Vortex atomizing foam pump and refill unit utilizing same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-8955769-B2
Application number	US-201113309755-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 2, 2011
Priority date	Dec 2, 2011
Publication date	Feb 17, 2015
Grant date	Feb 17, 2015

Abstract

Foam dispensers, refill units for foam dispensers, and liquid pumps for use in foam dispensers are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, an inverted foam pump includes a compression chamber having an inlet valve and an outlet valve. The compression chamber is in fluid communication with a flow restrictor, an atomizer, a mixing chamber, a foaming chip and an outlet. The inlet valve, outlet valve, flow restrictor, atomizer, mixing chamber, foaming chip and outlet extend along a common axis. An air inlet is included that extends into the mixing chamber; the air inlet is an opening to atmospheric pressure. During operation, the liquid pump is located below the liquid container and liquid flowing from the compression chamber is accelerated and atomized. The atomized liquid enters the mixing chamber at a velocity sufficient to draw in air from the air inlet to mix with the liquid to form a foam.

First claim

We claim:

1. A pump for an inverted foam dispensing system comprising:
a connector for connecting the pump to a liquid container, the connector located at the top of the inverted pump during operation;
a compression chamber having an inlet valve and an outlet valve; the compression chamber in fluid communication with a flow restrictor, an atomizer, a mixing chamber, a foaming chip and an outlet, the outlet located at the bottom of the inverted pump during operation;
wherein th…

Assignees

• Pelfrey Keith Allen
• Sayers Richard C
• Ciavarella Nick E
• Mcnulty John J
• Wegelin Jackson W
• Gojo Ind Inc

Inventors

• Pelfrey Keith Allen
• Sayers Richard C
• Ciavarella Nick E
• Mcnulty John J
• Wegelin Jackson W

Classifications

• A47K5/14 Primary

  Human Necessities · mapped topic