LIQUID SUPPLY HOLDER

Abstract: Liquid supply reservoir in a liquid-using machine, provided with a pipe (5) which is detachably secured in an opening (3) at the top of the reservoir and to which a liquid-level sensor device (17, 19, 20, 21) is secured. In the opening (3) a flexible conduit (31), which is connected to the liquid-using machine, can be passed to close to the base of the reservoir for conducting liquid from the reservoir to the machine or the reverse. Floats (17, 19) for sensing a minimum and/or a maximum level in the reservoir are freely slidable secured in a recess (10) on the outside of the pipe (5).

Description: This invention relates to a liquid supply reservoir in a liquid-using machine, e.g. a diazo copying machine, which reservoir has at the top a closable opening in which there are detachably secured a pipe extending to near the base of the reservoir, and a liquid-level sensor device. A supply reservoir of this kind is known from British patent specification No. 1 310 840. The reservoir described therein is provided with a lid which fits on the opening and which is provided with openings through which pass a liquid-level sensor device and pipes for introducing liquid into and taking it from the reservoir, the sensor device and pipes being secured to the lid. Since, in this known reservoir, at least the discharge pipe secured to the lid must extend to close to the base of the reservoir to enable the reservoir to be emptied, and must therefore be rigid, the installed reservoir must, on replacement, be moved vertically downwards with respect to the lid for a distance which is at least equal to the maximum length by which a pipe part, or the liquid-level sensor device respectively, can project into the reservoir. If the lid is secured to the reservoir by a screw connection, the reservoir will also have to be rotated to detach it from the lid. A disadvantage of this known reservoir is that there must be a free space beneath an installed reservoir to enable this movement of the reservoir to be carried out. That also means that the reservoir cannot rest on a fixed support, and this is a disadvantage particularly in the case of full reservoirs, which are relatively heavy. Liquid can easily be spilled when a full reservoir of this kind is handled. The object of this invention is to provide a liquid supply reservoir without the said disadvantages and which can therefore easily be replaced. According to the invention this object is attained in a supply reservoir according to the preamble in that the pipe has outside the reservoir an open end along which a flexible conduit connected to the liquid-using machine can be passed to close to the base of the reservoir and in that the liquid-level sensor device forms a unit with the pipe. The effect of this integration is that when the reservoir is detached from the pipe the reservoir can be held fast. The unit consisting of the pipe and liquid-level sensor device preferably fits with a slight play in the reservoir opening. Consequently the opening is utilized to the maximum and, for example, can be relatively small with respect to a liquid conduit fitted through the pipe opening. In an attractive embodiment, the pipe has a part with a reduced section, a recess being formed on one side of the outside of the pipe and the liquid-level sensor device comprises a sensor for a low level and/or a sensor for a high level, the sensors respectively being secured to the pipe wall parts terminating the recess at the bottom and top respectively. Other features and advantages of the invention will be explained in detail in the following description of a supply reservoir according to the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Fig. 1 is a section through a reservoir according to the invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the reservoir according to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section according to line III-III in Fig. 1. The supply reservoir represented in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a tank 1, the effective capacity of which is a good 11 litres. Tank 1 is provided with a handle 2 and a round opening 3. Around the opening 3 is formed an upright edge 4 the outside of which is screwthreaded to receive a screw cap (not shown) which can close the tank 1 when not in use. The supply reservoir also comprises a substantially round pipe 5 which over length L₁ has a cross-section of a maximum dimension somewhat less than the cross-section of the opening 3. The length L₁ is somewhat shorter than the distance from the top of the upright edge 4 to the base of the tank. A collar 7 is formed around the pipe at a distance L₁ from the bottom of the pipe and rests on the top of the upright edge 4. In any desired angular position the pipe 5 is detachably secured to the tank 1 by means of a screw ring 8 which on the one hand rests on the collar 7 and on the other hand co-operates with the screwthread on the upright edge 4. The pipe wall is bent inwards over the majority of the length L₁ to form a recess 10. Viewed in a cross-sectional plane of the pipe, recess 10 is formed by a V-shaped pipe wall part in the otherwise circular pipe wall. The pipe wall parts which form the recess include an angle of 90° and extend from the circular pipe wall part to the centre of the circle as indicated in Fig. 3. Over the entire length L₁ the pipe 5 thus fits with a slight play into the round opening 3 and the pipe cannot be shifted laterally when passed through the opening 3, by which the liquid-level sensor 19 could be damaged. The recess 10 is closed at the bottom and top by pipe wall parts 11 and 12 respectively. Wall parts 11 and 12 are each provided with a hole 13 and 14 respectively in which a guide tube 15 is secured by means not shown. A part 15a of the tube 15 extends beneath the wall part 11. At some distance beneath wall part 11 a stop ring 16 is secured to tube end 15a. A float 17 is secured to tube part 15a and is freely slidable between stop ring 16 and wall part 11. At some distance beneath wall part 12 a stop ring 18 is secured to the guide tube 15. Between stop ring 18 and wall part 12 a float 19 is secured to be freely slidable on guide tube 15. Floats 17 and 19 are so adapted to the density of the liquid in the tank that in the immersed state they occupy a top position and in the non-immersed state a bottom position. A permanent magnet 17a and 19a respectively is disposed in each of the floats 17 and 19 respectively. A reed switch 20 and 21 respectively is fixed in the guide tube 15 level with each float and its contacts close when they come into the range of influence of the magnet in the associated float. An electrical signal is thus obtained when float 17 reaches the bottom position, representing a minimum level in the reservoir, and when float 19 comes in the top position, representing a maximum level in the reservoir. The reed switches 20 and 21 are respectively connected via leads 22 and 23 to contacts 22a and 23a of plug socket 24 secured to the outer wall of the part L₂ of the pipe projecting above the collar 7, on an inclined upwardly extending part of pipe wall part 28. A locating hole 22b and 23b respectively is formed in the plug socket near each of the contacts 22a and 23a respectively. The float switches 20 and 21 can be connected via plug socket 24 by means of plug 29 and 30 respectively to the control system of a liquid-using machine near which the supply reservoir is placed. Each plug 29 and 30 respectively is provided with a locating pin which fits only in the locating hole 22b and 23b respectively of the associated contact 22a and 23a respectively. As a result the plugs cannot be interchanged. The top edge 25 of the pipe part L₂ lies in a plane which forms an angle of 45° to the longitudinal axis of the pipe 5. The lowest part of said edge 25 is formed into a pouring spout 26. Openings 27 are formed in the top part of the pipe part fitting into the reservoir and facilitate pouring as will be explained hereinafter. The wall 28 of the pipe 5 situated opposite pouring spout 26 is so profiled that screw ring 8 can easily be pushed over the top pipe part against collar 7 and screwed. To conduct liquid from the reservoir to a liquid-using machine or to introduce liquid into the reservoir from a liquid-using machine, a flexible conduit 31 associated with said machine is fitted into the pipe 5. If the above-described supply reservoir is used as a reservoir from which liquid is fed to the using machine, replacing the supply reservoir consists of replacing an empty tank by a full tank or of filling an empty tank. In the former case the hose 31 is taken out of the pipe 5 and the plugs 29 and 30 are removed from the socket 24, whereupon the tank can be replaced. In the latter case all that is necessary is to remove hose 31 from pipe 5 to enable the tank to be filled, e.g. via a filling hose or a funnel fitted into the pipe. When the cable connecting the plugs 29 and 30 to the signalling means is sufficiently long and flexible, the supply reservoir can be conveniently placed outside the using machine for filling, while the plug connection remains intact. Thus maximum filling can also be signalled on the using machine when filling takes place outside the machine. When the supply reservoir is used as a supply reservoir for developing liquid in a diazo copying machine, the signalled minimum supply in the supply reservoir is set to 1 litre so that given a supply reservoir capacity of 11 litres it is possible to top up with a rounded quantity of 10 litres, which quantity corresponds to the normal packed quantity of developing powder for dissolving. It will be apparent that when the supply reservoir is used in this way there is no strict need for a sensor for detecting a maximum level. If the supply reservoir described above is used for collecting liquid used in a liquid-using machine, a sensor for detecting a minimum level in a supply reservoir is of course unnecessary and all that is required is just one sensor for observing a maximum level in a reservoir. When the tank is full, and this is signalled by the maximum level detector, the full supply reservoir can easily be emptied, once hose 31 has been removed from pipe 5 and the plug connection released if necessary, by tilting the reservoir, whereupon the liquid flows via openings 27 from the tank chamber into the pipe 5 and from there via the pouring spout 26 out of the reservoir.

Claims: 1. A liquid supply reservoir in a liquid-using machine, e.g. a diazo copying machine, which reservoir has at the top a closable opening (3) in which there are detachably secured a pipe (5) extending to near the base of the reservoir, and a liquid-level sensor device (17, 19, 20, 21), characterised in that the pipe (5) has outside the reservoir an open end (25) along which a flexible conduit (31) connected to the liquid-using machine can be passed to close to the base of the reservoir and in that the liquid-level sensor device (17,19, 20, 21) forms a unit with the pipe (5). 2. A supply reservoir according to claim 1, characterised in that the unit fits in the opening (3) with a slight play. 3. A supply reservoir according to claim 2, characterised in that the pipe (5) has a part with a reduced section, a recess (10) being formed on one side of the outside of the pipe (5) and in that the liquid-level sensor device (17, 19, 20, 21) comprises a sensor (17, 20) for a low level and/or a sensor for a high level (19, 21), the sensors respectively being secured to the wall parts (11, 12) terminating the recess (10) at the bottom and top respectively. 4. A supply reservoir according to claim 3, characterised in that when viewed in a cross-section of the pipe (5), the recess (10) is formed by a V-shaped pipe wall part in the otherwise circular pipe wall. 5. A supply reservoir according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the pipe (5) is provided with a collar (7) which rests on the edge (4) of the opening (3) and which can be secured in any angular position. 6. A supply reservoir according to claim 5, characterised in that an end of the pipe (5) extends above the collar (7) and is provided with a pouring spout (26) and that at least one opening (27) is formed in the pipe wall in the top part of the pipe part fitting in the reservoir, said opening (27) being situated on the same side as the pouring spout (26) when viewed in the circumferential direction of the pipe. 7. A supply reservoir according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the pipe (5) has, on the part (28) projecting from the reservoir, a plug socket (24) provided with contacts (22a, 23a) connected to signalling means for a low and high level respectively. 8. A supply reservoir according to claim 7, characterised in that the contacts consist of two groups (22a, 23a), which can each cooperate only with a plug (29 and 30 respectively) of corresponding configuration, the plug associated with the one group of contacts not fitting to the other group of contacts.

Inventors: WIJNEN, PETER JOHANNES ANTONIUS
Applicants: OCE-NEDERLAND B.V.
Application year: 1986
Main classification: G03D3
IPC codes: G03D3, G01F23, B65D25, B67D7