Deformable Piston Flange for Air Priming in Fluid Dispensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pusher pumps with small capacity reservoirs face challenges in priming due to the inability to expel air from the chamber, leading to potential malfunctions during fluid pressurization, as existing solutions are not applicable to these systems.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a deformable flange on the piston that can be bent to create an escape passage for pressurized air when the chamber is empty, allowing for initial filling without additional steps or increased pressure, ensuring the outlet valve opens and the chamber is filled with fluid.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a pusher pump is mounted on a small capacity reservoir, then the device can be compact and portable, but the pump cannot be primed because air trapped in the chamber cannot be expelled to the tank
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the harmful element (trapped air) from the chamber by creating a dedicated escape passage through the deformable flange, separate from the normal fluid dispensing path. This allows air to be removed during priming without affecting the reservoir capacity or requiring additional components.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable flange is designed to be deformed during the priming operation before normal dispensing begins. This preliminary deformation creates the escape passage needed for air removal, enabling the chamber to be filled with fluid product before regular operation starts.
2Ease of operation
If additional pressure is exerted to deform the piston and open the outlet valve for priming, then air can escape from the chamber, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The flange is designed with specific elastic properties that allow it to deform dynamically under pressure during priming, then return to its original position during normal operation. This dynamic behavior eliminates the need for separate deformation mechanisms or additional components.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical state of the flange from rigid to elastically deformable, allowing it to temporarily change shape under pressure to create the escape passage. This parameter change enables air escape without adding device complexity, as the same flange serves both sealing and escape passage functions.
3Power
If the outlet valve remains closed during chamber pressurization, then fluid product can be pressurized effectively, but air trapped in the chamber causes malfunctions
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the valve system into two distinct functions: the outlet valve for fluid product dispensing and the escape passage through the deformable flange for air removal. This segmentation allows air to be removed during priming while maintaining the integrity of the fluid pressurization system during normal operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable flange acts as an intermediary element that provides a temporary escape route for air during priming. Once the chamber is filled with fluid product, the flange returns to its original position and the escape passage closes, allowing normal pressurization and dispensing operations to proceed without interference.
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
This solution enables simple and cost-effective priming of the pump without additional steps, ensuring the chamber is filled with fluid for the first dispensing, preventing malfunctions and ensuring the pump operates correctly from the start.
Implementation Method 1
part of the piston (3) is made so as to be elastically deformable... the pusher (2) presses on the flange (31) to cause it to deform
Implementation Method 2
the piston is in contact with the pusher when the pressure in the chamber is below a predetermined threshold by a return spring which urges the piston towards the pusher
Implementation Method 3
the piston moves in the pusher in response to an increase in the pressure of the fluid product in the chamber
Data Source
Figure 1~3
AI summary
Fluid product dispensing device designed to be connected to a fluid product container (R), said device comprising: a fluid product dispensing orifice (25); a pusher (2) that can be moved back and forth axially between a rest position and a depressed position; and a chamber (10) provided with an inlet valve (5, 15), an outlet valve (27, 32), and a piston (3) for varying the volume of the chamber (10), the outlet valve comprising a movable valve element (32) and a valve seat (27), the movable element moving with the piston (3), the piston (3) comprising an elastically deformable part (31) that is deformed by the pusher (2) into the depressed position to open the outlet valve, and the pusher (2) forming the outlet valve seat (27), said device being characterized in that it also comprises a body (1) designed to be mounted on an opening (C) of a container (R), the body (1) forming a barrel (17) for the piston to slide in, defining a free upper edge (171), the piston (3) comprising a piston lip (36) in sealed sliding contact inside the piston barrel (17) and an annular flange (31) extending outwards above the upper edge (171) of the barrel (17), the movable valve element (32) being formed on the outer periphery of the annular flange (31), the elastically deformable part being formed by the annular flange (31), and the pusher (2) bearing on the annular flange (31) when the flange is placed against the upper edge (171) of the barrel, thus deforming the flange and opening the outlet valve.