Apparatus for dispensing a plurality of powders and method of compounding substances
AssigneeFluid Management, Inc.
InventorJan Post
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Abstract
An apparatus for dispensing a plurality of powders, such as colorants for paint, caulking or grout or components of cosmetics, comprising a plurality of containers for holding the powders, a plurality of metering powder pumps, connected to a container or having a connector for releasably connecting a container to the respective powder pump, wherein the capacity of the metering powder pump is selectable.
Claims28
An apparatus for dispensing a plurality of powders, flowable materials comprising:
- a plurality of containers for holding the materials, a plurality of pumps, each pump 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.
A method of compounding substances comprising:
- providing an apparatus comprising a plurality of containers, each container holding a, flowable material, the apparatus also comprising a plurality of pumps and at least one stepper motor, each pump linked to one of the containers,
- dispensing an amount of flowable material into a receptacle by means of at least one pump,
- weighing the amount of flowable material dispensed into the receptacle,
- comparing the amount dispensed with a desired amount,
- using a difference between the amount dispensed and the desired amount to adjust operation of the stepper motor for said pump in future dispenses.
A method of dispensing a plurality of flowable ingredients utilizing individually controlled dispense pumps drawing flowable material from separate material 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, the method comprising:
- operating a selected pump to draw a first amount of flowable material from said container and dispensing first amount to said receptacle in accordance with a program stored on said computer which relates a parameter of pump operations to a desired dispense amount of flowable material from said container,
- weighing an actual amount dispensed to said receptacle,
- comparing the actual amount to the first amount,
- determining a difference between the actual and first amounts to provide a deviation determination for the pump,
- utilizing said deviation determination as a modifier for further dispense from said container to said receptacle through controlled operation of said selected pump,
- selecting a second pump and a second ingredient to be dispensed and repeating the operating, weighing, comparing, determining and utilizing for said second pump.
A method of compounding cosmetics formulations 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.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.