Passive dosing dispenser employing captive air bubble to provide product isolation
Patent 4305162 Issued on December 15, 1981. Estimated Expiration Date: November 10, 2000. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.
A passive dosing dispenser for issuing, for example, a volume of a toilet tank additive solution into a toilet tank as the water is draining therefrom while the toilet is flushing. A preferred dispenser comprises a product chamber for containing a quantity of a solid type product which can be dissolved in water to form a toilet tank additive product solution, a solution reservoir for containing a quantity of said solution in fluid communication with said product chamber, an inlet/discharge conduit having its lowermost end in fluid communication with said solution reservoir and its uppermost end in fluid communication with a syphon tube, a first air trap disposed adjacent said inlet/discharge conduit for trapping an air bubble that is used for isolating said product solution from the toilet tank water in the syphon tube during quiescent periods, a second air trap disposed adjacent the syphon tube for retaining the air bubble while the water is draining from the toilet tank during flushing, a discharge reservoir disposed at the outlet end of the syphon tube to retard the discharge of the toilet tank additive product solution so that the discharge requires a predetermined period of time, and an air vent in fluid communication with the solution reservoir and the product chamber.