Pump Dispenser Refill System to Reduce Hygiene Risk and User Contact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pump dispensers for oral, personal, or home care products require users to manually refill them, often resulting in direct contact with the product, necessitating hand washing afterward, which is inconvenient and poses hygiene risks.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a pump dispenser with a protrusion that pierces a refill container, allowing for refilling without direct user contact, where the refill container is water-soluble and dissolves over time, ensuring the product is dispensed without user exposure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual refilling is used, then the pump dispenser can be replenished with product, but the user comes into direct contact with the product requiring hand washing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a refill container as an intermediary device that allows product transfer without direct user contact. The refill container receives product through a dispenser outlet and transfers it to the pump dispenser, acting as a mediator between the product source and the pump dispenser, thereby eliminating the need for users to handle the product directly.
Solution Approach 2:
The refilling process is segmented into distinct functional components: a refill container separate from the pump dispenser, a dip tube for product transfer, and a piercing mechanism. This segmentation allows the refilling operation to be performed remotely, with the user interacting only with the refill container rather than the product itself.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a refill container is introduced, then user contact with product is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The refill container is designed to be inserted into the pump dispenser, with the dip tube nested within the refill container. The piercing protrusion fits through the closure into the refill container, creating a nested arrangement that consolidates multiple components into a compact integrated structure, thereby managing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The refilling function is extracted as a separate refill container that can be independently filled and then inserted into the pump dispenser. This extraction allows the complex refilling mechanism to be separated from the main pump dispenser body, simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining the hygiene benefit.
3Reliability
If the closure moves to block the opening, then the product is contained, but the refill container must be compressed between surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The closure serves dual functions: it blocks the opening to contain product in the chamber, and simultaneously provides the compression surface (second surface) that compresses the refill container between itself and the first surface. This merging of containment and compression functions into a single component simplifies the overall mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The closure is designed to move dynamically between an open position (allowing refill container insertion) and a closed position (blocking the opening and compressing the refill container). This dynamic movement allows the same component to facilitate both refilling and product containment without requiring separate static structures.
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed is a pump dispenser, comprising: a container comprising a body defining a chamber for storing a product and defining an opening at a first end of the chamber through which the product is dispensable, the body having a first surface at a second end of the chamber, opposite from the first end; a closure movable between a closed position where the closure blocks the opening and an open position where the opening is not blocked; a pump for pumping the product from the chamber; and a projection extending from the closure, the projection comprising a first portion extending from the closure and a second portion extending from the first portion, the first and second portions extending in different directions, the second portion having a second surface that faces and approaches the first surface of the body when the closure is moved from the open position to the closed position.