Patent Publication Number: US-9403632-B1

Title: Fluid dispenser

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not applicable. 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to dispensers used for dispensing fluids such as, but not limited to, lotions such as skin lotions, and industrial fluids such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and lubricants. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Fluids are often stored in vessels from which they are intermittently dispensed. Fluids include chemical compositions some of which are vulnerable to oxidation upon prolonged contact with air present in the environment. Some fluids are chemical compositions which include volatile organic components which have a tendency to evaporate or otherwise escape from containers in which they are stored and from which they are dispensed. There is a continual need for ways to reduce fluid exposure to air. 
     World Intellectual Property Organization (W.I.P.O.) Patent Application Number WO0240122A2 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,806 each disclose a dispenser for dispensing a fluid that includes a rigid vial with a main fluid chamber containing a fluid, and a pump assembly that is in fluid communication with the main fluid chamber and is configured to dispense a predetermined quantity of fluid from the main fluid chamber. A flexible bladder is provided which is located within the main fluid chamber and is configured to expand to fill the ullage created within the main fluid chamber during dispensing of fluid by the pump assembly. The resilient bladder tends to force itself outwardly toward the rigid vial and, in turn, increases the pressure within the main fluid chamber in comparison to the interior of the bladder to thereby prevent the ingress of air or vapors through the bladder or otherwise into the main fluid chamber. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,830 discloses an improved thin-walled pressure vessel having a bladder therein. This vessel includes a shell having an opening and a spout disposed around the opening. An improved cap normally closes this opening, secures the bladder to the shell of the vessel, and provides communication between the outside of the vessel and the inside of the bladder. The cap member comprises a main body member having an opening which receives a valve member. This valve member extends out through one end of the cap member. It also extends through the opposite end of the cap and into the bladder through an opening in the bladder. The valve member engages a portion of the bladder around the opening and clamps this portion against the main body member to secure the bladder to the cap member. As the pressure in the bladder increases, it forces the valve member further against the walls of the opening in the main body member, increasing the clamping force to firmly secure the bladder to the cap member. 
     None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A fluid dispenser for dispensing fluids such as, but not limited to, cosmetic lotions or industrial fluids such as, but not limited to, paint. In one non-limiting embodiment the fluid dispenser of the invention comprises: a housing, a hand pump, at least one bag, and a stem stabilizer. The housing defines an interior chamber and a housing wall. The housing wall defines at least one air-vent hole for ingress of air. The hand pump has a stem which extends downward into the interior chamber of the housing. The at least one bag is located in the interior chamber and is sealed except for being connected to the at least one air-vent hole such that each air-bent hole has a bag connected to it and air is prevented from entering the interior chamber except for the air that enters the at least one air bag. Negative pressure is created in the interior chamber when fluid is extracted from the interior chamber via hand pump, this causes air to flow into the at least one air bag and thus the fluid inside the interior chamber is kept separate from the air entering the at least one air bag. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a fluid dispenser, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 1A  is a cross-section view of a fluid dispenser, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is perspective front section view of a fluid dispenser having a single air bag, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a rear perspective view of the fluid dispenser shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-section view of a fluid dispenser, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a fluid dispenser, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is perspective front section view of a fluid dispenser having two air bags, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is front section view of a fluid dispenser having two air bags, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is front section view of a fluid dispenser having two air bags, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a fluid dispenser, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of an industrial fluid dispenser, according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is an enlarged section view of a fluid dispenser, according to the invention. 
         FIG. 12  shows a table (Table 1) that lists reference numbers and their associated descriptions. 
     
    
    
     Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     This invention is directed to dispensers used for dispensing fluids such as, but not limited to, lotions such as skin lotions, and industrial fluids such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and lubricants. 
     It is to be understood that the terms “top”, “bottom”, “side”, “front”, “rear”, “upper”, “lower”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “height”, “width”, “length” and the like are used herein merely to describe points of reference and do not limit the present invention to any specific orientation or configuration. The claimed apparatus and components may be of any size, shape or configuration suitable for operation of the apparatus and may be constructed of any suitable materials. 
     Referring to the Figures in general, a summary of the component parts are listed in Table 1 (see  FIG. 12 ). 
     The fluid dispenser of the invention is denoted generally by the numeric label “ 100 ”. The fluid dispenser  100  comprises a housing  120 , a hand pump  140 , and at least one bag  160 . The hand pump  140  can be any suitable hand pump such as, but not limited to, a hand pump used in NIVEA® “Original Moisture Daily Lotion” dispensers; also such as, but not limited to, a hand pump used in Softsoap® clean Protection™ “WASH AWAY BACTERIA” dispensers distributed by COLGATE-PALMOLIVE Company of New York, N.Y., USA. 
     The housing  120  has a top end  125 , a base end  130 , an interior chamber  180 , and a housing wall  200 ; the housing wall  200  defines an outer wall surface  210  and an inner wall surface  215 . The housing wall  200  defines at least one air-vent hole  220  for ingress of air into the at least one bag  160 . The at least one air-vent hole  220  extends through the housing wall  200  between outer and inner housing wall surfaces  210  and  215 . The hand pump  140  includes a stem  240 ; the stem  240  defines an outer stem diameter  250 . The stem  240  is in communication with the interior chamber  180 ; for example, in  FIG. 6  the stem  240  is shown extending downward into the interior chamber  180  of housing  100 . The housing  100  can be made of any suitable material such as, but not limited to, plastic. The plastic can be translucent, transparent or opaque. The housing  120  can be made of glass. The glass can be translucent, transparent or opaque. Indicia can be printed directly to the outer wall surface  210  of housing wall  200 ; decals can also be applied to the outer wall surface  210  of housing wall  200 . The hand pump  140  can also be made of plastic. 
     The at least one bag  160  has an opening  170  which is aligned with the at least one air-vent hole  220 . The opening  170  can be in sealed engagement with the surrounding surface of the at least one air-vent hole  220 . For example, the bag opening  170  can be affixed in air-tight engagement around the at least one air-vent hole  220  using a suitable adhesive  175  (see  FIG. 11 ). The hand-pump  140  is in air-tight sealed engagement with respect to the top end  125  of the housing; this can be achieved by any suitable means such as ultra-sonic welding. 
     The at least one bag  160  has sufficient volume capacity to ensure that the at least one bag  160  can hold a sufficient amount of air (received by the at least one air-vent hole  220 ) to ensure fluid  280  can be extracted easily by hand-pump  140 . 
     A stem stabilizer  260  helps the stem  240  resist possible sideways pressure when the at least one air bag  160  fills with air and presses against the stem  240 . The stem stabilizer  260  can take any suitable form. The stem stabilizer  260  shown for example in  FIG. 4  extends upward from the base end  130  of housing  100 . The stem stabilizer defines a circular member  262  which in turn defines through-hole  265 ; the through-hole  265  has a sufficient bore to accommodate the width of the stem  240 . The through-hole  265  of the stem stabilizer  260  secures the stem  240  such that the stem  240  can resist sideways forces that might otherwise cause the stem  240  to flex and hence effectively shorten its operating length inside the interior chamber  180  thereby rendering it harder to extract fluid  280  from the base end  130  via the stem  240  in response to a user (not shown) applying reciprocal motions to the hand pump  140 . 
     Also, the stem stabilizer can be of substantially planar construction with a through-hole  300  disposed therein; the through-hole  300  being of sufficient dimensions to allow the stem  240  to be secured by the through-hole  300 . Such an arrangement is shown in  FIG. 9  where the planar stem stabilizer is labeled  260   p . The stem stabilizer  260   p  can be used alone. In the alternative, the stem stabilizer  260   p  can be used in combination with the stem stabilizer  260  as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
     During normal operation the fluid dispenser  100  creates negative pressure in the interior chamber  180  thereby causing air to be drawn into the at least one air bag  160  without coming into contact with a fluid  280  inside the chamber  180 . For example,  FIGS. 1A through 4  show how one non-limiting embodiment of the fluid dispenser  100  works; a user typically uses their hand (not shown) to apply pressure to the top of a hand pump  140  which forces fluid (such as, but not limited to, anti-bacterial liquid soap) to flow from the interior chamber  180  to the exterior of the fluid dispenser  100  via stem  240 . The forced fluid extraction from the interior chamber  180  causes negative pressure in chamber  180  which in turn causes air to enter the at least one bag  160  via at least one air-vent hole  220 . In  FIGS. 1A through 4   j  only a single bag is shown (labeled as  160   s  in  FIG. 4 ) and the single air-vent hole  220   s . The stem stabilizer  260  ensures that the stem  240  remains in a vertical configuration as the air bag  160   s  inflates. 
     In the example as shown in  FIG. 4 , the stem stabilizer  260  has the circular member  262  with supporting legs for securing the circular member  262  to the housing  120 . 
       FIGS. 6 through 8  show how one non-limiting embodiment of the fluid dispenser  100  works; a user typically uses their hand (not shown) to apply pressure to the top of a hand pump  140  which forces fluid (such as, but not limited to, anti-bacterial liquid soap) to flow from the interior chamber  180  to the exterior of the fluid dispenser  100  via stem  240 . The forced fluid extraction from the interior chamber  180  causes negative pressure in chamber  180  which in turn causes air to enter a plurality of air bags  160   p  via at least one air-vent hole  220 . In  FIGS. 6 through 8  only two bags are shown (labeled as  160   p ) and the two air-vent holes are labeled  220   p . The stem stabilizer  260  ensures that the stem  240  remains in a vertical configuration as the air bags  160   p  inflate. 
     In a further embodiment, the invention is an industrial size fluid dispenser  100   i  (see  FIG. 10 ) made up of a housing  100   i , fluid dispensing line  140   i , and at least one industrial sized bag  160   pi . The at least one industrial sized bag  160   pi  which upon full deployment has a volume capacity of the industrial size bag being at least 2 gallons; and preferably between 2 and 25 gallons. An industrial fluid  280   i  such as, but not limited to, lubricating oil can be dispensed from the industrial size housing  120   i  via fluid dispensing line  140   i . An industrial size fluid dispenser  100   i  is defined herein as fluid dispenser having the capacity to dispense at least 5 gallons of fluid. The fluid capacity of the fluid dispenser  100   i  can be between 5 gallons and 200 gallons of fluid. For example, the housing  120   i  could be a 50 gallon drum. Industrial fluids that can be dispensed by fluid dispenser  100   i  include, but are not limited to, volatile organic solvents (VOCs). The volume term “gallon” defined as being equal to 3.8 L (i.e., 3.8 liters, to one decimal place; the European spelling of “liters” is: “liters”). 
     The invention being thus described, it will be evident that the same may be varied in many ways by a routineer in the applicable arts. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.