JP2020104930A - Foam dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a foam dispenser capable of easily discharging bubbles discharged from a discharge port of a nozzle portion to a target position.SOLUTION: A foam dispenser 1 that discharges a content liquid in a container 100 in form of foam includes: a base cap 10 held by a mouth portion 101 of the container 100; a content liquid pump 21 and an air pump 22, held inside the container 100 by the base cap 10 and capable of sucking and pumping the content liquid and air, respectively; a nozzle portion 60 having a discharge port 61 being fixedly held by the base cap 10, and discharging a foamed content liquid that is foamed by mixing the content liquid and air, pressure-fed by the content liquid pump 21 and the air pump 22; and a pushing-down portion 70 held in an upwardly biased state capable of being pushed down with respect to the base cap 10 and operating the content liquid pump 21 and the air pump 22 with a pushing-down operation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a foamer dispenser for discharging a mixture of a content liquid and air in the form of foam.

In a container that stores shampoo, body soap, hand soap, face wash, etc., the content liquid in the container can be directly foamed and discharged from the viewpoint of omitting the foaming operation of the content liquid and facilitating its easy use. Those equipped with a former dispenser are often used.

As such a former dispenser, a base cap held at the mouth of the container has a single piston in which a piston for sucking and pumping the content liquid and an air piston for sucking and pumping air are concentrically arranged. The cylinder is installed. Then, by pressing the nozzle head and synchronously driving the piston in each pump, the content liquid and air are sucked into each cylinder and pressure-fed, and the content liquid and air are fed in the confluence space on the outlet side of the pump. The content liquid is foamed and discharged by passing through a foaming member such as a mesh while being mixed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 6170397

By the way, in the above-mentioned former dispenser, since the nozzle portion is formed integrally with the head portion which is pushed down when discharging the foam, the ejection port formed in the nozzle portion is formed every time the head portion is pushed down. Is also configured to move up and down. Therefore, it may be difficult to eject the bubbles ejected from the ejection port to a target position.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a foamer dispenser that can easily discharge bubbles discharged from a discharge port of a nozzle portion to a target position.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the former dispenser of the present invention is a former dispenser for discharging the content liquid in a container in the form of foam,
A base cap held at the mouth of the container,
A content liquid pump and an air pump which are held inside the container by the base cap and can suck and pump the content liquid and air, respectively;
A nozzle portion fixedly held by the base cap, having a discharge port for discharging a foam-like content liquid that is foamed by mixing the content liquid and air pumped by the content liquid pump and the air pump,
And a push-down portion that is held in an upwardly biased state capable of being pushed down with respect to the base cap and that operates the content liquid pump and the air pump by a push-down operation.

In the former dispenser of the present invention, the push-down portion has a leg portion that penetrates an opening formed in the base cap and can come into contact with an upper surface of an air piston of the air pump. It is preferable.

Further, in the former dispenser of the present invention, it is preferable that the leg portions are arranged on both left and right sides when viewed from the front side where the discharge port is provided.

Further, in the former dispenser of the present invention, the base cap includes a guide outer cylinder arranged radially outside the leg portion, and a guide inner cylinder arranged radially inside the leg portion, It is preferable to have

Further, in the former dispenser of the present invention, it is preferable that the nozzle portion has a discharge cylinder portion protruding forward from the outer peripheral surface of the base cap and having the discharge port formed at the tip.

Further, in the former dispenser of the present invention, it is preferable that the discharge cylinder portion is provided at an upper end portion of the former dispenser.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a foamer dispenser that can easily discharge bubbles discharged from a discharge port of a nozzle portion to a target position.

It is sectional drawing in the side view of the former dispenser which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a partially expanded view of the former dispenser of FIG. It is a top view of the former dispenser of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which pressed down the press part of the former dispenser of FIG.

Hereinafter, the former dispenser 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present specification, claims, abstract, and drawings, the “up” direction and the “down” direction refer to the orientation of the container in which the former dispenser 1 is mounted on a horizontal surface when in use. Indicates. Further, the side on which the ejection port 61 of the nozzle portion 60 is located with respect to the push-down portion 70 is referred to as “front side” and the opposite side is referred to as “rear side”.

The former dispenser 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a discharge tool that discharges the content liquid in the container 100 in the form of foam, and includes a base cap 10 held at the mouth 101 of the container 100, two pumps 21 and 22. The nozzle portion 60 is fixedly held so as not to move up and down with respect to the base cap 10, and the push-down portion 70 is held so as to be vertically movable with respect to the base cap 10.

The container 100 may have a shape including, for example, a cylindrical mouth portion 101, a tubular body portion 102 that is continuous below the mouth portion 101, and a bottom portion 103 that closes the lower end of the body portion 102. The shape of the container 100 is not limited to the illustrated example and can be changed as appropriate.

The base cap 10 is a member for holding the former dispenser 1 in the container 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the base cap 10 includes a peripheral wall 11 fitted to the outer periphery of the mouth portion 101 of the container 100, a flange-shaped top wall 12 extending radially inward at the upper end of the peripheral wall 11, and a top wall 12. And a guide inner cylinder 13 provided on the inner peripheral edge of In the outer guide cylinder 13 and the inner guide cylinder 14, the lower part of the outer guide tube 13 and the lower part of the inner guide tube 14 are connected by an annular wall 15, and an opening 16 is formed in the annular wall 15. Further, the base cap 10 has an upper wall 17 protruding upward from the top wall 12. The upper wall 17 is a cylindrical (C-shaped) side wall except for the front side where the nozzle portion 60 is provided (see FIG. 3 ). The height of the upper wall 17 does not hinder the pushing operation of the push-down portion 70, and the outer wall of the push-down portion 70 in the initial state in which the push-down portion 70 is not pushed down at all as shown in FIG. The height is preferably such that the inside of 72 is not exposed. As shown in FIG. 4, the height of the upper wall 17 of this example is set to be substantially equal to the height of the top wall 71 when the push-down portion 70 is pushed down to the maximum. It should be noted that the pressing amount (discharging amount) of the pressing unit 70 may be defined by the height of the upper wall 17.

In this example, the female screw portion provided on the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall 11 of the base cap 10 is screwed into the male screw portion provided on the mouth portion 101 of the container 100 so that the base cap 10 can be attached to and detached from the container 100. Retained. In addition, in order to hold the base cap 10 in the container 100, it is also possible to use other configurations such as undercut.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the two pumps 21 and 22 (the content liquid pump 21 and the air pump 22) are held inside the mouth portion 101 of the container 100 by the base cap 10. The content liquid pump 21 and the air pump 22 suction and pump the content liquid and air, respectively. The liquid pump 21 and the air pump 22 include a single cylinder member 23. The cylinder member 23 includes a liquid cylinder 24 and an air cylinder 25 having a bottom portion integrally connected to the upper portion of the liquid cylinder 24. It is arranged coaxially in series. The air cylinder 25 of this example is formed to have a diameter larger than that of the liquid cylinder 24, but is not limited to this.

A flange 26 extending outward in the radial direction is provided above the cylinder member 23, and when being held by the container 100, a packing 27 is arranged on the lower surface side of the flange 26, and the mouth portion 101 of the container 100 is provided. The packing 27 is sandwiched between and. Further, in this example, by fitting the fitting convex portion 28 protruding from the upper surface of the flange 26 into the fitting concave portion 18 provided on the lower surface of the top wall 12 of the base cap 10, the cylinder member is attached to the base cap 10. 23 is fitted and held.

Here, the content liquid pump 21 has, at the bottom of the liquid cylinder 24, a suction port 29 through which the content liquid in the container 100 flows. A fitting cylinder 30 for fitting and holding a suction pipe 31 extending toward the bottom 103 of the container 100 is provided at the edge of the suction port 29. Further, in the liquid cylinder 24, a liquid piston 32 which is provided so as to be in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the liquid cylinder 24 and slidable along the axis O thereof is arranged, and is formed inside the liquid piston 32. A poppet 33 is arranged in the internal passage t1. The liquid piston 32 is fixedly held by the hollow stem 36. The lower end opening of the suction pipe 31 is preferably arranged on the front side of the bottom 103 of the container 100, as shown in FIG. 1. According to this, when the container 100 is tilted to the discharge port 61 side (front side) to discharge the foamy content liquid, the content liquid easily accumulates around the lower end opening of the suction pipe 31, and thus the content liquid is filled to the end. Is easy to discharge. As a result, the amount of the content liquid remaining in the container 100 can be reduced.

The poppet 33 has a lower valve portion 34 that opens and closes the suction port 29 at its lower end, and an upper valve portion 35 that opens and closes the outlet of the internal passage t1 at its upper end. A hollow stem 36 is coaxially connected to the upper portion of the liquid piston 32.

The hollow stem 36 includes a tubular wall 37 that surrounds the liquid piston 32, and an outer flange 38 that is integrally connected to an intermediate portion of the tubular wall 37. A coil spring C is arranged in the liquid cylinder 24, and the coil spring C causes the liquid piston 32, the hollow stem 36, and the air piston 46 to move vertically while being urged upward. Elastically supported as possible. As shown in FIG. 2, an inward flange 39 extending inward in the radial direction is provided on the upper portion of the tubular wall 37. A first ball valve B1 having the inward flange 39 as a valve seat is provided above the inward flange 39.

The outer flange 38 described above projects radially outward from the outer peripheral surface of the tubular wall 37. The outer flange 38 is provided with a communication hole 40 and a second ball valve B2 that opens and closes the communication hole 40. The second ball valve B2 has a support protrusion 41 provided on the lower surface of the outer flange 38 as a valve seat portion. The second ball valve B2 allows movement of air from the space (air compression space) surrounded by the air piston 46 and the air cylinder 25 through the communication hole 40 toward the first ventilation path A1, and conversely the first ventilation. The movement from the side of the road A1 to the air compression space is suppressed.

Also, at a circumferential position different from that of the second ball valve B2, the lower surface of the outer flange 38 comes into contact with the bottom of the air cylinder 25 when the air piston 46 descends, and a protrusion that restricts the moving range of the hollow stem 36. A stopper portion 42 having a shape of a circle is provided. By providing the stopper portion 42, it is possible to prevent the second ball valve B2 and the support protrusion portion 41 from coming into contact with the bottom portion of the air cylinder 25, whereby the function of the second ball valve B2 is deteriorated due to the contact. Etc. can be prevented. The first ball valve B1 and the second ball valve B2 may be check valves having other structures.

Further, an annular fitting wall portion 43 is provided on the upper surface of the outer flange 38, and the lower portion of the annular connecting portion 50 of the air piston 46 is fitted and held inside the fitting wall portion 43. In this example, the lower end portion of the annular coupling portion 50 regulates the upward movement of the second ball valve B2 within a predetermined range. Further, the fitting wall portion 43 can prevent the check valve 51 fitted and held on the outer periphery of the annular coupling portion 50 from falling off or being displaced.

As shown in FIG. 1, the air pump 22 includes an air piston 46 that is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the air cylinder 25 and is slidable along the axis O thereof. The air piston 46 is fixedly held by the hollow stem 36. Inside the air piston 46 in the radial direction, a tubular guide 47 is provided which surrounds the upper part of the hollow stem 36 from the outside and is arranged inside the guide inner cylinder 14 of the base cap 10 in the radial direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the gap formed between the outer peripheral surface of the hollow stem 36 and the inner peripheral surface of the tubular guide 47 is a first ventilation passage A1 through which air passes. The upper end of the cylindrical guide 47 is configured to be slidable up and down with respect to the inner peripheral surface of the guide inner cylinder 14 of the base cap 10. A holding ring 53, which will be described later, is fitted and held inside the cylindrical guide 47.

The air piston 46 has a partition wall 48 that extends radially outward from the cylindrical guide 47 and forms a space for pressurizing air with the air cylinder 25. The partition wall 48 is provided with a hole 49 for introducing air into the air cylinder 25. Further, on the lower surface of the partition wall 48, the above-mentioned annular connecting portion 50 that hangs from the radially inner side of the hole 49 is provided, and the check valve 51 that opens and closes the hole 49 is fitted and held in the annular connecting portion 50. Has been done.

A retaining ring 53 that retains a mesh ring 52 (foaming member) that foams the mixed content liquid and air is fitted and held near the upper end of the cylindrical guide 47.

The mesh ring 52 of the present embodiment has a mesh attached to one end of a ring-shaped main body. Further, in this embodiment, a total of two mesh rings 52 are attached to the retaining ring 53 so that each mesh faces outward (so that the side where no mesh is provided becomes a joint).

Further, the holding ring 53 surrounds the mesh ring 52 and holds the upper tubular portion 53a, and an intermediate portion that is integrally connected to the upper tubular portion 53a and extends downward inward in the radial direction to support the foamed member from below. A tubular portion 53b, a ring opening 53c provided at a lower end portion of the intermediate tubular portion 53b for passing a mixture of the content liquid and air, and provided immediately below the ring opening 53c to restrict upward displacement of the ball valve B. And a valve stopper 53d. The lower portion of the retaining ring 53 (the intermediate tubular portion 53b and the valve stopper 53d) is fitted and retained inside the upper end portion of the hollow stem 36, and the outer peripheral surface of the retaining ring 53 and the inner peripheral surface of the upper end portion of the hollow stem 36. A second air passage A2 that is continuous with the first air passage A1 is formed between and.

The nozzle portion 60 is fixedly held to the base cap 10 and has a discharge port 61 through which a foam-like content liquid foamed by mixing the content liquid and air pumped from the two pumps 21 and 22 is discharged.

The nozzle portion 60 of this example includes a mounting cylinder portion 62 fitted and held on the outer peripheral side of the guide inner cylinder 14 of the base cap 10, a horizontal cylinder portion 63 connected to the upper end portion of the mounting cylinder portion 62, and a horizontal cylinder portion 63. Has a vertical cylindrical portion 64 extending upward from the tip of the vertical cylindrical portion 64, and a discharge cylindrical portion 65 continuous to the upper end of the vertical cylindrical portion 64 and extending forward. It is 61. The shape of the nozzle portion 60 is not limited to the illustrated example, and can be changed as appropriate. For example, the ejection port 61 may be upward, downward, leftward, rightward, or the like, or may be inclined. Further, the nozzle portion 60 can be formed by combining a plurality of members (three members in this example) as in the present example, but is not limited to this, and may be formed by a single member.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the discharge cylinder part 65 of the present example projects in the discharge direction (forward) from the outer peripheral surface of the base cap 10, and the discharge cylinder part 65 is the upper end of the former dispenser 1. It is provided in the section.

The push-down portion 70 is held in an upwardly biased state capable of being pushed down with respect to the base cap 10, and operates the two pumps 21 and 22 by a push-down operation to discharge the foamy content liquid from the discharge port 61. It is configured to be able to.

Specifically, the push-down portion 70 of the present example includes a flat top wall 71 that is pushed (pushed) by a user, an outer wall 72 that hangs from an outer edge portion of the top wall 71, and an inner side of the outer wall 72. It has an inner side wall 73 hanging from the lower surface of the ceiling wall 71. A front opening 74 is formed in the front portion of the inner wall 73. The horizontal tubular portion 63 of the nozzle portion 60 is arranged in the front opening portion 74. That is, the horizontal cylindrical portion 63 of the nozzle portion 60 is arranged so as to penetrate the front opening portion 74 of the inner side wall 73.

The lower portion of the inner wall 73 is provided with one or more leg portions 75 extending downward from a part of the lower surface of the inner wall 73. In the present embodiment, the pair of leg portions 75 are arcuate in a plan view and are arranged to face each other in the left-right direction. In this way, by arranging the leg portions 75 on both the left and right sides when viewed from the front side where the discharge port 61 is provided, the pressing force can be evenly transmitted to the air piston 46, so that the air piston 46 is straightened. It becomes easy to push down. Further, the base cap 10 is provided with openings 16 at positions corresponding to the pair of leg portions 75. The leg portion 75 is arranged so as to penetrate the opening 16 formed in the annular wall 15 of the base cap 10. Further, the lower surface of the leg portion 75 abuts on the upper surface of the partition wall 48 of the air piston 46, and when the push-down portion 70 is pushed down, the air piston 46 can be pushed down via the inner wall 73 and the leg portion 75. Is configured. It is more preferable that the leg portions 75 are evenly provided in the circumferential direction around the axis O in order to easily push down the air piston 46 straightly. Further, a claw portion 76 that projects outward is provided near the lower end of the leg portion 75, and the claw portion 76 engages with the lower surface of the annular wall 15 of the base cap 10 to allow the leg portion 75 to move. It is configured so that it does not come out upward from the base cap 10 (the push-down portion 70 is not separated from the base cap 10 during operation).

When the air piston 46 is pushed down with respect to the air cylinder 25 by the pushing operation of the pushing portion 70, the hollow stem 36 and the liquid piston 32 are also pushed down at the same time. Therefore, the air pump 22 and the content liquid pump 21 can be activated simultaneously.

In the former dispenser 1 configured as described above, when the push-down portion 70 is pushed downward, the movement of the air piston 46 pressurizes the air in the space surrounded by the air cylinder 25 and the air piston 46, and the air Pushes up the second ball valve B2, passes through the communication hole 40, passes through the first air passage A1 and the second air passage A2, and goes toward the confluence space G formed by the hollow stem 36 and the retaining ring 53.

On the other hand, in the liquid cylinder 24, the lower valve portion 34 of the poppet 33 comes into contact with the inner surface of the liquid cylinder 24 to close the suction port 29, pressurizing the inside of the liquid cylinder 24, and further pushing the pressing portion 70. As a result, the upper valve portion 35 of the poppet 33 separates from the outlet of the internal passage t1 in the liquid piston 32, and the content liquid present in the internal passage t1 flows into the tubular wall 37 of the hollow stem 36. Then, it flows into the merge space G together with the air that has passed through the second ventilation path A2.

Then, the content liquid in the gas-liquid mixed state in the merging space G passes through the mesh ring 52 to form a bubble, and is discharged from the discharge port 61 through the nozzle portion 60 to the outside. When the pushing force is removed after the pushing-down portion 70 is pushed down, the repulsive force of the coil spring C causes the liquid piston 32, the air piston 46, the hollow stem 36, and the pushing-down portion 70 to return to the initial state. As described above, according to the container with the former dispenser in which the former dispenser 1 is attached to the container 100, the content liquid can be discharged in a foam state by repeatedly pressing the pressing portion 70 and releasing the pressing.

In the former dispenser 1 of this embodiment, when the push-down portion 70 moves up and down with respect to the base cap 10, the nozzle portion 60 fixedly held by the base cap 10 does not move. .. As a result, it is possible to prevent the nozzle portion 60 from moving unstably due to the bubble discharging operation, and thus the position and the discharging direction of the discharge port 61 are easily stabilized. Therefore, according to the former dispenser 1 of the present embodiment, it becomes possible to easily discharge the foamy content liquid to the aimed position.

Further, in the former dispenser 1 of the present embodiment, the push-down portion 70 has the leg portion 75 that can penetrate the opening 16 formed in the base cap 10 and come into contact with the upper surface of the air piston 46. Thereby, the force applied to the push-down portion 70 can be directly transmitted to the air piston 46 (without transmitting the force in the pushing direction to the nozzle portion 60 and the base cap 10 ). As a result, the position of the nozzle portion 60 is more easily stabilized, and the bubble-like content liquid is easily discharged to the target position.

Further, in the former dispenser 1 of the present embodiment, the base cap 10 includes the guide outer cylinder 13 arranged on the outer side in the radial direction of the leg portion 75 and the guide outer cylinder arranged on the inner side in the radial direction of the leg portion 75. By including the cylinder 14, the vertical movement of the push-down portion 70 can be easily stabilized. As a result, the movement of the finger that pushes down the push-down portion 70 is stabilized, and it becomes easier to discharge the foamy content liquid to the target position.

Further, in the former dispenser 1 of the present embodiment, the nozzle portion 60 is configured to have the discharge cylinder portion 65 that projects forward from the outer peripheral surface of the base cap 10. According to this, since the position of the discharge port 61 at the tip of the discharge cylinder portion 65 is easily visible, it becomes easy to discharge the foamy content liquid to the aimed position. Similarly, from the viewpoint of making it easy to visually recognize the position of the discharge port 61, it is preferable that the discharge cylinder portion 65 is provided at the upper end portion of the former dispenser 1.

The above is merely an example of the present invention, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims. For example, the foaming member may be provided on the horizontal tubular portion 63, the vertical tubular portion 64, the ejection tubular portion 65, or the like of the nozzle portion 60. It should be noted that the content may be any such as a facial cleanser and a hair styling agent that can be mixed with air and ejected in the form of foam.

1: former dispenser 10: base cap 11: peripheral wall 12: top wall 13: guide outer cylinder 14: guide inner cylinder 15: annular wall 16: opening 17: upper wall 18: fitting recess 21: pump for content liquid (pump) )
22: Pump for air (pump)
23: Cylinder member 24: Liquid cylinder 25: Air cylinder 26: Flange 27: Packing 28: Fitting convex portion 29: Suction port 30: Fitting cylinder 31: Suction pipe 32: Liquid piston 33: Poppet 34: Lower valve Portion 35: Upper valve portion 36: Hollow stem 37: Cylindrical wall 38: Outer flange 39: Inward flange (valve seat portion)
40: Communication hole 41: Support protrusion (valve seat)
42: stopper part 43: fitting wall part 46: air piston 47: tubular guide 48: partition wall 49: opening 50: annular connecting part 51: check valve 52: mesh ring 53: holding ring 53a: upper tubular part 53b : Intermediate cylinder portion 53c: Opening 53d: Valve stopper 60: Nozzle portion 61: Discharge port 62: Mounting cylinder portion 63: Horizontal cylinder portion 64: Vertical cylinder portion 65: Discharge cylinder portion 70: Depressing portion 71: Top wall 72 : Outer wall 73: inner wall 74: front opening 75: leg 76: claw 100: container 101: mouth 102: body 103: bottom A1: first ventilation passage A2: second ventilation passage t1: internal passage B1: First ball valve B2: Second ball valve C: Coil spring G: Merging space O: Axis

Claims (6)

A former dispenser for discharging the content liquid in a container in the form of foam,
A base cap held at the mouth of the container,
A content liquid pump and an air pump which are held inside the container by the base cap and can suck and pump the content liquid and air, respectively;
A nozzle portion fixedly held by the base cap, having a discharge port for discharging a foam-like content liquid that is foamed by mixing the content liquid and air pumped by the content liquid pump and the air pump,
A former dispenser, which is held in an upwardly biased state capable of being pushed down with respect to the base cap, and which has a pushing-down portion that operates the content liquid pump and the air pump by a pushing operation. The former dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the push-down portion has a leg portion that penetrates an opening formed in the base cap and can come into contact with an upper surface of an air piston in the air pump. The former dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the legs are disposed on both left and right sides when viewed from the front side where the discharge port is provided. The former according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the base cap includes a guide outer cylinder arranged radially outside the leg portion and a guide inner cylinder arranged radially inside the leg portion. dispenser. The former dispenser according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the nozzle portion has a discharge cylinder portion protruding forward from the outer peripheral surface of the base cap and having the discharge port formed at the tip. .. The former dispenser according to claim 5, wherein the discharge cylinder portion is provided at an upper end portion of the former dispenser.

Images