HK1119115A - Dosing head for dispensing a fluid from a container - Google Patents

Description

Dosing head for dispensing a fluid from a container

Technical Field

The invention relates to a dosing head for dispensing a fluid from a container, comprising at least one inlet opening for connection to the container, at least one outlet opening connected to the inlet opening by a conduit, at least one pump accommodated in the conduit, and at least one aerating opening for connection to the container. Such dispensing heads are known, for example, from WO 00/33970.

Background

A disadvantage of the known dosing head is that it can only be used in an almost vertical position, since otherwise the fluid would flow out of the aerating opening and, in addition, it is not possible to suck up the fluid via a dip tube which extends into the container and is connected to the dosing head.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a dispensing head of the above-mentioned type which can also be used in other situations. According to a first aspect of the invention, this is achieved by arranging a liquid seal between the aerating opening and the container. Thereby preventing leakage of fluid through the inflation opening.

In order to prevent as much as possible leakage of fluid through the aeration opening, the liquid seal preferably comprises an aeration tank which is rotated at least twice through approximately 180 °. In order to be able to suck out liquid that has penetrated the liquid seal, it is also recommended that the liquid seal has at least one throttling device (restriction).

From a production engineering point of view it would be advantageous if the liquid seal were assembled from at least two interconnected parts. These components are thus easy to manufacture by injection moulding and then clamped or snapped onto each other.

An effective liquid seal which is simple to manufacture is obtained if the parts have a bottom, a side wall and a tubular portion extending from the bottom, wherein the tubular portions fit into each other with a gap, and wherein the bottom of one part has an opening outside the circumference of the tubular portion and the bottom of the other part has an opening inside the circumference of the tubular portion.

In order to limit as far as possible the number of separate parts comprised by the dosing head, it is recommended that the pump, the inlet opening, the outlet opening and the conduit in between are formed as one element and that one of the parts of the liquid seal is joined to this element.

A structurally simplified embodiment can be obtained if the throttling means are defined between the constituent parts of the liquid seal.

Conversely, the liquid seal may also be releasably connected to the dosing head. The liquid seal can thus be added in a simple manner to existing types of dosing heads.

According to a second aspect, the invention provides a dosing head provided with a secondary inlet opening which is connected to the container and is closable by means of an element which can be operated by gravity. In one position of the container, fluid can thus be drawn in through the first inlet opening, while the second inlet opening is then closed by the closure pushed by gravity. In another position of the container, the closure is lifted by gravity from the second inlet opening, thereby providing for the passage of clear fluid.

In order to enable the closing and releasing of the second inlet opening to take place in a well-defined manner, said second inlet opening is preferably accommodated in a second inlet slot which is rotated through approximately 180 ° at least twice. The second inlet slot may have an inflow chamber therein, the closure being freely movably received in the inflow chamber with clearance, the inflow chamber comprising an end wall facing the container, and the second inlet being defined such that fluid can easily flow past the sealing member in one position, while the second inlet opening is reliably sealed in another position.

For optimal fluid flow regardless of the position of the dosing head, the secondary inlet channel preferably comprises an outlet section connected to the primary inlet. In order to prevent fluctuations in the flow through the dip tube when the container is in an upright position, it is recommended that a constriction is formed between said first inlet opening and the container, the through-flow area of which is smaller than the through-flow area of said second inlet opening.

In order to also simplify the manufacture and installation of the secondary inlet channel, at least a part of said secondary inlet channel is releasably connected to the dosing head.

For constructional reasons it is recommended that at least a part of the second inlet channel is releasably connected to the liquid seal, for instance that said part of the second inlet channel is sandwiched between a part of the liquid seal and the first inlet opening, so that different channels can be defined by injection moulded parts.

Finally, the invention also relates to an assembly comprising a container and a dosing head as described above.

Drawings

The invention will now be explained on the basis of two embodiments, wherein reference numerals are used to the figures, wherein corresponding elements are designated by reference numerals increased by "100", and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a combination container and dispensing head according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a portion of the combination of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the dispensing head, secondary inlet opening and hydraulic seal;

FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C show perspective bottom, plan bottom and cutaway perspective views, respectively, of the main portion of the dispensing head with a portion of the liquid seal incorporated therein;

FIGS. 5A and 5B show perspective top and bottom views, respectively, of a portion of a wet seal;

FIGS. 6A and 6B show a perspective top view and a cross-sectional view taken from the other side, respectively, of the secondary inlet slot;

FIG. 6C is a perspective view of a seal for a second open inlet slot;

figures 7 and 8 show longitudinal sections of the dispensing head in the upright and inverted operating condition;

FIG. 9 is a section through the hydraulic seal with the flow restriction visible;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are cross-sectional views of the dispensing head in upright and inverted use;

figure 12 is a longitudinal section through a dispensing head according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 13A and 13B show perspective top and bottom views, respectively, of the main portion of the hydraulic seal and the secondary inlet tank of this embodiment;

FIGS. 14A and 14B show perspective bottom and top views, respectively, of elements used to close the main part of FIG. 13;

figures 15A and 15B show a perspective bottom view and a perspective top view, respectively, of the third component of the liquid seal and the secondary inlet channel of the dosing head according to figure 12;

figure 16 is a diagonal section through the dosing head of figure 12 showing the location of the secondary inlet channel.

Detailed Description

A dosing head 1 for dispensing a liquid or other fluid from a container 2 (fig. 1) comprises an inlet opening 4 connected to an outlet opening 3 (fig. 2) by a conduit. The conduit houses a pump 5 having a reciprocally movable piston 12 operated by a handle or trigger 13. Dosing head 1 also has an aeration opening 6 through which air enters container 2 when fluid is pumped, thereby preventing the formation of a low pressure in container 2. When the trigger 13 and the piston 12 of the pump 5 are in the protruding rest position, the aeration opening 6 is closed by the peripheral edge 7 of the piston 12, which leaves the opening 6 clear during the pumping stroke in which the piston 12 is moved inwards. Inlet opening 4 of dosing head 1 is connected to dip tube 14 which extends to a position near the bottom of the container. The dosing head 1 is conventional so far.

In order to be able to use dosing head 1 when the combination of container 2 and dosing head 1 is not upright, but for example remains horizontal or even upside down, a liquid seal 8 is arranged according to the invention between aeration opening 6 and container 2. The liquid seal 8 comprises a gas-filled channel which is rotated twice through 180 °, and which in the embodiment shown is formed by two projecting tubes 16, 17 which are integrated with two parts 18, 19 connected to one another. The two parts are clamped to each other, one of the parts 19 being formed integrally with the side of dosing head 1 facing container 2 and projecting into the neck of container 2.

In the illustrated embodiment, the assembly is adapted for snap-on connection which can be released in a bayonet fitting manner as described in WO 02/42006. The neck of the container 2 is thus provided here with three projections 20, 21 for co-action with recesses 22, 23 of the dosing head 1.

The part 18 of the liquid seal 8 forms a tray substantially close to the container 2 and having at its bottom only the opening of the tubular portion 16. The part 18 also comprises a co-moulded element 24 in which a flow channel 25 insertable into the dip tube 14 is defined. This element 24 also has an opening 26 remote from the container and forming part of the secondary inlet channel 10 to be described below.

As mentioned above, the other parts of upper member 19 form an integral part of dosing head 1 and have a peripheral wall 27 surrounding tubular channel member 17 and a partition wall 28 surrounding aeration opening 6.

The tubular channel parts 16, 17 are dimensioned and fitted such that a precisely defined throttle means in the form of an annular gap 32 is formed between the free end edge of the tubular part 17 and the bottom of the tubular part 16.

Due to the risk that the dip tube 14 no longer draws fluid when the above-described assembly is used in an upside down condition, a second inlet 29 may be provided according to a further aspect of the invention, which is closed by a movable closure 30, which in the illustrated embodiment is a ball, under the influence of gravity. Secondary inlet opening 29 here forms part of secondary inlet channel 10, which is defined by co-molded element 24 with part 18 bonded to second part 9 and may be sandwiched between element 24 and inlet opening 4 of dosing head 1.

The second part 9 comprises an inflow chamber 33 in which the ball 30 is accommodated with clearance. The second inlet 29 is formed in an end wall 34 of the chamber 33 facing the container 2. The side wall 35 of the inflow chamber has an inflow opening 36. The second portion 9 also comprises an edge 37 joined around the edge around the opening 26 of the element 24, which forms a wall of the second inlet channel 10.

Secondary inlet channel 10 also comprises an outlet section 38 which extends into inlet opening 4 of dosing head 1. The outlet portion is aligned with the flow channel 25 and dip tube 14. A further constriction 39 may also be formed at the end of the flow channel 25, whereby the flow area of the channel is smaller than the flow area of the second inlet opening 29.

The following is the operation of the liquid seal 8. When the assembly of container 2 and dosing head 1 is upright and piston 12 is in its rest position, aeration channel 15 is closed at the top side and in contact with the underside of container 2. The slot 15 is filled with air.

If the assembly is now turned upside down, the inflation channel 15 is partly filled with fluid, because the inflation opening 6 is still closed by the rim 7 of the piston 12, the air present therein cannot escape, but is compressed. The fluid thus penetrates, for example, only into the first tubular section 16 and possibly into the space delimited by the tubular sections 16 and 17, but does not reach the charging opening 6 partly due to the presence of the throttle device 31, which is in turn shielded by the partition wall 28.

If the pump 5 is now operated by squeezing the trigger 13, the piston 12 is moved inwards and the aeration opening 6 is cleared. In principle, the fluid now begins to flow through the aeration tank 15. By pumping of the fluid, at the same time a low pressure is created in the container 2, so that the fluid is sucked from the aeration tank 15 back into the container 2, and then air from the aeration opening 6. Leakage through the inflation opening 6 is thereby prevented.

The operation of the optionally present second inlet 29 is as follows. When the assembly of container 2 and dosing head 1 is upright, second inlet 29 is closed under the influence of gravity by ball 30 resting on the edge of opening 29. When the pump 5 is operated in this state, a low pressure is generated in the container 2, so that the ball 30 is sucked tightly against the rim and the second inlet opening 29 is hermetically sealed, whereby air is prevented from being drawn out of the container 2.

If the assembly is inverted, the ball 30 falls into the inflow chamber 33. The second inlet opening 29 is then free and fluid can flow into the inflow chamber 33 of the second inlet channel 10 via the inflow opening 36. From here, after having passed through the second inlet opening 29 and having been redirected through 180 °, the fluid flows via the outlet portion 38 to the inlet opening 4 of the dosing head.

The use of a secondary inlet channel and a secondary inlet opening can be dispensed with when the combination of container 2 and dosing head 1 is not necessarily used in an upside down position, e.g. only in a horizontal position. The dip tube 14 is then facing down so that it is always in the fluid. In this case, the co-moulded element 24 and the portion 9 are omitted and the dip tube 14 is inserted directly into the inlet opening 4. In this case, the sealing ball 30 can of course also be omitted.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention (fig. 12), the liquid seal 108 and the secondary inlet channel 110 are manufactured entirely as separate components which can be releasably connected to the dosing head 101 on one side and to the container 102 on the other side. The liquid seal 108 may thus be added to the existing design of the container 102 and dosing head 102 assembly without requiring other modifications thereto. The liquid seal 108 is likewise formed by two parts 118, 119 which can be clamped to one another and have interacting tubular portions 116, 117.

In order to be able to use the seal 108 in combination with the snap/swivel connection according to WO02/42006, the part 118 is provided with three projections 120, 121 for co-action with recesses in the dosing head 101 and three recesses 122, 123 for co-action with projections on the neck of the container 102. The liquid seal 108 can of course also have other connecting means if the dosing head 101 is screwed onto the container 102, for example.

For this variant of the invention, the part 118 of the liquid seal 108 has a widened opening 124 adjacent to the mouth of the tubular portion 116, connected to a flow-through groove 125, and has an opening 126 forming part of the second inlet groove 110. The top part 119 takes the form of a cover from which, in addition to the slot part 17, only the part 27 of the second inlet slot 10 which is closed at the top side projects. A passage opening 128 for the flow channel 125 of the component 118 is further formed in the cover.

For this variant, the secondary inlet channel 110 is defined by the element 18 in combination with a third separate element 109, the element 109 being able to be clamped in the widened opening 124. The third part 109 comprises a lower widened and top narrowed channel 111 and into which the dip tube 14 can be inserted. The part 109 also comprises an upper surface 131 forming a wall of the secondary inlet channel 110.

The liquid seal 8, which may be selected in conjunction with the second inlet opening 29, enables the assembly of dosing head 1 and container 2 to be used in a non-vertical position, wherein the container 2 is still sufficiently ventilated and thus there is no risk of air being drawn from the container 2. According to the embodiment as a separate element, the liquid seal can be easily coupled to existing designs of the container and dosing head. Embodiments with a small number of easily assembled parts result in a cost price reduction.

The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments but only by the claims thereof.

Claims (16)

1. A dosing head (1; 101) for dispensing a fluid from a container (2; 102), comprising:

at least one first inlet opening (4; 104) for connection to the container (2; 102),

at least one outlet opening (3; 103) connected to the first inlet opening (4; 104) by a conduit,

at least one pump (5; 105) housed in said conduit,

at least one aerating opening (6; 106) for connecting to the container (2; 102), and a liquid seal (8; 108) arranged between the aerating opening (6; 106) and the container (2; 102), the liquid seal (8; 108) comprising an aerating groove (15; 115), the aerating groove (15; 115) being rotated at least twice through about 180 DEG,

characterized in that a portion of the inflation slot after a first pass of approximately 180 ° and before a second pass of 180 ° narrows significantly and is narrowest at a location vertically distant from the inflation opening.

2. Dosing head (1; 101) according to claim 1, characterised in that the aeration tank has a throttling device at said position where the aeration tank narrows substantially vertically away from the aeration opening.

3. Dispensing head (1; 101) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the liquid seal (8; 108) is assembled from at least two interconnected parts (18, 19; 118, 119).

4. The dispensing head (1; 101) as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the parts (18, 19; 118, 119) each have a bottom, a side wall and a tubular portion (16, 17; 116, 117) projecting from the bottom, wherein the tubular portions (16, 17; 116, 117) fit into one another with a gap, and wherein the bottom of one part (19; 119) has an opening outside the periphery of the tubular portion (17; 117) and the bottom of the other part (18; 118) has an opening inside the periphery of the tubular portion (16; 116).

5. Dosing head as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the pump (5), the first inlet opening (4), the outlet opening (3) and the conduit therebetween are formed as one element and one (19) of the components of the liquid seal (8) is integrated into this element.

6. Dosing head as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the throttling means (32; 132) are defined between the component parts (18, 19; 118, 119) of the liquid seal (8; 108).

7. Dispensing head according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said liquid seal (108) is releasably attached to said dispensing head (101).

8. Dispensing head (1; 101) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a second inlet opening (29; 129) is connected to the container (2; 102) and is closed by means of an element (30; 130) which can be operated by gravity.

9. Dosing head (1; 101) according to claim 8, characterised in that the secondary inlet opening (29; 129) is accommodated in the secondary inlet channel (10; 110).

10. Dosing head (1; 101) according to claim 9, characterised in that the secondary inlet channel (10; 110) has an inflow chamber (33; 133) in which a closure member (30; 130) is accommodated in a freely movable manner with clearance, the inflow chamber (33; 133) comprising an end wall (34; 134) directed towards the container (2; 102) and the secondary inlet opening (29; 129) being defined in the end wall.

11. Dosing head (1; 101) according to claim 9, characterised in that the secondary inlet channel (10; 110) comprises an outlet portion (38; 138) connected to the primary inlet opening (4; 104).

12. Dosing head (1; 101) according to claim 9, characterised in that a constriction (39; 139) is formed between the first inlet opening (4; 104) and the container (2; 102), the through-flow area of which is smaller than the through-flow area of the second inlet opening (4; 104).

13. Dosing head (1; 101) according to claim 9, characterised in that at least a part (9; 109) of the secondary inlet channel (10; 110) is releasably connected to the dosing head (1; 101).

14. Dosing head (1; 101) according to claim 13, characterised in that at least a part (9; 109) of said secondary inlet channel (10; 110) is releasably attached to said liquid seal (8; 108).

15. Dosing head (1; 101) according to claim 14, characterised in that a part (9; 109) of said secondary inlet channel (10; 110) is sandwiched between a part of said liquid seal (8; 108) and said first inlet opening (4; 104).

16. An assembly comprising a dispensing head (1; 101) according to any one of the preceding claims and a container (2; 102).