Abstract
Dispensers having a liquid reservoir filled with a main liquid and having a dispensing head, with a dispensing opening and a dispensing channel, which connects the reservoir outlet to the dispensing opening. The dispensing head can be pressed down to actuate the switching valve or the conveying device. The liquid dispenser has a replaceable exchange unit, which, in a functional state, forms the dispensing channel at least in some sections. The exchange unit has a mixing chamber, with an addition medium and an inlet and an outlet separated from the inlet. The exchange unit is part of the dispensing channel such that the inlet is communicatively connected to the reservoir outlet and the outlet is communicatively connected to the dispensing opening. Furthermore, the exchange unit has closures at the inlet and at the outlet to close the mixing chamber.
Claims
1. A liquid dispenser having the following features: a. the liquid dispenser has a liquid reservoir which is filled with a main liquid and which is designed as a pressure reservoir and has a switching valve of which the main liquid can be conveyed from the liquid reservoir to a reservoir outlet, or is designed as a pressureless liquid reservoir and has a conveying device by which the main liquid can be conveyed from the liquid reservoir to a reservoir outlet, b. the liquid dispenser has a dispensing head which has a dispensing opening and a dispensing duct which connects the reservoir outlet to the dispensing opening, c. the dispensing head can be pressed down in an actuating direction in the direction of the liquid reservoir, with the switching valve or the conveying device being actuated as a result, d. the liquid dispenser has an interchangeable exchange unit which, in a functional state, forms the dispensing duct at least in certain portions, e. the exchange unit has a mixing chamber in which an additional medium is arranged, and f. the mixing chamber has an inlet and an outlet separated therefrom, wherein the exchange unit is part of the dispensing duct in such a way that the inlet is communicatively connected to the reservoir outlet and the outlet is communicatively connected to the dispensing opening, and g. the exchange unit has closures at the inlet and at the outlet by means of which the mixing chamber is closed in a liquid-tight manner in a storage state.
2. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 1 having the following additional features: a. the mixing chamber is delimited, between the inlet and the outlet, by walls which, in an integral manner, are all part of a common component, in particular a component produced from plastic.
3. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 1, having the following additional features: a. the reservoir outlet is designed as an outlet connector, and b. the exchange unit is designed as a dispensing head and has a coupling connection which is designed for coupling to the outlet connector, thereby creating a communicative connection with the inlet of the mixing chamber.
4. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 1, having the following additional features: a. the liquid dispenser has a dispensing head which has a receiving space which is designed to receive the exchange unit, and b. a feed duct portion of the dispensing duct, which forms part of the dispensing head, opens into the receiving space, and c. the exchange unit is designed in such a way that, upon insertion into the receiving space, the exchange unit assumes a desired position in which the mouth of the feed duct portion comes into communicative connection with the inlet of the mixing chamber of the exchange unit.
5. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 4 having the following additional features: a. the receiving space has an opening element which is arranged and designed so as to be adapted to the exchange unit in such a way that by introducing the exchange unit into the receiving space, or by closing a closing element which closes the receiving space the closure at the inlet of the mixing chamber or the closure at the outlet of the mixing chamber is destructively opened.
6. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 4 having the following additional feature: a. the receiving space is designed as a receiving shaft which is open at least on one side from an outer side of the dispensing head and into which the exchange unit can be inserted in an insertion direction, preferably having the additional feature: b. the insertion direction is oriented nonparallel to the actuating direction, particularly preferably at an angle of 90.
7. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 1 having the following additional feature: a. the liquid dispenser has a dispensing head which has an outer connection portion for coupling the exchange unit.
8. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 7 having the following additional features: a. the connection portion is also suitable for use as a dispensing opening such that, even with the exchange unit not coupled, it is possible to dispense the main liquid, and b. the exchange unit has a dispensing opening which is communicatively connected to the outlet of the mixing chamber.
9. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 1, having the following additional features: a. the liquid dispenser has a dispensing head which has a coupling connector, which faces the liquid reservoir, on the dispensing duct, and b. the exchange unit has a coupling connector for coupling to the coupling connector of the dispensing head, wherein the exchange unit-side coupling connector is communicatively connected to the outlet of the mixing chamber, and c. the exchange unit has an inlet connector which is designed for communicative connection with the dispenser outlet.
10. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 8 having the following additional feature: a. the dispensing opening of the liquid dispenser is formed by a dispensing opening which is part of the exchange unit.
11. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 4 having the following additional features: a. the mixing chamber of the exchange unit is at least partially delimited by film walls, in particular having one of the following features: b. the mixing chamber of the exchange unit is for the most part delimited by film walls, and/or c. the exchange unit has a rigid portion which is penetrated on the inlet side or the outlet side by the dispensing duct, wherein preferably the receiving space and the exchange unit are adapted to one another in such a way that the rigid portion can be fixed in a defined position at the receiving space in a form-fitting manner.
12. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 1 having the following additional features: a. the exchange unit has two sub-units which can be displaced relative to one another once for the purpose of activation, and b. the closure at the inlet and/or at the outlet of the mixing chamber is designed as a sliding valve which is opened by the relative movement in the course of the activation.
13. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 1 having the following additional feature: a. the closure at the inlet and/or at the outlet of the mixing chamber is configured with a peel-off film.
14. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 11 having the following additional feature: a. the closure at the inlet and/or at the outlet of the mixing chamber is closed by a closure surface which, in the course of placing the exchange unit on the reservoir outlet or the connection portion, is destroyed by an opening element.
15. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 14 having the following additional features: a. the receiving space has an opening element for opening a closure surface at the inlet or at the outlet of the mixing chamber, and b. the receiving space and the exchange unit are designed in terms of their outer shape in such a way that, upon insertion of the exchange unit into the receiving space, an elastic stress is generated in walls of the receiving space and/or of the exchange unit and is unloaded upon continued insertion in such a way that the opening element is pressed against and destroys the closure surface as a result.
16. The liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 1 having the following additional features: a. the closure at the inlet and/or at the outlet is closed by a closure surface, the destructive opening of which requires an opening pressure which is less than the pressure which can be generated by the pressure reservoir or by the conveying device.
17. A set consisting of a liquid dispenser as claimed in claim 1 and at least one second structurally identical exchange unit.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0050] Further advantages and aspects of the invention will emerge from the claims and from the following description of preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention which are explained below with reference to the figures.
[0051] FIGS. 1 and 1A and 1B show a first liquid dispenser according to the invention and the steps for putting it into operation.
[0052] FIG. 2 shows a dispensing head for a second liquid dispenser according to the invention.
[0053] FIGS. 3 and 3A and 3B show a third liquid dispenser according to the invention and the steps for putting it into operation.
[0054] FIGS. 4 and 4A to 4C show a fourth liquid dispenser according to the invention and the steps for putting it into operation.
[0055] FIGS. 5A to 5C and 6A to 6D show a dispensing head for a fifth liquid dispenser according to the invention and the steps of putting it into operation.
[0056] FIGS. 7A to 7D show a dispensing head for a sixth liquid dispenser according to the invention and the steps for putting it into operation.
[0057] FIGS. 8A to 8C show a dispensing head for a seventh liquid dispenser according to the invention and the steps of putting it into operation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0058] FIGS. 1 and 1A and 1B show a first exemplary embodiment of the invention. The liquid dispenser 100 according to the invention comprises a liquid reservoir 110 having a reservoir outlet 120. Pressing down the reservoir outlet 120 in the form of an outlet connector 122 in the direction of the arrow 2 makes it possible for a switching valve 112, which is merely indicated in FIG. 1, to be switched, with the result that the liquid, which was previously already under pressure, can be delivered through the reservoir outlet 120, which is designed as a hollow connector, out of the liquid reservoir 110 in the direction of a dispensing head 10.
[0059] In addition to a housing 15 and a dispensing opening 12, which penetrates through the housing 15, the dispensing head 10 comprises a sleeve-shaped component 21 which delimits a mixing chamber 22 and at which, with reference to FIG. 1A, in a delivery and storage state, there is provided, on both sides of the mixing chamber 22, in the region of an inlet 23 and an outlet 24, a respective closure 90, 92 having a closure surface 91, 93. At the lower end of the sleeve-shaped component 21, the latter has a coupling connection 26 which is designed for coupling to the outlet connector 122. The housing 15 and the sleeve-shaped component 21 are fixedly connected to one another and could also be formed in one piece.
[0060] There is provision as intended that, in a dispenser as shown in FIGS. 1 to 1B a main liquid or carrier liquid can be repeatedly discharged from the liquid reservoir 110 by pressing down the dispensing head 10. This liquid is as intended discharged together with an additional medium which, in the delivery and storage state of FIG. 1A, is situated in the mixing chamber 22. The dispensing head 10 as a whole constitutes an exchange unit 20, with different exchange units 20 having different additional media in the mixing chamber 22 customarily being held available. As intended, an actuation occurs after coupling the dispensing head 10, which forms an exchange unit 20, to the outlet connector 122, by means of which actuation the main liquid is conveyed from the liquid reservoir 110 in the direction of the dispensing duct 14 and toward the dispensing opening 12. Here, the liquid flows through the mixing chamber 22 and is mixed here with the additional medium previously stored therein.
[0061] Since the exchange units 20 in the form of the dispensing heads 10 are intended to maintain an isolation of the mixing chamber 22 and of the additional medium situated therein over a relatively long storage period, said closures 90, 92 are provided. The closure 90 provided on the inlet 23 side comprises a closure surface 91 which can be formed in one piece with the sleeve 21 or is incorporated as a separate component. As is evident by way of the transition from the state of FIG. 1A to the state of FIG. 1B, the placement of the dispensing head 10 on the outlet connector 122 leads as intended to the closure surface 91 being breached. This is illustrated in FIG. 1B.
[0062] The closure 92 having the closure surface 93 on the outlet 24 side of the mixing chamber 22 is, however, still intact at this time. However, as soon as the dispensing head 10 is pressed down in the direction of the arrow in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1, there occurs an over pressure in the mixing chamber 22 by which the closure surface 93 is destroyed, with the result that now the dispensing duct 14 with the mixing chamber 22 integrated therein provides for free dispensing. The fact that only the overpressure opens the mixing chamber on the outlet side promotes the mixing between the additional medium previously stored in the mixing chamber 22 and the main liquid, which flows via the inlet 23 into the mixing chamber 22.
[0063] The exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2 differs from the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1 in that the housing 15, as main constituent part of the dispensing head 10, is provided for reuse. In this exemplary embodiment, the exchange unit 20 is formed solely by the sleeve 21 and the mixing chamber 22 with inlet 23 and outlet 24, the mixing chamber surrounding said sleeve and being filled with additional medium.
[0064] Unlike in the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 1B, for putting into operation, the exchange unit 20 is accordingly coupled in the region of a coupling connector 30 to a coupling connector 18 of the dispensing head 10 by plugging, and the combination of the dispensing head 10 or its housing 15 and the exchange unit 20 is coupled jointly to the outlet connector 122 with the use of an inlet connector 32. However, the manner of opening the closures 90, 92 at the inlet 23 and outlet 24 remains identical.
[0065] In the embodiment as shown in FIG. 3, there is provision, first of all by way of example as difference, that the liquid reservoir 110 is not designed as a pressure reservoir, but instead as a pump reservoir having a schematically illustrated conveying device 114 in the manner of a pump which can be actuated by pressing down the dispensing head 10 in the actuating direction 2 and then conveys liquid from the liquid reservoir 110 to the reservoir outlet 120.
[0066] The dispensing head 10 in this embodiment has the particular feature that use can be made of a dispensing opening 12 provided on the housing 15 of the dispensing head without fastening an exchange unit 20 on the dispensing head 10.
[0067] However, an exchange unit 20 can also be used. The latter is pushed from outside onto a connection portion 11 in the manner illustrated by figs. 3A and 3B where it is held by a latching connection. As can be seen from FIG. 3B, when pushing the exchange unit 20 onto the connection portion 11 the latter is inserted into the exchange unit 20 to such an extent that it opens the closure 90 at the inlet side 23 by destroying the closure surface 91. On the outlet 24 side, however, the closure 92 with the closure surface 93 remains first of all intact. In a corresponding manner to the preceding exemplary embodiment, there is provision here too, that the closure surface 93 at the closure 92 is destroyed only upon first actuation, since the conveying device 114 is designed to make available a sufficiently high pressure to allow opening when the dispensing head 10 is pressed down in the direction of the arrow 2 with at least 10 newtons of actuating force.
[0068] In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4, there is provision as a particular feature that the housing of the dispensing head has a base 17A and a closing element 17B which can be folded with respect to the latter about a film hinge, said base and closing element together delimiting a receiving space 16.
[0069] The exchange units 20 in this exemplary embodiment can be readily seen from FIG. 4A. The exchange units 20 have a mixing chamber 22 which is surrounded by a flexible film wall 36, wherein the membrane is fastened to a rigid portion 38 which is penetrated by part of the dispensing duct 14 and at whose end the dispensing opening 12 is provided. To put the liquid dispenser 100 as shown in FIG. 4 into operation, the receiving space 16 is made accessible by tilting up the closing element 17B, and the exchange unit 20 is inserted in such a way that an annular web 38A on the rigid portion 38 engages in a corresponding groove 13 on the two housing parts 17A, 17B. In this state, and corresponding to the illustration of FIG. 4B, the receiving space 16 is closed, with the result that the bag, surrounded by the film wall 36, having the mixing chamber 22 is pressed, in the region of an inlet-side closure 90 with closure surface 91, against an opening element 80 and is thereby opened, as illustrated in FIG. 4C. If the first actuation now occurs by pressing down the dispensing head 10, liquid flows out of the liquid reservoir 110 into the mixing chamber 22, here fills up a sufficiently high pressure and, through this pressure, destroys the closure surface 93 of the outlet-side closure 92, with the result that the dispensing duct 14 is then free of barriers and the liquid of the reservoir outlet 120, with the addition of the additional medium from the mixing chamber 22, is conveyed to the dispensing opening 12.
[0070] FIGS. 5A to 5C and 6A to 6D show a further variant of a dispensing head 10 of the type according to the invention. As illustrated in FIGS. 5A to 5C, there is provision here that the dispensing head 10, which, apart from the insertable exchange unit, is provided for reuse, has a receiving space 16 in the form of a receiving shaft 16A. Here, the exchange unit 20 is inserted transversely to the actuating direction 2 in the direction of the arrow 4 such that a dispensing opening 12 provided on the exchange unit 20 reaches as far as the opposite side during the insertion. The inserted state can be seen in FIG. 5B. At this time, an inlet-side closure in the mixing chamber 22 has already been opened, as will be explained below. All that therefore remains is to open the closure 94 by removing the closure surface formed as a peel-off film 95.
[0071] It can be seen from FIGS. 6A to 6D how the closure 90 is opened on the inlet 23 side. If in the manner illustrated in FIG. 6B, the exchange unit 20 is inserted into the receiving shaft 16A, it hereby deforms part of the housing 15 of the dispensing head 10. As soon as the exchange unit 20 has been inserted far enough, namely approximately up to the position of FIG. 6C, this deformation ceases again since now an opening element 80 on the housing 15 of the dispensing head 10 that has been temporarily deflected can spring back into its original position and thereby destroy the closure surface 91 of the closure 90 on the inlet 23 side of the mixing chamber 22. Finally, starting from the state of FIG. 6C, which corresponds to the state of FIG. 5B, the peel-off film 95 at an end 96 is manually removed such that the dispensing duct 14 is free and dispensing of the main liquid and the addition of the additional medium from the mixing chamber 22 can occur.
[0072] FIGS. 7A to 7D show a further embodiment, which can be regarded as a variant to the embodiment of FIG. 5A to 6D. In this embodiment, the dispensing opening 12 is not, as in the preceding variant, part of the exchange unit 20 but provided on the housing 15 of the dispensing head 10. Just as for opening the closure 90 on the inlet 23 side, on this housing of the dispensing head 10 the dispensing opening 12 is also assigned an opening element 80 which is intended to destroy a corresponding closure surface 91 on the outlet 24 side of the mixing chamber 22.
[0073] If the exchange unit 20 is inserted in the manner illustrated in FIG. 7B in the direction of the arrow 4, there is here again reached an intermediate state of FIG. 7C, starting from which the elastic deformation that has taken place until then can be relieved again. Here, however, the exchange unit 20 is pressed further to the left, with the result that the closure surfaces 91 on the inlet 23 side and the outlet 24 side of the mixing chamber 22 are destroyed approximately simultaneously by the respective opening elements 80. As a result, the state of FIG. 7D is achieved, in which the dispensing duct is free and it is possible for mixed liquid to be dispensed.
[0074] In the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 8A to 8C there is merely shown a dispensing head 10 which simultaneously as a whole forms the exchange unit 20 and is thus provided for placing on a liquid reservoir corresponding for example to FIGS. 1 and 3. There is in this respect a certain degree of correspondence with the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 1B, in which the entire dispensing head likewise constitutes the exchange unit.
[0075] The particular feature of the dispensing head 10 of FIGS. 8A to 8C is that it is composed of two components 39, 40 as a two-part exchange unit 20, with component 39 being the main component which is fastened on the outlet connector 122 of the liquid reservoir. The other component 40 of the exchange unit 20 has approximately the shape of an inverted bowl and is blocked off at its underside by a closure 90 having a closure surface 91. However, an outlet-side closure surface in this sense is not provided.
[0076] The state of FIG. 8A shows an intermediate state during assembly, in which the component 40 has not yet been inserted into the main component 39. It is possible at this time for the mixing chamber 22 to be filled with the additional medium through the outlet 24. The state of FIG. 8B is then established, in which the outlet 24 is blocked off by inserting the component 40.
[0077] In this delivery and storage state of FIG. 8B, in which the mixing chamber 22 is filled with additional medium, the outlet 24 is closed by a sliding valve 42. This sliding valve 42 is formed by walls of the component 39 and a duct at the outlet 24. In the delivery and storage state of FIG. 8B, the mixing chamber 22 is thus isolated from the surroundings.
[0078] As soon as the exchange unit 20 is intended to be used, the dispensing head 10 forming the exchange unit 20 is placed on the outlet connector 122 of the liquid reservoir 110, and the component 40 is pressed deeper into the component 39. In this way, an opening element 80 on the component 39 comes into contact with the closure 90 with closure surface 91 on the inlet side of the mixing chamber 22 and destroys said surface, as can be seen from FIG. 8C. At the same time, a communicative connection between the outlet 24 and the dispensing opening 12 is established in the region of the sliding valve 42. After pressing down the component 40, the dispensing duct 14 is thus completely free and main liquid from the liquid reservoir 110 can be discharged from the mixing chamber 22 while the additional fluid is being admixed.
