US3459343A - Soap dispenser - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 5, 1969 H. RASMUSSEN 3,459,343

SOAP DISPENSER Filed 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 lnvehfor BY HOLGER RASMUSSEN f 4 YS,

5, 1969 H. RASMUSSEN 3,459,343

' SOAP DISPENSER Filed S- 1957 n 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 FIG. 6

Aug. 5, 1969 H. RASMUSSEN SOAP DISPENSER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 24, 1967 FIG. 5

FIG. 8

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United States Patent 3,459,343 SOAP DISPENSER Holgcr Rasmussen, 2 Chemin de Primerose, Lausanne, Switzerland Filed Aug. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 663,154 Int. (31. B6511 47/00; B67!) 7/24; 367d /38 US. Cl. 222-477 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE There is disclosed a soap dispenser including a housing having a supply of powdered soap therein, a slide disposed below the powdered soap, which slide may be drawn from a first position in which it is filled by a charge of soap falling from the supply thereof, into a second position in which the charge of soap is emptied into a distributing orifice, resilient structure tending to return the slide into its first position whenever it is shifted therefrom, and timing mechanism preventing the return of the slide from its second position back into its first position until the expiration of a predetermined period of time following the dispensing of a charge of soap.

The present invention relates to soap dispensers, and particularly to soap dispensers including mechanism causing a predetermined time interval between dispensing operations of the soap dispenser.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a soap dispenser comprising a housing having thereon a supply of soap in powdered form, a slide mounted in the housing below the soap supply and movable from a first position wherein it is filled by a charge of soap falling from the soap supply to a second position in which the charge of soap is emptied into a distributing orifice, resilient means urging the slide from the second position back into the first position whenever it is shifted away therefrom, and timing mechanism connected to said slide and preventing the return thereof from the second position into the first position until after the lapse of a predetermined period of time, thereby to assure that only a single charge of soap is dispensed during the predetermined period of time.

Another object of the invention is to provide a soap dispenser of the type set forth wherein the timing mechanism is a pair of suction cups mounted respectively upon the housing and the slide, the suction cups serving to hold the slide in the second position when engaged and having an orifice that bleeds air thereinto at a predetermined rate, thus to provide a timing of the release of the suction cups from each other.

In connection with the foregoing object, another object of the invention is to provide an adjustment for the orifice, thereby to adjust the time interval during which the slide is held in the second or discharge position thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a soap dispenser of the type set forth a push rod for the slide that is readily available to a user for moving the slide between the first and second positions thereof.

These and other objects of the present invention, together with its numerous advantages, will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a soap dispenser made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the soap dispenser of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the soap dispenser of FIGS. 1 and 2;

3,459,343 Patented Aug. 5, 1969 FIG. 4 is a view in vertical section along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view with certain portions broken away and showing the parts in the dispensing position thereof;

FIG. 6 is a view in vertical section along the line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a view in horizontal section along the line 77 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 8 is a view in horizontal section along the line 88 of FIG. 4.

The illustrated device comprises a plastic housing consisting of two pieces orparts 1 and 2,piece 1 being designed to be attached to a wall by its rear side 1a, and theother piece 2 being removably bolted to thepiece 1 by means of a lock 3. Thepart 1 has on its lower face a snout ordischarge 4 creating ahopper 4 by which the soap that has previously been abstracted from a cartridge 5 (preferably formed of plastic) is dispensed to the user by the actuation of acontrol handle 6, as will be described in the following.

The level of soap in thecartridge 5 may be checked by observation through awindow 7 arranged in the wall ofpart 2 of the device (FIGS. 1 to 3). Thiscartridge 5 is attached by its lower part which has the shape of a truncated pyramid, to twotubes 8 and 9, projecting to the bottom of arecess 10 having a shape corresponding to that of the lower end of thecartridge 5, the member in which is formed therecess 10 being supported by the upper surface of an intermediary enclosure 11 placed on a board .12 which is attached to the bottom of the body of this device by twoparallel laths 13a and 13b (FIGS. 6 and 8). Thisboard 12 has anaperture 12a arranged in alignment with the passage 11a of the enclosure 11 by which the soap powder contained in this enclosure 11 can descend by gravity through theaperture 12a into aslot 14a which is created by aslide 14 mounted slidingly within the seat defined by thelaths 13a and 13b, theboard 12 and the bottom of thebody part 1 of the apparatus.

Theslide 14 is constituted by a rectangular board having on its rear side alug 15a providing a support for asuction cup 15. Theslide 14 is able to occupy two distinct position illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, i.e., a first retracted or charging position, in which theslot 14a is aligned with the passage 11a of the enclosure 11, and a second advanced position or discharging position (FIG. 5) which thisslot 14a extends above the opening of thesnout 4.

The slide'14 is acted upon by twosprings 16a and 16b attached at both sides of thesuction cup 15 around acommon axis 16 extending between the wings of astirrup 17 integral by its intermediary part with avertical board 18 attached on the enclosure 11.

One of the ends of thesprings 16a and 16b bears against astrip 17a of thestirrup 17 and the other end against the lug attached to the foot of thesuction cup 15. Thesesprings 16 and 17 tend to maintain theslide 14 in its retracted position (FIG. 4) or to return it there in case that it has been shifted to its discharge position (FIG. 5)

Arranged opposite thesuction cup 15 and mounted upon thehousing part 1 is anothersuction cup 19, thesuction cup 19 including atubular piece 19a having a passage therethrough within which is disposed anadjustable metal valve 19b. By moving themetal valve 19b inwardly and outwardly with respect to the passage in thetubular piece 19a, the rate of flow of air through the passage in thepiece 19a may be adjusted.

When theslide 14 is in the charging position illustrated in FIG. 4, thesuction cups 15 and 19 are spaced away from each other, but when theslide 14 is moved to the discharge position thereof illustrated in FIG. 5, thesuction cups 15 and 19 are pressed firmly one against the other. Thesuction cups 15 and 19 are formed of rubber or other suitable elastic material and therefore compress and serve to force the air from therebetween in a well-known manner; once thesuction cups 15 and 19 have been firmly pressed together, they will be held in that position by the pressure of the atmosphere acting on the outer surfaces thereof until such time as the chamber formed therebetween has admitted thereto sufficient air. The only source of air for admission to the chamber between thesuction cups 15 and 19 is through the passage in thepiece 19a, and the flow of air through the passage is in turn controlled by the position or adjustment of thevalve 19b therein. Depending upon the position of thevalve 19b, sufiicient air is admitted into the chamber between thesuction cups 15 and 19 after a predetermined time interval so that thesprings 16a and 16b can move theslide 14 and the attached parts from the discharging position illustrated in FIG. to the charging or retracted position illustrated in FIG. 4.

The rate of admission of air into the chamber between the suction cups and 19 is adjustable as explained above by adjusting thevalve 19b. Accordingly it is possible to adjust the time that theslide 14 is held in the discharge position illustrated in FIG. 5 before the return thereof to the charging position illustrated in FIG. 4. During this predetermined time interval, the user can obtain only a single charge of soap, which charge of soap should be adequate for the washing operation, whereby the user is discouraged from needlessly wasting soap by a multiple actuation of theslide 14.

The control of the shifting of theslide 14 from its position illustrated in FIG. 4 into that illustrated in FIG.

5 is effected as described by the displacement of thehandle 6 from the right to the left side in FIG. 4 against two springs a and 20b attached around theaxis 16, as are thesprings 16a and 16b. Thesesprings 20a and 2% at one end bear against an arm of thestrip 17a of thestirrup 17 and at the other end bear against a bar 20 (FIGS. 4 and 7) integral with apush rod 21 to which thehandle 6 is attached. Thepush rod 21 is formed by a strip cut in the shape of a U in the opening of which thelug 14a of theslide 14 is engaged.

From the above description, it may be understood that the movement from right to left (FIG. 5) of thehandle 6 produces a corresponding displacement of theslide 14 into its position illustrated in FIG. 5, and that theslide 14 tends to be maintained in this position by the action of thesuction cups 15 and 19, even if the handle and thepush rod 21, which is associated with it, are returned to the right by the action of thesprings 20a and 20b.

A second actuation of thehandle 6, when the twoair suction cups 15 and 19 are attached to each other, could not do else but maintain the cups stuck together and delay the instant when theslide 14 is able to return into the position of FIG. 4 to receive a new charge of soap powder.

It will be mentioned also that in order to enhance the flow of the powdered soap into the intermediate enclosure 11, thetubes 8 and 9 have their lateral surfaces cut off in 8a and 9a (FIG. 6). In a complementary way,

the bottom of therecess 10 of the enclosure 11 is pierced by small openings 10a surrounding thetubes 8 and 9.

The volume of the enclosure 11 is sized in order to create a reserve of powder corresponding to or charges for theslide 14.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications.

What is claimed is:

1. A manually operable soap dispenser comprising a housing having in the upper portion thereof a powdered soap storage compartment and having in the lower portion thereof a soap discharge opening, a slide mounted in said housing below said compartment and slidably movable between a charging position and a discharging position, said slide in the charging position thereof being disposed below said compartment for receiving a charge of soap therefrom, said slide in the discharging position thereof being in registry with said discharge opening to discharge the charge of soap therethrough, first means resiliently urging said slide into the charging position thereof, a manually operable handle slidably mounted in said housing and movable between a first position and a second position, said handle in the first position thereof being in position to engage said slide when said slide is in the charging position thereof, said handle while engaging said slide being manually movable from its first position to its second position to move said slide from its charging position to its discharging position, second means resiliently urging said handle into the first position thereof, and timing mechanism mounted in said housing and operatively connected to said slide and operative to hold said slide in the discharging position thereof against the action of said first resilient means for a predetermined time interval after sliding movement of said slide to its discharging position, said handle being slidably movable in said housing independently of said slide so that movement of said handle during said predetermined time interval does not move said slide between its charging and discharging positions, thereby to assure that only a single charge of the soap is dispensed by said dispenser during said predetermined time interval.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,182,857 5/1965 Bischolf et al 222-477 X 2,288,332 6/ 1942 Steiner et a1 312-39 2,298,882 10/ 1942 Grunwald 31239 X 2,299,729 10/1942 Birr 31239 X 2,319,233 5/1943 Hoppe 222--181 2,402,707 6/ 1946 Stepar 22215 6 X 3,097,765 7/1963 Newton 222-88 X 3,185,190 5/1965 Crawford 222-361 X ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner NORMAN L. STACK, JR., Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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