Air-Return Valve Structure for Leak-Free Negative Pressure Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air-return valves in containers, particularly milk bottles, suffer from issues such as liquid leakage, difficulty in installation, and introduction of bubbles leading to flatulence and milk oxidation, due to poor sealing and design flaws.
Innovation Solution
An air-return valve with a valve body and air path, featuring a valve lip portion with a diaphragm and a thinner wall thickness than the body portion, which closes under non-negative pressure and opens under negative pressure to allow air intake, ensuring reliable sealing and preventing liquid leakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a silicone return air bottom plug is arranged on the bottle body to balance negative pressure, then flatulence and milk oxidation problems are solved, but liquid leakage occurs at the plug and sealing is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The air return valve is divided into separate functional components: a valve body with air path, a diaphragm for pressure sensing, and a valve lip portion with air gap. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally while maintaining reliable sealing through the coordinated interaction of parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The diaphragm acts as an intermediary element that transmits pressure changes from the bottle interior to the valve lip portion. When negative pressure occurs, the diaphragm moves to open the air gap, allowing air intake without direct contact between the plug and liquid, thereby preventing leakage while maintaining sealing.
2Reliability
If air-return valve is provided at the nipple to feed air into the milk bottle, then negative pressure problem is solved, but infant inhales bubbles and flatulence occurs, and milk is oxidized
Solution Approach 1:
The air return function is extracted from the nipple area and relocated to the bottom of the bottle body. This extraction ensures that air intake occurs at the bottom rather than through the nipple, preventing bubbles from entering the milk and being ingested by the infant, while still effectively balancing negative pressure.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve design uses a simplified air gap structure in the valve lip portion that replicates the air intake function without the complexity of mechanical moving parts. This copying approach maintains reliability in negative pressure balancing while eliminating mechanisms that could introduce bubbles into the milk.
3Reliability
If silicone return air bottom plug is used, then negative pressure can be balanced, but the plug is difficult to install and position during installation
Solution Approach 1:
The valve lip portion is designed with elastic properties that allow it to deform during installation for easy insertion, then return to its original shape to secure the air gap structure. This dynamic behavior simplifies installation while maintaining the reliability of negative pressure balancing functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of elastic materials in the valve lip portion and diaphragm allows for flexible installation. The thin, flexible structure can be easily compressed and inserted into the mounting hole, then expands to fit securely, making installation simple while ensuring reliable operation for negative pressure compensation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The valve effectively compensates for negative pressure without allowing air to mix with liquid, preventing flatulence and oxidation, while ensuring easy installation and reliable sealing.
Implementation Method 1
the air gap is closed when interior of the container is under a non-negative pressure and is opened when the interior of the container is under the negative pressure
Data Source
AI summary
In an air-return valve and an air-return container, the valve includes a valve body and an air path formed through the valve body. The valve body has a lip portion above a valve body portion, which is a boss enclosed by a diaphragm. The air path penetrates the valve body portion, and the valve lip portion has an air gap connected to the air path. The air gap is closed when the interior of the container is not under negative pressure; and the air gap is open when the interior of the container is under negative pressure. The container body has a mounting hole with which the air-return valve makes an interference fit. The air-return valve can have a one-way communication effect, and makes air return to the air-return container to compensate for a negative pressure in the air-return container.