KR101661963B1 - Liquid container, and liquid feeding apparatus and liquid feeding method using the liquid container - Google Patents

Abstract

A transportable liquid container capable of storing a liquid while maintaining a high quality of the filled liquid and capable of storing a liquid and capable of minimizing the amount of residual liquid at the time of liquid delivery, Provided is a liquid delivery device and a delivery method which are simple, inexpensive, simple, and can reliably reduce the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid container and safely deliver the liquid.
The liquid container 1 includes a container body 2 of a round bottom portion in which a thermoplastic resin having a flexural modulus of at least 700 MPa is blow molded and a support table 3, Is formed of a high-purity thermoplastic resin, and the support base (3) is provided with a penetration portion (9). The liquid delivering apparatus 20 is configured such that the distal end portion 23a of the liquid delivery pipe 23 is inserted into the liquid container 1 up to the vicinity of the lowermost portion of the round bottom portion 6 and the upper and lower portions of the container main body 2 are provided with the projections 32 And the blocking member 34 to supply a gas having a pressure of 200 kPa, and the liquid 17 is sent out.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a liquid container, a liquid delivery device using the liquid container, and a liquid delivery method,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid container for containing liquid, a liquid delivery device for delivering the liquid from the liquid container, and a method of delivering the liquid.

Liquids such as industrial high purity chemical solutions, medical high purity chemical solutions and food material liquids used in semiconductor and liquid crystal fields such as photoresists and solvents are required to be stored, transported and used with high purity without incorporation of foreign matter. Therefore, it is desired that the liquid container used for storing or transporting these liquids or used as it is set in the liquid delivery apparatus as it is is extremely small in component elution. Such a liquid container and a method of delivering the liquid are described, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-290420.

In the liquid container described in the above document, the inner layer is formed of a high-purity resin in a multilayer structure, and a discharge port is provided on the upper side of the container and the lower portion is formed flat so as to be able to stand on the container. The container is filled with a high-purity chemical liquid. As shown in the figure, the container is covered with a pressure-resistant protective container or a protective container capable of withstanding the gas pressure so as to withstand pressure, and the liquid is sent out under the pressure of the gas.

However, in the liquid container described in this document, it is difficult to discharge the liquid remaining in the flat bottom of the container at the time of delivering the liquid, and there is a problem that the amount of the remaining liquid is large. Further, in the case of storing a plurality of liquid containers or arranging the liquid containers close to the liquid feeding device, there is a problem that a large space is required because the liquid containers can not be placed without being arranged. Further, when the liquid container is set in the liquid delivery device, it is necessary to cover the liquid container with the pressure-resistant protective container, thereby increasing the number of components of the liquid delivery device, resulting in a large-scale and expensive device, There is a challenge. Further, when a gas pressure of a high pressure is used to deliver the liquid, bubbles are likely to be generated in the liquid. Therefore, there is a problem that a filter for removing bubbles in the liquid requires a liquid-feeding device.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a transportable liquid container capable of saving a space by saving a charged liquid at a high quality and storing the liquid and at the same time, . It is also possible to provide a liquid delivery device and a liquid delivery method that can easily perform the set operation and the exchange operation of the liquid container, can be inexpensive with a simple configuration, can reliably reduce the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid container, The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, a liquid container according to the present invention is characterized in that a thermoplastic resin having a flexural modulus of at least 700 MPa is blow molded to have a rounded bottom part in a substantially cylindrical body part, A container body which is formed with an outlet port concentric with the body and is capable of receiving a liquid, the container body being capable of attaching and detaching a cap to the outlet port, and a resin-made support member which is fitted to the round bottom side of the body part, And a liquid container,

The container body is formed of a high-purity thermoplastic resin whose inner surface does not leach out impurity particles into the liquid at a predetermined reference value or more,

The supporting base is provided with a penetrating portion capable of receiving the outlet port of the container body stacked below when the plurality of liquid containers are piled up and a bottom portion engageable with the ceiling portion of the container body is formed .

This liquid container is characterized in that the resin forming the container body and / or the support base is a material recyclable material.

The liquid delivering apparatus is a liquid delivering apparatus in which the liquid container is set to feed the liquid in the liquid container, wherein the liquid container is placed so as to enter the penetration portion of the support base and to receive the protrusion contacting the round bottom portion of the container body A gas supply port connected to a pressurizing source having a pressure up to 200 kPa to supply gas into the container main body and a distal end located near the lowest portion of the round bottom portion in the container main body, A liquid supply adapter which is provided on the outside of the main body and has a liquid delivery pipe leading out from the main body, the liquid supply adapter being replaceable with the cap and being removable to the discharge port and capable of sealing the main body of the container; A liquid delivery adapter which is fitted to the discharge port, It characterized in that it comprises a material.

The liquid delivery device is characterized in that the pressurizing source having a pressure of 10 to 50 kPa is connected to the gas supply port.

The liquid delivery device is characterized in that the gas supply port is formed such that a pressure connector connected to the pressure source is connectable and the blocking member is in contact with an upper portion of the liquid feed adapter, And a stopper which contacts the pressure connector and restrains the movement of the blocking member.

This liquid delivering apparatus is characterized in that the blocking member and the liquid feeding adapter are fitted to each other and include a positioning mechanism for defining a position of the gas supply port with respect to the blocking member.

The liquid feeding method comprises filling the liquid container with liquid, inserting the distal end portion of the liquid sending pipe up to the vicinity of the lowest portion of the round bottom portion, and leading the tip portion to the outside to sandwich the upper and lower portions of the container body of the liquid container, Supplying a gas having a pressure of up to 200 kPa into the container, and delivering the liquid from the liquid container.

The liquid delivery method is characterized in that the pressure of the gas is 10 to 50 kPa.

According to the liquid container of the present invention, since the container body is formed of a thermoplastic resin having a flexural modulus of at least 700 MPa as a high-purity thermoplastic resin that does not leach out impurity particles into the liquid on the inner surface at a reference value or more, It can maintain high quality and has excellent mechanical strength, so that breakage or deformation of the container during transportation or storage can be prevented. Particularly, when the liquid is pumped, it is possible to prevent large deformation of the container even when the pressure is 200 psi. Further, since the mechanical strength is excellent, even if a plurality of containers filled with liquid are piled up, the liquid container stacked on the bottom is not damaged. In addition, when a plurality of liquid containers are piled up, the plug attaching / discharging port of the liquid container stacked below is inserted into the penetration portion of the support member, and the bottom portion of the support member is joined to the ceiling portion stacked below, so that the container can be piled up stably. . Further, since the container body is a rounded bottom portion, the remaining amount of the liquid at the time of pouring can be reduced.

According to the liquid container of the present invention, since it is formed of a material recyclable resin, it can be recycled as a raw material and can be circulated.

According to the liquid delivering apparatus and the liquid delivering method of the present invention, by vertically inserting the container main body, deformation in the vertical direction is prevented. Therefore, since the distance between the distal end portion of the liquid delivery tube and the rounded bottom portion is not reduced, the liquid collected in the rounded bottom portion at the time of pouring can reliably be fed with less remaining waste. As an example, the remaining amount of the liquid may be 0.5% or less, preferably 0.1% or less of the container capacity. Therefore, the usable amount of the liquid contained in the liquid container is increased, so that the yield can be improved, and the frequency of replacing the liquid container is also reduced, so that the productivity is excellent. In addition, since the liquid container excellent in mechanical strength is used, it is not necessary to cover the liquid container with the pressure-resistant protective container, so that the setting operation and the replacement operation of the liquid container are simple, the configuration of the apparatus is simple and inexpensive, So that the device can be made excellent in economy. Further, by pressurizing with a gas having a maximum pressure of 200 kPa, it is safe that the liquid container is not damaged, and the amount of air bubbles generated in the liquid can be reduced because of the low pressure.

According to the liquid delivery device and the liquid delivery method of the present invention, the amount of bubbles generated in the liquid can be further reduced by setting the pressure of the gas supplied into the liquid container to 10 to 50 kPa.

According to the liquid feeding apparatus of the present invention, since the blocking member is provided with the stopper which suppresses the movement of the blocking member by contacting the pressure connector, the pressure connector is connected, that is, It is prevented that the blocking member that fixes the adapter is inadvertently removed, so that the liquid-delivery adapter is prevented from protruding under pressure, and the liquid container can be safely removed from the apparatus.

According to the liquid delivery device of the present invention, since the blocking member and the liquid-delivery adapter are provided with the positioning mechanism for defining the position of the gas supply port with respect to the blocking member, the gas supply port faces the fixed direction, The liquid container can be easily connected to the supply port, and the setting operation of the liquid container can be performed quickly and easily. In addition, since the positional relationship between the pressurizing connector connected to the gas supply port and the stopper is defined by a constant positional relationship, the movement of the blocking member can be reliably suppressed by the stopper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partially broken front view showing a storage state of a liquid container to which the present invention is applied; FIG.
Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway side view showing the use state of the liquid container and the liquid delivering apparatus to which the present invention is applied; Fig.
Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing a use state of a liquid container and a liquid delivery apparatus (front section) to which the present invention is applied; Fig.
4 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a use state of a liquid delivery apparatus to which the present invention is applied;
5 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a use state of another liquid delivery apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

Preferred embodiments of the liquid container of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig.

The drawing shows a state in which two liquid containers 1 of the present invention are stacked on top of one another on a holding table 18, for example. The liquid container 1 does not dissolve components and does not contaminate the charged liquid 17 and is used for storing or transporting the liquid 17 or being used as it is set in the liquid transfer apparatus as it is.

This liquid container 1 can be suitably used, for example, in the fields of the manufacture of semiconductors and liquid crystal devices which require a clean liquid quality, a medicine field, and a food field. Examples of the liquid 17 include a liquid for use in the production of semiconductors and liquid crystal devices such as a photoresist solution, an acid, an alkali and a solvent, a liquid for medicine such as a disinfectant, a sap, a dialysis liquid, And a liquid used in a food field such as a food additive. In the following description, it is assumed that the liquid 17 is a photoresist liquid used for manufacturing a semiconductor or a liquid crystal device.

The liquid container 1 is constituted by a container body 2 and a support base 3 as shown in the figure.

The container body 2 has a round bottom portion 6 on the lower side (lower side in the figure) of the substantially cylindrical body portion 5 and an upper side (upper side in the figure) of the body portion 5 is connected to the discharge port 8 Is closed by the ceiling portion 7 formed with the openings 7a and 7b.

The discharge port 8 is formed in a cylindrical shape having a diameter smaller than that of the body part 5 so as to protrude from the central part of the ceiling part 7 concentrically with the body part 5 to the outside of the container. A male thread is formed on the outer periphery of the discharge port 8 so that a cap 16 on which a female thread is formed is detachable.

The ceiling portion 7 may be formed in a substantially flat shape from the lower end portion of the discharge port 8 to the body portion 5. However, as shown in the figure, from the lower end portion of the discharge port 8 to the body portion 5 It is preferable that the container is formed in a shape of a gentle downward slope because the strength of the pressure resistance of the container increases. In addition, when the ceiling portion 7 is formed as a downward slope in this way, it is easy to discharge the remaining balance or washing water after the use of the liquid container 1 with the container body 2 upside down, desirable. The ceiling portion 7 has a slightly smaller diameter than the penetrating portion 9 so as to be inserted into the penetrating portion 9 to be described later so that the support base 3 does not deviate to the left and right when the support base 3 is placed thereon. It is preferable to form the raised portion 7a by elevating the upper portion of the base 7.

On the side of the rounded bottom portion 6 of the trunk portion 5, a peripheral groove 11 for fitting the support table 3 is formed.

The container body 2 has a size capable of accommodating a liquid 17 having a desired volume, for example, 1 to 200 liters (liters). The diameter of the container body 2 is, for example, a diameter of 90 mm and a capacity of 200 liters, for example, a diameter of 600 mm when the capacity is 1 liter, but the diameter and the capacity are arbitrary.

The container body 2 is formed by blow molding a thermoplastic resin having a flexural modulus of at least 700 MPa, and at least its inner surface is formed of a high purity thermoplastic resin. For example, when the container body 2 is formed of a wall portion having a multilayer structure, if the inner surface layer is formed of a high purity thermoplastic resin and the other layer is formed of a thermoplastic resin having a flexural modulus of at least 700 MPa Or a wall portion of a multi-layer structure formed of a thermoplastic resin may be formed with the flexural modulus as a whole at least 700 MPa. When the container body 2 is formed of a single-walled wall portion, it may be formed of a high-purity thermoplastic resin having a modulus of elasticity of at least 700 MPa. In either case, it can be formed by a known blow molding machine. The method of measuring the flexural modulus is in accordance with JIS K7171.

When the gas having a pressure of 200 psi is supplied to the container body 2 and a pressure of 200 psi is applied to the container body 2 and the liquid 17 is fed by this pressurization, 700 MPa. When the flexural modulus of elasticity is less than 700 MPa, deformation of the container is large when the container is pressurized, and it is necessary to cover and protect the container body 2 with a pressure-resistant protective container such as a stainless steel pressure-

If the thickness of the container body 2 is thicker, the strength of the container can be increased. However, if the container body 2 is too thick, a large amount of raw material is required and the weight of the container becomes heavy. Therefore, if the bending elastic modulus is at least 700 MPa Thin plate thickness is preferable. For example, if the plate thickness is about 1.5 to 4 mm, it is preferable that the plate is easily formed.

Here, the high purity thermoplastic resin is a resin in which the impurity fine particles are not leached into the liquid 17 at a predetermined reference value or more. Specifically, there is a cleanliness index as an index indicating the extent to which the impure microparticles are leached while the liquid 17 is stored in the container body 2 for a long period of time. The degree of cleanliness is obtained by storing ultrapure water or photoresist solution in a test container for a certain period of time and then calculating how much fine particles having a particle diameter of 0.2 μm or more exist in 1 ml of the stored contents. Specifically, it is defined by the following equation (1).

In Equation 1, a is the capacity of the inspection container, and b is the amount of the content solution sampled from the inspection container. First, the sampling solution for measuring the initial cleanliness is taken as follows. Into a test container having a capacity a (ml), about half of the capacity, that is, a / 2 (ml) of ultrapure water or photoresist solution is added, and the mixture is allowed to stand for about 15 seconds and then left to stand for 24 hours. The sampling liquid for measuring the cleanliness after storage is collected by placing the cap on the container after the initial cleanliness measurement for a predetermined period of time and rotating the container three times so as not to generate air bubbles. and c is a value obtained by counting the fine particles having a particle diameter of 0.2 mu m or more contained in the total amount of the sampling liquid by the particle counter. Based on the numerical value, the cleanliness after the storage of the initial and period of time is calculated in Equation (1). The lower the degree of cleanliness is, the better the quality of the photoresist solution is. When the cleanliness is less than 100 cells / ml, the chemical liquid can be stably stored without deteriorating the quality and yield of the semiconductor and liquid crystal monitor (LCD).

Therefore, as the high purity thermoplastic resin, a resin satisfying the desired degree of cleanliness is used when the cleanliness is measured using the container body 2 as an inspection container. When the photoresist solution is accommodated, a resin whose cleanliness is less than 100 pcs / ml (an example of a predetermined reference value) is used. In other words, the high purity thermoplastic resin is a resin in which the impurity fine particles are not leached into the liquid at a predetermined reference value or more. In addition, the number of fine particles having a particle diameter of 0.3 占 퐉 or more may be calculated in accordance with the standard to be applied. It is also possible to use a resin having a cleanliness of less than 200 pcs / ml in accordance with the standard to which it is applied. The stopper 16 is also formed by a high-purity thermoplastic resin.

In addition to the degree of cleanliness, the degree of deterioration of the transparency of the liquid 17 (another example of a predetermined reference value) may define the degree of leaching of the impurity fine particles.

The resin forming the container body 2 is preferably a resin that can be recycled as a material. Examples of the resin include polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polyamides, polyvinyl alcohol, poly (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) Polyesters, polyphenylene oxides, and the like. These resins may be used alone to form a single-wall portion, or a plurality of such resins may be used to form a multi-layered wall portion.

For example, the container main body 2 is made of a polymer (a) and a polymer (b) which are all polyethylene or an ethylene /? - olefin copolymer and has a weight average molecular weight of 200,000 or more and a density of 0.940 to 0.970 g / , The polymer (a) having a melt index of 0.09 g / 10 min or less in accordance with JIS K6760 occupies 30 to 95% by weight of the total weight and substantially covers the outer surface and has a weight average molecular weight of 30,000 to less than 200,000 , A density of 0.930 to 0.970 g / cm 3, and a polymer (b) having a melt index of 0.1 to 1.0 g / 10 minutes based on the same JIS standard occupying 5 to 70% by weight, substantially covering the inner surface. In this case, it is possible to provide a container capable of satisfactorily fulfilling the latest strict international standards regarding the transportation container of the dangerous substance medicine, the leakage of the particulate impurities in the stored medicine is extremely small, the chemical resistance is excellent, The body 2 can be used.

As another specific example, the container body 2 is made of polyethylene or an ethylene /? - olefin copolymer having a density of 0.940 to 0.970 g / cm 3 at least on the inner surface thereof, Wherein the content of the neutralizing agent, the antioxidant and the light stabilizer is 0.01 wt% or less based on the total weight of the resin, the weight average molecular weight of the resin measured by gel permeation chromatography is 12 to 26 x 10 ⁴ , 1 x 10 < ³ > or less may be less than 2.5% by weight based on the total weight of the resin. Here, the? -Olefin may be at least one selected from propylene, butene-1,4-methyl-pentene-1, hexene-1 and octene-1. In this case, the container main body 2 having excellent mechanical strength, easy handling, and extremely low leaching of impure microparticles into a storage and storing solvent can be obtained. Examples of the solvent include methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, isobutyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, acetone, ethyl acetate, toluene, dimethylformamide, ethylene glycol acetate, methoxypropyl acetate, And even when a high purity solvent such as methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol or the like used for medicines such as sterilization, disinfection and preparation raw materials is contained in the container body 2, Can be satisfactorily satisfied.

As another specific example, the container main body 2 has a weight average molecular weight of 12 to 26 x 10 ^{4 as} measured by gel permeation chromatography, a molecular weight of less than 1 x 10 ³ less than 5 wt%, a density of 0.940 to 0.970 g / Cm < 3 >, and a neutralizing agent, an antioxidant and a light stabilizer, each having a content of 0.01 wt% or less, each of which is quantitatively determined by liquid chromatography, and an inorganic pigment of titanium oxide, carbon black and Bengala, 0.01 to 5% by weight of at least one light-shielding pigment selected from phthalocyanine, quinacridone and azo organic pigments, and a dispersant of an olefinic polymer having a number average molecular weight of 2 x 10 ³ or more And less than 5% by weight. In this case, the container body 2 can be made excellent in mechanical strength, easy to handle, extremely low in leaching of impure microparticles in stored and stored medicines, and also capable of preventing the contents from being altered by light. Therefore, it can be widely used for semiconductor liquid chemicals and medicinal solvents.

As another specific example, the container body 2 may be made of a polymer of ethylene, propylene, butene-1,4-methyl-pentene-1, hexene-1 or octene-1 olefin, and a polymer of ethylene and other olefins An inner layer made of a high purity resin containing at least one kind selected from the group consisting of a poly (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) and a high-purity resin having a content of each of a neutralizing agent, an antioxidant and a light stabilizer at a maximum of 0.01 wt% An intermediate layer of a solvent-barrier resin and an outer layer made of a resin composition containing a light-shielding material are blow molded. The minimum absorbance of the entire layer of the container measured by a spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 400 nm or less is 2.0 or more , and an absorption coefficient in an absorption coefficient at a wavelength of 400㎚ divided by the absorbance of the entire layer of the container to a thickness of the entire layer 1.5㎜ ^-1 or more, as in the wavelength 600㎚ 1.5㎜ ^{- 1} or less. Here, the resin composition of the outer layer contains at least 5% by weight of a pigment dispersant composed of at least one olefinic polymer selected from polyethylene and polypropylene having a number average molecular weight of 2 x 10 ³ or more and at least one selected from an inorganic pigment and an organic pigment 0.01 to 5% by weight of one type of light-shielding pigment may be contained, and an ultraviolet absorbing agent of less than 2.5% by weight may be contained in the resin composition of the outer layer. In this case, it is possible to maintain the quality of the high-purity chemical liquid without leaching of fine particles or metal ions during preservation and transportation, and also to make the container main body 2 which is difficult to break and light in weight.

A thermoplastic resin layer having a flexural modulus of 700 MPa or more may be provided on the outer layer of the container described in these specific examples to form the container main body 2 and the elastic modulus of flexure It may be 700 MPa or more.

As shown in the figure, the support base 3 includes an outer cylindrical portion having a diameter substantially equal to that of the trunk portion 5, which has a protruding portion 12 fitted in the peripheral groove 11 of the container body 2 13 and an inner cylindrical portion 14 which is held in contact with the lower side of the round bottom portion 6 is formed in a double cylindrical shape in which the lower portions of the bottom portion 15 are connected to each other. Since the support base 3 is fitted into the container body 2, the round bottom portion 6 does not touch the flat support stand 18, so that the liquid container 1 can stably stand independently.

As shown in the figure, when the plurality of liquid containers 1 are piled up, at least a part of the bottom portion 15 is attached to the ceiling portion 7 of the container main body 2, And is engaged by the contact. The support base 3 has a through hole 9 formed at its center by the inner cylindrical portion 14 so as to be capable of accommodating a discharge port 8 to which the plug 16 of the container body 2, Respectively. Therefore, a plurality of liquid containers 1 can be stably stacked and stacked. This penetration portion 9 can also be used for positioning when the liquid container 1 is set in a liquid delivery device 20 to be described later.

The shape of the bottom portion 15 may be a shape adapted to the inclination of the ceiling portion 7 or a portion of the bottom portion 15 so as to be stably placed on the ceiling portion 7 placed below the ceiling portion 7 And may have a shape having a foot-shaped portion that comes into contact therewith.

The support base 3 is preferably formed of the above-described thermoplastic resin which can be recycled.

If the diameter of the curved surface of the rounded bottom portion 6 of the container body 2 is made small, the liquid 17 can easily gather at the lowest portion. However, since the height of the support table 3 needs to be made high, . For example, it is preferable to form the curved surface of the rounded bottom portion 6 with a radius of about 1 to 30 times the radius of the trunk portion 5. Alternatively, it is preferable that the rounded bottom portion 6 and the lower end portion of the rounded bottom portion 6 are formed on the rounded bottom portion 6 so as to have an offset of about 3 to 300 mm, preferably about 5 to 100 mm.

Further, a handle for catching during transportation may be formed on the ceiling portion 7 of the container main body 2. In this case, the handle is formed so as to be housed in the penetration portion 9 of the support base 3 when the liquid container 1 is stacked and folded. The handle is preferably foldable.

It is possible to store and transport the liquid 17 by filling the liquid container 1 with a predetermined amount of the liquid 17 and sealing the stopper 16 by screwing it to the discharge port 8. [

Next, the liquid dispensing apparatus and the dispensing method of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 2, 3, and 4. Fig.

The liquid delivering apparatus 20 is provided with a pedestal 31, a liquid feed adapter 21 and a blocking member 34 as shown in Fig. 2, in which the liquid container 1 is set to feed the liquid 17 .

The pedestal 31 is for placing the liquid container 1 and is fitted on the metal plate such that it fits tightly in the penetrating portion 9 of the liquid container 1, 6 protruding from the outer circumferential surface thereof. The upper surface portion (the upper portion in the drawing) of the protruding portion 32 is formed in a flat shape as shown in the drawing, or a shape in which the rounded bottom portion 6 is recessed into a curved surface so as to fit tightly. It is preferable that the shape depressed by the curved surface can support the container body 2 with the surface. The height of the protruding portion 32 from the upper portion of the pedestal may be set to a height at which the bottom 15 of the liquid container 1 floats from the pedestal 31, Or may be a height that is in contact with the other end. The diameter of the protruding portion 32 is preferably a diameter that fits tightly in the penetrating portion 9 from the viewpoint of positioning the liquid container 1 but may be at least smaller than the diameter of the penetrating portion 9. [

The blocking member 34 shown in Fig. 2 is movably supported by a rotation shaft 35 with a fixing mechanism on a pivot 33 provided upright from the pedestal 31. As shown in Fig. The fixing member of the rotary shaft 35 can fix the movement of the blocking member 34 at a position where the blocking member 34 is in contact with the upper part of the liquid delivery adapter 21 fitted in the discharge port 8. [ The rotation shaft 35 is provided with a release button (not shown). By operating this button, the blocking member 34 is movable again. As the fixing mechanism of the blocking member 34, various known mechanisms can be used.

2 to 4, the blocking member 34 has a stopper 36 formed with a through-hole portion 36a for passing a pressing connector 30 to be described later. As one example, the stopper 36 is formed by bending a rod made of metal or connected by welding or the like, and has a through hole portion 36a formed in a U-shape, (Not shown). The stopper 36 is securely fixed to the side wall of the blocking member 34. The stopper 36 prevents the piercing member 34 from rotating when the blocking member 34 is rotated so that the through hole portion 36a contacts the pressure connector 30 without interfering with the liquid feed adapter 21, As shown in FIG. The through hole portion 36a may be a ring shape formed by bending a bar material into a ring shape or a flat plate shape having a hole portion as long as the through hole portion 36a can pass the pressurizing connector 30. [ Particularly, in the case of forming the U-shape as shown in the drawing, since the upper side is opened, the attaching / detaching operation of the pressurizing connector 30 can be easily performed.

The blocking member 34 is provided with a positioning pin 37.

As shown in Fig. 3, the liquid-delivery adapter 21 is formed with a female screw so that the discharge port 8 of the liquid container 1 can be sealed. The liquid delivery adapter 21 is provided with a gas supply port 25, a liquid delivery pipe 23, a pressure gauge 26, a safety valve 27 and a manual valve 28.

3 and 4, the liquid-delivery adapter 21 has a cylindrical fitting portion 21a fitted to the discharge port 8, a liquid feed pipe 23, a gas supply port 25, And a pipe support portion 21b is formed to be coupled to the fitting portion 21a so as to be rotatable in the axial direction of the pipe support portion 21b.

4, the pipetting support portion 21b of the liquid delivery adapter 21 is formed with a flat upper surface and a positioning pin 37 of the blocking member 34 on a part of the upper surface thereof. A positioning groove 24 is formed in which the positioning groove 24 is formed. The positioning groove 24 has, for example, a groove end on a cylindrical sidewall of the pipe support portion 21b and has a groove width (width) in which the positioning pin 37 is fitted, along the direction from the cylinder side wall toward the cylinder center axis. And reaches a position immediately before reaching the liquid delivery pipe 23.

The positioning groove 24 and the positioning pin 37 are an example of the positioning mechanism of the present invention and are provided with positioning grooves 24 at positions where the blocking member 34 contacts the upper portion of the liquid- The position of the gas supply port 25 with respect to the blocking member 34 is defined so that the position of the gas supply port 25 with respect to the blocking member 34 is defined by uniquely determining the direction of the pipe support portion 21b with respect to the blocking member 34 when the positioning pin 37 is fitted . More specifically, when the positioning groove 24 and the positioning pin 37 are fitted, the pressing connector 30 is inserted into the through hole 36a of the stopper 36, The position of the blocking member 34 and the gas supply port 25 are defined so that the gas supply port 25 and the gas supply port 25 can be connected to each other. Instead of the positioning groove 24, a hole that can be fitted to the positioning pin 37 may be formed in the pipe supporting portion 21b.

The gas supply port 25 is configured to be connectable to a pressurizing connector 30 connected to the pressurizing source 29 via an internal pressure hose and serves as a gas supply port into the container body 2. [ The pressure connector 30 is provided with an opening valve for opening the gas to the outside when the safety locking mechanism is attached and the gas pressure is intended to be removed from the gas supply port 25 by mistake.

The pressurizing source 29 is a pressurized gas supply source for supplying pressurized air from an inert gas (nitrogen gas as an example) or a gas (for example, air) obtained by removing a fine particle from a gas bomb as shown in Fig. 3 or a gas supply device composed of a gas generator, a pressure regulator, At a pressure of 200 psi, preferably 10 to 200 psi, and more preferably 10 to 50 psi.

The end portion 23a of the liquid pipe 23 is located close to the lowest portion of the rounded bottom portion 6 of the container body 2 And is fixed to the liquid-delivery adapter 21 so that the distal end portion 23b is led out. Specifically, the liquid delivery pipe 23 is fixed at a position substantially coinciding with the central axis of the pipe support portion 21b. The distal end 23a of the liquid delivery pipe 23 is preferably fixed to the liquid delivery adapter 21 so as to be as close as possible to the lowest part of the rounded bottom part 6. For example, As shown in FIG. A connection connector 39 for piping connection is attached to the distal end portion 23b of the liquid delivery pipe 23.

The pressure gauge 26 is a measuring device for monitoring the internal pressure of the container main body 2. The safety valve 27 releases the gas to the outside when the pressure in the container body 2 becomes higher than the specified value. The manual valve 28 is normally closed, and is manually operated as needed to release the gas to the outside.

Next, the use method and operation of the liquid delivery apparatus 20 and the liquid delivery method of the liquid 17 will be described.

3, the liquid container 1 filled with the liquid 17 is placed so that the penetrating portion 9 thereof is fitted into the protruding portion 32 of the pedestal 31. As shown in Fig. Thereby, the liquid container 1 is easily positioned on the pedestal 31. Next, if the stopper 16 is attached to the liquid container 1, the liquid stopper 16 is detached and the delivery adapter 21 is attached to the outlet 8.

As a result, the distal end 23a of the liquid delivery pipe 23 of the liquid delivery adapter 21 is inserted up to the vicinity of the lowest part of the rounded bottom part 6 and the distal end part 23b of the delivery pipe 23 is positioned outside the container Lt; / RTI >

Next, the blocking member 34 is pressed and fixed to the upper portion of the liquid delivery adapter 21. At this time, as shown in Fig. 4, the pipe support portion 21b is rotated to fit the positioning pin 37 of the blocking member 34 into the positioning groove 24 of the liquid-delivery adapter 21. [ 3, the projecting portion 32 and the blocking member 34 of the pedestal 31 are integrally joined to each other in a state in which the direction of the blocking member 34 and the liquid- The upper and lower portions of the container body 2 are fitted. The stopper 36 moves together with the rotation of the blocking member 34 to come close to the gas supply port 25 so that the through hole portion 36a of the stopper 36 contacts the axis of the gas supply port 25 .

Next, the pressurizing connector 30 of the pressurizing source 29 in which the supply of the gas is stopped is mounted on the gas supply port 25. At this time, since the gas supply port 25 is positioned, the pressure connector 30 is inevitably connected to the gas supply port 25 through the through hole portion 36a of the stopper 36. [

The photoresist sprayer 50 is connected to the connection connector 39 of the liquid delivery pipe 23 via the pressure hose as an example. The photoresist spraying apparatus 50 includes a buffer tank 51, a pump 52, a filter 53, a three-way valve 54 and a discharge nozzle 55 to supply a photoresist liquid And discharging it.

Subsequently, when the regulator of the pressurizing source 29 is opened and gas is supplied, gas is introduced into the container body 2, pressure is applied to the liquid surface of the liquid 17, And the liquid 17 is sent out and sent to the photoresist spraying apparatus 50. At this time, since the container main body 2 is formed of the resin having the flexural modulus of at least 700 MPa, the container main body 2 is safe because it does not cause breakage or the like.

Further, since the pressure of the gas is as high as 200 kPa, bubbles hardly occur in the liquid 17 to be delivered. The generation of bubbles is less as the gas pressure is lower, so that it is preferable to set the pressure to 10 to 50 kPa, for example.

The vertical position of the container main body 2 and the liquid feed adapter 21 is defined by the protruding portion 32 and the blocking member 34 so that deformation in the vertical direction is prevented. Therefore, the distance between the distal end 23a of the liquid delivery tube 23 and the rounded bottom portion 6 is not widened, and the close state is maintained. Therefore, even if the remaining amount of the liquid 17 is small, the liquid 17 collected at the central portion of the round bottom portion 6 can be almost fed.

Finally, as shown in the right circular frame in Fig. 3, the liquid 17, which is held lower than the position of the distal end portion 23a, is substantially fed by the surface tension and the gas pressure of the liquid 17, The remaining amount of the ink 17 becomes very small. Therefore, the remaining amount of the liquid 17 is 0.5% or less of the capacity of the liquid container 1.

The used liquid container 1 is opened by releasing the fixing of the blocking member 34 fixing the liquid feed adapter 21 and rotating it upward but when the liquid container 1 is opened under a pressurized state, The liquid feed adapter 21 is protruded, and the operator is exposed to the danger. Even if the stopper 36 is pushed to the lower side of the pressure connector 30 even if the stopper member 34 is to be pivoted upward, And its rotation is restrained. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the liquid-delivery adapter 21 from being protruded to the residual pressure, so that a very safe device can be obtained. The used liquid container 1 can not be taken out by causing the blocking member 34 to bounce upward unless the safety lock mechanism attached to the pressure connector 30 is used to remove it.

The used liquid container 1 is recycled (recycled) as a plastic raw material. The support table 3 may be washed and reused as it is. Depending on the type of the liquid 17 to be filled, the container body 2 may be washed and reused.

5, when the liquid delivery adapter 21 to which the gas supply port 25 is attached upwardly (upward in the drawing) is used, the blocking member 34 is provided on the upper part of the liquid delivery adapter 21 The stopper 36 is fixed to the side surface of the blocking member 34 so that the U-shaped through hole portion 36a is in the direction through which the axis of the gas supply port 25 passes. In this case, the through hole portion 36a passes through the connection portion 30a of the pressure adapter 30 shown in the drawing, but is formed so as not to pass through the body portion 30b.

In this liquid delivering apparatus 20, the stopper 36 rotates together with the rotation of the blocking member 34, as indicated by the two-dot chain line arrow in the drawing. The through hole portion 36a is formed at a position slightly higher than the gas supply port 25 so that the axial passage is allowed to pass in the vicinity of the gas supply port 25 while the blocking member 34 is in contact with the liquid- Located. The connecting portion 30a of the pressurizing connector 30 is connected to the gas supply port 25 by passing through the through hole portion 36a. As a result, the main body portion 30b of the pressure connector 30 is positioned above the through hole portion 36a. In this state, the through hole portion 36a is restrained by touching the main body portion 30b of the pressure adapter 30, for example, even if the blocking member 34 is to be unlocked and rotated upward. Therefore, since the blocking member 34 is prevented from being raised upward while the pressure connector 30 is mounted, the liquid-delivery adapter 21 is securely prevented from protruding due to the residual pressure.

Although an example has been described in which a male screw is formed in the discharge port 8 of the liquid container 1 and a female screw is formed in the cap 16 and the liquid delivery adapter 21 so as to be coupled by a screw, But it is not limited to this, as long as it is possible to seal without leakage, for example, it may be joined by fitting.

Example

A liquid container (1) and a liquid delivery device (20) to which the present invention was applied were made as prototypes. The support base 3 was made of a linear low density polyethylene resin having a density of 0.938 g / cm < 3 > (density: 0.955 g / , Melt index: 3.8 g / 10 min) was used to form a 20-liter container. The average plate thickness of the container main body 2 was 3 mm and the plate thickness of the support base 3 was 3 mm. The container body 2 has a radius of 150 mm of the body part 5, a length of 300 mm of the body part 5 and a curved surface of a round bottom part 6 with a radius of 2,253 mm. The liquid delivery pipe 23 having an outer diameter of 6 mm was fixed to the liquid delivery adapter 21 so that the distance between the round bottom part 6 and the distal end part 23a was 5 mm. The remaining amount of water remaining in the liquid container 1 was 10 ml when the liquid container 1 was filled with 20 l of water, set in the liquid delivery device 20, and fed at a gas pressure of 20 kPa.

The liquid container (1) was filled with 20 liters of water and three pellets were stacked. No liquid container 1 was found to be damaged or deformed, and the liquid container 1 could be stably stacked.

A separate liquid container (1) and liquid delivery device (20) to which the present invention was applied were produced as prototypes. The raw materials for the inner layer were a high density polyethylene resin (density 0.958 g / cm3, melt index 0.35 g / 10 min.) Having a flexural modulus of 1370 MPa, a raw material for the intermediate layer at a density of 1.19 g / (Density: 0.957 g / cm 3, melt index: 0.04 g / 10 min.), And the support base 3 was placed in a mold for 10 minutes, an ethylene- (Density: 0.938 g / cm 3, melt index: 3.8 g / 10 min) to form a 4-liter container. The average plate thickness of the container main body 2 was 3 mm and the plate thickness of the support base 3 was 3 mm. The flexural modulus of the multi-layer container at this time was 1150 MPa. The container body 2 has a radius of 85 mm, a total height of the container 310 mm (the length of the body 5 is 230 mm), and a rounded bottom 6 with a radius of 731 mm . The liquid delivery pipe 23 having an outer diameter of 6 mm was fixed to the liquid delivery adapter 21 such that the distance between the round bottom portion 6 and the distal end portion 23a was 3 mm. 4 liters of water was filled in the liquid container 1, and the liquid container 1 was set in the liquid delivery device 20, and the liquid remaining in the liquid container 1 was 8 ml when the liquid was supplied at a gas pressure of 20 kPa.

The liquid container and the liquid delivering apparatus of the present invention can be used in an industrial field, a medicine field, a food field, and the like, in which high quality liquid is used, and the liquid delivery method of the present invention can be used.

1: liquid container 2: container body
3: Support member 5:
6: round bottom 7: ceiling
7a: ridge 8: outlet
9: penetration part 11: peripheral groove
12: protruding portion 13: outer cylindrical portion
14: inner cylinder part 15: bottom part
16: plug 17: liquid
18: Storage stand 20:
21: Liquid supply adapter 21a:
2lb: channel supporting portion 23: liquid feed pipe
23a: End portion 23b:
24: positioning groove 25: gas supply port
26: Pressure gauge 27: Safety valve
28: Manual valve 29: Pressure source
30: pressure connector 30a:
30b: main body 31: base
32: protrusion 33:
34: blocking member 35: rotating shaft
36: stopper 36a: through hole portion
37: Positioning pin 39: Connection connector
50: photoresist spraying device 51: buffer tank
52: Pump 53: Filter
54: three way valve 55: dispense nozzle

Claims (10)

A container body which is formed with a cylindrical body portion, a round bottom portion, and a discharge port concentric with the body portion at the ceiling portion, the container body being capable of accommodating a liquid and capable of detachably attaching a cap to the discharge port; A liquid container having a support base fitted to the rounded bottom side of the body part and having a through part formed at the center thereof is set so as to feed the liquid in the liquid container,
A pedestal on which the liquid container is placed and which has protrusions that enter the penetration portion of the support and come into contact with the rounded bottom portion of the container body;
A gas supply port connected to a pressurizing source having a pressure of up to 200 kPa to supply gas into the container main body and a distal end portion located near the lowest portion of the round bottom portion in the container main body, A liquid feed adapter which is replaceable with the plug and is detachable from the outlet and is capable of sealing the container body; And
And a blocking member which is movably installed in a peripheral portion provided upright from the pedestal and is capable of fixing its movement at a position in contact with an upper portion of the liquid delivering adapter fitted to the discharging port,
Wherein when the pressure connector is connected to the gas supply port in a state in which the gas supply port is in contact with an upper portion of the liquid feed adapter, And a stopper which contacts the pressure connector and restrains movement of the blocking member. The liquid delivery apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blocking member and the liquid delivery adapter each include a positioning mechanism that is fitted and defines a position of the gas supply port with respect to the blocking member. The liquid delivery apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure supply source is connected to the gas supply port at a pressure of 10 to 50 kPa. The container body according to claim 1, wherein the container body is formed by blow molding a thermoplastic resin having a flexural modulus of at least 700 MPa, and is made of a high purity thermoplastic resin that does not leach out impurity particles into the liquid, And the liquid supply unit is formed. The liquid container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the supporting base is provided with the penetrating portion capable of receiving the outlet with the plug attached to the bottom of the container body when a plurality of the liquid containers are piled up, Wherein a bottom portion capable of engaging is formed. A liquid container set and used in a liquid delivery device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A thermoplastic resin having a flexural modulus of at least 700 MPa is blow molded to have a rounded bottom portion on a cylindrical body portion and a discharge port concentric with the body portion on the ceiling portion so as to be capable of receiving a liquid, And a support base made of resin fitted to the round bottom portion side of the body portion for self-supporting the container body,
The container body is formed of a high purity thermoplastic resin in which the impurity fine particles are not leached into the liquid at least on the inner surface at a predetermined reference value or more,
The lowest portion of the rounded bottom portion in the container body contacting the liquid is located on the axial center of the body portion,
And a penetrating portion that enters the protruding portion of the liquid delivery device is formed at a central portion of the support base. The liquid feeding apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the support base includes: a height at which the bottom of the support stand floats from the pedestal of the liquid delivery device when the protrusion enters the penetration portion and the protruding portion contacts the round bottom portion; And the base is formed with a height at which the bottom portion of the support base abuts against the base. The liquid container according to claim 6, wherein the rounded bottom portion is formed by a curved surface having a radius of 1 to 30 times the radius of the trunk portion. The liquid container according to claim 6, wherein the rounded bottom portion is formed as a curved surface having a bottom portion of the bottom portion and a bottom portion of the trunk portion having a drop of 3 to 300 mm. 7. The container according to claim 6, wherein the supporting base is provided with the penetrating portion capable of accommodating the discharge port with the plug attached to the bottom of the container body when a plurality of the liquid containers are piled up, And a bottom portion which is engageable is formed.

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