion with
inclined, corresponding faces 27, 27b at a level higher than
said height h from the tank bottom. Such ribs 26-26b have
the function of reinforcing or stiffening the C~shaped
mounting 25 which has cutting edges for piercing the sealed
cap 101 of cartridge 100 as it is caused to rest upside down
on the support formed by the mounting 25, the ribs 26-2~b
also serving to guide the cartridge 100 into alignment and
then engagement with cutting edges of mounting 25. The open
portion or concavity of the C-shaped cross-section of the
mounting is positioned facing toward the mouth of the
downwardly directed cylindrical recess 20.
Referring now to the horizontal section 11 of the
bracket support 1, and in particular to said zone 15, the
latter comprises, as seen from Figs. 2 and 4, two parallel
walls 17, 17a each having a rounded recess 51 for housing
the pivot pin 52 of a lever 55 to be operated manually from
the outside. Lever 55 to be cooperates with a sliding
piston 56 having a pusher end 58 capable of exerting
pressure onto the side wall 42 of the dispensing nozzle 40,
as described in the above-mentioned prior patent
application, so that a dosed amount of liquid product is
delivered from the nozzle outlet 43. To this aim piston 56
may have, as shown, an end 54 opposite to end 58 shaped to
fit in a correspondingly shaped aperture 53 in the lever
body 55. As shown in the drawings an abutment 60 is
provided, integral with the bracket 1 structure, against
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which one end of a spiral spring 59 is urged, having its
second end fixed to or biased against a projecting portion
57 of piston end 54. However, any different type of return
spring means could be provided between piston 16 and the
bracket 1 body, such as a leaf spring integrally formed with
the piston as an appendix thereof, being forced against a
fixed portion of the dispenser, in particular of the bracket
support.
Piston 56 is slidably mounted on a horizontal plate 33
~ 10 underlying and parallel to the bottom wall 13, by means of
-~ cooperating guides 61, 61a. Lower plate 33 is connected to
the bottom wall 13 through vertical walls 16 and an inclined
` wall 62 forming a stop for the forward oscillation of lever
55 in order to prevent an excessive pressure of piston 56
onto the nozzle wall 42 when the lever is caused to rotate
in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1 against the
resistance of spring 5~. When releasing the lever, it
returns to the rest position of Fig. 1 under the action of
the spring means, such as compressed spiral spring 59.
During its path between these two end positions, the lever
52 protrudes outside of the bottom wall 13 through an
aperture 18 which in Fig. 4 is represented to be in
communication with a lower chamber 34 formed between bottom
wall 13 and plate 33 wherein the piston 56 is slidably
housed.
It appears from the description above and from the
drawings that when a cartridge container 100 of liquid soap
is located in the tank 2 between the ribs 26-26b, the
cutting edge of the C-shaped mounting means pierces the
closure cap 101 to open same to permit the liquid to flow
out of the cartridge until the tank 2 is filled to height
h, whereupon at each subsequent delivery of product
through the nozzle 40, a corresponding liquid amount flows
; from the cartridge to keep the level h constant. When the
cartridge 100 is empty, it can be readily replaced with a
new one, but it is possible to continue using the dispenser
;` in the meantime, since there is a mass of liquid available
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as a reserve covering the bottom of the tank 2 up to height
h.
For commercial reasons, if, as it often happens, only
supply cartridges containing a given type of liquid soap and
thus supplied by a certain producer should be employed,
these will have for example a particular configuration to
which the inner shape of the tank 2 should be associated.
With reference to Fig. 5, showing a cartridge 100 of a
light plastic material, having a substantially
parallelepiped shape with a liquid outlet neck 102 normally
closed by a sealing cap 101 and two recesses 103 to make its
grip easier, the car-tridge 100 may show e.g. one or more
grooves 104 (in number of two and mutually staggered in Fig.
5) which cause it to be suitable for use with
correspondingly shaped tanks. Generally speaking at each
combination of number, position and depth of the grooves 104
in the cartridges 100, the associated tanks 2 shall show a
corresponding combination of ribs on their inner walls, such
as the one referred to as 47 in Figs. 2, 3 so as only a
given type of cartridge can match with and be used in the
tank of the dispenser.
Also to prevent using the tank 2 without any cartridges
100 at all, but merely by pouring therein the liquid in bulk
from a supply container, long slits 29 (see Fig. 2) can be
formed along at least one side wall of the tank from the top
thereof down which terminate above the height h, thus
preventing unauthorized use of the dispenser, because the
liquid soap would flow from such slits, should soap be fed
; directly into the tank without the proper cartridge. The
slits 29 can also have the further function of allowing the
liquid level in the cartridge 100 to be observed and checked
when the cartridge is of transparent material and the tank 2
~ is opaque.
;; The ribs 26-26b in combination with the slits 29 also
prevent the use of unauthorized cartridges with the
~ dispenser 1 because unauthorized (bootleg) cartgridges will
`~ not fit into proper nesting position between the ribs
; 26-26b. The tops of the ribs 26-26b are just above the
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bottom of the slits 29 so that soap from a bootleg
cartgridge resting on the top of ribs 26-26b will fill to
the bottom of the bootleg cartridge, above the bottom of
slits 29, and leak out of the dispenser 1.
If bulk filling is permitted or desirable, then the
~; tank would be constructed as illustrated in Fig. 6 wherein
tank 2a is shown. Where the details of tank 2a are similar
to those of tank 2, the same reference numbers have been
used. The C-shaped cartridge closure mounting and cutting
means 25 and the associated reinforcing means 26, 26b, 27,
27b are obviously missing and there are no slits 29 on the
tank 2a lateral walls. In order to make bulk loading of
; dispenser tanks 2a the tank itself can be easily brought
away from its position near the wall to which the dispenser
is mounted, by simply removing it upward from its support
bracket 1 and subsequently arranging the same thereon again
with the nozzle 40, integral with the tank 2a, inserted in
the hole bar 30 of the base 11. The replacement of the
dispensing nozzle 40 in both the embodiments of the tank is
accomplished with the coupling ring 50, by making one
complete turn only, first in the unscrewing direction and
then by screwing it again onto the new nozzle. The nozzles
40 are changed manually, without the need of tools.
~lthough the invention has been disclosed with
particular reference to certain embodiments, further
additions and/or modification being obvious to those skilled
in the art can be made to the described embodiments without
exceeding the scope of the invention itself.
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