Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   This invention relates broadly to liquid dispensers. More particularly, this invention relates to a combination battery powered and manually operable liquid tap dispenser. 
   2. State of the Art 
   It is difficult to dispense liquid from a large container such as a large jug or a barrel to a smaller container such as a cup because the large containers are often too heavy to be lifted like a bottle. Traditionally, liquids have been dispensed from large containers via a “tap”, i.e. a valved spout located at or near the bottom of the container. The user places or holds a cup under the spout and opens the valve. When the cup is filled to the desired level, the valve is closed. Sometimes, a tap is arranged over a surface so that the user can place the cup on the surface and then operate the valve with one hand without having to hold the cup with the other hand. Other times the tap is arranged at the edge of a table where there is no surface close enough to the tap to place the cup. In these arrangements, the user must hold the cup under the tap with one hand while operating the valve with the other hand. 
   There are known beverage dispensers which have tap valves coupled to a lever which extends down behind the spout. The user holds a cup under the spout and pushes the lever forward with the cup to activate the tap valve. One problem with these taps is that the liquid dispensed from the tap sometimes spills onto the user&#39;s hand. 
   Recently there has been a trend to provide large liquid detergent containers with a tap dispenser. These containers typically sit on a shelf or a table in a laundry room with the tap extending over the edge of the shelf or table. As such, the lever arrangement of beverage dispensers cannot be implemented because the table/shelf edge would impede movement of a lever. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a liquid dispenser of the tap type. 
   It is another object of the invention to provide a tap dispenser which can be operated with one hand. 
   It is a further object of the invention to provide a tap dispenser which can be used with a container that sits on a shelf or table with the tap spout overlying the edge of the shelf or table. 
   It is also an object of the invention to provide a tap dispenser for liquid laundry detergent. 
   It is an additional object of the invention to provide a battery operated tap dispenser. 
   It is still another object of the invention to provide a battery operated tap dispenser which has a manual operational mode. 
   In accord with these objects, which will be discussed in detail below, the liquid dispenser according to the invention includes a first cylinder which is adapted to fit in place of existing liquid laundry detergent taps, a second cylinder having an axis orthogonal to the axis of the first cylinder, and a fluid passage coupling the two cylinders. A solenoid coil is mounted inside the second cylinder and is provided with an armature rod having upper and lower ends. The upper end of the armature rod is coupled to a cylindrical pushbutton which is biased upward inside the second cylinder by a coil spring surrounding the solenoid coil. The lower end of the armature rod is coupled to a conical valve seal and is therefore biased by the same coil spring against the bottom of the second cylinder which acts as a spout. A rectangular opening extends through the fluid passage between the two cylinders. A rectangular pushbutton coupled to a normally-off microswitch is disposed inside the rectangular opening with the rectangular pushbutton extending out of the rectangular opening behind the spout. A battery compartment is arranged on top of the fluid passage between the two cylinders. The batteries are coupled via the normally-off microswitch to the solenoid coil. 
   To use the dispenser, one holds a cup under the spout and lifts the cup vertically until the lip of the cup presses the rectangular pushbutton up so that it activates the microswitch. The switch in turn actuates the solenoid coil which causes the armature to move down against the coil spring thereby moving the conical valve seal away from the bottom of the second cylinder and allowing liquid to exit the spout through the action of gravity. When the cup is moved vertically down away for the rectangular pushbutton, the microswitch is deactivated, and in turn the solenoid coil is deactivated and the coil spring returns the conical seal back to the closed position, thereby preventing liquid flow. At any time, and particularly if the batteries become too weak to power the solenoid, the cylindrical pushbutton at the top of the armature can be used to manually operate the tap, albeit with two hands rather than one. 
   Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a side elevation view of a dispenser according to the invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a view similar to  FIG. 1  but with the battery compartment open; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the dispenser with the battery compartment open; 
       FIG. 4  is a side sectional view of the dispenser with the valve closed; 
       FIG. 5  is a partially transparent side elevation view of the dispenser and a cup with the valve open; 
       FIG. 6  is a side sectional view of the dispenser with the valve open; 
       FIG. 7  is an exploded perspective view of the dispenser illustrating all of the component parts; 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a cap for covering the dispenser when the dispenser is attached to a container filled with liquid prior to sale; and 
       FIG. 9  is a partially transparent side elevation view of the cap covering the dispenser. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Turning now to  FIGS. 1-4 ,  6  and  7 , a liquid dispenser  10  according to the invention includes a first internally threaded cylinder  12  which is adapted to couple to a liquid container (e.g. to fit in place of an existing liquid laundry detergent tap), a second cylinder  14  having an axis orthogonal to the axis of the first cylinder, and a fluid passage  16  coupling the two cylinders. The fluid passage  16  is seen best in  FIGS. 4 and 7 . 
   As seen best in  FIGS. 4 and 6 , a solenoid coil  18  is mounted inside the cylinder  14  over an annular wall  14   a  and is provided with an armature rod  20  having upper and lower frustroconical coupling ends  20   a ,  20   b . The upper end  20   a  of the armature rod  20  is coupled to an annular cylindrical pushbutton  22  which is biased upward inside the cylinder  14  by a coil spring  24  surrounding the solenoid coil  18  and supported by an annular wall  18   a  on the bottom of the solenoid  18 . The lower end  20   b  of the armature rod  20  is coupled to a conical valve seal  26  via the valve&#39;s stem  26   a  which extends from the apex of the conical valve seal. Since the pushbutton  22  is coupled to the armature rod  20 , when it is biased upward by the spring  24  the armature rod  20  is also biased upward. Since the valve seal  26  is coupled to the armature rod  20  by the valve seal stem  26   a,  when the armature rod  20  is biased upward, the valve seal  26  is also biased upward against the bottom  14   b  of the cylinder  14  which acts as a spout. It will be appreciated that the annular wall  14   a  lies above the fluid passage  16  and thus somewhat isolates the solenoid coil  18  from fluid. In addition, a dynamic seal  15  is provides in the annular space between the valve stem  15  and the annular wall  14   a.  As illustrated, the diameter of the cylinder  14  below the annular wall  14   a  is smaller than the diameter above it. This is because the upper part of the cylinder is dimensioned to fit an off-the-shelf solenoid coil and the lower part is dimensioned to restrict the flow of liquid so that it does not exit the spout too quickly. As seen in  FIGS. 4 and 6 , the interior of the spout  14   b  is chamfered so that it makes a good seal with the conical sealing valve  26 . 
   A rectangular opening  28  (seen best in  FIG. 7 ) extends through the fluid passage between the two cylinders  12 ,  14 . A rectangular pushbutton  30  is disposed inside the rectangular opening  28  with the rectangular pushbutton  30  extending out of the rectangular opening behind the spout  14   b  (seen best in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  4 - 6 ). As seen best in  FIG. 7 , the pushbutton  30  has a T-shaped profile which prevents it from falling through the opening  28 . A normally-off microswitch  32  is disposed above the pushbutton  30 . The microswitch  32  is coupled to a battery compartment  34  which is arranged on top of the fluid passage  16  between the two cylinders  12 ,  14 . The batteries  36   a - d  are coupled via contacts  38   a - f  and wires  40   a - d  ( FIG. 7 ) through the normally-off microswitch  32  to the solenoid coil  18 . A slot  14   c  ( FIG. 7 ) in the upper portion of the cylinder  14  facilitates the passage of wires to the coil  18 . 
   As seen best in  FIGS. 1-3 , the battery compartment  34  has a cover  42  which is coupled to the compartment by a live hinge  44 . A latch opening  46  is centrally located on the cover. A flexible latch  48  is centrally located in the battery compartment as seen best in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . The latch has a barb  50  which engages the opening  46  to hold the cover shut. Pushing the latch  48  in the direction of the arrow in  FIG. 1  releases the cover. It should be noted that the battery compartment cover is dimensioned such that when it is opened, the tops of the batteries are exposed as seen in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . This permits easy access to the batteries. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , to use the dispenser, one holds a cup  1  under the spout  14   b  and lifts the cup vertically until the lip of the cup presses the rectangular pushbutton  30  up activating the microswitch. The microswitch  32  closes the circuit between the batteries and the solenoid coil  18 . With current flowing through the coil, a magnetic field is created with poles opposite to the poles of the magnetic armature. This causes the armature  20  to move down against the coil spring  24 , thereby moving the conical valve seal  26  away from the bottom of the cylinder  14  and allowing liquid to exit the spout  14   b  under the action of gravity. When the cup  1  is moved vertically down away for the rectangular pushbutton  30 , the microswitch  32  opens the circuit, the solenoid coil  18  is deactivated and the coil spring  24  returns the conical seal  26  back to the closed position preventing liquid flow. 
   Any time, if desired, or if the batteries become too weak to power the solenoid, the dispenser can be manually actuated, albeit with two hands rather than one, by using the cylindrical pushbutton  22 . Pushing the pushbutton  22  causes the armature  20  to move down against the spring, thereby moving the conical valve seal  26  away from the bottom of the cylinder  14  and allowing liquid to exit the spout  14   b  under the action of gravity. Releasing the pushbutton permits the spring to move the pushbutton, armature, and valve seal back to their original position, thereby closing the valve. 
   As described above, the dispenser according to the invention is intended to be used with large jugs of liquid such as laundry detergent which will be sold with the dispenser attached with batteries loaded. In order to prevent the dispenser from being accidentally operated during the transit from the factory to the consumer, a cover is provided.  FIGS. 8 and 9  show a suitable cover  50 . The cover  50  is preferably marked so that it may be used as a measuring cup. The cover (cup) is preferably translucent and marked with fill lines which are labeled, for example, “large load”, “medium load”, “small load”. Thus, when the user lifts the cup under the spout activating the microswitch, the translucency of the cup allows the user to see the liquid rise against the fill lines. When the liquid is at the desired level, the cup can be lowered thereby deactivating the microswitch and stopping the flow. In the manual mode, the user can release the cylindrical pushbutton when the desired liquid level is observed. 
   There have been described and illustrated herein a battery powered solenoid actuated liquid tap dispenser having a manual actuator as well. While a particular embodiment of the invention has been described, it is not intended that the invention be limited thereto, as it is intended that the invention be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. It will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yet other modifications could be made to the provided invention without deviating from its spirit and scope as claimed.

Technology Category: 7