Device for extracting pumpable medium from container, method and separating element for method and device

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for extracting a pumpable medium (6), in particular a liquid or paste, from a container (5), comprising: a follower disc (8), which has at least one exhaust opening (8a) for extracting a gas (7), in particular air, between the pumpable medium (6) and the follower disc (8), and at least one suction opening (14) for sucking the pumpable medium (6) from the follower disc (8); the suction opening (14) is used for sucking the pumpable medium (6); and a separating element (1) arranged on the following disk (8). The separating element (1) has a gas-permeable base body (2) and an opening (3) for extracting a pumpable medium, wherein the base body has a semi-permeable membrane for gases. The invention also discloses a corresponding method for extracting a pumpable medium and a separating element required for this purpose.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a device for extracting a pumpable medium, in particular a liquid or a paste, from a container, in particular a bucket, and a separation element for the device, in particular the separation element is in the form of a flexible sheet, the device having a base body and at least one opening, the base body being at least partially permeable to air for degassing before and / or during extraction of the pumpable medium from the container using the device, and the at least one opening for extracting the pumpable medium from the container using the device. Background Art

[0002] In order to avoid the occurrence of gas bubbles before and / or during the extraction of a pumpable medium (i.e. a paste), DE 10 2005 049 805 B4 proposes the use of a separation element in the form of a sieve plate. The sieve plate has a base body with sieve holes, whereby the base body is partially permeable to air. In addition, the base body is provided with a central opening that completely penetrates the base body. Through this opening, the device can extract a pumpable medium from a container.

[0003] However, a disadvantage is that the sieve plate fills up relatively quickly with the pumpable medium, which is particularly troublesome when viscous or highly viscous media, such as pastes, have to be extracted from a container. Such media are known to have a relatively high surface waviness, which leads to uneven filling of the sieve plate via the contact surface with the medium, which impedes degassing between the medium and the sieve plate. Therefore, during the extraction process, media that are disadvantageously highly contaminated with gas, i.e. air, must be taken into account. Summary of the invention

[0004] It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve a separating element of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that it ensures reliable venting for the extraction of the pumpable medium, regardless of the type of the pumpable medium.

[0005] The invention achieves this object by means of the features of claim 1 .

[0006] If the substrate has a membrane which is semipermeable to the gas, in particular air, it can be ensured that the functional integrity of the separation element for exhaust is maintained regardless of the size of the contact surface with the medium, compared to the prior art. That is, the medium cannot enter the space provided for exhaust on the back side of the membrane of the separation element and thus affect the exhaust. Thus, even containers containing viscous and / or highly viscous media, such as pastes known to have a high surface waviness, can be exhausted stably through the separation element. That is, the semipermeable membrane ensures controlled exhaust over the entire contact surface with the medium. When the device is used to extract the medium from the container through the opening of the separation element, this advantageously keeps the degree of contamination of the medium by gas low or completely avoids such contamination.

[0007] The separating element according to the invention can therefore lead to considerable cost savings when emptying a container.

[0008] Cost savings can be achieved in particular if the separation element is designed as a flexible sheet. This allows, for example, flexible adaptation to the surface contour of the medium to be pumped when applying the separation element, which can reduce the exhaust costs to a lower level compared to rigid separation elements.

[0009] Preferably, the semipermeable membrane is composed of a polymer, so that it can, for example, flexibly follow a wide variety of surface corrugations. In addition, this membrane made of a polymer can further reduce the cost of the separation element and can ensure damage-free performance when using this separation element due to flexibility.

[0010] This is particularly true if the semipermeable membrane is a flat membrane. For example, the membrane is a thin film.

[0011] For example, the membrane is a polymer membrane. For example, the polymer membrane is open-pored. For example, the polymer membrane can be composed of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).

[0012] Preferably, the semipermeable membrane has pores. For example, the semipermeable membrane has a pore size of up to 100 μm (micrometers). In particular, a pore size of up to 1 μm (micrometer) can ensure a sufficient separation between air and silicone as a pumpable medium. For silicone as a pumpable medium, a pore size of up to 0.6 μm, for example, may be sufficient. The semipermeable membrane can thereby retain silicone due to its open porosity, but allow gas to pass through.

[0013] For example, the semipermeable membrane has a pore size ranging from 1 mm (millimeter) to 0.1 μm (micrometer), and in particular, the semipermeable membrane has a pore size ranging from 0.6 μm (micrometer) to 0.1 μm (micrometer).

[0014] It is also conceivable that, for example in combination with the aforementioned pore sizes, the semipermeable membrane has a membrane thickness in the range of 1 μm to 100 μm (micrometers) in order to be able to meet adequate mechanical characteristic values ​​at a relatively high flexibility. Preferably, the semipermeable membrane has a membrane thickness in the range of 5 μm to 25 μm (micrometers).

[0015] The ventilation of the separation element can be further improved if the multilayer base body has an open-pored layer which forms the flat side of the base body. For example, this makes it possible to transport the exhaust gas independently of direction. This is particularly advantageous if a follower plate is used which is pressed against the separation element and the exhaust gas is then discharged between the separation element and the follower plate.

[0016] Preferably, an open layer is arranged on the semipermeable membrane in order to be able to transport the gas through the membrane independently of direction and with reduced resistance. Preferably, the open layer is attached to the membrane.

[0017] It is conceivable that the open-pored layer is a textile. Such a textile may have a woven structure, a felt structure, a knitted structure or a non-woven structure. Non-woven structures are particularly useful for conveying the exhaust gas in a low-resistance manner.

[0018] Furthermore, it is conceivable that the open-pored layer is an open-pored elastic foam material in order to facilitate pressing the separation element onto the pumpable medium.

[0019] Furthermore, the open-pored layer may be an open-pored sintered structure, for example an open-pored sintered structure made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).

[0020] Alternatively, open-pored deposition structures are also conceivable.

[0021] The open-pored layer is preferably air-permeable in the thickness direction, and preferably air-permeable orthogonal to the thickness direction. This can further promote the direction-independent transport of exhaust gases.

[0022] Preferably, the open-pored layer has a layer thickness in the range of 0.1 mm to 10 mm (millimeters). A layer thickness of 0.4 mm has proven to be sufficient.

[0023] Preferably, the open-pored layer is impermeable to the medium on its outer side at least partially toward the openings or has a cover that is impermeable to the medium. This can prevent the exhaust gas from escaping into the region of the extracted pumpable medium, which further improves the exhaust gas flow through the separation element.

[0024] If the opening is circular, the design of the separation element can be further simplified.

[0025] Furthermore, if the opening is arranged in the center of the base body, it is advantageous to handle the separation element. The separation element is therefore particularly suitable for a standardized device with a follower plate for extracting a pumpable medium from a barrel. Furthermore, the central opening facilitates handling and storage of the separation element.

[0026] For example, the separation element can have a rounded outer contour in order to adapt to a container of the same shape. For example, this can reduce the formation of wrinkles on the separation element, thereby further improving the exhaust gas.

[0027] If the separating element has, preferably in the edge region, a visually perceptible marking for aligning the separating element, further simplification of the handling can be achieved. In this way, it is relatively easy to achieve that the container is centered on the edge of the container to be emptied, which can reduce the risk of erroneous venting.

[0028] By providing markings on the perforated layer, it is also possible to indicate in an operationally convenient manner the correct use or the correct position of the separation element relative to the medium to be pumped.

[0029] Preferably, in order to ensure a high degree of degassing, there is a pressure drop across the base body in the range of 30 Pa (Pascal) to 50,000 Pa (Pascal) (measured in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9237:1995-12).

[0030] For example, the separation element may have a thickness in the range of 0.2 mm to 0.5 mm in order to enable flexible handling.

[0031] The structure can be further simplified if that flat side of the substrate which can face the medium is formed by a semipermeable membrane.

[0032] The separation element according to the invention is particularly suitable for a device with a follower plate for extracting a pumpable medium from a container. The separation element can be conveniently arranged between the pumpable medium and the follower plate. The pumpable medium can be a liquid or a paste (eg silicone).

[0033] For exhaust, such a follower plate has at least one exhaust opening for extracting gas, in particular air, between the pumpable medium and the follower plate. In addition, the follower plate has at least one suction opening for extracting the pumpable medium. The separation element is arranged between the medium and the follower plate such that the base of the separation element is connected to the exhaust opening for extracting gas and the opening of the separation element is connected to the suction opening for extracting the pumpable medium.

[0034] The device can thus extract the pumpable medium from the container in a stable and bubble-free manner, which can further reduce losses of the pumpable medium, for example in the case of a newly connected container.

[0035] If the perforated layer of the separation element faces the follower disk, the degree of degassing can be further increased. In addition, even if the follower disk is wetted by the pumpable medium, degassing can be performed via the separation element to the degassing opening, which further increases the stability of the device for extracting the pumpable medium - without contamination by gas (e.g. air).

[0036] Preferably, the following disk has an unstructured surface structure. Additionally or alternatively, the following disk can have a surface with an average surface roughness Ra (measured according to DIN EN ISO 4287) in the range of 1.2 μm to 18 μm.

[0037] For example, by having an opening in the base of the separation element with a diameter greater than or equal to the diameter of the suction opening of the follower disk, the separation element can be reliably prevented from being sucked into the suction channel for extracting the medium. In addition, this can further reduce the risk of the medium being contaminated by particles adsorbed by the separation element. In addition, such a larger opening can achieve a higher flexibility in positioning relative to the suction opening, which can further facilitate the operation of the separation element and the device.

[0038] Preferably, the outer dimensions of the separation element are larger than the outer dimensions of the follower disk, so that the separation element can be arranged on the container above the medium in an easily maneuverable manner. Therefore, the separation element should also be provided with markings, so that the separation element can be conveniently placed in the center of the container. By precise centering, it is firstly ensured that there is no or minimal wetting or contamination of the follower disk by the pumpable medium, which, for example, avoids labor-intensive cleaning work of the device.

[0039] Furthermore, due to the larger dimensions, the separation element can be clamped between the container and the follower disk, more specifically completely around the follower disk. This means that the follower disk is designed to be tightly connected to the container, whereby the separation element is clamped between the follower disk and the container. In this way, the separation element can be stretched and laid in a defined manner on the surface of the pumpable medium, thereby ensuring a high degree of degassing.

[0040] The invention also has the object of improving a method for extracting a pumpable medium from a container.

[0041] Preferably, the semi-permeable membrane of the separation element faces the medium so as to retain the medium just on the second flat side of the separation element.

[0042] The invention solves the above-mentioned problem by means of the features of claim 20 .

[0043] Due to the use of the device according to the invention, in which gas, in particular air, located between the pumpable medium and the follower disk is extracted via the base body of the separation element for degassing, it is ensured that the pumpable medium is extracted with a reduced gas content or without gas. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] For example, in the figures, the subject matter of the invention is illustrated in more detail using exemplary embodiments.

[0045] in:

[0046] Figure 1 shows a top view of a separation element,

[0047] Figure 2 Shows Figure 1 A partial cross-sectional view of the separation element shown,

[0048] Figure 3shows a cross-sectional view of a device having a Figure 1 and Figure 2 and having a separation element and having a container with a pumpable medium, and

[0049] Figure 4 Shown according to Figure 3 A cross-sectional view of the device during container venting. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] according to Figure 1 and Figure 2 , shows a separation element 1, which has a gas-permeable substrate 2 and an opening 3. The opening 3 completely penetrates the substrate 2, such as Figure 2 In addition, the opening 3 is designed to have an opening width d such that Figure 3 The device 4 shown can extract a medium 6 (i.e. silicone) that is pumpable at room temperature from a container 5 (i.e. a barrel), more specifically by sucking the medium 6 through a suction opening 14 on the follower plate 8. This can be done, for example, by a barrel pump of the device 4, not shown in detail.

[0051] Before or during the extraction of the pumpable medium 6, degassing is performed so that the extracted medium 6 is not contaminated by gas 7, i.e. air. Figure 4 As can be seen in FIG. 2 , exhaust is carried out via the gas-permeable base body 2 . For this purpose, the gas 7 flows out via a plurality of exhaust openings 8 a in the follower disk 8 of the device 4 .

[0052] As in Figure 3 As can be seen in FIG. 1 , the medium 6 to be extracted has a high degree of waviness on the surface 6 a due to its high viscosity at room temperature. This results in that the separation element 1 is not in full contact with the medium 6 to be extracted, at least at the beginning of exhaust.

[0053] According to the present invention, in order to prevent the separation element 1 from being contaminated by the medium 6 on a first flat side 2a of the substrate 2, which is opposite to a second flat side 2b of the substrate 2 facing the medium 6, the substrate 2 is specially designed on the flat side 2b facing the medium 6.

[0054] The base body 2 here therefore has a semipermeable membrane 9 which allows the gas 7 to pass through but not the pumpable medium 6. For this purpose, the semipermeable membrane 9 has correspondingly formed pores. The space between the separation element 1 and the follower disk 8 is thus free of the medium 6, which ensures that the venting takes place without problems. According to the invention, the pumpable medium 6 can be extracted from the container 5 without being contaminated by the gas 7.

[0055] A high degree of flexibility in the adaptation of the separation element 1 to the surface 6 a of the medium 6 results from the fact that the semipermeable membrane 9 is formed from a polymer membrane.

[0056] Furthermore, the base body 2 has an open-pored layer 10 on its first flat side 2a. The base body 2 is thus designed to be multi-layered, so that a flexible multi-layer separating element 1 is formed.

[0057] The open-cell layer 10 is an air-permeable textile, formed by an air-permeable nonwoven structure. This nonwoven structure or nonwoven fabric is attached to the polymer film or to the film 9.

[0058] The base body 2 consisting of a polymer film and a nonwoven fabric is also very flexible to handle. In addition, the open-pored layer 10 enables the gas 7 to be transported from the corresponding position between the separation element and the pumpable medium 6 to the exhaust opening 8a regardless of direction. Therefore, exhaust can be carried out even if the follower plate 8 is wetted or contaminated by the medium or other media.

[0059] like Figure 1 As can be seen, the separating element 1 has a circular outer contour, which makes the separating element 1 particularly suitable for a bucket. In addition, the opening 3 is circular and located in the center of the separating element 1, which further facilitates the handling of the separating element 1, in particular in terms of positioning the separating element 1 on the bucket and relative to the following plate 8, as in Figure 3 can be seen in.

[0060] This handling is further facilitated by the fact that the separating element 1 preferably has a visual marking 11 in the edge region for aligning the separating element 1. Figure 2 As can be seen in FIG. 1 , the mark 11 is arranged on the perforated layer 10 .

[0061] By means of mark 11, Figure 3 As can be seen in FIG. 5 , it is relatively easy to align the separating element 1 relative to the edge of the container 5 . Furthermore, since the separating element 1 has sections that protrude beyond the container 5 on all sides, this handling can be further simplified.

[0062] In this way, it can also be ensured that the separation element 1 is clamped between the follower disc 8 and the container 5. For this purpose, the follower disc 8 is designed with at least one sealing ring 12, which extends around the end face of the follower disc 8, such as Figure 3 and Figure 4 As can be seen in FIG. 1 , the separation element 1 is thus completely clamped in the circumferential direction.

[0063] Thus, the separation element 1 in the form of a flexible sheet can be laid smoothly on the surface of the pumpable medium 5, thereby facilitating the venting of the container 5. Furthermore, the separation element 1 can be pressed against the container wall, thereby ensuring lateral sealing, which keeps the follower disk clean, thereby reducing cleaning costs.

[0064] Furthermore, the separation element 1 has a seal 13 at the central opening 3, which is formed on the base body 2, for example, when the opening 3 is laser cut. This prevents the escape of displaced gas from the base body 2 in the direction of the suction opening 14 when the pumpable medium 6 is sucked.

[0065] The separation element 1 shown as an example is designed as a double-layer flexible sheet with a thickness of 0.4 mm. The semi-permeable membrane 9 of the separation element 1 is formed by a polymer membrane with a membrane thickness of 8 μm and pores with a pore size of 0.6 μm. This open-pore polymer membrane is made of polyethylene (PE).

[0066] The nonwoven fabric (as the open-cell layer 10) forms the second layer of the flexible sheet. The nonwoven fabric is a polymer-based spunbond nonwoven fabric (Spinnvlies). In addition, the nonwoven fabric has a nonwoven fabric thickness in the range of 0.1 mm to 10 mm (ie 0.4 mm).

[0067] Furthermore, it is not shown in greater detail but is conceivable that the separating element preferably has a wedge-shaped section in its projection in order to avoid the formation of wrinkles. This can also improve the centering.

[0068] Generally speaking, it should be noted that "particularly" can be translated into English as "more particular". Features beginning with "particularly" can be considered as optional features that can be omitted and therefore do not constitute a limitation on, for example, the claims. The same applies to "preferably" which is translated into English as "preferably".

Claims

1. A separation element, in particular in the form of a flexible sheet, for use in a device (4) for extracting a pumpable medium (6) from a container (5), in particular the pumpable medium being a liquid or a paste, in particular the container (5) being a bucket, the separation element comprising a base body (2) which is at least partially permeable to air and is used for degassing before and / or during the extraction of the pumpable medium (6) from the container (5) using the device (4), and at least one opening (3) for extracting the pumpable medium (6) from the container (5) using the device (4), wherein: The opening (3) completely penetrates the base body (2), characterized in that the base body (2) has a semi-permeable membrane (9) for gas, in particular air.

2. The separation element according to claim 1, characterized in that The semi-permeable membrane (9) comprises a polymer, and / or the semi-permeable membrane (9) is a planar membrane, in particular, the semi-permeable membrane (9) is a thin film.

3. The separation element according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The semi-permeable membrane (9) is a polymer membrane.

4. The separation element according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The semipermeable membrane (9) has a pore size of up to 100 μm, in particular, the semipermeable membrane (9) has a pore size of up to 1 μm, for example, the semipermeable membrane (9) has a pore size of up to 0.6 μm, and / or the semipermeable membrane (9) has a membrane thickness in the range of 1 μm to 100 μm, in particular, the semipermeable membrane (9) has a membrane thickness in the range of 5 μm to 25 μm.

5. The separation element according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The multi-layer substrate (2) has an open-pored layer (10), which forms a flat side portion (2a) of the substrate (2), and in particular, the open-pored layer (10) is arranged on the semi-permeable membrane (9).

6. The separation element according to claim 5, characterized in that The open-pored layer (10) is a textile, an open-pored elastic foam material, an open-pored sintered structure or an open-pored deposited structure. In particular, the textile has a woven structure, a felt structure, a knitted structure or a non-woven structure.

7. The separation element according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that The open porous layer (10) is air-permeable in the thickness direction and / or orthogonal to the thickness direction, and / or the open porous layer (10) has a layer thickness in the range of 0.1 mm to 10 mm, in particular, the open porous layer (10) has a layer thickness of 0.4 mm.

8. The separation element according to any one of claims 5, 6 and 7, characterized in that The open porous layer (10) is impermeable to media at least partially on the outer side of the open porous layer toward the opening (3), or the open porous layer (10) has a cover that is impermeable to media.

9. The separation element according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The opening (3) is circular and / or the opening (3) is arranged centrally on the base body (2).

10. The separation element according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The separating element (1) has a circular outer contour.

11. The separation element according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The separating element (1) has a visually perceptible marking (11) for aligning the separating element (1), preferably the separating element (1) has a visually perceptible marking (11) in an edge region for aligning the separating element (1).

12. The separation element according to claims 5 and 11, characterized in that The mark (11) is arranged on the perforated layer (10).

13. The separation element according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that There is a pressure drop across the substrate (2) in the range of 30 Pa to 50,000 Pa, and / or the separation element has a thickness in the range of 0.2 mm to 0.5 mm.

14. The separation element according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that The semi-permeable membrane (9) forms a flat side portion (2b) of the base body (2) that can face the medium (6).

15. A device for extracting a pumpable medium (6) from a container (5), in particular, the pumpable medium (6) is a liquid or a paste, the device comprising: a follower plate (8) and a separation element (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 14, the follower plate (8) having at least one exhaust opening (8a) and at least one suction opening (14), the exhaust opening (8a) being used to extract the gas (7) between the pumpable medium (6) and the follower plate (8), in particular, the gas (7) is air, the suction opening (14) being used to suck the pumpable medium (6), the separation element (1) being arranged on the follower plate (8), and the base (2) of the separation element (1) being connected to the exhaust opening (8a) for extracting the gas, and the opening (3) of the separation element (1) being connected to the suction opening (14) for sucking the pumpable medium (6).

16. The device according to claim 15, characterized in that The open-pored layer (10) of the separation element (1) faces the follower disk (8), and / or the follower disk (8) has an unstructured surface structure and / or a surface with an average roughness in the range of 1.2 μm to 18 μm.

17. The device according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that The opening (3) in the base body (2) of the separation element (1) is greater than or equal to the diameter of the suction opening (14) of the follower disk (8), and / or the outer dimensions of the separation element (1) are greater than the outer dimensions of the follower disk (8).

18. The device according to any one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that The separation element (1) is clamped between the follower disc (8) and the container (5) in such a way that it completely surrounds the follower disc (8).

19. The device according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that The semi-permeable membrane (9) of the separation element (1) faces the medium (6).

20. A method for extracting a pumpable medium (6) from a container (5) using a device (4) according to any one of claims 15 to 19, in particular the pumpable medium (6) is a liquid or a paste, wherein: A gas (7), in particular air, located between the pumpable medium (6) and the follower disk (8) is extracted through the base body (2) of the separation element (1) for exhausting gas.

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