Liquid dispensing apparatus

Claim 1

A liquid dispensing apparatus comprising: a support means; a movable head mounted on said support means; means, including a head drive motor, connected to said head and said support means for raising and lowering said head in a substantially vertical direction relative to said support; at least one syringe mounted on said head, said syringe having a movable piston therein for drawing fluid into and discharging fluid from said syringe; filling and discharge means mounted on said head and coupled to said movable piston for moving said piston to fill and discharge said syringe; a movable arm mounted on said support and adapted to carry a plurality of rows of containers, said arm being movable substantially horizontally and arranged to move said plurality of rows of containers successively beneath said syringe to receive liquid dispensed from said syringe; indexing means for controlling the position of said movable arm whereby selected rows of containers may be presented sequentially beneath said syringe; indexing drive means for actuating said indexing means for controlling the position of said movable arm; control means coupled to said filling and discharge means for dispensing predetermined quantities of fluid from said syringe; electric circuit means intercoupling said head drive motor, said indexing drive means and said control means for sequentially positioning a selected row of containers beneath said syringe, lowering said head, discharging a predetermined quantity of fluid from said syringe, raising said head and initiating a new sequence; and said electric circuit means further includes means for varying the quantity of fluid dispensed from row to row of said containers.