JP2015009894A - Motor-driven content discharge mechanism, and content discharge product provided with the motor-driven content discharge mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a time lag until content is actually discharged to an external space region from gear pump actuation operation of a user and suppress the occurrence of variations in content discharge amount during timer actuation on the assumption of quantitative discharge of the content, in the motor-driven content discharge mechanism using a gear pump.SOLUTION: A stop valve 9 is disposed on a content inflow side top end part of a tube 8 provided on the upstream side of a gear pump 2 for content discharge through which the content of a container main body 1 passes. An air layer is not formed on a passage space region on the upstream side of the gear pump comprising the tube 8, a cylindrical inflow part 3b of a gear box 3, etc. even in a stoppage state of the gear pump 2 by virtue of action of the stop valve 9. That is, the content remains even in the upstream side passage space region; and therefore, the remaining content is discharged at first to the external space region upon the subsequent starting of gear pump actuation.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric content discharge mechanism of a type in which contents of a container main body are discharged to an external space by the action of a gear pump.

  In the electric content discharge mechanism, when the gear pump is rotationally driven by a motor, the discharge target content of the container main body is sucked up from the tube on the upstream side of the gear pump and discharged to the external space area.

  A feature of the present invention is that an air layer is not formed inside the tube after the gear pump shifts from its operating state to its stopped state.

  In the present specification, the side of the nozzle for discharging contents is referred to as “front”, and the side opposite to the nozzle is referred to as “rear”. The left side of FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5 is “front”, and the right side is “left”.

  The contents to be applied include, for example, liquid or cream soap, cleaning agents, cosmetics, milky lotion, foaming shaving foam, hair styling foam, and the like as described later.

  Needless to say, an electric content discharge mechanism in which the contents of the container main body are discharged to the external space by the action of the gear pump is known (see Patent Document 1 below).

  The gear pump rotates while facing the inner peripheral surface of the gear housing portion in a state where the main driving gear and the driven gear are engaged with each other.

  When the gear pump is in a stopped state (stationary mode), the contents provided in the container main body are sucked through the meshing portion of the main driving gear and the driven gear and the clearance generated between the inner peripheral surface of the gear housing portion and the gear facing portion. The upper tube communicates with the external space.

  Therefore, when shifting from the content discharge state in which the gear pump is operating to the stationary mode in which the gear pump is stopped, the outside air flows back from the clearance portion into the tube, and the liquid level inside the tube decreases. The liquid level inside the tube stops in a state of being balanced with the content liquid level inside the container body.

  As a result, an air layer from the liquid level inside the tube to the gear pump is formed in the upstream passage portion of the gear pump (see air layer D in FIG. 5).

JP 2000-83557 A

  Thus, in the case of the electric content discharge mechanism using the conventional gear pump, the above-mentioned air layer is generated inside the tube when the gear pump is shifted from the operating state to the stopped state.

  Therefore, there is a problem in that the content discharge timing is delayed by the amount of the air layer inside the tube during the next content discharge operation.

  Therefore, in the present invention, a check valve is provided at the content inflow side tip portion of the upstream portion of the gear pump for suctioning the content to prevent communication between the inside of the container body and the external space when the gear pump is stopped. ing.

  As a result, when the gear pump is stopped, the above-mentioned air layer is not generated in the passage section on the upstream side of the gear pump such as a tube, and the time delay until the contents are actually discharged from the user's gear pump operation operation to the external space area. It aims at shortening.

  In addition, in the case of a timer-operated gear pump that presupposes the constant discharge of contents, the length of the air layer inside the tube up to the gear pump depends on the remaining amount of contents in the container body when the gear pump is operated. In contrast, it is an object of the present invention to suppress the occurrence of variation in the content discharge amount for each gear pump operation based on the difference in length.

The present invention solves these problems as follows.
(1) In an electric content discharge mechanism of a type in which the contents of a container body (for example, a container body 1 described later) are discharged to the external space by the action of a gear pump (for example, a gear pump 2 described later),
A motor for driving the gear pump (for example, a motor 5a described later);
An operation unit of the motor (for example, a motor operation operation unit 3d described later);
A gear housing (for example, a gear housing 3a described later) for housing the gear pump;
A cylindrical upstream passage portion (for example, a tube 8 described later, a lower cylindrical portion of the housing 7, a cylindrical inflow of the gear box 3) through which the contents of the container main body flows from the container main body to the gear housing portion. Part 3b),
A cylindrical downstream passage portion (for example, a forward-facing cylindrical portion 3g of a gear box 3 described later) that communicates from the gear housing portion to a content discharge portion (for example, a nozzle 4 described later),
A check valve (for example, a check valve 9 described later) is provided at the content inflow side tip of the upstream passage portion.
The thing of a structure aspect is used.
(2) In (1) above,
The upstream passage portion is
A tube into which the contents of the container body flows,
The check valve is
Provided at the content inflow side tip portion of the tube,
The thing of a structure aspect is used.

  The present invention is directed to an electric content discharge mechanism having such a configuration and a pump-type product including the content discharge mechanism.

The present invention adopts the above configuration,
(11) To shorten the time delay from the user's gear pump operation operation until the content is actually discharged to the external space area,
(12) Suppress variation in content discharge amount for each gear pump operation.
be able to.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the gear pump stop state of the electrically driven content discharge mechanism which provided the check valve in the lower end part of the content suction tube. It is explanatory drawing which shows the gear pump operating state of the electrically driven content discharge mechanism of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the meshing state of a main drive gear and a driven gear, the arrangement | positioning relationship between the said main drive / driven gear, and the gear accommodating part which is those accommodating bodies, etc. It is explanatory drawing which shows the gear pump stop state of the electrically-driven content discharge mechanism which provided the check valve in the upper inner part of the content suction tube. It is explanatory drawing which shows the gear pump stop state of the general purpose electrically-driven content discharge mechanism which is not providing the check valve in the content suction tube.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention and a comparative example thereof will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The components with the following reference numbers with alphabets (for example, the main driving gear 2a) indicate that they are part of the components with the reference numbers without alphabets (for example, the gear pump 2).

1 to 5,
1 is a container body in which an upper air layer and a lower liquid layer (contents to be discharged) are accommodated in an internal space area;
1a is a small diameter cylindrical portion on the upper end side of the container body 1, and an upper end side cylindrical portion in which a screw action portion is formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof;
Respectively.

Also,
2 is a well-known gear pump for sucking up the contents of the container body 1 and discharging it to the external space.
2a is a small-diameter main driving gear that is rotationally driven by a motor 5a described later.
2b is a small-diameter driven gear that meshes with the main driving gear 2a and rotates.
2c is a large-diameter drive gear that is coupled to the main drive gear 2a by a rotary shaft;
Respectively.

Also,
3 is a gear box in which a main driving gear 2a and a driven gear 2b are respectively disposed;
3a is a hollow gear housing portion that accommodates the main driving gear 2a and the driven gear 2b, and that has a predetermined clearance (for example, mm) between the respective gear tip portions and is formed of an opposed inner peripheral surface;
3b is a cylindrical inflow portion formed on the upstream side of the gear housing portion 3a,
3c is a rectangular substrate that is integral with the gear housing 3a and spreads on the outer sides;
3d is a motor operation control unit attached to the upper part of the rectangular substrate 3c,
3e has a hole for passing the contents and is a cap member having a sealing property attached to the opening side of the gear housing 3a,
3f is a joint member screwed to the gear accommodating portion 3a in a form of being sandwiched from the outside of the cap member 3e,
3g is a forward-facing cylindrical portion for passage of contents formed in the joint member 3f,
4 is a nozzle attached to the forward cylindrical portion 3g in a fitted state,
Respectively.

Also,
A motor box 5a attached to the rectangular substrate 3c by screwing is a gear pump driving motor fixed inside the motor box 5;
5b is an output shaft of the motor 5a, and a motor output gear for rotating the drive gear 2c engaged therewith,
5c is a battery for driving the motor held in the motor box 5,
5d is a timer setting operation part provided on the rear side of the motor box 5,
Reference numeral 5e denotes a power operation unit provided on the rear side of the motor box 5,
Respectively.

Also,
6 is a sheath cover for covering the gear box 3 and the motor box 5,
6a is a front opening for passing the nozzle 4 from the outside to the inside of the cover body,
6b is an opening on the upper surface for exposing the motor operation operating portion 3d,
6c is a vertically cut-out portion on the lower end side for exposing the timer setting operation portion 5d and the power supply operation portion 5e,
Respectively.

Also,
7 is a funnel-shaped housing fitted into the cylindrical inflow portion 3b of the gear box 3;
7a is a ring-shaped part formed on the upper end side of the housing 7,
7b is formed on the lower peripheral surface of the ring-shaped portion 7a, and when the air pressure inside the container body decreases due to the discharge operation of the contents, a decompression prevention hole portion for allowing the outside air to flow in,
8 is a tube for discharging the contents, which is fitted into the lower flange portion of the housing 7 and through which the contents of the container body 1 pass when the gear pump 2 is operated.
Respectively.

Also,
9 is a check valve attached to the lower end of the tube 8 (used in FIGS. 1 and 2),
9a is a ball (valve element) that moves up and down and exhibits a valve action,
9b is a cylindrical part for actuating the valve, which is composed of two upper and lower stages, and is provided with an upward movement position restricting part and a valve seat part of the ball 9a,
9c is a plurality of inwardly convex portions that are formed in a manner of jumping in the circumferential direction of the inner peripheral surface of the upper cylindrical portion, and set the most moving position of the ball 9a,
9d is a ring-shaped inner peripheral surface (valve seat portion) that is formed in the form of a bowl-shaped inner peripheral surface that spreads upward on the lower inner surface of the lower cylindrical portion and exhibits a valve seat action with the ball 9a.
9 ′ is a check valve attached to the upper inner part of the tube 8 (used only in FIG. 4),
Respectively.

Also,
10 is an annular seal member fitted in the lower surface portion of the ring-shaped portion 7a of the housing 7,
11 has a ring-shaped part 7a of the housing 7 fixedly attached to its annular ceiling surface portion, and the ring-shaped part, gear pump 2, gear box 3, motor box 5, housing 7 and tube 8 And a screw cap that is screwed to the upper cylindrical portion 1a of the container body 1 in a unit state integrated with the check valve 9 and the like,
12 is sandwiched between the inner upper surface portion of the ring-shaped portion 7 a of the housing 7 and the inner ceiling surface portion of the screw cap 11, and the inner lower annular end portion of the housing 7 is the cylindrical inflow portion 3 b of the gear box 3. An annular check valve (valve element) for taking in outside air that is in close contact with the outer peripheral surface in an elastic manner that allows outward displacement.
Respectively.

Also,
A is the flow direction of the contents due to the operation of the gear pump 2,
B is the flow direction of the decompression-preventing outside air supplied to the container body 1,
C is the rotational direction of the gear pump 2 (the main driving gear 2a and the driven gear 2b),
D is the air layer inside the tube of FIGS.
Respectively.

  Here, the container body 1, the gear box 3, the nozzle 4, the motor box 5, the cover body 6, the housing 7, the tube 8, the screw cap 11, and the like are made of plastic made of, for example, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyacetal, nylon, polybutylene terephthalate, or the like. belongs to.

  The gear pump 2 is made of metal or plastic, and the check valve 9, the annular seal member 10 and the annular check valve 12 are made of plastic or rubber.

  The basic feature of the electric content discharge mechanism using the illustrated gear pump 2 is that a check valve 9 is provided at the tip of the content discharge tube 8.

  In the case of an electric content discharge mechanism using a gear pump, the suction valve and the discharge valve of a normal content discharge pump mechanism are not provided.

  When the gear pump 2 shifts from the operating state shown in FIG. 2 to the stopped state shown in FIG. 1, the check valve 9 that has been opened by the pressure action of the discharged contents until then is caused by the downward movement of the ball (valve element) 9a. Due to the close contact with the tapered inner peripheral surface 9d, the shift to the closed state occurs.

  By setting the check valve 9 to the closed state, for example, the discharge target contents in the passage space area on the upstream side of the gear pump from the gear pump 2 to the tube 8 (check valve 9) remain as they are.

  Therefore, when the gear pump 2 starts to be operated by the next content discharge operation, the residual content in the passage space area on the upstream side of the gear pump and the subsequent stored contents in the container body 1 are discharged from the nozzle 4 to the external space area. .

  Due to the action of the check valve 9 attached to the lower end portion of the tube 8, the start-up delay of the content discharge operation from the nozzle 4 does not occur.

  In addition, by preventing the rising delay of the content discharge operation, the discharge content quantification function for each time in the timer operation (fixed time operation) of the gear pump 2 can be reliably ensured.

  FIG. 2 shows an operation mode of the gear pump 2 in which the power supply operation unit 5e and the motor operation operation unit 3d are pressed.

  By the operation of the gear pump 2, the contents of the container main body 1 are changed to “the tube 8 -the lower cylindrical portion of the housing 7 -the cylindrical inflow portion 3 b of the gear box 3 -the forward cylindrical portion 3 g of the gear box 3 -the nozzle 4”. It is discharged to the external space area by this route. The flow of the contents near the gear pump 2 is in the direction A in FIG.

  When the contents of the container body 1 are discharged into the external space and the container internal pressure becomes smaller than the external air pressure, the outside air of the flow B shown in FIG. It flows into the internal space area of the said container main body from the part 7b.

  At this time, the inner peripheral surface of the lower end of the annular check valve 12 is separated from the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical inflow portion 3b of the gear box 3 by the action of the external air pressure, and the external space and the container body 1 communicate with each other. To do.

  FIG. 4 shows the liquid level inside the tube after the stationary mode of the electric content discharge mechanism in which the check valve 9 ′ is provided in the inner upper portion of the tube 8, that is, after the gear pump 2 is shifted from the operating state to the stationary state. Is shown.

  Thus, when the check valve 9 ′ is provided in the upper part of the tube 8 and the liquid level of the container body 1 exists below the check valve, after the gear pump 2 is stopped, that is, the check valve. It was confirmed that an air layer D was formed in the content passage area directly under the check valve after the closed state.

  In order to prevent the generation of such an air layer D, the check valve 9 is provided at the distal end portion of the tube 8 in the electric content discharge mechanism of the present invention. By this position selection, the check valve 9 is substantially prevented from being lower than the internal liquid level of the container body 1.

  The contents discharge products to which the present invention is applied include cleaning agents, cleaning agents, antiperspirants, cooling agents, muscle anti-inflammatory agents, hair styling agents, hair treatment agents, hair dyes, hair restorers, cosmetics, shaving foams, Food, Droplets (Vitamin etc.), Pharmaceuticals, Quasi-drugs, Paints, Horticultural agents, Repellents (Insecticides), Cleaners, Deodorants, Laundry glue, Urethane foam, Fire extinguishers, Adhesives, There are various uses such as lubricants.

  As the contents stored in the container body, various forms such as liquid, cream and gel are used. Ingredients blended in the contents are, for example, powders, oil ingredients, alcohols, surfactants, polymer compounds, active ingredients according to each application, water, and the like.

  As the powder, metal salt powder, inorganic powder, resin powder, or the like is used. For example, talc, kaolin, aluminum hydroxychloride (aluminum salt), calcium alginate, gold powder, silver powder, mica, carbonate, barium sulfate, cellulose, and a mixture thereof are used.

  As the oil component, silicone oil, palm oil, eucalyptus oil, camellia oil, olive oil, jojoba oil, paraffin oil, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid and the like are used.

  Examples of the alcohol include monovalent lower alcohols such as ethanol, monovalent higher alcohols such as lauryl alcohol, and polyhydric alcohols such as ethylene glycol, glycerin, and 1,3-butylene glycol.

  Surfactants include anionic surfactants such as sodium lauryl sulfate, nonionic surfactants such as polyoxyethylene oleyl ether, amphoteric surfactants such as lauryldimethylaminoacetic acid betaine, and cations such as alkyltrimethylammonium chloride. A surfactant is used.

  As the polymer compound, methyl cellulose, gelatin, starch, casein, hydroxyethyl cellulose, xanthan gum, carboxyvinyl polymer, or the like is used.

  Active ingredients according to each application include anti-inflammatory analgesics such as methyl salicylate and indomethacin, disinfectants such as sodium benzoate and cresol, insect repellents such as Hillesroid and diethyltoluamide, antiperspirants such as zinc oxide, Softeners such as camphor and menthol, anti-asthma drugs such as ephedrine and adrenaline, sweeteners such as sucralose and aspartame, adhesives and paints such as epoxy resin and urethane, dyes such as paraphenylenediamine and aminophenol, dihydrogen phosphate Use a fire extinguishing agent such as ammonium or sodium bicarbonate.

  Further, other than the above-mentioned contents, suspending agents, ultraviolet absorbers, emulsifiers, humectants, antioxidants, sequestering agents, etc. can be used.

1: Container body 1a: Upper cylindrical portion 2: Gear pump 2a: Small-diameter main drive gear 2b: Small-diameter driven gear 2c: Large-diameter drive gear 3: Gear box 3a: Gear housing portion 3b: Cylindrical inflow portion 3c: Rectangular substrate 3d: motor operation operation portion 3e: cap member 3f: joint member 3g: forward facing tubular portion 4: nozzle 5: motor box 5a: motor 5b for driving the gear pump: motor output gear 5c: battery 5d: timer setting operation Part 5e: Power supply operation part 6: Cover body 6a: Front opening 6b: Upper surface opening 6c: Vertical cut-out part 7 on the lower end side 7: Housing 7a: Ring-shaped part 7b: Decompression prevention hole 8: Contents Tube 9 for discharge: check valve (Figs. 1 and 2)
9a: Ball (valve)
9b: Tubular portion 9c for valve operation: Plural inwardly convex portions 9d: Ring tapered inner peripheral surface 9 ′: Check valve (FIG. 4)
10: Annular seal member 11: Screw cap 12: Annular check valve for taking in outside air A: Flow direction of contents B: Flow direction of outside air for preventing depressurization C: Direction of rotation D of gear pump (main gear and driven gear) D: Air layer inside the tube (Figs. 4 and 5)

Claims (3)

In the electric content discharge mechanism of the type in which the contents of the container body are discharged to the external space by the action of the gear pump,
A motor for driving the gear pump;
An operation part of the motor;
A gear housing for housing the gear pump;
A cylindrical upstream passage section through which the contents of the container body flows from the container body to the gear housing;
A cylindrical downstream passage portion communicating from the gear housing portion to the content discharge portion,
A check valve is provided at the content inflow side tip portion of the upstream passage portion,
An electrically-driven content discharge mechanism. The upstream passage portion is
A tube into which the contents of the container body flows,
The check valve is
Provided at the content inflow side tip portion of the tube,
The electrically driven content discharge mechanism according to claim 1. The electric contents discharge mechanism according to claim 1 or claim 2 is provided, and the contents to be discharged are stored in the container body.
Contents discharge product characterized by that.

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