A liquid dispensing device includes at least one piston pump (7), which sucks liquid to be dispensed from a container in a filling cycle and applies the liquid to a target in an emptying cycle and which is driven by an actuator comprising an actuating element (1) that is arranged to move a piston rod (2) between two extreme positions, and a gripper (3) attached to the actuating means (1), which gripper is able to engage with the piston rod (2) so as to move it along with the actuating element. The gripper (3) is made able to engage with the piston rod (2) only in its first extreme position and arranged to disengage automatically from the piston rod in its second extreme position.