WO2013044698A1

WO2013044698A1 - Liquid pump with elastic stretching and resetting device

Info

Publication number: WO2013044698A1
Application number: PCT/CN2012/080084
Authority: WO
Inventors: 丁要武
Original assignee: Ding Yaowu
Priority date: 2011-09-30
Filing date: 2012-08-14
Publication date: 2013-04-04
Also published as: CN103029895A; CN103029895B

Abstract

A liquid pump comprises a fixed unit fixed relative to a container, and a movable unit reciprocating relative to the fixed unit; a liquid product is pumped out of the container via the reciprocating motion; the reciprocating motion is jointly achieved by a pressing force applied to the movable unit by a user to move the movable unit relative to the fixed unit and an elastic resetting device (10) enabling the movable unit to reset relative to the fixed unit after the pressing force is removed; the elastic resetting device (10) comprises an elastic stretching device (10) between the fixed unit and the movable unit; the elastic stretching device (10) is at least partially made from an elastic material. The liquid pump reduces production cost, avoids metal oxide pollution, facilitates recycling, and can effectively ensure the resetting force to achieve the required liquid pump distribution amount without worsening the hand-pressing feel of the liquid pump.

Description

Liquid pump with elastic tension reducing device

This invention relates to the field of liquid pumps, and more particularly to a liquid pump having an elastic return device. Background technique

The liquid pump is typically mounted at the opening of the container for pumping the liquid product within the container out of the container for use by a user's manual pressing operation. The liquid pump usually has an elastic returning device for returning the pressure head to its original position after the user removes the downward pressing action on the pump head, and simultaneously sucks the liquid product in the container during the head resetting process. Go to the reservoir of the liquid pump for the next pumping dispense. There are two main types of liquid pumps on the market with elastic reset devices: one is to use a metal compression spring 200, for example, as shown in Fig. 1 (structure disclosed in WO9740945), metal in the process of pressing the liquid pump head The compression spring 200 is compressed, and the elastic force of the compression spring tends to be restored as the liquid pump reset power after stopping the pressing; the other liquid pump uses the elastic bellows or the elastic tube 300, as shown in FIG. 2 (EP0368062A1). In the structure disclosed in the present invention, the bellows 300 is compressed during the pressing of the liquid pump head, and the elastic force of the bellows tending to be restored is stopped as the power of the liquid pump to reset. These two liquid pumps generally have the following disadvantages.

For liquid pumps with metal compression springs, metal materials increase their cost. Moreover, metal springs tend to oxidize and rust, and metal oxides can contaminate liquid products in containers. In addition, in terms of product recycling, it is necessary to disassemble the waste liquid pump to separately recover the metal spring and the remaining plastic parts, which increases the recovery cost.

For the liquid pump using the elastic bellows, although the bellows made of elastomer material is used instead of the metal pressure spring, the problem that the metal spring is high in cost, easy to pollute the liquid product, and inconvenient to recycle is solved, but it also has its defects, the largest The problem is that there is not enough resilience. For a relatively viscous liquid product to be dispensed and a large dispensed liquid pump, such an elastomeric bellows is difficult to meet. In order to increase the resilience, a relatively hard material has been used in the prior art to manufacture the bellows, but this also causes the required user to lower the downforce of the liquid pump head, thereby deteriorating the user's hand comfort. . Summary of the invention In view of the above problems in the prior art, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a liquid pump which is reduced in cost and which provides sufficient restoring force to secure a dispensing amount.

In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, according to the present invention, there is provided a liquid pump for mounting to a container for pumping a liquid product in the container to the outside of the container, the liquid pump including a fixed unit fixed to the container and a movable unit reciprocable relative to the fixed unit, the reciprocating movement of the liquid product to the outside of the container, the reciprocating motion being applied by a user The pressing force on the movable unit to move the movable unit relative to the fixed unit and the elastic reset device for resetting the movable unit relative to the fixed unit after the pressing force is removed are implemented. The liquid pump of the present invention is characterized in that the elastic returning means comprises an elastic stretching means connected between the fixing unit and the movable unit, the elastic stretching means being at least partially made of an elastomer material.

With the liquid pump of the present invention, an elastic stretching device made of an elastomer material is used to realize the reset operation of the liquid pump. For the same elastomeric manufacturing material, the provision of tensile elasticity is easier and more effective than compressing the elastic force. Therefore, the use of the elastic stretching device not only eliminates the need to use metal springs, but also helps to reduce production costs, avoid metal oxide contamination, facilitate recycling, and effectively ensure sufficient restoring force to achieve the desired liquid pump. The amount is dispensed and does not cause the pump's pressing feel to deteriorate.

According to the present invention, the elastic stretching device may be of a unitary type, one end of which is connected to the fixing unit, and the other end of which is connected to the movable unit. The unitary component includes a first ring, a second ring, and at least one elastic stretch strip connected between the first and second rings, the first ring being connected to the fixing unit, the second A ring is coupled to the active unit.

According to the present invention, the elastic stretching device may be of a split type, which is composed of a plurality of separate elastic tensile members, one end of each of which is connected to the fixing unit, and the other end is Active unit connection. Each of the elastic tensile members may be in the form of a sheet, and each end thereof is formed with a through hole for connection with the fixing unit and the movable unit. Alternatively, each of the elastic tensile members may have a ring shape.

According to the present invention, the elastic stretching device may be integrally formed with the fixing unit or may be integrally formed with the movable unit.

According to the present invention, the fixing unit may include at least one of a mouthpiece, a cylinder, a cylinder head, a cylinder plug, and a pump-container gasket, and the movable unit may include an indenter, a piston rod, and a piston At least one of them.

According to the present invention, the elastomer material may be selected from the group consisting of polyurethane, thermoplastic vulcanizate, nitrile rubber, and neoprene.

According to the present invention, in addition to the elastic stretching device, the elastic returning device further includes an elastic compressing device provided independently of the elastic stretching device. That is, the elastic stretching device and the elastic compression device can be simultaneously used to provide the liquid pump with the restoring force required for the operation.

According to the present invention, the two portions of the elastic stretching device which are connected to the fixing unit and the movable unit can be made rigid with a portion larger than a portion between the two portions.

According to the present invention, the elastic stretching device may be detachably coupled between the fixing unit and the movable unit, or may be permanently connected between the fixed unit and the movable unit.

The present invention can be applied to various occasions. For example, the liquid pump of the present invention may be a liquid pump for a trigger sprayer.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description of the exemplary embodiments. DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a prior art liquid pump;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of another liquid pump of the prior art;

Figure 3a is a cross-sectional view of a liquid pump according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a movable unit such as a piston rod is at a top dead center position with respect to a fixed unit such as a dental mouthpiece;

Figure 3b is a cross-sectional view similar to Figure 3a, wherein the movable unit has moved relative to the fixed unit to press to form a bottom dead center position;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the exploded assembly of the liquid pump shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the elastic stretching device employed in the liquid pump shown in Figure 3; Figures 6a-6d are a front view, a cross-sectional view, a plan view and a perspective view, respectively, of the elastic stretching device shown in Figure 5;

7a-7d are a plan view, a perspective view, a front view and a cross-sectional view, respectively, of the cylinder plug shown in Fig. 5; Figs. 8a-8c are a front view, a cross-sectional view and a perspective view, respectively, of the piston rod shown in Fig. 5; A cross-sectional view of a liquid pump according to another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the movable unit such as the indenter is relatively The fixing unit such as the base is at the top dead center position of the pressing stroke;

Figure 9b is a cross-sectional view similar to Figure 9a, wherein the movable unit has been moved relative to the fixed unit to a position near the bottom end of the pressing stroke;

Figure lOa-lOc are a plan view, a perspective view and a cross-sectional view, respectively, of the elastic stretching device used in the liquid pump shown in Figure 9;

11a-llc are respectively a plan view, a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of a variation of the elastic stretching device applicable to the liquid pump of Fig. 9;

Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view showing the exploded assembly of the liquid pump shown in Figure 9. detailed description

First, hereby by the way, the "upper" and "lower" described hereinafter are determined relative to the liquid pump being placed in a vertical orientation (ie, the liquid pump is set such that its axial direction coincides with the vertical direction). of.

Referring to Figures 3-8, an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The liquid pump mainly comprises an indenter 20, a cylinder 30, a mouthpiece 40, a cylinder plug 50, a lower one-way ball valve 60, a piston rod 70, a piston 80 and a pump-container gasket 90, which are assembled along the axis A direction, as shown in the figure. Shown in 4, and preferably both made of a plastic material for recycling. In addition to the elastic restoring device, the above-described basic structure is known in the art, such as disclosed in WO9740945, which is incorporated herein by reference.

According to the present invention, the liquid pump does not include a metal compression spring, but an elastic stretching device 10 is employed as the elastic returning device. In the present embodiment, the elastic stretching device 10 is a one-piece cylindrical structure, the upper end of which is connected to a cylinder plug 50 as a fixed unit, and the lower end is connected to a piston rod 70 as a movable unit. The cylindrical elastic stretching device 10 is coaxially sleeved on the piston rod 70 and located in the cylinder plug 50. As best shown in FIGS. 5-6, the elastic stretching device 10 includes an upper ring 11, a lower ring 12, and It extends in a direction parallel to the axis A (of course, it is also possible to extend in a direction not parallel to the axis A) and connects the four elastic stretch strips 13 of the upper and lower rings. The four elastic stretch strips 13 are arranged at substantially equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The diameter of the upper ring 11 is larger than the diameter of the lower ring 12 to accommodate the mounting of the cylinder plug 50 and the piston rod 70. Preferably, the upper ring 11 and the lower ring 12 can be made to have a greater rigidity than the elastically stretched strip, for example, by making the upper and lower rings thicker or formed of a harder material, so that the upper and lower rings 11, 12 is fixedly connected to the cylinder plug 50 and the piston rod. The elastic stretch strip 13 can be made to provide a suitable tensile force to achieve a moderate hand feel and product dispensing of the liquid pump. The elastic stretch strip 13 is made of an elastomer material. Suitable materials may be polyurethane, thermoplastic vulcanizate, nitrile rubber and neoprene, but are not limited thereto.

The upper ring 11 is overlapped on the upper end of the cylinder plug 50. The upper end of the cylinder plug 50 is formed with four recesses 51 corresponding to the positions of the four elastically stretched strips 13 of the elastic stretching device 10 for receiving the upper ends of the elastically stretched strips 13 and the upper ring 11 Radial extension of the connection. The lower ring 12 is overlapped on an annular flange 71 formed on the circumferential surface of the piston rod 70.

In the present embodiment, the fixing unit includes a cylinder 30, a mouthpiece 40, a cylinder plug 50, and a pump-container sealing gasket 90, and the movable unit includes a ram 20, a piston rod 70, and a piston 80. Fig. 3a shows the state in which the movable unit is at the top dead center position of the pressing stroke with respect to the fixed unit. In this state, the pressing head 20 is not pressed by the user, and the movable unit is in the uppermost position with respect to the fixed unit, and the elastic pulling is performed at this time. The stretching device 10 is in a state of being stretched or only slightly stretched. When the indenter 20 is pressed by the user, the movable unit including the indenter 20, the piston rod 70 and the piston 80 as a whole moves downward relative to the fixed unit, and is connected to the fixed unit (cylinder plug 50). The elastic stretching device 10 between the movable unit (piston rod 70) is thus stretched until the movable unit reaches the bottom end position of the pressing stroke with respect to the fixed unit, as shown in Fig. 3b. At the bottom dead center position of the pressing stroke, the elastic stretching device 10 is in the maximum stretch state, which applies the maximum resilience force to the movable unit. When the downward pressing force acting on the ram 20 is removed, the movable unit moves upward relative to the fixed unit by the restoring force of the elastic stretching device 10, and finally returns to the pressing stroke top dead center position.

As a variation of the above embodiment (not shown), the lower ring 12 of the elastic stretching device 10 may be integrally formed with the piston rod 70, or the upper ring 11 may be formed integrally with the cylinder plug 50.

In the above embodiment, the elastic stretching device 10 is detachably coupled to the cylinder plug 50 and the piston rod 70, but as another variation (not shown) of the above embodiment, the elastic stretching device 10 may also be The lower ring 12 or the upper ring is permanently connected to the piston rod 70 or the cylinder plug 50 by thermal engagement, ultrasonic splicing or the like.

9-12 illustrate another embodiment of the present invention, the liquid pump mainly comprising a ram 120, a base 130, and a bellows cylinder 140 (which is made of an elastomer material and can simultaneously function as an elastic compression device and a cylinder And the lower check valve 150, they are assembled in the direction of the axis A, as shown in FIG. The above-mentioned basic structure is known in the art and is disclosed, for example, in EP 0 306 062 A1, which is incorporated herein by reference.

According to the present invention, in addition to the bellows cylinder 140 used as the elastic compression device, the liquid pump is also packaged An elastic stretching device 110 is included to compensate for the problem of insufficient spring force of the bellows cylinder 140. The elastic stretching device 110 is, in this embodiment, two separate elastic tensile members, each of which is annular in shape, as best shown in Figures 10a-lOc. The elastic tensile member 110 can be made to provide a suitable tensile force to achieve a moderate press feel and product dispensing of the liquid pump. The elastic tensile member 110 is made of an elastomer material, and suitable materials may be polyurethane, thermoplastic vulcanizate, nitrile rubber, and neoprene, but are not limited thereto.

Referring to Figures 9a-9b, the liquid pump is mounted to the container 160 by securing the base 130 to the opening of the container 160. The indenter 120 is formed with a projection 121 for fixing the upper end of the elastic stretching device 110, and a projection 131 is also formed on the base 130 for fixing the lower end of the elastic stretching device 110. The fixing means can be by any suitable means such as a detachable connection or a permanent connection. The projections 121 and 131 may be formed in any suitable form, such as a cylindrical shape, as long as the movement of the ram 120 relative to the base 130 and the operation of the bellows cylinder 140 are not affected.

In the present embodiment, the fixed unit includes a base 130 (equivalent to a mouthpiece), and the movable unit includes a ram 120. Figure 9a shows the state in which the movable unit is at the top dead center position of the pressing stroke with respect to the fixed unit. In this state, the pressing head 120 is not pressed by the user, and the movable unit is in the uppermost position with respect to the fixed unit. The stretching device 10 is substantially unstretched or only slightly stretched. When the ram 120 is pressed by the user, the ram 120 as the movable unit together with the protrusion 121 thereon overcomes the bellows cylinder 140 and the elasticity with respect to the susceptor 130 as a fixed unit and its protrusion 131. The combined elastic force of the stretching device 110 moves downward, so that the elastic stretching device 110 connected between the protruding portion 121 of the ram 120 and the protruding portion 131 of the susceptor 130 is stretched until the movable unit approaches the pressing stroke The stop position, as shown in Figure 9b. When the downward pressing force acting on the ram 120 is removed, the ram 120 is moved upward relative to the base 130 by the restoring force of the elastic stretching device 110, and finally returns to the top dead center position of the pressing stroke.

Figure 11a-llc shows a variation of the elastic tensile member shown in Figure 10. The elastic tensile member 110' is formed in a sheet shape, and has through holes 11 formed at both ends thereof for fixed connection with the projection 121 on the ram 120 and the projection 131 on the base 130.

As a variation (not shown) of the above embodiment, the lower end of the elastic tensile member 110 may be integrally formed with the protrusion 121 on the ram 120, or the upper end thereof may be the protrusion 131 on the susceptor 130. Body formation.

The invention has been described above by the description of the exemplary embodiments, but the technology in the art It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the embodiments shown. For example, in the first illustrated embodiment, the upper end of the elastic stretching device 10 is coupled to the cylinder plug 50, but the upper end of the elastic stretching device can also be coupled to the mouthpiece 20, the cylinder 30, and the cylinder head (shown Not used in the examples), pump-container gasket 90 or other fixed components. For another example, in the first embodiment, the upper end of the elastic stretching device 10 is only fixed to the single cylinder plug 50, but the upper end of the elastic stretching device 10 may be clamped and fixed to the upper end of the cylinder 30 and the mouthpiece 20. Between the lower surfaces. As another example, in the depicted embodiment, the liquid pump is typically in a vertical orientation during use, but the invention is also fully applicable to liquid pumps that are otherwise oriented in use, such as liquid pumps used in trigger sprayers. In summary, the present invention can be considered as long as there is relative motion in the liquid pump, regardless of its orientation. For another example, in the first embodiment shown, the elastic stretching device 10 has four elastically stretchable strips 13, but other numbers (such as one, two or three) of elastic stretched strips 13 may be used. . Also for example, in the second embodiment shown, the elastic stretching device comprises two elastic tensile members 110, but may also include other numbers (such as one, three or four) of elastic stretch strips 110. Therefore, the scope of the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described, but the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

Claim

A liquid pump for mounting to a container for pumping a liquid product in the container to the outside of the container, the liquid pump comprising a fixed unit that is fixed relative to the container and capable of being relative to the container Actuating unit for reciprocating movement of the fixed unit, the pumping of the liquid product to the outside of the container by the reciprocating motion, the reciprocating motion being applied by the user on the movable unit to make the active unit a pressing force with respect to the movement of the fixed unit and an elastic reset device for resetting the movable unit relative to the fixed unit after the pressing force is removed, wherein the elastic reset device comprises a connection An elastic stretching device between the fixing unit and the movable unit, the elastic stretching device being at least partially made of an elastomer material.

The liquid pump according to claim 1, wherein the elastic stretching device is one-piece, one end of which is connected to the fixing unit, and the other end of which is connected to the movable unit.

3. The liquid pump according to claim 2, wherein the integral member comprises a first ring, a second ring, and at least one elastic stretch strip connected between the first and second rings, The first ring is connected to the fixed unit, and the second ring is connected to the movable unit.

4. The liquid pump according to claim 1, wherein the elastic stretching device is of a split type, and is composed of a plurality of separate elastic tensile members, one end of each of the elastic tensile members The fixed unit is connected and the other end is connected to the movable unit.

The liquid pump according to claim 4, wherein each of the elastic tensile members is in the form of a sheet, and each end thereof is formed with a through hole for connection with the fixing unit and the movable unit.

6. The liquid pump according to claim 4, wherein each of the elastic tensile members is annular.

The liquid pump according to claim 1, wherein the elastic stretching device is formed integrally with the fixing unit.

The liquid pump according to claim 1, wherein the elastic stretching device is formed integrally with the movable unit.

9. The liquid pump according to claim 1, wherein the fixing unit comprises at least one of a mouthpiece, a cylinder, a cylinder head, a cylinder plug, and a pump-container gasket.

10. The liquid pump of claim 1, wherein the movable unit comprises at least one of a ram, a piston rod, and a piston.

The liquid pump according to claim 1, wherein the elastomer material is selected from the group consisting of polyurethane, thermoplastic vulcanizate, nitrile rubber, and neoprene.

12. The liquid pump according to claim 1, wherein in addition to the elastic stretching device, the elastic returning device further comprises an elastic compression device provided independently of the elastic stretching device.

13. The liquid pump according to claim 1, wherein two portions of the elastic stretching device that are coupled to the fixing unit and the movable unit are greater in rigidity than between the two portions Part of the rigidity.

The liquid pump according to claim 1, wherein the elastic stretching device is detachably coupled between the fixing unit and the movable unit.

The liquid pump according to claim 1, wherein the elastic stretching device is permanently connected between the fixing unit and the movable unit.

16. The liquid pump according to claim 1, wherein the liquid pump is a liquid pump for a trigger sprayer.