Foaming soap dispensers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10076216-B2
Application number	US-201615060241-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 3, 2016
Priority date	Feb 25, 2015
Publication date	Sep 18, 2018
Grant date	Sep 18, 2018

Abstract

Various dispensing devices, such as foaming soap pumps, are disclosed. The soap pump can include a fluid storage unit and a fluid handling unit. The fluid storage unit can include a reservoir that is configured to hold a quantity of product, such as liquid soap. The fluid handling unit can include a pumping assembly and dispensing assembly. The soap pump can be configured to withdraw liquid soap from the reservoir, convert the liquid soap to foamed soap, and dispense the foamed soap from the discharge assembly.

First claim

The following is claimed:

1. A foaming soap pump comprising:
a fluid storage unit comprising a reservoir configured to store liquid soap; and
a fluid handling unit comprising:
a pumping assembly configured to draw the liquid soap from the reservoir, the pumping assembly comprising:
a pumping unit comprising a compartment having a resilient member, the resilient member being actuatable between a first state and a second state, a volume of the compartment being greater in the first state than in the second state;
a motor configured to drive an actuation member, the actuation member configured to engage and disengage with the resilient member of the pumping unit;
wherein, the pumping assembly is configured such that:
when the actuation member disengages from the resilient member, the resilient member moves from the second state to the first state, thereby increasing the volume in the compartment and drawing the liquid soap into the compartment;
when the actuation member engages the resilient member, the resilient member moves from the first state to the second state, thereby decreasing the volume in the compartment and expelling the liquid soap from the compartment; and

a dispensing assembly configured to receive a flow of the liquid soap from the pumping assembly, the dispensing assembly comprising:
a foaming unit configured to convert the liquid soap into foamed soap; and
a discharge nozzle configured to dispense the foamed soap out of the foaming soap pump.

2. The foaming soap pump of claim 1 , wherein the pumping unit further comprises a plurality of compartments, each with a respective resilient member.

3. The foaming soap pump of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of compartments are about equally circumferentially spaced around an outlet conduit of the pumping assembly.

4. The foaming soap pump of claim 1 , wherein the resilient member comprises a rubber diaphragm.

5. The foaming soap pump of claim 1 , wherein in the first state the resilient member has a convex shape, and in the second state the resilient member has a concave shape.

6. The foaming soap pump of claim 1 , wherein the foaming unit comprises a screen in a flow path of the liquid soap.

7. The foaming soap pump of claim 1 , wherein the discharge nozzle comprises an anti-drip valve.

8. The foaming soap pump of claim 1 , further comprising a lighting assembly comprising a light source and a light pipe.

9. The foaming soap pump of claim 1 , wherein the pumping unit further comprises a one-way valve configured to permit the liquid soap to enter the compartment through an inlet passage.

10. The foaming soap pump of claim 1 , further comprising an air inlet assembly configured to allow ambient air to enter the flow of the liquid soap.

11. The foaming soap pump of claim 1 , wherein the fluid storage unit further comprises a sleeve threadably connected with the reservoir.

12. The foaming soap pump of claim 1 , further comprising a sensor device configured to detect an object adjacent the dispensing assembly.

13. The foaming soap pump of claim 1 , wherein the actuation member comprises an arm extending radially outward from a drive shaft connected with the motor.

14. A method of dispensing foamed soap, the method comprising:
drawing liquid soap from a reservoir;
mixing the liquid soap with air to form aerated soap;
encouraging the aerated soap into and out of a pumping assembly, wherein encouraging the aerated soap into and out of the pumping assembly comprises:
expanding a portion of a compartment to introduce the aerated soap into the compartment; and
collapsing a portion of the compartment to expel the aerated soap from the compartment;

converting the aerated soap into foamed soap; and
dispensing the foamed soap through a nozzle.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein converting the aerated soap into foamed soap comprises passing the aerated soap through a screen.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein converting the aerated soap into foamed soap comprises passing the aerated soap through a first screen and a second screen, wherein the second screen has more holes per unit area than the first screen.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein converting the aerated soap into foamed soap comprises passing the aerated soap through a first screen and a second screen, wherein the first screen has more holes per unit area than the second screen.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein collapsing the portion of the compartment comprises engaging a motor-driven tilting member with a resilient member of the compartment.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein expanding the portion of the compartment comprises disengaging the motor-driven tilting member from the resilient member of the compartment.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein encouraging the aerated soap into and out of the pumping assembly further comprises:
expanding a portion of a second compartment to introduce the aerated soap into the second compartment;
collapsing a portion of the second compartment to expel the aerated soap from the second compartment;
expanding a portion of a third compartment to introduce the aerated soap into the third compartment; and
collapsing a portion of the third compartment to expel the aerated soap from the third compartment.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein expanding the portion of the compartment and collapsing the portion of the second compartment occur substantially simultaneously.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein expanding the portion of the second compartment and collapsing the portion of the third compartment occur substantially simultaneously.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein expanding the portion of the third compartment and collapsing the portion of the compartment occur substantially simultaneously.

24. A dispensing device comprising:
a reservoir configured to store a liquid product;
a pumping assembly configured to draw the liquid product from the reservoir and to draw air through an air inlet, the liquid product and the air mixing to form an aerated product;
wherein the pumping assembly comprises a plurality of compartments and a plurality of resilient members, each of the compartments comprising at least one of the resilient members, each of the resilient members being movable between a convex state and a concave state;
wherein each resilient member extends outward of the resilient member's respective compartment in the convex state and extends into the resilient member's respective compartment in the concave state;
a motor configured to drive an actuation member, the actuation member configured to engage and disengage with the resilient members such that the resilient members are moved between the convex state and the concave state, thereby providing a flow of the aerated product into and out of the compartments;
a foaming unit configured to convert the aerated product into a foamed product; and
a discharge nozzle configured to dispense the foamed product out of the dispensing device.

25. The dispensing device of claim 24 , wherein the foaming unit comprises a screen in a flow path of the aerated product.

26. The dispensing device of claim 24 , wherein the product comprises soap.

27. The dispensing device of claim 24 , wherein the resilient member comprises a rubber diaphragm.

28. The dispensing device of claim 24 , further comprising a lighting assembly compris

Assignees

• Simplehuman Llc

Inventors

• Yang Frank
• Wolbert David
• Yen Kenneth
• Cohen Guy
• Chen Hon-Lun
• Pirshafiey Nasser
• Sandor Joseph

Classifications

• B05B11/1087

  Combination of liquid and air pumps · CPC title

• B05B11/1047

  the pump being preassembled as an independent unit before being mounted on the container · CPC title

• A47K5/1208

  by means of a flexible dispensing chamber · CPC title

• B05B11/3047

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• A47K5/16

  with mechanical drive · CPC title