Fluid dispensing control system
First Claim
1. A fluid dispensing control system comprising:
- a fluid dispenser having a housing and electrically operated valve means, mounted in said housing, for dispensing a fluid into a container;
sensor means for providing a selected one of a set of signals respectively indicative of the sizes of containers to be filled by said dispenser;
valve control timer means, connected to said sensor means and to said valve means and responsive to said selected one signal, for opening said valve means for the period of time requisite to fill a container of the size indicated by said selected one signal;
said sensor means comprises a set of light sources and associated photosensors mounted on said housing in respective locations such that when a container is positioned to be filled by said fluid dispenser, said positioned container will reflect light from said sources into a particular subset of said photosensors indicative of the size of said container; and
circuit means, responsive to the outputs of said photosensors, for providing said selected one signal indicative of the size of the positioned container.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In this fluid dispensing control system, the size of a container to be filled is established by a set of photosensors mounted on the dispenser housing. Discrimination circuitry distinguishes between ambient light level and light reflected from the container that is placed under the spout. Delay and lock-out circuitry is provided to insure that an erroneous size-indicating signal is not generated as the container is moved into position, and to insure that the size-indicating signal does not change once pouring has begun. Timer circuitry controls the pouring duration and insures complete, uniform filling of each size container. Counter and display circuitry tallies the number of containers, of each size that have been filled, and indicates the total volume of fluid that has been dispensed.
-
Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A fluid dispensing control system comprising:
-
a fluid dispenser having a housing and electrically operated valve means, mounted in said housing, for dispensing a fluid into a container; sensor means for providing a selected one of a set of signals respectively indicative of the sizes of containers to be filled by said dispenser; valve control timer means, connected to said sensor means and to said valve means and responsive to said selected one signal, for opening said valve means for the period of time requisite to fill a container of the size indicated by said selected one signal; said sensor means comprises a set of light sources and associated photosensors mounted on said housing in respective locations such that when a container is positioned to be filled by said fluid dispenser, said positioned container will reflect light from said sources into a particular subset of said photosensors indicative of the size of said container; and circuit means, responsive to the outputs of said photosensors, for providing said selected one signal indicative of the size of the positioned container. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A fluid dispensing control system comprising:
-
a fluid dispenser having a housing and electrically operated valve means, mounted in said housing, for dispensing a fluid into a container, and sensor means for providing a selected one of a set of signals respectively indicative of the sizes of containers to be filled by said dispenser, said sensor means comprising; a set of light sources and associated photosensors mounted on said housing in respective locations such that when a container is positioned to be filled by said fluid dispenser, said positioned container will reflect light from said sources into a particular subset of said photosensors indicative of the size of said container, and circuit means, responsive to the outputs of said photosensors, for providing only said selected one signal indicative of the size of the positioned container. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
Specification