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US 2010/0140300 A1Published application
Anti drip fluid dispenser
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsRichard Paul Lewis, Malcolm C. Halls, Paul Francis Tramontina, Huoxian Xie, Yutai Guo, Charles Agnew Osporne, JR.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a dispenser for dispensing a fluid which has an anti-drip feature. To achieve this anti-drip feature, the dispenser is provided with a suck back mechanism which is separate and independent from a pump in the dispenser. The suck back mechanism uses a resilient member capable of storing fluid.
Claims21
A dispenser for dispensing a fluid said dispenser comprising:
- a reservoir for holding a fluid;
- a pump in communication with the reservoir, the pump comprises an inlet, an outlet and a recovery means, wherein the pump has an idle stage, a discharging stage in which a shot of the fluid is expelled from the pump through the outlet;
- a charging stage in which a shot of the fluid is drawn from the reservoir through the inlet into the pump and the recovery means returns the pump to the idle stage from the discharging stage and through the charging stage;
- a suck back mechanism which is separate from the pump, said suck back mechanism comprising a resilient member capable of storing fluid, a first opening and a second opening wherein the first opening of the suck back mechanism is connected to the outlet of the pump and the resilient member is positioned between the first opening and the second opening;
- and
- a dispensing end for dispensing the fluid from the dispenser, the dispensing end being connected to the second opening of the suck back mechanism,
- whereby at the end of the discharging stage of the pump, undispensed fluid remains between the dispensing end and the second opening of the suck back mechanism and a portion of the undispensed fluid is drawn into resilient member.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.