Improvements in or relating to dispensing devices for liquids

923,527. Tapping containers. METAL BOX CO. Ltd. May 25, 1961 [Aug. 23, 1960], No. 29146/60. Class 21. [Also in Groups XIV and XVIII] A device for dispensing liquids, e.g. liquid soap, from a container 1, closed by a self-sealing closure 2, comprises a cylinder 4 having an open end 5 in sealed engagement with the closure, a piston 6 slidable in the cylinder and urged by a spring 10 away from the open end 5, an actuating member 9 secured to the stem 8 of the piston for moving the piston so that a hollow needle 13 passes through the closure 2, and a delivery passage 16 communicating with the interior of the needle and extending through the piston and actuating member. The dispenser and the container, which may be a non-refillable can, are mounted on a wall &c. above a wash basin, the actuating member being pressed by a hand into which the soap is delivered, the closure 2 resealing when the needle is withdrawn by the spring 10. A sealing washer 7 is provided and venting in the normal way by air passing through the passage 16 and needle when pressure in the container drops is augmented, and the rate of flow increased, by air and liquid sucked into the chamber 17 after the hand has been withdrawn and injected into the can when the needle is thrust through the closure on the next operation of the device.