LIQUID DISPENSING APPARATUS

摘要

A dispensing apparatus (10) for dispensing metered quantities of a liquid. The apparatus comprises a peristaltic pump (11) having a pump inlet (13) adapted for connection to a liquid supply (17) and a pump outlet (15). Flow from the pump outlet (15) is controlled by a control valve (45) having a valve intake (47) for receiving liquid from the pump outlet and two valve outlets one being a return outlet (48) communicating with the pump inlet and the other being a discharge outlet (49) communicating with a dispensing handpiece (21). The control valve (45) has two modes of operation, one being a recirculating mode in which liquid entering the intake is directed to the return outlet and the other being a discharge mode in which liquid entering the valve intake is directed to the discharge outlet. A control means including a key pad (25) on the dispensing handpiece (21) is provided for controlling operation of the control valve in the two modes and for controlling operation of the pump.