JP2007176536A - Sealant cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sealant cartridge in which a plunger can be inserted from the open end of a cartridge body without an entry of air after storing a sealant material into the cartridge body and which excels in air tightness. <P>SOLUTION: The sealant cartridge includes the cylindrical cartridge body whose one end is closed by a top lid having a projection and the polyolefine plunger 2 slidably inserted in the other end of the cartridge body. In such a sealant cartridge, the plunger 2 has a plunger bottom 2a disposed in contact with the sealant material stored in the cartridge body, and a cylindrical plunger sidewall 2b whose outer peripheral face is in firm contact with the inner peripheral face of the cartridge body. At least one part of the plunger sidewall 2b has a thin wall extending almost parallel in the direction of insertion of the plunger. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sealant cartridge, and more particularly, to a sealant cartridge in which a plunger can be inserted from an opening end of a cartridge body without involving air, and which is excellent in airtightness.

  In the civil engineering / architecture field, sealants that are cured by moisture in the air, such as silicone sealants, polyurethane sealants, and polysulfide sealants, are widely used for sealing such as waterproof seals for window frames and joints. Conventionally, various sealant cartridges having excellent hermeticity for blocking these sealant materials from moisture in the air and storing them for a long time have been studied. However, in the conventionally used sealant cartridge, after the sealant material is stored in the cartridge body, when the plunger is inserted from the opening end of the cartridge body, air is entrained between the plunger and the sealant material. There was a problem that the stored sealant material hardened during storage.

  For this reason, when the plunger is inserted into the opening end of the cartridge main body, it is necessary to remove air between the plunger and the sealant material, and there is a problem that the workability of filling the sealant material is poor. For example, when inserting a plunger, a jig such as plastic or bamboo spatula is inserted between the cartridge inner peripheral surface and the plunger outer peripheral surface to create a gap, and the air between the stored sealant material and the plunger is removed. A method of discharging from the gap is known. However, this method has problems such as complicated adjustment of the positioning of the jig, broken pieces of the jig, and cutting pieces in which the cartridge main body and the plunger are cut by the jig are mixed into the sealant material. .

  In order to solve this problem, a shallow groove substantially parallel to the plunger insertion direction is provided on the outer peripheral side surface of the plunger, and air is discharged from the groove when the plunger is inserted. There has been proposed a method (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-147777) for preventing air from entering with a hydrophobic sealant interposed between the two. However, when such a plunger is used, there is a problem that air gradually enters from the groove of the plunger and a part of the stored sealant material is cured.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-147777

  An object of the present invention is to provide a sealant cartridge that can insert a plunger from the opening end of the cartridge body without entraining air after the sealant material is stored in the cartridge body and is excellent in airtightness. There is.

  In the sealant cartridge comprising a cylindrical cartridge body sealed at one end by a canopy portion having a discharge part, and a polyolefin plunger slidably inserted into the other end of the cartridge body, The plunger includes a plunger bottom portion in contact with a sealant material housed in the cartridge body, and a cylindrical plunger side wall whose outer peripheral surface is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cartridge main body. This is achieved by a sealant cartridge characterized by having a thin wall portion substantially parallel to the insertion direction.

  The sealant material storage cartridge of the present invention is characterized in that after the sealant material is stored in the cartridge body, the plunger is inserted into the open end of the cartridge body and sealed.

  The sealant cartridge of the present invention is provided with a thin wall portion substantially parallel to the insertion direction on the side wall of the polyolefin plunger that is slidable by being inserted into the cartridge body. When the plunger is inserted into the open end of the cartridge body, the plunger is appropriately deformed to create a gap between the cartridge body inner peripheral surface and the plunger outer peripheral surface, and air is discharged from this gap. Therefore, it is possible to improve the workability of filling the sealant without requiring any special jig or air discharge operation. Further, since no special jig or air discharge operation as described above is necessary, foreign matter such as a broken piece of the jig or the cartridge is not mixed, and the defect rate can be reduced and the reliability can be improved. Furthermore, after the plunger is inserted, the inner peripheral surface of the cartridge main body and the outer peripheral surface of the plunger side wall are in close contact with each other, so that the airtightness is excellent and the sealant material stored in the cartridge main body can be stably stored for a long time. .

  The sealant material storage cartridge of the present invention is manufactured by inserting a plunger from the open end of the cartridge body after the sealant material is stored in the cartridge body. The cartridge after the manufacture is attached to a caulking gun, and the plunger By pressing the back surface of the cartridge toward the front end of the cartridge body and sliding the plunger, the sealant material housed in the cartridge body can be pushed out from the discharge portion by an appropriate amount.

  The cartridge body used in the present invention is a cylindrical cartridge body made of a material having airtightness and shape retention, and is suitable for polyolefins such as low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, polypropylene, and ethylene / propylene copolymer. Examples thereof include a plastic cylindrical container with low air permeability, a paper cylindrical container coated with the plastic material or aluminum foil, and the like. Among them, a polyolefin cylindrical container is preferable, and a high density polyethylene cylindrical container is particularly preferable. When the cartridge main body is a plastic cylindrical container, the thickness of the cartridge main body is preferably in the range of 0.7 mm to 2.5 mm. When the cartridge main body is a plastic cylindrical container, a moisture-proof layer such as an aluminum foil may be laminated on the cartridge main body in order to further reduce moisture permeability.

  The tip of the cartridge body used in the present invention is sealed by a canopy portion having a discharge portion. It is preferable that the discharge portion and the canopy portion are integrally formed of the plastic material or a metal material such as aluminum. In the case where the cartridge body is formed of a plastic material, the discharge part and the canopy part are preferably made of the same material as the cartridge body and integrally formed with the cartridge body. Examples of the discharge part include a nozzle-like one and a screw part for attaching a separately formed nozzle. The discharge part is preferably sealed with a moisture-proof film to prevent air from entering. The moisture-proof film is preferably a laminate of a metal foil such as aluminum and a heat-fusing adhesive.

  The other end of the cartridge main body has an open end for filling the sealant material and slidably inserting the plunger. It is preferable that a coating film of a hydrophobic sealant is provided on at least a portion of the inner peripheral surface of the opening end that comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the plunger. This is because the hydrophobic sealant can seal the gap between the inner peripheral surface of the cartridge main body and the outer peripheral surface of the plunger in contact therewith, thereby improving the airtightness of the sealant cartridge of the present invention. A conventionally well-known thing can be used as said hydrophobic sealing agent. For example, high-viscosity oils such as high-viscosity mineral oil or synthetic oil, long-chain alkyl-modified polysiloxane, high-viscosity polybutene, and high-viscosity polyisobutylene; greases such as mineral oil grease and synthetic grease; Waxes such as waxes, paraffin waxes, plant waxes, animal waxes, and the like, and blends composed of these waxes and high viscosity polymers are exemplified. Among them, a hydrophobic seal made of a wax and a high-viscosity polymer, for example, a high-viscosity polybutene or polyisobutylene, is a viscous plastic material near room temperature, and becomes fluid when heated above the melting point of the wax. Agents are preferred. This is because the plunger slides smoothly, has excellent followability with respect to the plunger slide, and does not contaminate the stored sealant material.

  The plunger constituting the present invention is inserted into the open end of the cartridge main body containing the sealant material to maintain the airtightness of the sealant cartridge, and when the sealant cartridge is used, the plunger is attached to the tip of the cartridge main body. By pushing in the direction and sliding the plunger, the stored sealant material is pushed out from the discharge part by an appropriate amount.

  When the plunger is inserted into the open end of the cartridge main body, a plunger bottom contacting the sealant material housed in the cartridge main body, a cylindrical plunger side wall whose outer peripheral surface is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cartridge main body, Consists of. When the plunger is pressed and slid in the tip direction, the plunger side wall is opened in the cartridge body opening end direction so that the plunger bottom can be pressed directly from the cartridge body opening end. The material of the plunger is polyolefin, and examples of the polyolefin include low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, polypropylene, and ethylene / propylene copolymer, and high density polyethylene is preferable. The plunger bottom and plunger side wall may be formed by integral molding, or after forming the plunger bottom and plunger side wall separately, they may be formed by joining them, but they are excellent in airtightness and strength. It is preferable to form the plunger bottom and the plunger side wall by integral molding.

  The plunger side wall has at least one thin portion substantially parallel to the direction in which the plunger is inserted into the cartridge body. When the plunger is inserted into the cartridge body, this thin portion is deformed, creating a slight gap between the cartridge body inner peripheral surface and the plunger side wall outer peripheral surface, and as the plunger is inserted into the cartridge main body. Thus, air between the plunger and the sealant material housed in the cartridge body is discharged from this gap. In addition, the shape of the outer peripheral surface of the horizontal section of the plunger side wall when the plunger bottom is down is circular because it needs to be in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cartridge body.

  The thin wall portion provided on the plunger side wall may be completely parallel to the insertion direction of the plunger or may be slightly inclined. The number of the thin-walled portions provided on the plunger side wall is not particularly limited, and is preferably about 1 to 10, and particularly preferably 1 to 3. As a method of providing a thin wall part on the plunger side wall, the shape of the inner peripheral surface of the plunger side wall in the horizontal section when the plunger bottom is down is formed in a circle or ellipse eccentric with respect to the center of the circle on the outer peripheral surface And a method of forming a concentric ellipse with respect to the center of a circle on the outer peripheral surface, and a method of forming a polygon having a convex shape in the direction of the outer peripheral surface, a circle or an ellipse. Especially, it is preferable to make it the shape which the wall thickness of a plunger side wall reduces continuously toward a thin part. Avoid concentration of stress on the thin wall of the plunger side wall when inserting the plunger, and the plunger may be destroyed or permanently deformed when inserted into the cartridge body, causing a gap between the cartridge body inner peripheral surface and the plunger side wall outer peripheral surface. This is to prevent the occurrence of the above. In particular, since the molding is easy, the shape of the inner circumferential surface of the plunger side wall when the plunger bottom is down is a circle or ellipse that is eccentric with respect to the center of the outer circumferential circle. Is preferred.

  When the shape of the inner peripheral surface of the plunger side wall when the plunger bottom is down is a circle or an ellipse, the thickness of the plunger side wall is in the range of 3.0 mm to 0.7 mm on average. It is preferable that the average value is in a range of 2.5 mm to 1.0 mm. In this case, the minimum thickness of the thin portion of the plunger side wall is preferably 10 to 60% thinner than the average thickness of the plunger side wall, more preferably 15 to 40% thinner, more preferably 20 to 30% thinner. Most preferred. If the minimum thickness of the thin wall portion of the plunger side wall is less than the lower limit of the above range, when the plunger is inserted into the cartridge body, the thin wall portion may be destroyed or permanently deformed. When the upper limit of the range is exceeded, when the plunger is inserted into the cartridge body, the plunger will not be sufficiently deformed, and the air between the bottom of the plunger and the sealant material stored in the cartridge body will not be exhausted sufficiently. This is because there are cases in which the

  When the shape of the inner peripheral surface of the horizontal side surface of the plunger side wall when the plunger bottom is down is a shape having a convex portion protruding in the outer peripheral surface direction, the thickness of the plunger side wall is 2.5 mm to A range of 0.7 mm is preferable. In this case, the minimum thickness of the thin portion of the plunger side wall is preferably 10 to 60% thinner than the plunger side wall, and more preferably 15 to 40% thinner. When the plunger is inserted into the cartridge body below the lower limit of the above range, the thin-walled portion may be destroyed or permanently deformed. On the other hand, when the plunger exceeds the upper limit of the above range, the plunger is inserted into the cartridge body. This is because the plunger may not be sufficiently deformed, and the air between the bottom of the plunger and the sealant material stored in the cartridge body may not be sufficiently exhausted. Although depending on the shape of the protrusion and the material of the plunger, in order to prevent the plunger from being destroyed or permanently deformed when the plunger is inserted into the plunger body, The minimum thickness of the thin portion is preferably 0.4 mm or more, and more preferably 0.6 mm or more.

  The cartridge for sealant of the present invention is, for example, a sealant material such as a silicone sealant, a polyurethane sealant, a polysulfide sealant, or a silane-modified polyether sealant that is cured by moisture in the air to become an elastomer, an acrylic sealant, or a butyl rubber. It can be preferably used for a sealant material which is dried in air such as a base sealant and becomes a solid.

  In order to confirm the effects of the present invention, representative examples of the sealant cartridge of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Manufacture of cartridge body]
A cartridge main body 1a having a thickness of 1.2 mm whose one end is closed by a canopy portion 1b having a discharge portion 1c at the center as shown in FIG. 1 by injection molding of a high-density polyethylene resin having a density of 0.96. Got. The discharge port of the discharge part 1c was sealed by fusing a moisture-proof film 4 made of an aluminum laminate film around the discharge port 1c. A tapered low density polyethylene nozzle 3 was screwed into the discharge port 1c. A mixture of polybutene and microcrystalline wax (mixing ratio 6: 4) was applied as a hydrophobic sealing material 5 to the inner peripheral surface of the opening at the other end of the cartridge main body 1a in order to improve the sealing performance when the plunger was inserted.

[Manufacture of plunger]
Next, the plunger 2 was formed by injection molding the same material as the cartridge body. The plunger bottom 2a has a thickness of 1.0 mm, and the shape of the inner peripheral surface of the horizontal section when the plunger bottom 2a of the plunger side wall 2b is down is 0.3 mm with respect to the circle center of the outer peripheral surface. It was a circle having an eccentric center, and the plunger side wall 2b had an average thickness of 1.3 mm, a maximum thickness of 1.6 mm, and a minimum thickness of 1.0 mm.

[Example 1]
The cartridge body 1a was filled with a sealant material A made of a one-component room temperature curable silicone rubber composition, and the plunger 2 was inserted. There was no air entrainment between the sealant material A and the plunger bottom 2a. Thus, a sealant cartridge 1 containing 1000 sealant materials A was manufactured. When all the cartridges for sealant 1 after the production were observed, no air was caught between the sealant material A and the plunger bottom 2a. In addition, after the sealant cartridge is left in an environment of 40 ° C. and 90% 168 days for 168 days, the stored sealant material A can be easily discharged by a caulking gun, and there is no cured product in the cartridge body 1a. It was confirmed.

[Comparative Example 1]
A sealant cartridge 1 containing the sealant material A was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1, except that a plunger having a uniform plunger side wall 2b and a thickness of 1.3 mm was used. If air is entrained between the sealant material A and the plunger bottom 2a and the bamboo spatula jig is not inserted simultaneously between the inner peripheral surface of the cartridge body and the outer peripheral surface of the plunger when the plunger 2 is inserted, the plunger Could not be interpolated.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the cartridge for sealants used for the Example of this invention. It is a horizontal sectional view of the plunger side wall when the plunger bottom part is shown, showing the plunger used in Example 1 of the present invention. It is a horizontal sectional view of a plunger side wall when the plunger bottom is shown, showing one embodiment of a plunger constituting the present invention. It is a horizontal sectional view of a plunger side wall when a plunger bottom is shown, showing another embodiment of a plunger constituting the present invention. It is a horizontal sectional view of a plunger side wall when a plunger bottom is shown, showing another embodiment of a plunger constituting the present invention. It is a horizontal sectional view of a plunger side wall when a plunger bottom is shown, showing another embodiment of a plunger constituting the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

A Sealant Material 1 Sealant Cartridge 1a Cartridge Main Body 1b Canopy 1c Discharge Port 2 Plunger 2a Plunger Bottom 2b Plunger Side Wall 3 Nozzle 4 Moisture Proof Film 5 Hydrophobic Sealant

Claims (3)

In a sealant cartridge comprising a cylindrical cartridge body sealed at one end by a canopy portion having a discharge part, and a polyolefin plunger slidably inserted into the other end of the cartridge body, the plunger The bottom of the plunger in contact with the sealant material housed inside the cartridge body and the outer circumferential surface of the plunger are in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the cartridge body, and at least one location on the plunger side wall in the direction of inserting the plunger A cartridge for a sealant, characterized by having thin portions that are substantially parallel. 2. The sealant cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge body, the canopy portion, and the discharge portion are made of polyolefin. A sealant material storage cartridge in which a sealant material is stored in the sealant cartridge according to claim 1.

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