LIQUID DOSING DEVICE

Abstract

Liquid dosing device, intended to be attached to a liquid dispenser, in particular taps, hoses or mouths of liquid containers: characterized in that it comprises: - a tubular body (1) attachable to the liquid dispenser and provided with an inlet mouth (11), an outlet mouth (12) and an internal conduit (13) for communication between said mouths; - a solenoid valve (2) for opening and closing said inner conduit (13), connected to a control unit (4), - a flow meter (3) disposed in the inner conduit (13) and connected to said control unit (4), and - a control unit (4) disposed on the outside of the tubular body (1) and comprising: a power supply battery (41), a user interface (42) provided with buttons (44) for preselecting the volume of liquid to be dispensed in each dose, a button (45) for activating the dosing device, and a display screen (46) for the volume to be dispensed preselected by the user, and a microcontroller (43) configured to perform the opening and closing of the solenoid valve (2).

Description

Liquid dispensing device Technology sector The invention relates to a liquid dosing device intended to be coupled with a liquid dispenser, in particular taps, hoses, bottle mouths or other liquid dispensers or containers. The objective of the invention is to provide a dosing device that allows the user to predetermine the exact amount of liquid to be supplied by the liquid dispenser in each dispensing. This invention is applicable in the technical sector related to the dosing of liquids and has application both at the domestic level, as well as in the hospitality and catering industry, or in laboratories as a portable dispenser for the rapid preparation of solutions that require greater accuracy than manual measurement. Prior art Taps, hoses, and other elements used to dispense water or liquid have an opening and closing valve that can be manually operated at the convenience of each user. However, it is often necessary to use a specific amount of water, for example, for cooking recipes or specific preparations. In these cases, it is common to use a measuring container with a graduated scale to collect an extra amount of water and then carefully pour it out until the required amount is reached. This operation involves discarding a certain amount of water in each measurement and using specific containers only for measuring water, which requires cleaning and collecting them after use, and having adequate space to store them. In the healthcare sector, mainly in faucets and urinals, flushometers are used which, when pressed, release a certain amount of liquid; however, these flushometers do not allow them to be configured to supply a predetermined amount of water before each press. The technical problem posed is that the measurement of liquids in domestic and semi-professional environments is carried out using non-integrated containers such as measuring jugs, which are inefficient, introduce measurement errors due to parallax, bubbles or residue; require additional work and cleaning, and do not allow for the practical and accurate dispensing of small volumes of liquid. Explanation of the invention. The liquid dosing device that is the subject of this invention has technical characteristics that allow it to satisfactorily solve the problems mentioned above. One of the objectives of the invention is that the user can preselect the exact volume of water or liquid they wish to obtain in each dispensing or dosing, eliminating manual measurement errors that, in the case of preparing cooking recipes, can negatively affect the result obtained. Another objective of the invention is to provide a compact and easy-to-install dosing device, for example, by means of a thread compatible with most standard taps, although it is not ruled out that, in the case of high-end taps, it may already be installed inside the tap body. Another objective of the invention is to provide an integrated and aesthetically superior solution for liquid dispensing, raising the standard of functionality of domestic taps. The liquid dosing device of this invention is applicable to liquid dispensers, such as taps, hoses or liquid container openings and comprises: a tubular body attachable to the liquid dispenser and provided with an inlet opening, an outlet opening and an internal conduit for communication between said openings; a solenoid valve for opening and closing said internal conduit, connected to a control unit, and a flow meter arranged inside the internal conduit and connected to said control unit. The control unit comprises: a power supply battery; a user interface with buttons to preselect the volume of liquid to be dispensed in each dose, a button to activate the dosing device, a display screen showing the volume to be dispensed preselected by the user, and a microcontroller designed to receive the signals from the flow meter, convert them into an accumulated volume of dispensed liquid, and close the solenoid valve when the accumulated volume matches the volume preselected by the user. This device allows the user to select, via the interface, the amount of liquid they wish to obtain, and the dispensing device supplies that exact amount of liquid when activated by the user. The microcontroller then opens the solenoid valve and subsequently closes it when the microcontroller detects, from the signals received from the flow meter, that the accumulated volume of dispensed liquid corresponds to the volume preselected by the user. In this invention, it is also provided that the control unit may comprise a wireless communication module, preferably via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, suitable for remote control of the dosing device, for example, from a mobile terminal or a smartphone. This dispensing device solves the problems raised by integrating high-precision measurement at the liquid dispensing point itself. By allowing the desired volume to be preselected via a user interface and ensuring automatic shut-off of the liquid supply, the need for external measuring containers is eliminated, guaranteeing the exact desired volume of liquid with each dose. With the aforementioned features, this liquid dispensing device provides the following advantages: - Integrated precision: Unlike complex and expensive industrial flow meters, this dosing device has a simpler design and offers high precision in supplying small volumes, in the range of 1 milliliter, directly to the domestic user interface. - Automation: Eliminates human error in monitoring. Automatic flow shut-off upon reaching the desired volume is a critical advantage not offered by conventional faucets. - Efficiency: Simplifies cooking, hygiene, and cleaning tasks by dispensing liquids directly into the final container (pot, glass, etc.), saving time and reducing the need for measuring cups. - Resource Savings: Controls waste by overfilling the measuring container and optimizes the use of concentrated products that require exact dilutions. Brief description of the content of the drawings. To complement the description being made and in order to facilitate the understanding of the characteristics of the invention, a set of drawings is included with this descriptive report in which, for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, the following has been represented: - Figure 1 shows an elevation view of an example embodiment of the liquid dosing device according to the invention, provided in this case with a threaded inlet for coupling to a tap or liquid dispenser (not shown). - Figure 2 shows a profile view of the liquid dosing device from the previous figure in which the main body of the device has been sectioned, and inside which the flow meter and the solenoid valve connected to the control unit attached externally to the body of the dosing device have been schematically represented. - Figure 3 shows a diagram with the functional elements of the dosing device. Detailed exposition of modes of implementation of the invention. As can be seen in the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, this liquid dosing device comprises a tubular body (1) provided with an inlet (11) and an outlet (12), connected by an internal conduit (13) in which are housed a solenoid valve (2) and a flow meter (3) connected to a control unit (4) attached externally to the tubular body (1) of the dosing device. In this example the inlet (11) has a thread for coupling the dosing device with the outlet of a tap or any other liquid dispenser. As can be seen in the diagram in Figure 3, the control unit (4) comprises a power supply battery (41), a user interface (42), and a microcontroller (43) responsible for controlling the liquid dosage according to the volume requested by the user through the user interface (42). In Figure 1 this user interface (42) comprises buttons (44) for preselecting the volume of liquid to be dispensed; an activation button (45) and a display screen (46) of the volume of liquid preselected by the user. In one specific embodiment, the flow meter comprises a precision Hall effect sensor, turbine type or similar, which converts the flow rate into countable electronic pulses. The microprocessor receives the pulse signal from the flow meter (3), converts it into an accumulated volume of dispensed liquid and compares it with the volume preselected by the user. Preferably, the power supply battery (41) is a rechargeable Li-Ion battery for autonomous power supply of the device and the solenoid valve (2), and the display screen (46) is a low-power OLED or LCD screen. In an inoperative position of the dosing device, the solenoid valve (2) is in a closed position of the inner conduit (13), preventing the passage of liquid to the outlet (12). Once the user has entered the desired liquid volume through the user interface (42) and it is displayed on the display screen (46), simply press the activation button (45) so that the microcontroller (43) causes the solenoid valve (2) to open and begin receiving signals from the flow meter (3) indicating the accumulated volume of dispensed liquid. When the microcontroller (41) detects that the accumulated volume of dispensed liquid matches the volume preselected by the user, the microcontroller (41) causes the solenoid valve (2) to close, keeping it in this closed position until the user makes a new request to dispense the same volume of liquid, or any other preselected volume through the user interface (42). In the scheme shown in figure 3, the control unit additionally comprises a wireless communication module (47), via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, which allows remote control of the dosing device from a mobile terminal or smartphone. Once the nature of the invention has been sufficiently described, as well as an example of a preferred embodiment, it is noted for the appropriate purposes that the materials, shape, size and arrangement of the elements described may be modified, provided that this does not imply an alteration of the essential characteristics of the invention claimed below.

Claims

1. Liquid dosing device, intended to be attached to a liquid dispenser, in particular taps, hoses or mouths of liquid containers: characterized in that it comprises: - a tubular body (1) attachable to the liquid dispenser and provided with an inlet mouth (11), an outlet mouth (12) and an internal conduit (13) for communication between said mouths;- a solenoid valve (2) for opening and closing said inner conduit (13), connected to a control unit (4), - a flow meter (3) disposed in the inner conduit (13) and connected to said control unit (4), and - a control unit (4) disposed on the outside of the tubular body (1) and comprising: a power supply battery (41), a user interface (42) provided with buttons (44) for preselecting the volume of liquid to be dispensed in each dose, a button (45) for activating the dosing device, and a display screen (46) for the volume to be dispensed preselected by the user, and a microcontroller (43) configured to perform the opening and closing of the solenoid valve (2).

2. Liquid dosing device, according to claim 1, wherein the control unit (4) comprises a wireless communication module (47) provided for remote control of the dosing device from a mobile terminal or a smartphone.