Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    Priority is based on Provisional Application 60/261,613, filed Jan. 12, 2001. 
     
    
     
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH  
         [0002]    Not Applicable.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The field of the invention is dispensers for chemical concentrates, and particularly the dispensing of chemical concentrates at multiple flow rates and different concentrations.  
           [0004]    Dispensers of the type concerned with in this invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,320,288 and 5,372,310. While the spraying apparatus disclosed in these patents can control the flow of carrier fluid and chemical product, it cannot do so in a precise and controlled manner.  
           [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 2,719,704 discloses a valve element  31  with eductor passages  41  and  43 . These interconnect with inlet openings  58  and  61 .  
           [0006]    U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,991,939 and 4,901,923 disclose eductor type dispensers having rotatable discs with various sized apertures for controlling the amount of concentrate being drawn into the water flowing through a nozzle.  
           [0007]    A dispenser which dispenses chemical concentrate should have the capability of dispensing the concentration at a low rate such as in the instance where a bottle is to be filled and at a high rate where a bucket is to be filled. In the instance of a bucket fill, it is desirable if both a low and high concentration of chemical concentrate can be provided.  
           [0008]    The prior art provides either a rotatable with concentrate flow passages, eductor type dispensers having rotatable discs with various sized apertures, or a sliding open-venturi. It does not provide a dispensing apparatus with both sliding and rotating eductors as well as valving so as to afford different concentrations of chemical concentrate at different flow rates.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    The present invention provides a dispenser for dispensing different concentrations of chemical concentrate into a stream of water from a concentrate container at different flow rates. The dispenser includes a body member having a through bore with an inlet end adapted to be connected to a source of pressurized water at one end and an outlet at the opposite end connected to the inlet housing. A valve member is slideably positioned in the through bore of the body member. An eductor is slideably and rotatably received in the body member. The eductor is in contact with the valve member and in fluid communication with a source of chemical concentrate. A trigger member is connected to the body member and eductor to cause slideable movement of the eductor. The eductor and valve member are constructed and arranged to provide control of both different concentrations of chemical concentrate and different flow rates of water and chemical concentrate.  
           [0010]    In a preferred embodiment, the eductor is composed of first and second parts with only the first part being rotatable and extending from the body member.  
           [0011]    In another embodiment, a second part of the eductor is nonrotatable and includes a fluid passage. A dilution adjustment member having a multiplicity of different sized apertures is connected to the rotatable eductor for sealable engagement with the fluid passage.  
           [0012]    In one aspect, the body member includes a product passage and a vent passage. A seal is constructed and arranged to seal both the product passage and the vent passage.  
           [0013]    In another preferred embodiment, the valve member in the dispenser includes first and second valve members operatively associated with the nonrotatable eductor, the valve members constructed and arranged so that when the first valve member is moved in a linear slideable manner with respect to the second valve member, a first flow rate is effected and when the second valve member is moved in a linear slideable manner with respect to the body portion with the first valve member moved linearly with respect to the second valve member, a second faster flow rate is established.  
           [0014]    In another aspect, the dispenser includes an elongated spout connected to the body member and a flexible tube member connected to the eductor and the spout.  
           [0015]    In yet another aspect, the trigger member includes a latching mechanism.  
           [0016]    In still another aspect, the body of the dispenser includes a finger engaging portion extending therefrom at the inlet and a trigger member pivotally connected to the body and extending over a portion of the body opposite the finger engaging portion.  
           [0017]    In yet another preferred embodiment, there are indexing members operatively associated with the body member and the eductor.  
           [0018]    A general object of the invention is to provide a dispensing apparatus which can effect a mixing of chemical concentrate into a stream of water at different concentrations and dispense the mixed concentrate at controlled flow rates.  
           [0019]    Another object is a closed dispenser which produces low foam, low air entrapment and a low energy liquid fill independent of the pressure of the attached water supply  
           [0020]    Other general objectives are a dispensing apparatus which can both spray and/or fill, gives control over both flow and dilution and lends itself to be integrated with a bottle so they cannot be separated.  
           [0021]    Still another object is a dispenser which is composed of plastic parts, thus economical to produce and is disposable.  
           [0022]    Yet another object is a dispenser of the foregoing type which has a good hand feel.  
           [0023]    Still yet another object is a dispenser of the foregoing type which can accurately dispense chemical concentrate.  
           [0024]    Yet another object is a dispenser of the foregoing type which can accommodate a back flow prevention device. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0025]    [0025]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the dispenser of this invention in conjunction with a container.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of the dispenser shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the component parts of the dispenser.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the dispenser in a closed position.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the dispenser in a low flow condition.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the dispenser in a high flow condition.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view illustrating an indexing of an eductor in the dispenser.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view of the dispenser housing illustrating the eductor contact surfaces for limiting the movement thereof.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of the dilution adjustment member utilized in the dispenser.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an alternative dilution adjustment member in the dispenser.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the housing of the dilution adjustment member shown in FIG. 10.  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a dilution adjustment device for use in the dilution adjustment member.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 13 is a back view of the dilution adjustment device shown in FIG. 12.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 14 is a front view of the dilution adjustment device shown in FIG. 12.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 15 is a cross sectional view of a component of a flow control device employed in the dispenser. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0040]    Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the dispenser generally  10  has a body member  12  with a container connector  14  for connection to a container or bottle  16 . A preferred connector system is more fully described in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. ____/____ filed _____ which teachings are incorporated herein. At one end of the body member  12  is a hose attachment  18  for supplying pressurized water to the dispenser. A handle  17  is provided below attachment  18 . At the other end there is the spout  22  and a nozzle  20  for dispensing a mixed chemical solution. A flexible tube  15  extends between nozzle  20  and spout  22 .  
         [0041]    Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the dispenser  10  includes an eductor generally  11  composed of the first or outer eductor part  24  with a diverging passage  24   a  and an inner second eductor part  26  with a converging passage  26   a . They are slideably connected in body member  12  with seals  52  and  56  providing a fluid tight contact. A valve assembly  28  for controlling the flow of water through the dispenser  10  is also slideably housed in body member  12  and is in contact with eductor part  26 . The hose attachment  18  is rotatably connected to body member  12  by the snap fitment  34 . A back flow preventer  30  is positioned in hose attachment  18  and has a seal  32  for contact with body member  12 . At the opposite end of body member  12 , the nozzle  20  is attached to eductor part  24 .  
         [0042]    An annular groove  36  is provided in the eductor part  24  and accommodates a head portion  38  of the trigger  40  with flange portions such as shown at  42  on the trigger  40  having shafts (not shown) for extending into bores such as  44 . A latch member  46  extends upwardly from the member  12  for fitment through the passage  48  of the trigger  40 .  
         [0043]    A dilution adjustment member  50  is connected to the eductor part  24  by means of the splines  47 . This is shown in FIG. 9. It has L-shaped passages  90 - 94  for introducing chemical concentrate into the gap  27  between eductor parts  24  and  26 . These passages  90 - 94  have different diameters or widths for metering different concentrations of chemical concentrate. In some instances there are no passages to provide a rinse function. A dip tube  19  is connected to body member  12  and extends into container  16  for siphoning chemical concentrate into the bore  13  of body member  12  by way of passage  21 . A seal member  23  is placed between dilution adjustment member  50  and body member  12 . A vent passage  25  connects container  16  and bore  13 . The adjustment member  50  is positioned inside eductor  26 . A spring  54  biases eductor part  26  as well as eductor part  24  toward the head portion  38  of trigger  40 .  
         [0044]    A quad O-ring  60  is attached in groove  57  of valve head portion  58 . It serves as a flow control element as later explained. A valve member  28  with passages  33  has a head portion  58  with groove  59 . A seal  66  is seated in groove  59  of head portion  58  and another seal  64  is placed on collar  62 . A gasket  67  is provided for cap  68  and a hose seal is provided at  69 .  
         [0045]    Referring to FIG. 8, it is seen that body member  12  has a surface  79  for contact with contact member  29  of eductor  24  as well as a grooves  81  and  82  for the purpose of linearly positioning the eductors  24  and  26  and accordingly valve assembly when trigger  40  is depressed. A keyway  70  is disposed in body member  12  for accommodating a key member  76  (See FIG. 9) in eductor part  26  for allowing sliding but nonrotatable connection in body member  12 . A second opposing keyway  80  is also disposed in body member  12  in conjunction with key member  84 .  
         [0046]    Referring to FIG. 7, there is shown the eductor  24  with notches  77 . These accommodate the projections  75  on arms  72  and  73  extending from body member  12 . This provides an indexing function in conjunction with the orientation of dilution adjustment member  50  and passage  21 .  
         [0047]    FIGS.  10 - 14  illustrate an alternative embodiment of the dilution adjustment member  50  which is formed as a separate component from the eductor  24 . In the embodiment, generally  101  shown in these Figures, the dilution adjustment member includes a dilution adjustment housing  102  into which is fitted a dilution adjustment device  112 . Housing  102  includes a central passageway  110  for flow of water and chemical concentrate. It also has five L-shaped passages  103  with an oval portion  105  in a side wall  104  and a cylindrical portion  107  in an end wall  106 . The annular adjustment device  112  frictionally fits inside annular housing  102  and also has a central passageway  111  for water and chemical concentrate. As best seen in FIG. 13, adjustment device  112  has an annular body  113  through which extend the passages  114  from a front side  115  to a back side  117 . These passages also extend through tubular members  116  at the back side  117 . These tubular members  116  fit into the cylindrical portions  107  of passages  103  in dilution adjustment housing  102 . Passages  114  have constrictive bores  122  which are of various dimensions. Alternatively one or more of them could be blocked to provide a rinse function. An orientation projection  118  extends from back side  117  for fitment into orientation compartment  109  of adjustment housing  102 . This facilitates orientation of the tubular members  116  into portions  107 . Projections  120  extend from front side  115  for contact with eductor  26  to provide the gap  27  between the eductors.  
       OPERATION  
       [0048]    A better understanding of the dispenser will be had by a description of its operation. Referring to FIG. 4, the dispenser is shown in a closed position. A source of pressurized water such as a hose will have been connected to hose attachment  18 . In this instance, seal  66  on valve head  58  is seated against collar  62  and seal  64  against valve seat portion  65 . Accordingly, no water can pass between these two components and into bore  13 . This sealing effect is assisted by the flow of water in through the attachment  18 , against the valve components  58  and  62 . The spring  54  and force of water also positions the head  31  of eductor part  24  away from body contact surface  79 .  
         [0049]    Referring now to FIG. 5, trigger  40  has been moved toward body member  12  with the result that eductor head  31  is contacting surface  79  of body member  12 . Valve portion  58  has moved toward the attachment  18  and seal  66  no longer engages collar  62 . In this position, water can flow between the two component parts as there are grooves  63  placed in the collar  62  to allow such flow into bore  13 . This is a low flow condition. In this position, the quad O-ring  60  serves as a flow control element, in that, with increased pressure and flow of water, the ring will expand and partially fill the grooves  63 . This maintains a consistent flow rate despite variations in the pressure of the inlet water supply. Water can then pass through passages  33  and into passage  26   a  of eductor part  26 .  
         [0050]    In order to initiate a high flow condition, the trigger  40  is moved further toward body member  12 . This is shown in FIG. 6. In this position, not only has seal  66  moved away from collar  62  but collar  62  also has moved away from valve seat portion  65 . In this position, water cannot only flow from between head portion  58  and the grooves  63  in the collar  62 , but also between the collar  62  and the valve seat portion  65 . It should be pointed out that in this high flow position, trigger  40  can now become engaged with latch  46  if desired so that it can be held in the high flow condition. Referring again to FIG. 8, the contact member  29  of eductor part  24  will now engage the grooves such as  81  or  82  so as to allow the eductor parts  26  and  24  to be moved further inwardly into the body  12 .  
         [0051]    During the previously described flow conditions through the dispenser  10  such as when in the high or low flow condition, the concentrate will be drawn upwardly from the container  16  such as through the dip tube  19 . However, as noted previously in FIG. 4, there is a seal member  23  positioned over the passage  21  so that no product can be drawn up from the container  16 . At the same time, seal  23  also closes vent passage  25 . As seen in both FIGS. 5 and 6, the seal member  23  has moved away from both the product and vent passages  21  and  25 , respectively. In this position, drawn product is allowed to enter into one of the five passages  90 ,  91 ,  92 ,  93  and  94  of dilution adjustment member  50  as seen in FIG. 10. Concentrate is thereby siphoned into gap  27  and mixed with water flowing through passage  26   a  and  24   a . A reduced pressure is caused by the water converging in passage  26   a  and diverging in passage  24   a.    
         [0052]    The orientation of the various passages  90 - 94  with the opening  23   a  in seal  23  is facilitated by the indexing shown in FIG. 7.  
         [0053]    The mixed solution will then exit through nozzle  20  down through the tube  15  positioned in the spout  22 . Tube  15  in this instance is flexible so as to allow the eductor  24  to move inwardly and outwardly from the body member  12 . With product passing through tube  15  and spout  22 , this is the position which is utilized when filling a bucket or a bottle. As previously described a low flow condition would be utilized for filling a bottle while the high flow condition would be utilized to fill a large vessel such as a bucket. The spout  22  provides for the dispenser to be hung on a bucket  24   a . If desired, a hose (not shown) can be connected to spout  22  for filling purposes such as a “scrubber washer” or when the dispenser is mounted to a wall. Dispenser  10  can easily be converted to a spray unit by the replacement of the nozzle  20  and the attachment of a conventional spray head (not shown). Also stated previously, the concentration of the solution can be easily adjusted by the rotation of the eductor  24  in conjunction with the dilution adjustment member  50 . The low and high flow condition in combination with the dilution adjustment member obviates the use of multiple dispenser heads.  
         [0054]    It will thus be seen that there is now provided a very versatile dispenser which can be utilized in not only a high and a low flow condition but also can be adjusted to vary the concentration of mixed solution. The dispenser  10  is produced economically so that once it is captively connected to a container, it is disposable.  
         [0055]    It will also be seen that a good hand feel is provided by dispenser  10 . This is accomplished by placement of the handle  17  beneath body member  12  and outwardly from trigger  40  to allow placement of a thumb on trigger  40 .  
         [0056]    Dilution adjustment member  101  will function in the same manner as dilution adjustment member  50 . The advantage it has is that the formation of the passages  114  in dilution adjustment device  112  can be more easily controlled as a separate piece during plastic molding. Further, it is less expensive to supply several dilution adjustment devices  112  with varying dimensions of the passages  114  for fitment into housing  102 . To facilitate identification they can be of different colors.  
         [0057]    The dispenser  10  has been preferably described in conjunction with a latching feature for the trigger  40 . It is obvious that this is not an essential feature that can be eliminated. Neither is it essential that a back flow preventer be employed in the unit itself. This could be accomplished upstream in a supply line. Further, while the spout  22  offers the advantage of a hose attachment such as with the barbs  100 , this could be eliminated although it does further offer the advantage of a bucket attachment. Neither is it essential that the container connector  14  provides a captive use of the dispenser with the container. The dispenser  10  could be utilized with a refillable container. While dilution adjustment members  50  and  101  have been shown to have five passages, the number can vary from a single passage to as many as can be practically manufactured. In some instances, it may be desirable to limit the dispenser for flow through a single passageway. This could be accomplished by placement of a pin through body member  12  and a groove in eductor part  24 . All such and other modifications within the spirit of the invention are meant to be within a scope as defined by the appended claims.

Technology Category: 7