Liquid dispensing cabinet with readily removable pinch-cock valve assembly

Sept 17, 1957 l. f. norris etal 2,806,482

LIQUID DISPENSING CABINET WITH READILY REMOVABLE PINCH-COCK VALVE ASSEMBLY

Filed June 17, 1954

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2,806,482

Patented Sept. 17, 1957

United States Patent Office or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, front elevational view of our liquid dispensing cabinet with the valve assembly mounted 5 thereon;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of our cabinet with the door open to show the valve assembly mounted therein;

Fig. 3 is .a-horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the line 3—3 of Fig, 1 with a portion of the. valve10 mounting member broken away and showing the upper valve in open position and the insert member in closed position;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section showing the structure illustrated in Fig. 1 and taken substantially along 15 the line. 4—4. of Fig. 1; . . :

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, Vertical, sectional view showing the upper pinch-cock valve in detail and showing the same in open position by full lines and in closed position by dotted lines; .

Fig. 6 is . a fragmentary, horizontal, sectional view taken substantially along, the line 3—3 of Fig._; 1 but showing the upper pinch-cock valve in closed position as well as the insert member being swung into closed.position; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary,, horizontal, sectional view 25 taken substantially along the line 7—7 of Fig.¹ and shown ing the insert member in closed.position.

As illustrated in the accompanying, drawings, we provide a cabinet S having a. bottom panel 5a, side, panels 5ft, rear panel 5c and a top panel 5d and provided with a 30 closure door 6 generally similar to the cabinet disclosed in our previously identified patent. The bottom 5α has a step 7 formed along the 'front marginal edge portion thereof. The top surface 8α of said step is inclined, rearwardly from the extreme forward edge thereof, and the 35 bottom surface 86 thereof is also inclined, rearwardly from the extreme forward edge thereof,, as best shown in-, Fig. 4. The central, portion of the step 7 has a. recess, formed thereinto receive a mounting and anchoring memher designated as an entirety by the numeral. 9. Said. 40 member 9 has a pair of cooperating, inclined flanges, respectively designated by the numerals 9a and 9b for respectively engaging in lapped relation, the -top -and bottom surfaces 8a and Sb of step 8. Suitable, means foranchoring said flanges to the step is provided, such as the set screw element 10 threadedly inserted through the ⁴⁵ lower flange 9b to pull the upper, flange 9a tightly against the top step surface 8a. The mounting member 9 has a vertically disposed passage 11 formed therethrough as best shown in Fig. 4 wherein the center portions of the insert and flexible tube are broken away, said passage 11 ⁵⁰ extending from the top thereof to the bottom of the mounting member. Said passage is generally cylindrical in cross section but the front portion Ila thereof is open and unobstructed from top to bottom, to provide complete access to the passage 11 from the front Ila. An ⁵⁵ elongated insert member 12 has a cylindrical segment which is rotatably mounted in the cylindrical portion of said passage 11. Said insert member defines a passage 12a therein and the upper end of insert member 12 has an enlarged abutment flange body 13 which houses a ⁶⁰ manually operated, upper valve mechanism designated as an entirety by the numeral 14 and is best shown in Fig. 5. The upper valve mechanism 14 has a tube-engaging and pinching element 14a slidably mounted in a horizontally disposed slot 13α formed in the flanged body 13. A ⁶³ valve operator having an eccentric pin 14ft and actuating handle 14c is journaled for oscillation on an upstanding axis within said valve body 13 in laterally offset relation to the axis of the passage 12α defined within the insert γθ member 12. Obviously, Oscillation of the handle 14c.

^U on its axis will swing actuating eccentric pin 146 through a circumferential arc and said pin -being mounted in an

2,806,482

LIQUID DISPENSING CABINET WITH READILY REMOVABLE PINCH-COCK VALVE ASSEMBLY

T annip F. Noitis and David J. W. Timmersman, Minneapolis, Minn., assignors to Norris Manufacturing Company, Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota

Application June 17, 1954, Serial No. 437,404

Claims. (CI. 137—376)

This invention relates generally to liquid dispensing cabinets and particularly to a cabinet provided with- a readily removable pinch-cock valve assembly specifically constructed to facilitate- changing liquid containers enclosed in said cabinet.

While the invention disclosed and claimed in our prior patent, No. 2,601,319, entitled Liquid Dispensing Cabinet, issued in the United States Patent Office on June 24, 1952, has worked very satisfactorily, our present invention is an improvement thereon and is designed to further facilitate changing of the liquid containers housed within said cabinet by providing a readily removable and separable.pinchcock valve assembly which may be easily cleaned and which provides a positive lock for the valve assembly for safe, over-night storage.

It is therefore an object of our present invention to provide a liquid dispensing cabinet wherein liquid confining containers housed within the cabinet may be quickly and easily changed.

It is another object to provide a liquid dispensing cabinet specifically designed for refrigerating the liquid stored therein and provided with a pinch-cock valve assembly for controlling the liquid discharged from a container housed within the cabinet while permitting said valve assembly to be readily removed and disassembled for easy cleaning thereof.

It is a further object to provide a liquid dispensing cabinet provided with a pinch-cock type valve assembly having a portion thereof actuable only from within the dispensing cabinet and another portion actuable from outside the dispensing cabinet to permit a flexible liquid dispensing tube to be controllably opened and closed with said valve assembly being arranged so that closing of the tube by the actuating portion disposed within the cabinet will prevent dispensing of liquid by actuation of the portion disposed outside the cabinet.

It is still another Object to provide a liquid dispensing cabinet having a valve mounting assembly with a pair of pinch-cock valves mounted thereon, one of said valves being spaced above the other with the upper valve being disposed within the cabinet and the lower valve being disposed outside the cabinet, said valve mounting assembly receiving a flexible discharge tube therethrough to permit controlled flow by actuation of said valves, said lower valve controlling the flow only when said upper valve is open.

It is a still further object to provide a liquid dispensing cabinet for housing a liquid container and provided with an extremely accessible tube-receiving valve mounting member, greatly facilitating changing of the liquid containers in the cabinet by facilitation of the mounting of the elongated flexible dispensing tube therethrough and arrangement of the valve mechanisms in operative controlled position with respect to said tube.

These and other objects and advantages of our invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same

2,808,482 elongated, slot 14d in the tube-engaging, pinching element 14a positively shifts said tube-closing element 14α into and out of closing position. The lower portion of valve mounting and anchoring member 9 has a pair of horizontally disposed pin-receiving recesses 15 formed on 5 opposite sides thereof. Each of said pin-receiving recesses or apertures 15 has a pin-camming surface 16 extending forwardly and inwardly therefrom whereby a pair of opposed, spring pressed pins 17 mounted in an upwardly extending portion 18α of a weight member 18 can 10 be easily inserted into said apertures 15. Said weight member 18 has a.forwardly extending weight arm 18Z&gt; fixed thereto and in the form shown, disposed a slight distance below the spring pressed pivot pins 17 of said weight. A tube-engaging pincher 18c extends rearwardly 15 or inwardly in spaced relation below said spring pressed pivot pins and is disposed below the lower extremity of insert member 12 to pass through the access opening 11α formed in the front of passage 11 to engage a tube 19 received through said passage and pinch the same to- 20 gether, as best shown in Fig. 4, the weight arm 185 of course, providing sufficient closing force to positively close said tube. 19. The upper rear portion of weight member 18 is bifurcated to provide a pair of horizontally opposed, pin-mounting bosses 18rf, within which the pins 25 17 and pressure springs 17α are housed.

The tube-engaging closure element 18c fixed in rearwardly extending relation to the lower portion of weight member 18 has a pair of stop shoulders 18e for engaging the front face of the lower portion of mounting member 30 9 to positively limit the inward shifting movement of said pincher element and prevent cutting of the tube thereby.

The. following is the description of the assembly and operation of our new valve assembly.

With the insert 12 received in the mounting member 9, 35 which of course has been previously secured to the front step by screws 10, the tube 19 from the liquid container C supported on the bottom 5 of the cabinet, can be easily inserted into the tube-receiving passage 12α when said insert member 12 has the opening thereof disposed in 40 registration with the front opening 11α of mounting member 9. During this operation of course, the pinch-cock valve weight 18 is removed from the lower portion of mounting member 9 by retracting spring pressed pins 17 from their respective apertures so that the tube-receiving 45 passage 12α is completely accessible throughout its entire length and.said tube 19 can easily be mounted therein.

In practice, the tube 19 has the lower portion thereof sealed by any suitable means such as a positive vulcanized plug member being received therein and this closed end 50 must of course be severed from the upper portion of the tube in order to permit the liquid to pass from the container C downwardly, through the tube. It is of course possible to cut off this tube closure before mounting the valve weight 18 back onto the mounting member 9 by 55 closing the upper cam actuated pinch-cock valve 14. However, in normal practice, the weight 18 is assembled on the mounting member before the tube closure is cut therefrom.and. normally holds the tube in closed position, as shown in Fig. 4. However, raising of the weight arm 60 185 will of course remove the tube-engaging pincher element 18c from the tube and permit liquid to be discharged therethrough as long as the upper valve 14 is in open position.

It should be pointed out that the tube 19 can be com- 65 pletely surrounded in protected relation by rotating the insert member 12 through 180 degrees to close the opening 11α with a closed segment of said insert and position the opening of said insert at the rear of the passage through said mounting member. The upper end of said ⁷⁰mounting member has a substantially horizontally disposed bearing portion which receives and engages the lower surface of the flange body 13 to support said insert in. outstanding relation while permitting rotation thereof within said mounting member. ^{7 5} . The distance across the opening 11α at the upper portion of the mounting member is slightly less than the diameter of. the passage therethrough, thus positively retaining the insert member therein since the outside diameter of the cylindrical segment of the insert member is substantially the same as the inside diameter of the passage through the mounting member.

It will be seen that we have provided a relatively simple yet highly efficient liquid dispensing cabinet which may be. of the refrigerated type to house relatively large containers of milk or other liquids and facilitate dispensing thereof while maintaining the same in a cool condition. With the door 6 of the cabinet open, the container C may Of course be easily lifted onto the cabnet bottom 5 and the tube 19 inserted into its confining passage as has been previously described and said tube completely enclosed in said passage, as described.

Whenever a container is changed, the insert member and weight-operated pinch-cock valve structure may be completely removed from the mounting member and r* thoroughly washed before being reassembled. The complete and unobstructed accessibility to the tube-receiving passage when the openings in the insert member and mounting member , are brought into registration along with the. removability of the weight-operated pinch-cock valve structure, greatly speeds up changing of the containers within the cabinet and facilitates cleaning of the assembly. The parallel, front surfaces of the mounting member receive the sealing gasket 6α of the door 6 so that the. complete peripheral area of the door 6 will be substantially sealed. The upper valve assembly mechanism 14 is of course housed within the cabinet behind the door 6 and when the door is closed and locked, said valve will be inaccessible from the outside, thereby providing an easy and quick means for locking the dispensing mechanism if desired, to positively prevent stealing.of the milk or other liquid.

It will of course, be understood that various changes may. be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of our invention.