GB2351966A

GB2351966A - Liquid dispenser with air valve

Info

Publication number: GB2351966A
Application number: GB0015070A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Anthony Charles Cooke
Original assignee: Gaskell and Chambers Ltd
Current assignee: Gaskell and Chambers Ltd
Priority date: 1999-06-29
Filing date: 2000-06-20
Publication date: 2001-01-17
Anticipated expiration: 2020-06-20
Also published as: GB0015070D0; GB2351966B; GB9915100D0

Abstract

An air valve for a liquid dispenser 1 has a valve shaft 22 which for a portion of its surface has a cruciform cross-sectional shape. The longitudinally running channels between adjacent arms of the cruciform shape allow air to enter the chamber 2 quicker than simply having a stepped diameter on the shaft 22, while retaining the necessary strength of the shaft. One end of the valve shaft 22 is attached to an actuator means 10 via cammed levers 13, 18. The other end of the shaft is attached to a further valve member 8 which is used to open and close the dispensing apparatus. As the actuator is moved vertically upwards, the levers 18 and 13 are rotated about their pivot 16 by a snap action provided by an over centre spring 20. The air valve shaft 22 is raised moving seal 23 from contact with the casing and allowing air to flow through the channels of the shaft 22 into the chamber 2. Valve member 8 is also raised so that the entrance 3 to chamber 2 is closed by seal 9 and exit 4 is opened. Fluid from the chamber 2 is then displaced by gravity. The dispenser is urged into its initial position, where exit 4 is closed by seal 9, by means of biasing spring 17.

Description

2351966 LIQUID DISPENSER The present invention relates to a liquid

dispenser, e.g. for dispensing metered amounts of spirits from inverted bottles thereof.

Such dispensers are well known and a typical spirit measure is known as the OPTIC PEARL (Registered Trade Mark of Gaskell and Chambers Limited) dispenser.

Essentially a typical spirit dispenser comprises a chamber having an inlet and an outlet for a liquid, valve means movable within the chamber between a first position in which the outlet is sealed and the inlet is open and a second position in which the inlet is sealed and the outlet is open and actuation means to move the valve means rapidly from the first position to the second position. Biassing means are used to bias the valve means to the first position when the dispenser is not actually dispensing and to move the valve means rapidly from the second position to the first position at the end of a dispense.

The dispense must be able to provide an abrupt, almost instantaneous change-over between the first and second positions in order to comply with legislation and to ensure accurate volume dispense.

It will be appreciated that in order to obtain good flow of liquid from the dispense chamber when the valve means has been moved to the second position it is necessary to allow air to enter freely into the chamber to replace the liquid.

Currently one means of achieving this is to attach an air valve shaft to the valve means whereby when the valve means is moved, usually upwardly, from the first to the second position, the air valve 2 shaft moves correspondingly and opens the air valve. Movement of the valve means back to the first position then closes the air valve.

Known air valves for this purpose have an annular seal positioned in a recess in a wall of the chamber with a stepped cylindrical shaft passing through the seal. In the first position of the dispenser the larger diameter portion of the shaft, above its step, fills the seal aperture and prevents leakage through the seal. When the actuation means, which may be attached directly to the air valve shaft, moves the dispenser valve means to the second position the shaft is moved relative to the seal until its narrower diameter portion, below the step, is positioned through the seal. Air can then flow into the chamber through the annular gap between the seal and the shaft.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid dispenser and an air valve shaft for use in a liquid dispenser whereby air flow into the dispenser chamber during dispense can be improved and a more rapid, accurate dispense achieved.

Accordingly the invention in one aspect provides a liquid dispenser comprising a chamber having an inlet and an outlet for liquid, first valve means movable in the chamber between a first position in which the outlet is sealed and the inlet is open and a second position in which the outlet is open and the inlet is sealed, valve actuation means to move the first valve from the first position to the second position and vice versa, an air inlet to the chamber through the wall of the chamber, air valve means to open and close the air inlet, the air inlet having a seat to receive an annular seal, the air valve means comprising a shaft to pass through the annular seal and attachable towards its first end to the actuation means and attachable towards its second end to the first valve 3 means, the shaft being positioned through the annular seal to seal the air inlet when the valve means is in the first position and the shaft having an intermediate portion between its ends, the intermediate portion being of cruciform shape in transverse cross-section to provide channels running longitudinally of the shaft, the channels being defined by the gaps between adjacent arms of the cruciforrn shape, the intermediate portion of the shaft extending through the air inlet when the first valve means is in the second position.

In another aspect the invention provides an air valve shaft for a liquid dispenser, the shaft having a first attachment means adjacent its first end for attachment to an actuation means, a second attachment means adjacent its second end for attachment to a valve means to open and close the dispenser, and an intermediate portion of the shaft between the first and the second attachment means, the intermediate portion being of cruciform shape in transverse cross-section to provide channels running longitudinally of the shaft, the channels being defined between adjacent arms of the cruciform shape.

The cruciform. shape of the intermediate portion of the shaft enables a relatively large air flow passage into the chamber in the second position of the valve means while maintaining adequate strength in the shaft.

The seal may be located in the seat of the air inlet whereby the shaft moves relative to the seal when moved between the first and second positions. However, in a preferred embodiment the seal is mounted on the shaft and moves off the seat when the shaft is moved. Thus in this preferred embodiment the shaft may be provided with an annular recess to receive and to carry the annular seal. The annular 4 recess may be positioned on the shaft between the intermediate portion and the first attachment means.

In this embodiment, when the air valve is opened by the actuation means, the shaft with its seal moves outwardly through the air inlet whereby the seal is moved off its seat in the chamber wall. Air can then flow through the inlet around the shaft and along the channels in the shaft surface. By this means the cross-sectional area available for air flow into the chamber of the dispenser can be significantly increased and the performance of the dispenser correspondingly improved.

In the alternative embodiment where the seal remains on its seat in the inlet, the channelled intermediate portion of the shaft lies through the seal in the air valve open position and air can enter the chamber between the shaft and the seal and along the channels. Again, the crosssectional area available for air flow is greater than with a conventional air valve shaft.

The air valve shaft will non-nally lie substantially perpendicularly in use and the first valve means, which may be in the form of a shuttle with a seal at each end, will also be substantially perpendicular in use and will travel up and down vertically between the dispenser inlet and outlet.

Conveniently the first attachment means of the air valve shaft to the first valve actuation means lies outside the chamber of the dispenser, the channelled shaft portion extending completely inside the dispenser in the air valve closed position, and the second attachment means of the shaft is, of course, connected to the first valve means, e.g. the shuttle, inside the chamber. The first attachment means may conveniently be, for example, a recess adjacent the first, i.e. upper end of the shaft. The second attachment means may merely be, for example, the surface of the shaft between the channelled portion and the second end, this surface having an external diameter to clip into a recess in the valve means. The end of the shaft may be of enlarged diameter to prevent the shaft 5 rising through this recess.

The actuation means, as indicated above, needs to provide an instantaneous changeover between the first and second positions and mechanisms to achieve this effect are well known in the art. A convenient mechanism to provide quick changeover has latch positions with operating arms coupled through a pivoted cam arrangement. The latch presents an initial resistance to a force applied to an appropriate lever on the dispenser and then suddenly releases to push the valve or shuttle to the dispenser inlet.

One specific form of changeover mechanism incorporating a ball crank lever and a resilient bi-stable spring is described in more detail below with reference to the drawings.

The air valve shaft is preferably a moulding, particularly an injection moulding, of a food-grade plastics material, e.g. an acetal resin. Indeed it is preferable that as many of the components of the dispenser as possible are mouldings of plastics material. The part or parts constituting the front of the chamber when the dispenser is in position for use should be transparent so that a visual check may be made on the contents of the chamber.

The seals used in the dispenser, i.e. to seal the inlet and outlet to and from the chamber and to seal the air inlet, may be provided in any suitable material, e.g. silicone rubber.

The seals for the inlet and outlet of the dispenser are preferably of the type described in our U. K. Patent Application No. 2290528A.

These seals comprise a domed portion the rear face of the domed portion being connected to an axially-extending stem which extends to a detent, the detent enabling the seal to be secured in an apertured recess of a shuttle of the dispenser with the stem passing through the aperture and the domed portion sealing the recess such that the recess is always sealed, the domed portion of the seal being of size relative to the recess such that when the perimeter of the domed portion engages the radially outer wall of the recess the domed portion is under radial compression whereby its rear face is lifted out of contact with the base of the recess when the domed portion is uncompressed axially but comes into contact with the surface of the base of the recess when the domed portion is compressed axially by being pressed to seal an opening of the dispenser.

Thus the opening of the dispenser will remain substantially sealed during initial movement of the shuttle away from the opening as the rear surface of the domed portion will move out of contact with the shuttle recess when the compressive force against the opening is removed.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a liquid dispenser; Figure 2 is a side view in part section of the dispenser of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a part of the actuation means of the dispenser of Figure I when the valve means is in the first position; Figure 4 shows,the same part of the actuation means when the valve means is in the second position; 7 Figure 5 is a isometric view of the air valve shaft shown in Figures 2 to 4; Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view along line VINI of Figure 5; when the dispenser mechanism is in the second position; and Figure 7 is a corresponding sectional view of a prior art embodiment utilising a stepped cylindrical shaft.

In Figures I and 2 is shown a liquid dispenser I of the invention.

The dispenser comprises a chamber 2 with an inlet 3 at its top and an outlet 4 at its base. A cork 5 is positioned around the top of the inlet 3.

A sight glass 6 together with a sight glass surround 7 is attached to a front of the chamber 2. Inside the chamber 2 is a valve 8 having silicone rubber seals 9 at the top and at the bottom of the valve 8. The valve 8 is axially slidable between a first position, as shown in the drawings in which the outlet 4 is sealed and the inlet 3 is open, and a second position (not shown) in which the outlet 4 is open and the inlet 3 is sealed.

An actuator member 10 is positioned behind the chamber 2 and is slidable, in an upward direction parallel to the direction of movement of the valve 8 from a first position to a second position. The actuator member 10 has two side walls at its top, a slot I I being is formed in each side wall. The actuator member 10 includes a lip 12 at the bottom of the actuator member 10.

An intermediate lever 13 is operatively connected to the actuator member 10 by means of a pin 14, which pin 14 is attached to the intermediate lever 13 and is free to slide within the slot I I in the actuator member 10. The intermediate lever 13 is rotatably attached, by a freely mounted pivot member 16 to the chamber 2 to a pivot point 16 a at the top of the chamber 2. A spring 17 connected to the pivot point 16 biases the intermediate lever 13 into a first position.

A bell crank lever 18 is rotatably attached to the pivot member 15 on the intermediate lever 13. A first an-n 19 of the bell crank lever 18 is connected by a leaf spring 20 to the intermediate lever 13. A second arm 21 of the bell crank lever 18 is attached to the top of an air valve shaft 22 The bottom of the air valve shaft 22 is attached to the valve 8.

An air valve seal 23 is carried on shaft 22 and locates in a recess in the wall of chamber 2 at the point at which the air valve shaft 22 enters the chamber 2.

The air valve shaft 22 is now described in more detail with reference to Figure 5. It is of moulded, elongated shape and has a firs:

end 100 adjacent to which is an annular recess 102 by means of which it can be attached to the first valve actuation means. Beyond recess 102 is a smooth cylindrical surface portion 104 which leads to a further annular recess 106 which is to carry the annular seal 23 (shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4).

Beyond recess 106 is the intermediate portion 108 of the shaft.

This is of cruciform shape in section (see Figure 6) and has four arrns 110 which define four longitudinal channels 112. The overall diameter of intermediate portion 108 is less than the overall diameter of seal 23.

Between intermediate portion 108 and second end 118 of the shaft is a smooth cylindrical surface portion 114 and an enlarged end portion 116. Portions 114 and 116 provide the attachment means to valve 8 (Figure 2).

Referring to Figure 3, there is shown therein a part of the actuation means of the liquid dispenser I of Figure 1, in a first position.

9 The leaf spring connects the first arm 19 of the bell crank lever 18 at an attachment point 24 to the pin 14 on the intermediate lever 13. The seal 23 on shaft 22 is in position to seal the air inlet to chamber 2.

Refeming to Figure 4, there is shown therein the part of the actuation means of Figure 3, in the second position. The intermediate lever 13 and the bell crank lever 18 are now in a position, wherein the air valve shaft 22 has moved upwards. The seal 23 on shaft 22 has passed completely beyond the wall of chamber 2 and smaller diameter intermediate portion 108 of the shaft extends through the seal leaving passageways whereby air may enter the chamber. This is described further with reference to Figure 6 below.

In Figure 6 intermediate portion 108 of air valve shaft 22 passes through the wall 120 at the air inlet to chamber 2. As can be seen in comparison with Figure 7, a much larger cross-sectional area including channels 112 is available for ingress of air with the shaft of the invention. In Figure 7 a conventional cylindrical shaft 122 passes through an annular seal 124 at the air inlet to chamber 2 in the second position. This provides a relatively small annular gap 126 for passage of air. By way of example only the cross-sectional area available for air flow in Figure 6 may be over 8 MM2 compared with about 3 MM2 in Figure 7.

In use the liquid dispenser is fitted, using the cork 5 on the inlet 3, to a bottle. The bottle is then inverted together with the liquid dispenser to an operating position and the chamber 2 fills with liquid from the bottle.

To move the valve 8 from the first position to the second position, to dispense a metered aliquot of liquid from the chamber 2, the actuator member 10 is moved upwards. The upward movement causes the intermediate lever 13 to rotate away from the chamber 2 due to the connection between the actuator member 10 and the intermediate lever 13, by the pin 14 in each slot 11. As the intermediate lever 13 rotates, the leaf spring 20 is distorted until a point is reached where the leaf spring 20 flips over-centre. This causes abrupt movement of the bell crank lever 19, causing the second arm 21 to rotate in an upward direction, whereupon the air valve shaft 22 moves upwards, which in turn causes the valve 8 to move abruptly upwards. As the air valve shaft 22 nses the air valve inlet opens and any liquid in the chamber 2 is dispensed. Upon release of the actuator member 10, the spring 17 biases the actuator means back to a first position and the chamber 2 fills up with more liquid.

Claims

1. A liquid dispenser comprising a chamber having an inlet and an outlet for liquid, first valve means movable in the chamber between a first position in which the outlet is sealed and the inlet is open and a second position in which the outlet is open and the inlet is sealed, valve actuation means to move the first valve from the first position to the second position and vice versa, an air inlet to the chamber through the wall of the chamber, air valve means to open and close the air inlet, the air inlet having a seat to receive an annular seal, the air valve means comprising a shaft to pass through the annular seal and attachable towards its first end to the actuation means and attachable towards its second end to the first valve means, the shaft being positioned through the annular seal to seal the air inlet when the valve means is in the first position and the shaft having an intermediate portion between its ends, the intermediate portion being of cruciform shape in transverse crosssection to provide channels running longitudinally of the shaft, the channels being defined by the gaps between adjacent arms of the cruciform shape, the intermediate portion of the shaft extending through the air inlet when the first valve means is in the second position.

2. A liquid dispenser according to Claim 1, in which the annular seal is mounted on the shaft of the air valve means.

3. A liquid dispenser according to Claim 2, in which the annular seal is mounted in an annular recess on the shaft between its intermediate portion and the first attachment means.

4. A liquid dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the air valve shaft and the first valve means are substantially vertical in use.

12

5. A liquid dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the first valve means is a shuttle with a seal at each end, one for the inlet and the other for the outlet.

6. A liquid dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the 5 first valve actuation means lies outside the chamber of the dispenser, the intermediate shaft portion extends completely inside the dispenser in the air valve closed position and the second attachment means of the shaft is connected to the first valve means inside the chamber.

7. A liquid dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the 10 first attachment means is a recess adjacent the first end of the shaft, the second attachment means is the surface of the shaft between its intermediate portion and its second end, this surface having an external diameter to clip into a recess in the first valve means.

8. A liquid dispenser according to Claim 7, in which the second end 15 of the shaft is of enlarged diameter.

9. A liquid dispenser according to any one of Claims 5 to 8, in which the seals each comprise a domed portion the rear face of the domed portion being connected to an axially-extending stem which extends to a detent, the detent enabling the seal to be secured in an apertured recess of the shuttle with the stem passing through the aperture and the domed portion sealing the recess such that the recess is always sealed, the domed portion of the seal being of size relative to the recess such that when the perimeter of the domed portion engages the radially outer wall of the recess the domed portion is under radial compression whereby its rear face is lifted out of contact with the base of the recess when the domed portion is uncompressed axially but comes into contact with the surface of the base of the recess when the 13 domed portion is compressed axially by being pressed to seal the inlet or outlet of the dispenser.

10. A liquid dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the actuation means comprises a mechanism having latch positions with operating arms coupled through a pivoted cam arrangement whereby the latch presents an initial resistance to a force applied to a lever on the dispenser and then suddenly releases to move the valve means from the first position to the second position.

11. A liquid dispenser according to Claim 10, in which the actuation 10 means comprises a bell crank lever adapted to act upon the first valve means via an intermediate lever operatively connected thereto, the valve actuation means comprising an actuation member movable generally parallel to the axis of movement of the first valve means, a resilient spring member being bistable in use and biasing means biasing the valve actuation means into the first position, such that axial movement of the actuation member causes rotation of the intermediate lever, rotation of the intermediate lever causing the bistable resilient spring member to flip from one position of stability to the other, and the flipping causing rotation of the bell crank lever to move the valve means abruptly from the first to the second position, the first valve means being adapted to move abruptly from the second to the first position under the influence of the biasing means.

12. An air valve shaft for a liquid dispenser, the shaft having a first attachment means adjacent its first end for attachment to an actuation means, a second attachment means adjacent its second end for attachment to a valve means to open and close the dispenser, and an intermediate portion of the shaft between the first and the second 14 attachment means, the intermediate portion being of cruciform shape in transverse cross-section to provide channels running longitudinally of the shaft, the channels being defined between adjacent arms of the cruciform shape.

13. An air valve shaft according to Claim 12, which is an injection moulding of an acetal resin.

14. A liquid dispenser according to Claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures I to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

15. An air valve shaft according to Claim 12, substantially as hereiribefore defined with reference to and as shown in Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.

15. An air valve shaft according to Claim 12, substantially as hereinbefore defined with reference to and as shown in Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.

ts Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows CLAIMS I - A liquid dispenser comprising a chamber having an inlet and an outlet for liquid, first valve means movable in the chamber between a first position in which the outlet is sealed and the inlet is open and a second position in which the outlet is open and the inlet is sealed, valve actuation means to move the first valve ftom the first position to the second position and vice versa, an air inlet to the chamber through the wall of the chamber, air valve means to open and close the air inlet, the air inlet having a seat to receive an annular seal, the air valve means comprising a shaft to pass through the annular seal and attachable by a first attachment means towards its first end to the actuation means and attachable by a second attachment means towards its second end to the first valve means, the shaft being positioned through the annular seal to seal the air inlet when the valve means is in the first position and the shaft having an intermediate portion between its ends, the intermediate portion being of cruciform. shape in transverse cross-section to provide chamels running longitudinally of the shaft, the channels being defined by the gaps between adjacent arms of the cruciform. shape, the inten-nediate portion of the shaft extending through the air inlet when the first valve means is in the second position.

3. A liquid dispenser according to Claim 2, in which the annular seal 25 is mounted in an annular recess on the shaft between its intermediate portion and the first attachment means.

(0 4. A liquid dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the air valve shaft and the first valve means are substantially vertical in use.

5. A liquid dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the first valve means is a shuttle with a seal at each end, one for the inlet and 5 the other for the outlet.

6. A liquid dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the first valve actuation means lies outside the chamber of the dispenser, the intermediate shaft portion extends completely inside the dispenser in the air valve closed position and the second attachment means of the shaft is connected to the first valve means inside the chamber.

7. A liquid dispenser according to any preceding claim, in which the first attachment means is a recess adjacent the first end of the shaft, the second attachment means is the surface of the shaft between its intermediate portion and its second end, this surface having an external diameter to clip into a recess in the first valve means.

8. A liquid dispenser according to Claim 7, in which the second end of the shaft is of enlarged diameter.

9. A liquid dispenser according to any one of Claims 5 to 8, in which the seals at the ends of the shuttle each comprise a domed portion the rear face of the domed portion being connected to an axially-extending stem which extends to a detent, the detent enabling the seal to be secured in an apertured recess of the shuttle with the stem passing through the aperture and the domed portion sealing the recess such that the recess is always sealed, the domed portion of the seal being of size relative to the recess such that when the perimeter of the domed portion engages the radially outer wall of the recess the domed portion is under radial compression whereby its rear face is lifted out of contact with the base of il the recess when the domed portion is uncompressed axially but comes into contact with the surface of the base of the recess when the domed portion is compressed axially by being pressed to seal the inlet or outlet of the dispenser.

11. A liquid dispenser according to Claim 10, in which the actuation means comprises a bell crank lever adapted to act upon the first valve means via an intermediate lever operatively connected thereto, the valve actuation means comprising an actuation member movable generally parallel to the axis of movement of the first valve means, a resilient spring member being bistable in use and biasing means biasing the valve actuation means into the first position, such that axial movement of the actuation member causes rotation of the intermediate lever, rotation of the intermediate lever causing the bistable resilient spring member to flip from one position of stability to the other, and the flipping causing rotation of the bell crank lever to move the valve means abruptly from the first to the second position, the first valve means being adapted to move abruptly from the second to the first position under the influence of the biasing means.

12. An air valve shaft for a liquid dispenser, the shaft having a first attachment means adjacent its first end for attachment to an actuation means, a second attachment means adjacent its second end for attachment to a valve means to open and close the dispenser, and an intermediate portion of the shaft between the first and the second attachment means, the intermediate portion being of cruciform shape in transverse cross-section to provide channels running longitudinally of the shaft, the channels being defined between adjacent arms of the cruciform shape.

14. A liquid dispenser according to Claim 1, substantially as 10 hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures I to 4 of the accompanying drawings.