Dispensing Head Microporous Shutter Sterility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drop-by-drop liquid dispensing bottles face challenges in maintaining sterility and ensuring regular, calibrated distribution without external contamination, particularly in ensuring the alternation between liquid and air flows while preventing bacterial contamination.
Innovation Solution
A dispensing head with a nozzle featuring a hydrophobic, microporous shutter acting as a non-return valve, which allows selective passage of air while preventing liquid ingress, combined with an anti-bacterial filtering membrane to ensure sterility and controlled flow alternation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a valve is placed in the expulsion channel to control liquid flow and air return, then the alternation between liquid and air flows is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The valve shutter is designed to operate automatically based on fluid pressure differences. During liquid expulsion, positive pressure pushes the shutter open; during air return, negative pressure closes the shutter. The system serves itself without external control mechanisms, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining reliable flow alternation.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve function is extracted as a separate shutter component within the expulsion channel, allowing independent optimization of the flow control mechanism while keeping the rest of the dispensing system simple.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a porous shutter is used to allow air passage while blocking liquid, then the sterility control is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The shutter is made from a porous material with controlled pore sizes that allow gas molecules to pass through while blocking larger liquid droplets and bacteria. This material-based solution provides inherent filtration capability without requiring complex mechanical structures or high-precision manufacturing tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
The porous structure is applied specifically to the shutter component where it is needed for selective filtration, while other parts of the dispensing system maintain their own optimal properties. This localized application of porous material achieves sterility control without compromising overall system performance.
3Reliability
If the shutter is made hydrophobic to prevent liquid impregnation, then the reliability of valve operation is improved, but the material selection complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shutter material is selected or treated to have hydrophobic properties, changing its surface energy parameters to repel liquid while allowing gas passage. This parameter change ensures the shutter responds reliably to pressure differentials without liquid interference, maintaining consistent valve operation.
4Device complexity
If a single channel is used for both liquid expulsion and air return, then the device simplicity is improved, but the risk of contamination increases
Solution Approach 1:
The single channel operates in periodic cycles, alternating between liquid expulsion mode and air return mode. The valve shutter synchronizes with these cycles, opening during liquid expulsion and closing during air return. This periodic operation allows a simple single-channel structure to maintain sterility by preventing external contamination during the air intake phase.
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 effectively prevents bacterial contamination, ensures regular drop distribution, and maintains sterility by allowing filtered air to enter while preventing external contaminants from reaching the liquid, enhancing the overall performance and simplicity of the dispensing mechanism.
Implementation Method 1
making the shutter in the form of a porous mass made of a hydrophobic material. The hydrophobic nature of the material prevents the shutter of the valve from being impregnated with liquid
Implementation Method 2
said shutter being made in such a way as to allow it to pass through selectively by the air admitted from outside
Implementation Method 3
said shutter is made microporous in the mass and made of a hydrophobic material whose porosity is sufficiently fine for the shutter to then provide anti-bacterial filtration of the air crossing
Implementation Method 4
a valve is placed in the said channel which is mounted to operate as a non-return valve with respect to the circulation of the liquid being expelled and which is made in such a way as to allow it to pass through selectively by the air admitted from outside
Data Source
Figure 1~1A
Figure 2~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a head for dispensing liquid as a drip, comprising a nozzle onto which a channel for ejecting the liquid leads, wherein air sucked in from the outside is returned through said channel in the opposite direction. In the nozzle, on the ejection channel, the drip dispensing head of the invention comprises a valve functioning as a non-return valve for the circulation of the liquid being ejected. The mobile disc of said valve is produced so as to selectively enable air to pass through the valve when the disc is bearing against the seat thereof in a position for closing the liquid ejection channel. The disc is returned to said position by negative pressure applied upstream, which tends to suck in outside air. The disc is advantageously made of a microporous material, which provides antibacterial filtering of the return air.