Pressurized Dispenser Piston with Breakable Seal for Residual Purging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for dispensing pressurized materials face issues with residual pressure and liquid accumulation in the system, leading to reduced effectiveness, and existing solutions are either complex or unreliable under mechanical stresses or thermal expansion.
Innovation Solution
A device with a piston that includes a striker element longer than the housing, which breaks to establish communication between the pressurizing chamber and the tank, allowing for automatic depressurization and effective purging of residual liquid, using a pyrotechnic gas generator to drive the piston and facilitate material dispensing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the piston is used to seal the system at the end of dispensing, then the dispensing function is completed, but the inside volume remains under pressure and residual liquid accumulates in the pipe
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sealing function from the piston by introducing a separate breakable seal element. The piston continues its stroke to depressurize the system while the breakable seal maintains the sealing function until needed, allowing the two functions to be performed simultaneously without conflict.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing function is segmented from the piston's main dispensing function. A separate breakable seal element is introduced that can maintain sealing independently while the piston performs its depressurization stroke, enabling functional separation and resolution of the contradiction.
2Loss of energy
If a complex mechanism is added to depressurize the system, then residual liquid can be purged, but the device complexity increases and reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The breakable seal is pre-positioned in a sealed state during assembly and storage. During normal operation, it automatically breaks when the piston reaches its end position, eliminating the need for complex control mechanisms while ensuring reliable depressurization without residual liquid accumulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses its own operational stroke to trigger the depressurization function. The piston's natural movement to the end position automatically breaks the seal and initiates system purging, making the depressurization function self-activating without requiring external control systems or additional actuators.
3Loss of energy
If the piston stroke is extended to depressurize the system, then residual liquid is purged, but the piston may lose sealing under mechanical stress or thermal expansion
Solution Approach 1:
The breakable seal acts as an intermediary element between the piston and the outlet. It maintains the sealing function during normal operation and only fails (breaks) when the piston reaches its end position, protecting the piston's sealing function from the stresses of extended travel while enabling system depressurization.
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 solution provides a reliable and simple design that automatically depressurizes the system after dispensing, ensuring effective purging of residual liquid and improving the device's effectiveness by ensuring that all material contributes to the intended function.
Implementation Method 1
The gas generator is configured to produce pressurizing gas that exerts pressure on the piston, which pressure is communicated by the piston for the material present in the tank
Implementation Method 2
the striker element presenting a length greater than the length of the housing and projecting from the piston so that the fragile portion is broken by the striker element when the piston is in the second position
Data Source
AI summary
A device for dispensing a pressurized material, includes a body defining a pressurizing chamber containing a gas generator, and a tank containing the material to be dispensed, the tank being defined by an end wall having an outlet orifice. The device includes a piston, to move inside the body, separating the pressurizing chamber from the tank, the gas generator to trigger the dispensing of the material to the outside of the body through the outlet orifice by causing the piston to pass from a material-storage, first position to an end-of-material-dispensing, second position in which the piston faces the end wall. The piston, when in the first position, presents a housing that is closed by a fragile portion beside the pressurizing chamber and that is open beside the tank, the housing containing a striker element that is held in the housing and that defines a channel opening out into the tank.