The present invention relates to a sensor activated fluid dispensing module adapted to be arranged at least partly inside a dispenser bottle for dispensing fluid contained in the bottle, the dispensing module including an object detection sensor, a sensor controller, an electric motor, a pump, a fluid inlet pipe, a fluid dispensing nozzle, and a battery, the sensor controller being adapted for receiving an input signal from the object detection sensor and for activating the electric motor when an object has been detected by the object detection sensor, the pump being arranged to pump fluid from the fluid inlet pipe to the fluid dispensing nozzle upon rotation of the electric motor.

US 9,138,109 Bl discloses a universal automated hands- free liquid dispensing system that includes an expandable tube to fit different liquid containers, a pump to draw liquid out of the container and through the tube, and a sensor for detecting the presence of a user so that the user can receive liquid from the container without the need to touch the dispensing system. In some embodiments, a universal dispenser cap is also provided to fit over dispensers of varied neck and spout configurations and dimensions. A controller assembly is mounted on a fluid delivery assembly on top of the liquid container. As a result, this liquid dispensing system is in reality rather bulky and cannot be fully incorporated into smaller bottles of various design.

The object of the present invention is to provide a sensor activated fluid dispensing module which is more compact than existing dispensing systems so that it may be incorporated into a wide range of dispenser bottles.

In view of this object, the electric motor is a brushless motor controlled by a motor controller, and a single micro controller unit includes the motor controller and the sensor controller.

In this way, by integrating the motor controller and the sensor controller into a single micro controller unit, a more compact and smaller dispensing module may be obtained. In an embodiment, the motor controller and the sensor controller are implemented in a single integrated circuit (IC). Thereby, an more compact and smaller dispensing module may be obtained.

In an embodiment, the motor controller and the sensor controller are arranged on a single printed circuit board. Thereby, an more compact and smaller dispensing module may be obtained.

In an embodiment, the electric motor is arranged on top of the pump so that a rotor spindle of the motor extends from a lower end of the electric motor into the pump, and the single printed circuit board is arranged at a top end of the electric motor. Thereby, a very compact unit may be obtained whereby connections of the printed circuit board are accessible from a top of the unit.

In an embodiment, the single printed circuit board is provided with a releasable electric connection for the object detection sensor, and the releasable electric connection is accessible outside the top end of the electric motor. Thereby, a flexible arrangement of the object detection sensor may be possible by simply connecting the object detection sensor to the single printed circuit board by means of an electric cable with corresponding connector.

In an embodiment, the motor controller and the sensor controller are arranged inside a motor housing of the electric motor. Thereby, the electric connection between the motor controller and coils of the electric motor may be facilitated and may result in a more compact unit.

In an embodiment, the electric motor and the pump are arranged inside a main housing of the dispensing module.

In an embodiment, the battery is arranged inside the main housing. In a structurally particularly advantageous embodiment, the battery is arranged below the pump.

In a structurally particularly advantageous embodiment, the battery is cylindrical and is arranged in parallel with and beside the fluid inlet pipe.

The invention will now be explained in more detail below by means of examples of embodiments with reference to the very schematic drawing, in which

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating the function of a sensor activated fluid dispensing module according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a bottle incorporating a sensor activated fluid dispensing module according to the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the bottle of Fig. 2, whereby a bottle top has been detached from the bottle;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a sensor activated fluid dispensing module according to the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the sensor activated fluid dispensing module of Fig. 4, whereby a part has been cut away for illustrative purposes;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal cross-section through the bottle of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal cross-section through the bottle of Fig. 6, whereby the bottle has been mounted on a charger for the sensor activated fluid dispensing module;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the bottle of Fig. 2, whereby a part has been cut away for illustrative purposes; Fig. 9 is a perspective exploded view of the sensor activated fluid dispensing module of

Fig. 4; and

Fig. 10 is a perspective exploded view of the bottle of Fig. 2 and charger, but without the associated sensor activated fluid dispensing module which is illustrated in Fig. 9.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate an embodiment of a sensor activated fluid dispensing module 55 according to the present invention which is adapted to be arranged at least partly inside a dispenser bottle 59 as seen in Figs. 2 and 3 for dispensing fluid contained in the bottle. As seen in Fig. 5, the dispensing module 55 includes an object detection sensor 2, an electric motor 56, a pump 57, a fluid inlet 60 adapted to be provided with a fluid inlet pipe 50 as seen in Fig. 3, a fluid outlet 61 to be connected by means of a pipe 54 with a fluid dispensing nozzle 47 as seen in Fig. 6, and a battery 3.

The sensor activated fluid dispensing module 55 may be adapted to dispense different fluids or liquids, such as for instance hand soap, hand lotion or hand disinfection liquid or gel, for instance alcohol or liquid or gel including alcohol, i.e. spirits.

A sensor controller is adapted for receiving an input signal from the object detection sensor 2 and for activating the electric motor 56 when an object, such as a hand of a user, has been detected by the object detection sensor 2. The pump 57 is arranged to pump fluid from the fluid inlet pipe 50 to the fluid dispensing nozzle 47 upon rotation of the electric motor 56. According to the invention, the electric motor 56 is a brushless motor controlled by a motor controller, and a single micro controller unit includes the motor controller and the sensor controller. Thereby, a more compact and smaller dispensing module may be obtained.

In the illustrated embodiment, the motor controller and the sensor controller are arranged on a single printed circuit board 31. Furthermore, in the illustrated embodiment, the motor controller and the sensor controller have been implemented in a single integrated circuit (62) which is mounted on a lower side of the single printed circuit board As further seen in Fig. 5, in the illustrated embodiment, the electric motor 56 is arranged on top of the pump 57 so that a rotor spindle 33 of the electric motor 56 extends from a lower end of the electric motor 56 into the pump 57, and the single printed circuit board 31 is arranged at a top end of the electric motor.

As further seen in Fig. 5, in the illustrated embodiment, the single printed circuit board 31 is provided with a releasable electric connection 58 for the object detection sensor 2. As seen, the releasable electric connection 58 is accessible outside the top end of the electric motor 56 so that a not shown cable may connect the single printed circuit board 31 to the object detection sensor 2.

As further seen in Fig. 5, in the illustrated embodiment, the motor controller and the sensor controller are arranged inside a motor housing 30 of the electric motor 56. The motor housing 30 includes a motor cap 32 arranged at the top of the electric motor 56 and having at least one opening 63 through which the releasable electric connection 58 of the single printed circuit board 31 is accessible from outside the top end of the electric motor 56.

As further seen in Fig. 5, in the illustrated embodiment, the electric motor 56, the pump 57 and the battery 3 are arranged inside a main housing 64 of the dispensing module 55. The main housing 64 is composed by a housing upper part 10 and a housing lower part 11. In the illustrated embodiment, the battery 3 is arranged below the pump 57, the battery 3 is cylindrical and is arranged in parallel with and beside the fluid inlet pipe 50.

Generally, electric cable connections have not been illustrated, but have been explained in this description.

Referring to the exploded view of Fig. 9, the different parts of the embodiment of the sensor activated fluid dispensing module 55 illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 will be explained in the following. A Printed Circuit Board (PCB) 1 containing an LED and a toggle switch is adapted to be connected by means of a cable to a releasable electric connection 58 of single printed circuit board 31 including the motor controller and the sensor controller. In the illustrated embodiment, the single printed circuit board 31 includes three releasable electric connections 58 for the above-mentioned LED, for the above-mentioned toggle switch and for the object detection sensor 2. However, in another embodiment, one single releasable electric connection 58 (one single socket) may be provided for the above-mentioned LED, for the above-mentioned toggle switch and for the object detection sensor 2. In that case, one plug fitting into a single socket on the single printed circuit board 31 may be arranged on three different respective cables.

The above-mentioned LED may be used to indicate each dispensing operation and the toggle switch may allow users to control dosage volume. For example, a control circuit arranged on the single printed circuit board 31 may be so adapted that when a user presses the toggle switch a certain number of times rapidly after each other, an amount of fluid (dosage volume) corresponding to said number will be dispensed at following dispensing operations until the dosage volume is adjusted again.

The object detection sensor 2 has the form of a Printed Circuit Board containing the object detection sensor. The object detection sensor 2 may for instance use Infrared Light (IR) or a laser to detect when an object is near the sensor.

The main housing 64 is composed by the housing upper part 10 which snaps to the housing lower part 11 and provides area for the pipe forming the fluid outlet 61. A housing O-ring 9 provides sealing between upper and lower housing parts.

In the following an embodiment of the electric motor 56 will be explained. Other embodiments of brushless motors may also be employed.

A motor O-ring 5 provides sealing between the electric motor 56 and the upper housing part. A rear bushing 40 for the electric motor locates the motor spindle 33 at its upper end and allows for low friction revolutions. A motor cap 32 for the electric motor locates the rear bushing 40 and caps the motor assembly. Furthermore, openings 63 allow space for the releasable electric connections 58.

The single printed circuit board 31 is arranged at a top end of the electric motor 56 inside the motor housing 30 just below the motor cap 32. The permanent magnet 34 is arranged on the rotor spindle 33 inside the brushless motor in order to provide rotation when attracted/repelled by copper motor coils 36 that create a magnetic field controlled by the motor controller in a well-known manner.

A plastic spacer 38 is press fitted onto the rotor spindle 33 for holding parts in position on the spindle which is the core of the brushless motor. Spacing washers 35 are arranged on the rotor spindle for positioning the permanent magnet 34 on the spindle. A coil retainer 37 around which the copper coils are wound in a uniform pattern is arranged in the motor housing 30. The motor housing 30 protects internal components of the motor. A front bushing 39 locates a lower end of the rotor spindle 33 and allows for low friction revolutions.

The battery 3 provides power to the product and is preferably a rechargeable battery.

In the following, the illustrated embodiment of the pump 57 in the form of a diaphragm pump will be explained. A diaphragm pump of the illustrated construction is well-known to the person skilled in the art and will therefore not be explained in detail. However, other types of pump may also be employed. Nevertheless, a type of diaphragm pump is advantageously employed according to the present invention, because a very exact dosage amount may be controlled simply by controlling the number of rotations performed at each dispensing operation by the rotor spindle 33. By means of the motor controller, the number of rotations may be controlled by the number of activations of the abovedescribed copper coils in a manner well-known to the person skilled in the art. Advantageously, the sensor controller and the motor controller are implemented in one single CPU (IC) whereby the desired number of activations of the copper coils may be decided by the sensor controller and transferred to the motor controller internally in the CPU simply as coded instructions stored as a computer programme in the CPU. Thereby, a more compact and precisely working fluid dispensing module 55 may be obtained.

A motor mount 24 protects pump internal components and is used for connecting to the electric motor 56. A cam 27 connects to the lower end of the rotor spindle 33 and converts rotations of the rotor spindle 33 into an offset rotation of a top spindle 22 of a membrane driver 23. The top spindle 22 is pressed into the cam 27. The membrane driver 23 has three small arms each having a hole, in which a membrane top is inserted. As the small arms rotate, they compress and decompress plungers on the respective membranes. A membrane housing 21 houses and locates the membrane in position. The membrane 20 is a flexible membrane that compresses and decompresses to pull in and push out fluid with each rotation of the electric motor 56. Three respective umbrella valves 18 each have the form of a one way valve to allow intake of fluid and restrict outward flow. A mid plate 19 provides holes for the umbrella valves 18 to press through, seals against the membrane 20 and locates a seal 16 and outlet valve 17. The outlet valve 17 has the form of a one way valve to allow output of fluid and restrict intake. The seal 16 seals the mid plate 19 to a pump housing 15 which provides a tube along the side of the pump assembly and controls the direction of fluid flow. An outlet O-ring 13 seals pump housing 15 to the housing upper part 10. A front seal 28 seals pump housing 15 against a front cap 29 which provides area for attaching the inlet pipe 50 and changes direction of flow to an upwards direction. A front cap O-ring 12 provides sealing between a front of the pump 56 and the housing lower part 11. Pump screw washers 26 spreads clamping forces from screws. Pump screws 14 hold pump assembly together and provide compression force on seals. The the housing lower part 11 clips together with the housing upper part 10 and thereby all internal components are protected and the battery 3 is positioned.

Referring to the exploded view of Fig. 10, the different parts of the embodiment of the bottle 59 with sensor activated fluid dispensing module 55 illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 will be explained in the following. A sensor housing 42 protects and houses the object detection sensor 2. The nozzle 47 has the form of a 90 degree outlet nozzle for fluid dispensing. The pipe 54 connects the pump 57 to the nozzle 47. The dispenser bottle 59 includes a bottle upper part 49 and a bottle lower part 45 threaded together. The bottle lower part 45 holds fluid. A bottle seal 53 seals to stop fluid leaving bottle. The inlet pipe 50 is a tube for directing fluids from bottle into the pumping assembly. An upper cap 43 houses the toggle switch 51 of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) 1 and seals the upper area of the bottle upper part 49. A light pipe 52 directs light from the LED the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) 1 to the exterior of the bottle. Mating pads 46 adapted to conduct electric power from charger pins 41 in the form of pogo pins that transfer power for recharging the battery. The charger 44 has a charger support part. Geometry has been designed to hold onto a neck of the bottle 59 and position pins 41 onto mating pads 46.