JP2006151515A - Disposable device for bag-in-box for holding viscous liquid - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a disposable device by which extraction characteristics of a viscous liquid from a bag are improved. <P>SOLUTION: The disposable device of a bag-in-box container for a viscous ink is provided with a pipe of an extending shape which prolongs into the bag. It is preferable that the pipe is cylindrical, and the pipe has a plurality of holes in its side-wall. These holes are disposed in a row so as to demarcate the rib of a longitudinal direction on the side-wall of the pipe. The holes of the adjoining row are located in the bias against each other. This single-use device can be used to maximize the amount of the ink extracted from the bag by preventing the bag from collapsing and the bag from closing the disposable device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a single-use apparatus for use in a bag-in-box container for viscous liquids, particularly ink.

  It is known to use bag-in-box packaging designs to contain viscous liquids, such as inks, especially those used in digital copiers. Such a design provides many advantages in terms of product ease of use and product protection during shipping and storage. In addition, to achieve a design that allows virtually all liquids to be used up from the bag to maximize the availability of the product to the user and minimize the problems associated with the disposal of used packaging. Is possible. If the liquid contained in the bag is a viscous material, it is difficult to achieve such performance. In general, in the process of using up by suction, it becomes difficult for the liquid to come out from the tip of the bag, the opposing walls of the bag are closed, the mouth of the bag is sealed, and the liquid cannot be further removed. Since this kind of malfunction leads to excessive unused liquid remaining, it has already been proposed to equip the bag with a flow guiding device to avoid this. In general, these are plastic molded articles as described in Patent Document 1, and the opposite walls of the bag are prevented from being sealed together during the single use process, and a passage is provided to allow the liquid to flow. It flows in the opening of the bag.

  However, recently developed inks have higher viscosities than those used so far in bag-in-box packaging, and it has been found that the residuals are extremely large when using known disposable devices.

UK Patent Application No. 2331065

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a single-use device that makes it possible to improve the take-out property of a viscous liquid from a bag.

According to the present invention, in the single-use device that causes the viscous liquid to flow out of the bag, the single-use device comprises:
A port (drawer port) protruding through the opening of the bag, the port having connecting means for connecting to the take-out device and / or the lid (cap);
A single-use device is provided that includes a hollow elongate tube extending into the interior of the bag, wherein the interior of the tube is in fluid communication with the port and the side wall of the tube has at least one through-hole.

  Moreover, this invention also provides a container provided with the bag with which the said single use apparatus is enclosed. The bag can be contained within a box and can contain viscous ink.

  The invention is further described below with reference to exemplary embodiments and the accompanying schematic drawings.

  The single-use device 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is designed to improve the use-up performance of a liquid having a high viscosity when used in a bag-in-box container as shown in FIG. 5, for example.

  The single-use device 10 is hollow throughout, and basically includes two parts, that is, a connecting part 10a and an extraction pipe 10b. The connecting portion 10a is provided with a port that enables connection to a take-out device such as an ink supply pump of a digital printer, and can be covered therewith. Screws 18 can also be provided to ensure connection to the unloader or lid. A pair of flanges 17 may be provided to securely position the unloader at the opening of the box, as described in co-pending British Patent Application No. 0322986.1 filed Oct. 1, 2003. it can. In order to be able to enclose the single-use device in the seam of the bag, an enclosing part 16 having a parallelogram cross-section is provided.

  The extraction tube 10b is hollow and has an elongated shape so as to extend sufficiently into a container to be used up. The tube is preferably cylindrical, but elliptical or polygonal cross sections can also be used. In order to maximize the use-up, the side wall of the tube 10b is as open as possible and the end 15 can be open. In this embodiment, the open area is maximized by forming the tube in the shape of an open ridge having ribs 12 and 13 extending in the longitudinal and circumferential directions so as to form a through hole 14. The longitudinal ribs 11 can be understood as dividing the through holes 14 into rows. The circumferential ribs 13 are positioned so that one row of through holes 14a is offset from the adjacent row of through holes 14b. This means that there are no continuous ribs extending around the entire circumference of the tube 10a (except at both ends). Accordingly, a through hole that leads into the interior of the tube 10a is provided in substantially all of the area through which ink passes and is used up.

  The size of the single-use device depends on the retrieval application in which it is used, but a device for a 1000 cc bag-in-box container can have a total length of about 180 mm, the tube 10a can have a diameter of about 13 mm, The longitudinal rib 11 can have a width of about 1.5 mm. The circumferential ribs 13 can have a width d1 of about 2 mm, and the through holes 14a can have a width d2 of about 6 mm. The total open area of the tube 13a is about 63% of the total surface area of the tube.

The experiments shown below show that the single-use device has improved performance compared to prior art designs. Improved performance is believed to be obtained by the following features alone or in combination:
1. Tubular form of the portion extending into the container.
2. Installation of exhaust holes over the entire surface area of the tube where the liquid needs to be used up. It is preferred to provide more than 40 holes, most preferably more than 70 holes.
3. Maximize the open area of the tube while maintaining sufficient rigidity and strength of the tube. The open area is preferably greater than 50% or 60% of the total area of the tube, and in a preferred embodiment is between 60% and 65% of the total area.
4). The hole pattern is such that they occupy the longitudinal region of the discharge tube, and the adjacent longitudinal region holes are offset so that there are no continuous ribs around the tube .
5. Minimizing the width of the longitudinal rib, for example to less than 30% around the circumference of the tube, preferably between 20% and 25%.

Experimental results show that the single-use device of the present invention can use more viscous liquid from the bag ink box container than known devices. The improved performance of the present invention arises from the fact that this device reduces the tendency of the bag membrane to collapse on the surface of the flow directing device and maximizes the likelihood that residual ink will be used up when this phenomenon occurs. it is conceivable that. The important factors are as follows.
The tube configuration maximizes the surface area of the flow director.
The large opening area maximizes the possibility of ink being ejected in areas where there is no contact with the membrane.
The stepped hole pattern creates an irregular discharge path that can be used, thereby increasing the likelihood that during use up, the membrane of the bag will not stick to the device and block the use up device.

  With regard to the selection of hole dimensions and tube diameter, consideration must be given to provide the optimal design for a given application. In general, larger holes are preferred, but consideration must be given to the strength and rigidity of the equipment. In addition, excessively large holes may exacerbate the problem of exhaustion due to the back membrane being sucked into the discharge tube during the process of exhaustion. There are two conflicting requirements for the choice of tube diameter. Increasing the diameter is the same as increasing the surface area of the discharge tube, which is known to be advantageous for a single use process. However, the volume of liquid in the tube represents the inevitable residue in the pack. From this consideration, it is advantageous to make the diameter smaller. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct experiments in order to realize an optimum design for a specific application.

"Experimental example"
One group has the flow guiding device according to the above-mentioned embodiment, and the second group has the equipment according to GB-A-22331055, except for these, the other is the same design 1000cc bag-in The box cartridge was filled with ink samples of various viscosities. These cartridges were allowed to equilibrate overnight in a test environment at a temperature of 10 ° C. The use-up performance of each ink and various inks of the equipment was evaluated by performing a printing test using a preport JP5500 digital copying machine (manufactured by Ricoh Co., Ltd., Japan). Printing continued until an “out of ink” signal was issued from the printing machine. At this point, the weight of the cartridge was measured and the remaining amount of ink was calculated by subtracting the average weight of the cartridge package. A “pass” result was recorded when all 10 cartridges in the test group achieved a remaining capacity of 5% or less. The results are tabulated below to support the superior performance of the present invention.

1 is a perspective view of a single-use device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a 1st side view of the single use apparatus of FIG. It is a 2nd side view of the single use apparatus of FIG. It is an end view of the single use apparatus of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the bag-in-box type container in which the single use apparatus of Claim 1 was mounted | worn.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Single-use apparatus 10a Connection part 10b Extraction part 11, 12, 13 Rib 14 Through-hole 15 End part 16 Enclosing part 17 Flange 18 Thread

Claims (22)

In a single-use device that drains viscous liquid from the bag,
A port protruding through the opening of the bag, the port having connecting means for connecting to the take-out device and / or the lid;
A single-use device comprising: a hollow elongated tube extending into the interior of the bag, wherein the interior of the tube is in fluid communication with the port and the side wall of the tube has a tube having at least one through hole.   The single-use apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tube has a cylindrical shape.   The single-use apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the side wall of the pipe has a plurality of through holes.   The single-use apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a total area of the through holes is larger than 50% of an area of the side wall.   The single-use apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a total area of the through holes is larger than 60% of an area of the side wall.   The single-use apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a total area of the through holes is 55% to 65% of an area of the side wall.   The single-use apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the through holes are arranged in a row separated by a plurality of longitudinal ribs.   The single-use apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the through holes of one row are shifted in the longitudinal direction with respect to the through holes of adjacent rows.   The single-use apparatus according to claim 8, wherein there is no continuous rib extending around the entire circumference of the tube between the through holes.   The single-use apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein a combined value of the widths of the ribs is less than 30% of the circumference of the pipe.   The single-use apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein a total value of the widths of the ribs is 20% to 25% around the pipe.   The single-use apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 11, wherein the through hole is arranged over substantially the entire area of the pipe.   The single-use apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 12, which has 40 or more through holes.   The single-use apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 12, which has 70 or more through holes.   The single-use apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein an end of the pipe farthest from the port is open.   The bag attachment part is further included between the said port and the said pipe | tube, The outer side surface of this bag attachment part is a shape which can be enclosed in the seam of a bag. The single-use device described.   The single-use apparatus according to claim 16, wherein a cross section of the bag attaching portion is substantially a parallelogram.   A container including a bag in which the single-use device according to any one of claims 1 to 17 is enclosed.   The container according to claim 18, further comprising a box surrounding the bag, wherein the port of the single-use device protrudes from an opening of the box.   20. A container as claimed in claim 18 or claim 19, wherein the bag contains a viscous liquid.   The viscous liquid was measured at 23 ° using a Bohlin CS10 flow meter equipped with a 25 mm angle 2 ° cone using the Casson model, and 12 Pa. 21. A container according to claim 20, having a viscosity greater than s.   The container according to claim 20 or 21, wherein the viscous liquid is ink.

Images