Application device for a liquid application medium

Abstract

An applicator (10) is described, comprising a storage container (12) for a liquid application medium, an applicator element (24) which conveys the application medium by capillary action and which extends through a screw mouthpiece (14) and protrudes from the screw mouthpiece (14) with an application section (28), and a closure cap (16) which can be attached to the screw mouthpiece (14) and is provided for tightly closing the applicator device (10) when not in use, the screw mouthpiece (14) which is screwed tightly to the open end section (18) of the storage container (1) being formed on the outside and the closure cap (16) being formed on the inside with shaped elements (33) for a rotationally secure connection of the screw mouthpiece (14) to the closure cap (16).

Description

The invention relates to an applicator comprising a storage container for a liquid application medium, an applicator member which conveys the application medium by capillary action and extends through a screw-type mouthpiece and projects with an application section from the screw-type mouthpiece, and a closure cap which can be attached to the screw-type mouthpiece and is provided for sealing the applicator in its non-use state.Such applicators are known in a variety of different embodiments.For example, DE 10 2008 050 066 B4 describes an application device of the type mentioned at the beginning, having a storage container for a liquid application medium, having a valve device provided for closing the storage container, and having an application element which conveys the application medium by means of a capillary and projects with an application section from the screw mouthpiece of the application device. The valve device can be opened by means of the application element. In this known applicator device, the applicator element has a central, capillary-conveying, soft applicator element and a dimensionally stable, hard sleeve element surrounding this applicator element, which sleeve element protrudes from the screw mouthpiece of the applicator device on the front side with a shoulder and the central applicator element protrudes from the sleeve element with an application section beyond the shoulder. For opening the valve device, a dimensionally stable hard actuating element is provided for bearing against the shoulder of the sleeve element.DE 10 2011 009 495 B4 discloses an applicator with a storage container provided for an application liquid, on the housing opening of which a resilient valve device is provided. At the housing opening, a housing front part is provided, from which an applicator for the application liquid protrudes. The applicator is arranged in the front part of the housing in a replaceable manner and is provided for opening actuation of the valve device. The valve device is assigned a holding device, by means of which the applicator is arranged in the applicator such that it cannot be lost. For this purpose, the applicator is formed on its inner end section with an undercut and the holding device with a holding region which engages resiliently in the undercut.DE 10 2012 013 562 B4 describes an application device having a storage container for a liquid application medium and having an application element which conveys the application medium by means of a capillary action and is guided through a screw-type mouthpiece screwed onto the storage container and, in the application state, protrudes from the screw-type mouthpiece by way of an application section. A valve device is provided in the storage container. A closure cap is provided for sealing the applicator in its non-use state, which cap has an actuating element. In the non-use state of the application device, the closure cap presses with its actuating element against the application section of the application element, so that the valve device is opened in the non-use state against the spring force of its valve spring element by means of the application element.DE 10 2015 009 743 B4 describes an application device having a storage container for a liquid application medium. The storage container is suitable for applying a pressure to the application medium. At the housing opening of the storage container, a valve device is provided which has a valve tappet in a valve housing, which valve tappet is axially movable against the spring force of a valve spring element provided in the valve housing by means of a dimensionally stable capillary application element protruding from the screw mouthpiece of the application device, and the valve device can be opened. The valve tappet is formed with a through-channel in which a resilient channel valve device is provided, wherein the resilient channel valve device is opened by applying pressure to the reservoir of the applicator device.DE 10 2017 011 173 B4 discloses an adapter for an application device. The application device has a storage container for a liquid application medium with a device nozzle, from which a dimensionally stable device application element that conveys the application medium by capillary means protrudes. In the storage container, a valve device is provided which can be opened by means of the application element. The adapter is provided for axially limited movable mounting of the applicator, and it has an adapter sleeve with an adapter mouthpiece from which a capillary-conveying adapter applicator element protrudes in an axially immovable manner, which is adjacent to the device applicator element. The adapter mouthpiece is formed with a guide recess in which the device mouthpiece is movable with a guide section in a linearly limited manner.In the known application devices, which are designed, for example, as so-called fibre pens or as so-called valve markers, it is expedient from an environmental point of view if the storage container of the respective application device can be filled again with liquid application medium if necessary. To refill the fibre sticks, it is necessary to screw the screw-type mouthpiece off the storage container in order to then be able to fill the storage container with liquid application medium. However, it is not possible to reliably prevent undesired soiling from occurring, for example, on the fingers of the person carrying out the filling process. The same applies in particular to valve markers if such a marker is to be filled again with liquid application medium if necessary. In the case of valve markers, it is a major complication that the valve device must be removed from the storage container before refilling. In particular, residues of the application medium can lead to undesired soiling, in particular on the fingers of the person carrying out the refilling.With the knowledge of these circumstances, the object of the invention is to provide an applicator of the type mentioned at the beginning in which clean manual refilling of the storage container of the applicator is possible with simple construction means without the risk of undesired contamination, for example on the fingers of a person refilling.This object is achieved according to the invention by the features of claim 1, i.e. in that the screw mouthpiece screwed firmly to the open end section of the storage container is formed on the outside and the closure cap on the inside with shaped elements for a rotationally secure connection of the screw mouthpiece to the closure cap.The applicator device according to the invention has the advantage that the screw-type mouthpiece together with the closure cap attached thereto temporarily in a sealed manner can be screwed off the open end of the storage container, so that, when the storage container is being filled with liquid application medium, undesired contact of the capillary-conveying applicator element protruding from the screw-type mouthpiece and thus undesired contamination, for example on the fingers of a person carrying out the filling, is easily avoided.It has proven advantageous if, in the application device according to the invention, the screw mouthpiece and the closure cap are each formed with axially oriented longitudinal ribs which are spaced apart from one another in the circumferential direction and form shaped elements. In this case, the longitudinal ribs of the screw mouthpiece engage in the longitudinal recesses of the closure cap-and vice versa-in order to achieve a connection of the screw mouthpiece to the closure cap in a rotationally secure manner.It is preferred if the distance between the longitudinal ribs of the screw-nut element and the longitudinal ribs of the closure cap is in each case greater than their thickness dimension. This results in the advantage that when the closure cap is placed on the screw mouthpiece, the probability of the longitudinal ribs of the screw mouthpiece and the longitudinal ribs of the closure cap coming to rest against one another is negligibly small, or an unlikely possible contact can be eliminated very easily by a small rotation of the closure cap relative to the screw mouthpiece.For the same purpose of being able to temporarily seal the closure cap to the screw mouthpiece without problem and securely, it is useful if the longitudinal ribs of the screw nut element are formed with outwardly tapering inclined surfaces.In the applicator according to the invention, a capillary storage body for the liquid application medium can be provided in the storage container, against which the capillary-conveying application element extending immovably through the screw mouthpiece bears. This is a so-called fibre pencil as has been described above. Another possibility according to the invention consists in that in the open end section of the storage container a valve device is provided which can be opened by means of the capillary-conveying application element which extends through the screw mouthpiece in an axially movable manner and is connected in a positive-locking manner to the screw mouthpiece. This is a so-called valve marker as has been described above.In order to reliably achieve in an applicator of the last-mentioned type according to the invention that, for refilling the emptied storage container with liquid application medium, together with the screw mouthpiece, also the valve device provided in the open end section of the storage container is removed from the storage container with the aid of the closure cap, it is preferred if the valve device is formed with a collar and the screw mouthpiece is formed with a groove into which the collar protrudes in a positive-locking manner. As a result, the closure cap with the screw mouthpiece and the valve device form a unit which can be manipulated by means of the closure cap.Further details, features and advantages will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.The following are shown: FIG. 1 is a side view of a rod-shaped applicator which is a so-called fibre pencil, FIG. 2 shows a section along the section line II-II in FIG. 1 through the fibre pencil, FIG. 3 shows the detail III according to FIG. 2 on a larger scale, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV--IV in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a side view of a rod-shaped applicator which is a so-called valve marker, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI--VI of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 shows the detail VII according to FIG. 6 on a larger scale, FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIII--VIII in FIG. 7; and FIG. 9 shows the detail IX in FIG. 7.FIG. 1 shows a side view of an embodiment of the applicator 10 which is designed as a fibre pencil. The applicator 10 has a storage container 12, a viewing mouthpiece 14 screwed to the storage container 12 and a closure cap 16 which temporarily seals the screw mouthpiece 14, i.e. in the non-use state.As can be seen from FIG. 2, the open end portion 18 of the storage container 12 is formed with an externally threaded portion 20. In the storage container 12 a capillary storage body 22 for liquid application medium is provided.Extending immovably through the screw-type mouthpiece 14 is a capillary-conveying application element 24. The applicator member 24 is fluidically connected to the storage body 22 by means of its rear-side contact section 26 in order to transport the application medium through the applicator member 24 to its front-side application section 28, which protrudes from the screw mouthpiece 14.The shower nozzle 14 includes a mounting collar 30 formed with an internally threaded portion 32 and threadedly engaged with the externally threaded portion 20 of the storage container 12.The screw mouthpiece 14 screwed onto the open end section 18 of the storage container 12 is formed on the outside with shaped elements 33 and the closure cap 16 is formed on the inside with shaped elements 33 for the rotationally secure connection of the screw mouthpiece 14 to the closure cap 16, as can be seen from FIG. 4. The shaped elements 33 are formed as longitudinal ribs 34, 36 which are spaced apart from one another in the circumferential direction. The distance "a" of the longitudinal ribs 34 of the nut screw member 14 is greater than their thickness dimensions "d". The same applies to the longitudinal ribs of the closure cap 16.As can be seen from FIG. 3, the longitudinal ribs 34 of the screw-nut element 14 are formed with outwardly tapering inclined surfaces 38.Identical details are denoted in each case by the same reference numerals in FIGS. 1 to 4, so that it is superfluous to describe all the details in each case in detail in conjunction with these figures.FIG. 5 shows a side view of an applicator 10, which-as can be seen from FIG. 6-is a so-called valve marker which has a valve device 40 in the open end section 18 of its storage container 12. The valve device 40 can be opened by means of a capillary-conveying application element 24 which extends through the screw mouthpiece in an axially movable manner in order to be able to open the valve device 40. For this purpose, the rear portion 26 of the applicator member 24 is mechanically connected to the valve device 40. The application portion 28 of the application member 24 protrudes from the screw mouthpiece 14.The valve device 40 is connected in a positive-locking manner to the screw mouthpiece 14, as can be clearly seen from the detail IX in FIG. 7. For this purpose, the valve device 40 is formed with a circumferential collar 42 and the screw mouthpiece 14 is formed with a circumferential groove 44, into which the collar 42 protrudes. When the closure cap 16 is unscrewed from the storage container 12 to refill the applicator 10 with liquid application medium. In this case, the entire unit, consisting of the closure cap 16, the screw mouthpiece 14 and the valve device 40, is unscrewed from the storage container 12, so that undesirable soiling on the fingers of a person carrying out the refilling of the applicator 10 is advantageously avoided. After filling the storage container 12, the unit consisting of the closure cap 16, the screw mouthpiece 14 and the valve device 40 can then be screwed back to the storage container 12.Identical details are also denoted in FIGS. 5 to 9 in each case by the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1 to 4, so that it is superfluous to describe all the details in each case in detail in conjunction with all the figures.List of reference numbers:10 Applicator 12 Storage container (from 10) 14 Screw mouthpiece (from 10 to 12) 16 Closure cap (from 10 to 14) 18 Open end section (from 12) 20 External thread section (from 18) 22 Capillary storage body (from 12) 24 Capillary applicator element (from 10) 26 Rear end section (from 24) 28 Front application section from 24) 30 Mounting collar (from 14) 32 Internal thread section (from 30) 34 Longitudinal ribs (from 14) 36 Longitudinal ribs (from 16) 38 Inclined surface (from 34) 40 Valve device (from 10) 42 Collar (from 40 to 44) 44 Groove (from 14)References included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedDE 10 2008 050 066 B4

[0003] DE 10 2011 009 495 B4

[0004] DE 10 2012 013 562 B4

[0005] DE 10 2015 009 743 B4

[0006] DE 10 2017 011 173 B4

[0007]

Claims

Applicator device, having a storage container (12) for a liquid application medium, having an application element (24) which conveys the application medium by capillary action and extends through a screw mouthpiece (14) and projects with an application section (28) from the screw mouthpiece (14), and having a closure cap (16) which can be attached to the screw mouthpiece (14) and is provided for sealingly closing the applicator device (10) in its non-use state, characterized in that the screw mouthpiece (14), which is screwed firmly to the open end section (18) of the storage container (1), is formed on the outside and the closure cap (16) is formed on the inside with shaped elements (33) for a rotationally secure connection of the screw mouthpiece (14) to the closure cap (16).Applicator according to Claim 1, characterized in that the screw mouthpiece (14) and the closure cap (16) are each formed with axially oriented longitudinal ribs (34, 36) which are spaced apart from one another in the circumferential direction and form the shaped elements (33).Applicator according to Claim 2, characterized in that the distance (a) between the longitudinal ribs (34) of the nut screw element (14) and the longitudinal ribs (36) of the closure cap (16) is greater than their respective thickness dimension (d).Applicator according to Claim 2, characterized in that the longitudinal ribs (34) of the screw-nut element (14) are formed with inclined surfaces (38) which taper outwards.Applicator according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the storage container (12) contains a capillary storage body (22) for the liquid application medium, against which the capillary-conveying applicator element (24), which extends immovably through the screw mouthpiece (14), bears.Applicator according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the open end section (18) of the storage container (12) is provided with a valve device (40) which can be opened by means of the capillary-conveying applicator element (24) which extends through the screw mouthpiece (14) in an axially movable manner and is connected in a positive-locking manner to the screw mouthpiece (14).Applicator according to Claim 6, characterized in that the valve device (40) is formed with a collar (42) and the screw mouthpiece (14) is formed with a groove (44) into which the collar (42) projects in a positive-locking manner.

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