JP7323753B2 - airless pump - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an airless pump.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an airless pump is known that discharges a liquid such as cosmetics or shampoo contained in a container from the container.

A conventional airless pump includes, for example, a hollow cylindrical cylinder attached to a container containing a liquid, a hollow cylindrical piston slidable along the inner wall of the cylinder, and a piston provided on the piston. and an actuator for pushing the piston in the direction of the cylinder; and a spring that biases in a direction away from the cylinder. The cylinder has one end immersed in the liquid, an opening opening into the liquid at the end on the side immersed in the liquid, and a ball valve for opening and closing the opening. Further, the actuator includes an ejection port for ejecting the liquid on a side surface thereof, and a liquid guide path communicating between the ejection port and the inside of the piston.

When using the airless pump, the actuator is pushed toward the cylinder against the biasing force of the spring in a state where the inside of the cylinder is filled with the liquid contained in the container. When the actuator is pressed in the direction of the cylinder, the piston is press-fitted into the cylinder, and the valve mechanism opens to allow communication between the inside of the piston and the inside of the cylinder.

Here, when the container is in an upright or nearly upright state with the airless pump facing upward, the ball valve closes the opening of the cylinder due to gravity. is compressed by the piston pressurized into the cylinder, flows into the piston through the valve mechanism, and is discharged outside from the discharge port through the liquid guide path. .

Further, when the pressure of the actuator is released after the liquid is discharged, the piston and the actuator are urged away from the cylinder by the urging force of the spring, and the valve mechanism closes. While isolating the interior of the piston from the interior of the cylinder, the piston and the actuator return to their pre-pressed positions. With this arrangement, the inside of the cylinder becomes a negative pressure corresponding to the volume of the discharged liquid with respect to the inside of the container, so that the ball valve is sucked into the cylinder and the opening becomes The liquid, which is open and contained in the container, flows through the opening into the cylinder. Then, when the pressure in the container and the pressure in the cylinder become equal, the ball valve closes the opening due to gravity again to prepare for the next discharge of the liquid.

However, in the conventional airless pump, the ball valve closes the opening due to gravity. Therefore, if the container is in an inverted or nearly inverted state, the ball valve may close the opening. Therefore, there is a problem that the liquid cannot be sufficiently discharged even if the actuator is pressed. Said problem is pronounced when the container is tubular and does not have self-supporting properties.

Therefore, in order to solve the above problem, a first spring is used to bias the piston and the actuator in the direction away from the cylinder, and a second spring is used to bias the ball valve in the direction of the opening. An airless pump with two springs has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 6364284

According to the airless pump disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the opening is closed by the ball valve biased by the second spring, the actuator is pressed regardless of the posture of the container. Thus, the liquid can be discharged.

However, the airless pump disclosed in Patent Literature 1 requires a holding member for holding the base of the second spring inside the cylinder, which is disadvantageous in that the number of parts increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an airless pump that eliminates such inconveniences, can discharge the liquid by pressing the actuator regardless of the posture of the container, and can reduce the number of parts. intended to provide

In order to achieve such an object, an airless pump of the present invention is an airless pump for discharging liquid from a container, comprising a container containing the liquid, a container attached to the container and immersed in the liquid, and a A hollow cylindrical cylinder having an opening that opens into the liquid at the immersed end, a hollow cylindrical piston slidable along the inner wall of the cylinder, and the piston provided on the piston and a valve mechanism for communicating or blocking the inside of the cylinder with the inside of the cylinder, a discharge port provided on a side surface, and a liquid guide path communicating the discharge port and the inside of the piston, and the piston is connected to the cylinder a first spring disposed within the cylinder and biasing the piston and the actuator away from the cylinder via the valve mechanism; a ball valve for opening and closing the opening of the cylinder; and a second spring disposed in the cylinder for biasing the ball valve in the direction of the opening. It is characterized by being sandwiched between the tapered portion where the diameter of the cylinder changes and the base of the first spring.

In the airless pump of the present invention, when the actuator is pushed toward the cylinder against the biasing force of the spring in a state where the inside of the cylinder is filled with the liquid contained in the container, the piston is While being press-fitted into the cylinder, the valve mechanism opens to allow communication between the inside of the piston and the inside of the cylinder.

Here, in the airless pump of the present invention, since the ball valve is urged by the second spring in the direction of the opening of the cylinder to close the opening, the container can be held in any position. However, the liquid filling the inside of the cylinder is compressed by the piston that is press-fitted into the cylinder, flows into the piston through the valve mechanism, and further flows through the liquid introducing path. The liquid is discharged to the outside from the discharge port.

Further, when the pressure of the actuator is released after the liquid is discharged, the piston and the actuator are urged away from the cylinder by the urging force of the spring, and the valve mechanism closes. While isolating the interior of the piston from the interior of the cylinder, the piston and the actuator return to their pre-pressed positions. With this arrangement, the inside of the cylinder becomes a negative pressure corresponding to the volume of the discharged liquid with respect to the inside of the container, so that the ball valve is sucked into the cylinder and the opening becomes The liquid, which is open and contained in the container, flows through the opening into the cylinder. When the cylinder is filled with the liquid and the pressure in the container equals the pressure in the cylinder, the ball valve is again urged toward the opening of the cylinder by the second spring. The opening is closed to prepare for the next ejection of liquid.

At this time, according to the airless pump of the present invention, the base end of the second spring is sandwiched between the tapered portion where the diameter of the cylinder changes and the base of the first spring. Since the holding member for holding the base of the second spring in the cylinder is not required, the number of parts can be reduced.

In the airless pump of the present invention, the valve mechanism may be any mechanism as long as it is provided in the piston and can communicate or block the interior of the piston and the interior of the cylinder. , the piston has one end attached to the actuator, and one end slidably contacts the inner wall of the first piston, and is attached to the first piston with a predetermined gap therebetween. a connected second piston, the valve mechanism having one end abutting against the first piston and the other end inside the second piston; and a solid columnar member disposed in the inner wall of the second piston when the columnar member is moved away from the cylinder by the biasing force of the first spring. The inner wall of the second piston is separated from the inner wall of the second piston when it is moved in the direction of the cylinder against the biasing force of the first spring. Preferably, the inside of the second piston and the inside of the cylinder are communicated with each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing one configuration example of an airless pump of the present invention; 2A is a perspective view showing the configuration of a cylindrical member in the airless pump shown in FIG. 1, and B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IIB-IIB of A. FIG. 2 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a state in which an actuator is pressed in the airless pump shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a state in which the actuator is further pressed in the airless pump shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a state in which the pressure of the actuator is released after liquid is discharged in the airless pump shown in FIG. 1 ;

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the airless pump of the present embodiment includes a hollow cylindrical cylinder 2 attached to a container 1 containing a liquid, a hollow cylindrical first piston 3, and one end of which is A second piston 4 which is in sliding contact with the inner wall of the first piston 3 and connected to the first piston 3 with predetermined intervals S1 and S2, and one end of which is attached to the inner wall of the first piston 3. A solid columnar member 5 which abuts and the other end is arranged inside the second piston 4; an actuator 6 which presses the first piston 3 toward the cylinder 2; A first spring 7 is disposed and biases the first piston 3 , the second piston 4 and the actuator 6 in the direction away from the cylinder 2 via the cylindrical member 5 .

One end of the cylinder 2 is immersed in the liquid contained in the container 1, and the end on the side immersed in the liquid is an opening 2a that opens into the liquid, and a ball that opens and closes the opening 2a. It comprises a valve 8 and a second spring 9 disposed in the cylinder 2 and biasing the ball valve 8 toward the opening 2a. A base end portion 9 a of the second spring 9 is sandwiched between a tapered portion where the diameter of the cylinder 2 changes and a base portion 7 a of the first spring 7 .

The cylinder 2 is inserted into the container 1 through a container opening 1b provided in the neck 1a of the container 1, and held by a cylinder holding member 10 provided in the container opening 1b. The cylinder holding member 10 is continuously provided with a predetermined gap between an outer peripheral wall portion 10a surrounding the container opening 1b and the outer peripheral wall portion 10a on the inner peripheral side of the outer peripheral wall portion 10a. It has an inner peripheral wall portion 10b that is inserted into the container 1 through the opening 1b, and a flange portion 10c that extends outward from the end portion of the outer peripheral wall portion 10a on the container 1 side. The flange portion 10c of the cylinder holding member 10 is sandwiched between the end surface of the neck portion 1a and the flange pressing portion 11a projecting inward from the outer cylindrical tube 11 fitted on the neck portion 1a, thereby holding the neck portion 1a. It is fixed to the end face and holds the end projecting from the container opening 1b of the cylinder 2 between the outer peripheral wall 10a and the inner peripheral wall 10b.

The first piston 3 includes a small diameter portion 3a provided on the actuator 6 side and a large diameter portion 3b connected to the small diameter portion 3a on the cylinder 2 side. A hollow portion 3c, a second hollow portion 3d provided inside the large diameter portion 3b and communicating with the first hollow portion 3c, and a cylinder 2 side of the second hollow portion 3d provided inside the large diameter portion 3b. and a third hollow portion 3e communicating with. The second cavity 3d has a larger diameter than the first cavity 3c, and the third cavity 3e has a larger diameter than the second cavity 3d.

The second piston 4 includes a small diameter portion 4a that slides on the inner wall of the third hollow portion 3e of the first piston 3, and a first piston 4a that is connected to the cylinder 2 side of the small diameter portion 4a and has a larger diameter than the small diameter portion 4a. A large-diameter portion 4b and a second large-diameter portion 4c connected to the cylinder 2 side of the first large-diameter portion 4b and having a larger diameter than the first large-diameter portion 4b are provided. The first large diameter portion 4b is in sliding contact with the inner wall of the inner peripheral wall portion 10b of the cylinder holding member 10, and the second large diameter portion 4c is in sliding contact with the inner wall of the cylinder 2. As shown in FIG.

In addition, the second piston 4 has a gap S1 between the small diameter portion 4a and the steps of the second hollow portion 3d and the third hollow portion 3e of the first piston 3. A gap S2 is provided between the step of the large-diameter portion 4b of the first piston 3 and the large-diameter portion 3b of the first piston 3, and is connected to the first piston 3. As shown in FIG. As a result, the first piston 3 and the second piston 4 form a hollow cylindrical piston that is slidable along the inner wall of the cylinder 2 .

The columnar member 5 is biased by the first spring 7 so that the end on the actuator 6 side is in contact with the second hollow portion 3d of the first piston 3, and the end on the cylinder 2 side is in contact with the second hollow portion 3d of the first piston 3. is arranged inside the second piston 4 . As shown in FIG. 2A, the cylindrical member 5 has a predetermined gap between the outer peripheral surface of the end on the cylinder 2 side and the inner wall of the first large diameter portion 4b of the second piston 4. It has a flange portion 5a that protrudes outward, and a plurality of groove portions 5b that are formed along the length direction in a portion of the outer peripheral surface closer to the actuator 6 than the flange portion 5a. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2B, the columnar member 5 has three grooves 5 formed on the outer peripheral surface at regular intervals.

Further, when the columnar member 5 is moved away from the cylinder 2 (in the direction of the actuator 6) by the biasing force of the first spring 7, the end surface of the flange portion 5a on the side of the actuator 6 contacts the second piston 4. The inside of the second piston 4 and the inside of the cylinder 2 are cut off by being abutted against the steps of the small-diameter portion 4a and the first large-diameter portion 4b. On the other hand, when the columnar member 5 is moved in the direction of the cylinder 2 against the biasing force of the first spring 7, the end surface of the flange portion 5a on the side of the actuator 6 becomes the small diameter portion inside the second piston 4. The inside of the second piston 4 and the inside of the cylinder 2 are communicated with each other at a distance from the steps of 4a and the first large-diameter portion 4b. As a result, the second piston 4 and the columnar member 5 form a valve mechanism for communicating or blocking the inside of the piston formed by the first piston 3 and the second piston 4 and the inside of the cylinder 2. It is

The actuator 6 has an ejection port 6a for ejecting the liquid on its side surface, and a liquid guide passage 6b communicating between the ejection port 6a and the first cavity 3c of the first piston 3. The liquid guide passage 6b is It is fitted on the small diameter portion 3 a of the first piston 3 . Further, the actuator 6 has a skirt portion 6c which is movable back and forth between the outer cylindrical tube 11 and the outer peripheral wall portion 10a of the cylinder holding member 10, and the cylinder holding member 10 is accommodated on the inner peripheral side of the skirt portion 6c. It has a possible cavity 6d.

Next, the operation of the airless pump of this embodiment will be described.

When the liquid contained in the container 1 is discharged by the airless pump of the present embodiment, the actuator 6 is first pushed toward the cylinder 2 in the initial state shown in FIG. In the initial state shown in FIG. 1, the cylinder 2 is filled with liquid, and the opening 2a is closed by the ball valve 8 biased by the second spring 9 toward the opening 2a.

When the actuator 6 is pressed in the direction of the cylinder 2 in the initial state shown in FIG. 1, as shown in FIG. While contacting the small diameter portion 4a of the piston 4, the large diameter portion 3b of the first piston 3 contacts the step between the small diameter portion 4a and the first large diameter portion 4b of the second piston 4, and the gaps S1 and S2 are be canceled. At this time, since the end portion of the columnar member 5 on the side of the actuator 6 is in contact with the second hollow portion 3d of the first piston 3, the actuator 6 moves the cylinder 2 toward the cylinder 2 via the first piston 3. pressed.

Therefore, the columnar member 5 moves in the direction of the cylinder 2 against the biasing force of the first spring 7, and the end surface of the flange portion 5a on the side of the actuator 6 aligns with the small diameter portion 4a inside the second piston 4 and the first piston. The gap S1 Alternatively, a gap corresponding to the gap S2 is formed. As a result, the insides of the first piston 3 and the second piston 4 and the inside of the cylinder 2 are communicated with each other.

Next, the actuator 6 is pressed in the direction of the cylinder 2, and as shown in FIG. abutted. In this way, while the cylinder holding member 10 is housed in the hollow portion 6d, the second piston 4 and the columnar member 5 are moved by the first spring 7 over a length corresponding to the length of movement of the actuator 6. is press-fitted into the cylinder 2 against the biasing force of . At this time, since the ball valve 8 in the cylinder 2 is biased by the second spring 9 to close the opening 2a, the liquid in the cylinder 2 is compressed by the second piston 4 and the columnar member 5. The amount of liquid corresponding to the volume of the second piston 4 and the cylindrical member 5 press-fitted into the cylinder 2 flows from the clearance between the flange portion 5a and the inner wall of the first large diameter portion 4b of the second piston 4. Through the gap formed between the end surface of the flange portion 5a on the side of the actuator 6 and the step between the small diameter portion 4a and the first large diameter portion 4b inside the second piston 4, the groove portion of the cylindrical member 5 is inserted. 5b, passes through the second cavity 3d of the first piston 2, the first cavity 3c, the liquid guide path 6b of the actuator 6, and is discharged to the outside from the discharge port 6a.

In the airless pump of the present embodiment, the pressing of the actuator 6 is released after the liquid is discharged as described above. In this way, as shown in FIG. 5, the columnar member 5 is first moved away from the cylinder 2 (toward the actuator 6) by the biasing force of the first spring 7, and the flange portion 5a is moved toward the actuator 6 side. The end surface of is abutted against the step between the small-diameter portion 4a and the first large-diameter portion 4b inside the second piston 4, and isolates the inside of the second piston 4 from the inside of the cylinder 2. As shown in FIG. Next, the first piston 3 and the second piston 4 pressed by the cylindrical member 5 are moved away from the cylinder 2, and the actuator 6 is moved away from the cylinder 2, as shown in FIG. return to the indicated position.

By doing so, the inside of the cylinder 2 becomes negative pressure by the volume of the liquid discharged into the inside of the container 1, so that the ball valve 8 resists the biasing force of the second spring 9 and the cylinder 2 is closed. Then, the opening 2a is unoccluded by the ball valve 8. As shown in FIG. When the closing of the opening 2a by the ball valve 8 is released, the liquid contained in the container 1 flows into the cylinder 2 through the opening 2a. When the cylinder 2 is filled with the liquid and the pressure in the container 1 and the pressure in the cylinder 2 become equal, the ball valve 8 is again urged toward the opening 2a by the second spring 9 to close the opening 2a. is closed to return to the initial state shown in FIG. 1 to prepare for the next ejection of liquid.

In the airless pump of this embodiment, the ball valve 8 is biased by the second spring 9 to close the opening 2a, so liquid can be discharged regardless of the posture of the container 1. FIG. Therefore, the airless pump of this embodiment can be applied particularly advantageously when the container 1 itself is tubular and does not have self-sustainability.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 container 2 cylinder 3 first piston 4 second piston 5 cylindrical member 6 actuator 7 first spring 8 ball valve 9 second spring .

Claims (2)

An airless pump for discharging a liquid from a container,
a container containing a liquid;
a hollow cylindrical cylinder that is attached to the container and is immersed in the liquid and has an opening that opens into the liquid at the end on the side that is immersed in the liquid;
a hollow cylindrical piston slidable along the inner wall of the cylinder;
a valve mechanism provided in the piston for communicating or blocking the interior of the piston and the interior of the cylinder;
an actuator that presses the piston in the direction of the cylinder;
a first spring disposed within the cylinder and biasing the piston and the actuator away from the cylinder via the valve mechanism;
a ball valve that opens and closes the opening of the cylinder within the cylinder;
a second spring disposed within the cylinder and biasing the ball valve toward the opening;
The airless pump, wherein the base end of the second spring is sandwiched between the tapered portion where the diameter of the cylinder changes and the base of the first spring. 2. The airless pump according to claim 1, wherein the piston has a first piston with one end attached to the actuator and one end slidably contacting the inner wall of the first piston with a predetermined gap. a second piston connected to the first piston;
The valve mechanism includes the second piston and a solid columnar member having one end in contact with the first piston and the other end disposed inside the second piston. When the cylindrical member is moved in a direction away from the cylinder by the biasing force of the first spring, the columnar member abuts against the inner wall of the second piston and contacts the inside of the second piston. The inner wall of the second piston is separated from the inner wall of the second piston when moved in the direction of the cylinder against the biasing force of the first spring. An airless pump characterized by communicating with the inside of a cylinder.

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