Vent valves and refill units with vent valves for use with inverted non-collapsing containers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9949599-B2
Application number	US-201615178755-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 10, 2016
Priority date	Jun 17, 2015
Publication date	Apr 24, 2018
Grant date	Apr 24, 2018

Abstract

An exemplary refill unit for a dispenser includes an inverted non-collapsing container for holding a liquid. A pump housing is secured to the bottom of the inverted non-collapsing container. The pump housing includes a pump chamber for pumping fluid out of the inverted non-collapsing container. The pump housing includes an annular venting chamber. The annular venting chamber has a floor with an opening therethrough. A vent valve is located within the venting chamber. The vent valve has a first wiper seal in contact with a wall of the annular venting chamber.

First claim

I claim:

1. A refill unit for a dispenser comprising:
an inverted non-collapsing container for holding a liquid;
a pump housing secured to the bottom of the inverted non-collapsing container;
the pump housing having a pump chamber for pumping fluid out of the inverted non-collapsing container;
the pump housing having an annular venting chamber;
the annular venting chamber having a floor with an opening therethrough and a cylindrical wall;
a vent valve located within the venting chamber;
wherein the vent valve has a first wiper seal in contact with an inside surface of the cylindrical wall of the annular venting chamber; and
wherein the inside surface of the cylindrical wall extends above the top of the first wiper seal; and
wherein the vent valve has a stem that extends below the floor.

2. The refill unit of claim 1 further comprising a second wiper seal in contact with the wall of the annular venting chamber.

3. The refill unit of claim 1 wherein the vent valve includes an annular base in contact with the floor of the annular venting chamber and wherein the annular base extends outward from the base of the wiper seal, and
wherein the base at least partially covers the opening in the floor of the venting chamber.

4. The refill unit of claim 3 wherein the annular base comprises one or more air passage therethrough.

5. The refill unit of claim 1 wherein vent valve has a cracking pressure of less than about 30 millibar.

6. The refill unit of claim 1 wherein vent valve has a cracking pressure of less than about 25 millibar.

7. The refill unit of claim 1 wherein vent valve has a cracking pressure of less than about 20 millibar.

8. A refill unit for a dispenser comprising:
an inverted non-collapsing container for holding a liquid;
a pump housing secured to the bottom of the inverted non-collapsing container;
the pump housing having a pump chamber for pumping fluid out of the inverted non-collapsing container;
the pump housing having an annular venting chamber;
the annular venting chamber having a floor with an opening therethrough;
a vent valve located within the venting chamber;
wherein the vent valve has a first wiper seal in contact with a cylindrical wall of the annular venting chamber; and

a second wiper seal in contact with the cylindrical wall of the annular venting chamber;
a stem that extend below the floor and retains the vent valve in place; and
wherein the cylindrical wall extends above the first wiper seal; and
wherein air flows past the first and second wiper seal into the inverted non-collapsing container.

9. The refill unit of claim 8 wherein a surface of the first wiper seal is in contact with fluid when fluid is located in the non-collapsing container.

10. The refill unit of claim 8 wherein vent valve has a cracking pressure of less than about 30 millibar.

11. The refill unit of claim 8 wherein vent valve has a cracking pressure of less than about 25 millibar.

12. The refill unit of claim 8 wherein vent valve has a cracking pressure of less than about 20 millibar.

13. A refill unit for a dispenser comprising:
an inverted non-collapsing container for holding a liquid;
a pump housing secured to the bottom of the inverted non-collapsing container;
the pump housing having a pump chamber for pumping fluid out of the inverted non-collapsing container;
the pump housing having an annular venting chamber;
the annular venting chamber having a floor with an opening therethrough and an cylindrical wall;
a vent valve located within the venting chamber;
wherein the vent valve has a first wiper seal in contact with an inside surface of the cylindrical wall of the annular venting chamber; and

an annular base in contact with the floor of the annular venting chamber;
wherein the annular base extends outward from the base of the wiper seal;
the vent valve having a stem that extends below the floor of the annular venting chamber and retains the vent valve in place; and
wherein the inside surface of the cylindrical wall extends above the top of the vent valve.

14. The refill unit of claim 13 wherein the annular base includes one or more air passages.

15. The refill unit of claim 13 wherein a surface of the first wiper seal is in contact with fluid located in the non-collapsing container.

16. The refill unit of claim 13 wherein vent valve has a cracking pressure of less than about 30 millibar.

17. The refill unit of claim 13 wherein vent valve has a cracking pressure of less than about 25 millibar.

18. The refill unit of claim 13 wherein vent valve has a cracking pressure of less than about 20 millibar.

Assignees

• Gojo Ind Inc

Inventors

• Harris Donald R

Classifications

• B05B11/1032

  actuated without substantial movement of the nozzle in the direction of the pressure stroke (B05B11/103 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B05B11/1046

  the pump chamber being arranged substantially coaxially to the neck of the container (B05B11/1049 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A47K5/1211 Primary

  using pressure on soap, e.g. with piston (A47K5/1201 takes precedence; using squeeze bottles or the like A47K5/122) · CPC title

• B05B11/3032

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B05B11/001

  Snap-on-twist-off type connections · CPC title