Filtering Dispenser Dam Prevents Air Lock
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Solution Overview
Problem
Highly percolative eye liquids with synthetic surface active agents cause liquid to leak through the check valve, leading to air lock issues when the hydrophilic filter absorbs the liquid before first use, making it impossible to dispense the liquid dropwise.
Innovation Solution
A filtering dispenser container design with a dam between the check valve and filter to retain any leaking liquid, preventing it from reaching the filter and incorporating a spacer with a guide groove to ensure the filter remains dry before first use, along with a damper wall to manage pressure and prevent leakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a hydrophilic filter is used to filter the liquid, then the liquid can be dispensed dropwise through the check valve, but air lock occurs when the filter absorbs highly percolative liquid during storage before first use
Solution Approach 1:
A dam is introduced as an intermediary structure between the check valve and the hydrophilic filter. The dam intercepts highly percolative liquid that leaks through the closed check valve during storage, preventing the liquid from reaching and being absorbed by the filter. This mediator structure resolves the contradiction by allowing the filter to remain dry and functional during storage while maintaining its liquid dispensing capability when needed.
2Quantity of substance
If the check valve is kept closed during storage, then the liquid is retained in the bottle, but highly percolative liquid still percolates through the valve due to synthetic surface active agents
Solution Approach 1:
The dam is designed with specific local properties to address the sealing issue. It includes a dam body with a bottom surface that contacts the check valve and a side surface that contacts the bottle inner wall, creating a localized barrier. The dam intercepts percolative liquid at a specific location (between the valve and filter) without affecting the overall valve sealing mechanism, thus maintaining liquid retention while preventing harmful percolation.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a dam is added to retain percolating liquid, then air lock is prevented, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The dam is constructed from an elastic material that forms a flexible structure. The dam body can elastically deform to adapt to the discharge passage geometry and maintain contact with the check valve and bottle inner wall. This flexible construction allows the dam to effectively prevent air lock while minimizing structural complexity, as the elastic material naturally conforms to the required shape without needing complex rigid components.
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
Prevents air lock by keeping the filter dry during storage and delivery, ensuring smooth liquid dispensing by retaining the leaking liquid and managing pressure effectively.
Implementation Method 1
If the hydrophilic filter absorbs the liquid, air is trapped in the space between the check valve and the filter, i.e., so-called air lock occurs
Implementation Method 2
The connector sleeve has a flexible structure having a smaller thickness for easy deformation. Therefore, when the outer layer is squeeze-deformed to increase the pressure in the body of the inner layer, the check valve is elastically deformed to shift the valve head downstream to open the orifice
Data Source
AI summary
In a filtering dispenser container which includes a plug attached to a mouth portion of a bottle thereof and having a liquid discharge passage, and a filter and a check valve provided in the discharge passage, air lock is prevented, even if the container contains a highly percolative liquid, by preventing a very small amount of liquid percolating the check valve from reaching the filter. In the filtering dispenser container, a dam (14) is provided between the check valve (23) and the filter (25) for retaining a very small amount of the liquid percolating the check valve (23) when the check valve is closed. Thus, the filter (25) is prevented from being wetted with the liquid percolating the closed check valve (23) during storage or delivery of the container before the first use of the container.