EP0519965B1 - Applicator head for medium applicators - Google Patents

Abstract

PCT No. PCT/EP91/00455 Sec. 371 Date Nov. 16, 1992 Sec. 102(e) Date Nov. 16, 1992 PCT Filed Mar. 12, 1991 PCT Pub. No. WO92/15660 PCT Pub. Date Sep. 17, 1992.A discharge head has an operating cap and a discharge connection for fitting on the operating shaft of a discharge apparatus. The discharge head has a shaft over most of its length positioned in contact-free manner within an outer sleeve of the discharge connection, and which is provided with a connecting member for fitting on the operating shaft. The other shaft end of the discharge head shaft is only fixed by press fit in a short inner sleeve and forms a nozzle core, and at the end a free-standing end wall, at which the medium is transversely deflected from a central portion of an outlet channel and is supplied via longitudinal channels to a discharge opening.

Description

The invention relates to a discharge head, as e.g. is used as an actuating handle and / or discharge nozzle on manually operable discharge devices for flowable media, such as liquid, pasty or similar media.

The discharge head can be retrofitted as a self-contained assembly on the finished discharge device, which has a valve tappet or a pump piston shaft, e.g. can only be fastened with a plug connection in that a shaft end of a shaft of the discharge head is pushed onto the valve tappet or the pump piston shaft.

From FR-A-2 178 658 a discharge head has become known, on the base of which a long shaft with a relatively large diameter and internal cross section is molded, which is attached to the pump piston shaft. A filler is used to reduce the internal dead volume in the shaft.

If the shaft is formed in one piece with the base body, the same discharge head base body can only be connected with a certain size of plunger. The situation is similar when the pump piston forms an assembly unit with the discharge head.

FR-A-2 588 490 describes a foam discharge head for valves on pressure vessels, in which the discharge head is placed on the valve stem via a short, thick intermediate piece.

The invention has for its object to avoid disadvantages of known designs and in particular to create a discharge head that can be adapted to different discharge devices and, if necessary, to different discharge openings with a simple design.

According to the invention, a separate shaft can be fastened to the discharge head by means of a plug-in connection, in particular exclusively by a press fit, this shaft preferably forming a connecting member with one end for direct connection to the actuating member of the discharge device and / or with the other end a profiled shaft end , for example serves to guide the media flow in changing directions. This end of the shaft is preferably inserted into a short, freely projecting inner sleeve of the discharge head in such a way that the major part of the length of the shaft lies completely contact-free within the discharge head.

The shaft or the shaft end which is fixedly arranged in the discharge head expediently has longitudinally adjoining shaft sections of different outer width, where it expediently has the largest shaft width in the region of the connecting member and the smallest shaft width at the other shaft end. The connecting member has, in the manner of a sleeve or sleeve, a central plug-in opening for receiving the actuating member of the discharge device.

It can also be advantageous if the discharge opening is essentially independent of this configuration of the discharge head The associated end of the shaft forms a reduced nozzle core with an end or end wall, axially adjacent to which the nozzle core is penetrated on the circumference by at least one passage opening, which connects a section of the outlet channel lying completely inside the shaft to a section lying on the outer circumference of the shaft . The end wall, which can be connected in one piece to the rest of the shaft in the manner of a U-shaped bridge via two legs, can also have grooves, depressions or the like on its end face, for example to form a swirl device. have and with this end face against an essentially continuous inner end face of the discharge head, which is penetrated by a nozzle channel forming the discharge opening. As a result, the influencing of the flow of the medium before entering the nozzle channel can only be changed by using a different shaft.

The section of the outlet channel lying within the shaft expediently has cross sections which deviate from the circular shape, e.g. are approximately flat rectangular or so star-shaped that e.g. Connect three flat groove cross-sections evenly distributed around a central axis with their open long sides facing the central axis.

Fig. 1

einen erfindungsgemäßen Austragkopf im Axialschnitt mit angedeuteter Austragvorrichtung;

Fig. 2

eine weitere Ausführungsform eines Austragkopfes;

Fig. 3

die Anordnung gemäß Fig. 2, jedoch ohne Grundkörper des Austragkopfes;

Fig. 4

den Schaft des Austragkopfes nach Fig. 2 im Axialschnitt und vergrößerter Darstellung;

Fig. 5

eine Längsansicht des Schaftes gemäß Fig. 4 in vergrößerter Darstellung;

Fig. 6

einen Querschnitt durch den Schaft gemäß Fig. 4;

Fig. 7

eine weitere Ausführungsform eines Austragkopfes;

Fig. 8

den Austragkopf gemäß Fig. 7 bei abgenommenem Austragkopf-Grundkörper;

Fig. 9

den Schaft gemäß Fig. 7 im vergrößerten Axialschnitt;

Fig. 10

einen Querschnitt durch den Schaft gemäß Fig. 9.

These and other features of preferred developments of the. In addition to the claims, the invention also emerges from the description and the drawings, the individual features being able to be implemented individually or in groups in the form of sub-combinations in one embodiment of the invention and in other fields and can represent advantageous and protectable embodiments . Embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings and are explained in more detail below. The drawings show:

Fig. 1

a discharge head according to the invention in axial section with indicated discharge device;

Fig. 2

a further embodiment of a discharge head;

Fig. 3

the arrangement of Figure 2, but without the main body of the discharge head.

Fig. 4

the shaft of the discharge head of Figure 2 in axial section and enlarged view.

Fig. 5

a longitudinal view of the shaft of FIG 4 in an enlarged view.

Fig. 6

a cross section through the shaft of FIG. 4;

Fig. 7

a further embodiment of a discharge head;

Fig. 8

the discharge head according to Figure 7 with the discharge head body removed.

Fig. 9

the shaft of Figure 7 in an enlarged axial section.

Fig. 10

9 shows a cross section through the shaft according to FIG. 9.

The discharge head 1 according to FIG. 1 is used for actuation and for media connection to a discharge device 2, which has, for example, a push piston pump 3 with a piston unit 4 which can be displaced in a cylinder housing 5. The housing 5, the can also be formed by a simple container for the one-time emptying, which is closed on the floor opposite the piston unit 4, is clamped tightly with the aid of a cap 7 with an inserted cylinder cover or a peripheral flange against the end face of the neck of a media container 6, in which protrudes the housing 5 with an end having an inlet valve. The piston unit 4 forms an outlet valve 8 for a pump outlet channel penetrating it inside up to an actuating shaft 9. The actuating shaft 9 serves as the only connection of the discharge device 2 to the discharge head 1 lying in the central axis 10 of the pump 3 by means of an axial clamping or plug connection.

The discharge head 1 formed by two injection-molded plastic parts has an outer, completely exposed, housing-like hollow base body 11 and a one-piece shaft 12 lying completely recessed therein, which is open in a tube-like manner at both ends and which only has a short end in the immediate, completely encased area Is in contact with the base body 11. The base body 11 forms at one end a flat, expanded cap 13, into which the projecting end of the housing 5 or the cylinder cover protrudes in the assembled state. The closed end wall of this cap 13 forms a pressure handle 14 for actuating the pump 3.

A discharge nozzle 15, which is substantially reduced compared to the cap 13, protrudes freely above the end wall, which is formed by an outer sleeve 16 which integrally connects the end wall with one end and an inner sleeve 17 which only extends over a small part of its length. The inner sleeve 17 merges with its end facing away from the cap 13 in one piece into the associated end of the outer sleeve 16 and forms with it a nozzle cap 18. The outer circumference of the inner sleeve 17 projecting freely against the cap 13 is essentially contact-free over its entire length with respect to the inner circumference of the outer sleeve 16. At the end of the discharge nozzle 15, the end wall of the nozzle cap 18 is penetrated by a nozzle channel of an atomizing nozzle which forms the discharge opening 19 of the discharge device 2.

The shaft 12 is firmly seated in the inner sleeve 17 and the nozzle cap with a shaft end 20, which is offset several times in the outer width and corresponds to only about a quarter of the total length of the shaft 12, and is only fastened thereby. It is conceivable, 16 support ribs or the like on the inner circumference of the outer sleeve. to provide which secure the shaft 12 in position at a distance from the inner sleeve 17 on the outer circumference. The shaft end 20 forms, as the associated end section of the shaft 12, a nozzle core 21 which engages closely in a bore of the nozzle cap 18 and which has the smallest outside width of all the shaft sections and up to the inner end of the nozzle channel or the approximately flat bottom surface of the bore which surrounds it in a ring enough.

In the area of the transition between the outer and inner sleeves 16, 17, the nozzle core 21 merges via an approximately flat annular shoulder 36 into a short, acute-angled conical shaft section 22, which in turn is continuously connected to an essentially cylindrical shaft section 23. This shaft section 23 merges continuously within the inner sleeve 17 into a further, sharply angled conical shaft section 24 which extends beyond the free end of the inner sleeve 17 and to which a longest, continuously cylindrical shaft section 25 is continuously connected. The shaft section 25 is surrounded by a circumferential, closed sheath free and at the end facing away from the shaft end 20 into an expanded, sleeve-shaped connecting member 26, which protrudes into the cap 13 without contact against the end wall, but is set back relative to the open cap side. The connecting member 26 forms with its inner circumference a plug opening 27 delimited at the bottom by an annular shoulder, which is adapted to the actuating shaft 9 so that it can be used up to the stop of its end on the annular shoulder. The insertion opening 27 can be funnel-shaped at the introducer and have at least one projecting annular bead between its ends as a seal and clamping zone for the actuating shaft 9.

The shaft 12 forms a section 29 of an outlet channel 28 to be connected directly to the pump outlet channel of the actuating shaft 9 by means of the plug connection mentioned. The section 29 extends from the connecting member 26 to the nozzle core 21 or to the annular shoulder 36 and is bore-like exclusively from the jacket of the shaft 12 limited, as well as free of used parts. In the area of the annular shoulder 36, the outlet channel 28 merges into a transverse channel 31 which penetrates the shaft 12 diametrically and also has substantially constant cross sections over its length and which has approximately the same flow cross sections as the section 29. The transverse channel 31 passes through the outer circumference of the shaft 12 only in the region of the nozzle core 21 with two through openings 33 facing away from one another, which are the same width as the transverse channel 31 and connect to the annular shoulder 36.

The nozzle core 21 thereby forms an end wall 34 opposite the annular shoulder 36, the inside 35 of which delimits the transverse channel 31 and the two opposite, the transverse channel 31 and the passage openings 33 laterally delimiting leg 38 with the shaft portion 22 or the annular shoulder 36 is integrally connected. Longitudinal channels 32 extend from the annular shoulder 36 to the end surface 39 of the shaft 12 or to the outside of the end wall 34, each of which connects a passage opening 33 to a common swirl device 37 which is located immediately adjacent to the inner end of the nozzle channel. Each longitudinal channel 32 is formed by an axial groove, the bottom surface of which is expediently curved about the central axis 10 and which can be the same width as or wider than the associated passage opening 33, its flow cross sections being expediently constant over its length. The grooves are provided in the outer circumference of the nozzle core 21 and are closed by the associated inner circumference of the nozzle cap 18 on the open longitudinal sides of the groove.

The annular shoulder 36 lies tightly against a corresponding annular shoulder of the nozzle cap 18, in which the shaft sections 22, 23, 24 also engage in a tight and self-locking manner. When the pump is actuated, the medium flows through the channel section 29 and the transverse channel 31 into the much narrower longitudinal channels 32 and then into even narrower connecting channels provided in the end face 39, through which the medium is set in a rotational flow around the nozzle axis and then atomized finely through the nozzle channel is applied for use.

For assembly, the discharge head 1 can also be plugged onto the actuating shaft 9 after the pump 3 has been fastened to the container 6, since a pump actuation taking place here, limited by the piston unit 4 being stopped, due to the intended volume ratios at most to a media filling of the channel section 29, but not to discharge of medium. The connecting member 26 can in the initial position Engage the pump in the housing 5 or the cylinder cover and lie completely inside the housing 5 in the pump stroke end position.

2 to 5, the shaft section 25 passes through with an approximately continuous outer width up to the annular shoulder 36 or the nozzle core 21, at the end of which it may have a chamfered shaft section 22 for easier insertion into the inner sleeve 17, which is cylindrical on the inner circumference over the entire length .

The cylindrical section 29 of the outlet channel 28 merges at a short distance in front of the transverse channel 31 into a narrower section 30 which, according to FIG. 6, has a flat cross section such that the legs 38 are formed, so that the outer diameter of the nozzle core 21 is approximately of the order of magnitude of the section 29 can lie or is only greater by approximately the depth of the longitudinal channels 32 compared to the inner width thereof.

5, each longitudinal channel 32 is in the form of a ring segment in cross section and is connected via a connecting channel 40 approximately tangentially to a central chamber or depression 41. The connecting channel 40 and the recess 41 are formed by recesses in the end surface 39. Each connecting channel 40 decreases wedge-shaped in cross section from the longitudinal channel 32 in the direction of the recess 41, and at the further inlet end it has a flow cross section which is only about half as large as that of the longitudinal channel 32, namely only extends over part of the width of this longitudinal channel 32. A wedge flank 42 of the groove-shaped connecting channel 40 extends approximately from a flank of the longitudinal channel 32 tangentially to the inner circumference of the circular recess 41, the diameter of which is of the order of the width of the longitudinal channel 32. This will achieved a high atomization effect with simple training.

The connecting member 26 according to FIG. 4 has a plug opening 27 of multiple diameter and at the open end thereof an extension for accommodating a correspondingly enlarged collar of the actuating shaft 9, in which, according to FIG. 1, a shaft part of a piston core of the piston unit 4 is inserted can that a piston sleeve is fixed with a predetermined axial tension.

7 to 10, the outer circumference of the nozzle core 21 merges directly into the shaft section 22. At the free end, the nozzle core 21 is provided with a stepped annular shoulder 43, which forms an annular channel with the nozzle cap 18 on the outside of the end wall 34. The outlet channel 28 forms in the region of the section 29 three channels which are in the form of a longitudinal groove but communicate with one another and are arranged in a star shape about the central axis 10 and extend to the inside 35 of the end wall 34. A single to all groove channels are each connected via a transverse channel 31 and a passage opening 33 to a longitudinal channel 32 which opens into the annular shoulder 43. As a result, three transverse channels 31 uniformly distributed over the circumference and correspondingly arranged passage openings 33 and longitudinal channels 32 can be provided. The respective passage opening 33 lies approximately in the plane of the bottom wall of the associated groove channel of section 39. The transverse wall 34 is connected to the closed jacket of the nozzle core 21 via three legs, a passage opening 33 being provided between two adjacent legs.

The shoulder 36 which delimits the respective passage opening 33 on the inside 39 lies at a distance here in front of the shaft section 22 in the jacket of the nozzle core 21. If the shaft is encased by the inner sleeve over a greater length or up to the connecting member 26, the transverse channel 31 can also be much closer to the connecting member and the longitudinal channels 32 are correspondingly lengthened.

Each described feature can be provided in all embodiments.

Claims (11)

1. Discharge head for medium discharge apparatuses (2) with a basic body (11), a discharge opening (19), in which an elongated shaft (12) constructed as a separate component is provided for the connection of the discharge head (1) to an operating member (9) of the discharge apparatus (2) and with a jacketed shaft end (20) is inserted in firmly seated manner in a sleeve (17) of the basic body (11), the shaft end (20) inserted in the sleeve (17) being shorter than the remaining shaft.
2. Discharge head according to claim 1, characterized in that the shaft (12) is formed by a substantially free, inner component, which is only jacketed by the basic body (11) at the associated shaft end (20) for fixing and preferably at least over most of its length is free from internal components, the shaft (12) being jacketed by the basic body (11) over less than a quarter of its length and/or the jacketed length is at the most twice as large as the average shaft width.
3. Discharge head according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the jacketed shaft end (20) has at least one diameter-reduced and/or at least one conically tapering shaft portion (21 to 24), to which is preferably closely adapted a reception opening of the basic body (11).
4. Discharge head according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a, more particularly widened, rear shaft end forms a connecting member (26) for direct connection to the operating member (9), such as a plug muff for the reception of a piston shaft and/or extends into a cap (13) of the basic body (11) and preferably substantially only the connecting member (26) is provided for the reception of a component engaging in the shaft.
5. Discharge head according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, over most of its length, the shaft (12) rests in contact-free manner within an outer sleeve (16) of a discharge connection (15), which forms with the sleeve (17) an end cap (18) having the discharge opening (19) and/or at the other end passes into a widened cap (13) for the discharge apparatus (2) forming an operating handle (14).
6. Discharge head according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shaft (12), over most of its length and part of its fixed shaft end (20) has a portion (29) of an outlet channel (28) whose cross-section is only limited by the shaft and which in particular at least over part has cross-sections differing from the circular shape, such as flat, radial or similar cross-sections and preferably an inner portion (30) of the outlet channel (28) at least in the vicinity of the front shaft end (20) forms a reduced flat cross-section, whose flat sides in particular form insides of legs (38) of an end wall (34) and/or in which the front shaft end (20) particularly between each passage opening (33) and the end face (39) of the shaft, has at least one longitudinal channel (32), whose cross-section rests approximately in ring segmental manner on the outer circumference of the nozzle core (21) and has a much greater width than its depth.
7. Discharge head for medium discharge apparatuses with a basic body (11), a discharge opening (19) and a shaft (12) inserted in the discharge head and provided for connecting the discharge head (1) to an operating member (9) of the discharge apparatus (2) and which in the vicinity of a front shaft end (20) and spaced behind the associated end face (39) has at least one transverse channel (31) leading to an outside and to the discharge opening (19) and which is located on the inside (35) of an end wall (34) forming the end face (39) and/or is bounded by said substantially planar inside and a facing shoulder (36).
8. Discharge head according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the front shaft end (20) of the shaft (12) with an end portion forms a cross-section-reduced nozzle core (21), whose jacket preferably traverses the transverse channel (31) at at least one of the displaced sides with at least one passage opening (33) and in particular forms the end wall (34) facing as a cross-bridge the end of the inner portion (29) of the outlet channel (28) and which is connected by means of at least one jacket leg (38) adjacent to the passage opening (33) to the adjacent shaft portion (22).
9. Discharge head according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the outer circumference of a nozzle core (21) formed by a jacketed shaft end (20) is connected to an adjacent shaft portion (22) by means of an approximately planar ring shoulder (36), which preferably forms a rear boundary of at least one passage opening (33) of a transverse channel (31) and/or a sealing face engaging on the basic body (11).
10. Discharge head according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the end face (39) of the front end (20) of the shaft (12) are provided depressions as transverse connecting channels (40), flow twisting device (37), central end chamber (41), etc. and which are bounded at the open sides by the basic body (11) and lead to a nozzle channel and that preferably all the depressions are provided only in the end face (39) of the shaft end (20) and the associated inner face of the basic body (11), which is particularly fixed on said end face (39) passes through in uninterrupted, uniform manner.
11. Discharge head according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on a front end face (39) of the shaft (12) are provided tangential connecting channels (40) and/or those which are narrowed in the flow direction by wedge-like flanks, which are connected to a central, widened depression (41) in particular by longitudinal channels (32) wider than their wider ends and preferably one flank (42) of the connecting channel (40) is connected substantially tangentially to the inner circumference of the central depression (41) and/or to a lateral flank of a longitudinal channel (32).

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