JPH0245666A - Fine flow-rate pump - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To remove the residual gas foams in a small-sized pump chamber in simple ways by pushing a supporting body for supporting a bimorph swing plate against the force of a spring through a diaphragm. CONSTITUTION:Supporting bodies 10 and 16 are supported onto a bimorph swing plate 6 through a disphragm 13 inside a housing consisting of a body 14 and a cover 12. The supporting bodies 10 and 16 are pushed against the force of a spring 17 by an operating rod 8. In the ordinary case, the supporting bodies 10 and 16 are pushed to the edge wall of a housing by the force of the spring 17, and the capacity of a pump chamber 22 is varied by the bimorph swing plate 6, and a slight flow rate of liquid is sucked into the pump chamber 22 from an inlet 2 through a check valve 19, and discharged to an outlet 15 through a check valve 18. Therefore, a large quantity of liquid is sucked into the pump chamber 22, and the gas foams in the pump chamber 22 are discharged outside, together with liquid. Therefore, the gas foams in the pump chamber 22 are removed effectively with the small dimension of the whole device, and the stable pump faculty can be obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a microflow pump used in liquid supply devices such as oil stoves, chemical equipment, and medical equipment.

[Conventional Technique #/#] The present applicant has developed a microflow pump by sandwiching the peripheral edge of a bimorph support plate between a main body and a cover to partition a pump chamber on one side or both sides, and applying an alternating current to the bimorph support plate. A system has already been proposed in which a volume change is caused in the pump chamber by applying a voltage, liquid is sucked into the pump chamber through a check valve, and liquid is discharged from the pump chamber through the check valve to the outlet. Since this micro-flow pump discharges a very small amount of liquid, if even the slightest amount of air bubbles remains in the pump chamber, the pump efficiency will decrease, and if air bubbles stay in narrow areas such as check valves, the flow path will become narrower. This causes large variations in the discharge amount.

To remove residual air bubbles, change the position of the pump chamber to make it easier for air bubbles to flow out of the pump chamber, or
Measures have been taken, such as sending multi-layered liquid into the pump chamber in a 1J manner and guiding air bubbles to the outside. However, with such means, it is difficult to operate the pump when it is incorporated into a device, and the pump may be damaged or may become impossible to operate depending on the state of the pump.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In view of the above-mentioned problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a microflow pump that is small and capable of easily removing residual air bubbles in the pump chamber.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve the above object, the configuration of the present invention is such that an annular diaphragm is coupled to the outer peripheral side of a pair of annular supports that sandwich the periphery of a bimorph diaphragm. The outer periphery of the diaphragm is sandwiched between the cup-shaped main body and the cover to partition the atmospheric chamber and the pump chamber, and the support body is biased against the end wall of the cover by a spring, and the support body is moved from the cover to the outside. A protruding operating O-rad is connected to the main body, and a check valve is provided in the passage connecting the inlet of the main body and the pump chamber, and a check valve is provided in the passage connecting the pump chamber and the outlet.

[Function] The support 10 is connected to the bimorph diaphragm 6 via the diaphragm 13 inside the housing consisting of the main body 14 and the cover 12.
．． 16 is supported, and by pushing this support 10.16 against the force of a spring, a large amount of liquid is drawn into the pump chamber 22, and air bubbles in the pump chamber 22 are expelled to the outside together with the liquid.

Normally, the support 10.16 is pressed against the end wall of the housing by the force of a spring, and the volume of the pump chamber 22 is changed by the bimorph diaphragm 6 of the supports io, ie. 8G! amount of liquid is sucked into the pump chamber 22, and the liquid in the pump chamber 22 passes through the check valve 18 to the outlet 1.
Spit out to 5.

[Embodiment of the Invention] As shown in FIG. 1, the microflow pump has an inlet 2 and an outlet 15.
a cup-shaped main body 14 having a cup-shaped cover 12;
An annular diaphragm 13 is sandwiched between the bolts 4 and
are combined to form a housing. The inner peripheral edge of the diaphragm 13 is held between a pair of upper and lower annular supports 1o and 16. At the same time, the peripheral edges of the circular bimorph diaphragm 6 and the separator 20 are held between the supports 10 and 16 via the elastic ring 5.21. A pump chamber 22 is defined between the main body 14 and the diaphragm 13, and an atmospheric chamber 3 having an atmospheric lower space is defined between the cover 12 and the diaphragm 13. The support 10.16 is moved by a spring 17 housed in the pump chamber 22 to the inner end wall of the cover 12, in particular to the protrusion 12a.
energized against each other.

In the illustrated embodiment, the support body 10 is cup-shaped, and the operating rod 8 is integrally formed in the end wall having a through hole 7a.

In the cylindrical part 9 integrally formed in the center of the outer end mold of the cover 12,
The operating rod 8 is slidably fitted.

There is an inlet 2 in the passage connecting the inlet 2 of the main body 14 and the pump chamber 22.
A check valve 19 that allows flow from the pump chamber 22 to the outlet 15 is provided, and a check valve 18 that allows flow from the pump chamber 22 to the outlet 15 is provided in the passage connecting the pump chamber 22 and the outlet 15. These check valves 18 and 19 have a part of their periphery connected to the main body 1.
A thin rubber plate supported by the pump chamber 22 is commonly constructed so that the valve valve moves away to open the passageway in response to pressure changes in the pump chamber 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bimorph diaphragm 6 is constructed by sandwiching an electrode plate 6b made of conductive metal between a pair of electrode plates 6a made of piezoelectric ceramic.
When the AC power source 27 is connected to the electrode plate 6b, the support 10
．． The bimorph diaphragm 6 held between the pump chambers 18 is deformed alternately upward and downward into a bowl shape with its peripheral edge serving as a fulcrum, thereby changing the volume of the pump chamber 22.

When the bimorph diaphragm 6 deforms and protrudes upward into a bowl shape, liquid is sucked into the pump chamber 22 from the inlet 2 via the check valve 19. Next, when the bimorph diaphragm 6 deforms and protrudes downward into a bowl shape, the liquid in the pump chamber 22 is discharged to the outlet 15 via the check valve 18. The support 10.degree. 16 supporting the bimorph diaphragm 6 is pressed against the inner end wall of the cover 12 by the force of the spring 17 and does not move.

As is clear from the above description, the main body 14 and the cover 12
By supporting the support 10.16 via the diaphragm 13 between them, a manual pump for removing air bubbles is formed.

When bubbles are generated in the pump chamber 22, the change in the volume of the pump chamber 22 is absorbed by the change in the volume of the bubbles, and the amount of discharge from the pump chamber 22 decreases. In this case, when the support 10.16 is pressed down together with the actuating rod 8 against the force of the spring 17, the air bubbles are discharged together with the liquid in the pump chamber 22 via the check valve 18 to the outlet 15. When the operating rod 8 is then released, the support 10.16 is again urged against the end wall of the cover 12 by the force of the spring 17, and at the same time a large amount of liquid is sucked into the pump chamber 22. By repeating this operation, the air bubbles in the pump chamber 22 are completely removed.

The separator 20 separates the liquid in the pump chamber 22 from the bimorph diaphragm 6.
Prevent contact with and electrically insulate.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a spring 25 instead of spring 17 is arranged outside the housing. That is, the rod 26 integrally formed at the center of the support body 10 is slidably fitted into the cylindrical portion 9 of the cover 12, and the end of the bolt 24 slidably supported on the end wall of the cylindrical portion 9 is fitted into the rod. It is screwed into the 26 screw holes. A retaining ring 23 that is secured to the middle part of the bolt 24 is
A spring 25 interposed between the head of the bolt 24 and the outer end wall of the cylindrical portion 9 biases the cover 12 against the inner end wall. The other configurations are similar to the embodiment shown in FIG.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, when removing air bubbles from the pump chamber 22, the bolt 24 is repeatedly pressed down against the force of the spring 25. The amount of threading of the bolt 24 into the rod 26 is lI
Accordingly, the volume of the pump chamber 22 changes, and as a result,
Based on the relationship between the vibration characteristics of the bimorph diaphragm 6 and the volume of the pump chamber 22, the time from the start of the pump to the normal operating state is adjusted, which is particularly hindered by the presence of many bubbles at the time of start-up.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention connects an annular diaphragm to the outer periphery of a pair of annular supports that sandwich the periphery of a bimorph diaphragm, and connects the outer periphery of the diaphragm to a cup-shaped main body. The support body is sandwiched between the covers to partition the atmospheric chamber and the pump chamber, the support body is biased against the end wall of the cover by a spring, the operating rod protruding from the cover to the outside is connected to the support body, and the inlet of the main body is connected to the support body. A check valve is installed in the passage connecting the pump chamber and the outlet, and a check valve is installed in the passage connecting the pump chamber and the outlet, so a pump that uses a bimorph diaphragm is integrated inside the manual diaphragm pump for removing air bubbles. Therefore, although the overall shape is small, the flow rate increases when the manual pump is operated, and air bubbles in the pump chamber are effectively removed, thus providing stable pump performance due to the bimorph diaphragm.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a microflow pump according to the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a principle diagram showing the pumping action of the bimorph diaphragm.
The figure is a side sectional view of a microflow pump according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 2: Inlet 3: Atmospheric chamber 6: Bimorph diaphragm 8: Operating rod 10.16: Support body 12: Cover 13: Diaphragm 14: Main body 15 Two outlets 17: Spring 1
8, 19: Check valve 22: Pump chamber

Claims (1)

[Claims] An annular diaphragm is coupled to the outer periphery of a pair of annular supports that sandwich the periphery of the bimorph diaphragm, and the outer periphery of the diaphragm is sandwiched between a cup-shaped main body and a cover to form an atmospheric chamber and a pump chamber. A support body is biased against the end wall of the cover by a spring, an operating rod protruding from the cover to the outside is connected to the support body, and a check valve is installed in the passage connecting the inlet of the main body and the pump chamber. A microflow pump characterized by having a check valve in each passage connecting the chamber and the outlet.