Pump unit, and dental device comprising the same

Abstract

To provide a technique that prevents an internal pressure from becoming greater than a predetermined pressure, and prevents a dental device from failing.SOLUTION: A pump unit comprises a tube pump, and a relief valve 50. The relief valve 50 includes a first connection port 51a, a second connection port 51b, a third connection port 51c, a fourth connection port 51d, a flow pipeline 53, and a switching valve 54. The switching valve 54 is provided in the flow pipeline 53, and is biased to a first position by an elastic body 55a. When a pressure in the flow pipeline 53 becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined pressure, the switching valve 54 moves to a second position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a pump unit and a dental appliance including the same. [Background technology]

[0002] Some dental devices spray cleansing water during treatment. For example, Patent Document 1 (JP Patent Publication No. 8-336546) discloses a medical laser treatment device that sprays a mixture of atomized liquid and gas onto the area to be irradiated with laser light. By spraying a mixture of atomized liquid and gas onto the treatment area, this medical laser treatment device not only cools the area to be irradiated with laser light and removes foreign matter near the area to be irradiated with laser light, but also forms a thin film of water on the area to be irradiated with laser light, improving the absorption efficiency of the laser light. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-336546 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In devices that spray cleansing water onto an affected area, the cleansing water outlet may become clogged when the cleansing water outlet comes into contact with the affected area, causing foreign matter to adhere thereto or salts contained in the cleansing water to precipitate. If the cleansing water outlet becomes clogged, the internal pressure of the tube inside the pump increases, which may cause the tube to break and the cleansing water to leak into the device. If the inside of the device becomes wet with water, it may lead to device malfunction, so even if the cleansing water outlet becomes clogged, it is necessary to prevent the tube from breaking and the water inside the tube from leaking into the device. In this regard, the medical laser treatment device disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-336546) does not consider any measures to be taken when the internal pressure of the tube inside the pump increases.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a technology that prevents the internal pressure in a pump unit equipped in a dental device from exceeding a predetermined pressure, thereby preventing the dental device from breaking down. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A pump unit according to the present disclosure is provided in a dental device. The pump unit includes a tube pump including a suction port for sucking in a medium and a discharge port for discharging the medium, and a relief valve connected to the suction port and the discharge port. The relief valve includes a first connection port, a second connection port, a third connection port, a fourth connection port, a flow line, and a switching valve. The first connection port is connected to the suction port. The second connection port is connected to the discharge port. The third connection port is connected to a supply line that supplies a medium to the tube pump. The fourth connection port is connected to a discharge line that discharges the medium from the tube pump. The flow line is connected to the first connection port, the second connection port, the third connection port, and the fourth connection port. The switching valve is provided in the flow line and is biased to a first position by an elastic body. The switching valve moves to a second position when the pressure in the flow line reaches or exceeds a predetermined pressure. When the switching valve is in the first position, the medium introduced from the third connection port is sucked by the tube pump from the first connection port, and the medium introduced from the second connection port is discharged from the fourth connection port. When the switching valve is in the second position, the introduction of the medium from the third connection port is stopped, and the medium introduced from the second connection port is returned to the first connection port. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] The pump unit of the present disclosure can prevent the internal pressure from exceeding a predetermined pressure, thereby preventing breakdown of the dental device. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of a laser treatment device according to an embodiment; [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of a laser treatment device according to an embodiment; [Figure 3] 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating an external appearance of a pump unit according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a configuration of a tube pump according to an embodiment. [Figure 5] 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a configuration of a relief valve according to an embodiment. [Figure 6] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating changes in flow paths depending on the position of a switching valve according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

[0010] [Configuration of laser treatment device] Dental devices that spray cleansing water include laser treatment devices, ultrasonic scalers, etc. The dental device according to the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned devices, but in the description of this embodiment, a laser treatment device that irradiates a laser to an affected area to perform treatment is used.

[0011] In laser treatment devices, cleaning water is injected into the area where the laser light is irradiated in synchronization with the irradiation of the laser light in order to cool and clean the affected area and improve the efficiency of laser light absorption. Many laser treatment devices are portable, and in such cases, they are equipped with a tank for storing the cleaning water and a tube pump for pumping the cleaning water from the tank. The cleaning water outlet is located near the area where the laser light is emitted, and can become clogged with foreign matter that comes into contact with and adheres to the affected area or with crystals that precipitate from salts contained in the cleaning water.

[0012] If the outlet becomes clogged, the internal pressure of the tube inside the pump increases, which may cause the tube to break. If cleaning water leaks into the device from the broken tube, the device may malfunction. Therefore, if the outlet becomes clogged, it is desirable for the user to stop the pump, but the user, concentrating on treatment, may not notice that the outlet is clogged. Alternatively, it is possible to prevent tube breakage by providing a sensor to measure the internal pressure of the tube and equipping the laser treatment device with a mechanism to stop the pump when the pressure exceeds a predetermined level. However, sensors are generally expensive, which increases the manufacturing cost of the laser treatment device.

[0013] Therefore, the pump unit 100 included in the laser treatment device 1 according to this embodiment is provided with a relief valve that switches the position of a switching valve when the internal pressure of the tube reaches a set pressure, and returns cleansing water discharged from the pump to the suction port to lower the internal pressure. The relief valve according to this embodiment is not configured to open the valve to lower the pressure of the tube when the internal pressure of the tube reaches a set pressure and discharge cleansing water to the outside of the relief valve. The relief valve according to this embodiment utilizes the structure of a tube pump to return cleansing water discharged from the pump to the suction port, preventing the pressure from exceeding the set pressure. This prevents the pump unit 100 from damaging the tube due to an increase in internal pressure, which could result in leaked water causing device malfunction, and also eliminates the need to discharge cleansing water using a relief valve to keep the pressure below the set pressure. In particular, in portable devices, it is not always possible to drain the cleansing water discharged by the relief valve to an external drain port, and providing a tank to store the discharged cleansing water would result in the device itself becoming larger.

[0014] In this embodiment, a laser treatment device is described that, when the discharge port of the handpiece is clogged and the pressure inside the tube of the pump increases, can suppress the increase in the pressure inside the pump and prevent water from leaking into the device by returning the medium discharged from the pump to the suction port of the pump without stopping the pump using a pressure sensor, etc. Specifically, the configuration of the laser treatment device according to this embodiment is described below using Figures 1 to 5.

[0015] The main configuration of a laser treatment device 1 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The laser treatment device 1 according to the embodiment is used, for example, in dental treatment to treat teeth in a patient's oral cavity. The laser treatment device 1 according to the embodiment can also be applied in fields other than dentistry, such as orthopedics, otolaryngology, surgery, urology, dermatology, and ophthalmology.

[0016] 1 and 2 are diagrams showing the appearance of a laser treatment device 1 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the laser treatment device 1 includes a housing 10. The housing 10 is formed as a rectangular parallelepiped or approximately rectangular parallelepiped including a top surface 10A, a bottom surface 10B, a front surface 10C, a rear surface 10D, a right side surface 10E, and a left side surface 10F, and houses various components of the laser treatment device 1. In the following, the laser treatment device 1 will be described assuming that, when the laser treatment device 1 is installed on an installation surface, an axis along the horizontal direction of the housing 10 (the direction of the short sides of the front surface 10C and the rear surface 10D) is set as the X-axis, an axis along the vertical direction of the housing 10 (the direction of the short sides of the right side surface 10E and the left side surface 10F) is set as the Y-axis, and an axis along the height direction of the housing 10 (the direction of the long sides of the front surface 10C, the rear surface 10D, the right side surface 10E, and the left side surface 10F) is set as the Z-axis.

[0017] The laser treatment device 1 comprises a connection portion 11 , a waveguide 12 , a handpiece 13 , a holding portion 14 , a connection portion 15 , at least one leg portion 17 , a handle 18 , a display 19 , and a tray 20 .

[0018] The connection part 11 is provided on the upper surface 10A of the housing 10 and has a pole along which the waveguide 12 is aligned. The connection part 11 is configured so that the user can move the flexible waveguide 12 to a desired position by aligning the flexible waveguide 12 along the pole, and changes in accordance with the movement of the waveguide 12. The waveguide 12 extends flexibly and transmits the laser light transmitted from inside the housing 10 to the handpiece 13. The handpiece 13 emits the laser light transmitted via the waveguide 12 to the outside.

[0019] Holding unit 14 is provided on top surface 10A of housing 10 and is rotatable along the XY plane on top surface 10A. Holding unit 14 holds handpiece 13 at its tip, thereby fixing handpiece 13 to housing 10.

[0020] Connection portion 15 is provided on top surface 10A of housing 10 and is connected to top surface 10A of waveguide 12. Connection portion 15 connects a laser device provided inside housing 10 to waveguide 12, and also connects a water channel (not shown) provided along waveguide 12 to a tube pump (see FIG. 3) provided inside housing 10. The water channel supplies cleaning water supplied from the tube pump provided inside housing 10 to handpiece 13. Handpiece 13 emits the cleaning water supplied via the water channel to the outside.

[0021] At least one leg 17 is provided on the bottom surface 10B of the housing 10, creating a gap between the bottom surface 10B and the installation surface on which the housing 10 is placed. Specifically, each of the at least one leg 17 includes at least one wheel 170. The housing 10 is in contact with the installation surface via the at least one wheel 170 provided on the bottom surface 10B, and the at least one wheel 170 creates a gap between the bottom surface 10B and the installation surface.

[0022] In the laser treatment device 1 according to the embodiment, four legs 17A, 17B, 17C, and 17D are provided on the bottom surface 10B of the housing 10. Each of the four legs 17A, 17B, 17C, and 17D includes four wheels 170A, 170B, 170C, and 170D. Hereinafter, the four legs 17A, 17B, 17C, and 17D will be collectively referred to simply as "legs 17." The four wheels 170A, 170B, 170C, and 170D will be collectively referred to simply as "wheels 170." The wheels 170 rotate on the installation surface of the laser treatment device 1, allowing the laser treatment device 1 to move on the installation surface. This allows, for example, a user to move the laser treatment device 1 to a location where a patient is present when using the laser treatment device 1, and to move the laser treatment device 1 to a storage location when not using the laser treatment device 1. The at least one leg 17 may not include the at least one wheel 170, but may simply fix the housing 10 to the installation surface.

[0023] The handle 18 is a part that the user holds when moving the laser treatment device 1. The display 19 displays various information related to the treatment of a patient using the laser treatment device 1. The tray 20 holds treatment instruments and the like that are required when the user treats a patient using the laser treatment device 1.

[0024] Although not shown, the laser treatment device 1 also includes a laser device including a resonator (oscillator) for generating laser light. The resonator includes a laser rod and a flash lamp. The laser rod is, for example, a columnar solid-state laser rod formed from a YAG (Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) crystal doped with erbium ions (Er). The laser rod is excited by irradiation with excitation light generated from the flash lamp, and emits laser light by amplifying spontaneously emitted light.

[0025] The resonator is not limited to an Er:YAG laser, but may be another YAG laser, such as an Nd:YAG laser using a YAG crystal doped with neodymium (Nd) luminescent atoms. Also, the resonator is not limited to a YAG laser, but may be another laser device, such as a gas laser such as a CO laser, or a liquid laser.

[0026] According to the laser treatment device 1 configured as described above, the user can extend the waveguide 12 while holding the handpiece 13, thereby positioning the tip of the handpiece 13 near the affected area of ​​the patient, and directing the laser light and cleansing water emitted from the tip of the handpiece 13 onto the affected area. This allows the user to treat the affected area using the laser light emitted by the laser treatment device 1.

[0027] [Pump unit configuration] The main configuration of the pump unit 100 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the pump unit 100 according to the embodiment. The pump unit 100 is housed in the housing 10 of the laser treatment device 1, and supplies cleaning water to the handpiece 13. As shown in Fig. 3, the pump unit 100 includes a tube pump 40, a relief valve 50, and an air damper 60.

[0028] The tube pump 40 includes a suction port 41a for sucking in the medium and a discharge port 41b for discharging the medium.

[0029] The suction port 41a is connected to the sterile water bottle 30 via a relief valve 50. When the tube pump 40 applies suction, the cleaning water in the sterile water bottle 30 is pumped up through the supply pipe 35. The sterile water bottle 30 and the supply pipe 35 are housed in the housing 10.

[0030] The outlet 41b discharges the cleansing water pumped up by the suction port 41a. The discharged cleansing water passes from the relief valve 50 through the discharge pipe 65 and passes through the solenoid valve 70. The solenoid valve 70 opens at the timing when the laser light is irradiated, allowing the cleansing water to pass. After passing through the solenoid valve 70, the cleansing water passes through a water passage provided along the waveguide 12 and is injected into the patient's oral cavity from the handpiece 13. The discharge pipe 65 and the solenoid valve 70 are housed in the housing 10. The tube pump 40 is operated and the solenoid valve 70 is opened at the timing when the laser light is irradiated. As a result, the cleansing water is injected in synchronization with the irradiation of the laser light.

[0031] The relief valve 50 is provided with four connection ports 51a, 51b, 51c, and 51d. The connection port 51a is connected to the suction port 41a of the tube pump 40. The connection port 51b is connected to the discharge port 41b of the tube pump 40. The connection port 51c is connected to the supply pipe 35. The connection port 51d is connected to the discharge pipe 65.

[0032] The air damper 60 is connected to the relief valve 50 and suppresses pulsation of the flush water discharged from the connection port 51d.

[0033] [Tube pump configuration] The internal configuration of a tube pump 40 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. The tube pump 40 includes a rotor 42, a rotary shaft 43, a roller 44, and a tube 45 having an intake port 41a and an exhaust port 41b at both ends.

[0034] Rotating body 42 is attached so as to be rotatable around rotating shaft 43. Roller 44 is attached to the tip of rotating body 42. Tube 45 is attached so as to wrap around the periphery of rotating body 42. The part of tube 45 in contact with roller 44 is sandwiched between roller 44 and the outer wall and crushed.

[0035] When power is supplied, the rotor 42 rotates counterclockwise around the rotary shaft 43. The roller 44 rotates while squeezing the tube 45, so that when the roller 44 and the tube 45 separate, negative pressure is generated, allowing cleaning water to be sucked in through the suction port 41a. The sucked in cleaning water is discharged through the discharge port 41b as the roller rotates. Through a series of operations, the tube pump 40 discharges the medium sucked in through the suction port 41a through the discharge port 41b.

[0036] [Relief valve configuration] The internal structure of the relief valve 50 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0037] The relief valve 50 has a connection port 52, a flow conduit 53, a switching valve 54, and a fastener 55 in addition to the four connection ports 51a, 51b, 51c, and 51d.

[0038] The connection port 52 is a connection port for connecting the air damper 60 and the flow pipe 53 . The flow conduit 53 is a conduit provided inside the relief valve 50, and is connected to the four connection ports 51a, 51b, 51c, and 51d.

[0039] Switching valve 54 moves within flow conduit 53 in response to pressure. Flow path 54a and flow path 54b are formed inside switching valve 54. Flow path 54a allows flush water that has flowed into relief valve 50 from connection port 51c to flow toward connection port 51a. Flow path 54b allows flush water that has flowed into relief valve 50 from connection port 51b to flow toward connection port 51a. The position of switching valve 54 will be described later.

[0040] The fastener 55 has an elastic body 55a therein. The fastener 55 seals one end of the flow conduit 53. The elastic body 55a biases the switching valve 54 so that it does not move until the flow conduit 53 reaches a predetermined pressure.

[0041] The air damper 60 is connected to the flow path 53 via the connection port 52. An air chamber is provided inside the air damper 60. The air damper 60 suppresses pulsation. In the tube pump 40, the tube 45 is compressed until just before the rollers 44 separate, but as the rollers 44 separate, the tube 45 begins to open. When the tube 45 opens, suction occurs, and a force acts on the cleaning water being delivered in the opposite direction to the discharge side, causing pulsation. The air inside the air damper 60 receives the force in the opposite direction to the discharge side, thereby suppressing pulsation.

[0042] [Switch valve position] Next, we will explain the two positions that the switching valve 54 can take and the paths through which the flush water flows when the switching valve 54 is in each position. Figure 6 is a diagram for explaining the positions of the switching valve 54 and the paths through which the flush water flows.

[0043] When the pressure in the flow conduit 53 is lower than a predetermined pressure, the selector valve 54 is located in the first position. Therefore, when there is no blockage in the portion of the handpiece 13 from which the cleansing water is discharged, the cleansing water flows from the connection port 51c into the relief valve 50 as shown by arrow F1 and passes through the flow path 54a of the selector valve 54. The cleansing water that has passed through the flow path 54a is sucked into the tube pump 40 from the connection port 51a as shown by arrow F2 and flows into the relief valve 50 from the connection port 51b as shown by arrow F3. The cleansing water that has flowed in from the connection port 51b is sent out to the handpiece 13 from the connection port 51d as shown by arrow F4. When the selector valve 54 is located in the first position, the cleansing water cannot pass through the flow conduit 53 because the flow conduit 53 is blocked midway by the selector valve 54.

[0044] The predetermined pressure is, for example, the withstand pressure of the tube pump 40. If excessive pressure is applied to the tube pump 40, the tube 45 may burst. Therefore, the pressure applied to the tube pump 40 needs to be lower than the pressure at which the tube 45 bursts. Specifically, the predetermined pressure is 0.10 MPa to 0.30 MPa.

[0045] If the cleaning water outlet of the handpiece 13 becomes clogged, cleaning water cannot be discharged from the connection port 51d. As the tube pump 40 continues to pump cleaning water, the pressure in the flow path 53 increases. When the pressure in the flow path 53 exceeds a predetermined pressure, the switching valve 54 pushes the elastic body 55a and moves toward the fastener 55. As a result, when the pressure in the flow path 53 exceeds the predetermined pressure, the switching valve 54 is positioned in the second position. In the second position, the switching valve 54 closes the connection port 51c, preventing cleaning water from flowing in from the connection port 51c. Furthermore, when the switching valve 54 is in the second position, cleaning water flowing into the flow path 53 from the connection port 51b can pass through the flow path 54b of the switching valve 54, as indicated by arrow F5. The cleaning water that passes through the flow path 54b flows into the tube pump 40 from the connection port 51a. That is, when the switching valve 54 is in the second position, the cleaning water discharged from the tube pump 40 passes through the flow line 53 and flows back into the tube pump 40. Therefore, even if the tube pump 40 continues to operate, the pressure inside the flow line 53 does not increase.

[0046] Furthermore, when the cleaning water outlet of handpiece 13 is cleared, cleaning water is discharged from connection port 51d, and the pressure in flow conduit 53 decreases. When the pressure in flow conduit 53 falls below a predetermined pressure, switching valve 54 returns to the first position due to the elastic force received from elastic body 55a. In this way, the change in position of switching valve 54 is reversible, and switching valve 54 can move according to the magnitude of the pressure in flow conduit 53.

[0047] According to the pump unit 100 of this embodiment, even when the outlet of the handpiece 13 becomes clogged and the medium cannot be discharged, the switching valve 54 moves, preventing excessive pressure while the tube pump 40 continues to operate. Since the medium does not leak out of the pump unit 100, it is possible to prevent a device equipped with the pump unit 100 from breaking down due to water leakage. Furthermore, the manufacturing costs of the device can be reduced compared to a mechanism that controls the operation of the tube pump 40 using a pressure sensor.

[0048] In this embodiment, the air damper 60 is connected to the relief valve 50. However, as long as the air damper 60 can suppress pulsation of the medium discharged from the tube pump 40, it does not have to be directly connected to the relief valve 50. For example, it may be provided in the discharge port 41b or the discharge pipe 65. However, connecting the air damper 60 to the relief valve 50 not only suppresses pulsation generated by the tube pump 40, but also makes it easier to inform the user of a clog, for example. Specifically, if the discharge port of the handpiece 13 is partially but not completely clogged due to a foreign object, a small amount of water is injected through the discharge port, but the pressure in the flow pipe 53 increases. In this case, the cleaning water compresses the air in the air damper 60 before the switching valve 54 moves. As a result, the air damper 60 is no longer able to suppress pulsation. Therefore, pulsation is observed in the cleaning water discharged from the discharge port of the handpiece 13. The user can recognize that a clog has occurred, even if only partially, in the handpiece 13 by looking at the pulsation of the cleaning water discharged from the handpiece 13. Furthermore, by connecting the air damper 60 to the relief valve 50, the number of required parts can be reduced compared to other connection modes, and manufacturing costs can be reduced.

[0049] Furthermore, the air damper 60 may be attached at any position on the housing of the relief valve 50 as long as it can be connected to a conduit through which the medium is discharged from the tube pump 40. Note that, when the relief valve 50 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, the connection ports 51a and 51b are provided on a first surface, and the connection ports 51c and 51d are provided on a second surface facing the first surface, the air damper 60 is preferably provided on a surface perpendicular to the first and second surfaces. This is because, if the air damper 60 is attached to the first or second surface, tools or the like used to attach the relief valve 50 will come into contact with the connection ports 51a to 51d when attaching the air damper 60 to the relief valve 50, making it difficult to attach the air damper 60 to the relief valve 50.

[0050] Furthermore, the size of the space inside the housing 10 is limited. Therefore, it is preferable to keep the components inside the housing 10 as small as possible. The position at which the air damper 60 is connected to the relief valve 50 may be determined in accordance with the positions at which the other components are arranged.

[0051] It is preferable that the conduit between the tube pump 40 and the relief valve 50 be short. If the tube 45 of the tube pump 40 and the switching valve 54 are located far apart, the tube pressure loss increases with the length of the tube, and the same amount of pressure as the pressure inside the tube 45 may not be applied to the switching valve 54. Furthermore, if the tube 45 of the tube pump 40 and the switching valve 54 are located far apart, dripping may occur from the tip of the handpiece 13, or cleaning water may flow back into the sterilized water bottle 30. Furthermore, by shortening the conduit between the tube pump 40 and the relief valve 50 and arranging the tube pump 40 and the relief valve 50 close to each other, the pump unit 100 can be made more space-saving. The pipeline between the tube pump 40 and the relief valve 50 is short, which means, for example, that the pipeline from the relief valve 50 to the tube pump 40 is shorter than the flow pipeline 53, and that the pipelines from the suction port 41a to the housing of the tube pump 40 and from the discharge port 41b to the housing of the tube pump 40 are shorter than the flow pipeline 53.

[0052] The pump unit 100 shown in this embodiment is not limited to laser treatment devices, but can be applied to any device that requires a medium to be pumped, such as a dental ultrasonic scaler.

[0053] The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims, not by the above description, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims. Note that the configurations exemplified in the embodiments and the configurations exemplified in the modified examples can be combined as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0054] 1 laser treatment device, 10 housing, 11, 15 connection part, 12 waveguide, 13 handpiece, 14 holding part, 17, 17A, 17B, 17C, 17D legs, 18 handle, 19 display, 20 tray, 30 sterile water bottle, 35 supply pipe, 40 tube pump, 41a suction port, 41b discharge port, 42 rotor, 43 rotating shaft, 44 roller, 45 tube, 50 relief valve, 51a, 51b, 51c, 51d, 52 connection port, 53 flow pipe, 54 switching valve, 54a, 54b flow path, 55 fastener, 55a elastic body, 60 air damper, 65 discharge pipe, 70 solenoid valve, 100 pump unit, 170, 170A, 170B, 170C, 170D wheel.

Claims

1. A pump unit provided in a dental device, a tube pump including a suction port for sucking a medium and a discharge port for discharging the medium; a relief valve connected to the suction port and the discharge port; The relief valve is a first connection port connected to the suction port; a second connection port connected to the outlet; a third connection port connected to a supply line that supplies a medium to the tube pump; a fourth connection port connected to a discharge line for discharging the medium from the tube pump; a flow conduit connected to the first connection port, the second connection port, the third connection port, and the fourth connection port; a switching valve provided in the flow conduit and biased to a first position by an elastic body, the switching valve moves to a second position when the pressure in the flow path reaches or exceeds a predetermined pressure; When the switching valve is in the first position, the medium introduced from the third connection port is sucked from the first connection port by the tube pump, and the medium introduced from the second connection port is discharged from the fourth connection port, When the switching valve is in the second position, the pump unit stops introducing the medium from the third connection port and returns the medium introduced from the second connection port to the first connection port.

2. the pump unit further includes an air damper; The pump unit according to claim 1 , wherein the air damper is connected to the relief valve.

3. The relief valve has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, the first connection port and the second connection port are provided on a first surface, the third connection port and the fourth connection port are provided on a second surface opposite to the first surface, The pump unit according to claim 2 , wherein the air damper is connected to one of the first surface and a surface perpendicular to the second surface.

4. The flow pipe and the air damper have an elongated shape, 4. The pump unit according to claim 2, wherein a major axis of the flow conduit and a major axis of the air damper are aligned on the same straight line.

5. 3. The pump unit according to claim 1, wherein a pipe from the relief valve to the tube pump is shorter than the flow pipe.

6. the switching valve has a first pipe line and a second pipe line, When the switching valve is in the first position, the medium introduced from the third connection port flows through the first pipeline and is sucked from the first connection port by the tube pump.

3. The pump unit according to claim 1, wherein when the switching valve is in the second position, the medium introduced from the second connection port flows through the second pipe and returns to the first connection port.

7. 3. The pump unit according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined pressure is equal to or less than a pressure resistance value of a tube of the tube pump.

8. 3. The pump unit according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined pressure is 0.10 to 0.30 MPa.

9. A dental apparatus comprising the pump unit according to claim 1 or 2.

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