Abstract:
A gravimetric dispensing system for dispensing a predetermined quantity of liquid into a container. The system has a base structure with a weighing apparatus and a support stand for retaining a container disposed to receive a quantity of liquid. The weighing apparatus supports the support stand to provide a determination of a weight of the support stand, the container, and any liquid deposited into the container, and a receptacle collects any leaked liquid, including liquid from the container or where the container is missing. The receptacle can be removable and can include at least one tank. The receptacle can have a bottom, an opening in the bottom to permit spacing from the weighing apparatus, and ledges surrounding the bottom and the opening. The receptacle can be fixed or removable, such as upon removal of the support stand. A locating formation can engage a corresponding formation on the base structure.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to French Application No. 14 51281, filed Feb. 18, 2014. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is in the field of the dispensing of liquids and viscous fluids, particularly the dilution of liquids and viscous fluids, which may hereinafter be referred to as the liquid. It will be understood that the term liquid shall include liquids and viscous fluids except where expressly limited by the claims. The disclosed system may be implemented in analytical laboratories of the food, medical, cosmetic, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Accordingly, the present invention relates to a gravimetric dispensing system for a given quantity of liquid, and more specifically to a gravimetric dilutor. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Gravimetric dispensing means the dispensing of a predetermined weight of liquid into a container. The liquid is brought by one or more delivery mechanisms to a point located above the container at a non-zero distance from either the bottom of the container or a filling opening of the container. The liquid then flows into the container. A weighing mechanism controls the stop of the dispensing when the predetermined weight is reached. 
     Among the known gravimetric dispensers, it is frequent that some liquid leaks out of the container. More specifically, liquid of then leaks onto the support where the container is located and, additionally or alternatively, onto the base hosting the weighing mechanism. This raises problems including hygiene failure and longer cleaning requirements, such as where the liquid has spread. The cleanup may be more or less laborious depending on where the liquid leaked. 
     The present inventor has thus appreciated that there is a need in the art for a gravimetric dispensing system that reduces the drawbacks related to accidental liquid leakage outside the container. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the present state of the art, the invention disclosed herein is founded on the basic object of providing a gravimetric dispensing system that reduces the drawbacks related to accidental liquid leakage outside the container. 
     A more specific purpose of this invention is to propose a gravimetric dispensing system that is easy to clean thereby reducing, among other things, required cleanup tasks and the labor involved therein. 
     According to the invention, an embodiment of the gravimetric dispensing system of a predetermined quantity of liquid can have a base hosting weighing apparatus and a support stand for supporting a container. The support stand is connected to the weighing apparatus. The system provides a receptacle to collect any liquid that leaks out of the container or to collect any liquid should there be no container. According to the invention, the gravimetric dispensing system is easy to clean. When any liquid leaks out of the container, it is collected in the receptacle. With this, leakage and contamination of the base and the surface where the dispensing system stands can be avoided. 
     Preferably, the receptacle has the general shape of a tray and covers partly or completely the base of the gravimetric dispensing system. This way, the receptacle has a significant capacity without being bulky in height, and it collects the liquid on a large surface below the container, properly protecting the base. The receptacle may be of different sizes. In certain embodiments, it can cover substantially the entire upper face of the gravimetric dispensing system. 
     In another advantageous embodiment, the receptacle presents at least one tank. It may then contain a large quantity of liquid in case of a leaking container. 
     In certain embodiments, the container can have at least one dispensing spout, which eases the discharge of the collected liquid. 
     The receptacle may have one or more ledges, preferably a continuous ledge, preferably round, along the periphery of the receptacle. 
     In another embodiment, the receptacle can be integrated onto the upper face of the base. For example, the upper face of the base can be shaped as a bowl of roughly the same shape as the outer face of the container. In another embodiment, the upper face of the base, shaped as a bowl, can be the container. 
     In particular and according to the invention, the receptacle can be inserted above the base and below the support stand. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the receptacle can lay on the base and can be separated from the weighing apparatus in such a manner that liquid collected by the receptacle does not influence the weighing. Such embodiments of the system have the advantage of not weighing any liquid that leaks out of the container. The quantity of liquid introduced in the container can then still be precisely weighed. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the receptacle presents at least one opening for the connection between the weighing apparatus and the support stand. In that case, the receptacle can completely surround the connection between the support stand and the weighing apparatus. With an opening wide enough, friction can be avoided between the support stand and/or the sensitive body of the weighing apparatus on one hand and the receptacle on the other hand. This way, neither the weighing of the container content nor the calibration will be distorted. 
     In certain embodiments, the opening can be surrounded by a ledge, and the ledge can point upward. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the receptacle can be removable. This way, the receptacle is rendered even easier to clean before being returned to position for the next operation of gravimetric distribution. 
     Advantageously, the support stand could be separable from the weighing means, and the receptacle is removable when the support stand is separated from the weighing apparatus. It is then very convenient to remove the receptacle. 
     In another embodiment, the removable receptacle can have a notch, and the notch can receive the connection between a support stand and the sensitive body of the weighing apparatus and enables a lateral removal of the receptacle. 
     In such embodiments, the protection against streaks may not be fully complete around the connection, but it is advantageously possible to remove the receptacle without prior disassembly of the support stand, which may then be permanently connected to the sensitive body of the weighing apparatus. 
     The removable receptacle can include at least one locating pin to ease its positioning on the base of the gravimetric dispensing system. 
     In another embodiment, the receptacle can be fixed to the support stand. The receptacle and the support stand could form one single piece. 
     These particularities confer several advantages on embodiments of the gravimetric dispensing system. For example, the gravimetric dispensing system is easier to clean. The user will not lose time cleaning liquid that would have otherwise spread on the surface of the base. In addition, the receptacle, when it is removable, is adaptable to different models of gravimetric dispensing systems. Therefore, a user may simply use another removable receptacle to continue the preparation of a sample while one receptacle is removed for cleaning. These characteristics make the removable receptacle convenient to use. These and other advantages will be appreciated by one skilled in the art reviewing the present disclosure and to one who has the opportunity to observe an embodiment of the invention in use. 
     One will appreciate that the foregoing discussion broadly outlines certain more important goals and features of the invention to enable a better understanding of the detailed description that follows and to instill a better appreciation of the inventor&#39;s contribution to the art. Before any particular embodiment or aspect thereof is explained in detail, it must be made clear that the following details of construction and illustrations of inventive concepts are mere examples of the many possible manifestations of the invention. It will thus be clear that additional features and benefits of the invention will be apparent through a reading of the detailed description of implementations and embodiments, which are without restriction, and by reference to the attached figures. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       Other particularities and advantages of the invention will appear during the reading of the detailed description of implementations and embodiments without restrictions, and of attached figures: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective view of a gravimetric dispensing system embodying the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic perspective view of an alternative gravimetric dispensing system according to the invention without the support stand and the delivery apparatus; 
         FIG. 3  is a partial sectional view in side elevation taken along the axis of the weighing shaft, the base, and the removable receptacle according to another embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective of a further embodiment of a removable receptacle as taught herein; and 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of the gravimetric dispensing system disclosed herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The gravimetric dispensing system disclosed herein is subject to a wide variety of embodiments. However, to ensure that one skilled in the art will be able to understand and, in appropriate cases, practice the present invention, certain preferred embodiments of the broader invention revealed herein are described below and shown in the accompanying drawing figures. Therefore, before any particular embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it must be made clear that the following details of construction and illustrations of inventive concepts are mere examples of the many possible manifestations of the invention. Further, the invention is not limited to the disclosed preferred embodiments, and one may skilled in the art will be aware based on the present disclosure of variants of the invention that would include only a selection of the features described subsequently, perhaps isolated from the others features described, and such a selection of features may nonetheless offer a technical benefit or differentiate the invention in comparison with the state of the art. 
     With this in mind and looking more particularly to the accompanying figures, an embodiment of the gravimetric dispensing system  1  for dispensing a given quantity of liquid as shown in  FIG. 1  has a delivery apparatus  7 , which can be contactless. The delivery apparatus conveys liquid, such as a physiological serum, up to a container, such as a sterile bag as schematically indicated at  9  in  FIG. 1 , through one or more conveying conduits. Several liquids could be conveyed through several conduits. For example, in  FIG. 1 , two conduits are shown for conveying two liquids. The delivery apparatus  7  can have one or several pumps, such as one or more peristaltic pumps as indicated schematically at  5  in  FIG. 1 , for causing the liquid to be dispensed. 
     The gravimetric dispensing system  1  has a support stand  40  supporting the container  9 . The support stand  40  is mechanically connected to the sensitive body of the weighing apparatus  6 . The sensitive body of the weighing apparatus  6  can include a weighing shaft  8 , which transmits the weight force to be measured. The support stand  40  can include a lower sleeve  30  atop the shaft  8  that transmits to the shaft  8  the weight of the support stand  40 , of the container  9 , and of contents of the container  9 . As illustrated, the support stand  40  can have two upstanding walls  41  to maintain the container  9  on the support stand  40 . 
     The support stand  40  rests on the shaft  8  in such a manner that the filling of the container  9  is detected by the weighing apparatus  6  under the form of a measure of the increase of the weight of the container  9 . The weighing shaft  8  crosses the upper face of the base  2  to join the support stand  40  of the container. 
     In the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , the gravimetric dispensing system  1  has a receptacle  50 , which has the shape of a tray, allowing the collection of liquid in case of accidental discharge out of the container  9  or otherwise. The receptacle  50  is wisely placed between the support stand  40 , which is located above the receptacle  50 , and the upper face of the base  2 , which is located below the receptacle  50 . Preferably, to intercept properly any liquid that did not correctly find its way into the container  9  or which escaped from it, the breadth of the footprint of the receptacle  50  seen from above preferably encompasses and extends beyond rather widely the entire periphery of the support stand  40 . 
     In the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , the removable receptacle  50  has a central opening  55 . The central opening  55  is passed through by the connection  20  between the support stand  40  and the weighing apparatus  6 . The connection  20  could comprise, for example, the weighing shaft  8  and/or a sleeve  30  that could be firmly fixed to the support stand  40  and located atop the shaft  8  when the support stand  40  is in place. The opening  55  can be such that the receptacle  50  does not contact the connection  20 , or derivatively the weighing shaft  8 , so that the receptacle  50  does not impede the weighing of the solution nor the function of the weighing apparatus  6  to neutralize the combined weight of the support stand  40  and the container  9  in the measure of the weight. 
     The support stand  40  is separable from the weighing apparatus  6  and particularly from the weighing shaft  8 . Thus, the removable receptacle  50  can be positioned quickly and conveniently as it only requires lowering the removable receptacle  50  into place vertically on the upper face of the base  2  after removal of the support stand  40 . 
     In this example, the receptacle  50  takes the form of a tray with a generally flat bottom and a surrounding outer ledge  51 . In addition, an inner ledge  52  surrounds completely the opening  55 . The ledges  51  and  52  extend upward, preferably vertically, of a non-zero height from the bottom of the receptacle  50 . The removable receptacle  50  can, as shown, have a rectangular shape. 
     The receptacle  50  may also cover partly or completely the upper face of the base  2 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , the removable receptacle  50  partly covers the upper face of the base  2  but extends beyond the stand  40  in all lateral directions whereby any leaking liquid will be readily caught and retained by the receptacle  50 . 
     The receptacle  50  could be fixed to the base  2 , or it could be removable from the base  2 . The removability of the receptacle  50  can be facilitated by the removal of the support stand  40  as shown, for instance, in  FIG. 2 . It should be understood, however, that it is within the scope of the invention except as the claims might limit it for the receptacle  50  to be rendered removable in some other manner. 
     In the embodiment of  FIG. 2 , which will be described primarily for its differences with the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , the gravimetric dispensing system  1  also has an upper part  3  connected to the base  2 . The upper part can enable, for example, the retention of a delivery apparatus  7 , which could be similar to that shown in  FIG. 1 . In the present embodiment, the receptacle  50  is readily removable to facilitate the cleaning of the system  1 . 
     In the embodiment of  FIG. 2 , the support stand  40 , which can be similar to that shown in  FIG. 1 , is separable and has been removed from the weighing apparatus  6  and particularly from the weighing shaft  8 . The removability eases the cleaning of, among other things, the support stand  40 . In the absence of the support stand  40 , it is possible to position and remove the removable receptacle  50 . When positioned, the receptacle  50  simply lays by gravity on the base  2 . 
     Furthermore, the removable receptacle  50  completely covers substantially the entire upper face of the base  2 , optimally protecting the upper face of the base  2 . The base  2  may have a portion shaped as a bowl or otherwise corresponding to and closely fitting in the inner face of the receptacle  50 . With that, the receptacle  50  can be positioned in a stable manner. 
     Looking to  FIG. 3 , an alternative receptacle  50  is illustrated. There, the removable receptacle  50  includes a receiving tank  56 , which in this embodiment is disposed adjacent to ledge  51  with ledge  51  forming an outer wall of the tank  56 . The receiving tank  56  enables the collection of more liquid and limits the risk that liquid will overflow the removable receptacle  50  to contaminate the remainder of the system  1 . Also, this improved capacity enables the user to remove the removable receptacle  50  while reducing risks of overflowing during its manipulation, such as after its removal and before it is emptied. The tank  56  is here shown as a deeper part, again preferably located along one lateral edge of the receptacle  50 . 
     The removable receptacle  50  additionally includes a locating member, in this example a locating pin  53 , which cleverly eases the positioning and the position holding of the receptacle  50  on the base  2 . The upper face of the base  2  has a correspondingly shaped and located cavity, which allows the insertion of the locating pin  53  of the removable receptacle  50 . Moreover, the locating pin  53  promotes a centering of the receptacle  50  so that the inner ledge  52  and the receptacle  50  in general is prevented from rubbing or otherwise affecting the operation of the weighing shaft  8 . Of course, further locating members could be provided, and mating locating formations could be oppositely disposed. Accordingly, several possibilities exist depending, for example, on the number and shape of locating member  53 , which could also be cylindrical or rectangular for example. 
     While the material, thickness, and overall configuration of the receptacle  50  could vary,  FIG. 3  also illustrates that the receptacle  50  could be made of a relatively thick material or materials, such as a molded plastic material. The edges of the receptacle can be rounded or provided with fillets. The round protruding edges prevent injuries. The inner edges provided with fillets ease a complete cleaning of the receptacle  50 . 
     In the embodiment of  FIG. 4 , the removable receptacle  50  can further include a dispensing spout  54 , which can ease the discharge of the collected liquid. The dispensing spout  54  in this embodiment has a triangular shape, but other shapes are possible. The dispensing spout  54  can, as shown, be in a corner of the receptacle  50 . In other embodiments, the removable receptacle  50  could have several dispensing spouts  54 . Where multiple spouts  54  are provided, the spouts  54  could have different shapes and could be located at different places along the periphery of the receptacle  50 . 
     Another potential embodiment of the system  1  is shown in  FIG. 5 . There, the receptacle  50  is fixed to or integrated as part of the support stand  40 . The receptacle  50  and the support stand  40  in the depicted embodiment can be removable as a unit. 
     Of course, the disclosed volumetric dispensing system  1  is not limited to the examples that have just been described and shown. Numerous modifications and, potentially, additions can be applied to these examples within the scope of the invention. In addition, various features, shapes, variations and embodiments of the volumetric dispensing system  1  can be combined according to various combinations for they are not incompatible or exclusive one from the other. 
     Therefore, the following claims are intended to define the scope of protection to be afforded to the inventor. Those claims shall be deemed to include equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention. It must be further noted that a plurality of the following claims may express certain elements as means for performing a specific function, at times without the recital of structure or material. As the law demands, these claims shall be construed to cover not only the corresponding structure and material expressly described in this specification but also all equivalents thereof that might be now known or hereafter discovered.