JP2003301778A - Tube pump - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tube pump using the reduced number of component items and easy to perform maintenance works. <P>SOLUTION: The tube pump is composed of a tube 12, a rotary shaft 21 installed parallel with it, a spiral roller 20 formed on the rotary shaft 21 and furnished with a spiral projection 22, and a tube guide 13 in the form of a thin and long plane for pressing the tube 12, wherein the tube 12 is squeezed with the spiral projection 22 by rotating the spiral roller 20 in the condition that the tube 12 is pinched and pressed from the opposite side of the tube guide 13. Between the tube 12 and the spiral roller 20, a film sheet 30 is laid having a smaller friction coefficient than the tube 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tube pump for pressing a part of a flexible tube to close it and moving the closed part to convey and discharge a fluid in the tube. For example, it is used for a food and drink supply device that dispenses juice and other beverages from a sealed container in predetermined amounts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, tube pumps have been widely used for discharging a predetermined amount of fluid such as food and drink. This tube pump discharges a predetermined amount of food or drink by squeezing a tube containing food or drink. For example, a tube pump is used for a beverage dispenser or the like for discharging a concentrated stock solution such as syrup and cold water for dilution to a receptacle such as a cup to provide a beverage such as juice.

Here, tube pumps are roughly classified into
There are three types: rotary roller tube pump, vertical roller tube pump, and finger tube pump. Therefore, each type of tube pump will be briefly described.

First, the rotary roller type tube pump will be briefly described. An example of this type of tube pump is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-183088. That is, as shown in FIG.
In the rotary roller tube pump, a plurality of rollers 102 for rotatably pressing the tube 101 at equal intervals are arranged on the circumference of the rotary plate 100. Then, when the rotary plate 100 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 8, the pressing portion of the tube 101 pressed by the roller 102 moves in the discharge port direction. As a result, the fluid that is sealed between the pressing points of the tube pressed by the roller 101 is pushed out toward the discharge port and discharged.

Next, the vertical roller type tube pump will be briefly described. An example of this type of tube pump is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3182637. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the vertical roller type tube pump has a plurality of discharge rollers 111 rotatably mounted on the toothed belt 110 and a discharge roller 111 having a cam surface 112a having a large radius of curvature. The roller receiving cam 112 is provided so as to face each other. Then, the discharge roller 111 is connected to the roller receiving cam 112.
The cam surface 112a is pressed to move the tube 113 while pressing it. As a result, the fluid in the tube 113 is pushed and discharged toward the discharge port.

Finally, the finger tube pump will be briefly described. An example of this type of tube pump is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-141235. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, in the finger-type tube pump, a large number of pressing plates 121 that press the tube 120 at one end and the pressing plates 12 are provided.
And a cam mechanism 122 for reciprocating 1 toward the tube 120. Then, the pressing plates 121 are arranged in the fluid conveying direction in the tube 120, and the pressing plates 1
The pressing plates 121 are reciprocally moved in phase with each other so that the tube pressing position of 21 sequentially moves in the discharge direction. As a result, the fluid in the tube 120 is pushed out toward the discharge port and discharged.

[0007]

However, all of the above-mentioned three types of tube pumps have a problem that the number of constituent parts is large. Particularly, the vertical roller tube pump and the finger tube pump have a very large number of parts. Such a large number of parts complicates the structure of the tube pump, which is not only disadvantageous in terms of reliability but also disadvantageous in terms of cost.

When the tube pump is used in a beverage supply device or the like, fluid (such as syrup) scatters due to discharge to a receiver such as a paper cup, but the fluid is scattered due to problems such as hygiene. Need to be removed regularly.
That is, it is necessary to perform regular maintenance. For this maintenance, remove the member that presses the tube (for example, the rotating plate 100) from the pump body,
The procedure is performed by cleaning the removed member and re-installing it in the pump. However, this work was time-consuming.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to provide a tube pump having a small number of parts and excellent maintainability.

[0010]

A tube pump according to the present invention made to solve the above problems has a flexible tube for containing a fluid, and an elongated tube guide for pressing the tube. The tube has a roller means for pressing the tube from the opposite side of the tube guide and closing a part of the tube.By rotating the roller means to move the closed part of the tube, the fluid in the tube is removed. In the tube pump for carrying and discharging, the roller means is a spiral roller having a rotary shaft arranged in parallel with the tube and a spiral convex portion formed on the rotary shaft. It is a thing.

In this tube pump, when a spiral roller provided with a rotary shaft arranged in parallel with the tube and a spiral convex portion formed on the rotary shaft is rotated, the spiral convex portion causes continuous rotation. Then the tube gets squeezed. As a result, the fluid in the tube is conveyed and a fixed amount is discharged from the open end of the tube. Thus, the roller means for squeezing the tube is constituted by one spiral roller. That is, the number of constituent parts of the roller means is very small. Therefore, the structure of the tube pump is very simple, so that the tube pump has high reliability and is very advantageous in terms of cost.

In the tube pump according to the present invention,
It is desirable that the spiral roller alternately creates a state in which two portions of the tube are simultaneously closed and a state in which one portion of the tube is closed when rotated. By doing so, a certain amount of the fluid is sealed in the two closed sections of the tube, and a certain amount of the fluid is smoothly filled and conveyed in the two new closed sections of the tube.
Therefore, a constant amount of fluid can always be smoothly conveyed and discharged.

Specifically, the pitch-to-pitch length of the spiral convex portion of the spiral roller may be shorter than the total length of the tube guide. By doing so, it is possible to create a state in which two or more points of the tube are simultaneously closed when the spiral roller is rotated. As a result, a certain amount of fluid can be conveyed and discharged. That is, the number of locations that simultaneously close the tube is not limited to two, and three or more locations may be present.

Further, it is desirable that the pitch-to-pitch length of the spiral convex portions in the spiral roller be longer than half the length of the tube guide. By doing so, when the spiral roller is rotated, it is possible to alternately create a state in which two portions of the tube are closed at the same time and a state in which one portion of the tube is closed. As a result, a certain amount of fluid can always be conveyed and discharged very smoothly.

In particular, it is desirable that the height of the spiral convex portion with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft is larger than the inner diameter of the tube. By doing so, the tubes located between the places closed by the spiral protrusions (between the spiral protrusions) do not deform. As a result, it is possible to convey and discharge a certain amount of fluid with extremely high accuracy.

In the tube pump according to the present invention, it is desirable to have a film-like sheet between the tube and the spiral roller. And preferably,
The coefficient of friction of the film-like sheet is preferably smaller than that of the tube.

By providing such a film-like sheet between the tube and the spiral roller, the driving torque of the spiral roller is reduced. Therefore, the drive unit of the tube pump can be downsized, which in turn can downsize the tube pump itself.

Since the film-like sheet is provided between the tube and the spiral roller, the scattered fluid adheres to the film-like sheet and does not adhere to the spiral roller. Therefore, when performing regular maintenance, it is not necessary to remove the spiral roller from the pump, only the seat needs to be replaced. That is, it is very easy to maintain.

Further, in the tube pump according to the present invention, the spiral roller may be stopped when the spiral convex portion reaches a predetermined position after the fluid in the tube is conveyed and discharged. desirable. By thus determining the stop position of the spiral roller, the rotation start position of the spiral roller is also determined. Therefore, the reproducibility of the ejection operation is improved, and the ejection amount can be stabilized.

The predetermined position is preferably a position in which the vicinity of the downstream side of the tube is closed by the spiral convex portion. As a result, the amount of fluid in the tube that comes into contact with air can be minimized. That is, it is possible to make the tube pump excellent in hygiene.

In particular, it is preferable that the predetermined position is a position in which two points of the tube are simultaneously closed by the spiral protrusion. This is because the fluid in the tube is sealed at two places, and the tube pump becomes more hygienic.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The most preferred embodiment of the tube pump of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The present embodiment relates to a tube pump used in a juice supply device for pouring a concentrated liquid of a soft drink such as juice from a tank into a receiver such as a paper cup and also pouring cold water for dilution together. Is. Therefore, a schematic configuration of the tube pump according to the present embodiment is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a front view of the tube pump 10 in a state where the tube is not set (a state in which the cover is open). FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the tube is set in the tube pump 10 (a state in which the cover is closed). Further, FIG. 2 shows a spiral roller 20.
It is also a diagram showing a stopped state.

In this tube pump 10, as shown in FIG. 1, a spiral roller 20 is arranged in a pump body 11. The spiral roller 20 is composed of a rotary shaft 21 that is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown), and a continuous spiral convex portion 22 formed on the outer periphery of the rotary shaft 21. The tube 12 is arranged on the front side of the spiral roller 20 (see FIG. 2). The lower end of the tube 12 is open, and the upper end is connected to a concentrated liquid storage tank (not shown).

The tube 12 (outer diameter 9 mm, inner diameter 6 mm) set in the tube pump 10 is sandwiched between the spiral roller 20 and the tube guide 13, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the tube guide 13 is arranged parallel to the spiral roller 20 with the tube 12 sandwiched therebetween. The tube guide 13 is formed in an elongated shape (total length 64 mm), and springs 14 are attached near the upper and lower ends thereof. As a result, when the cover 15 of the tube pump 10 is closed, the tube guide 13 is
The urging force of 14 urges the tube 12 against the spiral roller 20 with a constant force. In addition, tube stoppers that fix the vicinity of the upper end and the vicinity of the lower end of the tube 12 are provided above and below the tube pump 10, and the tube 12 is firmly fixed to the tube pump 10. In addition,
There are various types of tubes other than the above-mentioned sizes, and the size is determined by the content of the fluid.

In addition, the tube 12 and the spiral roller 20
A film sheet 30 is provided between and. As the material of the film sheet 30, one having flexibility such as vinyl chloride or polyethylene, which has a smaller friction coefficient than the tube 12 and has a good slip may be selected. This film sheet 30 is, as shown in FIG.
2 is attached to the tube pump 10 before being set in the tube pump 10. Then, the tube 12 is set in the tube pump 10 and the cover 15 is closed, so that the film sheet 30 is attached to the tube 12
And the spiral roller 20 in close contact with each other. As a result, as compared with the case where the tube 12 and the spiral roller 20 are directly contacted to rotate the spiral roller 20,
The driving torque of the spiral roller 20 can be reduced.

Here, the spiral roller 20 is shown in FIG.
~ It demonstrates in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the spiral roller 20. FIG. 5 is a front view of the spiral roller 20. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the spiral roller 20 taken along the line AA shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the spiral roller 20 of FIG. 4 is rotated 180 degrees.

The spiral roller 20 conveys the concentrated juice in the tube 12, and is composed of a rotary shaft 21 (diameter 13 mm) and a continuous spiral convex portion 22 formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof. Has been done. The twist angle θ from the formation start position S of the spiral convex portion 22 shown in FIG. 5 to the position E where the spiral radius is maximum is θ = 126 °.

Further, the height H of the spiral convex portion 22 shown in FIG. 6 from the center of the rotary shaft 21 is H = 12.5 mm. Since the diameter of the rotating shaft 21 is 13 mm, the spiral convex portion 22 with the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft 21 as a reference.
Has a height of 6 mm. That is, the height of the spiral convex portion 22 based on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft 21 is the same as the inner diameter (6 mm) of the tube 12. Therefore, when the spiral roller 20 is rotated, the tube 12 located between the closed portions is not deformed.

Further, the inter-pitch length P of the spiral convex portion 22 shown in FIG. 7 is P = 36 mm. That is,
The length between pitches of the spiral convex portion 22 is determined by the tube guide 1
Tube guide 13 shorter than the total length of 3 (64 mm)
Is longer than half the length (32 mm). Therefore, when the spiral roller 20 is rotated,
A state in which two points of the tube 12 are simultaneously closed and a state in which only one point of the tube 12 is closed occur alternately.

Next, the discharge operation of the tube pump 10 having the above structure will be described. Tube 12
The concentrated juice in the container is discharged by rotating the spiral roller 20 from a stopped state (a state of FIG. 2) in which the tube 12 is blocked at two locations corresponding to the tube guide 13 by the spiral convex portion 22. Done by.

That is, when the tube pump 10 is stopped, as shown in FIG. 2, the spiral roller 20 is stopped at a fixed position in which two points of the tube 22 are simultaneously closed by the spiral convex portion 22. It is being done. As a result, the rotation start position of the spiral roller 20 is determined,
Since the reproducibility of the ejection operation is improved, the ejection amount can be stabilized. In addition, between two closed points (hereinafter,
This is very hygienic because the amount of concentrated juice determined by the inner diameter of the tube 12 is enclosed in the "encapsulation section".

Then, when the spiral roller 20 is rotated, the spiral convex portion 22 moves downward. With this,
The two closed points of the tube 12 also move downward.
Then, of the two closed portions, the closed portion located below is opened. In other words, there is only 1
It becomes a place. After that, for a while, the state of one closed portion of the tube is maintained, and the one closed portion moves downward. As a result, the concentrated juice enclosed in the above-mentioned enclosure section is pushed out. Then, the concentrated juice that has been pushed out drops from the discharge port at the lower end of the tube 12 and is supplied to a receiver such as a paper cup.

At this time, a new convex portion 22 appears on the upper end of the tube guide 13, and the convex portion 22 again closes the tube 12 at two locations corresponding to the tube guide 13. Thereby, a new sealed section is formed in the tube 12, and the concentrated juice is replenished to the new sealed section from a concentrated liquid storage tank (not shown). That is, it prepares for the next discharge of concentrated juice. Then, when the new enclosed section reaches the position of FIG. 2, the rotation of the spiral roller 20 is stopped. That is, in the tube pump 10, after the concentrated juice in the tube 12 is discharged, the spiral roller 20 is moved to the tube 22 by the spiral convex portion 22.
It is stopped at a fixed position where the two points are simultaneously closed. In this way, one discharge operation is completed.

Next, the maintenance work of the tube pump 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. In the tube pump 10, a film sheet 30 having a smaller friction coefficient than that of the tube 12 is provided between the tube 12 and the spiral roller 20. Therefore, the scattered concentrated juice only adheres to the film sheet 30 and does not adhere to the spiral roller 20. Therefore, when performing periodic maintenance, it is not necessary to remove the spiral roller 20 from the tube pump 10, and only the film sheet 30 needs to be replaced. That is, the tube pump 10
It is very easy to maintain.

As described above in detail, according to the tube pump 10 of the embodiment, the rotary shaft 21 arranged in parallel with the tube 12 and the spiral convex portion 22 formed on the rotary shaft 21. There is a spiral roller 20 with. Then, by rotating the spiral roller 20, the spiral convex portion 22 squeezes the tube 12, so that the concentrated juice in the tube 12 can be conveyed and discharged. Thus, the member for squeezing the tube is composed of one spiral roller 20.
For this reason, the tube pump 10 has a small number of constituent parts and has a very simple structure, so that it is highly reliable and very advantageous in terms of cost.

Further, the pitch P between the pitches of the spiral protrusions 22 is P.
Is shorter than the total length of the tube guide 13. Further, the length P between the pitches of the spiral convex portions 22 is determined by the tube guide 1
Longer than half the total length of 3. As a result, the spiral roller 20 can alternately create a state in which two portions of the tube 12 are simultaneously closed and a state in which one portion of the tube 12 is closed when rotated. Therefore, while discharging a certain amount of the liquid material enclosed in the two closed sections of the tube 12, a certain amount of the liquid material is smoothly filled and conveyed in the two new closed sections of the tube 12. That is, the tube pump 10 can always smoothly convey and discharge a certain amount of fluid.

Further, the height of the spiral convex portion 22 with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the rotary shaft 21 is larger than the inner diameter of the tube 12. For this reason, since the tube 12 located between the portions closed by the spiral convex portion 22 (enclosed section) is not deformed, it is possible to convey and discharge a certain amount of the fluid with extremely high accuracy.

Since the film sheet 30 having a friction coefficient smaller than that of the tube 12 is provided between the tube 12 and the spiral roller 20, the driving torque of the spiral roller 20 can be reduced. Furthermore, the concentrated juice that has scattered just adheres to the film sheet 30,
It does not adhere to the spiral roller 20. For this reason, in the tube pump 10, it is not necessary to remove the spiral roller 20 from the tube pump main body 11 when performing periodic maintenance, and only the film sheet 30 needs to be replaced.
Therefore, the tube pump 10 is very easy to maintain.

Further, after the concentrated juice in the tube 12 is discharged, the spiral roller 20 is placed at a position where the spiral convex portion 22 simultaneously closes two points of the tube 22 (the state shown in FIG. 2). It has been stopped. Therefore, the rotation start position of the spiral roller 20 is determined and the reproducibility of the ejection operation is improved, so that the ejection amount can be stabilized. In addition, the concentrated juice in the tube 12 is sealed at two places, which is very hygienic.

The above-described embodiment is merely an example and does not limit the present invention at all, and it goes without saying that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a beverage supply device for juice or the like is illustrated, but the tube pump according to the present invention is also applied to a supply device for fluid drinks (soup, seasonings, etc.). be able to. Further, it is needless to say that the specific values such as the inter-pitch length and the height of the convex portion described above are merely examples, and there are optimum values depending on the purpose of using the tube pump and the size of the tube.

[0041]

As described above, according to the tube pump of the present invention, a flexible tube for containing a fluid, an elongated flat tube guide for pressing the tube, and a tube guide sandwiching the tube are provided. A tube pump that pushes the tube from the opposite side and closes a part of the tube, and rotates the roller means to move the closed position of the tube to deliver the fluid in the tube. Since the means is constituted by the spiral roller provided with the rotating shaft arranged in parallel with the tube and the spiral convex portion formed on the rotating shaft, the number of constituent parts of the roller means can be extremely reduced. it can. Therefore, the tube pump has a very simple structure. That is, it is possible to provide a tube pump that is highly reliable and is very advantageous in terms of cost.

Further, since the film-like sheet is provided between the tube and the spiral roller, the scattered fluid is
It adheres to the film-like sheet and does not adhere to the spiral roller. Therefore, when performing regular maintenance,
There is no need to remove the spiral roller from the pump, only the film sheet needs to be replaced. That is, it is possible to provide a tube pump having excellent maintainability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a tube pump according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a state where a tube is set in the tube pump of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a mounting position of a film sheet.

4 is a plan view showing the spiral roller of FIG. 1. FIG.

5 is a front view showing the spiral roller of FIG. 1. FIG.

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the spiral roller shown in FIG.

7 is a diagram showing a state in which the spiral roller of FIG. 4 is rotated 180 degrees.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing a conventional rotary roller tube pump.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a conventional vertical roller type tube pump.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a conventional finger-type tube pump.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 tube pump 12 tubes 13 Tube guide 20 spiral roller 21 rotation axis 22 Spiral convex part 30 film sheet

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Nobuhiro Inaba             850, Horinouchi Town, Kasugai City, Aichi Prefecture             Hardy Co., Ltd. Kasugai Office F-term (reference) 3H077 AA20 BB10 CC04 CC10 DD01                       DD12 EE31 EE34 EE37 FF01                       FF06 FF31 FF38 FF60

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A flexible tube that contains a fluid, an elongated tube guide that presses the tube, and a part of the tube that is pressed from the opposite side of the tube guide with the tube interposed therebetween. A tube pump for transporting and discharging the fluid in the tube by rotating the roller means to move the closed position of the tube, and the roller means, A tube pump, which is a spiral roller having a rotary shaft arranged in parallel with a tube and a spiral convex portion formed on the rotary shaft. 2. The tube pump according to claim 1, wherein the spiral roller rotates when the spiral roller rotates
A tube pump characterized by alternately producing a state in which one portion is closed and a state in which one portion of the tube is closed. 3. The tube pump according to claim 1, wherein a length between pitches of the spiral convex portions of the spiral roller is shorter than a total length of the tube guide. 4. The tube pump according to claim 3, wherein the pitch-to-pitch length of the spiral convex portions of the spiral roller is longer than half the total length of the tube guide. Tube pump. 5. The tube pump according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a height of the spiral convex portion with respect to an outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft is larger than an inner diameter of the tube. A tube pump characterized by being large. 6. The tube pump according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a film sheet is provided between the tube and the spiral roller. 7. The tube pump according to claim 6, wherein the coefficient of friction of the film-shaped sheet is smaller than the coefficient of friction of the tube. 8. The tube pump according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the spiral roller is configured such that the spiral convex portion is formed after the fluid in the tube is conveyed and discharged. A tube pump that is stopped when it reaches a predetermined position. 9. The tube pump according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined position is a position where the vicinity of the downstream side of the tube is closed by the spiral convex portion. 10. The tube pump according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined position is a position in which two points of the tube are simultaneously closed by the spiral convex portion. Tube pump to be used.