Liquid dispensing device

• US 20040173641A1
• Filed: 12/19/2003
• Published: 09/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CPS Color Group Oy
• Original Assignee: CPS Color Group Oy
• Inventors: Airaksinen, Pentti
• Granted Patent: US 7,108,158 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 222/386
• CPC Class Codes: B05C 11/10 Storage, supply or control of liquid or other fluent material; Recovery of excess liquid or other fluent material B05C1/0813, B05C5/0225, B05C17/002 and B05C19/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 13/02 of two or more fluids at the same time
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 23/06 the pumps being all of reciprocating positive-displacement type
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 9/02 the means being mechanical

Abstract

A liquid dispensing device includes at least one piston pump (7), which sucks liquid to be dispensed from a container in a filling cycle and applies the liquid to a target in an emptying cycle and which is driven by an actuator comprising an actuating element (1) that is arranged to move a piston rod (2) between two extreme positions, and a gripper (3) attached to the actuating means (1), which gripper is able to engage with the piston rod (2) so as to move it along with the actuating element. The gripper (3) is made able to engage with the piston rod (2) only in its first extreme position and arranged to disengage automatically from the piston rod in its second extreme position.

Claims

1. A liquid dispensing device comprising at least one piston pump (7), which sucks liquid to be dispensed from a container in a filling cycle and applies said liquid to a target in an emptying cycle and which is driven by an actuator comprising an actuating means (1) that is arranged to move a piston rod (2) between two extreme positions, and a gripper (3) attached to the actuating means (1), which gripper is able to engage with the piston rod (2) so as to move it along with the actuating means, characterized in that the gripper (3) is made able to engage with the piston rod (2) in its first extreme position and to disengage automatically from the piston rod in its second extreme position.

2. A dispensing device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the gripper (3) is made able to engage with the piston rod (2) at the beginning of the filling cycle of said piston pump and to disengage automatically from the piston rod at the beginning of the emptying cycle of said piston pump.

3. A dispensing device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the resting position of the gripper (3) is such that it does not engage the actuating means (1) with the piston rod (2).

4. A dispensing device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the gripper (3) is made able to engage with the piston rod (2) by means of a fixed driving means, such as a solenoid (5), which is arranged to turn the gripper (3) from the resting position to a position, in which it takes along the piston rod.

5. A dispensing device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the part of the gripper (3) that engages with the piston rod is a hook (3c), which is arranged to engage behind a projecting part (4) of the head of the piston rod (2).

6. A dispensing device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that there is a clearance (d) between the actuating means (1) and the piston rod (2), which clearance enables the actuating means (1) to move with respect to the piston rod (2) without moving the piston rod (2).

7. A dispensing device as claimed in claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the gripper (3) is arranged to disengage from the piston rod (2) so that the actuating means (1) shifts in the direction where the piston pump is emptied with respect to the piston rod (2), whereby the gripper is able to move into the resting position disengaging from the piston rod.

8. A dispensing device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the actuating means (1) is arranged to move at least two piston rods, each of which having a specific gripper (3), which enables individual disengagement of the piston rods and hence of the piston pumps.