PROGRAMMABLE DISPENSING DEVICE FOR A FLUID DELIVERY

SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates generally to a fluid delivery system, and more particularly, to a programmable dispensing device for a fluid delivery system.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART

Fluid products dispensed in spray form, such as aerosols for example, are used in many domestic households and in commercial and industrial applications. Aerosols are most commonly used for the delivery of a variety of active substances, such as perfumes, air fresheners, repellents, cleaning products, paint, and countless other substances which may be dispensed in aerosolized form.

To dispense each of these various products, an aerosol can is used which contains both the aerosol product and the active substance. Typically, a dispensing cap is fixed to the top of the can, the cap having a valve and an actuator, as well as a nozzle through which the fluid is ejected when the valve is activated.

Such dispensing caps typically consist of a manual push-button actuator which, when pressed by the user, manually opens the valve of the reservoir can to release the pressurized fluid therein out through the dispensing nozzle in the cap. There exists also fluid delivery systems with automatic or remotely actuated dispensing caps which comprise solenoid activated valves therein that are pre-set to dispense a spray of the active fluid from the fluid reservoir, at predetermined time intervals for example. However, such so-called automatic dispensing devices are generally limited in their usefulness, as varying the dispensing intervals, the amount of active fluid actually dispensed and/or other spray characteristics is difficult if not impossible.

As such, there remains a need to provide an improved fluid delivery system, and particularly an improved dispensing device which is engageable to fluid reservoirs of the fluid delivery system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved fluid delivery system which includes a programmable dispensing device. In one aspect, the present invention provides an aerosol delivery system comprising: fluid reservoir for containing at least one active fluid; a dispensing nozzle through which the active fluid is ejected to a surrounding environment; a fluid release mechanism in fluid flow communication with said dispensing nozzle and said fluid reservoir and being disposed therebetween to draw fluid from said fluid reservoir and direct the active fluid to said nozzle for sprayed ejection therethrough; an electrically powered actuating mechanism operable to activate said fluid release mechanism; and a control system in electrical communication with said actuating mechanism, said control system having a microprocessor, an input device and a visual indicator in electrical communication with each other, said input device being operable to at least one of manually select and adjust a spray characteristic programmed into said microprocessor for controlling dispensing of the active fluid from the aerosol delivery system.

In accordance with the present invention, there is also provided a dispensing device for an aerosol delivery system including a fluid reservoir, the dispensing device being engageable in communication with the fluid reservoir, the dispensing device comprising: a dispensing nozzle through which an active fluid is ejected to a surrounding environment; a fluid release system in fluid flow communication with said dispensing nozzle, the fluid release system including an actuating mechanism adapted to draw fluid from said fluid reservoir and operable to direct the active fluid to said nozzle for sprayed ejection therethrough upon activation of the actuating mechanism; and a control system in electrical communication with said actuating mechanism, said control system having a microprocessor and an input device in electrical communication with each other, said input device being operable to at least one of manually select and adjust a spray characteristic programmed into said

microprocessor for controlling dispensing of the active fluid from the dispensing device.

There is further provided, in accordance with the present invention, a delivery system for dispensing at least one active substance in spray form comprising: a head unit including a valve in communication with a dispensing nozzle; a fluid reservoir containing said at least one active substance, said fluid reservoir being removably engaged to said head unit such that said fluid reservoir is in fluid flow communication with said valve and said dispensing nozzle; a means for actuating said valve between an open and closed position, said valve, when open, permitting said active substance to flow out through said dispensing nozzle in a spray; a control system in electrical communication with said means for actuating said valve, said control system having a microprocessor and an input device in electrical communication with each other, said input device being operable to at least one of manually select and adjust a spray characteristic programmed into said microprocessor for controlling dispensing of the active substance from the dispensing nozzle.

Further details of these and other aspects of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description and figures included below.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference is now made to the accompanying figures depicting aspects of the present invention, in which:

Fig. 1 is perspective view of a fluid delivery system in accordance with one aspect of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation view of the dispensing head of the fluid delivery system of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 3 is a side elevation view of the dispensing head of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation view of the dispensing head of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the dispensing head of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a perspective exploded view of the dispensing head of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a front elevation view of the dispensing head of Fig. 2, showing icons on the LCD screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 8 is a side elevation view of the fluid delivery system of Fig. 1 , shown mounted to a wall by an associated support bracket in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to Fig. 1, a fluid delivery system 10 preferably includes a cap or head unit 12 which defines a fluid dispensing device and is mounted to a corresponding canister or reservoir 14 within which at least an active fluid is contained. Preferably, the fluid reservoir 14 also contains a propellant fluid, such as an aerosol for example. The fluid delivery system 10 is preferably portable, and as such the fluid reservoir 14, when the delivery system is an aerosol one, is preferably an aerosol can. The head unit 12 is preferably removably engaged to the aerosol can 14 via attachment collar 18, such that the head unit 12 can be engaged and disengaged as desired to any one of a plurality of reservoir cans 14, each having a different active fluid therein for example. In one embodiment of the present invention, the active substance contained within the reservoir 14 is a scented fluid, for example for use as an aroma therapy agent. Thus, several reservoir cans 14 can be provided, each having a different scented fluid contained therein, and wherein the dispensing device or head unit 12 can be selectively engaged to any one of the reservoirs 14. However it remains possible that the head unit 12 is permanently fastened to the aerosol can, and subsequently the entire assembly comprising the fluid delivery system 10 would be discarded once the active substance within the reservoir 14 has been completely expelled. The term active substance as used herein is intended to include all fluids, as well as fluid-based substances having solid particles therein, which may be dispensed in a sprayed aerosolized form. The aerosol propellant and the active substance are preferably contained within the fluid reservoir 14, however may be disposed in separate independent sections within the larger reservoir 14. The active substance is preferably a fluid, such as, for example only, perfumes, air fresheners, repellents,

cleaning products, paint, animal-based scents (for example as used as hunting baits) and the like, which are typically dispensed by an aerosol can, and may also include fluids which are not typically dispensed m aerosol form such as scented oils (i.e. to act as room air-fresheners, for example) and the like. Most preferably, the active substance is an aroma therapy agent which acts as a scented air freshener for example.

The canister or reservoir 16 may be thus removed from the head unit 12 and replaced with another similarly configured reservoir, when the active substance contained therein has been used up or alternately if a user should wish to change the active substance being dispensed by the delivery system 10. Preferably, the mating configuration between the fluid reservoir canister 14 and the head unit 12 is such that only canisters 14 specifically designed to be engaged with the given head unit 12 permit the interconnection therebetween. This ensures that the head unit 12 cannot be erroneously engaged with an aerosol can which contains an substance inappropriate for dispensing via the automatically dispensing programmable head unit 12 of the present invention, or alternately to ensure that only a particular brand or type of canister can be matched with the corresponding head unit intended to be used therewith. This may be achieved in any number of ways, such as providing unique corresponding components on both the canister and the head unit which interlocking or mate together, but which prevent other types of canisters or head units (without such corresponding mateable components) to be engaged together.

As such, this permits several different fluids, contained in similar canisters 14 each configured for mating with the head unit 12, which can be used as active substances to be selectively dispensed by the system by interchanging the respective canisters 14. For example, several different scented oils may be contained in separate canisters 14, the user then being able to select which particular scent is to be dispensed and engaging the head unit 12 to the corresponding selected canister 14.

Referring to Figs. 2-5, the dispensing device/head unit 12 of the aerosol delivery system generally includes an outer casing 19 which encloses the head unit and a lower end 21 to which the attachment collar 18, used to engage the head unit 12 to the canister or reservoir 14, is engaged such that the collar 18 is permitted to slide

upward and downward on the cylindrically shaped lower end 21 of the head unit, between an upper position in which the head unit can be engaged to the top of the canister 14 and a lower position in which the collar forces depending attachment members 23 of the head unit inwardly such that these attachment members grip an upper end of the canister for securely attaching the head unit to the selected canister.

The dispensing device head unit 12 includes, preferably disposed on a forward surface thereof as best seen in Fig. 2, an upwardly projecting dispensing nozzle 20 and a large centrally located visual indicator, preferably in the form of an LCD screen 22. Both the dispensing nozzle 20 and the LCD screen 22 project through or are defined within corresponding openings 25 and 27 formed within the outer casing 19, which may be either on the same side or on opposing sides of the head unit. The dispensing nozzle 20 is preferably both forwardly and upwardly oriented, such that active fluid, when ejected therethrough, will tend to produce a spray which is projected upwards into the surrounding environment. As will be described in further detail below, the visual indicator screen 22, which is preferably an LCD screen but may however include any other suitable type of electronic display screen, is used to visually indicate to the user at least one of any number of spray characteristics selected and as well as time indicators using numerical values and/or graphic depicters, for example to indicate the selected spray duration, frequency of spray, intensity of spray, predetermined times of the day for dispensing the active fluid, and the like. The dispensing device 12 of the present invention is thus programmable, permitting the selected adjustment of any of these spray characteristics, as will be further described in detail below.

The dispensing device head unit 12 is further provided with, preferably located on a rearward facing side thereof as best seen in Fig. 4, an input device 24 in the form of several push buttons. In a preferred embodiment, four push buttons are provided, namely an upper "enter" button 26 a lower "select" button 28 and a pair of opposed lateral side buttons 30 and 32 which are used as "up" and "down" buttons respectively. The use of these push buttons 26-32 in order to operatively select a given spray characteristic and to program the dispensing device 12 will be described

further below. The push buttons of the input device 24 and the visual indicator LCD screen 22 comprise part of a control system of the dispensing device 12, which further includes a programmable microprocessor, as seen in Fig. 6, which is operable to control the automatic dispensing of the active fluid from the dispensing device 12 and permits the manual selection and adjustment of at least one given spray characteristic.

Referring now to Fig. 6, in which the internal contents of the dispensing device head unit 12 are shown in exploded view. The main outer casing 19 of the head unit 12 supports a top decorative cap portion 36 having apertures defined therein which correspond to those defined through the outer casing 19. A central support frame element 38 provides structure to the assembly and provides a support to which the internal components of the dispensing device are mounted. Particularly, a first printed circuit board 40 is mounted to a front portion 39 of the support frame 38 and to which the LCD screen 22, which overlays the first printed circuit board 40 when assembled, and is disposed in electrical communication therewith. An outer protective lens 42 which covers the LCD screen helps to at least protect the screen and further may be used to magnify the display of the LCD screen 22. A second printed circuit board 44 is mounted to an angular rearward surface 41 of the support frame element 38. Several contact elements 46 are provided on the second printed circuit board 44 which are activated by the push buttons 26, 28, 30 and 32, which are provided as an integral push button assembly 31 which is overlaid on the second printed circuit board 44 such that each of the push buttons is disposed in alignment with a contact element 46. The first and second printed circuit boards 40 and 44 are disposed in electrical communication, and are powered by a battery 50, retained between contacts 52 within a rearward opening 51 within the sport frame element 38. A corresponding opening 49 is provided within the outer casing 19 and which corresponds to the opening 51 within the support structure 38 for receiving the battery therethrough. A battery opening cover 54 encloses the opening 49 and can be slit open in order to provide access to the battery, such as to permit replacement thereof. A base portion 25 mates with the outer casing 19 to enclose the dispensing device 12. As mentioned above, this base portion 25 includes a tubular lower end portion 21 having a diameter less than that of the upper wall portions 27 of the base 25. Depending attachment

members 23 project downward from the tubular lower end 21 and are inwardly deflectable such as to permit grasping of the top end of a mating reservoir canister 14. A base plate 59 encloses the lower end of the head unit 12, and fits within the tubular lower end 21 of the base portion 25. The base plate 59 defines a central opening therethrough within which is received the lower open end of the valve body 60 of the fluid release system 58 (as defined in greater detail below), and which mates with the valve stem protruding from the top of the fluid canister 14.

The dispensing device 12 further includes a fluid release system 58 including a valve body 60 having a lower end adapted to receive therein an outlet stem of the fluid canister 14 when the dispensing device 12 is engaged thereto. An actuating mechanism member 62 is engaged to the valve body 60 in fluid flow communication therewith such that when an internal valve of the actuating mechanism is open, fluid flow communication between the fluid reservoir of the canister 14 and the dispensing nozzle 20 of the head unit 12 are linked in uninterrupted fluid flow communication. The actuating mechanism 62 includes a remotely operable valve actuating member 64, such as electrical solenoid for example, which selectively permits the actuating mechanism 62 to open or close the internal valve of the fluid release system 58. The output tube 66 of the fluid release system 58 is linked in fluid flow communication with the dispensing nozzle 20 of the head unit, such as by tubing directed through the head unit 12. Although the actuating mechanism 62 preferably includes an electrical solenoid used to remotely open and close the internal valve thereof, alternate means can be employed, such as a separate external motorized valve actuating device, an internal motorized valve element, and the like. The actuating mechanism 62 can therefore include any such a mechanical and/or mechanical-electrical valve actuating means.

The dispensing device 12 therefore includes a control system 70, which is generally composed of the first and second printed circuit boards 40 and 44, at least one of which preferably includes a microprocessor 43 thereon, as well as a visual indicator in the form of the LCD screen 22 and an input device such as the push button assembly 31 and the associated contacts 46 on the second printed circuit board

44. All these elements of the control system 70 are preferably disposed in electrical communication with each other. The control system 70 is further provided in electrical communication with the fluid release system 58, and particularly the actuating mechanism 62 thereof. As will be described in further detail below, the input device permits a user to manually select any one of several different spray characteristics which can be programmed into the microprocessor 43 of the control system 70 for controlling dispensing of the active fluid from the dispensing device 12. Particularly, the fluid release system 58 which is provided in fluid flow communication with the dispensing nozzle 20 of the head unit dispensing device 12 employs its actuating mechanism 62 to actuate the internal valve thereof between an open and closed position. The valve, when opened by the actuating mechanism 62, permits the active substance to flow out from the fluid reservoir canister 14 through the fluid release system 58 to the dispensing nozzle 20 before being sprayed outward therefrom. The electrically powered actuating mechanism 62 is thus selectively operated by the control system 70, which dictates at least when and for how long the internal valve is kept open and therefore fluid is sprayed outward from the dispensing device. Preferably, manual control of the function is also possible. The control system 70 can further be manually adjusted, such that any one of several spray characteristics, which are preferably pre-programmed into the microprocessor of the control system, can be selected and/or varied. Such spray characteristics can include spray duration, frequency of spray, predetermined times of the day for dispensing the active fluid, intensity of the spray and a selected one of several different active fluids (should more than one be contained within the fluid reservoir engaged with the dispensing device 12). Each of these spray characteristics can preferably be varied as desired by the user, for example by selecting the desired intensity of the spray and the frequency between such sprays. In addition to pre-programmed spray characteristics which may be provided, the control system 70 permits a user to further vary or add existing or additional spray characteristics, which are inputted into the control system via the push buttons of the push pad input device 31, such that the parameters or characteristics of the dispensed active fluid in spray form can be varied by the user.

Referring to Fig. 7, the various icons employed on the LCD screen 22 of the head unit 12 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown. Particularly, in the embodiment depicted the screen icons include a centrally located number display 67, a graphical spray indicator 61, a clock icon 63, an hourglass icon 65, and a plurality of hour dial icons 69 which extend circumferentially about at least a portion of the perimeter of the screen 22. The number display 67 is used to indicate number such as the time of day, countdown timer to spray delivery, hour segment selected, etc. The spray indictor 61 is used to indicate the selected force or volume of the spray to be delivered by the system. For example, if the system is programmed such as to permit the selection of either a small, medium or large dose spray, the spray indicator 61 will either be absent (for small), show partially (for medium) or show fully, as depicted in Fig. 7 (for large). The clock icon 63 is used simply to indicate that the numbers depicted by the number display 67 represent the time of day, whereas the hourglass icon 65 is preferably used to indicate that the numbers depicted by the number display 67 represent a remaining time delay before the next automatic dispensing automatic of fluid from the device. The hour dial icons 69 about the periphery of the screen 22 represent graphically the selected time period between programmed dispensing sprays from the system. For example, preferably each number represents a 1 -hour segment. If the program is selected by the user such that all hour dial segments 69 are showing (as depicted in Fig. 7), then the pre-set period between sprays (such as every 15 minutes for example, the countdown of which is indicated in the central number display 67) will continue continuously, i.e. 24 hours-a- day. If however, the user wishes the system 10 to dispense the sprayed fluid every 15 minutes, but only from 6pm (18:00 hrs) until 10pm (23:00 hours) each day, then only the hour dials segments numbered 16 to 22 will be depicted on the screen (about the lower right edge of the circular screen 22).

In use, in order to operate and/or program the delivery device head unit 12 of the delivery system 10, the input device in the form of the buttons 26,28,30,32 of the push button input device 31 are used as follows. Although the delivery system 10 can be programmed by the user in order to change and/or select various spray characteristics, manual actuation of the fluid release system, such as to eject a sprayed

dose of the active fluid, can be done at any time by simply pressing on the "select" button 28. This therefore permits the system 10 to be used as a standard (i.e. manually operated) aerosol spray can if desired. As the functioning of the automatic delivery of the programmable system of the present invention depends on the time of day in order to permit selection of periodic dispensing at given times of the day, the first step is to set the correct time of day. Preferably, the system is programmed such that the clock starts by default at 12:00 noon. Therefore, if the user inserts the battery 50 into the device at 12:00 noon, then no additional setting of the clock is necessary.

Preferably, the delivery system 10 is pre-programmed with a schedule of fluid delivery at a given spray intensity, for example to delivery a spray of active fluid every

30 minutes at a medium intensity. Preferably, a number of such pre-programmed schedules are provided, and can be accessed and selected by the user, for example by pressing the "up" button 30 and the "down" button 32 simultaneously in order to scroll through each of the pre-set schedules (i.e. various combinations of spray intensity and delay between consecutive deliveries for example).

If the user wishes to modify these standard settings or create a schedule which is not pre-set, a user-defined profile can be programmed into the control system 70 in order to select the desired period between deliveries, spray intensity, and/or the particular time or time-period of the day. This can be done using any necessary combination of the push buttons 31. For example, each of the hour dial segments 69, representing each hour of the day, can be individually marked as either a delivery hour or an idle hour, such that dispensing can be selected to occur only in one particular hour of the day, in a particular segment of hours or in periodic hour or multi-hour segments (i.e. dispense for two hours, idle for three, dispense for two, etc.). Any combination of these different dispensing schedules is possible and programmable by the user into the dispensing system 10. Additionally, the preferred spray intensity can be set to be constant through the time periods selected, or alternately can be varied as desired (for example, setting the spray at maximum intensity during the evening and light intensity during daylight hours). Any other possible spray characteristics, such as spray duration, spray type (for example, small diameter spray cone, large diameter

spray cone, etc.), frequency and order of different types of spray types and/or intensities, and a selected one of several different active fluids, can preferably also be selected, varied and/or programmed into the control system 70 of the delivery device. Thus, the control system 70, which is in electrical communication with the fluid release system 58, can be programmed by the user in order to either manually select and/or adjust any given spray characteristic for controlling dispensing of the active fluid from the aerosol delivery system 10.

Referring now to Fig. 8, the aerosol delivery system 10 comprising generally the fluid reservoir canister 14, the dispensing device head unit 12 which is engaged thereto via the attachment collar 18, and the entire assembly of which is mounted to a wall surface 80 by a corresponding mounting bracket 82. The mounting bracket 82 preferably includes a first portion 84 thereof which is fastened to the wall surface 80 via suitable attachment members 86, and a second portion 88 which projects outward from the first portion 84 and forms a ring-shaped clamp, at least a portion of which is pivotal to open and close the mounting bracket such that the delivery system 10 can be engaged within or removed from the mounting bracket. The second portion 88 thus forms, when closed, a ring within which the lower end 21 of the head unit 12 is receivable. When closed, the second portion 88 is retained in place by a clip means. When opened, at least a portion of the second portion 88 is pivotal to permit removal of the aerosol delivery system from the wall mounting bracket.

Although the present invention has generally been described above with respect to an aerosol based propellant system, it is to be understood that other chemical propellants, or alternately still another pressurized fluid, may be used as the propellant for dispensing the selected active substance fluid. The above description is meant to be exemplary only, and one skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made to the embodiments described without department from the scope of the invention disclosed. Still other modifications which fall within the scope of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, in light of a review of this disclosure, and such modifications are intended to fall within the appended claims.