Portable consumer liquid pump

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11759060-B2
Application number	US-202217666377-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 7, 2022
Priority date	Feb 8, 2021
Publication date	Sep 19, 2023
Grant date	Sep 19, 2023

Abstract

Various liquid dispensers are disclosed. Certain embodiments include a portable liquid dispenser configured for consumer use in dispensing soap, sanitizer, or ingestible liquids. The dispenser can comprise a housing, a reservoir having an interior configured to store a liquid, a fluid pathway having an opening in fluid communication with the interior of the reservoir, a pump comprising a plurality of rollers, each of the plurality of rollers being configured to contact a portion of the fluid pathway in a flexible tube such that each of the plurality of rollers compresses a portion of the flexible tube that is in contact with the roller, a nozzle, a fluid damper in communication with the pump and the nozzle, an electronic control unit in electrical communication with the pump, and a rotation-tracking feedback system in electrical communication with the electronic control unit.

First claim

The following is claimed:

1. A portable liquid dispenser configured for consumer use in dispensing soap, sanitizer, or ingestible liquids, comprising:
a housing;
a reservoir configured to store a liquid;
a fluid pathway included at least in part in a flexible tube disposed in the housing, wherein the flexible tube has an inlet and an outlet;
a pump disposed in the housing, wherein the pump comprises:
a rotor including a plurality of rollers,
wherein the rotor has a rotor rotational axis,
wherein each of the plurality of rollers has a roller rotational axis, and
wherein the plurality of rollers is configured to rotate about the rotor rotational axis and the roller rotational axis;

a motor disposed in the housing, wherein the motor is configured to drive the pump configured to cause the liquid to move through the flexible tube;
a fluid flow damper in fluid communication with the fluid pathway and the pump;
a sensor configured to generate an electrical signal; and
an electronic processor configured to receive the signal from the sensor to control the motor to dispense the liquid;
wherein:
the damper comprises a first passage in fluid communication with the fluid pathway, a damper chamber in fluid communication with the first passage, and a flat damping membrane positioned in the damper chamber; and
the damper membrane is planar;
the damper is configured to deflect into a space when a pressure in the damper chamber exceeds a pressure in the space.

2. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , further comprising a second damper.

3. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , further comprising a nozzle configured to allow the liquid to be dispensed.

4. The liquid dispenser of claim 3 , wherein the damper is positioned in a fluid pathway between the pump and the nozzle.

5. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the damper is positioned in a fluid pathway between the reservoir and the pump.

6. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the damper comprises a membrane.

7. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the damper comprises entrapped air.

8. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the damper helps to produce a substantially even flow of liquid.

9. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the damper helps to produce an uninterrupted flow of liquid.

10. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein
the pump comprises a rotation-tracking feedback system in electrical communication with the electronic processor.

11. The liquid dispenser of claim 10 , wherein the rotation-tracking feedback system comprises a magnetic sensor that produces an electrical signal.

12. The liquid dispenser of claim 11 , wherein the magnetic sensor is configured to measure a magnetic field emitted by a magnet on at least one of the rollers.

13. The liquid dispenser of claim 11 , wherein the electronic control unit is configured to use the electrical signal from the magnetic sensor to measure the amount of rotation of the rollers.

14. The liquid dispenser of claim 13 , wherein the electronic control unit is configured to use the amount of rotation of the rollers to estimate the volume of liquid dispensed.

15. The liquid dispenser of claim 14 , wherein the electronic control unit is configured to use the volume of liquid dispensed to control the operation of the pump.

16. The liquid dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the damper comprises only one passage in communication with the fluid pathway.

Assignees

• Simplehuman Llc

Inventors

• Yang Frank
• Chin Jason
• Kirkman Josef

Classifications

• A47K5/1205 Primary

  Dispensing from the top of the dispenser with a vertical piston · CPC title

• A47K5/1209 Primary

  with chamber in the form of a cylindrical tube · CPC title

• A47K5/1208

  by means of a flexible dispensing chamber · CPC title

• A47K5/1212

  applied by a screwing action · CPC title

• A47K5/1215

  applied by a peristaltic action · CPC title