Apparatus for dispensing a plurality of powders and method of compounding substances

• US 7,134,573 B2
• Filed: 05/07/2004
• Issued: 11/14/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fast & Fluid Management B.V. (RELX PLC)
• Original Assignee: Fluid Management Incorporated
• Inventors: Post, Jan H. N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kaufman, Joseph A.
• Application Number:
  US10/841,275
• Publication Number:
  US 20050247730A1
• Time in Patent Office: 921 Days
• Field of Search: 222/1, 222/77, 222/144, 222/265, 222/278, 222/281, 222/310, 222/333, 222/413, 222/255, 222/270, 222/273
• US Class Current: 222/1
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 33/841 with component receptacles fixed in a circular configuration on a horizontal table, e.g. the table being able to be indexed about a vertical axis
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/20 Measuring; Control or regulation
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/2117 Weight
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/2211 Amount of delivered fluid during a period
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/22162 Time of feeding of at least one of the components to be mixed
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/715 Feeding the components in several steps, e.g. successive steps
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/71775 using helical screws
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 35/8822 using measuring chambers of the piston or plunger type B01F35/8823 takes precedence

Abstract

An apparatus for dispensing a plurality of powders or flowable materials, such as colorants for paint, caulking or grout or components of cosmetics, comprising a plurality of containers for holding the powders or flowable materials, a plurality of metering pumps, connected to a container or having a connector for releasably connecting a container to the respective pump, wherein the capacity of the metering pump is selectable.

Claims

1. An apparatus for dispensing a plurality of flowable materials comprising:

a plurality of containers for holding the materials, a plurality of pumps, connected to a container or having a connector for releasably connecting a container to the respective pump, wherein the capacity of the pump is selectable and at least some of the pumps comprise at least two pump screws, one screw having a relatively large dispensing capacity and the other screw having a relatively small dispensing capacity.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein an effective outer diameter of the screw is in excess of an effective inner diameter a respective chamber in which said screw is accommodated and, wherein an outer edge of the screw is at least partially bent in the displacement direction of the pump.

3. The apparatus of to claim 1, wherein an effective outer diameter of the screw is smaller than an effective inner diameter of a respective chamber in which said screw is accommodated, resulting in clearance between the screw and the chamber in which said screw is accommodated, and wherein at least some of the screws comprise an axial core and radial bristles that bridge this clearance.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, which comprises a dispensing position common to all pumps and wherein a driver for engaging the pump mechanisms is located at the dispensing position.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the driver comprises a stepper motor.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, which is arranged to dispensing any amount in a range from 10 mg to 500 g.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, comprising at least one weighing device for weighing at least one of the dispensed amounts.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, which further comprises at least one container for a liquid and a metering liquid pump connected to that container.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the screw or screws are made of PP or PTFE.

14. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the weighing device and metering pumps are linked to a controller and wherein each time a particular pump dispenses an amount, the weighing device weighs the dispensed amount and the controller compares the dispensed amount with a predetermined desired amount and uses any difference between the dispensed and desired amounts to modify a number of steps of the stepper motor during future dispenses.

10. A method of compounding substances comprising:

providing an apparatus comprising a plurality of containers holding flowable materials, a plurality of metering pumps including at least one metering pump coupled to each container, each metering pump being driven by a stepper motor, at least some of the metering pumps comprising a large screw mechanism and a small screw mechanism,

selecting a predetermined desired first amount of a first flowable material to be dispensed that is contained in a first container that is coupled to a first metering pump,

dispensing an amount of the first material into a receptacle by means of the large screw mechanism of the first metering pump,

weighing the dispensed amount,

comparing the dispensed amount with the predetermined desired first amount,

using a difference between the dispensed amount and the predetermined desired first amount to calculate a new amount to be dispensed and operating to dispense the new amount using the small screw mechanism of the first pump.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the said large screw mechanism is at least ten times larger than the small screw mechanism.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein at least one material is dispensed in a base material.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the substances are compounded at a point-of-sale.

15. A method of dispensing a plurality of flowable cosmetics ingredients utilizing individually controlled dispense pumps drawing flowable material from separate containers, the pumps positioned to dispense to a common receptacle with a weighing device associated with the receptacle and a computer controlling operation of the pumps, each pump comprising a large screw mechanism and a small screw mechanism, the method comprising:

operating the large screw mechanism of a selected pump in a controlled manner to move a predetermined assumed amount of a chosen flowable material less than a desired complete dispense amount of said material to said receptacle in accordance with a program stored on said computer which relates a parameter of the large screw mechanism operation to the predetermined assumed amount of flowable material,

weighing an amount actually dispensed to said receptacle and determining an actual amount dispensed,

comparing the actual amount dispensed to the predetermined assumed amount and determining a difference between the actual amount dispensed and the predetermined assumed amount to provide a first deviation determination between the predetermined assumed amount and actual dispensed amount for the selected pump,

operating the small screw mechanism of a selected pump in a controlled manner to move the difference of the chosen flowable material to said receptacle.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the parameter is a number of steps carried out by the stepper motor to dispense a unit weight of flowable material by the large screw mechanism from the selected pump.

17. A method of compounding substances comprising:

providing an apparatus comprising a plurality of containers holding flowable materials, and a plurality of metering pumps, each metering pump being linked to two orifices of different sizes including a large orifice and a small orifice,

dispensing an amount of one of the materials into a receptacle by means of at least one of the metering pumps through the large orifice,

weighing the dispensed amount,

comparing the dispensed amount with predetermined desired amount,

using a difference between the dispensed amount and the desired amount to calculate new amount to be dispensed and operating to dispense the new amount through the small orifice.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein each pump comprises two pump elements including a small pump element and a large pump element with the small orifice accommodating the small pump element and the large orifice accommodating the large pump element.