Trigger-type pump dispenser

Abstract

A pump dispenser includes a housing, a piston structure, a spring, a trigger and a valve. The housing has a front cylinder part and a rear inverted-L-shaped grip part that are integrally formed, a nozzle base that is attached to the housing and that has a front nozzle part mounted thereon. The piston structure is configured of a hollow-shaped piston and a hollow-shaped piston shaft and that slides inside the cylinder part. The spring presses the piston structure upward. The trigger is positioned above the housing, has a front tip rotatably mounted on the housing, and has a mid part where a tip of the hollow-shaped piston shaft abuts. The valve rod is disposed at a center part of the cylinder part.

Claims

1. A pump dispenser attachable to a container, comprising: a housing with a front cylinder part and a rear inverted-L-shaped grip part integrally formed, a nozzle base attached to the housing and having a front nozzle part mounted thereon; a piston structure configured of a hollow-shaped piston and a hollow-shaped piston shaft and sliding inside the cylinder part; a spring which presses the hollow-shaped piston and the hollow-shaped piston shaft upward; a trigger positioned above the housing, having a front tip rotatably mounted on the housing, and having a mid part where a tip of the piston shaft abuts; and a valve rod disposed at a center part inside the cylinder part, wherein the hollow-shaped piston is integrally formed so that a larger-diameter piston part, a smaller diameter piston part, and an intermediate-diameter mid part have a same axis center, the intermediate-diameter mid part has a diameter smaller than the larger-diameter piston part and larger than the smaller diameter piston part, and the smaller diameter piston part has a lip part inside, the valve rod has a first end part, a second end part at an opposite end from the first end part, a valve body having a valve function in cooperation with the lip part at the first end, and an enlarged part at the second end part, and a finger abutting part of the inverted-L-shaped grip part is at rear of a force point of a thumb pad part of the trigger.

2. The pump dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the hollow-shaped piston shaft has an upper part formed into a bifurcated part, tip parts of the bifurcated part abutting on the trigger, and a lower part incorporated in the hollow-shaped piston.

3. The pump dispenser according to claim 2, wherein support shafts each protrude from an outer side surface of a respective one of the tip parts of the bifurcated part.

4. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the smaller diameter piston part of the piston structure is freely slidable inside a hollow part in a longitudinal direction formed in the nozzle base, and movement of the piston structure is not transmitted to the nozzle base.

5. The pump dispenser according to claim 1, wherein a stopper is inserted between the trigger and the inverted-L-shaped grip part.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a center part of a trigger-type pump dispenser according to an embodiment of the present invention, depicting a state in which a stopper is inserted between a trigger and an inverted-L-shaped grip part.

(2) FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the center part of the trigger-type pump dispenser according to the embodiment of the present invention, depicting a state of the trigger before rotation.

(3) FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the center part of the trigger-type pump dispenser according to the embodiment of the present invention, depicting a state of the trigger after rotation.

(4) FIG. 4 is a perspective view depicting a state in which a housing, a nozzle base, and a piston structure for use in the trigger-type pump dispenser according to the embodiment of the present invention are assembled, with the trigger removed for depiction.

(5) FIG. 5 depicts the nozzle base for use in the trigger-type pump dispenser according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 5(A) is a plan view of the nozzle base, FIG. 5(B) is a front view of the nozzle base, and FIG. 5(C) is a sectional view of the nozzle base along an a-a section in FIG. 5(A).

(6) FIG. 6 depicts a piston for use in the trigger-type pump dispenser according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 6(A) is a plan view of the piston, FIG. 6(B) is a front view of the piston, and FIG. 6(C) is a sectional view of the piston along a b-b section in FIG. 6(A).

(7) FIG. 7 depicts a piston shaft for use in the trigger-type pump dispenser according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 7(A) is a plan view of the piston shaft, FIG. 7(B) is a perspective view of the piston shaft, FIG. 7(C) is a front view of the piston shaft, and FIG. 7(D) is a sectional view of the piston shaft along a c-c section in FIG. 7(A).

(8) FIG. 8 depicts a state in which the nozzle base, the piston, and the piston shaft for use in the trigger-type pump dispenser according to the embodiment of the present invention are assembled, in which FIG. 8(A) is a front view of that assembled state and FIG. 8(B) is a sectional view of that assembled state along a d-d section in FIG. 8(A).

(9) FIG. 9 depicts the trigger for use in the trigger-type pump dispenser according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 9(A) is a perspective view of the trigger when viewed from below, FIG. 9(B) is a front view of the trigger, and FIG. 9(C) is a perspective view of a rear surface of the trigger when viewed from below.

(10) FIG. 10 depicts a general outline of a first valve for use in the trigger-type pump dispenser according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 10(A) is a plan view of the first valve and FIG. 10(B) is a sectional view of the first valve.

(11) FIG. 11 is a sectional view depicting another modification example of the nozzle base.

(12) FIG. 12 is a diagram depicting, for reference, comparison between the above-described embodiment and a nozzle base 12 of FIG. 11.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(13) A trigger-type pump dispenser A according to an embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the drawings.

(14) The trigger-type pump dispenser A according to the embodiment of the present invention has a structure in which, with an inverted-L-shape grip part 11B gripped and a thumb pad part 13a of a trigger 13 pressed downward by using the thumb, a piston structure 14 is moved down to provide a compression force to a liquid for injection from a nozzle part 11C.

(15) FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a center part of the trigger-type pump dispenser A according to the embodiment of the present invention, depicting a state in which a stopper 21 is inserted between the trigger 13 and the inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B.

(16) The stopper 21 is inserted in order to prevent the trigger 13 from being pressed down due to some circumstances during storage or during delivery of the trigger-type pump dispenser A.

(17) FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the center part of the trigger-type pump dispenser A according to the embodiment of the present invention, depicting a state of the trigger before rotation.

(18) FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the center part of the trigger-type pump dispenser A according to the embodiment of the present invention, depicting a state of the trigger after rotation.

(19) As depicted in FIG. 2, the trigger-type pump dispenser A according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a housing 11, a nozzle base 12, the trigger 13, the piston structure 14, a hollow-shaped piston 15, a hollow-shaped piston shaft 16, a spring 17, a valve rod 18, a tube 19, and a cap 20.

(20) The housing 11 has a front cylinder part 11A and the rear inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B integrally formed (refer to FIG. 4).

(21) Note that the cylinder part 11A is not depicted in FIG. 4 because of being inside the cap 20.

(22) Also, the housing 11 has attached thereto a nozzle base, which will be described further below.

(23) Also, the cylinder part 11A has a large diameter part 11Aa, an intermediate diameter part 11Ab, and a small diameter part 11Ac.

(24) Note that the piston 15 slides inside this cylinder part.

(25) A flange 11Aaf is formed on an outer circumference of the large diameter part 11Aa, and this flange 11Aaf is held tight by the cap 20, which will be described further below, to be attached to a container.

(26) The inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B is positioned below the thumb pad part 13a of the trigger 13 at a rear end of the trigger 13, which will be described further below.

(27) And, a finger abutting part 11Bs is on a side of the inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B opposed to the cap 20. This finger abutting part 11Bs is preferably at the rear of a force point P3 of the thumb pad part 13a of the trigger 13, which will be described further below.

(28) The nozzle part 11C is positioned at the front of the housing 11 (refer to FIG. 4), is mounted on the nozzle base 12, and has its upper surface flush with an upper surface of the housing 11.

(29) Inside the nozzle part 11C, a hollow cylindrical part 11Ca is provided.

(30) Inside this hollow cylindrical part 11Ca of the nozzle part, a second valve SV having a valve body SVa is incorporated.

(31) And, the valve body SVa of the second valve SV abuts on a bottom part (serving as a valve seat function) of a hollow part 12b (refer to FIG. 5(C)) of the nozzle base 12 in the lateral direction.

(32) As depicted in FIGS. 5(A) to 5(C), the nozzle base 12 has, at its front, the hollow part 12b in the lateral direction, and has, at its center, a hollow part 12a in a longitudinal direction.

(33) Also, at its front, a latch nail 12d in the longitudinal direction and a latch nail 12e in the lateral direction are provided, and a fit-in protrusion 12c is provided at the rear.

(34) Also, the trigger 13 is positioned above the housing 11, and has its front end part rotatably coupled to attachment holes 11d (refer to FIG. 4) of the housing 11.

(35) That is, the portions of the above-mentioned attachment holes 11d to which the front end part of the trigger 13 is rotatably attached serve as rotation fulcrums P1 of the trigger 13.

(36) Also, as depicted in FIG. 2, FIG. 9(A), and FIG. 9(B), the thumb pad part 13a is formed at a rear tip of the trigger 13.

(37) And, a center part of this thumb pad part 13a serves as the force point P3.

(38) Also as depicted in FIG. 9(A) and FIG. 9(C), arc-shaped recesses 13b (two locations) and notches 13c (two locations) are formed on a rear surface of the trigger 13. The arc-shaped recesses 13b (two locations) are formed at a substantially mid part of the trigger 13, and the notches 13c (two locations) are formed at a portion near a rear end part of the trigger 13.

(39) And, (two) support shafts 16c of a bifurcated part 16b of the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16, which will be described further below, abut on the arc-shaped recesses 13b (two locations) of the trigger 13.

(40) The portions where the (two) support shafts 16c abut, that is, the arc-shaped recesses 13b (two locations), serve as points of application P2 of the trigger 13.

(41) As described above, the stopper 21 can be inserted between the trigger 13 and the inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B.

(42) And, the stopper 21 has an upper protruding part 21a and a lower side protruding part 21b.

(43) The stopper 21 is caused to slide in a lateral direction along a horizontal plane part 11Bx of the grip part 11B to cause the upper protruding part 21a to be engaged in the notches 13c of the trigger 13 and also to cause the side protruding part 21b to fit in between the horizontal plane part 11Bx of the grip part 11B and a rear step part 12y of the nozzle base 12.

(44) In this manner, the stopper 21 can be easily attached.

(45) Also, to remove the stopper 21, the stopper 21 is drawn out oppositely to the above-described sliding direction, thereby allowing removal.

(46) As depicted in FIG. 8(A) and FIG. 8(B), the piston structure 14 is configured of the hollow-shaped piston 15 and the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16.

(47) First, as depicted in FIG. 6, the hollow-shaped piston 15 has a large-diameter piston part 15A, a small-diameter piston part 15B, and an intermediate-diameter mid part 15C integrally formed so as to have a same axis.

(48) That is, as depicted in FIG. 6(C), a lower end of the small-diameter piston part 15B is coupled to the intermediate-diameter mid part 15C at an upper coupling part 15Ca of the intermediate-diameter mid part 15C, and a portion near a lower end of the large-diameter piston part 15A is coupled to the intermediate-diameter mid part 15C at a lower coupling part 15Cb of the intermediate-diameter mid part 15C.

(49) And, a lip part 15Ba is formed below the inside of the small-diameter piston part 15B, whose upper end has an outward flange part 15Bb formed thereat.

(50) The small-diameter piston part 15B is slidably inserted into the hollow part 12a of the nozzle base 12 in the longitudinal direction.

(51) In this state, the cylinder part 11A and the space inside the nozzle base 12 are sealed from outside.

(52) As will be described further below, when the trigger 13 is operated to inject a liquid, this small-diameter piston part 15B vertically moves, but the nozzle base 12 does not vertically move, and therefore the nozzle part 11C does not move and its position does not change.

(53) Also, the large-diameter piston part 15A is slidably inserted into the large diameter part 11Aa of the cylinder part 11A.

(54) As depicted in FIGS. 7(A) to 7(D), in the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16, the bifurcated part 16b is formed on an upper part of a main body part 16a.

(55) Also, the (two) support shafts 16c protrude from an outer side surface of an upper portion of the bifurcated part 16b.

(56) As described above, the (two) support shafts 16c abut on the arc-shaped recesses 13b (two locations) of the trigger 3.

(57) And, the portions where the (two) support shaft 16c abut, that is, the arc-shaped recesses 13b (two locations), serve as the points of application P2 of the trigger 13.

(58) Also, a flange 16f protrudes from outside of a lower end of the main body part 16a.

(59) And, as depicted in FIG. 8(B), in the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16, the flange 16f at the lower end part of the main body part 16a abuts on the above-described lower coupling part 15Cb (refer to (C) of FIG. 6) of the intermediate-diameter mid part 15C.

(60) The spring 17 is a coil spring, pressing the piston structure 14 formed of the hollow-shaped piston 15 and the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16 upward.

(61) An upper end part of the spring 17 abuts on a rear side of the upper coupling part 15Ca of the intermediate-diameter mid part, and a lower end part of the spring 17 abuts on an upper surface of an enlarged part 18b at a lower part of the valve rod 18, which will be described further below.

(62) And, when the thumb pad part 13a of the trigger 13 is pressed down by the thumb to rotate the trigger 13, the piston structure 14 formed of the hollow-shaped piston 15 and the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16 moves downward to compress the spring 17.

(63) Also, when pressing-down of the thumb pad part 13a is suspended, the spring 17 is expanded to press the piston structure 14 formed of the hollow-shaped piston 15 and the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16 upward.

(64) And, when the piston structure 14 is pressed upward, the support shafts 16c (fitting in the arc-shaped recesses 13b of the trigger 13) of the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16 are pushed up to cause the trigger 13 to return to the original position.

(65) In this manner, the spring 17 functions as a return spring of the trigger 13.

(66) The valve rod 18 is disposed at a center part inside the large diameter part 11Aa and the intermediate diameter part 11Ab of the cylinder part 11A.

(67) The valve rod 18 includes, at its tip part, a valve body 18a having a valve function in cooperation with the above-described lip part 15Ba of the small-diameter piston part 15B, and includes the enlarged part 18b at its lower base end part.

(68) And, this enlarged part 18b of the valve rod 18 is accommodated inside the intermediate diameter part 11Ab of the housing 11.

(69) Also, this enlarged part 18b includes a gap with an open lower end, and this open part of the gap includes a first valve FV.

(70) A general outline of the first valve FV is depicted in FIG. 10. As depicted in FIG. 10(A), the first valve FV is configured of a valve body FVa and (two) plate spring parts FVb.

(71) And, the plate spring parts FVb support and press the valve body FVa.

(72) Also, the valve body FVa is opposed to a portion annularly protruding slightly upward from the intermediate diameter part 11Ab of the housing 11 (that is, a portion acting as a valve seat).

(73) With the valve body FVa going away from this annularly protruding portion, the valve is opened.

(74) As depicted in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the tube 19 is attached as being inserted into the small diameter part 11Ac of the cylinder part 11A.

(75) And, above an opening of an upper end part of the tube 19, the above-described first valve FV is positioned.

(76) As depicted in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the cap 20 is to attach the housing 11 to the container, attaching as being screwed into an outlet part of the container by using the flange 11Aaf of the housing 11.

(77) Note that, preferably, the above-described hollow-shaped piston 15 is made of polyethylene, and the others including the housing 11, the nozzle base 12, the trigger 13, the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16, the valve rod 18, the tube 19, the cap 20, and the stopper 21 are all made of polypropylene.

(78) Note that these are not necessarily restricted to be made of polyethylene or polypropylene.

(79) Next, actuation of the trigger-type pump dispenser A according to the embodiment of the present invention is described.

(80) First, the stopper 21 (refer to FIG. 1) inserted between the trigger 13 and the inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B is removed to cause a state in which the thumb pad part 13a of the trigger 13 can be pressed down by the thumb.

(81) Next, as depicted in FIG. 3, the inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B and the trigger 13 are gripped and the thumb pad part 13a of the trigger 13 is pressed down by the thumb, the trigger 13 rotates about the fulcrums P1 until abutting on the upper surface of the nozzle base 12.

(82) When the inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B and the trigger 13 are gripped and the thumb pad part 13a of the trigger 13 is pressed down by the thumb to cause the trigger 13 to rotate about the fulcrums P1, the hollow-shaped piston 15 also moves downward via the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16 in an interlocked manner with the movement of the trigger 13, and the liquid pressure inside the large diameter part 11Aa and the intermediate part 11Ab of the cylinder part 11A is increased.

(83) Note that when the liquid pressure inside the intermediate diameter part 11Ab is increased, the first valve FV is closed.

(84) When the piston structure 14 formed of the hollow-shaped piston 15 and the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16 moves downward against the returning force of the spring 17, the valve body 18a of the valve rod 18 is released from a contact with the lip part 15Ba of the small diameter piston part 15B, and the inside of the large diameter part 11Aa of the cylinder part 11A communicates the hollow part 12a (refer to FIG. 5(C)) in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle part 12.

(85) Thus, the increased liquid pressure inside the hollow part 12a in the longitudinal direction acts on the valve body SVa to open the second-valve valve body SV.

(86) Thus, the liquid is injected from the nozzle part 11C.

(87) In this case, with the rotation of the trigger 13 about the fulcrums P1, even if the hollow-shaped piston 15 moves downward, the nozzle part 11C does not move and is at a fixed position.

(88) Also, as depicted in FIG. 2, when the pressing force from the trigger 13 by the thumb is released, by the returning force of the spring 17, the piston structure 14 formed of the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16 and the hollow-shaped piston 15 ascends to return to the original position.

(89) Note that in the trigger 13, since the (two) support shafts 16c of the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16 abut on the arc-shaped recesses 13b (two locations) of the trigger 13, the trigger 13 is also rotated and returned to the original position by the returning force of the spring 17.

(90) When the hollow-shaped piston 15 ascends, the inside of the cylinder part becomes at a negative pressure. Thus, the second valve SV is closed, the first valve FV is opened, and the liquid inside the container main body is drawn up via the tube 19.

(91) Here, when the hollow-shaped piston 15 ascends to be returned to the original position, the valve body 18a of the valve rod 18 makes contact with the lip part 15Ba of the small-diameter piston part 15B, and the communication between the large diameter part 11Aa of the cylinder part 11A and the hollow part 12a (refer to FIG. 5(C)) of the nozzle base 12 in the longitudinal direction is interrupted.

(92) Thus, liquid leakage to the outside is prevented.

(93) The trigger-type pump dispenser A according to the embodiment of the preset invention has the following effects.

(94) Even if the trigger 13 vertically rotates, the position of the nozzle part 11C does not change, and therefore the liquid injecting direction can be accurately defined toward a target.

(95) Also, since the vertical movement of the hollow-shaped piston 15 can be made via the hollow-shaped piston shaft 16, the inner space of the housing 11 can be reduced.

(96) Also, since the inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B is positioned under the trigger 13, when the trigger 13 for injecting the liquid is pulled in, a grip is good, and the whole trigger-type pump dispenser A is not required to be gripped.

(97) Also, in a state in which four fingers are hooked on the inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B, the thumb is put on the thumb pad part 13a of the trigger 13, and a simple press downward is enough.

(98) Thus, the dispenser can be easily handled even by a child with small hands, a handicapped person with decreased grip power or finger power, or the like.

(99) Furthermore, even if a liquid is affixed to the trigger-type pump dispenser A itself, the hand is away from the trigger-type pump dispenser A itself, and is therefore not soiled.

(100) Also, the trigger-type pump dispenser A is such that, in a state in which the inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B is gripped, the trigger 13 above the inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B is pressed down to cause a liquid inside the cylinder part 11A to be injected from the nozzle part 11C. Since the finger abutting part 11Bs of the inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B is at the rear of the force point P3 of the thumb pad part 13a of the trigger 13, a grip is good, and holding capability is high.

(101) Also, finger power is efficiently transmitted, and operability is excellent.

(102) Also, with the stopper 21 inserted between the trigger 13 and the inverted-L-shaped grip part 11B, the trigger 13 can be prevented from being pressed down due to some circumstances during storage or during delivery of the trigger-type pump dispenser A.

(103) And, as described above, insertion, that is, attachment, and removal of the stopper 21 can be easily made by sliding along the horizontal plane part 11Bx of the grip part 11B.

(104) While the suitable embodiment of the present invention has been described in the foregoing, the present invention is not restricted to the above embodiment.

(105) For example, FIG. 11 is a sectional view depicting a modification example of the nozzle base 12.

(106) In this case, unlike the above-described nozzle part 11C of FIG. 1, this nozzle part 11C is integrally formed with the nozzle base 12.

(107) Also, unlike the nozzle base 12 of FIG. 1, the hollow part 12a in the longitudinal direction is a component separate from the nozzle base 12. Also, the second valve SV is mounted on this hollow part 12a in the longitudinal direction.

(108) And, the hollow part 12a in the longitudinal direction has an upper lip part 12a1 formed, which cooperates with the valve body of the second valve SV to exert a valve open/close function.

(109) Also, FIG. 12 is a diagram depicting, for reference, comparison between the above-described embodiment (FIG. 1 to FIG. 10) and the nozzle base 12 of FIG. 11.

(110) (A) depicts the nozzle base 12 of the above-described embodiment, and (B) depicts the nozzle base 12 of FIG. 11.

(111) In any case, the nozzle base 12 does not vertically move, and the nozzle part 11C has an unmovable structure.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

(112) The present invention can be applied to, for example, general industries as coating purposes or fields of medical equipment and so forth, as long as they use the liquid injection principle of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

(113) 11 . . . housing 11d . . . attachment hole 11A . . . cylinder part 11Aa . . . large diameter part 11Aaf . . . outer circumferential flange 11Ab . . . intermediate diameter part 11Ac . . . small diameter part 11B . . . inverted-L-shaped grip part 11Bs . . . finger abutting part 11Bx . . . horizontal plane part of the grip part 11C . . . nozzle part 11Ca . . . hollow cylindrical part of the nozzle part 12 . . . nozzle base 12a . . . hollow part in a longitudinal direction 12b . . . hollow part in a lateral direction 12c . . . fit-in protrusion 12d . . . latch nail in a longitudinal direction 12e . . . latch nail in a lateral direction 12y . . . rear step part of the nozzle base 13 . . . trigger 13a . . . thumb pad part of the trigger 13b . . . arc-shaped recess of the trigger 13c . . . notch of the trigger 14 . . . piston structure 15 . . . hollow-shaped piston 15A . . . large-diameter piston part 15B . . . small-diameter piston part 15Ba . . . lip part of the small-diameter piston part 15Bb . . . flange part 15C . . . intermediate-diameter mid part 15Ca . . . upper coupling part of the intermediate-diameter mid part 15Cb . . . lower coupling part of the intermediate-diameter mid part 16 . . . hollow-shaped piston shaft 16a . . . main body part 16b . . . bifurcated part 16c . . . support shaft 16f . . . flange 17 . . . spring 18 . . . valve rod 18a . . . valve body 18b . . . enlarged part 19 . . . tube 20 . . . cap 21 . . . stopper 21a . . . upper protruding part 21b . . . side protruding part SV . . . second valve SVa . . . valve body of the second valve FV . . . first valve FVa . . . valve body of the first valve FVb . . . plate spring part of the first valve P1 . . . fulcrum P2 . . . point of application P3 . . . force point A . . . trigger-type pump dispenser