JPH1157544A - Sprayer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the number of components by providing two upper and lower flanges to a piston and a liq. passage between the flanges, allowing a water stop rod extended downward from the flange to have a length for the rod to get out of the water stop hole of a cylinder until the piston reaches the upper dead center and making the lower flange softer than the upper flange. SOLUTION: Two upper and lower flanges 2b and 2c are provided to a piston 2, a horizontal hole 2e communicating with a vertical hole 2d is furnished between the flanges 2b and 2c, and a water stop rod 2f to be inserted into the water stop hole 1b of a cylinder 1 is provided below the flange 2c. The lower flange 2c is made thinner than the upper flange 2b and made flexible. When the piston 2 is positioned at the upper dead center, the rod 2f is slightly separated from the hole 1b. When a presser lid 4 is pushed down and then opened, a liq. is sucked into a compression space 7, the flange 2c is elastically deformed by the compressed liq. when the lid 4 is again pushed down, and the liq. is injected from the horizontal hole 2e, vertical hole 2d, passage 4a and atomizer port 4b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a sprayer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Nebulizers are widely used for easily spraying various liquids such as perfumes and chemicals into a mist.
Such a sprayer is composed of a container containing a liquid and a piston / cylinder mechanism for sucking the liquid, and further compresses the liquid sucked into the cylinder and sprays the liquid using the pressure. Here, in order to compress the liquid sucked into the cylinder, a valve for temporarily restricting the suction of the liquid from the container into the cylinder and preventing the liquid compressed in the cylinder from flowing back to the container. And a valve for preventing the liquid from escaping toward the spray port until the pressure of the liquid reaches a predetermined pressure.

An example of a sprayer having such a valve mechanism will be described with reference to FIG. The sprayer 100 includes a cylinder 101,
An upper piston 102, a lower piston 103, a housing 104, and a pressing lid 107 are provided. The cylinder 101 includes an upper piston 102 and a lower piston 103
And further, a spring 10
5 is accommodated. The upper piston 102 has a liquid passage 102a through which the compressed liquid passes and a valve stem 103a of the lower piston 103 inserted therein, and the liquid passage 102a
And a water stop flange 102c which is in close contact with the inner wall of the cylinder 101. A gap formed between the lower portion of the water stopping flange 102c and the cylinder 101 forms a compression chamber 106.

The lower piston 103 includes a valve stem 103a having a convex end, a tapered slit portion 103b connected to the lower end of the valve stem 103a, a mortar portion 103c located below the slit portion 103b, and a slit 103c. Part 103
b and ball bulb 103d housed in mortar 103c
And a suction passage portion 103e through which a liquid sucked from a lower container (not shown) passes. In addition, the valve stem 103a
Is in a state of loosely fitting with the valve hole 102b. Lower piston 1
03 has a shoulder 103f, in which a spring 105
Is in contact with the upper end of the spring 105, and is constantly urged upward by the spring 105. The suction passage 103e below the shoulder 103f passes through the inside of the spring 105. The housing 104 has a screw portion 104a on the inner wall, and a lower container (not shown) is screwed thereto.

Next, the operation of the sprayer 100 will be described. Pistons 102 and 103 in nebulizer 100
Moves up and down manually. That is, at the time of lowering, the pressing lid 107 is manually pushed down, whereby the upper piston 102 and the lower piston 103 are integrated,
It slides down along the inner wall of the cylinder 101 and a part of the inner wall of the housing 104. Note that this piston 102
And 103, the capacity in the compression chamber 106 is reduced and the spring 105 is compressed. On the other hand, when the hand is released from the pressing lid 105 at the time of lifting, the spring 105 is repelled, and the upper piston 102 and the lower piston 103 are automatically pushed up. At this time, as the water stopping flange 102c rises, the volume of the compression chamber 106 increases, and a negative pressure is generated. As a result, the valve ball 103d is pulled upward, and the liquid passes through the suction passage 103e from the lower container (not shown). The water is sucked into the mortar 103 c and further flows into the compression chamber 106. Pistons 102 and 10
When 3 reaches the top dead center, the compression chamber 106 is filled with liquid.

When the pressing lid 107 is pushed down again, the upper piston 102 and the lower piston 103 slide downward in the cylinder 101, and the water stop flange 102c starts compressing the liquid in the compression chamber 106. Further, as the hydraulic pressure rises, the valve ball 103d is pressed against the mortar portion 103c and closes the upper end opening of the suction passage 103e.
06 is prevented from flowing back into the suction passage 103e. As the pressing lid 105 is pressed down, the compression chamber 10
6 rises, the loosely fitted valve stem 103a and the valve hole 1
02b and a small gap with the liquid passage 102a. When the liquid reaches a sufficient liquid pressure, the front end of the valve rod 103a is momentarily pushed down by the liquid pressure, and the upper piston 102 and the lower piston 103 are momentarily separated against the spring 105, so that the liquid flows into the liquid passage 102a. And the nozzle portion 1 is urged by the pressure.
08.

[0007]

On the other hand, the structure of the piston and cylinder constituting such a valve mechanism is complicated, so that the number of components tends to increase, and at present, about 3 to 6 parts are required. is there. However, sprayers are used for a wide range of applications and are premised on being disposable, so that they are usually intended for mass production. For this reason, the unit price of the sprayer fluctuates remarkably depending on the number of components, and it is demanded to reduce the unit price as much as possible.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sprayer which has a very small number of components of a piston and a cylinder and can be manufactured at low cost.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a sprayer which draws and compresses a liquid in a container into the cylinder by the vertical movement of a piston which moves up and down in the cylinder by semi-manual operation and ejects the liquid. In the piston,
Two flanges which are circumferentially spaced apart vertically and slide airtightly on the cylinder inner wall according to the vertical movement, a liquid passage communicating between the peripheral surface of the piston and the spray port located between the flanges, A water stop rod portion extending below the flange portion, and the cylinder is provided with a water stop rod portion that is closely inserted and withdrawn, and a stop through which a liquid sucked from the container passes. A water hole portion, wherein the water stopping rod portion has a length to withdraw from the water stopping hole until the piston reaches the top dead center, and the lower flange portion is the upper flange A sprayer which is softer than the portion and elastically deforms to an extent that a gap is formed between the inner wall of the cylinder and a predetermined hydraulic pressure.

According to this means, since the piston is a single part, the number of parts is greatly reduced as compared with the conventional one. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the cost of manufacturing parts, improve the efficiency of assembly, and manufacture inexpensive sprayers. Moreover, the spraying ability of the liquid is not different from the conventional one. The operation of the liquid spray of the piston and cylinder of the present invention is as follows.

When the piston rises, a negative pressure is generated in the cylinder below the flange, and the water stop rod is pulled out of the water stop hole until the piston reaches the top dead center. Therefore, the liquid in the container is sucked into the cylinder through the water blocking hole, and more specifically, into a space surrounded by the lower flange and the inner periphery of the cylinder below the lower flange. This space is a compression chamber. On the other hand, when the piston descends, the liquid sucked into the cylinder is pressed and compressed by the lower flange.
Although the compressed liquid tends to flow back into the container, the water blocking rod is inserted into the water blocking hole as the piston descends and is sealed, so that the backflow is prevented. For this reason,
The liquid in the cylinder is compressed in proportion to the lowering of the piston, and the hydraulic pressure increases. When the hydraulic pressure reaches a predetermined value or more, the lower flange portion cannot withstand this, and is temporarily elastically deformed, thereby causing a gap with the inner wall of the cylinder. Although the compressed liquid passes through the gap, the upper flange does not deform due to the liquid pressure, so that no gap is formed with the inner wall of the cylinder. For this reason, the compressed liquid is pressure-fed to the spray port through the liquid passage, and is ejected. Immediately below the flange, the shape is restored, and by repeating the above-described steps, the liquid can be sprayed many times.

In the present invention, the material of the piston is
Resin, LDPE (low-density polyethylene) and the like are preferable in consideration of the elastic deformation of the flange. Further, although the piston is an integral body, its shape is not complicated, and therefore, the molding can be performed by injection molding, extrusion molding, or the like of the above-described material. Further, the outer shape of the piston and the shape of the inner periphery of the cylinder are not particularly limited, but are preferably circular for convenience of manufacture and the like. In order for the flange (collar) to slide airtightly on the inner wall of the cylinder, the outermost edge of the flange may be slightly larger than the inner circumference of the cylinder. Further, in order to make the lower flange portion soft, its thickness may be reduced or its strength may be adjusted by its shape or the like. The semi-manual operation is synonymous with the semi-manual operation described above, meaning that one of the vertical movements of the piston is performed manually and the other is performed automatically. This automation may use a spring or the like that constantly biases the piston in one direction. The fineness of the liquid to be sprayed can be adjusted depending on the shape of the jet port, and the liquid to be sprayed can be selected from an extremely fine liquid to a liquid which is almost liquid and is jetted.

[0013]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a structural sectional view of a sprayer A according to the present invention. Nebulizer A is
The basic structure of a cylinder 1, a piston 2, and a housing 3 is shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. FIG. 3 shows the piston 2
It is a perspective view of. The sprayer A further includes a pressing lid 4 fitted to the upper end of the piston 2 and a suction pipe 5 fitted to the lower end of the cylinder 1.

The features of each component will be described below. The cylinder 1 is a hollow cylinder penetrating in the up-down direction, and has a base portion 1a for accommodating the piston 2, and a water blocking hole portion 1b located below the base portion 1a and having a tapered open upper end. . In addition, this taper is for facilitating insertion of the water stop rod part 2f mentioned later. The inner diameter of the water blocking hole portion 1b is smaller than the inner diameter of the base portion 1a, and the lower end of the spring 6 abuts the step at the portion where the diameter changes. In addition, an air vent hole 1c penetrating from the inner wall to the outside is provided at an upper portion of the base portion 1a.

The piston 2 is provided with a support hole 3b of the housing 3.
A base portion 2a to be inserted into the base portion; flange portions 2b and 2c provided at a lower portion of the base portion 2a;
a, formed between the vertical hole 2d, which is open upward, and the flanges 2b, 2c, is communicated with the vertical hole 2d, penetrates up to the surface of the base 2a, and is below the flange 2c. And a water stop rod portion 2f that is inserted into and removed from the water stop hole portion 1b.

Each of the flanges 2b and 2c has a bowl shape opened upward, and is provided around the base 2a.
The diameter of each peripheral edge is very slightly larger than the inner diameter of the base 1a of the cylinder 1. Thereby, the collar 2
The peripheral edges of b and 2c are in close contact with the inner periphery of the base portion 1a, and the piston 2 is always in contact with the cylinder 1 only at the flange portions 2b and 2c. The lower flange 2c has a smaller thickness than the upper flange 2b. For this reason, the flange portion 2c has a lower strength than the flange portion 2b, and is easily elastically curved toward the axis. A space surrounded by the lower flange 2c and the inner wall of the cylinder 1 below the lower flange 2c forms a compression chamber 7.

The lower end surface of the water stop rod portion 2f is provided with a tapered hole which is opened downward. This is to improve the water stopping effect at the time of insertion into the water stopping hole 1b. Note that the piston 2 is an integrally molded resin product having these components. In the manufacture thereof, an injection molding method using a mold combining a vertical split die and a horizontal hole slide pin can be used. At this time, the split mold is to be divided at the position shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2B, and the upper flange 2b may be a so-called forced die. The horizontal hole slide pin is for forming the horizontal hole 2e.

The housing 3 has a screw (not shown) on the inner wall 3a, and a container (not shown) containing a liquid to be sprayed.
Is screwed and fixed here. The pressing lid 4 includes a passage 4a communicating with the open end of the vertical hole 2d, and a spray port 4b through which the compressed liquid is sprayed.

Next, the operation of the sprayer A will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 schematically shows the behavior of the piston 2 in each step. The numbers of each component in the figure are those in FIG.
4 (a) to 4 (c) show a liquid suction step, and FIG.
(D) to (f) show the compression / ejection process. FIG. 4A shows a completely initial state. The piston 2 is pushed up by the spring 6 and is located at the top dead center, and the water stop rod 2f is slightly separated from the water stop hole 1b.

Here, when the pressing lid 4 is pressed down,
The piston 2 whose upper end is fitted thereto moves below the cylinder 1 in response to the depression (FIG. 4B). At this time, the periphery of the flanges 2b, 2c slides in close contact with the inner wall of the base 1a, and the water blocking rod 2f enters the water blocking hole 1b. At the same time, the spring 6 is also compressed. Piston 2
When the pressure lid 4 is opened after the pressure is lowered to the bottom dead center, the piston 2 is urged by the spring 6 and rises. At this time, the compression chamber 7 becomes a negative pressure, and the water stop rod 2f rises. From the water blocking hole 1b. Therefore, the liquid is sucked into the compression chamber 7 from the lower container (not shown) through the suction pipe 5 and the water blocking hole 1b (FIG. 4C).

Next, the pressing lid 4 is pushed down again,
When the piston 2 is lowered, the volume of the compression chamber 7 is reduced to the flange 2c.
And the liquid is compressed. At this time, the compressed liquid tries to flow backward in the direction of the suction pipe 5,
The water stop rod 2f is inserted in close contact with the water stop hole 1b to prevent backflow (FIG. 4D). The volume in the compression chamber 7 is further reduced due to the pressing of the flange 2c due to the lowering of the piston 2, and the liquid is further compressed.

When the compressed liquid reaches a predetermined liquid pressure, the flange portion 2c cannot further compress the liquid, but the piston 2 keeps descending and is elastically deformed, and its peripheral edge warps upward. (FIG. 4E).
As a result, a gap is created between the flange 2c and the inner wall of the base 1a, and the compressed liquid enters the space between the flanges 2b and 2c through this gap (FIG. 4).
(E)). At this time, the periphery of the upper flange 2b is
Since it has higher strength, it does not bend and maintains a state of being in close contact with the inner periphery of the base portion 1a. For this reason, the liquid cannot advance above the flange portion 2b, and the liquid flows from the horizontal hole 2e to the vertical hole 2e.
d, further ascends the passage 4a, and finally ejects from the spray port 4b. Since the amount of liquid in the pressure chamber 7 is extremely reduced and the liquid pressure is reduced by the ejection of the liquid, the flange 2
c is restored to its original shape and comes into close contact with the inner wall of the base 1a.

When the pressing lid is opened again, the piston 6 is urged by the spring 6 and the piston 2 moves up, as in FIG.
The liquid is sucked (FIG. 4 (f)), and the next spraying step (FIG.
(C, d)).

As a structure for preventing the backflow of the liquid sucked into the cylinder 1, a structure shown in the sectional view of FIG. 5 (corresponding to claim 2) can be adopted. In this structure, a water stop rod portion 2f 'provided below the piston 2' is provided with a hole 2f ".
Is provided with a convex portion 1b 'in place of the water blocking hole portion 1b described above. The convex portion 1b 'has a through hole 1b "through which the liquid sucked into the cylinder 1' passes, and the convex portion 1b 'has a diameter which can be inserted and removed closely with the hole 2f" As shown in the figure, when the piston 2 'is located at the top dead center, the piston 2' has a length to withdraw from the hole 2f ". When the piston 2 'is lowered, the convex portion 1b' is formed. Hole 2
This prevents the liquid in the cylinder 1 'from flowing backward, and has the advantage that the overall length of the cylinder can be shortened structurally.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a structural cross-sectional view of a sprayer A.

FIG. 2A is a sectional view of a cylinder 1. FIG. FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the piston 2. (C) It is sectional drawing of the housing 3. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a piston 2. FIG.

4A is a diagram illustrating an initial state. FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating a state in which a piston 2 is lowered. FIG. 3C is a diagram illustrating a state in which the liquid is sucked. (D) is a diagram illustrating a state in which the liquid in the compression chamber 7 is compressed. (E) It is a figure showing the mode that the collar part 2c deformed. (F) It is a figure showing the aspect which sucked the liquid again.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of the liquid backflow prevention structure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a structural cross-sectional view of a conventional sprayer 100.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Atomizer 1 Cylinder 2 Piston 2b, 2c Collar 3 Housing 4 Pressing lid 5 Suction tube

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A nebulizer that semi-manually moves a piston up and down in a cylinder to suck and compress the liquid in the container into the cylinder and ejects the liquid in the cylinder, wherein the piston is vertically separated. Two flanges which are provided around the cylinder and which hermetically slide on the inner wall of the cylinder in accordance with the vertical movement; a liquid passage communicating between a peripheral surface of the piston and a spray port located between the flanges; A water stop rod portion extending downward, and the cylinder is integrally inserted with the water stop rod portion, and the water stop hole portion through which the liquid sucked from the container passes. The water blocking rod portion has a length to withdraw from the water blocking hole before the piston reaches the top dead center, and the lower flange portion is softer than the upper flange portion. So,
A sprayer characterized by being elastically deformed to an extent that a gap is formed between the inner wall of the cylinder and a predetermined hydraulic pressure. 2. The water stopping rod portion has a hole opened downward, and the cylinder is inserted and removed closely to the hole instead of the water stopping hole portion, and is sucked from the container. The spray according to claim 1, further comprising a protrusion having a through hole through which a liquid passes, wherein the protrusion has a length that allows the piston to withdraw from the hole before reaching the top dead center. .