JP2004225812A - Check valve - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a check valve superior in responsiveness and sufficiently miniaturizable, effectively reducing possible oxidation of packed liquid in a container. <P>SOLUTION: Between an inlet port 2 and an output port 3, a flexible diaphragm 9 is arranged for opening/closing the inlet port 2. An abutment protruded portion 10 is provided for putting the diaphragm 9 in contact with a valve seat 11 around the input port 2. The abutment protruded portion 10 abuts on the diaphragm 9 eccentrically to the inlet port 2 and the diaphragm 9 arranged in a mutually concentric manner. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a non-return valve, particularly to a non-return valve suitable for use in pouring a liquid, and includes, for example, soy sauce and other seasonings, alcoholic beverages such as sake, wine, whiskey, etc. Applied to dispense liquid as a material to be packaged from relatively large flexible packaging bags or other containers that pack liquids such as dressings, liquid soups or honey that may contain granular or powdery substances When the liquid to be packaged is discharged from the container a plurality of times, the outside air that may contain microorganisms, dust, etc., enters the container such as the packaging bag, and the liquid once in contact with the outside air enters the container. This effectively prevents return flow.
[0002]
[Prior art]
When a liquid as an article to be packaged is poured out of a container a plurality of times, for example, each time the liquid is poured out, outside air enters the container, and thus, microorganisms, dust, and the like that may be contained in the outside air. As a check valve for preventing the contamination of the liquid in the container by the air, the oxidation of the liquid in the container by the outside air itself, the deterioration of the flavor, and the like, the check valve previously proposed by the applicant (however, not disclosed: Patent Document 1) ).
[0003]
This is defined by a lower member 113 defining an inlet port 112 communicating with the outlet channel 111 and an upper member 115 defining an outlet port 114, as shown in FIG. A circular diaphragm 117 made of rubber, elastomer, or the like is disposed concentrically with the inlet port 112 in a space 116 formed between the two members, and a central portion is provided so as to protrude from the upper member 115 toward the lower member. The protrusion 118 is brought into contact with the center of the diaphragm 117 so that at least the peripheral portion of the diaphragm 117 contacts the valve seat 119 around the inlet port 112 over the entire circumference thereof.
[0004]
In this check valve, when the diaphragm 117 having excellent flexibility is in contact with the valve seat 119 over the entire circumference, as shown in FIG. Of the flow into the inlet port is reliably prevented by the diaphragm 117.
[0005]
On the other hand, in pouring out the liquid to be packaged from the liquid packaging container equipped with the check valve, the container is tilted so that the diaphragm 117 is operated under the action of the weight of the liquid in the container. As shown in a longitudinal sectional view in FIG. 7, the liquid is smoothly and quickly separated from the valve seat 119 at least on the tilting side of the container, so that the liquid is discharged from the outlet port 114 through the space between the valve seat 119 and the diaphragm 117. It can be carried out.
When the liquid is stopped or terminated, the diaphragm 117 returns to its original shape by releasing the diaphragm 117 from the weight of the liquid in the container based on returning the container to the upright posture. Since the self-recovery is performed, and the peripheral portion comes into contact with the valve seat 119 over the entire circumference, thereafter, the inflow of outside air or the like to the inlet port side is prevented by the diaphragm 117.
[0006]
[Patent Document] Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-216961
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in this check valve, the central projection 118 is brought into contact with the central portion of the diaphragm 117 having a flat disk shape, and since the central projection 118 is located just opposite to the inlet port 112, In particular, the response is low when the diaphragm 117 is deformed apart from the valve seat 119 under the action of the weight of the liquid to be packaged and the like, and the response is low. Therefore, there is a problem that this causes excessive ejection of the liquid. In addition, the entire periphery of the diaphragm 117 having the central projection 118 abutting on the central portion of the diaphragm 117 is sufficiently attached to the valve seat 119. In order to make the contact even and uniform, the diaphragm 117 and, consequently, the entire check valve naturally increase in relation to the physical properties and the like of the diaphragm 117. There is also a problem to say.
[0008]
Further, the diaphragm 117 made of a flat disk normally prevents the invasion of outside air by contact of the peripheral portion of the diaphragm 117 with the valve seat 119 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the portion on the inner peripheral side of the contact portion comes into contact with the gas or liquid in the outlet channel, so that the large-diameter diaphragm 117 is in contact with the gas or liquid in the container. The contact area naturally also increases. On the other hand, if the diaphragm 117 is made of silicone rubber having excellent flexibility and low chemical reactivity, it is difficult for the diaphragm 117 to exhibit high oxygen barrier properties. Even when the diaphragm 117 and, consequently, the check valve are closed, there is a problem that the liquid to be wrapped in the container is highly likely to be oxidized.
[0009]
The present invention relates to an improvement of such a check valve proposed above (Patent Document 1), which has excellent responsiveness and can be sufficiently miniaturized. It is an object of the present invention to provide a check valve capable of more effectively reducing the risk of liquid oxidation and the like.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the check valve of the present invention, a flexible diaphragm for opening and closing the inlet port is disposed between the inlet port and the outlet port, and the diaphragm is attached to a valve seat around the inlet port. A contact projection is provided to be in contact with the entire circumference, and the contact projection is eccentric with respect to the inlet port and the diaphragm which are arranged concentrically with each other to contact the diaphragm. Here, the eccentric direction of the contact protrusion is preferably a direction away from the outlet port.
[0011]
In this check valve, the contact protrusion is located eccentrically with respect to the inlet port and the diaphragm, but, for example, the pressing force of the contact protrusion against the diaphragm having a circular contour shape and the housing described later operate under the action. The diaphragm can be reliably maintained at a predetermined position, and under normal conditions, the diameter of the diaphragm is made much smaller than the previous one based on the diaphragm pressing force of the abutting projection. In addition, the diaphragm can be sufficiently brought into contact with the valve seat not only in the vicinity of the contact protruding portion but also in the entire periphery thereof to shut off the outside air and the like. Therefore, here, the check valve can be advantageously reduced in size based on the reduction in the diameter of the diaphragm.
At the same time, by reducing the size of the diaphragm, the surface area of the diaphragm, which is located on the inner peripheral side from the valve seat contact area and comes into contact with the gas or liquid in the outlet flow passage, can be more effectively reduced than that of the proposed technology. Even in a case where a sufficient oxygen barrier property cannot be imparted to the diaphragm, it is possible to effectively suppress oxidation of the liquid to be packaged, a decrease in flavor, and the like.
[0012]
Further, here, the contact protrusion is eccentric with respect to the diaphragm and the inlet port, and when the liquid to be packaged is discharged through the inlet port, the diaphragm is bent and deformed with the contact protrusion as a fulcrum. Since the moment arm of the case is much longer than that of the prior art described above, the flow of the liquid to be packaged due to the tilting of the container causes the diaphragm to have an excellent performance by giving only a small weight to the diaphragm. It can be quickly opened and deformed under low sensitivity.
On the other hand, as soon as the pressure and the like acting on the inner and outer surfaces of the open diaphragm become relatively the same due to the return of the container to the upright position, the diaphragm returns elastically to its pre-deformed shape and the open air as expected. Demonstrate the shut-off function.
[0013]
By the way, when the container is returned to the upright position, the liquid to be wrapped that has reached the lower surface of the diaphragm flows back into the container, so that the area near the inlet port becomes a reduced-pressure atmosphere. The container crushed and deformed by discharging the liquid to be packaged without taking in the outside air into the container generates a force that attempts to return to the original shape based on the elastic restoring force of the individual. By applying a force to the diaphragm in a direction in which it is in close contact with the valve seat, or by causing the liquid remaining in the check valve to flow back onto the diaphragm by, for example, making the inside a decompressed atmosphere, the upper surface of the diaphragm By acting the liquid weight on the side, the outside air blocking function by the diaphragm can be further enhanced.
[0014]
Therefore, according to this check valve, while the liquid to be packaged in the container is smoothly poured out with excellent responsiveness, the normal closing state of the diaphragm and the stoppage of the liquid to be packaged are stopped. In addition to the intrusion of outside air that may contain microorganisms etc. into the container through the inlet port, the remnant liquid that once flows out of the diaphragm and comes into contact with the outside air can be reliably prevented from re-entering the container This can prevent the liquid to be packaged in the container from being contaminated by microorganisms, dust, etc., due to the multiple times of discharging the liquid to be packaged from the container, and oxidizing by external air, reducing the flavor, etc., for a long time. It can be effectively prevented over a period.
[0015]
By the way, such an opening and closing operation of the diaphragm is always performed properly at a predetermined position by causing the opening and closing operation to be performed inside the surrounding wall surrounding the valve seat of the housing provided with the inlet port and the valve seat. As a result, an unexpected displacement of the diaphragm is sufficiently prevented. This is also the case when the diaphragm is maintained at one of the open and closed positions.
[0016]
In the above-described check valve, when the eccentric direction of the contact protrusion is set to the direction away from the outlet port, the container is inclined so that the outlet port faces downward, and the liquid to be packaged is poured out. In this case, the responsiveness of the check valve as a whole can be enhanced, and smooth and steady pouring can be facilitated.
In addition, when the planar contour shape of the diaphragm is circular, the direction can be removed from the diaphragm, and the function of blocking the outside air can be more reliably exerted.
[0017]
In addition, when the gas barrier property, particularly the oxygen barrier property, is imparted to the diaphragm by, for example, a plastic film or the like, in combination with the fact that the contact area between the diaphragm and the gas or liquid in the outlet channel can be reduced, Under the gas barrier property of the diaphragm itself, the risk of oxidation of the liquid to be packaged in the container can be more effectively removed.
Further, in addition to or instead of this gas barrier property, when water repellency is imparted to the diaphragm, the liquid is prevented from remaining on any of the port-side surfaces of the diaphragm and flows out of the diaphragm. It is possible to ensure smooth flow of the liquid, and effectively remove the risk of mixing of the solidified solid with the liquid to be poured and dropping into the container.
In addition, the application of such a check valve to a container is such that the check valve is provided with a tapered piercing portion having an outlet flow path communicating with the inlet port, and the tapered piercing portion is formed, for example, from a soft packaging bag. In addition to this, it can be performed by piercing the unstretched film portion of the container, and the check valve is provided with a female thread portion having a lead-out channel communicating with the inlet port, and this female screw portion is screwed to the male thread portion of the container. It can also be performed by causing
[0018]
According to the former, the tapered piercing portion is pierced into a single-layer or laminated unstretched film portion, and the punctured portion of the check valve is airtight based on the elastic restoring force of the unstretched film portion. In addition, the liquid is kept liquid-tight, and the holding force in this case is large enough to prevent an unexpected displacement of the check valve. Therefore, even when the liquid to be packaged in the container is repeatedly poured out, the check valve is reliably maintained at the predetermined position.
Further, according to the latter, in which the female screw portion is screwed into the male screw portion of the container, the airtightness and liquid tightness of the check valve mounting portion can be further enhanced, and the check valve holding force can be greatly increased.
[0019]
By the way, in the latter case in which the female screw portion is screwed, for example, in order to facilitate opening of the hermetically sealed sealing material fused and bonded to the opening surface of the male screw portion, the female screw portion is biased from its central axis. It is preferable to provide a claw portion which is located. According to this, when the female screw portion is screwed into the male screw portion without direct opening operation by a finger, the seal material can be easily opened. it can.
Here, when the claw portion has a sharp blade edge, the central portion of the cut and separated hermetic sealing material falls into the container, so it is preferable that the claw portion is not provided with a blade edge. According to this, the sealing material opened by the claw portion is not cut or broken after the expansion tension of the sealing material disappears upon opening, and the broken sealing material is removed from any part. At the end of the sealing material, the cut-off portion of the sealing material does not fall into the container, thereby preventing the liquid from being discharged.
[0020]
The check valve may be provided with both the female screw portion and the above-described tapered piercing portion. According to this configuration, by forming the hermetic sealing material with a non-stretched film, with the screwing of the female thread portion to the male thread portion of the container, the tapered piercing portion can be pierced into the hermetic sealing material, In this case, the airtightness and the liquid tightness are mainly due to the close contact of the hermetic sealing material to the tapered piercing portion, and the check valve holding force is mainly due to the female screw portion and the male screw portion. It can be realized by screwing.
[0021]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.
In the figure, 1 indicates the entire check valve, 2 indicates an inlet port thereof, and 3 indicates an outlet port.
Here, the lower member 4 having the inlet port 2 is provided with a tapered piercing portion 6 having a leading end portion having, for example, a conical shape and having a lead-out flow path 5 communicating with the inlet port 2. 4 and an upper member 7 joined thereto, which define the outlet port 3 and, in a central space 8 between them, a flexible diaphragm 9 having a preferably circular limb shape and having an excellent flexibility. Place concentrically with 2. The diaphragm 9 is provided so as to protrude into the central space from the upper member 7, and is pressed by a contact protrusion 10 eccentrically located on the side away from the outlet port 3 with respect to the center of the inlet port 2. Thus, the lower member 4 is brought into contact with the valve seat 11 formed around the inlet port 2 over the entire circumference thereof.
Preferably, such an unexpected displacement of the diaphragm 9 imparted with gas barrier properties and / or water repellency is provided around the valve seat 11 provided on the lower member 4 in addition to the contact protrusion 10 pressing the diaphragm 9. Is sufficiently blocked by the surrounding wall surface 12 surrounding.
[0022]
By the way, the diaphragm 9 is made of a material whose peripheral portion can come into contact with the valve seat 11 over a certain area or more under a normal state as shown in FIG. 1, for example, a silicone rubber having a thickness of about 0.3 to 2 mm. Other flexible rubber or elastomer can be mainly used, and the gas barrier property of the diaphragm 9 can be provided by a rubber or elastomer base material, polyester, nylon, aluminum, glass, or the like. It can be realized by providing a deposited film having a thickness of about 20 μm, or by laminating any of those films, foils and the like.
Here, the diameter of the diaphragm 9 can be, for example, about 15 to 20 mm, and in this case, the eccentric distance between the center of the inlet port and the center of the contact protrusion can be 5 to 8 mm. .
[0023]
Application of the check valve 1 configured as described above to a container, especially to a non-stretched film portion, is performed by, for example, forming a tapered piercing portion 6 having a blunt curved surface at the tip, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the unstretched film portion 21 is pushed and stretched largely as shown in FIG. By further pushing the portion 6, the film portion 21 is broken as shown in FIG. 3 (c), and at the time of the break, the entire front end opening 5a of the outlet channel 5 is positioned inside the broken film. As shown in FIG. 3D, the tapered piercing portion 6 can be inserted into the container to a required depth.
When the check valve 1 is applied in this manner, the tapered piercing portion 6 is made to be substantially uniform over the entire circumference based on the elastic restoring force of the unstretched film portion 21 in the direction of reducing the diameter of the broken hole. With a sufficiently large tightening force, the non-stretched film portion 21 is held by the unstretched film portion 21, and high airtightness and liquid tightness are secured between them. For this reason, even in the case of repeated pouring of the liquid to be packaged in the container, the displacement of the check valve 1 can be sufficiently prevented, and the tapered piercing portion 6 and the non-stretched film portion 21 can be in contact with each other. It is possible to reliably prevent the outside air, which may contain microorganisms and the like, from entering the inside of the container and the extrusion of the liquid to be packaged in the container.
[0024]
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another embodiment, in which a check valve is provided with a female thread portion 13 having an outlet flow path 5 communicating with the inlet port 2 instead of the tapered piercing portion. Things. In addition, as shown in the figure, a claw portion 14 eccentrically located from the center axis is also provided in the female screw portion 13.
In order to apply such a check valve 1 to a container, a cap (not shown) is removed from a male screw portion 23 provided in the container 22, and a sealing material 24 provided in an opening of the male screw portion 23 is peeled off. Alternatively, it can be performed by screwing the female screw portion 13 into the male screw portion 23 and tightening it without stripping, thereby realizing an airtight and strong attachment of the check valve 1. Can be. Here, in the latter case where the female screw portion 13 is screwed together without peeling off the sealing seal member 24, the sealing seal member 24 is opened in a substantially circular shape by the claw portion 14 provided eccentrically to the female screw portion 13. Will be.
Although not shown, the claw portion 14 is omitted from the portion shown in FIG. 4, and the tapered piercing portion 6 as shown in FIG. 1 can be provided inside the female screw portion 13. By forming the hermetic sealing material 24 shown in FIG. 4 with a single-layer or unstretched film having a laminated structure, the tapered piercing portion 6 is described with reference to FIG. 3 as the female screw portion 13 is screwed into the male screw portion 23. In the same manner as described above, the sealing member 24 can be inserted into the sealing member 24, and in this case, the hermetic sealing member 24 is brought into close contact with the tapered piercing portion 6, whereby airtightness and liquid tightness therebetween are exhibited. That is, the female screw portion 13 is screwed into the male screw portion 23, so that the check valve holding force is greatly increased.
[0025]
In the check valve 1 applied to the container as described above, when the pressure or the like acting on each of the inlet port 2 and the outlet port 3 is substantially equal, the diaphragm 9 pressed by the contact protrusion 10 is As shown in FIG. 1, the communication between the inlet port 2 and the outlet port 3 is cut off while maintaining the normally closed position in which the valve seat 11 is in contact with the entire circumference under the physical properties inherent to it.
[0026]
On the other hand, in order to discharge the liquid to be packaged in the container, the check valve 1 is tilted together with the container so that the outlet port 3 thereof is on the lower side, and the liquid to be packaged is placed on the lower surface of the diaphragm 9. By applying a weight, as shown in FIG. 5, the diaphragm 9 can be opened and deformed with the contact protrusion 10 as a fulcrum. In this case, the liquid to be packaged flows from the outlet port 3. The dispensing amount can be adjusted by the tilt amount of the container.
[0027]
On the other hand, the stopping of the discharge of the liquid to be packaged is performed by returning the container to the upright position and releasing the diaphragm 9 from the action of the liquid weight, thereby returning the diaphragm 9 to the normally closed position shown in FIG. Can be performed.
As described above, when the liquid is stopped, as described above, when the liquid to be packaged that has reached the lower surface of the diaphragm returns to the container, the pressure in the vicinity of the inlet port 2 is reduced. As an atmosphere, a force is applied to the diaphragm 9 in a direction in which the diaphragm 9 comes into close contact with the valve seat 11, and / or the container is formed into a soft packaging bag and crushed by a volume corresponding to the amount of the liquid with the liquid being poured. By generating a decompressed atmosphere in the packaging bag based on the inherent elastic restoring force of the deformed packaging bag, a force is applied to the diaphragm 9 in a direction in which the diaphragm 9 comes into close contact with the valve seat 11, whereby the valve seat 11 Contact with the container can be performed more quickly and reliably, so that the intrusion of outside air into the container due to the stoppage of liquid ejection can be effectively prevented.
[0028]
This means that when the discharge of the liquid to be packaged is stopped, the liquid to be discharged remaining in the check valve 1 is returned to the upper surface side of the diaphragm 9, and the weight of the resident liquid is also reduced. This is more effective when it contributes to the close contact with the valve seat 11.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
Thus, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a non-return valve which is excellent in responsiveness and which can be miniaturized, particularly under the action of the eccentrically arranged contact projection. In addition, here, the liquid to be packaged in the container can be more effectively protected under the closed state of the check valve, and intrusion of outside air into the container due to the stoppage of the discharge of the liquid to be packaged. And the liquid once flowing out of the diaphragm can be sufficiently prevented from flowing back into the container.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an operation of a tapered piercing portion.
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view showing a state in which a liquid to be packaged is poured out.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional technique.
FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a check valve according to the related art, showing a state in which liquid is discharged.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Check valve 2 Inlet port 3 Outlet port 4 Lower member 5 Outgoing flow path 5a Tip opening 6 Tapered stub 7 Upper member 8 Central space 9 Diaphragm 10 Contact projection 11 Valve seat 12 Surrounding wall surface 13 Female screw part 14 Claw Department

Claims (8)

A flexible diaphragm for opening and closing the inlet port is disposed between the inlet port and the outlet port, and the diaphragm comes into contact with the valve seat around the inlet port over the entire circumference thereof. A check valve provided with a part,
A non-return valve in which the abutting projection is eccentric with respect to the inlet port and the diaphragm which are arranged concentrically with each other to abut the diaphragm. The check valve according to claim 1, wherein the diaphragm has a circular planar contour. 3. The check valve according to claim 1, wherein the diaphragm has a gas barrier property. The check valve according to claim 1, wherein the diaphragm has water repellency. The check valve according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a tapered piercing portion having an outlet passage communicating with the inlet port. The check valve according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a female screw portion having an outlet passage communicating with the inlet port. The check valve according to claim 6, wherein the female screw portion is provided with a claw portion that is offset from a center axis of the female screw portion. 7. The check valve according to claim 6, wherein a tapered insertion portion having an outlet channel is provided on the center axis of the female screw portion.

Images