LIQUID DISPENSER

Abstract: A liquid dispenser in which the fluid is dispensed from a container via gas pressure, said liquid dispenser having a body (10) adapted for connection to the container, a liquid inlet (13) to and outlet (12) from the body (10), a first valve means (20) which can selectively close or open the connection between the inlet (13) and the outlet (12), and a second valve means (32) operable in association with the first valve means (20) to cause introduction of gas under pressure into the container whereby liquid is caused to move from the container to the inlet (13) and out through the outlet (12) for delivery.

Description: IQUID DISPENSER This invention relates to a liquid dispenser and, in particular, to a dispenser which is versatile, for the storage and dispensing of liquids from rigid containers. Many liquids, for example wine, must be held in a container to which the ingress of air is barred and this has generally been achieved, as far as bulk containers are concerned, by the use of the bag in box or bag in can concept. In these, a plastic laminated bag having an outlet tap associated therewith is filled with the liquid and sealed and this bag is protected by an outer container, normally of cardboard but, on occasions, of tinplate. Whilst these containers are satisfactory, they are relatively expensive, as the laminated bag can be of relatively exotic material and can contain three or more laminations and, further, they are not particularly satisfactory when the product has to travel great distances as friction between portions of the bag can cause deterioration in the effectiveness of the bag and, further, should one bag on a pallet of containers rupture, then it may be necessary to destroy the whole of the pallet load as the liquid will permeate through the load and can damage the outer containers. It is also desirable to provide containers which can dispense from the top rather than the bottom, as is the case where gravity feed is used, and, further, it is desirable, particularly with liquids which are damaged by contact with air, to ensure that the liquid is in an inert atmosphere. It is also desirable to provide carbonation in certain liquids and, again, it is a desideratum to be able to supply liquids in an aerosol form but without the use of fluorocarbons or other propellents which can be dangerous or injurious either to the user or to the eco-system. It is the object of the present invention to provide a liquid dispenser which, in its various aspects, can overcome or minimise the difficulties which may occur in each of the preceding situations. In its broadest aspect, the invention provides a liquid dispenser having a body adapted or connection to a container, a liquid inlet to and outlet rom the body, valve means which can selectively close the connection between the inlet and the outlet and means operable in association with the valve means to cause the introduction of gas under pressure into the container whereby liquid is caused to move from the container to the inlet, to the body and to the outlet for delivery. It is preferred that the valve means comprises a valve member adapted to co-operate with a valve seat located between the inlet and the outlet passages and there be actuator means whereby the valve can be physically displaced from its seat. It is also preferred that the valve has means extending therefrom, which means cause the release of gas into the container to thereby pressurise the container and cause the movement of the liquid. The pressurisation of the container is preferably by a bulb or the like which contains a gas inert to the product to be distributed, which bulb has a valve which is actuated by the actuation of the valve which permits liquid flow. In order that the invention may be more readily understood, we shall describe the invention in relation to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is an exploded view of one form of liquid dispenser made in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a second form of dispenser; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a bulb containing a valve; and Fig. is an enlarged view of a particular form of valve for use with a bulb. Referring firstly to Fig. 1, the dispenser has a body 10, the external surface 11 of which is formed to co-operate with the top of a container. This surface 11 may be provided with external screw threads or, and preferably, it can be provided to be a frictional fit within a formed aperture in the top of the container. Such arrangements are, of course, well known in the can making and plastics arts and will not be further described. The body 10 includes a liquid outlet 12 and a liquid inlet 13, which are connected by a passageway. Connected to the liquid inlet 13 there may be a flexible tube 1 which, if required, may have a weight at its end 15 so that the tube will normally adopt a position at the lowest position in the container. Located in the bodv, when assembled, there is a valve member 20 which has an upper conical portion 21 which serves as a valve, as will be described later, and the upper end 22 of which is contacted by an actuator to cause operation of the dispenser. The valve has a flange 23 which provides it with resilience and an extension 24 which acts as an actuator for a valve in a gas cylinder. Associated with and connected to the body there is a canister 30 which is adapted to receive a gas bulb 31 which is provided with the valve 32 at its upper end, which valve can be actuated by the member 24 of the valve 20. As shown in Fig. 1, an actuating member 40 is located in the top of the body and this member is adapted, on downward pressure, to act on the top 22 of the valve 20 and cause operation of the dispenser. A safety cap 41 which prevents inadvertent actuation of the dispenser is normally located over the actuating member 40. Fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a slightly modified form of dispenser in which the actuation is by means of a pivotted actuator 45, which is connected at 46 to the body, and which acts on the upper end 22 of the valve 20 in a manner similar to the actuator 40 of Fig. 1. A safety cap 47 can normally be located over the actuator 45. It can be seen that the conical portion 21 of the valve 20 abuts a valve seat 25 which is formed in a passage connecting the inlet 13 to the outlet 12 and, when the valve is in the position shown in the Figure, this passage is closed. The flange 23 of the valve is located between the upper end of the canister 30 and the body and this locates the valve 20 in its normally closed position. It will also be seen how the member 24 extends downwardly into the canister 30 and is located in the upper end 33 of the bulb 31 so as to be able to actuate the valve 32 in the bulb. Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, the actual arrangement of the bulb 31 is illustrated. It is to be appreciated that the actual formation of the bulb 31 and valve 32 can be varied and this is purely an exemplification. The bulb 31 can be formed by known bulb making techniques but, instead of having a rupturable membrane at its outer end, we provide a valve assembly 32. This assembly comprises a slug 50 which may be of nylon and may be formed to be closely received within the neck 33 of the bulb and may be provided with a flange 51 which is adapted to extend over the top of the neck or which may be received on a seat within the neck and the top of the neck may be peened over this to retain it in position. A seal is achieved by the use of an O-ring 52, should this be required. The slug 50 has a central bore 53 therethrough and, at its inner end, is provided with an annular seat 54 which comprises the valve seat, as will be described. An actuator 55 is located within the bore ' 53 and this actuator has a washer 56 thereabouts, which washer can engage with the annular seat 54 to seal the valve. At its lower end the actuator 55 has a compression block or spring 57 which acts against an end closure cap 58 to normally keep the valve closed. The end cap 58 is provided with at least one aperture 59 whereby gas from the bulb can enter the valve. It will be seen that this valve will be normally closed, because of the pressure provided by the compression block or spring 57 but, if the actuator 55 is pressed downwardly, as by pressure from the member 24 of the valve 20, then the seat washer 56 will move away from the annular seat 54 and gas will flow between the bore 53 and the actuator 55 into the container. The operation of the dispenser will be readily understood. When the container is at rest, the pick-up tube 14 will be in the liquid in the container and, when the actuator 40 or 45 is operated, the valve 20 is caused to move downwardly against the resilience of the flange 23 and this opens the passage between the inlet 13 and the outlet 12 and, at the same time, causes operation of the actuator 55 which permits gas from the bulb to enter the container, thus pressurising the container and forcing liquid to be dispensed from the container. When the actuator 40 or 45 is released, the reverse operation occurs, the valve in the bulb is closed and the cone 21 comes on to its seat 25, the valve 20 seals and further dispensing is prevented. Provided the timing of this operation is correct, the container will be left substantially unpressurised but with the head space filled with the gas from the bulb. This gas may, for example, be carbon dioxide or it may be some other gas which is inert to the liquid in the container. Thus it will be seen from this embodiment that the liquid is maintained in the container, it is only pressurised when it is actually required to deliver liquid and the degree of pressurisation can readily be adjusted by controlling the filling of the bulb 31 to control the rate of flow from the container. It will also be appreciated that the delivery is from the top of the container, rather than adjacent the base, as is normally the case, and, because of the arrangement of the pick-up tube 14 and its associated weight 15, it is possible to dispense effectively the whole of the contents of the container. The dispenser of the invention is versatile. It is possible, rather than to provide a relatively open outlet 12, as described, to provide a very small aperture and can use the dispenser to act as an aerosol dispenser. In this case, the pressure may need to be somewhat higher than in the first case, although we have found that undesirably high pressures are not required. It will be appreciated that, when the dispenser is used in an aerosol application, the material being distributed is effectively the contents of the container and there is no concurrent distribution of a carrier. This serves two basic purposes. Firstly, it means that there is no carrier material, which is normally an organic material, dispensed and sprayed on to the recipient of the aerosol spray, which may, of course, be a person's face or body, and, further, there are no complex organic compounds, particularly fluorocarbons passed to the atmosphere. This means that the enviromentalists objections to aerosols is removed. It is further possible to use the dispenser of the invention to form and distribute carbonated products. In this case, the dispenser would need to operate at higher pressures and the gas in the bulb would need to be carbon dioxide. In this case we would normally, initially, release a portion of the charge of the bulb into the container to be dissolved in the liquid therein without the valve 20 being opened. The amount of gas concerned would be sufficient to saturate the liquid in the container but without increasing the pressure in the container unduly. Subsequently, when the carbonated liquid is to be dispensed, the operation is identical to that previously described except that, overall, the pressure in the container will need to be somewhat higher to prevent the release of the gas which is in solution. Whilst we have described herein a particular form of dispenser which is specifically adapted for a one use type dispenser, and can provide a dispenser which is comparable in cost to, say, a bag in box container with its normal valve, it would also be possible to provide a re-useable dispenser. In such an arrangement, the dispenser body would have to be removeably connectable to an aperture in the container and the canister would need to be able to be removed from and replaced on the body so that the bulb can be replaced. In such an arrangement, then, the dispenser would be removed from the container, the container filled with liquid, the canister removed and a new bulb inserted, the canister replaced and the dispenser relocated on the container. Also, it will be appreciated that the particular valve arrangements used could readily be varied, as could the actuators, and we could also readily change the type of valve used in the gas bulb to meet various operating requirements and/or to be satisfactory for manufacture.

Claims: WE CLAIM: 1. A liquid dispenser having a body adapted for connection to a container, a liquid inlet to and outlet from the body, valve means which can selectively close the connection between the inlet and the outlet and means operable in association with the valve means to cause the introduction of gas under pressure into the container whereby liquid is caused to move from the container to the inlet, to the body and to the outlet for delivery. 2. A dispenser as claimed in claim 1 wherein the valve member is adapted to be located on a valve seat between the inlet and outlet passages and wherein there is an actuator means whereby the valve can by physically displaced from the seat. 3. A dispenser as claimed in claim 2 wherein the valve seat Is frusto-conical and the valve member has a complementary shaped portion and a portion directed outwardly therefrom which is contacted by the actuator. 4. A dispenser as claimed in claim 3 wherein the valve member has a flange at ~ the larger diameter end of the conical portion, which flange is restrained against the body and which provides the force to maintain the valve normally closed. 5. A dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4 wherein the valve member has an outwardly directed member which can initiate the introduction of the gas into the container. 6. A dispenser as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the gas under pressure is in a bulb having a valve thereon, the gas being releasable from the bulb on actuation of the valve. 7. A dispenser as claimed in claim 6, when appended to claim 5, wherein the outwardly directed member can act on the valve in the bulb and permit the release of gas therefrom. 8. A dispenser as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the outlet from the body is restricted so the liquid is dispensed as an aerosol spray. 9. A dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein, on initial operation, gas under pressure can be introduced into the container to carbonate the liquid therein before the valve means opens to dispense liquid. 10. A gas bulb for a dispenser as claimed in any preceding claim which bulb has a valve at its outer end, which bulb is adapted for actuation by force being applied thereto. 11. A bulb as claimed in claim 10 wherein the valve has a body, a bore through the body having a valve seat thereabout, an actuator in the bore and having a valve member adapted to contact the valve seat and means to bias the valve member towards the valve seat. 12. A bulb as claimed in claim 11 wherein the valve has an end cap at its inner end, the means to bias the valve acting between the end cap and the actuator. 13. A container having a dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9.

Inventors: LESLIE MICHAEL JOHN, LESLIE, MICHAEL, JOHN
Applicants: DISPAK PTY LTD, DISPAK PTY. LIMITED
Application year: 1987
Main classification: B67D1
IPC codes: B67D1