Dispenser apparatus.

The present invention relates to a dispenser apparatus for dispensing fluids such as paint or hair-dye colorants. More particularly the present invention relates to a dispenser apparatus comprising a frame, a rotatable carousel and a stationary dispensing station. Dispenser apparatuses of this carousel type are known and used to provide a colored fluid by mixing a number of different colorants, possibly in a base fluid, the different colorants being chosen in such a way that a fluid with a desired color is obtained. The different colorants are stored in a receptacle either directly or in a container which can be placed in the receptacle.

In the co-pending PCT application of the present applicant WO 2005/082510, dispenser apparatuses are described and shown. The contents of this PCT application as a whole is herein introduced by reference. In general two types of dispensers can be distinguished in this application, automatic dispensers and non-automatic dispensers. In the automatic dispenser the whole dispensing process is performed automatically. In the non-automatic dispenser apparatus one or more actions of the dispensing apparatus are not automated. In particular, the carousel of the non-automatic dispenser is not automatically moved to the correct position, i.e. the subsequent dispensing unit is not automatically placed in the dispensing position.

The present invention relates to a non-automatic dispenser apparatus. When using this apparatus, the user has to know the sequence in which the different dispensing units have to be placed in the dispensing position, i.e. the position in which a fluid can be dispensed from the desired dispensing unit using the dispensing station. When the correct/selected dispensing unit is placed in the dispensing position the correct amount of fluid can be dispensed. The fluid can for instance be dispensed by manually dispensing the correct amount of fluid, for instance by using a scale, or by using an automatic dispensing device which may know the correct amount to

be dispensed. Such automatic dispensing device may for instance be actuated by pressing a button after the correct dispensing unit is placed in the dispensing position.

A disadvantage of this system is that the user has a large role in the correct dispensing of different colorants. This may relatively easy lead to errors in the dispensing of the different colorants which may have a large influence on the final color of a mixture of colorants. It will be clear that for example such risk on color errors in paint or hair-dye application is highly undesirable. An object of the present invention is to provide a non- automatic dispenser in which the risk on wrongly dispensing different fluids, in particular colorants is highly reduced.

The object of the present invention is reached by providing a dispenser apparatus as claimed in claim 1. The present invention provides a dispenser apparatus comprising a position control device. With this position control device it is possible to determine the position of the carousel with respect to the dispensing station and consequently indicate by using the position indication device whether the dispensing unit from which a fluid is to be dispensed is in line with the dispensing station. With such system the user can easily determine whether the carousel is in the correct position with respect to the dispensing station and therewith the chance on a erroneous positioning is substantially decreased. Additionally the system actively prevents dispensing when the carousel is not in the correct position, making it virtually impossible to dispense an incorrect fluid.

The position indication device may be any suitable means which can indicate that the correct position is reached, for instance a visual signal, an audible signal or any other suitable signal type. In order to further assist the user during the positioning of the correct dispensing station in front of the dispensing station, the position control device may comprise a direction indication device which is configured to indicate in which direction the carousel should be moved to most efficiently place said respective dispensing unit in said dispensing position.

In this way the user will be able to subsequently position the correct dispensing units in front of the dispensing station in order

to combine the correct colorants . The direction indication device may be any type of device which can produce a suitable signal, such as a visual signal, for instance two lamps in the shape of arrows, an audible signal, or any other type of suitable signal. In an embodiment the position control device comprises a distance indication device configured to give an indication on the distance said carousel has to be rotated to position said selected one of said two or more dispensing units in said dispensing position. By indicating the distance the user knows whether he should move the carousel slowly as the selected dispensing unit is already close to the dispensing unit, or that the carousel may be moved faster as a larger distance has to be bridged. The distance may be indicated by any suitable signal such as visual or audible signals . In an embodiment the position control device comprises a dispensing indication device configured to indicate during the dispensing of fluid that the carousel should not be moved. With such dispensing indication device it is clear for the user that the carousel should not be rotated when the dispensing indication device indicates that a fluid is dispensed in the dispensing station. In an alternative embodiment, it is also possible to provide a locking means, which prevents movement of the carousel during ^' the dispensing of a fluid from a dispensing unit in the dispensing station.

In an embodiment, said position indication device, direction indication device, distance indication device and/or dispensing indication device may be combined in a single indicator unit. Such single indicator unit may be an audio system in which different sound are used to indicate correct position, direction distance and actual dispensing. Also, the single indicator unit may be a display device, such as the screen of a computer or such.

As a possible embodiment of the sensor device for determining the position of said carousel with respect to the dispensing station an absolute position sensor may be used, such as for instance an absolute encoder or an analog rotation measurement sensor. ^■ In another embodiment a relative sensor system may be used which comprises a home sensor for detecting a specific dispensing unit passing said home sensor, an index sensor for detecting any

dispensing unit passing said index sensor, and a direction sensor for detecting the direction in which the carousel is rotated, so that on the basis of signals of said home sensor, index sensor and direction sensor, the position of any dispensing unit with respect to the dispensing station may be determined.

When the home sensor has "seen" the reference dispensing unit, the position of each of the dispensing units can be determined. The correct dispensing unit can be brought to the dispensing position by counting the number of dispensing units with the index sensor, while the direction sensor measures in which direction the carousel is rotated. By measuring the movement of the carousel in this way, the sensor device can determine whether the correct dispensing unit has reached the dispensing position at the dispensing station.

The direction sensor may also be used in a system with a direction indication device to determine whether the carousel is rotated in the correct direction. If not, the position control system may produce a signal to indicate that the carousel is rotated in the wrong, less efficient direction.

The invention further relates to a method for subsequently dispensing different colorants as claimed in claim 11.

Further details and characteristics of the dispenser apparatus of the present invention will be explained in more detail in the following description of a preferred embodiment, in which reference is made to the appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a manual paint colorant dispenser apparatus, and

Figure 2 shows in detail the display indication device of the dispenser apparatus of Fig. 1, and Figure 3 shows an alternative embodiment of an indication device.

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a dispenser apparatus according to the invention. The dispenser apparatus is in general indicated with the reference numeral 1. The dispenser apparatus 1 comprises a frame 2, a carousel 3 having a number of dispensing units 4, and a stationary dispensing station 5.

The dispenser apparatus 1 is of a manual type. This means that the positioning of the dispensing units with respect to the dispensing station and the actuation of the pumps has to be performed manually. As an alternative for the application of the present inventions the dispenser apparatus could be of the "so-called" semi-automatic type. This means that the dispenser apparatus comprises a formulation control unit, for instance client software which runs on a computer. This formulation control unit provides information to the dispenser apparatus in which order fluid should be dispensed from one or more of the different dispensing units 4 in order to obtain a desired formulation, and possibly the amount of fluids to subsequently be dispensed.

Each dispensing unit 4 comprises a container 6 holding a fluid, in particular a paint or hair-dye colorant, and an associated pump 7. The pumps 7 are piston pumps. In each of the pumps 7 a piston is present which is normally in a lower position. To dispense an amount of fluid from the canister 6, the piston is moved upward by a pump actuation device 8 which is located in the dispensing station 5. During this upward movement an amount of fluid is drawn from the container 6. The amount of fluid withdrawn from the container 6 matches with the amount of fluid to be dispensed. After the upward movement has been ended, i.e. when the desired amount of fluid, is withdrawn from the container, the piston of the pump 7 is moved downward to the lower start position. During this downward movement the amount of fluid drawn from the container is dispensed from a dispensing opening into a collection container, for instance a paint can with a base fluid, or a hair-dye applicator.

One or more valves may be provided to make the correct flow of the liquid from the container 6 to the pump and from the pump to the dispensing opening possible. Such valve or valves are known in the art. The valve may be automatically actuated or be actuated by hand. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the pump actuation device has to be actuated manually. In a semi-automatic embodiment of the dispenser apparatus it is also possible that the pump actuation device is actuated automatically. In that case, the pump actuation

device is an automatic device which for instance dispenses the desired amount of fluid after a start button has been pressed.

For more details on the construction and functioning of the dispenser apparatus 1 reference is made to the co-pending PCT application, WO 2005/082510 the contents of which is herein incorporated by reference.

Assuming that the dispenser apparatus 1 is to be used to obtain a paint mixture having a certain color, a number of paint colorants have to be dispensed in different amounts from different containers, possibly in a certain order. In an automatic dispenser apparatus the dispensing of these paint colorants is performed automatically. However, the dispenser apparatus 1 is a manual dispenser apparatus wherein at least the carousel 3 is not rotated automatically. The user has to manually rotate the carousel to the correct position, i.e. the correct dispensing unit in the dispensing position, before a next amount of fluid can be dispensed. As certain paint mixture involve a significant number of paint colorants it is undesirable that errors are made in the subsequent positioning of the correct dispensing units. Also in the semi-automatic dispensing apparatus the carousel has to be rotated manually.

For this reason, the dispenser apparatus of Figure 1 comprises a position control device 9 to help the user in positioning the correct dispensing unit 4 with respect to the dispensing station. In a semi-automatic dispenser apparatus, the position control device 9 may receive the information regarding the desired (in this application also called selected) dispensing unit 4 from the formulation control unit. The position control device 9 and the formulation control unit may also partly be combined.

The position control device 9 comprises a sensor device 10 with which the position of each of the dispensing units of the carousel 3 with respect to the dispensing station 5 can be determined.

Furthermore, the position control device 9 comprises an indication device 11 with which can indicate a number of indications regarding the position of the next dispensing unit 4 (in the order of dispensing for a mixture) , the distance of said next dispensing unit 4 to the dispensing position, and the most efficient way to position the next dispensing unit 4 in the dispensing position 4.

Also the position control unit 9 may indicate on the indicator device 11 that the dispenser apparatus 1 is busy with dispensing an amount of fluid from a container of a dispensing unit 4. In the shown indication device 11 which is in the form of a display, all these functions have been integrated. However, it is also possible that only one or a combination of two or three of these functions are combined in the indication device 11. The functions of the indication device 11 will be explained in more detail in relation to Figure 2 in which a possible embodiment of the indication device 11 is shown.

The sensor device 10 is a relative sensor system and comprises three sensors, an index sensor 12, a direction sensor 13, and a home sensor 14. When the dispenser apparatus is started the position control unit 9 does not know the position of the carousel 3, and thus the position of the different dispensing units 4 is not known. Before the position control system 9 can indicate that a certain dispensing station has to be moved to the dispensing position the position of all the dispensing units 4 has to be known. For this reason the home sensor 14 is provided with which only one of the dispensing units 4 can be detected when this one dispensing unit 4 passes the home sensor 14.

When the home sensor 14 has determined the position of the "first" dispensing unit 4, the position control system knows the position of all dispensing units 4. When the carousel 3 is rotated, the different dispensing units will pass the index sensor 12. The index sensor 12 will detect every dispensing unit 4 that passes the position sensor 12. The direction sensor 13 will at the same time detect the direction in which the carousel is rotated. Once the position of the dispensing units 4 is determined with use of the home sensor 14, the position control unit 9 can continuously determine the position of each of the dispensing units 4 with the information of the index sensor 12 and the direction sensor.

Instead of the relative sensor device 10, it is also possible to provide any other type of sensor device 10 which is capable of determining the position of the dispensing units during the rotation of the carousel 3. For instance, an absolute encoder-type sensor

may be useful to determine the position of the carousel with respect to the dispensing station 5.

Figure 2 shows the display indication device 11 in more detail.. The display indication device 11 comprises a central position indicator 15, and two arrows 16 each consisting of four parts 16a. The central position indicator 15 and the arrows 16 may be lamps or may be symbols that are displayed on a screen.

The position indicator 15 is shown or illuminated when the selected or desired dispensing unit 4 is located in the dispensing position. When this is the case the pump actuation device 8 may be actuated to dispense the correct amount of fluid from the container 6 of the respective dispensing unit 4. In the alternative embodiment of the semi-auutomic dispenser apparatus for instance an activation button may be pressed to activate the automatic pump actuation device 8 of the dispensing station 5.

During the dispensing of the fluid, i.e. after depression of the activation button, the position indicator may blink to indicate that the dispensing process is taking place. Also another indicator may be used, such as a lamp, symbol or audible signal to indicate that the dispenser apparatus is dispensing a fluid. Such signal is useful to warn the user not to rotate the carousel during the dispensing process. As an alternative or in addition thereto, a locking device may be provided which locks the carousel 3 against rotation during the dispensing of a fluid. After the dispensing of a fluid from a dispensing unit 4, an amount of a different fluid, for instance a different colorant has to be dispensed. The position control device 9 knows which dispensing unit should next be brought in the dispensing position. As a result of the signals of the sensor device 10 also the exact location of the new selected dispensing unit is known. Therefore, the position control device 9 may determine which is the most efficient way of rotation of the carousel 3 to move the selected dispensing unit 4 to the dispensing position.

The arrows 16 of the indication device 11 may indicate this most efficient direction so that this information is made clear to the user.

Furthermore, the position control device 9 may determine what distance has to be traveled by the carousel 3 in order to reach the dispensing position with the selected dispensing unit. Such information is also useful for the user as based on this information the user knows whether he has to rotate the carousel 11 over a large distance or only a small one and can adapt the force he exerts on the carousel accordingly.

The distance that has to be traveled is indicated in the indication device 11 with the four arrow parts 16a. If only one arrow part is lighted, the carousel has maximally to be rotated over a small part of the circumference of the carousel, while, if all four arrow parts 16a are lighted the carousel has to be rotated over almost half of the circumference of the carousel 3. As for each direction there are four arrow parts 16, each arrow part 16a may for instance represent an eighth of the circumference of the carousel 3.

When the selected dispensing unit 4 is moved into the dispensing position, all direction indicators 16 will not provide a signal, but the position indicator 15 will light. Thereafter, the dispensing of the liquid can be started by actation of the pump actuation device 8. Thereafter, when needed, another dispensing unit 4 may be placed in the dispensing position for a subsequent dispensing of a fluid until the desired formulation has been completed. The fact that the formulation is completed may also be indicated by the indication device 11 by for instance blinking all indicators or by showing or blinking a separate indicator for this purpose.

Furthermore, it is remarked that in the situation that the exact position of the carousel is not known, for instance as the dispenser apparatus is just started and the "first" dispensing unit has not yet passed the home sensor 14, this may be indicated by showing or blinking both arrows 16.

In figure 3 a different embodiment of the indication device 11 is shown. The indicator device 11 comprises three lamps. The middle lamp is a position indicator 15, and functions substantially in the same way as the position indicator shown in figure 2. The left and the right lamp are direction indicators 16 which indicate in which direction the carousel 3 has to be moved to bring the selected

dispensing unit 4 most efficiently in the dispensing position, the distance which has to be traveled may in this embodiment for instance be indicated by the speed with which the respective direction indicator 16 blinks. In an alternative embodiment the distance may also be indicated by the number of dispensing units that have to be passed before the selected dispensing unit 4 reaches the dispensing position.

In figure 3 under the three lamps 15, 16 an activation button 17 of a semi-automatic dispenser apparatus is shown which can be pressed to start the dispensing of an amount of fluid after that the selected dispensing unit has been positioned in the dispensing position. Typically dispensing can not be started unless the correct dispensing unit 4 is located at the dispensing position.