EP3486193B1

EP3486193B1 - Aerosol-type invertible valve mechanism and aerosol product provided with said invertible valve mechanism

Info

Publication number: EP3486193B1
Application number: EP17827264.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Naoto Kawashima; Shin Matsumoto; Hiroshi Kanno; Yasuo Ohshima
Original assignee: Mitani Valve Co Ltd
Current assignee: Mitani Valve Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-07-15
Filing date: 2017-05-30
Publication date: 2021-08-11
Anticipated expiration: 2037-05-30
Also published as: TWI633237B; CN109476413A; EP3486193A4; TW201804082A; ES2898378T3; CN109476413B; EP3486193A1; JPWO2018012131A1; WO2018012131A1

Description

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a valve acting section (stem hole) by which an operation mode setting operation of an aerosol-type product is used to shift from the previous closed state to an open state to inject the contents in a container body to an outer space region and a contents passage section in an invertible use mode communicating with this.
In particular, the invention relates to an invertible valve mechanism in which the contents passage section is composed of an upright inflow passage and an inverted inflow passage that are continuous in a single straight line-form and a shared invertible passage providing the communication from these common outflow holes to a valve acting section and in which a free fall-type moving valve is provided at a predetermined position of the inverted inflow passage.
This moving valve is configured so that the inverted inflow passage is set in a shutoff state when the invertible valve mechanism is upright so as to prevent the vaporized gas flowing in the upper part of the container body from entering the upright inflow passage or the shared invertible passage. The moving valve may be a ball valve for example.
The present invention provides an invertible valve mechanism for which the separation relation between this moving valve and the common outflow hole is considered for example to suppress the "gas entrainment" phenomenon of the vaporized gas in the contents to block the so-called intermittent injection of the contents caused by this so that the smooth and continuous injection state can be secured.
The "gas entrainment" phenomenon is caused, during the upright operation of the invertible valve mechanism, when the inverted inflow passage in the moving valve that should be shut off from the shared invertible passage is displaced in the "dancing" state in an up-and-down direction due to the strength of the contents flowing from the upright inflow passage.
In this "dancing" state, the contents flowing from the upright inflow passage to the shared invertible passage are mixed with the vaporized gas sent through the inverted inflow passage to cause the "gas entrainment", which consequently causes the intermittent injection state of the contents in the form of the so-called pulsating flow.
In this specification, the "upper" and "lower" directions around the respective components of the invertible valve mechanism show the upper and lower positions in the upright state in Fig. 1 to Fig. 2. The terms "upstream" and "downstream" are not included in the scope of the definitions of the upper and lower positions. The up-and-down directions in the respective drawings are also denoted as a "longitudinal" direction and the left-and-right direction is denoted as a "lateral" direction as required.

Background Art

The above-described aerosol-type invertible valve mechanism has been conventionally used that consists of the upright inflow passage, the inverted inflow passage, and the shared invertible passage, and this inverted inflow passage includes a free fall ball valve to switch the upright injection/inverted injection (see Patent Publication 1).

Prior Art Publication

Patent Publication

Patent Publication 1: Japanese unexamined patent application publication H6-199376
DE 34 33 496 A1 relates to a valve which an be operated in an upside down position for distribution of a pressurized liquid. A valve having a valve body which is closed on one side and whose blind end region is penetrated by an eccentric bore for the liquid supply, which bore opens out in an annular, axial groove of an attachment part. This groove communicates via an eccentric channel with a chamber in which an axial immersion tube and a passage open out, which passage is normally closed by a ball which is freely movable in a ball cage, but is connected via an aperture to the external space of the attachment part when the valve is turned upside down.
US 4,723,692 A relates to a spray value arrangement. A spray valve assembly for an aerosol container comprising a valve housing which can be sealingly fixed into the top of the container, the housing defining a main passage for the throughflow of the contents of the container, a valve stem within the housing forming the main valve, an immersion pipe extending from the main passage in the housing, a secondary passage communicating the container and the main passage in the housing for the throughflow of the contents of the container when the container is inverted, an auxiliary valve disposed between the secondary and main passages, which auxiliary valve is disposed eccentrically within the valve housing. GB 2 019 497 A relates to a spray valve for an aerosol can. In a valve for a pressurised dispenser can and of the type in which a lateral passage controlled by a ball valve permits discharge when the can is inverted, the ratio of the cross- sectional area of the aperture leading into the valve chamber, to the cross-sectional area of the dip tube nipple passage is between 1.1 and 1.5. The cross-sectional area of the aperture is 1.5 to 2.0 times greater than the nipple passage area.

Problem to be Solved by the Invention

In the case of the conventional invertible valve mechanism using the free fall-type moving valve (ball valve) for the aerosol-type product, the upper end of the common outflow hole is separated from the lower end of the moving valve in the up-and-down direction by a distance of 1.2mm for example.
Specifically, the moving valve has been provided in the very vicinity of the upper part of the common outflow hole in the inverted inflow passage that is shared by the upright inflow passage and the inverted inflow passage.
Thus, during the upright operation, the moving valve tends to be in the "dancing" state due to the strength of the contents flowing from the upright inflow passage.
This tends to cause the "gas entrainment" in the contents because the vaporized gas in the upper part of the container body flows from the inverted inflow passage into the shared invertible passage via the moving valve in this "dancing" state.
Due to the occurrence of this "gas entrainment", a disadvantage has been caused in which the contents injected through the shared invertible passage into the outer space region via the valve acting section (stem hole) undesirably change from the original continuous injection state to the pulsating flow-like intermittent injection state.
The occurrence of this intermittent injection state of the contents is conspicuous when the moving valve is positioned on an extended straight line at the common outflow hole side of the upright inflow passage, i.e., when the upright inflow passage and the inverted inflow passage are set to be continuous in a single straight line-form.
The invertible valve mechanism of the present invention pays attention on not the size or material of the moving valve but on the position of the moving valve in order to eliminate the intermittent injection state of the contents due to the "gas entrainment" in the invertible valve mechanism in which the moving valve is provided on the extended straight line at the contents outflow side of the upright inflow passage.
Specifically, the moving valve that shuts off the inverted inflow passage from the downstream-side shared invertible passage in the upright operation mode is provided at a position separated from the upper end of the common outflow hole for the upright inflow passage and the inverted inflow passage by a distance of at least 3.5mm or more desirably a distance of 3.7mm or more. This common outflow hole also functions as an inflow section to the shared invertible passage.
As described above, the moving valve to switch ON or OFF the inverted inflow passage is provided at a position upwardly separated from the common outflow hole for the upright inflow passage and the inverted inflow passage by a predetermined distance to thereby block the occurrence of the "dancing" state in which the moving valve in the upright operation mode is displaced by the strength of the upwardly-flowing contents.
This predetermined distance is "at least 3.5mm or more desirably a distance of 3.7mm or more" as described above. The moving valve is provided at a position at the upper side of the common outflow hole separated by a distance about three times longer than the conventional distance of "1.2mm".

Summary of the Invention

It is an objective of the present invention to block the occurrence of the "dancing" state of the moving valve in the upright operation mode, i.e., to stabilize the continuous injection state of the contents by preventing the vaporized gas from entering the shared invertible passage via this "dancing" moving valve to thereby prevent the "gas entrainment" in the contents.
It is another objective of the present invention to realize the effective use of the components of the invertible valve mechanism by approximately setting, without requiring a particular change of the size or material of the moving valve itself, the distance by which the common outflow hole is separated from the moving valve to a distance that prevents the strength of the injected contents from acting on the moving valve (or that blocks the occurrence of the "dancing" state of the moving valve).
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, there is provided an aerosol-type invertible valve mechanism according to claim 1.
Advantageous embodiments are defined by the dependent claims.

Means for Solving the Problem

The present invention solves the above disadvantage using an invertible valve mechanism described below.

(1) An aerosol-type invertible valve mechanism having a valve acting section (e.g., a lateral hole 2a, a stem gasket 3 (which will be described later)) that shifts, based on an operation mode setting operation, from the previous closed state to the open state to inject the contents in the container body (e.g., a container body 10 (which will be described later)) to an outer space region and a contents passage section in an invertible use mode that communicates with the valve acting section.
The contents passage section includes:
- an upright inflow passage of the contents (e.g., an upright inflow passage A (which will be described later)),
- an inverted inflow passage of the contents (e.g., an inverted inflow passage B (which will be described later)),
- a shared invertible passage (e.g., a shared invertible passage C (which will be described later)) that is formed at the downstream side from a common outflow hole (e.g., a common outflow hole 6f (which will be described later)) for the upright inflow passage and the inverted inflow passage and that communicates with the valve acting section, and
- a moving valve (e.g., a ball valve 7 (which will be described later)) that is provided at the common outflow hole side of the inverted inflow passage and that allows, by the falling action by its own weight in the respective upright and inverted modes, the inverted inflow passage in the inverted mode to communicate with the shared invertible passage.
The moving valve is configured so that:
the lower end thereof is provided at an upper position on the extended straight line at the contents outflow side of the upright inflow passage that is separated from the upper end of the common outflow hole by a distance of at least 3.5mm.
(2) In the above configuration (1),
the lower end of the moving valve is provided at the upper positon that is separated from the upper end by a distance of 3.7mm or more.
(3) In the above configurations (1) and (2),
a valve seat (e.g., a valve seat 6a (which will be described later)) is provided that constitutes the downstream-side parts of the upright inflow passage and the inverted inflow passage, respectively, and that receives the moving valve in the upright state to shut off the space between the upstream-side part and the downstream-side part of the inverted inflow passage. A cylindrical section (e.g., a cylindrical body 6c (which will be described later)) is provided that consists of the common outflow hole.
(4) In the above configurations (1), (2), and (3),
the upright inflow passage is a passage in which the input side is attached with a contents inflow tube (e.g., a dip tube 8 (which will be described later)), and the moving valve is a ball valve (e.g., a ball valve 7 (which will be described later)).

The present invention provides an invertible valve mechanism consisting of the above configuration and an aerosol-type product including this.

Effect of the Invention

The present invention blocks the occurrence of the "dancing" state of the moving valve in the upright operation mode to prevent the "gas entrainment" of vaporized gas in the contents, thus stabilizing the continuous injection state of the contents.
Furthermore, the common outflow hole is separated, without requiring a particular change of the size of the moving valve itself or the material thereof, from the moving valve by such a distance that prevents the strength of the flowing injection contents from acting on the moving valve, thus providing the efficient use of the components of the invertible valve mechanism.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates an upright stationary mode of the invertible valve mechanism.
Fig. 2 illustrates the upright operation mode of the invertible valve mechanism.
Fig. 3 illustrates an inverted stationary mode of the invertible valve mechanism.
Fig. 4 illustrates the inverted operation mode of the invertible valve mechanism.

Embodiment for Carrying Out the Invention

With reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 4, the following section will describe an embodiment to carry out the present invention.
The following components denoted with reference numerals including alphabetical letters (e.g., a button interior passage 1a) show that the components partially constitute components denoted by the numerical part of the reference numerals (e.g., a button 1) in principle.
In Fig. 1 to Fig. 4,
The letter A shows an upright inflow passage.
The letter B shows an inverted inflow passage.
The letter C shows a shared invertible passage starting from the common outflow hole for the upright inflow passage A and the inverted inflow passage B.
The letter L shows the interval in the up-and-down direction from the upper end of this common outflow hole to the lower end of the ball valve.
The reference numeral 1 denotes a depression-type button that can be moved in the up-and-down direction to operate the injection of the contents.
The reference numeral 1a denotes the well-known button interior passage reaching a contents injection opening.
The reference numeral 2 denotes a sheath-like stem integrated with the button 1.
The reference numeral 2a denotes a lateral hole functioning as an output valve with the stem gasket 3 (which will be described later).
The reference numeral 2b denotes a stem interior passage communicating with the lateral hole 2a and the button interior passage 1a.
The reference numeral 3 denotes a stem gasket for which the outer part is sandwiched between a housing body 4 and a mounting cup 9 (which will be described later) and the inner end functions as an output valve with the lateral hole 2a.
The reference numeral 4 denotes a housing body that is attached to the mounting cup 9 (which will be described later) to store the lower part of the stem 2 in the upright state and that defines the shared invertible passage C and the inverted inflow passage B for the contents in the container body.
The reference numeral 4a denotes an upper sheath-like section of an upper opening that stores a lower part of the stem 2 in the upright state (a substantially-lower part of the lateral hole 2a) and that functions as a space through which the contents are sent and in which the contents are stored.
The reference numeral 4b denotes a plurality of longitudinal rib-like sections that are provided on the inner circumferential face of an upper sheath-like section 4a and that have thereamong groove-like sections along which the contents are sent.
The reference numeral 4c denotes a lower sheath-like section of a lower opening that functions as the inverted inflow passage B or as a space region to store the ball valve 7 (which will be described later) in the inverted state.
The reference numeral 4d denotes the bottom face of the lower sheath-like section 4c in the inverted state that functions as a section to receive the ball valve 7 (which will be described later) in the inverted state.
The reference numeral 4e denotes the total of two peripheral face openings of the rectangular longitudinal cross section that are formed on the upper column of the lower sheath-like section 4c at an interval of 180 degrees in the circumferential direction and that function as the inflow side of the inverted inflow passage B, respectively.
The reference numeral 4f denotes the longitudinal space region having an upper opening in the inverted state and having a circular lateral cross section. This longitudinal space region has a bottom face part 4d in the inverted state to communicate with a peripheral face opening 4e and guides the up-and-down motion of the ball valve 7 (which will be described later) and functions as a part of the inverted inflow passage B.
The reference numeral 4g denotes a longitudinal penetration section having a circular lateral cross section. The total of 4 longitudinal penetration sections are formed with an interval of 60 degrees in the circumferential direction so as to penetrate, at the respective drum sections between a pair of the peripheral face openings 4e opposed to each other, through the interior of the upper sheath-like section 4a (contents passage groove-like section).
The reference numeral 4h denotes an annular space region that is set between the inner circumferential face of a lower sheath-like section 4c and the outer peripheral face of an upper cover body 6d (which will be described later) and that functions as an upstream part of the shared invertible passage C.
The reference numeral 5 denotes a coil spring that is provided between a lower face step of the stem 2 in the upright state and the bottom face part of the upper sheath-like section 4a to bias the stem in the upright state.
The reference numeral 6 denotes a cylindrical housing cover body having a circular lateral cross section that is engaged with the lower inner face of the housing body 4 in the upright state to define the upstream part of the shared invertible passage C.
The reference numeral 6a denotes an annular valve seat having a taper face at an inner end of the housing cover body 6 that is closely fitted (abutted) to the ball valve 7 (which will be described later) at the original lower motion position in the upright state.
The reference numeral 6b denotes an upper central cylindrical section that is continuously formed in the lower direction from the valve seat 6a in the upright state to receive the lower end side of the ball valve 7 in the upright state.
The reference numeral 6c denotes a cylindrical body that is continuously formed in the lower direction in a large diameter mode from the upper central cylindrical section 6b in the upright state.
The reference numeral 6d denotes an upper cover body at the upper side of the cylindrical body 6c that constitutes the downstream side of the inverted inflow passage B together with the upper central cylindrical section 6b so that the lower end thereof in the upright state constitutes the downstream end side (downstream side) of the upright inflow passage A.
The reference numeral 6e denotes a lower cover body at the lower part of the cylindrical body 6c that is attached with a dip tube 8 (which will be described later) to constitute the downstream side of the upright inflow passage A.
The reference numeral 6f denotes a common outflow hole. The total of 2 common outflow holes are formed at the lower end side of the upper cover body 6d with an interval of 180 degrees in the circumferential direction to function as a starting part of the shared invertible passage C in the lateral penetration state.
The reference numeral 6g denotes an annular collar section that receives the lower end face of the lower sheath-like section 4c in the upright state.
The reference numeral 7 denotes a ball valve that is closely fitted (abutted) to the valve seat 6a at the lower motion positon in the upright state and that functions as a moving valve abutted to and retained by the bottom face part 4d at the lower motion position in the inverted state of the lower sheath-like section 4c.
The reference numeral 8 denotes a contents inflow dip tube that is attached to the lower inner circumferential face of the housing cover body 6.
The reference numeral 9 denotes a mounting cup that is engaged with the housing body 4 to sandwich the stem gasket 3.
The reference numeral 10 denotes a container body that is attached with the mounting cup 9 and that has an inner space region to store to-be-injected contents and vaporized injection gas.

(11) The upright inflow passage A denotes "a lower end part of the dip tube 8-the upper cover body 6d in the upright state".
(12) The inverted inflow passage B denotes "the peripheral face opening 4e of the housing body 4-the longitudinal space region 4f-the upper central cylindrical section 6b of the housing cover body 6-the upper cover body 6d".
(13) The shared invertible passage C denotes "the common outflow hole 6f of the housing cover body 6-the inner annular space region 4h of the lower sheath-like section 4c-the longitudinal penetration section 4g-the inner space region of the upper sheath-like section 4a".

The button 1, the stem 2, the housing body 4, the coil spring 5, and the housing cover body 6 are made of synthetic resin such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyacetal, nylon, or polybutylene terephthalate or metal.
The stem gasket 3 is made of rubber or synthetic resin. The ball valve 7, the mounting cup 9, and the container body 10 are made of metal (e.g., stainless). The dip tube 8 is made of synthetic resin.
The aerosol-type invertible valve mechanism shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 4 is basically characterized in that the vertical spacing L in the upright state between the upper end of the common outflow hole 6f of the upright inflow passage A and the inverted inflow passage B and the lower end of the ball valve 7 is set to at least 3.5mm or desirably 3.7mm or more.
Specifically, this vertical spacing L is increased to have a value larger than a conventional value (e.g., 1.2mm) so as to reduce the influence on the ball valve 7 due to the strength of the contents upwardly flowing from the upright inflow passage A in the upright operation mode.
This reduction of the influence on the ball valve 7due to the upwardly-flowing contents also reduces the "dancing" state of the ball valve.
This reduction of the influence on the ball valve suppresses the vaporized gas in the upper part of the container body in the upright state from passing the ball valve to flow from the inverted inflow passage B to the shared invertible passage C. Specifically, this eliminates the "gas entrainment" of the vaporized gas in the contents in the shared invertible passage C.
In the upright stationary mode of Fig. 1,

(21) The lateral hole 2a of the stem 2 is sealed by the stem gasket 3.
(22) The ball valve 7 fallen to the dip tube 8 is closely fitted to the valve seat 6a by the action by a high vaporized gas pressure in the container body.
(23) The inverted inflow passage B has the inflow side and the outflow side set to the shutoff state.
(24) The respective passage regions at the upstream side of the lateral hole 2a (except for the passage regions at the upstream side of the ball valve 7 of the inverted inflow passage B) have sufficient contents.

In the upright operation mode of Fig. 2, when the button 1 is depressed, the stem 2 integrated with the button 1 is downwardly moved against the upward elastic force of the coil spring 5.
The downward motion of the stem 2 changes the shape of the inner end of the stem gasket 3 to a "bow"-like shape, thereby cancelling the previous valve closed state to the lateral hole 2a.
This valve cancellation allows, as shown in the drawing, the contents in the lower space region of the container body 10 to pass through the upright inflow passage A and the shared invertible passage C to be injected to the outer space region through the well-known button injection opening.
Specifically, the contents in the container body flow through the path composed of "the dip tube 8-the common outflow hole 6f-the annular space region 4h-the longitudinal penetration section 4g-the inner space region of the upper sheath-like section 4a-the lateral hole 2a-the button interior passage 1a".
As has been repeatedly described, the vertical spacing L extending from the upper end of the common outflow hole 6f to the lower end of the ball valve 7 is set to at least 3.5mm or more desirably 3.7mm or more.
The common outflow hole 6f separated from the ball valve 7 in the up-and-down direction as described above can substantially prevent the ball valve 7 in the upright operation mode from "dancing" due to the strength of the contents upwardly flowing from the upright inflow passage A.
Specifically, this spacing can prevent a situation where the vaporized gas enters the shared invertible passage C via the ball valve 7 in the "dancing" state to cause the "gas entrainment" in the contents.
This suppression of the "gas entrainment" provides the contents injection to the outer space region not in a pulsating flow-like intermittent injection state but in a stable continuous injection state.
The following table 1 shows the result of the examination of this continuous injection. Specifically, the examination of the injection state was performed based on the total of 11 experimental models prepared to have the vertical spacing L between the upper end of the common outflow hole 6f and the lower end of the ball valve 7 so that the vertical spacing L is changed from 3.0mm to 4.0mm by an increment of 0.1mm. [Table 1]

L (mm) 3.0-3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 4.0

Injection state X Y Y Z Z Z Z

Injection state

X: Clear intermittent injection
Y: Close to continuous injection
Z: Clear continuous injection

The occurrence of the "gas entrainment" was examined by visually monitoring the flow of the contents injected to the outer space region via the valve acting section in the open state (the lateral hole 2a and the stem gasket 3). Specifically, the contents injected to the outer space region were visually monitored with regard to whether the contents formed a stable continuous flow or a pulsating flow-like intermittent flow. The pulsating flow-like intermittent injection state of the "gas entrainment" may be sufficiently visually monitored by general users.
The examination result shows, as shown in the table 1, that the vertical spacing L having a different size shows the following different result.

(31) The vertical spacing L of 3.4mm or less resulted in a clear intermittent injection state.
(32) The vertical spacing L of 3.7mm or more resulted in a clear continuous injection state.
(33) The vertical spacings L of 3.5mm and 3.6mm resulted in the so-called approximate continuous injection state that is closer to the continuous injection rather than the intermittent injection.

In view of the above, according to the present invention, the vertical spacing L from the upper end of the common outflow hole 6f to the lower end of the ball valve 7 is set to at least 3.5mm or more desirably 3.7mm or more.
The above examination was carried out based on the following conditions.

(41) Pressurizing agent was composed of mixed gas of carbon dioxide gas and LPG having a pressure of 0.4MPa. Contents (undiluted solution) of hexane (n-hexane) were used.
(42) The ball valve 7 was a stainless ball having a diameter of 3.2mm and a weight of 0.14g.
(43) The peripheral face opening 4e was used that had a height of 4.6mm in the up-and-down direction and the circumferential width of 2.0mm.

The longitudinal space region 4f was used that had a height of 6.3mm in the up-and-down direction and a diameter of 3.4mm.
The upper central cylindrical section 6b was used that had a height of 1.0mm in the up-and-down direction and the inner diameter of 2.3mm.
The cylindrical body 6c was provided between the upper central cylindrical section 6b and the dip tube 8. The cylindrical body 6c consisted of a pair of opposed flat surfaces having an interval of 2.8mm and a pair of opposed arc curved surfaces having an inner diameter of 3.3mm therebetween.
Each of the opposed flat surfaces included therein a common outflow hole 6f having a lateral length of 1.1mm and an inner diameter of 1.5mm.
The annular space region 4h had a lateral interval of 0.425mm.
The longitudinal penetration section 4g was used that had a height in the up-and-down direction of 6.7mm, the cross section width of 1.0mm, and a cross section having a depth of 0.6mm.
The cylindrical body 6c and the annular space region 4h have the direction in the up-and-down direction that is different depending on each experimental model set depending on the value of the vertical spacing L from the upper end of the common outflow hole 6f to the lower end of the ball valve 7.
In the inverted stationary mode of Fig. 3,

(51) The lateral hole 2a of the stem 2 is sealed by the stem gasket 3.
(52) The ball valve 7 falls to the bottom face part 4d in the inverted state of the housing body 4 and is separated from the valve seat 6a of the housing cover body 6.
(53) This separation of the ball valve 7 provides the communication between the peripheral face opening 4e of the housing body 4 and the common outflow hole 6f.
(54) In the inverted state of the container body 10, the contents are sufficiently included in the lower space region, the inverted inflow passage B, the outflow side of the dip tube 8, the common outflow hole 6f, and the shared invertible passage C for example.

In the inverted operation mode of Fig. 4, as in the upright state, the depression of the button 1 causes the stem 2 to move in the upward direction shown in the drawing to thereby cancel the valve closed state between the stem gasket 3 and the lateral hole 2a.
This valve cancellation causes, as shown in the drawing, the contents in the upper space region of the container body 10 in the upright state to be sent through the inverted inflow passage B and the shared invertible passage C, thereby injecting the contents to the outer space region through the well-known button injection opening.
Specifically, the contents in the container body are allowed to flow through the path of "the peripheral face opening 4e-the longitudinal space region 4f-the inner space region of the upper central cylindrical section 6b-the inner space region of the cylindrical body 6c-the common outflow hole 6f-the annular space region 4h-the longitudinal penetration section 4g-the inner space region of the upper sheath-like section 4a-the lateral hole 2a-the button interior passage 1a".
The present invention can be applied to aerosol-type products for various applications including cleaning agent, cleanup agent, antiperspirant, coolant, muscular antiphlogistic agent, hairstyling agent, hair treatment agent, hair dye, hair growth agent, cosmetics, shaving foam, foods, droplet-like products (e.g., vitamin), medical products, quasi-pharmaceutical products, paints, agricultural agent, repellents (pesticides), cleaner, deodorizer, laundry starch, urethane foam, fire extinguisher, adhesive agent, or lubricant.
The contents stored in the container body may be, for example, powder-like matters, oil components, alcohols, surfactant, high molecular compounds, or active ingredients depending on each application.
Powder-like matters include metal salts powders, inorganic substance powders, or resin powders such as talc, kaolin, aluminum hydroxychloride (aluminum salts), calcium alginate, gold powder, silver powder, mica, carbonate, barium sulfate, cellulose, or the mixtures thereof mixture for example.
Oil components include silicone oil, palm oil, eucalyptus oil, camellia oil, olive oil, jojoba oil, paraffin oil, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid, or linolenic acid for example.
Alcohols include monohydric lower alcohol (e.g., ethanol), monohydric higher alcohol (e.g., lauryl alcohol), or polyalcohol (e.g., ethylene glycol).
Surfactants include anionic surfactant (e.g., sodium lauryl sulfate), nonionic surfactant (e.g., polyoxyethylene oleylether), amphoteric surfactant (e.g., lauryldimethylaminoacetic acid betaine), or cationic surfactant (e.g., alkyl trimethylammonium chloride) for example.
High molecular compounds include methyl cellulose, gelatin, starch, or casein for example.
Active ingredients depending on the respective applications include antiinflammatory agent (e.g., methyl salicylate, indomethacin), sterilization chemicals (e.g., sodium benzoate, cresol), insect pests repellents (e.g., pyrethroid, diethyltoluamide), antiperspirant (e.g., zinc oxide), refreshing medicine (e.g., camphor, menthol), antiasthmatic agent (e.g., ephedrine, adrenalin), sweetener (e.g., sucralose, aspartame), adhesive agent or paints (e.g., epoxy resin, urethane), dyes (e.g., paraphenylenediamine, aminophenol), extinguishing agent (e.g., ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium) for example.
Furthermore, agents other than the above contents can include suspension, ultraviolet absorber, emulsifier, moisturizing agent, antioxidant, or sequestering agent for example.
Contents pressurizing agent in an aerosol-type product includes carbon dioxide gas, nitrogen gas or the mixed gas thereof, compressed gas (e.g., compressed air), and LPG, DME, or liquefied gas (e.g., fluorohydrocarbon gas) for example.

Description of Reference Numerals

A: Upright inflow passage
B: Inverted inflow passage
C: Shared invertible passage
L: Interval in the up-and-down direction from the common outflow hole upper end to the ball valve lower end
1: Button to operate the contents injection
1a: Button interior passage
2: Stem
2a: Lateral hole
2b: Stem interior passage
3: Stem gasket
4: Housing body
4a: Upper sheath-like section of upper opening
4b: Longitudinal rib-like section
4c: Lower sheath-like section of lower opening
4d: Bottom face part in the inverted state
4e: Peripheral face opening
4f: Longitudinal space region of the lower opening
4g: Longitudinal penetration section
4h: Annular space region
5: Coil spring
6: Housing cover body
6a: Valve seat
6b: Upper central cylindrical section
6c: Cylindrical body
6d: Upper cover body
6e: Lower cover body
6f: Common outflow hole
6g: Annular collar section
7: Ball valve
8: Dip tube
9: Mounting cup
10: Container body

Claims

An aerosol-type invertible valve mechanism having a valve acting section (2a, 3) that shifts, based on an operation mode setting operation, from a previous closed state to an open state to inject contents in a container body (10) to an outer space region and a contents passage section in an invertible use mode, having an upright and an inverted mode, that communicates with the valve acting section (2a, 3), wherein:
the contents passage section includes:
an upright inflow passage (A) of the contents;

an inverted inflow passage (B) of the contents;

a shared invertible passage (C) that is formed at the downstream side from a common outflow hole (6f) for the upright inflow passage (A) and the inverted inflow passage (B) and that communicates with the valve acting section (2a, 3); and

a moving valve (7) that is provided at the common outflow hole side of the inverted inflow passage (B) and that allows, by the falling action by its own weight in the respective upright and inverted modes, the inverted inflow passage (B) in the inverted mode to communicate with the shared invertible passage (C),

the moving valve (7) has a lower end that is provided at an upper position on an extended straight line at the contents outflow side of the upright inflow passage (A) that is separated from the upper end of the common outflow hole (6f) by a distance, characterized in that the distance is of at least 3.5mm.
The aerosol-type invertible valve mechanism according to claim 1, wherein: the lower end of the moving valve (7) is provided at an upper positon that is separated from the upper end by a distance of 3.7mm or more.
The aerosol-type invertible valve mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: the aerosol-type invertible valve mechanism includes a valve seat (6a) that constitutes the downstream-side parts of the upright inflow passage (A) and the inverted inflow passage (B), respectively, and that receives the moving valve (7) in the upright state to shut off the space between the upstream-side part and the downstream-side part of the inverted inflow passage (B), and a cylindrical section consisting of the common outflow hole (6f).
The aerosol-type invertible valve mechanism according to any of claims 1-3, wherein:
the upright inflow passage (A) is a passage in which the input side is attached with a contents inflow tube (8), and

the moving valve (7) is a ball valve.
An aerosol-type product comprising the aerosol-type invertible valve mechanism according to any of claims 1-4 and storing therein vaporized gas for contents and injection.