Device for the transfer of liquids

Abstract

A funnel, shaped like a tube, to aid transferring liquids from one vessel to another. Universal bung fittings or adaptor connections to fit the funnel and to fit a variety of containers. Calibrations on a transparent funnel. Mechanical or electronic volume flow counters to measure the quantity transferred. Hermetically sealed connection between the liquid container and the entrance to the tube. Removable hermetically sealable cap on base of funnel to catch drips.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of liquid transfer devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In order to better explain this invention the example given in this specification is the transfer of engine oil from an oil container to the aperture in a vehicle engine for the topping up of the oil level in the engine.

The difficulty arises when the recipient aperture is small and/or hard to reach or inaccessible. Many different devices have been revealed to aid the pouring of liquids while avoiding or preventing spillage of the liquid around the recipient aperture.

In the case of the example of filling oil in the vehicle engine, the oil container is often relatively large with a capped opening for pouring the oil. The recipient aperture in the vehicle engine is relatively small (often three or four centimeters) and is often positioned near the center of the upper face of the engine with other engine parts in close proximity. When oil is poured from its container into the recipient aperture, it is very difficult to avoid spillages of oil on the surrounding engine parts.

This invention is a further attempt to solve this difficulty. The innovation includes the universality of the connecting pieces, the anti-drip devices, volume indicator showing the volume of liquid passed through the oil transfer tube and tube flexibility to reach difficult and almost inaccessible locations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description present embodiments of the invention and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate various embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles and operations of the invention but the not to limit the invention to these descriptions only.

The object of this invention is to aid the pouring of liquid while avoiding spillage by using a funnel that attaches at the top end of the funnel to the container of the liquid being poured and at the other end of the funnel fits in or is attached to the recipient container.

A further object of this invention is to have a universally fitting bored bung piece to fit into the aperture of the container holding the liquid to be poured.

A further object of this invention is to have a universally fitting bored bung piece to fit into the aperture of the recipient container.

A further object of this invention is to have the two said bored bung pieces joined by a flexible tube and/or an inflexible tube and/or a concertina style tube and/or an expandable coiled tube.

A further object of this invention is for there to be a screw cap fitting to fit the screw thread on the aperture of the container holding the liquid to be poured, the screw cap being attached to a tube used for transferring the liquid from the container holding the liquid to be poured to the recipient container.

A further object of this invention is for the said screw cap fitting to be a universal fitting cap suitable to fit more than one size of liquid container.

Alternatively, it is an object of this invention to have a least one exchangeable adaptor threaded connector to fit the top end of the funnel where the other side of the adaptor fits the thread of the container of the liquid being poured. There could be a set of adaptors that can be removably attached to the top of the funnel and also fit a variety of sizes of liquid containers, each adaptor in the set fitting a different size container.

A further object of this invention is for there to be a hermetical drip catcher at the end of the tube where the liquid exits the flexible tube. At the entrance end of the tube there could be a detachable hermetically sealed cap or the tube could remain attached to the container of liquid to be poured, for convenience and storage purposes, whereby the hermetically sealed connection would enable the liquid container to remain attached to the pouring tube without fear of leakage of liquid. For example in the case where the liquid is engine oil, the tube for transferring the oil to the engine could remain attached to the transfer tube and be stored even horizontally in the car without fear of leakage.

A further object of this invention is for the said tube to have a clip device to prevent the spout of the tube from exiting from the recipient aperture while liquid is being poured.

A further object of this invention is for there to be a flexible spiral shaped piping joining the said bored bungs or the said screw cap fittings. The spiral shape would enable the piping to reach farther distances and after use would contract to a convenient and shorter length, for storage purposes.

A further object of this invention is to have a numerator to indicate the volume of liquid that has passed through the tube since the last zeroing of the numerator. The numerator could be manual or electronic. The volume could be measured by a fan-like vane in the tube, being turned on an axis by the movement of the passing liquid in the tube. The number of turns would indicate the volume of liquid passing through the tube.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain by way of example only, the principles of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction of the funnel device showing the volume numerator, handle with flow control and cap to prevent drips.

FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction of the spiral piping with bored bungs at the piping extremities.

FIG. 3 is a schematic depiction of the spiral piping attached to a rod.

FIG. 4 is a schematic depiction of the funnel device using a hollow rod.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As will be appreciated the present invention is capable of other and different embodiments than those discussed above and described in more detail below, and its several details are capable of modifications in various aspects, all without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Accordingly, the drawings and description of the embodiments set forth below are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.

FIG. 1 shows a liquid (in this example oil) transfer device 50 of this invention.

The oil container 52 is inverted in order to pour oil. A hermetically fitting cap 54 is attached to the threaded neck of the container 52. There are volume gradations 56 marked on the transparent tubing 58.

A handle 60 is for holding the apparatus in steadily place.

There is a trigger type handle 62 that controls a sealing device 64 in the tube 58. The sealing device 64 is shown in the open position for allowing liquids to pass and can block the passage of liquids when in the sealing position 66.

There is a numerator 68 that could display the volume of liquid that has passed the numerator 68 since the last time the numerator was zeroed. There is a flow director 70 to bring the flowing liquids to one side of the numerator fan-like blades 72. When liquids pass by the fan blades, the blades 72 turn and according to the number of turns the volume displayed 68 is adjusted. The blades 72 could be cup shaped and adjusted to turn when the volume of liquid in the said cup is a given amount. Thereby each blade turn represents a given volume of liquid.

At the base of the tube 58 is a cap 74 that fastens to the base of the tube 58 to prevent unwanted dripping of liquids from remnants of liquid in tube 58.

FIG. 2 shows a liquid transfer device 100 of this invention.

There is a tapered bung 102 at one extremity whose smallest diameter and largest diameter fit to the size of a wide range of liquid containers. A hole 104 is bored through bung 102 to enable liquids to pass through the hole 104.

The tubing 120 could be attached to the wide end of the bung 102 or pass through the hole 104 of bung 102 until it reaches the narrow end of bung 102. The material of bung 102 could be for example a silicon or rubber based compound that would make a sealed connection when pressed into the spout of a liquid container 106. There could be a flexible drip catcher 110 made, for example, of a silicon compound.

The tubing 120 could be a spiral shape to enable reaching more distant places and after use it would contract to a smaller and more convenient size, for storage.

At the distal end of the piping 120 would be a bored bung 112 tapered to enable the bung 112 to fit a variety of sizes of recipient apertures. There could be a clip 114 to grip the side of the spout of the recipient aperture 116. The clip 114 would prevent the bung 112 from accidentally exiting the recipient aperture 116. The clip 114 could be spring loaded so that it could be pressed onto the spout of the recipient aperture 116 and pulled off when so desired. The clip 114 could have a further function namely to block the hollow piping 120 when the clip 114 is withdrawn from the spout in order to prevent drips of liquid that take time to exit from the piping 120. When the bung 114 is pushed into an aperture, the clip could open to grip the spout of the recipient aperture 116 and that same movement would unblock the piping 120 thereby enabling liquids to pass through freely.

FIG. 3 shows a graduated wide necked container 150 with a lid 152 attached to a rod 154. A pipe 156 would be connected to the base of the container 150. At the distal end of the pipe 156 there is a bored bung 158 tapered to fit a variety of sizes of recipient apertures. There is a clip 162 to grip the spout of a recipient aperture with a means whereby when the clip 162 is on the said recipient spout an aperture in the pipe 156 would be open and when the clip 162 is removed the pipe 156 would be closed to prevent dripping of the fluids remaining in the pipe 156.

The piping could be spiral to accommodate the situation where a longer length of piping is needed. In such a case the container 150 could be removed from the stick and held at the desired distance.

The rod 154 would enable the user to attach the bung 158 into the recipient spout and remove the bung 158 without dirtying his hands. The rod 154 could be flexible or stiff.

FIG. 4 shows the same elements of the device described in FIG. 3 except the piping 172 is inside the hollow of the stick 170. This would make a neater and more compact self-contained unit.

Claims

1. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids comprising,

a. a tube with a thread on the upper extremity of the said tube, where the said thread hermetically fits the threaded aperture of a liquid container,

b. a numerator that measures the amount of liquid passing through the said tube,

c. a means to control the flow of the said liquid with a moveable stopper inside the said tube,

d. a removable cap that covers the lower extremity of the said tube, where the said cap hermetically fits onto the said tube extremity.

2. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a plurality of adaptors where one side of each said adaptor fits the thread on the said tube and the other side of each said adaptor is a threaded portion fitting a threaded spout of a liquid container, each said adaptor fitting a different sized said container.

3. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a movable stopper to control the flow of liquid through the said tube where the said stopper is substantially shaped and sized the shape and size of the inner circumference of the said tube.

4. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said tube is calibrated.

5. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said numerator indicates the volume of said liquid that passes through the said tube.

6. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids as claimed in claim 5 wherein the said measurement and indication is mechanical.

7. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids as claimed in claim 5 wherein the said measurement and indication is electrical.

8. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids comprising,

a. a tube to connect between the container holding the liquid to be poured,

b. a universal bored bung at one end of the said tube to fit the spout of containers of liquid,

c. at the distal end of the said tube a universal bored bung to fit the spout of recipient containers,

d. a means to start and stop the flow of the said liquid in the said tube by unblocking and blocking the said tube,

e. a numerator to measure and display the volume of said liquid that has passed by the said numerator measuring device, and

f. a leak-proof removable cap attached to the open end of the said tube to prevent undesired dripping of the said liquids from the said tube.

9. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids as claimed in claims 1 and 8 wherein the said tube is transparent.

10. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids as claimed in claim 8 wherein said numerator display is an analog display.

11. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids as claimed in claim 8 wherein said numerator display is a digital display.

12. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids comprising,

a. a container to hold the liquid to be poured with an opening in the base of the said container,

b. a hollow rod,

c. a tube attached at one end to the base of the said container and passing through the said stick to the extremity of the said rod,

d. a means of measuring the amount of liquid passing through the said tube.

13. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids as claimed in claim 1, 8 and 12 further comprising a clip attached to the said tube to hold the said tube in the desired position and to control the opening and closing of the said tube and thereby controlling the flow and cessation of flow of liquids through the said tube.

14. A tube shaped funnel for the transfer of liquids as claimed in claims 1, 8 and 12 where the said tube is in spiral form.