Foam Piston Pump with Integrated Vacuum Relief Through Piston Element
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing piston pumps for dispensing fluids from containers face issues with vacuum relief and foam quality, as they often require a significant portion of the bottle's cross-sectional area for air vent passageways and complicate manufacturing with multiple components, leading to inconsistent foam production and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates an improved vacuum relief arrangement where the air passageway is provided through the piston-forming element, and the piston chamber and piston forming elements are manufactured as unitary elements by injection molding, enhancing mixing by restricting flow in the passageway and simplifying production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If air vent passageway is provided through the piston chamber forming member, then vacuum relief is achieved, but the cross-sectional area of the bottle neck is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The air vent function is extracted from the piston chamber forming member and relocated to the piston-forming element. The passageway through the piston-forming element provides vacuum relief without occupying space in the bottle neck area, thus resolving the contradiction between achieving vacuum relief and maintaining adequate bottle neck cross-sectional area.
2Reliability
If multiple components are used for piston chamber forming member and piston forming element, then operational characteristics are improved, but manufacturing complexity and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The piston chamber forming member and piston forming element are merged into a single unitary component manufactured by injection molding. This integration maintains the necessary operational characteristics while eliminating the complexity of assembling multiple separate components, thereby reducing manufacturing steps and costs.
3Reliability
If flow restriction is added to enhance mixing, then foam quality is improved, but pressure drop increases
Solution Approach 1:
A flow restriction is introduced at a specific location within the passageway to enhance mixing of air and liquid for improved foam quality. The restriction is strategically positioned to achieve adequate mixing while minimizing overall pressure drop across the system, resolving the contradiction between foam quality and pressure loss.
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 effectively relieves vacuum within the container, improves foam quality by enhancing air and liquid mixing, and reduces manufacturing complexity and costs by allowing for single-piece construction of key components.
Implementation Method 1
a passageway for flow of air from the atmosphere into the reservoir is provided at least in part through a piston-forming element of the piston pump
Implementation Method 2
an arrangement for providing an advantageous restriction to flow in the passageway towards enhancing mixing
Data Source
AI summary
A piston pump for dispensing fluid from a reservoir, an improved vacuum relief arrangement in which a passageway for flow of air from the atmosphere into the reservoir is provided at least in part through a piston-forming element of the piston pump.