Pump Dispenser Base Structure for Trapped Air Elimination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pump dispensers face challenges in eliminating trapped air, especially with lower viscosity fluids, which can lead to incomplete doses and product wastage, particularly in applications requiring accurate dosing like medicaments for children.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a downwardly-directed base structure with a central displacement base portion and a peripheral air pocket region, where the pump inlet opening is positioned to draw out trapped air into the pump chamber during assembly or initial priming, and a click indicator mechanism to signal the completion of a dispensing stroke.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional pump structures are used with lower viscosity fluids, then the pump can operate smoothly, but trapped air cannot be effectively eliminated leading to incomplete doses
Solution Approach 1:
The pump chamber is designed to be positioned below the product level during filling, so that when the pump is assembled, product automatically flows into the chamber and displaces air through the inlet valve before the pump is activated. This preliminary priming action ensures air is removed before dosing begins.
Solution Approach 2:
The inlet valve is designed with a specific orientation and positioning that allows it to selectively admit product while excluding air. The valve mechanism extracts air from the pump chamber by allowing it to escape during the priming phase while maintaining product retention during operation.
2Ease of manufacture
If air is trapped in the container during filling, then filling is simplified, but air can reach the pump inlet and cause incomplete doses
Solution Approach 1:
The pump chamber is positioned at a specific location below the product level, creating a local zone that is preferentially filled with product first. This localized priming ensures that the pump chamber area is air-free while the rest of the container can be filled more freely.
Solution Approach 2:
The design ensures that during the filling process, product automatically flows into the pump chamber before the container is completely filled, performing the air-removal action preliminarily during assembly rather than requiring a separate purging step.
3Reliability
If the pump chamber is filled with product during assembly, then air is eliminated, but the assembly process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The pump design allows product to automatically flow into the pump chamber through gravity and pressure differential during the assembly process itself, without requiring separate priming equipment or complex procedures. The pump chamber self-primers as it is installed onto the filled container.
Solution Approach 2:
The pump chamber is positioned at a lower elevation than the product surface in the container, creating a natural pressure differential that drives product into the chamber during assembly. This gravitational equipotential arrangement simplifies the priming process by using natural flow rather than active pumping.
4Reliability
If air is sequestered away from the pump inlet, then dosing accuracy is maintained, but with lower viscosity fluids air can still find its way back into the container
Solution Approach 1:
The inlet valve is positioned and oriented to establish product presence at the pump inlet before the container is completely filled and sealed. This preliminary establishment of product at the inlet creates a stable barrier that prevents air from entering later during container sealing or storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The inlet valve creates a localized zone of product saturation at the pump inlet, establishing a stable product presence in this critical area while allowing the rest of the container to be filled more freely. This local product barrier prevents air migration to the pump.
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 eliminates trapped air during priming, ensuring accurate dosing and reducing product wastage by ensuring air is purged before dispensing, and provides a clear auditory signal for users to confirm the completion of a dispensing stroke.
Implementation Method 1
A pump spring is usually provided to urge the plunger towards an extended position
Implementation Method 2
A piston may be on the inner end of the plunger, whose outer manually-engageable end projects from an opening in the body, and which is reciprocable in a pumping stroke to alter the volume of the pump chamber
Implementation Method 3
Liquid product enters the pump chamber through a valved inlet and leaves it through an outlet - usually also valved - leading along an outlet channel to a discharge opening
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
A pump dispenser includes a container (100) whose top opening is closed off by a base structure (7; 107) of a pump module. The structure is shaped to guide air to an air pocket region (715, 175) adjacent the wall. This region communicates with the pump inlet opening (74; 174) so that air can be discharged. The pump may include a pump body and a plunger which incorporate respective different ones of a click projection (81) and a click actuating formation (91), constituting a click indicator.