CN117157000A - Wall-mounted dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a wall-mounted dispenser for supplying and delivering a liquid, in particular a laundry active or a care product for body care, comprising a replaceable container (1) for the liquid and a wall-mount (2) for mounting the wall-mounted dispenser on a building installation. The container (1) is provided with an output unit (6) for metering liquid from the container (1), and the wall-mount (2) comprises an upper holding element (13) and at least one lower holding element (17) for holding and securing the container (1) against unauthorized removal from the wall-mount (2). The wall mount (2) comprises at least two bracket parts (9, 10) which can be moved or adjusted relative to each other, the upper bracket part (9) being fixedly connected to an upper holding element (13) and the lower holding part (10) being fixedly connected to a lower holding element (17), respectively.

Description

Wall-mounted dispenser

The present invention relates to a wall-mounted dispenser (Wanddosierspender) according to the preamble of claim 1 for providing and extracting liquids, in particular laundry actives or care products for body care. Accordingly, the wall-mounted dispenser includes a replaceable container for the liquid and a wall-mounted member for mounting the wall-mounted dispenser to a building facility, typically a wall. The building facility is preferably a building wall, for example in a bathroom of a hotel or in a public health facility; but the building facility in which the wall-mounted dispenser can be mounted by wall-mounted members can also be furniture parts or special holders or underframes and the like.

In the present form of wall-mounted dispenser, a container for liquid may be secured to a wall hanger and removable from a wall mount for filling or replacement of the container. For this purpose, the wall mount has at least one upper retaining element and at least one lower retaining element for holding and securing the container in order to prevent unintentional or unauthorized removal thereof from the wall mount.

The containers of the wall-mounted dispensers of the current form are equipped with an output unit for metering the extracted liquid or are connected to such an output unit once they are normally mounted in the wall hanger. The outlet unit can be, for example, a dispensing valve which outputs liquid downwards by means of gravity, in particular in response to squeezing of the container, or a pump-type dispenser in which the outlet unit is composed mainly of a metering pump with an operating head and an outlet nozzle. In both cases, the output unit does not have to be a fixed component of the container, but rather the output unit can be fixed to one of two holding elements for holding and fixing the container, so that the output unit does not have to be removed from the wall mount together with the container.

Wall-mounted dispensers of this type are used, for example, in public toilets or in corresponding rooms of the catering industry to provide liquid soaps. Such wall-mounted dispensers are particularly preferably used in hotels to provide liquid soaps, shampoos and other care products, such as lotions or the like, at a wash basin, in the area of a bathtub and/or in a shower stall. As wall-mounted dispensers of the current type are distinguished by the ability to meter and hygienically withdraw the liquid present therein while also being able to preserve a volume of liquid product for a long period of time, typically days, until the dispenser is refilled or until the container must be replaced.

In the usual field of application of wall-mounted dispensers of the current type, it is common that anti-theft protection must be applied to the replaceable containers. It is also important to hold the container in a wall mount such that the contents of the container are inaccessible; this is because, for hygienic reasons, it is necessary to prevent that the liquid in the container may be altered, for example by foreign bodies entering or having been discharged into the container again. The user should in any case be able to come into contact with only the normally output quantity of liquid.

The retaining elements of the wall element, i.e. the at least one upper retaining element and the lower retaining element, must therefore not only be able to retain the exchangeable container, but should also be able to securely fasten the container and in this case also prevent the container in the wall element from being opened. When the container is for example a pump dispenser of the type commonly found on the market with a bottle and an output unit screwed onto the thread of the neck of the bottle, then the retaining element of the wall-mount must prevent the bottle from being screwed open. This should only be done after the container has been removed from the wall hanger.

In DE 10 2010 024 081 B4, this problem is solved in that one of the holding elements of the wall mount engages in a form-fitting manner in a recess in the exchangeable container, so that the container is not only held between the upper holding element and the lower holding element, but also cannot be rotated about a vertical axis connecting the two holding elements. Furthermore, in this prior art, an anti-theft device is provided, by means of which the lower holding element can be released from the wall mount and thus the container can be released for removal only when a suitable removal tool is acting on the wall mount.

The object of the present invention is to improve a wall-mounted dispenser of the type mentioned above in such a way that the handling thereof is simplified when changing containers with respect to the prior art.

This object is achieved by a wall-mounted dispenser having the features of claim 1. Preferred embodiments and improvements of the wall-mounted dispenser according to the invention are given in claims 2 to 20.

According to the invention, a wall-mounted dispenser for supplying and outputting a liquid is proposed, comprising a replaceable container for the liquid and a wall-mounted part for mounting the wall-mounted dispenser on a building installation, the container being provided with an output unit for metering the liquid from the container, and the wall-mounted part having at least one upper holding element and at least one lower holding element for holding and fixing the container, characterized in that the wall-mounted part comprises at least two bracket parts which can be moved or adjusted relative to each other, the upper bracket part being fixedly connected with the upper holding element and the lower bracket part being fixedly connected with the lower holding element, respectively.

It is not excluded here that further holding elements and/or carrier parts are provided; it is important that the upper retaining element is fixed to the upper bracket part and that the lower retaining element is fixed to the lower bracket part.

With the design of such a wall hanger according to the invention, the exchangeable container can be held particularly reliably and firmly in the use position, while still being easily and effortlessly removed from the wall hanger by simply moving the two holder parts relative to each other apart. In the state in which the wall-hanging parts are pulled away from each other, it is preferably assumed that a removal position is defined in which the container can be removed from the wall-hanging part or inserted into the wall-hanging part, the holder parts being held in the defined position with respect to each other.

The upper and/or lower bracket parts of the wall element according to the invention are preferably provided with a locking mechanism in order to lock the upper and lower bracket parts in the position of use. It is preferred here that the locking mechanism can only be released by means of a separate key element, so that the requirements of protection against theft and alteration can be taken into account particularly well.

The locking mechanism preferably comprises a resilient tongue and a catch element, which is arranged on the resilient tongue, which is fastened to one of the upper and lower carrier parts and which in the use position of the wall mount engages behind a projection or catch edge on the other of the upper and lower carrier parts.

Alternatively, the locking mechanism comprising the elastic tongue and the locking element can be designed such that the locking element is fastened to one of the upper and lower carrier parts and the elastic tongue is fastened to the other, said tongue being positively locked to the locking element from behind in the use position of the wall element.

Both alternatives offer the advantage that, due to the elastic restoring force of the tongue and due to the catch element, the catch automatically occurs when the locking mechanism is pushed into the use position and thereby fixes the use position in a locking manner. The lock is then released by a separate key element.

For this purpose, the key element is expediently provided with at least one guide element for the correct insertion into the wall mount and an actuating element for the displacement of the elastic tongue counter to its elastic restoring force, and it is expedient for the displacement of the elastic tongue to disengage the locking element from its positive locking latch and thus release the locking.

The locking mechanism is preferably arranged in an overlap region in which the upper and lower leg portions of the wall hanger overlap at least in the use position.

For the purpose of providing theft protection, it is furthermore advantageous if the fastening means for attaching the wall element to the building installation are also arranged in the overlapping region of the upper and lower carrier parts of the wall element. This is because the fastening means are not accessible in the use position of the wall element and therefore cannot be released by unauthorized persons to remove the wall element from the construction installation.

The overlapping region of the upper and lower leg portions may be provided with a cover towards the container. This not only improves the appearance of the wall hanger and achieves a high-grade look and feel when the container is removed, but also protects the container from possible damage when the two bracket portions are opened and closed.

It is particularly preferred that the upper and/or lower carrier part is provided with at least one track along which the two carrier parts can be moved relative to each other. This track-type solution ensures a high stability of the wall-hanging element even when the two carrier parts are moved relative to each other and in particular when the two carrier parts are separated from each other in the removal position. The movability of the two carrier parts relative to each other is simplified with this orbital solution to a one-dimensionally guided movement, which of course contributes to achieving structural stability.

As already mentioned above, the exchangeable container is a commercially available pump dispenser with a bottle and an output unit mounted on the bottle, which comprises a metering pump with an operating head and an output spout.

In this case, it is advantageous if the upper holding element of the wall element comprises an annular or fork-shaped formation for positively receiving the bottle body, the bottle neck and/or the outlet unit.

Furthermore, the upper holding element of the back wall hanger is provided with a further second molding element spaced apart from the first molding element for supporting and/or guiding the actuating head of the output unit. This ensures that the pump dispenser is accommodated in the wall element particularly stably in a position in which the actuating mechanism for metering out the liquid product is provided and is therefore subjected to the greatest forces during normal operation of the wall-mounted dispenser.

In particular when the exchangeable container is a pump dispenser, the lower holding element of the wall-mounted dispenser according to the invention may be a simple support for receiving the bottom of the container, which support has, for example, a plate-like, fork-like, dish-like, basket-like or basin-like design.

Within the scope of the invention, the lower retaining element may also be provided or prepared with an adapter for receiving the bottom of the container. Such an adapter establishes a form-locking connection with the container when the bottom of the container is shaped accordingly; the adapter can also be used to adapt the wall hanging of the wall hanging dispenser according to the invention to different dimensions of the exchangeable holder, in particular when the adapter is exchangeable.

The adapter is preferably made of plastic in order to protect the exchangeable holder.

The locking mechanism may also be made substantially of plastic. In addition to the fact that this also protects the container from damage, a significant cost advantage is thereby achieved also in the production of wall-mounted dispensers or wall hangers thereof.

The upper retaining element and preferably the entire upper carrier part, and also the lower retaining element and preferably the entire lower carrier part are made of sheet metal as stamped and bent pieces. This ensures maximum stability of the wall hanging while enabling low economical manufacture.

Embodiments of wall-mounted dispensers designed according to this invention are described and illustrated in detail below with reference to the drawings. The invention is not limited to this embodiment, even though the features described and illustrated may be essential to the invention.

Wherein:

fig. 1 shows a wall-mounted dispenser designed according to the invention in a use position;

FIG. 2 shows the wall-mounted dispenser of FIG. 1 in a removed position;

FIG. 3 shows a lateral detail of the illustration of FIG. 1;

fig. 4 shows a lateral detail of the illustration of fig. 2.

The embodiment of the wall-mounted dispenser designed according to the invention shown in fig. 1 essentially comprises a replaceable container 1 for a liquid cleaning active and a wall-mounted part 2 for mounting the container 1 on a wall, the wall-mounted part 2 being mounted in the present case of fig. 1 in the vicinity of a wash basin or in a shower stall (not shown). Fig. 1 also shows a key element 3 which does not actually belong to a wall-mounted dispenser, but rather is a separate accessory which can be removed from the wall-mounted dispenser. The present illustration is only for the purpose of showing where this individual key element 3 is arranged for unlocking the locking mechanism 4.

The container 1 is a pump dispenser of a form common in the market, having a bottle 5 and an output unit 6 mounted on the bottle 5. The outlet unit 6 is in the present case screwed onto a thread (not visible here) on the neck of the bottle 5, and the outlet unit 6 comprises a metering pump (also not visible) known per se with an operating head 7, the operating head 7 being provided with an outlet mouth 8 for the metered output of the liquid care product.

The wall hanger 2 comprises an upper bracket part 9 and a lower bracket part 10, which are made of sheet metal as stamped and bent pieces. The upper bracket part 9 can be fixed to the wall by means of a fixing mechanism 11, in which only the holes and the abutments for the screws are shown here, while the lower bracket part 10 is movably connected to the upper bracket part 9 by means of rails 12.

The upper carrier part 9 runs on the upper side into an upper holding element 13, which in the present case is designed in two parts: the upper holding element 13 comprises a fork-shaped first shaped part 14 for positively receiving the output unit 6 and a second shaped part 15 spaced apart from the first shaped part, which also supports and guides the actuating head 7 in the form of a fork structure.

The first molding element 14 acts here on the container 1 in a position in which the bottle body 5 of the container widens from the neck and the outlet unit 6 down into a step, so that the container 1 is also positively secured against upward displacement. This function is aided by the fact that the second shaped part 15 of the upper holding element 13 acts directly above the threaded sleeve 16 of the output unit 6, in which the operating head 7 is guided. Here too, a step is provided which prevents the container 1 from moving upwards past the second forming member 15.

The lower bracket part 10 of the wall hanger 2 continues into the lower holding element 17. The lower holding element is designed as a plate-shaped support for the bottom 18 of the bottle body 5, so that the container 1 as a whole rests only on the lower holding element 17, but is not necessarily held in a form-fitting manner by the latter. Due to the present design of the upper holding element 13, it cannot be excluded that the bottle 5 or the container 1 can be removed from the lower holding element 17 in a non-destructive manner in the lateral direction.

The lower retaining element 17 is finally equipped with an adapter 19, which in order to protect the bottom 18 of the bottle 5 is in the present case made of plastic. This adapter 19 is exchangeable so that the wall-hanging 2 can be adapted to different bottle sizes.

Fig. 1 finally shows that the lower carrier part 10 has a through-hole 20, through which two fastening pins 21 pass, at the point where it transitions into the lower holding element 17 and is thus bent.

The locking mechanism 4 described in detail below is not shown in detail in fig. 1, since this locking mechanism carries a cover 22 which not only improves the visual effect, but also protects the bottle 5 of the container 1. The latter function is ensured in that the cover 22 is also made of plastic.

Fig. 2 shows the wall-mounted dispenser of fig. 1 from a slightly different view and in a different removal position from the use position in fig. 1, in which the container 1 is held and secured, in which the container 1 can be removed from the wall-mount 2 and can be reinserted into the wall-mount. Like elements are provided with like reference numerals, and thus most of the reference numerals may be referred to in the description of the drawing of fig. 1.

In the removal position shown in fig. 2, the upper carrier part 9 and the lower carrier part 10 are pulled away from one another, so that the container 1 still resting on the lower holding element 17 as a support is released from the upper holding element 13: the second shaped part 15 is completely out of contact, while the first shaped part 14, due to its fork-shaped design, enables the output unit 6 or the actuating head 7 to be removed forward from the fork-shaped first shaped part 14. That is, the container 1 can be removed from the wall-hanging part 2 very easily in the shown removal position, while the wall-hanging part 2 is still stably composed of two holder parts 9, 10 fixed to each other.

The upper and lower frame parts 9, 10 are pulled away from each other by means of a rail 12, which is formed by the lower frame part 10 and which can be moved in a guide structure 23. The guide structure is formed by a cover 22 and a rail element 24, both of which are fixed to the upper bracket part 9.

In order to form the locking mechanism 4, the rail element 24 is provided with an elastically deformable tongue 25, on the end of which a catch element 26 is molded.

As is shown in detail in fig. 3, which is a side detail view of fig. 1, the catch element 26 catches in the through-hole 20 of the upper carrier part in the use position, said catch element then acting from behind on a catch edge 27 formed by the through-hole 20.

The width of the catch element 26 is selected such that it engages in a recess of the rail 12 formed by the lower carrier part 10 in the removal position (see fig. 2) and does not prevent the two carrier parts 9, 10 from moving relative to one another. The wedge-like shape of the catch element 26 in combination with the inclined surface 28 on the lower carrier part 10 or above the through hole 20 in the lower carrier part 10 ensures that the catch element 26 can slide along the lower carrier part 10 with elastic deformation of the tongue 25 when the carrier parts 9, 10 are moved together until the catch element catches behind the catch edge 27 of the through hole 20 in the lower carrier part 10 due to the elastic restoring force of the tongue 25 when the use position is reached.

The key element 3 can slide along the wedge-shaped contour of the catch element 26 by means of the second operating element 29 (fig. 1) and in this case the catch element is moved out of engagement with the catch edge 27 by elastic deformation of the tongue 25. The actuating element 29 is designed to be able to engage in the intermediate space between the fixing pins 21 and can thus be moved upwards through this space. Without such an engagement, the securing pin 21 can be prevented, for example, by any tool being able to move the catch element 26 out of engagement with the catch edge 27. That is, the locking device 4 can only be released if the key-lock principle is noticed, that is to say this requires a matching key element 3.

Alongside the operating element 29, the key element 3 also has a lateral guide element 30. Said guiding element enables the key element 3 to be easily positioned correctly inserted into the locking device 4 to unlock the locking device 4.

Fig. 4 also shows the locking device 4 in a side detail in the removal position of fig. 2. Like elements are provided with like reference numerals, so that reference may also be made to the preceding reference numerals.

Fig. 4 shows in particular how the cover 22 and the rail element 24 form a guide structure 23 for the rail 12 of the lower carrier part 10 in cooperation with one another, and how the elastically deformable tongue in the removal position can be returned to the starting position together with the locking element 26. The key element 3 is inactive in the removal position and is shown together for the sake of completeness only.

Finally, it is also pointed out with respect to fig. 3 and 4 that these two figures show how the adapter 19 is arranged in the lower holding element 17 and that said adapter can be easily replaced with another adapter. The shape of the adapter 19 shown here is adapted to the shape of the bottom 18 of the bottle body 5 used here, so that a form-locking against lateral movements is formed due to the convex and concave surfaces. This additionally secures the container 1 in the wall hanger 2 when the wall hanger is in the use position. At the same time, the container 1 is prevented from slipping off the lower holding element 17 when the wall hanger 2 is opened.

List of reference numerals:

1. container

2. Wall hanging piece

3. Key element

4. Locking mechanism

5. Bottle body

6. Output unit

7. Operating head

8. Output nozzle

9. Bracket part (Upper)

10. Bracket part (lower)

11. Fixing mechanism

12. Rail track

13. Holding element (Upper)

14. Formed part (first)

15. Shaping article (second)

16. Threaded sleeve

17. Holding element (lower)

18 Bottom (5)

19. Adapter device

20. Through hole

21. Fixing pin

22. Covering piece

23. Guiding structure

24. Rail element

25. Tongue piece

26. Locking element

27. Latch edge

28. Inclined plane

29. Operating element

30. Guide element

Claims (20)

1. Wall-mounted dispenser for supplying and outputting a liquid, in particular a laundry active or a care product for body care, comprising a exchangeable container (1) for the liquid and a wall-mounted member (2), the wall-mounted member (2) being used for mounting the wall-mounted dispenser on a building installation, wherein the container (1) is provided with an output unit (6) for metering the liquid out of the container (1), the wall-mounted member (2) comprises at least one upper holding element (13) and at least one lower holding element (17) for holding and securing the container (1),

the wall mount (2) comprises at least two bracket parts (9, 10) which can be moved or adjusted relative to each other, wherein an upper bracket part (9) is fixedly connected with the upper holding element (13) and a lower holding part (10) is fixedly connected with the lower holding element (17).

2. Wall-mounted dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the upper and lower bracket parts (9, 10) are movable relative to each other between a pushed-together use position, in which the container (1) is held and fixed, and a mutually pulled-apart removal position, in which the container (1) can be removed from the wall-mount (2) or the container (1) can be loaded into the wall-mount (2).

3. Wall-mounted dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the upper bracket part (9) and/or the lower bracket part (10) is provided with a locking mechanism (4) to lock the upper bracket part (9) and the lower bracket part (10) in the use position.

4. A wall-mounted dispenser according to claim 3, wherein the locking mechanism (4) is releasable by a separate key element (3).

5. Wall-mounted dispenser according to claim 4, wherein the locking mechanism (4) comprises a resilient tongue (25) and a catch element (26), the catch element (26) being provided on the resilient tongue (25), the resilient tongue (25) being fixed on one of the upper and lower bracket parts (9, 10) and, in the use position of the wall-mounted part (2), the resilient tongue (25) being snap-fittingly engaged from behind a raised or snap-lock edge (27) of the other of the upper and lower bracket parts (9, 10).

6. Wall-mounted dispenser according to claim 4, wherein the locking mechanism (4) comprises a resilient tongue (25) and a catch element (26), the catch element (26) being fixed to one of the upper and lower bracket parts (9, 10), the resilient tongue (25) being fixed to the other of the upper and lower bracket parts (9, 10) and in the use position of the wall-mounted (2) the tongue (25) is lockingly latched to the catch element (26) from behind.

7. Wall-mounted dispenser according to claim 4 and one of claims 5 and 6, characterized in that the key element (3) is provided with at least one guiding element (30) for correctly positioning the insertion of the wall-mounted (2) and an operating element (29), the operating element (29) being arranged to move the resilient tongue (25) against a resilient return force.

8. Wall-mounted dispenser according to at least one of claims 3 to 7, wherein the upper bracket part (9) and the lower bracket part (10) have an overlap region at least in the use position of the wall-mounted (2), in which overlap region the locking mechanism (4) is arranged.

9. Wall-mounted dispenser according to claim 8, characterized in that it is provided with a securing mechanism (11) for mounting the wall-mounted element (2) on the building installation, and in that the securing mechanism (11) is at least partially arranged in the overlapping area of the upper and lower bracket parts (9, 10).

10. Wall-mounted dispenser according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the overlapping area is provided with a cover (22) towards the container (1).

11. Wall-mounted dispenser according to at least one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the upper bracket part (9) and/or the lower bracket part (10) is provided with at least one rail (12), along which rail (12) the two bracket parts (9, 10) can be moved relative to each other.

12. Wall-mounted dispenser according to at least one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the container (1) is a pump dispenser having a bottle (5) and an output unit (6) mounted on the bottle (5), the output unit (6) comprising a metering pump with an operating head (7) and an output mouth (8).

13. Wall-mounted dispenser according to claim 12, wherein the upper holding element (13) of the wall-mounted member (2) has a ring-shaped or fork-shaped first shaping member (14) for shape-fittingly receiving the bottle body (5), bottle neck and/or the output unit (6).

14. Wall-mounted dispenser according to claim 13, wherein in addition the upper holding element (13) of the wall-mounted element (2) is provided with a further second shaped element (15) spaced from the first shaped element (14) for supporting and/or guiding the operating head (7) of the output unit (6).

15. Wall-mounted dispenser according to at least one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the upper holding element (13) and preferably the entire upper bracket part (9) is made of sheet metal as a stamped and bent piece.

16. Wall-mounted dispenser according to at least one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the lower retaining element (17) of the wall-mounted (2) forms a seat for the bottom of the container (1).

17. The wall-mounted dispenser of claim 16, wherein the support is configured as a plate, fork, dish, basket, or tub.

18. Wall-mounted dispenser according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the support is provided or prepared with an adapter (19) for receiving the bottom (18) of the container (1), the adapter (19) preferably being made of plastic.

19. Wall-mounted dispenser according to at least one of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that the lower holding element (17) and preferably the entire lower bracket part (10) are made of sheet metal as stamped and bent pieces.

20. Wall-mounted dispenser according to at least one of claims 3 to 19, wherein the locking mechanism (4) is substantially made of plastic.