Abstract:
A mechanism for releasably retaining an article, e.g. a liquid dispenser, with a base portion is disclosed, in which the dispenser includes a protrusion releasably engageable with the base portion, and the base portion includes locking means adapted to prevent disengagement of the dispenser from the base portion, and the locking means includes a ring which is movable, e.g. by rotation or swiveling action, relative to the base portion to lock or unlock the dispenser from said base portion.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a retaining mechanism and, in particular, such a mechanism suitable for, but not limited to, retaining an article (e.g. a liquid dispenser) with a base member. 
     Various retaining mechanisms have been devised for releasably engaging an article to a base, e.g. for the releasable engagement of a liquid dispenser with a base member. For the purpose of discouraging unauthorized removal of the liquid dispenser from the place of use, the dispenser is usually provided with a protrusion with a spherical end, which does not allow the dispenser to support itself on an ordinary support surface, e.g. a sink counter top. However, it is found that after a certain period of use, the dispenser may get loosed from the base member, so that it is necessary to fit the dispenser again into the base member. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a retaining mechanism in which the aforesaid shortcoming is mitigated, or at least to provide a useful alternative to the public. 
     It should be pointed out that although a liquid dispenser is here shown as an embodiment of the present invention, it should be understood that the present invention can find its application in, e.g. the releasable engagement and locking of any other utensil, e.g. a pair of pliers or a pair of scissors, to a base member. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a retaining member for releasably retaining an article, wherein said retaining member includes at least one engagement member, at least one locking mechanism, and at least one body member having a central longitudinal axis, wherein said at least one engagement member is movable radially relative to said central longitudinal axis of said body member between an engaged position and a disengaged position, wherein said at least one engagement member, when in said engaged position, is closer to said central longitudinal of said body member than when at said disengaged position, wherein said locking mechanism includes at least one ring member, wherein said ring member is movable relative to said body member in a first direction to a locking position to lock said article against disengagement from said retaining member, and wherein said ring member is movable relative to said body member in a second direction to a unlocked position to unlock said article, and wherein, when said engagement member is in said inner position and said ring member is in said unlocked position, said article is engageable with and disengageble from said retaining member. 
     According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container with a body member and a protrusion extending from said body member, wherein said protrusion includes at least two grooves on its outer surface. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Embodiments of the present invention will be described by way of examples only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 shows a side view of a liquid dispenser with a protrusion forming part of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 shows a side view of a first embodiment of a base portion forming part of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 shows the liquid dispenser shown in FIG. 1 engaged with the base portion shown in FIG. 2, and attached as a whole to a support surface; 
     FIG. 4 is a part sectional view of the liquid dispenser and base portion shown in FIG. 3 in which the liquid dispenser is locked with the base member; 
     FIG. 5A is a sectional view of the base portion taken along the line V—V of FIG. 2 in which the locking pins are in the locking position; 
     FIG. 5B is a sectional view of the base portion taken along the line V—V of FIG. 2 in which the locking pins are in the unlocked position; 
     FIG. 6 is a side view of a second embodiment of a base portion, forming part of the present invention; 
     FIG. 7 is a side view showing the liquid dispenser shown in FIG. 1 engaged with the base portion shown in FIG. 6, and attached as a whole to a support surface; 
     FIG. 8 is a part sectional view of the liquid dispenser and base portion shown in FIG. 7 in which the dispenser is not locked with the base portion; 
     FIG. 9 is a part sectional view of the liquid dispenser and base portion shown in FIG. 7 in which the dispenser is locked with the base portion; 
     FIG. 10 is a side view showing the liquid dispenser shown in FIG. 1 engaged with a third embodiment of a base portion (forming part of the present invention), and attached as a whole to a support surface; and 
     FIG. 11 is a part sectional view of the liquid dispenser and base portion shown in FIG. 10 in which the liquid dispenser is locked with the base portion. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a liquid dispenser, e.g. for dispensing liquid soap, constituting an article of the present invention is shown and generally designated as  10 . The dispenser  10  includes a body  12  for containing the liquid, with a conventional manually actuated pump and spout assembly  14  threaded to the upper end of the body  12 . Formed at and extending from a lower end  16  of the body  12  is a protrusion  18 . As can be seen in FIG. 1, the protrusion  18  is generally cylindrical in shape with two groove portions  20 ,  22  on its outer surface  23 . It can be seen that the while the surface of the groove portion  20  is substantially planar, the surface of the groove portion  22  is generally concave. At the distal end of the protrusion  18  is a part-spherical portion  24 . It can be seen that, with such an arrangement, the dispenser  10  cannot self-support itself on an ordinary support surface, e.g. a desk top or sink counter top. 
     Shown in FIG. 2 is a first embodiment of a base portion according to the present invention, and generally designated as  100 . The base portion  100  includes a body portion  102  and a ring  104 , which is rotatable or swivelable relative to the body portion  102  about a common central longitudinal axis L—L. The outer surface of the ring  104  is corrugated to enhance gripping by a hand of a user for rotation/swiveling. The body portion  102  is open on its upper end  106 , through which the protrusion  18  of the dispenser  10  can enter and be received within an internal cavity of the body portion  102 . As shown in FIG. 3, the dispenser  10  may thus be engaged with the base portion  100 , so that the dispenser  10  can be supported upright on a support surface  108 . At the bottom end of the base portion  100  may be provided an adhesive tape, or some other adhesive material, which serves to secure the base portion  100  to the support surface  108 . 
     FIG. 4 shows in more detail the mode of engagement between the dispenser  10  and the base portion  100 . As can be seen, the protrusion  18  of the dispenser  10  is received within an internal cavity of the base portion  100 . The part-spherical portion  24  of the protrusion  18  sits on a substantially correspondingly shaped and sized concave trough on the inner bottom end of the base portion  100 . 
     As shown in FIG. 4, there is a set of upper pin assemblies  110  (of which only one is shown in FIG. 4) and a set of lower pin assemblies  112  (of which, again, only one is shown in FIG.  4 ). In this particular embodiment, there are three upper assemblies  110 , and three lower pin assemblies  112 . Referring first to the set of lower pin assemblies  112 , each such assembly  112  includes a lower pin  114  and a lower spring  116 , which biases the respective lower pin  114  radially towards the inner cavity of the base portion  100 . Such an arrangement ensures that when the dispenser  10  is engaged with the base portion  100  in the position as shown in FIG. 4, the lower pins  114  are engaged and snap-fitted with the groove portion  22 , so that the dispenser  10  is releasably engaged with the base portion  100 . If the dispenser  10  is not locked with the base portion  100  (in a manner to be discussed below), the dispenser  10  may be disengaged from the base portion  100  by being pulled upward and away from the base portion  100 . In this way, the lower pin  114  will be pushed radially outward against the biasing force of the lower spring  116 , thus allowing the dispenser  10  to be disengaged from the base portion  100 . 
     As to the upper pin assemblies  110 , each such assembly  110  includes an upper pin  118 , an upper spring  120 , and a head portion  122  integrally formed with the upper pin  118 . In a manner to be discussed below, the upper pin  118  may be moved radially inwardly, and against the biasing force of the upper spring  120 , to the position as shown in FIG. 4, to engage the groove portion  20 . In this inner position, due to the shape of the upper pin  118  and the surface of the groove portion  20 , the dispenser  10  is locked, i.e. prevented from being disengaged from the base portion  100 , even if the dispenser  10  is pulled upward and away from the base portion  100 . 
     FIG. 5A shows the upper pins  118  in the inner locking position. In this position, each of the head portion  122  of the pin  118  is actuated by a cam surface  124  on the inner surface of the ring  104 , which cam surface  124  pushes and retains the upper pin  118  in its inner position to engage with the groove portion  20 . When the ring  104  is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow A relative to the rest of the base portion  100 , the cam surfaces  124  will come out of engagement with the respective head portion  122 . As the upper springs  120  bias the respective upper pin  118  radially away from the longitudinal axis L—L of the base portion  100 , to its outer position (as shown in FIG.  5 B), the upper pins  118  will be disengaged from the groove portion  20  to unlock the dispenser  10 , thus allowing the dispenser  10  to be disengaged from the base portion  100 . The ring  104  may be turned/rotated in the direction shown by the arrow B to again lock the dispenser  10  to the base portion  100 . It can be seen that the present invention provides a simple yet effective locking feature which can be used in a large variety of applications. 
     FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of a base portion generally designated as  200 . As in the first embodiment of base portion  100  discussed above, this base portion  200  also includes a body portion  202  and a ring  204 . The main difference in this base portion  200  is that a shaft  206  extends from its bottom end. The distal end of the shaft  206  is threaded so that it can be threadedly engaged with a nut  208 . 
     As shown in FIG. 7, the shaft  206  may be received through a bore hole of a support surface  210 , and the nut  208  secured against the bottom side of the support surface  210 , so as to secure the dispenser  10  and the base portion  200  to the support surface  210 . FIGS. 8 and 9 show the mode of engagement of the dispenser  10  with the base portion  200  in, respectively, the unlocked and locked configuration. It can be seen that the mode of engagement and locking are the same as in the first embodiment discussed above. 
     FIGS. 10 and 11 show a third embodiment of a base portion  300  engaged with the dispenser  10 , which base portion  300  includes a body portion  308  and a ring  310 . The main difference between this base portion  300  and the base portion  200  is that, in this base portion  300 , the upper surface  302  and the lower surface  304  are non-parallel, i.e. they are inclined to each other. As shown in these two figures, the dispenser  10  can still assume an upright position although it is secured to a slanted support surface  306 . Alternatively, the dispenser  10  may assume an appropriately slanted position when it is secured to a horizontal support surface. It can be seen in FIG. 11 that the mode of engagement and locking are the same as in the first and second embodiments discussed above. 
     It should be understood that the above only describe examples of how the present invention may be carried out, and that various modifications and/or alterations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention hereof.