JP7503979B2 - Pump dispenser and discharge container - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a pump dispenser and a dispensing container.

As a pump dispenser for discharging liquid from a container body, for example as described in Patent Document 1, there is known a pump dispenser that includes a dispenser body having a discharge tube member and a cylinder and attached integrally to the mouth of the container body, an operating lever supported so as to be swingable on the dispenser body, and a piston member that forms a pump chamber between the dispenser body and the cylinder and slides on the inner circumferential surface of the cylinder and the base end of the discharge tube member by being pushed down in the axial direction of the cylinder against a reaction force by the operating lever, thereby reducing the volume of the pump chamber.

With a discharge container that includes such a pump dispenser and a container body to which the pump dispenser is attached and that contains liquid, the volume of the pump chamber can be increased or decreased by repeatedly pressing down and releasing the operating lever, thereby discharging the liquid in the container body from the discharge tube member. In addition, since the discharge tube member is attached integrally to the container body, the liquid can be accurately discharged toward the desired location.

JP 2016-22466 A

However, in conventional pump dispensers with the above structure, a compression spring is disposed between the dispenser body and the piston member in the pump chamber to provide a reaction force when the piston member is pressed down. This causes problems such as rusting of the compression spring depending on the type of liquid when the compression spring is made of metal, and limitations on the type of liquid that can be stored in the container body depending on the material of the compression spring.

The present invention aims to solve these problems, and its objective is to provide a pump dispenser and a dispensing container in which the type of liquid that can be contained in the container body is not limited by the material of the compression spring.

The pump dispenser of the present invention is a pump dispenser for discharging liquid in a container body, comprising: a dispenser body having a discharge tubular member and a cylinder and integrally attached to an opening portion of the container body; an operating lever supported swingably on the dispenser body; a piston member which forms a pump chamber between the dispenser body and the cylinder and which slides on the inner circumferential surface of the cylinder and on the base end portion of the discharge tubular member by being pushed down in the axial direction of the cylinder against a reaction force by the operating lever, thereby reducing the volume of the pump chamber; The dispenser has a compression spring disposed between the dispenser body and the piston member , the piston member having a ring attached to the upper end of the compression spring, and a pair of push-down arms each extending in the vertical direction and having a hook on its inner surface for engaging the ring, and receiving a downward force from the operating lever, the pair of push-down arms being capable of swinging radially outward due to elastic deformation in a pre-assembly state in which the hook is not engaging the ring, but being prevented from swinging radially outward by the ring in a post-assembly state in which the hook engages the ring .

The discharge container of the present invention is characterized by comprising the pump dispenser and a container body to which the pump dispenser is attached and capable of containing liquid.

The present invention provides a pump dispenser and a dispenser container in which the type of liquid that can be stored in the container body is not limited by the material of the compression spring.

1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a discharge container according to an embodiment of the present invention in a state before an operating lever is pressed down. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the discharge container shown in FIG. 1 in a state where an operating lever is pressed down. FIG. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the piston rod shown in FIG. 1 . 4 is a partially sectional side view of the piston rod shown in FIG. 3 as viewed from a position shifted by 90 degrees in the circumferential direction. FIG. FIG. 4 is a top view of the piston rod shown in FIG. 3 . FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the piston rod shown in FIG. 3 .

The following describes an example of a pump dispenser 1 and a dispenser container 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

In this specification, the up-down direction means the direction along the central axis O of the cylinder 22, i.e., the axial direction of the cylinder 22, the up direction means the direction from the cylinder 22 toward the discharge tube member 21, the down direction means the opposite direction, the circumferential direction means the direction going around the central axis O, the radial direction means the direction along a line perpendicular to the central axis O, the front direction means the direction from the central axis O toward the discharge port 24 along a line perpendicular to the central axis O, the rear direction means the opposite direction, the left-right direction means the direction perpendicular to both the front-rear direction and the up-down direction, and the longitudinal section means a section including the central axis O.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pump dispenser 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention constitutes a dispensing container 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention together with a container body 3 to which the pump dispenser 1 is attached and which is capable of containing liquid L.

The container body 3 has a cylindrical mouth 3a, a body 3b connected to the lower end of the mouth 3a, and a bottom (not shown) connected to the lower end of the body 3b, forming a storage space S inside which liquid L is stored. Note that the mouth 3a may be in a tubular shape other than a cylindrical shape.

The liquid L contained in the container body 3 is, for example, a detergent, but is not limited thereto and may be liquid soap, shampoo, rinse, food, medicine, etc.

The pump dispenser 1 comprises a dispenser body 4, an operating lever 5, a piston member 6, a compression spring 7, an upstream valve 8, a downstream valve 9, and a stopper 10. The dispenser body 4 is composed of a cylinder member 11, a suction pipe 12, a cap 13, a housing 14, an intermediate nozzle member 15, a tip nozzle member 16, and a packing 17. The piston member 6 is composed of a piston 18, a piston rod 19, and a ring 20. In addition, in Figures 1 and 2, the shape of the piston rod 19 when viewed from a position shifted 90 degrees in the circumferential direction is shown by a two-dot chain line.

The cylinder member 11, suction pipe 12, cap 13, housing 14, intermediate nozzle member 15, tip nozzle member 16, piston 18, piston rod 19, ring 20, upstream valve 8, downstream valve 9 and stopper 10 are each integrally molded by injection molding of a synthetic resin material. The compression spring 7 is made of metal. It is also possible to use a compression spring 7 made of resin.

The dispenser body 4 has a discharge tube member 21 and a cylinder 22 and is attached integrally to the mouth portion 3a of the container body 3.

The cylinder 22 is provided in the cylinder member 11 and is composed of a peripheral wall 22a that is cylindrical and centered on the central axis O, and a bottom wall 22b that is connected to the lower end of the peripheral wall 22a. A pump chamber 23 is formed between the cylinder 22 and the piston 18 of the piston member 6. In other words, the pump chamber 23 is defined by the cylinder 22 and the piston 18.

The peripheral wall 22a is fixed to the upper end surface of the mouth portion 3a by the cap 13 via the extension portion 11a. The extension portion 11a is composed of an upper peripheral wall 11b that extends upward from the upper end of the peripheral wall 22a and has a cylindrical shape coaxial with the central axis O, and a flange 11c that protrudes from the outer circumferential surface of the upper peripheral wall 11b. A gasket 17 is arranged on the lower surface of the flange 11c. The cap 13 has a cylindrical wall 13a that is attached to the outer circumferential surface of the mouth portion 3a via a threaded portion, and a top wall 13b that protrudes radially inward from the upper end of the cylindrical wall 13a. By attaching the cylindrical wall 13a to the mouth portion 3a, the flange 11c is sandwiched between the top wall 13b and the upper end surface of the mouth portion 3a, and thus the cylinder 22 is fixed to the mouth portion 3a. The cylinder 22 is arranged coaxially with the mouth portion 3a.

The bottom wall 22b of the cylinder 22 has an inlet 22c arranged coaxially with the central axis O. A suction pipe 12 is attached to the inlet 22c. The suction pipe 12 extends from the inlet 22c toward the bottom of the container body 3. An upstream valve 8 made of an elastic valve is also arranged at the inlet 22c. The upstream valve 8 functions as a check valve that allows the flow of liquid L from the storage space S toward the pump chamber 23, while preventing the flow of liquid L from the pump chamber 23 toward the storage space S.

A housing 14 is fixed to the upper peripheral wall 11b of the cylinder member 11. The housing 14 has a cylindrical base nozzle 14a arranged coaxially with the central axis O. The base end (lower end) of the intermediate nozzle member 15 is fixed to the tip end (upper end) of the base nozzle 14a, and the base end (lower end) of the tip nozzle member 16 is fixed to the tip end (upper end) of the intermediate nozzle member 15, and the base end nozzle 14a, intermediate nozzle member 15, and tip nozzle member 16 form a discharge tube member 21. The discharge tube member 21 is approximately L-shaped with a bent portion in the middle of the length direction, and the bent portion is provided in the intermediate nozzle member 15. The tip (upper end) of the discharge tube member 21 forms a discharge port 24 for the liquid L.

Inside the base nozzle 14a, the downstream valve 9 configured as a moving valve is provided so that it can be seated on the valve seat 14b from above. In addition, in a portion of the inside of the base nozzle 14a located above the valve seat 14b, a plurality of vertical grooves 14c are arranged in a circumferential direction to form a gap between the outer circumferential surface of the downstream valve 9 and the portion located above the valve seat 14b. At the upper end of the plurality of vertical grooves 14c, a valve holding portion 15a formed by the base end surface of the intermediate nozzle member 15 having an inner diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the downstream valve 9 is provided. The downstream valve 9 has a cylindrical valve body 9a with a bottom, a lower column portion 9b that is columnar and protrudes downward from the bottom of the valve body 9a, and an upper column portion 9c that is columnar and protrudes upward from the bottom of the valve body 9a, and a plurality of notches 9d are arranged in a circumferential direction at the upper end of the valve body 9a. The downstream valve 9 can move vertically between the valve seat 14b and the valve stopper 15a, and by sitting on the valve seat 14b it blocks the flow of liquid L, while by abutting against the valve stopper 15a it allows the flow of liquid L through the multiple vertical grooves 14c and multiple notches 9d.

The downstream valve 9 therefore functions as a check valve that allows the flow of liquid L from the pump chamber 23 toward the discharge port 24, while blocking the flow of liquid L from the discharge port 24 toward the pump chamber 23. The downstream valve 9 also has a suck-back function that draws liquid L from the discharge port 24 into the inside of the discharge tube member 21 by moving downward after discharging the liquid L, thereby suppressing dripping.

The housing 14 also has a cover 14d that covers the discharge tube member 21 from the front and left and right directions while exposing the discharge port 24. The cover 14d is connected to a fitting and fixing part 14e that is connected at the upper end and forms a double cylinder. The fitting and fixing part 14e is fixed to the upper end of the upper peripheral wall 11b of the cylinder member 11 by fitting. The front part of the inner peripheral surface of the fitting and fixing part 14e and the front part of the outer peripheral surface of the vertical middle part of the base end nozzle 14a are connected by an r that extends in the front-to-rear direction. The rear part of the inner peripheral surface of the fitting and fixing part 14e and the rear part of the outer peripheral surface of the vertical middle part of the base end nozzle 14a are connected by a rear wall 14g that extends in the front-to-rear direction.

The housing 14 also has a handle 14h connected to the rear end of the cover 14d. The handle 14h has a generally inverted L shape and is composed of a front-to-rear extending portion 14i that extends rearward from the rear end of the cover 14d, and a vertical extending portion 14j that extends downward from the rear end of the front-to-rear extending portion 14i.

The operating lever 5 is a member supported by the dispenser body 4 so as to be able to swing. The operating lever 5 covers the discharge tube member 21 from above, and the front end of the operating lever 5 is attached to the front end of the cover 14d of the housing 14 so as to be able to swing about a swing axis X extending in the left-right direction. The operating lever 5 is located directly above the handle 14h, and has a push-down operation part 5a at its rear end which is pushed down by the thumb. A pair of push-down ribs 5b are provided side by side in the left-right direction on the underside of the operating lever 5 at the midpoint in the front-rear direction. Each push-down rib 5b is in the shape of a plate perpendicular to the left-right direction, and has an inverted U-shaped cutout part 5c at its lower end.

The piston member 6 forms a pump chamber 23 between itself and the cylinder 22, and slides on the inner surface of the cylinder 22 and on the base end of the discharge tube member 21 when pushed down in the axial direction of the cylinder 22 against the reaction force by the operating lever 5, thereby reducing the volume of the pump chamber 23.

The piston 18 of the piston member 6 has a cylindrical outer sliding part 18a that slides up and down on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 22 while in close contact with the inner peripheral surface, a cylindrical inner sliding part 18b that slides up and down on the inner peripheral surface of the base end nozzle 14a while in close contact with the inner peripheral surface, a partition wall 18c that closes the gap between the outer sliding part 18a and the inner sliding part 18b, a topped cylindrical abutment wall 18d that is connected to the inner peripheral surface of the inner sliding part 18b and is coaxial with the central axis O, and a fitting cylinder 18e that protrudes upward from the partition wall 18c and is coaxial with the central axis O.

The abutment wall 18d has the function of blocking the hanging tube 14k and stopping the rise of the piston 18 by abutting the upper end of the abutment wall 18d against the lower end of the hanging tube 14k that hangs down from the lower end of the valve seat 14b. The lower end of the abutment wall 18d has multiple (four) through holes 18f arranged in the circumferential direction. The number of through holes 18f can be changed as appropriate.

The lower cylinder 19a, which constitutes the lower end of the piston rod 19, is fixed to the fitting cylinder 18e by fitting. The lower cylinder 19a of the piston rod 19 is arranged coaxially with the central axis O. The upper end of the lower cylinder 19a is connected to the lower ends of a pair of push-down arms 19b arranged side by side in the left-right direction.

The lower cylinder 19a is located below the front wall 14f and rear wall 14g even when the piston member 6 is at the upper stroke end position. The front wall 14f and rear wall 14g are also located between the pair of push-down arms 19b in the circumferential direction.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 6, each push-down arm 19b has a hook 19c that extends in the vertical direction and engages the ring 20, and can receive a push-down force from the operating lever 5. The hook 19c is provided on the inner peripheral surface of each push-down arm 19b at the vertical middle portion. As shown in Fig. 1, the ring 20 has a cylindrical outer tube 20a arranged coaxially with the central axis O and an annular upper wall 20b that protrudes radially inward from the upper end of the outer tube 20a, and is attached by fitting to the upper end of the coil-shaped compression spring 7 arranged coaxially with the central axis O. The lower end of the compression spring 7 is supported from below by the front wall 14f and the rear wall 14g, and is supported from the radially inner side by the outer peripheral surface of the base end nozzle 14a. Each hook 19c has a hook shape that engages the ring 20 by hooking onto the upper end surface and inner peripheral surface of the upper wall 20b of the ring 20. That is, as shown in Figures 3 to 6, each hook 19c is composed of a top wall 19f that extends inward in the radial direction from the inner peripheral surface of an arm body 19e that extends vertically and has a receiving portion 19d (described later) at its upper end, and an inner peripheral wall 19g that hangs down from the inner peripheral edge of the top wall 19f. Between the upper surface of the top wall 19f and the inner peripheral surface of the arm body 19e, multiple (five) vertical reinforcing ribs 19h are provided at intervals in the circumferential direction to bridge them. The number, shape, and arrangement of the reinforcing ribs 19h can be changed as appropriate. It is also possible to adopt a configuration without reinforcing ribs 19h.

Each push-down arm 19b can swing radially around the upper end of the lower tube 19a due to elastic deformation before assembly when the hook 19c does not engage the ring 20. However, after assembly when the hook 19c engages the ring 20 as shown in FIG. 1, the ring 20 prevents the push-down arm 19b from swinging radially.

As shown in Figures 1 to 6, a cylindrical receiver 19d that protrudes radially is provided on the outer peripheral surface at the upper end of each push-down arm 19b. Each receiver 19d is received in a notch 5c in the push-down rib 5b of the operating lever 5, and can receive a downward force from the push-down rib 5b when the operating lever 5 is pushed down.

As shown in FIG. 1, a stopper 10 is disposed between the operating lever 5 and the dispenser body 4, preventing the operating lever 5 from swinging downward by being sandwiched between them. The stopper 10 has a generally C-shaped mounting part 10a with an open front, which is disposed coaxially with the central axis O, and a knob part 10b which extends rearward from the rear end of the mounting part 10a. The mounting part 10a is removably attached to the outer circumferential surfaces of a pair of push-down arms 19b by elastic deformation.

Therefore, when the stopper 10 is removed from the state shown in FIG. 1 by pinching the knob 10b of the stopper 10, and the handle 14h is grasped and the push-down operation part 5a of the operation lever 5 is pushed down with the thumb, as shown in FIG. 2, the piston member 6 is pushed down by the operation lever 5 against the reaction force of the compression spring 7, thereby decreasing the volume of the pump chamber 23, and the liquid L in the pump chamber 23 can be discharged from the discharge port 24 of the discharge tube member 21. At that time, since the discharge tube member 21 is integrally attached to the container body 3 (i.e., it does not move relative to the container body 3), the liquid L can be accurately discharged toward the targeted location. Furthermore, when the push-down operation is released, the piston member 6 and the operation lever 5 are returned upward by the reaction force of the compression spring 7, thereby increasing the volume of the pump chamber 23, and the liquid L in the storage space S can be sucked up into the pump chamber 23.

In this manner, in this embodiment, the compression spring 7 for applying a reaction force when the piston member 6 is pressed down is disposed between the dispenser body 4 and the piston member 6 outside the flow path of the liquid L formed inside the suction pipe 12, the pump chamber 23, and the inside of the discharge tube member 21 (i.e., inside the base nozzle 14a, inside the intermediate nozzle member 15, and inside the tip nozzle member 16). Therefore, the type of liquid L that can be contained in the container body 3 is not limited by the material of the compression spring 7.

In addition, in this embodiment, the piston member 6 is equipped with a ring 20 attached to the upper end of the compression spring 7, and a push-down arm 19b that extends in the vertical direction, has a hook 19c that engages the ring 20, and receives a push-down force from the operating lever 5. Therefore, the compression spring 7 can be easily and reliably positioned between the dispenser body 4 and the piston member 6 outside the flow path of the liquid L.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Therefore, the pump dispenser 1 and the dispensing container 2 of the above embodiment can be modified in various ways, for example as described below.

The pump dispenser 1 is a pump dispenser 1 for discharging the liquid L in the container body 3, and various modifications are possible as long as it includes the dispenser body 4, the operating lever 5, the piston member 6, and the compression spring 7. The dispenser body 4 has a discharge tube member 21 and a cylinder 22, and can be modified in various ways as long as it is attached integrally to the mouth portion 3a of the container body 3. The operating lever 5 can be modified in various ways as long as it is supported by the dispenser body 4 so as to be swingable. The piston member 6 forms a pump chamber 23 between itself and the cylinder 22, and slides on the inner surface of the cylinder 22 and on the base end of the discharge tube member 21 by being pushed down in the axial direction of the cylinder 22 against the reaction force by the operating lever 5, thereby reducing the volume of the pump chamber 23, and various modifications are possible. The compression spring 7 can be modified in various ways as long as it is disposed between the dispenser body 4 and the piston member 6 outside the flow path of the liquid L to provide the reaction force.

However, it is preferable that the piston member 6 is provided with a ring 20 attached to the upper end of the compression spring 7, a push-down arm 19b that extends vertically, has a hook 19c that engages the ring 20, and receives a downward force from the operating lever 5.

The discharge container 2 can be modified in various ways as long as it comprises a pump dispenser 1 and a container body 3 to which the pump dispenser 1 is attached and capable of containing the liquid L.

In the above embodiment, the dispenser body 4 is composed of a cylinder member 11, a suction pipe 12, a cap 13, a housing 14, an intermediate nozzle member 15, a tip nozzle member 16, and a packing 17, but is not limited to this. Also, in the above embodiment, the piston member 6 is composed of a piston 18, a piston rod 19, and a ring 20, but is not limited to this.

In the above embodiment, the upstream valve 8 is configured as an elastic valve, but this is not limited to this. Also, in the above embodiment, the downstream valve 9 is configured as a moving valve, but this is not limited to this.

In the above embodiment, the handle 14h is provided on the dispenser body 4, but this is not limited thereto, and it may be formed integrally with the barrel 3b of the container body 3, for example.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Pump dispenser 2 Discharge container 3 Container body 3a Mouth 3b Body 4 Dispenser body 5 Operation lever 5a Push-down operation portion 5b Push-down rib 5c Notch portion 6 Piston member 7 Compression spring 8 Upstream valve 9 Downstream valve 9a Valve body 9b Lower column portion 9c Upper column portion 9d Notch portion 10 Stopper 10a Mounting portion 10b Knob portion 11 Cylinder member 11a Extension portion 11b Upper peripheral wall 11c Flange 12 Suction pipe 13 Cap 13a Cylindrical wall 13b Top wall 14 Housing 14a Base end nozzle 14b Valve seat 14c Vertical groove 14d Cover 14e Fitting and fixing portion 14f Front wall 14g Rear wall 14h Handle 14i Forward and backward extending portion 14j Vertically extending portion 14k, hanging cylinder 15, intermediate nozzle member 15a, valve holding portion 16, tip nozzle member 17, packing 18, piston 18a, outer sliding portion 18b, inner sliding portion 18c, partition wall 18d, abutment wall 18e, fitting cylinder 18f, through hole 19, piston rod 19a, lower cylinder 19b, push-down arm 19c, hook 19d, receiving portion 19e, arm body 19f, top wall 19g, inner circumferential wall 19h, reinforcing rib 20, ring 20a, outer cylinder 20b, upper wall 21, discharge cylinder member 22, cylinder 22a, peripheral wall 22b, bottom wall 22c, inlet 23, pump chamber 24, discharge port L, liquid O, central axis S, storage space X, oscillation axis

Claims (2)

A pump dispenser for dispensing liquid from a container body, comprising:
a dispenser body having a discharge tube member and a cylinder and integrally attached to a mouth portion of the container body;
an operating lever supported by the dispenser body so as to be capable of swinging;
a piston member which defines a pump chamber between itself and the cylinder, and which slides on an inner circumferential surface of the cylinder and on a base end portion of the discharge tube member when pushed down in the axial direction of the cylinder against a reaction force by the operating lever, thereby reducing a volume of the pump chamber;
a compression spring disposed between the dispenser body and the piston member outside the liquid flow path for providing the reaction force ;
a pair of push-down arms each extending in the vertical direction and having a hook on its inner circumferential surface for engaging the ring, the pair of push-down arms being capable of swinging radially outward due to elastic deformation in a pre-assembly state in which the hook does not engage the ring, but in a post-assembly state in which the hook engages the ring, the pair of push-down arms being prevented from swinging radially outward by the ring . A dispensing container comprising: the pump dispenser according to claim 1 ; and a container body to which the pump dispenser is attached and capable of containing a liquid.

Images