Dispensing apparatus with discharge assistant and rotary dispensing valve

An apparatus for dispensing measured quantities of viscous material from a pressurized supply source including a measuring cylinder having a spring loaded piston therein and a rotary valve for alternately communicating the measuring cylinder with the supply source and with a discharge outlet. The rotary valve member has axially spaced O-ring seals to inhibit leakage from the ends of the valve member and an inlet seal for sealing against leakage from the pressurized inlet passage in a direction circumferentially of the rotary valve member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to dispensing apparatus of the type which are 
operative to dispense material from a pressurized supply source utilizing 
a measuring cylinder and valve mechanism operative to alternately 
communicate the measuring cylinder with the pressurized supply source to 
fill the measuring cylinder and with a dispensing outlet to dispense a 
measured quantity of material from the cylinder. The present invention is 
particularly adapted for use in dispensing syrups and toppings for use on 
sundaes and the like, which syrups and toppings vary in viscosity and 
sometimes contain chunks of solid material such as nuts, fruit and the 
like. 
Various objects of the present invention are to provide an apparatus for 
dispensing measured quantities of viscous material which is capable of 
handling material of different viscosity without significant leakage; 
which can be used to dispense materials of different viscosity without 
causing splashing during dispensing of the less viscous materials; which 
is of a simple construction that can be easily disassembled, cleaned and 
reassembled.

The dispensing apparatus of the present invention is particularly adapted 
for use in dispensing syrups and toppings utilized for sundaes and the 
like from a pressurized source of such material. As shown in FIG. 1, the 
dispensing apparatus 10 is adapted to be mounted on an upright wall 11 of 
a cabinet or the like, and connected to a pressurized supply source 12 of 
the material to be dispensed. The pressurized supply source is 
conveniently in the form of a container or reservoir 13 adapted to contain 
a quantity of material to be dispensed, and which container is closed and 
sealed as by a cover 14 and pressurized as from a tank of pressurized gas 
such as carbon dioxide (not shown) through a gas pressurizing line 15, and 
regulator 16 communicating with the top of the tank 13. Liquid material is 
delivered from the tank through a delivery line 17 that extends from a 
point adjacent the bottom of the tank, and through a tube or conduit 18 to 
the inlet of the dispensing apparatus 10. 
The dispensing apparatus 10 comprises a housing conveniently molded of a 
synthetic resin material and which includes a generally upright measuring 
cylinder 21 and a valve cylinder 22 that extends crosswise at the lower 
end of the piston cylinder. A wall 23 is provided at the juncture of the 
valve and measuring cylinders and cylinder passages 24a and 24b are 
provided in the wall 23 and communicate the measuring cylinder with the 
valve cylinder. 
The measuring cylinder 21 has an open upper end and a cap 26 is mounted on 
the upper end of the piston cylinder to close the same. The cap 26 has a 
sleeve portion 27 that telescopes into the upper end of the measuring 
cylinder and an O-ring 28 is seated in a groove 29 in the sleeve portion 
27 to seal the interface between the cap and measuring cylinder. The cap 
is releasably retained in assembled condition on the piston cylinder by 
lateral lugs 30 that are receivable in bayonet slots 31 on the measuring 
cylinder. A piston 32 is slidable in the cylinder 21 and an O-ring 33 is 
mounted in a groove 34 in the cylinder to slidably seal the interface 
between the piston and measuring cylinder. As best shown in FIG. 2, the 
piston has a head 34a at its lower end and an upwardly extending skirt 
portion 34b and a coil type compression spring 35 is interposed between 
the head of the piston and the cap 26 to yieldably urge the piston 
downwardly. A spring guide boss 34c is preferably provided on the piston 
to extend internally of the spring to center and guide the same and, 
similarly, a spring guide boss 26b is conveniently provided on the cap to 
also center and guide the spring. 
The valve cylinder 23 is open at both ends and the valve cylinder has inlet 
passage 41 (FIG. 4) and a discharge passage 42 (FIGS. 2 and 5) extending 
therethrough and angularly spaced from each other. A generally cylindrical 
rotary valve member 45 is disposed in the valve cylinder and has transfer 
passages 45a and 45b operative in a first rotary position of the valve 
member to communicate the supply inlet 41 with the measuring cylinder and 
in a second rotary position to the valve member, to communicate the 
measuring cylinder with dispensing outlet 42. As best shown in FIG. 2, the 
cylinder passages 24a and 24b are axially spaced apart in a direction 
lengthwise of the valve cylinder. The inlet passage 41 is aligned in a 
direction transversely of the valve cylinder with the cylinder passage 
24a, but is angularly spaced therefrom. The outlet passage 42 is aligned 
in a direction axially of the valve cylinder with the cylinder port 24b, 
but is also angularly spaced therefrom. The outlet passage 42 is 
preferably disposed vertically below the cylinder passage 24b so that the 
transfer passage 45b can be a straight diametrically extending passage in 
the valve member to minimize the likelihood that chunks of material will 
become hung up in the passage during dispensing. Inlet passage 41b is 
preferably arranged to communicate with the valve cylinder adjacent the 
lower rear portion thereof as shown in FIG. 4 so that the transfer passage 
45a is only slightly angulated as shown in FIG. 4. 
The rotary valve member 45 is also conveniently molded of synthetic resin 
material. In order to minimize machining operations, the valve member is 
made so as to have a relatively loose fit in the valve cylinder and a 
plurality of O-rings 51, 52, and 53 are mounted in grooves at spaced 
locations along the valve member to provide a seal between the valve 
member and valve cylinder at locations spaced axially outwardly from the 
transfer passages 45a and 45b, and also at a location intermediate the 
transfer passages 45a and 45b. Thus, the O-ring seals inhibit leakage 
adjacent both ends of the rotary valve member and also inhibit leakage 
between the transfer passages 45a and 45b. The material being dispensed is 
continuously under pressure at the inlet port 41 and, in order to inhibit 
leakage of material in a direction circumferentially of the valve member, 
a resilient inlet seal member 55 (FIG. 4) is provided for engaging the 
periphery of the rotary valve member around the inlet passage. The inlet 
seal member 55 is a tubular member of resilient material such as rubber or 
the like, and is disposed in the inlet passage 41 and has one end 55a, 
shaped to conform to the periphery of the rotary valve member to seal the 
same. The other end 55b of the inlet seal member is shaped to engage a 
spud 56 that is slidable in the inlet passage 41. As best shown in FIG. 4, 
the spud 56 is also sealed to the inlet passage as by an O-ring 57 mounted 
in a groove in the spud. The spud 56 forms a part of an inlet fitting 58 
which is connected as through a coupling 59 to the syrup supply line 18. 
The housing of the dispensing apparatus also includes an integral mounting 
flange 61 and the flange is conveniently mounted on the upright wall 11 of 
the cabinet as by headed pins 62 that are receivable in bayonet slots 63 
in the flange. The fitting 58 and spud 56 are mounted on the cabinet in 
such a manner as to allow limited vertical movement of the spud during 
assembly of the housing on the cabinet. As shown in FIG. 4, the fitting 58 
is mounted in a slot 64a in a block 64 at the rear of the cabinet wall 11 
for limited vertical movement relative to the cabinet wall, while the 
block restrains endwise movement of the spud 56. In this manner, the 
dispensing housing can be pressed rearwardly to press the spud 56 into the 
inlet passage 41, and then shifted downwardly after the headed pins 62 
have passed into the bayonet slots 63. 
The rotary valve 45 has a flange 45c at one end arranged to engage one end 
of the valve cylinder 23 and a shaft 45d (FIG. 2) extending axially from 
the other end. A handle 65 is attached to the shaft for turning the valve 
member between its first and second positions. The handle has a hub 66 
that slidably and non-rotatably receives the end of the valve shaft 45d 
and a means such as a pin 67 is provided for securing the handle hub to 
the shaft. The hub also has an annular skirt portion 66a spaced outwardly 
from the hub and extending toward the valve cylinder and terminating in an 
end face that engages the end of the valve cylinder. Thus, when the handle 
is assembled on the valve member, the valve member is constrained against 
movement in one direction by the flange 45c on the valve member and in the 
other direction by the skirt portion 66a of the hub 66. A means is 
advantageously provided for normally biasing the handle and valve member 
to its first position. This means comprises a coil type torsion spring 68 
that is disposed inside the skirt portion 66a of the hub and which spring 
has outwardly extending end portions 68a and 68b. One end portion 68a is 
adapted to be received in a notch 69 in the end of the valve cylinder, and 
the other end portion 68b is adapted to be received in a groove 66b formed 
in the inner surface of the skirt portion 66a. The spring is pretensioned 
during assembly of the handle and valve member on the housing, in a manner 
described more fully hereinafter, so as to normally bias the valve member 
and handle to its first position shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5. More 
particularly, the coil type torsion spring is inserted into the skirt 
portion 66a of the hub, with the end 68b of the spring disposed in the 
groove 66b. The end portions 68a and 68b of the spring 66 may, for 
example, be disposed 180.degree. apart when the spring is not distended 
and the handle is then moved in a clockwise direction from the position 
shown in FIG. 3 until the end portion 68a of the spring registers with the 
notch 69 in the end of the valve housing. The handle can then be moved 
back to the position shown in FIG. 3 against the bias of the spring. A 
stop pin 71 (FIG. 1) is adapted to be inserted into a hole in the other 
end of the valve cylinder, and the flange 45c on the valve member has a 
cutaway sector to receive the pin 71 and to provide angularly spaced stops 
72a and 72b for limiting movement of the valve member and handle from its 
first position shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5, to its second position shown 
in FIG. 4. 
In order to minimize the number of different parts which must be handled 
during assembly and disassembly of the dispensing apparatus, the measuring 
cylinder and valve cylinder are advantageously made of the same diameter 
and, similarly, the valve member, piston member, and the sleeve portion 27 
of the cap are also made of the same diameter. This enables use of the 
same size O-rings for rings 28, 33, 51, 52 and 53. 
From the foregoing it is thought that the construction and operation of the 
dispensing apparatus will be readily understood. In use, the spring 68 
normally urges the handle 65 to its raised position and the valve member 
to its first position as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5. When the valve 
member is in its first position, the transfer passage 45a is out of 
registry with the inlet passage 41 and the cylinder passage 24a while the 
transfer passage 45b registers with the cylinder passage 24b and the 
outlet passage 42 to allow discharge of the material from the measuring 
cylinder. O-rings 51, 52 and 53 seal the interface between the rotary 
valve member and valve cylinder to inhibit flow in a direction axially of 
the valve member and, when the valve member is in its first position, the 
inlet seal member 41 engages the cylindrical periphery of the valve member 
at a location angularly offset from the transfer passage 45a, to block 
flow of material from the inlet in a direction circumferentially of the 
valve member. When the handle 65 is moved downwardly to the position shown 
in FIG. 4, the valve member is moved to its second position in which the 
transfer passage 65a communicates the inlet passage 41 with the cylinder 
passage 24a, while the transfer passage 45b is out of registry with the 
cylinder passage 24b and outlet passage 42. Material under pressure from 
the supply source 12 is delivered from the inlet passage through transfer 
passage 45a and into the measuring cylinder to raise the piston therein 
against the bias of spring 35, until the upper end of the piston engages 
the cap, which forms a stop for the piston. The air in the measuring 
cylinder above the piston is vented to atmosphere through the restricted 
vent 75 (FIGS. 1 and 2) and this limits the rate of upward movement of the 
piston during filling of the measuring cylinder. When the valve member is 
thereafter moved back to its first position the flow of material into the 
measuring cylinder is shut off and the measured quantity of material in 
the measuring cylinder is discharged through the transfer passage 45b. 
During discharge of material, the restricted vent 75 also limits the rate 
of air flow into the measuring cylinder above the piston and controls 
downward movement of the piston to inhibit splashing of the product as it 
is dispensed. 
The dispensing apparatus can be readily disassembled for cleaning. It is 
removed from the cabinet by first lifting the dispensing apparatus until 
the headed pins 62 register with the lower ends of the bayonet slots 63, 
and thereafter pulling the dispensing apparatus laterally away from the 
cabinet to disengage the pins from the bayonet slots and to disengage the 
spud 56 from the inlet passage. The handle is removed from the valve 
member by removing the pin 67 after which the valve member can be pulled 
out of the valve cylinder. The measuring cylinder cap 26 is removable from 
the measuring cylinder by turning and lifting the same to disengage the 
pins 30 from the bayonet slots 31, and the piston and spring can 
thereafter be removed for cleaning through the open upper end of the 
cylinder.