Discharge pump

Abstract

The present invention provides a spray pump that makes it easier to direct the liquid contents ejected from the nozzle to a nearby target location and also suppresses nozzle damage. [Solution] A jet pump 3 having a push head member 5 and a cylinder 6, which ejects liquid contents 4 by a push operation, wherein the push head member 5 has an upper cylinder 5b, a nozzle member 5c having an annular piston 5c1 and a nozzle 10, a liquid storage chamber 5d, an upper biasing part 5e, and a head body 5f having a through port 5f1 and being able to move up and down together with the upper cylinder 5b, and the push head member 5 has a guide member 5g, an intermediate chamber 5j, and a swinging member 5k, wherein the head body 5f is lowered by a push operation, the swinging member 5k is pressed by the guide member 5g and swings to advance the nozzle 10 to the ejection position, the intermediate chamber 5j is contracted and sends liquid contents 4 to the liquid storage chamber 5d, and by further push operation the nozzle 10 sends liquid contents 4 from the liquid storage chamber 5d to the ejection port 5a and ejects it in a straight stream, a jet pump.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a jet pump.

Background Art

[0002] There is known a jet pump having a push head member with a jet outlet and a cylinder, which is attached to the mouth of a container body, and by operating the push head member against the biasing force of a biasing portion, the push head member is moved up and down along with a stem that can move up and down with an annular piston that slides in the cylinder in the vertical direction, so that the content liquid in the container body is ejected from the jet outlet through the cylinder (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a jet pump that can easily direct the content liquid ejected from the nozzle to a targeted location nearby and can also suppress damage to the nozzle.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] One aspect of the present invention is as follows.

[0006] [1] A jet pump having a push head member with a jet outlet, a cylinder, a stem that can move up and down with an annular piston that slides in the cylinder in the vertical direction, and a biasing portion that generates a biasing force to raise the stem, which is attached to the mouth of a container body, and by operating the push head member against the biasing force of the biasing portion to move the stem up and down along with the push head member, the content liquid in the container body is ejected from the jet outlet through the cylinder, The pressing head member comprises an upper cylinder, a nozzle member having an annular piston that slides in the front-rear direction within the upper cylinder and a nozzle that can move back and forth between an initial position and a ejection position integrally with the annular piston, a liquid storage chamber partitioned by the upper cylinder and the annular piston and expanding as the annular piston moves forward from the initial position to the ejection position, an upper biasing part that generates a biasing force to return the nozzle member from the ejection position to the initial position, and a head body having a through opening and being able to move up and down together with the upper cylinder. The head body has a head top wall portion that receives the pressing operation, a head outer peripheral wall portion that is connected to the head top wall portion and has the through-hole, and a housing portion that houses the upper cylinder between itself and the head top wall. The pressing head member includes a guide member held at the upper end of the stem and guiding the inner surface of the outer wall of the head in the vertical direction, an intermediate cylinder located upstream of the upper cylinder and downstream of the cylinder and having an inner diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the cylinder, an intermediate annular piston that slides vertically within the intermediate cylinder, an intermediate chamber partitioned by the intermediate cylinder and the intermediate annular piston, and a swinging member that can move up and down with the head body relative to the guide member and swing in a plane perpendicular to the left-right direction. One of the intermediate cylinder and the intermediate annular piston is provided in the housing portion, and the other is provided in the guide member. The nozzle is housed inside the head body in the initial position. At the ejection position, the nozzle is exposed by having its tip, which has the ejection outlet, protruding from the head body through the through-hole. As the head body descends relative to the guide member by the aforementioned pressing operation, the oscillating member oscillates as its lower end is pressed against the upper surface of the guide member, causing its upper end to move forward with the nozzle, thereby advancing the nozzle to the ejection position, and the intermediate chamber contracts to send the contents to the liquid storage chamber. Further pressing causes the nozzle to send the liquid contents from the storage chamber to the outlet at the ejection position and eject them in a straight stream. Upon subsequent release of the pressing operation, the upper biasing unit returns the nozzle to the initial position along with the upper end of the oscillating member by the biasing force, the oscillating member oscillates so that its lower end presses against the upper surface of the guide member, thereby raising the head body relative to the guide member, and the intermediate chamber expands, returning the contents from the liquid storage chamber to the intermediate chamber, in a spray pump.

[0007] [2] The nozzle has an internal flow path that extends elongated from an inlet opening into the liquid storage chamber to the nozzle, a rear end surface having the inlet, and a front end surface having the nozzle. The nozzle has a convex surface on its rear end surface that protrudes rearward with the inlet as its apex and gradually decreases in diameter toward the rear, or a convex surface on its front end surface that protrudes forward with the outlet as its apex and gradually decreases in diameter toward the front, as described in [1]. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a spray pump that makes it easy to direct the liquid contents sprayed from the nozzle to a nearby target location and also suppresses damage to the nozzle. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a cross-sectional view showing the ejection container of one embodiment of the present invention in the state before the pressing operation. [Figure 2] This is a cross-sectional view showing the state when the pressing operation is initiated from the state shown in Figure 1. [Figure 3] This is a cross-sectional view showing the state after the pressing operation has been completed, starting from the state shown in Figure 2. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] As shown in Figure 1, in one embodiment of the present invention, the spray container 1 has a container body 2 and a spray pump 3. The container body 2 has a cylindrical mouth portion (not shown) centered on a central axis O, a body portion 2a connected to the lower end of the mouth portion, and a bottom portion (not shown) connected to the lower end of the body portion 2a, and contains the liquid contents 4. The spray pump 3 has a push head member 5 having a nozzle 5a, a cylinder 6, a stem 7 that can move up and down with an annular piston (not shown) that slides vertically within the cylinder 6, a biasing part 8 that generates a biasing force to raise the stem 7, and a mounting cap 9. The pump is mounted on the mouth portion of the container body 2 via the mounting cap 9, and by a pushing operation on the push head member 5 against the biasing force of the biasing part 8, the stem 7 is raised and lowered along with the push head member 5, thereby spraying the liquid contents 4 in the container body 2 through the cylinder 6 and out of the nozzle 5a. The liquid contents 4 are not particularly limited, but in this embodiment it is a hair growth agent.

[0012] In this embodiment, the direction along the central axis O of the mouth is called the vertical direction, the direction from the bottom to the mouth along the vertical direction is called the upward direction, the opposite direction is called the downward direction, the direction perpendicular to the central axis O is called the radial direction, the direction around the central axis O is called the circumferential direction, the direction in which the nozzle member 5c slides perpendicular to the vertical direction is called the front-rear direction, the direction from the inlet 10c1 to the outlet 5a of the nozzle member 5c along the front-rear direction is called the forward direction, the opposite direction is called the rearward direction, and the direction perpendicular to the vertical and front-rear directions is called the left-right direction.

[0013] As shown in Figures 1-3, the pressing head member 5 includes an upper cylinder 5b, a nozzle member 5c having an annular piston 5c1 that slides in the front-rear direction within the upper cylinder 5b, and a nozzle 10 that can move back and forth between an initial position (position shown in Figure 1) and a ejection position (position shown in Figure 2) integrally with the annular piston 5c1, a liquid storage chamber 5d partitioned by the upper cylinder 5b and the annular piston 5c1 and expanding as the annular piston 5c1 moves forward from the initial position to the ejection position, an upper biasing part 5e consisting of a spring that generates a biasing force to return the nozzle member 5c from the ejection position to the initial position, and a head body 5f having a through-hole 5f1 and being able to move up and down together with the upper cylinder 5b. The head body 5f has a head top wall portion 5f2 that receives the pressing operation, a head outer peripheral wall portion 5f3 connected to the head top wall portion 5f2 and having a through-hole 5f1, and a housing portion 5f4 that houses the upper cylinder 5b between itself and the head top wall.

[0014] The pressing head member 5 includes a guide member 5g held at the upper end of the stem 7 and guiding the inner surface of the outer peripheral wall portion 5f3 of the head in the vertical direction, an intermediate cylinder 5h located upstream of the upper cylinder 5b and downstream of the cylinder 6 and having an inner diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the cylinder 6, an intermediate annular piston 5i that slides vertically within the intermediate cylinder 5h, an intermediate chamber 5j partitioned by the intermediate cylinder 5h and the intermediate annular piston 5i, a swinging member 5k that can move up and down with the head body 5f relative to the guide member 5g and swing in a plane perpendicular to the left and right direction, and a support member 5l mounted on the head body 5f between the housing portion 5f4 and the guide member 5g and supporting the swinging member 5k so that it can swing. One of the intermediate cylinder 5h and the intermediate annular piston 5i is provided in the housing portion 5f4, and the other is provided in the guide member 5g. The upper end of the oscillating member 5k is shaped to split upwards into two branches, and is locked into a circumferential groove 10a provided on the outer circumferential surface of the intermediate part of the nozzle 10 in the front-rear direction, so that it moves back and forth with the nozzle 10.

[0015] The nozzle 10 has an internal flow path 10b that extends longitudinally from an inlet 10c1 opening into the liquid storage chamber 5d to the ejection port 5a, a rear end face 10c having the inlet 10c1, and a front end face 10d having the ejection port 5a. The nozzle 10 also has a convex surface 10e that protrudes rearward with the inlet 10c1 as the vertex and gradually decreases in diameter toward the rear on the rear end face 10c. According to the configuration in which the rear end face 10c of the nozzle 10 has such a convex surface 10e, when the nozzle 10 is formed by injection molding, the long internal flow path 10b can be accurately formed. That is, a long pin for forming the internal flow path 10b is provided in one mold, and in the other mold, a concave surface for forming the convex surface 10e of the nozzle 10 and an insertion hole located at the bottom of the concave surface through which the tip of the pin is guided and inserted by the concave surface when the mold is clamped are provided, thereby suppressing deformation of the pin during mold clamping and injection of the resin material thereafter. Incidentally, instead of the configuration of the present embodiment, the nozzle 10 may have a convex surface 10e that protrudes forward with the ejection port 5a as the vertex and gradually decreases in diameter toward the front on the front end face 10d, and the same effect can be obtained.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 1, the nozzle 10 is housed in the head body 5f in the initial position before the pressing operation. As shown in FIG. 2, in the ejection position after the pressing operation, the tip portion of the nozzle 10 having the ejection port 5a is protruded and exposed from the head body 5f through the through hole 5f1.

[0017] When the pressing operation is performed with the nozzle 10 in the initial position, the head body 5f descends with respect to the guide member 5g. As a result, the swing member 5k swings with the lower end portion being pressed by the upper surface of the guide member 5g, and the upper end portion advances together with the nozzle 10 to advance the nozzle 10 to the ejection position (that is, from the state shown in FIG. 1 to the state shown in FIG. 2), and the intermediate chamber 5j contracts to send the content liquid 4 to the liquid storage chamber 5d.

[0018] By further pressing operation thereafter, the nozzle 10 sends the content liquid 4 from the liquid storage chamber 5d to the ejection port 5a through the long internal flow path 10b at the ejection position, and ejects it vigorously in a direct current manner until the pressing operation is completed as shown in FIG. 3.

[0019] Subsequently, upon release of the pressing operation, the upper biasing unit 5e returns the nozzle 10, along with the upper end of the oscillating member 5k, to its initial position due to the biasing force (i.e., from the state shown in Figure 3 to the state shown in Figure 1). As a result, the oscillating member 5k oscillates, and its lower end presses against the upper surface of the guide member 5g, causing the head body 5f to rise relative to the guide member 5g. The intermediate chamber 5j expands, returning the liquid contents 4 from the liquid storage chamber 5d to the intermediate chamber 5j. At this time, the volume of the liquid storage chamber 5d decreases and the volume of the intermediate chamber 5j expands due to the annular piston 5c1 retracting together with the nozzle 10. By setting the volume change relationship to B≧A (where A is the volume change of the liquid storage chamber 5d when returning from the ejection position to the initial position, and B is the volume change of the intermediate chamber 5j at that time), it is possible to prevent the liquid contents 4 from being ejected when the nozzle retracts.

[0020] According to this embodiment, since the nozzle 10 is housed inside the head body 5f before the pressing operation, damage to the nozzle 10 can be suppressed. Furthermore, by pressing the nozzle 10, the nozzle 10 is made to protrude from the head body 5f, allowing the liquid contents 4 to be sprayed forcefully in a straight stream, making it easy to target the liquid contents 4 to a nearby desired location. Therefore, this embodiment is particularly suitable when the liquid contents 4 are hair growth agents.

[0021] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and the embodiments described above can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0022] 1 squirt container 2. Container body 2a Torso 3. Discharge pump 4 Content liquid 5 Press head member 5a spout 5b Upper cylinder 5c Nozzle component 5c1 Annular piston 5d liquid storage chamber 5e Upper biasing section 5f Head Body 5f1 Through-hole 5f2 Head top wall 5f3 Head outer periphery wall 5f4 Storage Area 5g guide member 5h intermediate cylinder 5i Intermediate ring piston 5j intermediate room 5k oscillating member 5l Support member 6 cylinders 7 Stem 8. Biasing section 9. Mounting cap 10 nozzles 10a Circumferential groove 10b Internal flow path 10c Rear end surface 10c1 entrance 10d Front end 10e Convex O center axis

Claims

1. A spray pump comprising a pressing head member having a nozzle, a cylinder, a stem that can move up and down with an annular piston that slides vertically within the cylinder, and a biasing part that generates a biasing force to raise the stem, which is attached to the mouth of a container body, and which, by pressing the pressing head member against the biasing force of the biasing part, raises and lowers the stem along with the pressing head member, thereby spraying the liquid contents of the container body through the cylinder and out of the nozzle, The pressing head member comprises an upper cylinder, a nozzle member having an annular piston that slides in the front-rear direction within the upper cylinder and a nozzle that can move back and forth between an initial position and a ejection position integrally with the annular piston, a liquid storage chamber partitioned by the upper cylinder and the annular piston and expanding as the annular piston moves forward from the initial position to the ejection position, an upper biasing part that generates a biasing force to return the nozzle member from the ejection position to the initial position, and a head body having a through opening and being able to move up and down together with the upper cylinder. The head body has a head top wall portion that receives the pressing operation, a head outer peripheral wall portion that is connected to the head top wall portion and has the through-hole, and a housing portion that houses the upper cylinder between itself and the head top wall. The pressing head member includes a guide member held at the upper end of the stem and guiding the inner surface of the outer wall of the head in the vertical direction, an intermediate cylinder located upstream of the upper cylinder and downstream of the cylinder and having an inner diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the cylinder, an intermediate annular piston that slides vertically within the intermediate cylinder, an intermediate chamber partitioned by the intermediate cylinder and the intermediate annular piston, and a swinging member that can move up and down with the head body relative to the guide member and swing in a plane perpendicular to the left-right direction. One of the intermediate cylinder and the intermediate annular piston is provided in the housing portion, and the other is provided in the guide member. The nozzle is housed inside the head body in the initial position. At the ejection position, the nozzle is exposed by having its tip, which has the ejection outlet, protruding from the head body through the through-hole. As the head body descends relative to the guide member by the aforementioned pressing operation, the oscillating member oscillates as its lower end is pressed against the upper surface of the guide member, causing its upper end to move forward with the nozzle, thereby advancing the nozzle to the ejection position, and the intermediate chamber contracts to send the contents to the liquid storage chamber. Further pressing causes the nozzle to send the liquid contents from the storage chamber to the outlet at the ejection position and eject them in a straight stream. Upon subsequent release of the pressing operation, the upper biasing unit returns the nozzle to the initial position along with the upper end of the oscillating member by the biasing force, the oscillating member oscillates so that its lower end presses against the upper surface of the guide member, thereby raising the head body relative to the guide member, and the intermediate chamber expands, returning the contents from the liquid storage chamber to the intermediate chamber, in a spray pump.

2. The nozzle has an internal flow path that extends elongated from an inlet opening into the liquid storage chamber to the nozzle, a rear end surface having the inlet, and a front end surface having the nozzle. The nozzle has a convex surface on its rear end surface that protrudes rearward with the inlet as its apex and gradually decreases in diameter toward the rear, or a convex surface on its front end surface that protrudes forward with the outlet as its apex and gradually decreases in diameter toward the front, according to claim 1.

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