Sliding-jacket pump with integrated valve for reliable dispensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid cosmetic pumps face issues with sealing problems, operational coordination, and assembly difficulties due to independent ball valves, which become defective when used in inclined or inverted positions, leading to physicochemical degradation and inaccurate dispensing.
Innovation Solution
A pump design featuring a sleeve with a sealing skirt and peripheral lip for leaktight friction contact, a lower valve for closing the inlet port, and a vent orifice that can be sealed by an annular flap, ensuring tightness and reliable dispensing with an axially movable control rod and collar for guiding the control rod, integrated with a one-piece body and fixing ring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an independent ball valve is used to close the inlet orifice, then the inlet port can be sealed during product delivery, but the valve becomes defective when the pump is used in inclined or inverted positions due to gravity forces
Solution Approach 1:
The ball valve is merged with the piston rod, forming an integrated assembly where the valve is carried by the piston rod rather than being an independent component. This integration ensures the valve moves with the piston rod and maintains proper orientation relative to the inlet orifice, eliminating the defectiveness caused by gravity in inclined or inverted positions.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the valve stationary and the piston move independently, the invention inverts the arrangement by making the valve move with the piston rod. This inversion allows the valve to maintain its sealing function regardless of pump orientation, as it is now driven by the same axial displacement that actuates the piston.
2Reliability
If an independent ball valve is attached to the body, then the inlet port can be closed, but this creates sealing problems and assembly difficulties
Solution Approach 1:
The ball valve is combined with the piston rod into a single integrated component. This merging reduces the number of separate parts that need to be assembled and eliminates the sealing problems associated with independent valves attached to the body, as the valve is now an integral part of the moving piston assembly.
3Force
If a metallic spring is used for axial displacement of the actuating head, then the spring can provide return force, but the spring may come into contact with the product and cause physicochemical degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The metallic spring is extracted from the product-containing environment and relocated to the exterior of the body, where it cannot contact the cosmetic product. This extraction eliminates the harmful physicochemical degradation while preserving the spring's essential function of providing return force for the actuating head through the wall of the body.
Solution Approach 2:
The wall of the body acts as an intermediary between the metallic spring and the cosmetic product. The spring remains metallic and functional, while the body wall prevents direct contact with the product, thus mediating the interaction and preventing degradation.
4Ease of operation
If the inlet orifice is closed by an independent ball valve, then product delivery can be controlled, but coordination in operation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The ball valve is merged with the piston rod, so that valve operation is automatically coordinated with piston movement. This integration eliminates the coordination difficulties of independent components, as the valve opens and closes in direct response to the piston's axial displacement during the delivery cycle.
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 pump provides high tightness, accurate and reproducible dosage, adaptability with different actuator heads, and operates effectively in both atmospheric and airless dispensing modes, ensuring product integrity and ease of use.
Implementation Method 1
a sealing skirt which is in contact with the internal wall of the chamber
Implementation Method 2
a peripheral lip which is in leaktight friction contact with the internal wall of the sleeve
Implementation Method 3
a closing element and cooperating, moreover, with a return spring mounted outside said body
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
The invention relates to a pump for a liquid cosmetic product dispenser comprising a body (1) defining a metering chamber provided with an admission orifice (10) at the bottom and having an opening at the top into which is inserted a sleeve (21) carried by an axially movable operating head (2) which is provided with a delivery duct (20) and an open/close element (4) and is acted upon by a return spring (R) mounted on the outside of said body; the pump being characterized in that the body encloses a jacket (3) that moves axially inside said chamber and at least partly inside the sleeve (21) and supports a lower valve (30) for closing the admission orifice (10).