Dispenser

Abstract

To provide a dispenser allowed to inhibit a content from leaking between a hold member and a piston even when a loss of springiness occurs in a pressing part.SOLUTION: A dispenser 2 comprises a cylinder part 5a having a step portion 6, a piston 7 having a contacted portion 9, a hold member 8 having a contacting portion 10 and an outlet 8c1, a pressing part 11, and a pump chamber 12. If the hold member 8 is pushed down against a pressing force, the contacting portion 10 slides down the contacted portion 9 and separates therefrom in a state the piston 7 is abutted against the step portion 6. Thereafter, by pushing down the piston 7 with the hold member 8, a content 4 inside the pump chamber 12 is ejected from the outlet 8c1 through between the contacting portion 10 and the contacted portion 9. If the push-down operation is canceled, the contacting portion 10 slides up the contacted portion 9 by the pressing force and the hold member 8 pushes up the piston 7, thereby drawing the content 4 inside a container body 3 into the pump chamber 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a dispenser. [Background technology]

[0002] A known dispenser has a cylinder portion attached to the mouth of the container body, a piston having a contacted portion that slides on the cylinder portion, a retaining member having a contact portion that contacts the contacted portion and a discharge port, a biasing portion that applies an upward biasing force to the retaining member, and a pump chamber defined by the cylinder portion and the piston, in which when the retaining member is pressed down against the biasing force, the contact portion separates from the contacted portion, and the retaining member then presses down on the piston, causing the contents in the pump chamber to pass between the contacted portion and the contacted portion and be discharged from the discharge port, and when the pressing down operation is released, the biasing force causes the contact portion to come into contact with the contacted portion, and then the retaining member pushes up the piston, causing the contents in the container body to be sucked into the pump chamber (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2022-69928 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Even if the biasing portion wears down (the biasing force decreases) due to repeated use of the biasing portion, and the holding member does not return completely to its initial position after the pushing operation is released, it is preferable that leakage of the contents from between the contact portion of the holding member and the contacted portion of the piston can be prevented.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a dispenser that can prevent the contents from leaking out from between the holding member and the piston even when the biasing portion becomes worn. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is as follows.

[0007] [1] a cylinder portion having a stepped portion and attached to the mouth portion of the container body; a piston having a contacted portion and sliding on the cylinder portion; a holding member having a contact portion that slides on the contacted portion and a discharge port; a biasing portion that applies an upward biasing force to the holding member; a pump chamber defined by the cylinder portion and the piston, When the holding member is pressed down against the biasing force, the contact portion slides downward on the contacted portion and separates from the piston while the piston is in contact with the stepped portion, and then the holding member presses down the piston, causing the content in the pump chamber to pass between the contact portion and the contacted portion and be discharged from the discharge port, When the pushing operation is released, the spring force causes the contact portion to slide upward on the contacted portion and the holding member to push up the piston, thereby sucking the contents in the container body into the pump chamber.

[0008] [2] The dispenser according to [1], wherein the biasing portion is constituted by a resin spring.

[0009] [3] the cylinder portion has a second step portion, When the pushing operation is released, the spring force causes the contact portion to slide upward on the contacted portion while the piston is in contact with the second step portion, and then the holding member pushes up the piston, sucking the contents in the container body into the pump chamber. [1] or [2] The dispenser described in

[0010] [4] The dispenser according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the holding member has an air reservoir in which air accumulates in the pump chamber.

[0011] [5] When the volume of the air reservoir is V, the downward movement length of the holding member from the start of the pressing operation on the holding member until the contact portion slides downward on the contacted portion in a stopped state and separates is L, and the outer diameter of the contact portion is D, V>πLD 2 The dispenser according to [4], wherein the value is / 4.

[0012] [6] The dispenser according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the contact portion is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the holding member.

[0013] [7] The dispenser according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the contact portion is provided on an inner circumferential surface of the holding member.

[0014] [8] the piston has a sliding portion that slides on the cylinder portion, and an inner cylindrical portion that is cylindrical and located radially inward of the sliding portion and is connected to the sliding portion, the contacted portion is formed by a lower end portion of the outer circumferential surface of the inner cylindrical portion, The retaining member has a cylindrical portion, a contact tube having the contact portion on its inner surface, and a connecting portion connecting the lower end of the contact tube to the lower end of the cylindrical portion. [7] The discharge device described in [Effects of the Invention]

[0015] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a dispenser that can prevent the contents from leaking out from between the holding member and the piston even when the biasing portion becomes worn. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before a push-down operation of the discharge container in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1, and (b) is a partial enlarged view showing the state when the pressing operation is started from the state shown in (a). [Figure 3]2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before the pushing-down operation of the discharge container shown in FIG. 1 is released. FIG. [Figure 4] 4A is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 4B is a partially enlarged view showing the state when the pressing operation starts to be released from the state shown in FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state before a push-down operation of a discharge container in a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 6 is a partially enlarged view showing a state when a pressing operation is started from the state shown in FIG. 5. FIG. [Figure 7] 6(a) is a partially enlarged view showing the state of the discharge container shown in FIG. 5 before the pressing operation is released, and FIG. 6(b) is a partially enlarged view showing the state when the pressing operation is started to be released from the state shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0018] 1 to 4(b), in the first embodiment of the present invention, a discharge container 1 has a dispenser 2 and a container body 3. The container body 3 has a mouth part 3a, a body part 3b, and a bottom part (not shown) connected in this order, and contains a content 4. In this embodiment, the content 4 is a liquid.

[0019] The dispenser 2 has a cylinder portion 5a having a step portion 6 and attached to the opening portion 3a of the container body 3, a piston 7 having a contacted portion 9 and sliding on the cylinder portion 5a, a holding member 8 having a contact portion 10 sliding on the contacted portion 9 and a discharge port 8c1, a biasing portion 11 that applies an upward biasing force to the holding member 8, and a pump chamber 12 defined by the cylinder portion 5a and the piston 7. When the holding member 8 is pressed down against the biasing force, the contact portion 10 slides over the contacted portion 9 with the piston 7 abutting against the step portion 6. The piston 7 then slides downward to separate, and the holding member 8 then pushes down on the piston 7, causing the content 4 in the pump chamber 12 to pass between the contact portion 10 and the contacted portion 9 and be discharged from the discharge port 8c1 (i.e., changing from the state shown in FIG. 1 to the state shown in FIG. 2), and when the pushing-down operation is released, the contact portion 10 slides upward on the contacted portion 9 due to the urging force, and the holding member 8 pushes up on the piston 7, causing the content 4 in the container body 3 to be sucked into the pump chamber 12 (i.e., changing from the state shown in FIG. 2 to the state shown in FIG. 1). Note that in this embodiment, the direction along the central axis O of the cylinder portion 5a is referred to as the up-down direction, the direction perpendicular to the central axis O is referred to as the radial direction, and the direction going around the central axis O is referred to as the circumferential direction.

[0020] According to the above configuration, a sealed state between the contact portion 10 and the contacted portion 9 can be maintained for the downward movement length L (see FIG. 2(a)) of the holding member 8 from the start of the pressing operation on the holding member 8 until the contact portion 10 slides downward on the stopped contacted portion 9 and releases it, until the holding member 8 descends from the initial position. Therefore, even if the biasing portion 11 wears down as the holding member 8 is repeatedly pressed down and released to eject the contents 4 as needed, and the holding member 8 no longer returns to the initial position by a predetermined width after the pressing operation is released, as long as the predetermined width is equal to or less than the movement length L, the sealed state can be maintained and leakage of the contents 4 can be prevented. Furthermore, in the case where the contact portion 10 is configured to slide on the contacted portion 9 by the movement length L in this way, the piston 7 will attempt to descend along with the holding member 8 during the pushing operation due to the sliding resistance to the contact portion 10, and therefore the force required for the pushing operation increases from the start of the pushing operation on the holding member 8 until the contact portion 10 slides downward on the contacted portion 9 and releases. For this reason, by providing a step portion 6 on the cylinder portion 5a and configuring the contact portion 10 to slide downward on the contacted portion 9 and release when the piston 7 abuts against the step portion 6 during the pushing operation (when the piston 7 is stopped), the force required for the pushing operation can be reduced.

[0021] The piston 7 has a sliding portion 7b that slides on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder radially outside the contacted portion 9, and the sliding portion 7b of the piston 7 has a lower sliding portion 7b1 that slides on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder portion 5a at the lower end of the sliding portion 7b, and an upper sliding portion 7b2 that slides on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder portion 5a at the upper end of the sliding portion 7b, and the portion of the sliding portion 7b between the lower sliding portion 7b1 and the upper sliding portion 7b2 is separated from the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder portion 5a. As shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), the step portion 6 has an upward step surface 6a (a step surface that forms the upper surface of a step portion that protrudes radially inward on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder portion 5a) that is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder portion 5a, and the step surface 6a is provided so that the contact portion 10 slides downward on the contacted portion 9 to separate when the lower sliding portion 7b1 of the piston 7 abuts against the step surface 6a. Note that instead of this configuration, the step surface 6a may be provided so that the contact portion 10 slides downward on the contacted portion 9 to separate when the upper sliding portion 7b2 of the piston 7 abuts against the step surface 6a. The piston 7 has a cylindrical inner cylindrical portion 7a that is radially inward of the sliding portion 7b and is continuous with the sliding portion 7b, and the contacted portion 9 is formed by the lower end portion of the inner peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical portion 7a. The contacted portion 9 has an annular protrusion 9a that protrudes radially inward around the entire periphery, but is not limited to this.

[0022] The biasing portion 11 is made of a resin spring. In this case, the biasing portion 11 is more likely to wear out than when the biasing portion 11 is made of a metal spring, so the above-described configuration of this embodiment is particularly effective.

[0023] Cylinder portion 5a has second step portion 13, and when the pushing operation is released, the biasing force causes contact portion 10 to slide upward on contacted portion 9 with piston 7 abutting second step portion 13, changing from the state shown in Fig. 4(a) to the state shown in Fig. 4(b), and then holding member 8 pushes up piston 7, sucking content 4 in container body 3 into pump chamber 12. With the above configuration, when the pushing operation is released, the pressure in pump chamber 12 is efficiently reduced, allowing content 4 to be sucked in.

[0024] As shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), the second step portion 13 has a downward-facing second step surface 13a (a step surface that forms the lower surface of the second step portion that is recessed radially outward on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder portion 5a) provided on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder portion 5a, and the second step surface 13a is provided so that the contact portion 10 slides upward on the contacted portion 9 with the lower sliding portion 7b1 of the piston 7 abutting against the second step surface 13a during the pushing-down operation. Alternatively, the second step surface 13a may be provided so that the contact portion 10 slides upward on the contacted portion 9 with the upper sliding portion 7b2 of the piston 7 abutting against the second step surface 13a during the pushing-down operation. The second step surface 13a is provided below the step surface 6a. The second step surface 13a may also be provided above the step surface 6a.

[0025] The holding member 8 has an air reservoir 14 (the shaded portion in FIG. 2(a)) where air accumulates within the pump chamber 12. According to the above configuration, when the pushing-down operation is started, the holding member 8 can be pushed down while compressing the air accumulated in the air reservoir 14 with the piston 7 abutting against the step portion 6, thereby further reducing the force required for the pushing-down operation. Note that the air reservoir 14 where air accumulates within the pump chamber 12 may be provided in another member in addition to or instead of the holding member 8.

[0026] Let V be the volume of the air reservoir 14, L be the downward movement length of the holding member 8 from the start of the pressing operation on the holding member 8 until the contact portion 10 slides downward on the contacted portion 9 in a stopped state and separates, and D be the outer diameter of the contact portion 10, then V>πLD 2 With the above configuration, when the pushing-down operation is started, the holding member 8 can be pushed down with the piston 7 in contact with the stepped portion 6 until the contacting portion 10 slides downward on the contacted portion 9 and separates while compressing the air accumulated in the air reservoir 14. This further reduces the force required for the pushing-down operation.

[0027] The holding member 8 has a cylindrical stem 8a and a piston guide 8b held by engagement with the inner circumferential surface of the stem 8a. The stem 8a has a push-down portion 15 that pushes down the piston 7 when the stem 8a is pushed down, and the piston guide 8b has a push-up portion 16 that pushes up the piston 7 when the push-down operation is released. The piston guide 8b has a cylindrical portion 8b1 held by engagement with the inner circumferential surface of the stem 8a, and a piston guide bottom portion 8b2 that closes the lower end of the cylindrical portion 8b1, has a contact portion 10 on its outer circumferential surface, and has a push-up portion 16 extending radially outward from the lower end of the contact portion 10. The cylindrical portion 8b1 has an opening 17 consisting of multiple holes that penetrate the cylindrical portion 8b1 and allow the contents 4 to flow. The piston guide bottom portion 8b2 has a recess on its underside that forms an air reservoir 14.

[0028] The dispenser 2 comprises a cylinder member 5 having a cylinder portion 5a and a flange 5b extending radially outward from the upper end of the cylinder portion 5a, an attachment cap 18 having a flange presser portion 18a and an attachment tubular portion 18b attached to the mouth portion 3a and sandwiching the flange 5b between the flange presser portion 18a and the upper end surface of the mouth portion 3a, and a retaining member 19 having an annular shape that allows a stem 8a to pass through and is attached to the upper part of the cylinder member 5 to prevent the stem 8a from coming out of the cylinder member 5, the holding member 8 having a discharge port 8c1 and a push-down head 8c that is attached to the upper end of the stem 8a and is pressed down, and the biasing portion 11 is formed by a compression spring that expands and contracts in the vertical direction and is arranged between the push-down head 8c and the pull-down prevention member 19. Note that instead of this arrangement, the biasing portion 11 may be arranged inside the pump chamber 12. The cylinder member 5 has a suction port 5c at the lower end of the cylinder portion 5a, and the discharger 2 has a suction valve 20 arranged in the suction port 5c, which closes the suction port 5c when the suction valve 20 is pressed and opens the suction port 5c when the pressing operation is released. The suction valve 20 has an elastic valve body 20a that opens and closes the suction port 5c. Note that the configuration of the suction valve 20 is not limited to this, and it may be configured as a ball valve, for example.

[0029] In this embodiment, the contact portion 10 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the holding member 8. However, as in the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 7(b), the contact portion 10 may be configured to be provided on the inner peripheral surface of the holding member 8. Even with the above configuration, even if the biasing portion 11 wears out and the holding member 8 is no longer able to return to the initial position by a predetermined width, the sealed state can be maintained as long as the predetermined width is equal to or less than the moving length L, and the effect of suppressing leakage of the contents 4 from between the holding member 8 and the piston 7 can be obtained.

[0030] In the second embodiment, the piston 7 has a sliding portion 7b that slides on the cylinder portion 5a and a cylindrical inner cylindrical portion 7a that is radially inward of the sliding portion 7b and is connected to the sliding portion 7b, the contacted portion 9 is formed by the lower end portion of the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical portion 7a, and the piston guide bottom portion 8b2 has a contacting tube 22 that has a contacting portion 10 on its inner peripheral surface and a connecting portion 23 that connects the lower end portion of the contacting tube 22 to the lower end portion of the cylindrical portion 8b1 of the piston guide 8b. The connecting portion 23 has an expanding diameter portion 23a that expands in diameter downward, and the expanding diameter portion 23a forms a pushing-up portion 16 that pushes up the piston 7 when the pushing-down operation is released and a contacting portion 21 that abuts against the lower end portion of the inner peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical portion 7a to suppress deformation of the lower end portion of the inner cylindrical portion 7a radially inward. When the biasing portion 11 wears and the internal pressure of the pump chamber 12 rises during storage, the abutment portion 21 can prevent the lower end of the inner cylindrical portion 7a of the piston 7 from deforming radially inward due to the internal pressure, thereby preventing the contents 4 from leaking out from between the contact portion 10 of the holding member 8 and the contacted portion 9 of the piston 7. As shown in Fig. 5, the abutment portion 21 is preferably configured not to come into contact with the inner cylindrical portion 7a when the push-up portion 16 is in contact with the piston 7, but this is not limiting.

[0031] The outer peripheral surface of the expanded diameter portion 23a has grooves 23a1 that pass through the push-up portion 16 in the vertical direction. The number of grooves 23a1 in the expanded diameter portion 23a is not particularly limited, and in the second embodiment, there are multiple grooves 23a1. With the above configuration, leak testing can be performed between the contact portion 10 and the contacted portion 9 by blowing air through the grooves 23a1.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 5, in the second embodiment, when the push-up portion 16 is in contact with the piston 7, there is a gap between the lower end surface of the inner cylindrical portion 7a of the piston 7 and the piston guide bottom portion 8b2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the entire lower end surface of the inner cylindrical portion 7a may be in contact with the piston guide bottom portion 8b2 without providing a gap.

[0033] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the above-described embodiments can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 1 Discharge container 2 Dispenser 3 Container body 3a Mouth 3b Torso 4 Contents 5 Cylinder parts 5a Cylinder section 5b flange 5c Intake port 6 Step 6a Step surface 7 Pistons 7a Inner cylinder part 7b Sliding part 7b1 Lower sliding part 7b2 Upper sliding part 8 Retaining member 8a stem 8b Piston guide 8b1 Cylindrical part 8b2 Piston guide bottom 8c Push-down head 8c1 Discharge port 9 Contacted part 9a Annular convex part 10 Contact part 11. Actuation section 12 Pump Room 13 Second step 13a 2nd step surface 14 Air reservoir 15 Push-down section 16 Push-up section 17 Opening 18 Mounting cap 18a Flange holder 18b Mounting tube 19. Anti-slip member 20 Suction valve 20a Elastic valve body 21 Contact part 22 Contact tube 23 Connecting part 23a Expanded diameter part 23a1 Groove D Outer diameter L moving length O center axis V volume

Claims

1. a cylinder portion having a stepped portion and attached to the mouth portion of the container body; a piston having a contacted portion and sliding on the cylinder portion; a holding member having a contact portion that slides on the contacted portion and a discharge port; a biasing portion that applies an upward biasing force to the holding member; a pump chamber defined by the cylinder portion and the piston, When the holding member is pressed down against the biasing force, the contact portion slides downward on the contacted portion and separates from the piston while the piston is in contact with the stepped portion, and then the holding member presses down the piston, causing the content in the pump chamber to pass between the contact portion and the contacted portion and be discharged from the discharge port, When the pushing operation is released, the spring force causes the contact portion to slide upward on the contacted portion and the holding member to push up the piston, thereby sucking the contents in the container body into the pump chamber.

2. The dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the biasing portion is formed of a resin spring.

3. the cylinder portion has a second step portion, 2. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein when the pushing-down operation is released, the biasing force causes the contact portion to slide upward on the contacted portion while the piston is in contact with the second step portion, and then the holding member pushes up the piston, thereby sucking the contents in the container body into the pump chamber.

4. The dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the holding member has an air reservoir portion in which air accumulates within the pump chamber.

5. When the volume of the air reservoir is V, the downward movement length of the holding member from the start of the pressing operation on the holding member until the contact portion slides downward on the contacted portion in a stopped state and separates is L, and the outer diameter of the contact portion is D, V>πLD ２ 5. The dispenser of claim 4, wherein the ratio of the diameter of the nozzle to the diameter of the nozzle is 1 / 4.

6. The dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the contact portion is provided on an outer circumferential surface of the holding member.

7. The dispenser according to claim 1 , wherein the contact portion is provided on an inner circumferential surface of the holding member.

8. the piston has a sliding portion that slides on the cylinder portion, and an inner cylindrical portion that is cylindrical and located radially inward of the sliding portion and is connected to the sliding portion, the contacted portion is formed by a lower end portion of the outer circumferential surface of the inner cylindrical portion, The dispenser according to claim 7, wherein the retaining member has a cylindrical portion, a contact tube having the contact portion on its inner surface, and a connecting portion connecting the lower end of the contact tube to the lower end of the cylindrical portion.

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