JPS61118164A - Foam generator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To generate efficiently foam without using the obstacles such as a ball check valve by narrowing a flow path of soln. of a mixer in comparison with a soln. passage of a liquid pipe to make it an orifice. CONSTITUTION:A flow path 7 of soln. of a mixer 3 is narrowed in comparison with a soln. passage 2 of a liquid pipe 1 which is communicated therewith to make it an orifice and an air hole 6 of air passage 5 of an air pipe 4 is opened in the starting point of the orifice. Thereby, since the air of the air passage 5 is mixed with a soln. of the soln. passage 2, decompressed by the flow path 7 and accelerated, the uniform foams are formed in a gas-liquid mixer 8. By this method, the foams are efficiently generated without using the obstacles and an unstable structural element such as a ball check valve and a circular fixed ring.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to mold cleaners, microwave cleaners, and glass cleaners that are comprised of an elastic container containing a relatively low-viscosity foaming solution mixed with a surfactant or the like. , shampoo, etc. (Prior art) Fig. 5 is an example of a technology similar to the present invention in this field, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-1656, the license of which is owned by the present applicant.
This is a diagram illustrating the No. 7 foam generator.

In the figure, reference numeral 12 denotes an elastic plastic container that can be held in the palm of the hand and expanded and contracted by pressing with the tips of the fingers, and stores a predetermined gas and liquid. 42 is a gas-liquid mixing chamber, which is elastically engaged with the head end of the reservoir 120.

A cap 22 is provided with a discharge orifice 29 as a bubble spout, which encloses the gas-liquid mixing chamber 42 and is screwed into the external thread of the head of the reservoir 12 by an internal thread.

Reference numeral 38 denotes a tubular part constituting a passage for solution outflow, which is bent and elastically pressed against the inner bottom of the reservoir 12, and its upper end is fitted into the lower end of the gas-liquid mixing chamber 42 to control the flow inside the pipe. The passage communicates with a flow passage 44 of the chamber 42. Reference numeral 58 denotes air passages arranged in a row on the side wall of the chamber 42. 6
0 means that when the pressing force of the reservoir 12 decreases and the reservoir 12 expands elastically and air is drawn into the chamber 42 through the discharge port 29 of the cap 22, it flows into the liquid passage of the tubular portion 38. This is a ball check valve to prevent this. 64
is a net that homogenizes the size of bubbles generated within the chamber 42. Reference numeral 69 is an annular fixing ring that presses and prevents the net 64 from floating due to being pushed by the foam.

Since the bubble generating device of this example is configured as described above, when the reservoir 12 is grasped and compressed elastically with the tip of a finger to reduce the size,
The air contained in the upper part of the reservoir 12 is pressurized and flows into the mixing chamber 42 through the air passage 58, and the liquid level of the solution contained in the top part of the reservoir 12 is pressurized by the air. The liquid rises and flows out through the passageway of the tubular portion 38, and further rises and flows out through the flow path 44 of the chamber 420, and the ball check valve 6.
0 and flows into the mixing chamber 42,
The air and the solution are mixed in the mixing chamber 42 to generate bubbles, and the generated bubbles are homogenized by a net 64 and are ejected to the outside from the discharge orifice 29 of the ejection port.

In this example, the flow rate of the solution can be maximized through the flow path 44 of the mixing chamber 42, as is clear from the figure, and the flow path 58 for the air to be mixed should be opened in this area to maximize the foam generation efficiency. However, in this example, since the cross section after passing through this is open to the side wall of the chamber 42, which is the largest, the foam generation efficiency is extremely poor. Also, the chamber 42
Since the solution flowing into the chamber is supposed to push up the ball check valve 60, the flow rate of the solution is reduced by that amount, which is not only a loss of energy but also a loss of air in the important mixing chamber 42. This results in a loss of working volume for liquid mixing and foam generation. The net 64 of the foam homogenizing element is supported by an annular fixing ring 69 under pressure, and the ring 69 is unstable because it is supported only by the friction of the side wall of the flow path of the mixing channel 42.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention solves all the problems of the conventional device described above, has good foam generation efficiency, and also has a ball check valve 60 and an annular fixing ring 6.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a foam generating device that eliminates obstructions and unstable components such as No. 9.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides that the upper end of the liquid pipe 1 constituting the solution passage 2 is
The air pipe 40 of the mixer 3 is supported in close pressure contact with the upper end of the interior thereof, and the flow path 7 of the mixer 3 that communicates with the solution passage 2 of the liquid pipe 1 is narrowed to form an orifice, and the air pipe is connected to the lower end of the flow path 7. The air hole 6 of the air passage 5 of the mixer 3 is opened and the upper part of the flow passage 7 of the mixer 3 is expanded to form a gas-liquid mixing chamber 8. A net 9 for adjusting the particle size of bubbles generated by gas-liquid mixing is placed inside the mixer 3, and is pressed onto the upper surface of the mixer 3 by the lower surface of the inner stopper 10 from above, and the convex curved surface 20 on the outer periphery of the mixer 3 is pressed against the upper surface of the mixer 3. and the lower inner concave curved surface 21 of the inner stopper 10, and the inner stopper 10 is brought into contact with the outer surface of the head of the bottle 130 and the outer surface of the cap 15 at the outer peripheral edge of the wing-shaped support arm 11 extending laterally. This foam generating device is characterized in that the cap 15 is firmly and elastically supported, the cap 15 is provided with a foam spout 17, and the lower end of the liquid pipe 1 is pressed into contact with the bottom surface of the bottle 13.

(Function) In the present invention, the solution flow path 7 of the mixer 3 is made narrower than the solution path 2 of the liquid pipe l communicating therewith to form an orifice, and the air hole of the air path 5 of the air pipe 4 is 6 was opened at the starting point of the orifice, the air in the air passage 5 was mixed with the solution in the solution passage 2, and the pressure was accelerated in the passage 7, so the air particles were finely dispersed and mixed into the solution, and were rapidly stirred. A homogeneous foam is produced in the gas-liquid mixing chamber 8 which is mixed and expands upward in a funnel shape. That is, in order to elucidate the principle of this point, according to the visual measurement on the drawing, the diameter of the flow path 7 is 5 I
II and the diameter of the net 9 is 120 mm, so the flow velocity of the gas and liquid passing through the flow path 7 is accelerated approximately five times as much as that in the net 9.

This accelerated gas-liquid rushes into the gas-liquid mixing chamber 8, pulverizes the solution finely, and differentiates it into a minute balloon shape with a spherical film of solution, so the solution is instantly pulverized. It becomes foamy.

(Example 1) Figure 71 is a longitudinal sectional view of the head of an example of the foam generating device of the present invention, and Figure 2 is an exploded view of the main parts of the device.

In the figure, l is a liquid pipe, which is a thin-walled pipe with an inner diameter of 150φ made of flexible and elastic synthetic resin,
Inside is an ascending solution passage 2, the upper end of which is supported in pressure contact with the upper part of the air passage 5 in the air pipe 4 at the bottom of the mixer 3, and the lower end is folded into the inner bottom of the gas-liquid storage container. It is elastically supported with the opening on the side so as not to interfere with the inflow of the solution due to curved contact. (The lower end is not shown.) 3 is a mixer for mixing gas and liquid, and its most important functional configuration is In the known example shown in Figures 1 and 5, it is constructed integrally with the inner stopper, but in the present invention, both are constructed separately.
The mixer 3 is elastically held between the upper jaw 18 and the lower jaw 19 of the inner stopper 10 with a net 9 sandwiched between the upper surface thereof, and the convex curved surface 20 of the outer circumference of the mixer 3 and the inner circumference of the inner stopper 10. Since the concave curved surfaces 21 are in contact with each other and have a structure that allows some sliding on the curved surfaces, there is no impact or deformation applied to the liquid pipe 1 supported by pressure in the air pipe 4 of the mixer 3 through the bottle 13. It is possible to prevent the liquid pipe from loosening or falling off due to external force, and therefore the mixing ratio of air and liquid can always be maintained constant.

A solution flow path 7 is formed above the liquid path 2 of the mixer 3, and the flow path 7 is configured to be significantly narrower than the inner diameter of the liquid path 2 of the liquid pipe to a diameter of 2.0 mm. , Therefore, the ratio of the cross-sectional areas of the liquid passage 2 and the liquid flow passage 7 is λ0X10/! 5X2-5::
1/1.5625: 0.64, which means that the ratio was significantly narrowed down. Therefore, the solution flow path 71 constitutes an orifice.

At the upper end of the air passage 5 of the air pipe 4 of the mixer 3, and at the lower starting end of the orifice flow passage 7, there are two cross sections fil horizontally perpendicular thereto.
Air holes 0 and 9ad were made to inject pressurized 9 air generated by pressing the bottle 13. This air forms an oriice and flows into the passage 2 where it is depressurized and accelerated, and flows into the passage 7.
The liquid flow in the flow path 7 forms a vortex due to the friction of the surrounding wall surface, so it instantly disperses into fine millet surrounded by a liquid film like a balloon. Changes to

The upper part of the flow path 7 of the mixer 3 forms a gas-liquid mixing chamber 8 that expands upward into a funnel shape, so as the generated fine miliary bubbles rise, they decelerate and the miliary grains expand. This results in an aggregate of bubbles having a desired particle size.

At this time, the foam particles still have the potential to expand, and are ejected from the injection port 17 of the cap 15 through the net 9.

Since the net 9 in this example is held between the upper surface of the mixer 3 and the upper jaw 18 of the inner stopper 10, the support is reliable and there is no risk of the bubbles floating up due to suppression.

The inner stopper 10 that holds the mixer 3 connects the outer peripheral edge of the wing-shaped support arm 11 extending laterally to the screw 14 on the outer periphery of the head of the bottle 13.
and the screw 1G on the inner circumference of the skirt portion of the cap 15, and these inner stopper 1G, bottle 13, and cap 15
Both are made of elastic and soft synthetic resin, and the mixer 3
The outer convex curved surface 20 and the inner concave curved surface 21 of the inner plug 10 are structured to allow some sliding relative to each other, so vibration shocks caused by transportation, movement, etc. are not easily absorbed by the inner plug 10. Therefore, the mixer 3 and the liquid pipe 1 are always supported stably, and not only will they be damaged, but their relative positions will not change.

- (Example 2) Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the head showing another example of the foam generating device of the present invention, and Figure 3 is an exploded view of the main parts of the device.

The known example shown in Figure 5 cannot be used when the device is inverted because the ball check valve does not operate, but the device of the present invention does not use a pole check valve and can be used even when it is inverted. This example is part 1
As an example, one example used for spraying shampoo is shown below.
It can be used not only for shampoo but also for a wide variety of similar purposes.

In this case, the liquid pipe 1 in the previous example becomes the air pipe 1' and the liquid passage 2 becomes the air passage τ, so the liquid pipe 15m in the previous example becomes
φ becomes the air pipe LOtxφ.

The air passage 5 in the previous example becomes the liquid passage 5', and the air hole 6 in the previous example becomes the liquid jet hole C. Since the liquid has a different viscosity from air, the cross-sectional area α
Four 98-hole holes are required.

The solution flow path 7 of the mixer 3' injects the solution into the air stream, but the bubble generation condition is the same, so the cross-sectional area is Lossφ as in the previous example.

The injection port 17 was directed to the side, but in this example, it is directed directly downward, so the injection port lγ is provided at the tip of the inner stopper 10', and the cap 15' is ? 3. As shown in the figure, it is shaped like a cap, and when spraying, ? We will remove it as shown in Figure 4.

The rest is the same as the first embodiment.

(Effects of the Invention) The foam generating device of the present invention is as shown in the known example shown in Fig. 1,175.
Not only can it be sprayed upward and sideways (it can also be sprayed downward as shown in Figure 3.4).

In addition, since the ball check valve and the net restraining ring are not used, these parts and related parts can be saved.

In addition, since a ball check valve is not used, the amount of space occupied by the valve in the gas-liquid mixing chamber 8 of the mixer 3 is eliminated, and the effective utilization of the iron base is improved. The efficiency of foam generation is improved by reducing the energy of the torrent, and the creation and operation of the gas-liquid mixing chamber 8 is also facilitated.

Since the net 9 of the device of the present invention is not restrained by a ring that is locked by friction, but is firmly held, there is no risk of it floating no matter how much it is pressed by the torrent of foam.

Furthermore, since the mixer 3 and the inner stopper lO are structured so that they can slide on each other's curved surfaces, the liquid pipe l will not loosen or fall off, and therefore the air and liquid will not mix. The ratio is always constant, which stabilizes the state of foam generation. 'In short, the foam generating device of the present invention can be manufactured at a lower cost than the known devices and has significantly superior performance.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the head of an example of the foam generating device of the present invention. ? Figure 2 is an exploded view of the main parts of the device, Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the head of another example of the foam generating device of the present invention, and Figure 4 is the head of the device in use with the cap removed. The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the section and Figure 5 illustrate an example of a technique similar to the present invention. 1...Liquid pipe 2...Liquid passage 3...Mixer 4
...Air pipe 5...Air passage 6...Air hole 7.
・Flow path 8 ・Gas-liquid mixing chamber 9 ・Net 10 ・
...Inner stopper 11...Winged support arm 13...Bottle 1
4...Outer circumference screw 15...Cap 16...Inner circumference screw 17...Spout port 18...Upper jaw 19...
・Lower jaw 20... Convex curved surface on the outer periphery 21... Concave curved surface on the inner periphery.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) The upper end of the liquid pipe 1 constituting the solution passage 2 is supported in close pressure contact with the inner upper end of the air pipe 4 of the mixer 3, and the flow passage 7 of the mixer 3 communicating with the solution passage 2 of the liquid pipe 1 is connected to the upper end of the air pipe 4 of the mixer 3. The air hole 6 of the air passage 5 of the air pipe 4 is opened at the lower end of the flow passage 7 to form an orifice, and the upper part of the flow passage 7 of the mixer 3 is expanded to form a gas-liquid mixing chamber 8. A net 9 for equalizing the particle size of the foam generated by gas-liquid mixing in the chamber 8 is placed on the upper surface of the mixer 3 at the upper end of the chamber 8, and an inner stopper 10 is placed from above.
The lower surface of the mixer 3 is pressed against the upper surface of the mixer 3, and the outer circumferential convex curved surface 20 of the mixer 3 and the lower inner circumferential concave curved surface 21 of the inner stopper 10
are brought into fitting contact with each other, and the inner stopper 10 is firmly and elastically supported by the outer surface of the head of the bottle 13 and the inner surface of the cap 15 at the outer peripheral edge of the wing-shaped support arm 11 extending in the transverse direction, A foam generating device characterized in that a foam spout 17 is provided in a cap 15, and the lower end of a liquid pipe 1 is opened by pressure contact with the bottom surface of a bottle 13.