Remaining-amount reduction member

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a remaining-amount reduction member capable of preventing the generation of space whose periphery is closed by pressurized fluid, reducing a final remaining amount of a content to be ejected, stabilizing an ejection amount of the content per unit time, and smoothly ejecting the content to the end. Provided is a remaining-amount reduction member 110 that is attached inside a flexible interior bag 102 arranged inside an aerosol container 100, the remaining-amount reduction member including: an attachment part 120 attached such that the content F is capable of flowing in an inflow port 103 of the interior bag 102; and a guiding part 130 having a plurality of grooved blocks 132, each of which has a guiding groove 131 in a longitudinal direction, connected in the longitudinal direction.

Claims

1. A remaining-amount reduction member that is attached inside a flexible interior bag arranged inside an aerosol container and is used to reduce a final remaining amount of a content to be ejected, the remaining-amount reduction member comprising: an attachment part attached such that the content is capable of flowing in an inflow port of the interior bag; and a guiding part that allows a flow of the content in a longitudinal direction, wherein the guiding part has a plurality of grooved blocks connected in the longitudinal direction, each of the grooved blocks has one guiding groove in the longitudinal direction, the adjacent grooved blocks are connected such that openings of the guiding grooves thereof are oriented in alternating 180 opposite directions, relative to a longitudinal axis of the remaining-amount reduction member, and the guiding grooves communicate with each other in a longitudinal axial direction of the remaining-amount reduction member to cumulatively form a guiding space continuing in the longitudinal direction.

2. The remaining-amount reduction member according to claim 1, wherein each of the grooved blocks is formed to have an outer peripheral shape having a groove forming surface and an arc surface of greater than 180 relative to the longitudinal axis of the remaining-amount reduction member, and each of the guiding grooves is formed from the groove forming surface in a direction toward an arc center and has a depth exceeding the arc center.

3. The remaining-amount reduction member according to claim 2, wherein the arc surface has at least one outer-surface groove, which extends in the longitudinal direction, at a position at which the outer-surface groove does not overlap with the arc surface of the adjacent grooved block in the longitudinal direction.

4. The remaining-amount reduction member according to claim 1, wherein a connection neck part is provided between the attachment part and the grooved blocks, the connection neck part has an opening part opened on the side of the guiding groove of the adjacent grooved block and a 180 opposite side thereof, relative to the longitudinal axis of the remaining-amount reduction member, and the opening part communicates with the guiding space.

5. The remaining-amount reduction member according to claim 1, wherein an odd number of the grooved blocks are connected.

6. The remaining-amount reduction member according to claim 1, wherein an end surface of the attachment part is formed into a smooth convex surface shape.

7. The remaining-amount reduction member according to claim 1, wherein the attachment part is provided at each of both ends in the longitudinal direction of the guiding part.

8. An aerosol container accommodating a plurality of flexible interior bags, wherein the remaining-amount reduction member according to claim 1 is attached inside each of the plurality of interior bags.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a view for describing the cross section of an aerosol container to which the remaining-amount reduction member of the present invention is attached;

(2) FIG. 2 is a front view of the remaining-amount reduction member according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2;

(4) FIGS. 4A-4C show the remaining-amount reduction member according to a first embodiment of the present invention wherein FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, FIG. 4B is a partially-enlarged view of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4C is an A-A cross-sectional view;

(5) FIG. 5 is a graph showing the results of an injection experiment by a two-component simultaneous ejection aerosol container to which the remaining-amount reduction member according to the first embodiment of the present invention is attached;

(6) FIG. 6 is a graph showing the results of an injection experiment by a two-component simultaneous ejection aerosol container to which a remaining-amount reduction member according to a conventional invention is attached;

(7) FIG. 7 is a graph showing the results of an injection experiment by a two-component simultaneous ejection aerosol container to which a dip tube is attached;

(8) FIG. 8 is a table showing the conditions and results of the injection experiments shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 7;

(9) FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a remaining-amount reduction member according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

(10) FIG. 10 is a front view of the remaining-amount reduction member according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

(11) FIG. 11 is a side view of FIG. 10;

(12) FIGS. 12A-12B show the remaining-amount reduction member according to the second embodiment of the present invention wherein FIG. 12A is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 10 and FIG. 12B is a B-B cross-sectional view;

(13) FIG. 13 is a view for describing the cross section of an aerosol container to which a conventional remaining-amount reduction member (dip tube) is attached;

(14) FIGS. 14A-14B show two-component simultaneous ejection aerosol containers wherein FIG. 14A is a view for describing the cross section of a two-component simultaneous ejection aerosol container to which remaining-amount reduction members according to a conventional invention are attached and FIG. 14B is a view for describing the cross section of a two-component simultaneous ejection aerosol container to which conventional dip tubes are attached;

(15) FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a conventional remaining-amount reduction member; and

(16) FIGS. 16A-16B show the remaining-amount reduction member according to the first embodiment of the present invention and the remaining-amount reduction member according to the conventional invention wherein FIG. 16A shows a perspective view of the remaining-amount reduction member according to the first embodiment of the present invention and an A-A cross-sectional view and FIG. 16B shows a perspective view of the remaining-amount reduction member according to the conventional invention, an A-A cross-sectional view, and a B-B cross-sectional view.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

(17) 100, 500: Aerosol container

(18) 101, 501: Exterior can

(19) 102, 502: Interior bag

(20) 103, 503: Inflow port

(21) 104, 504: Spout

(22) 105, 505: Stem

(23) 110, 210, 610: Remaining-amount reduction member

(24) 511: Dip tube (Remaining-amount reduction member)

(25) 120, 220, 620: Attachment part

(26) 121, 221: Connection neck part

(27) 122, 222: Opening part

(28) 123, 223: End surface

(29) 130, 230, 630: Guiding part

(30) 131, 231, 631: Guiding groove

(31) 132, 232: Grooved block

(32) 133, 233: Arc surface

(33) 134, 234: Groove forming surface

(34) 135, 235: Guiding space

(35) 136, 236: Connection surface

(36) 137, 237: Gate

(37) 238: Outer-surface groove

(38) 640: Overlap preventing part

(39) F: Content

(40) G: Pressurized fluid

(41) [Description of Embodiments]

(42) The remaining-amount reduction member of the present invention may have any specific embodiment on the premise that the remaining-amount reduction member is attached inside a flexible interior bag arranged inside an aerosol container and is used to reduce a final remaining amount of a content to be ejected, the remaining-amount reduction member includes an attachment part attached such that the content is capable of flowing in an inflow port of the interior bag, and a guiding part that allows a flow of the content in a longitudinal direction, the guiding part has a plurality of grooved blocks connected in the longitudinal direction, each of the grooved blocks has one guiding groove in the longitudinal direction, the adjacent grooved blocks are connected such that openings of the guiding grooves thereof are oriented in 180 opposite directions, the guiding grooves form guiding space continuing in the longitudinal direction, and the remaining-amount reduction member is capable of preventing the generation of space whose periphery is closed by pressurized fluid, reducing a final remaining amount of the content to be ejected, stabilizing an ejection amount of the content per unit time, and smoothly ejecting the content to the end.

(43) [First Embodiment]

(44) A remaining-amount reduction member 110 according to a first embodiment of the present invention is inserted in an inflow port 103 of an aerosol container 100 similar to the known aerosol container 500 described above instead of the known dip tube 511.

(45) That is, as shown in FIG. 1, an interior bag 102 accommodating a content F is provided inside an exterior can 101 of the aerosol container 100, and the interior bag 102 is provided with a spout 104 having a stem 105 at its upper part and the inflow port 103 opened inside the spout 104.

(46) The space between the exterior can 101 and the interior bag 102 of the aerosol container 100 is filled with pressurized fluid G such as nitrogen gas. When the stem 105 is pressed, the content accommodated in the interior bag 102 is configured to flow in the inflow port 103 to be ejected to an outside from the tip of the stem 105.

(47) Further, in the inflow port 103 of the interior bag 102, the remaining-amount reduction member 110 having attachment parts 120 and a guiding part 130, which represents the first embodiment of the present invention, is inserted.

(48) On this occasion, the inner periphery of the inflow port 103 is formed such that a flow path for the content F is secured between the inner periphery and the attachment parts 120 of the remaining-amount reduction member 110.

(49) As shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 and FIG. 16A, the remaining-amount reduction member 110 has at its both ends the attachment parts 120 attachable such that the content F is capable of flowing in the inflow port 103 of the interior bag 102, and has the guiding part 130 that allows the flow of the content F in its longitudinal direction. Between the attachment parts 120 and the guiding part 130, connection neck parts 121 are formed.

(50) The guiding part 130 has a plurality of grooved blocks 132 continuously connected in the longitudinal direction, and each of the grooved blocks 132 has one guiding groove 131 in the longitudinal direction.

(51) Each of the grooved blocks 132 is formed to have an outer peripheral shape having an arc surface 133 of over 180 and a groove forming surface 134. Each of the guiding grooves 131 is formed to range from the groove forming surface 134 in the direction toward an arc center and have a depth exceeding the arc center.

(52) The adjacent grooved blocks 132 are connected such that the openings of the guiding grooves 131 are oriented in 180 opposite directions, and the guiding grooves 131 form guiding space 135 continuing in the longitudinal direction.

(53) Each of the connection neck parts 121 has an opening part 122 opened on the side of the guiding groove 131 of the adjacent grooved block 132 and its 180 opposite side, and the opening parts 122 communicate with the guiding space 135.

(54) The attachment parts 120 are provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the guiding part 130, and end surfaces 123 of the attachment parts 120 are formed into a smooth convex surface shape.

(55) In the embodiment, the 17 grooved blocks 132 are connected in the longitudinal direction. As shown in FIG. 4, a gate 137 used to inject a resin at molding with a die is provided at a position corresponding to the bottom part of the guiding groove 131 of an exact intermediate grooved block 132c.

(56) Each of the grooved blocks 132 has a length Lb of 4.2 mm in the longitudinal direction on a center line and is set such that a connection surface 136 has an opening angle 1 of 10 with respect to the adjacent grooved block 132 in consideration of molding with a die.

(57) In addition, the guiding grooves 131 have a width Lm of 1.78 mm and are set to have an opening angle 2 of 6 in consideration of molding with a die.

(58) Moreover, the connection neck parts 121 have a length Lk of 1.3 mm in the longitudinal direction.

(59) A description will be given of the operation and function of ejecting the content F with the remaining-amount reduction member 110 thus configured, which represents the first embodiment of the present invention.

(60) When the stem 105 is pressed, the content F accommodated in the interior bag 102 passes through the flow path secured between the inflow port 103 and the attachment part 120 of the remaining-amount reduction member 110 and is ejected from the tip of the stem 105 to the outside.

(61) When a remaining amount of the content F accommodated in the interior bag 102 reduces, the interior bag 102 contacts the guiding part 130 of the remaining-amount reduction member 110. However, all the grooved blocks 132 have the respective guiding grooves 131 opened outward, and the guiding grooves 131 form the guiding space 135 communicating in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, the flow path for the content Fin the longitudinal direction is secured to the end, and the content F passes through the connection neck part 121 provided between the attachment part 120 and the guiding part 130 and is reliably introduced into the inflow port 103.

(62) Accordingly, the content F can be caused to flow toward the inflow port 103 from anywhere over the entire length of the remaining-amount reduction member 110. Therefore, the generation of space whose periphery is closed by pressurized fluid can be prevented, and a final remaining amount of the content F to be ejected can be reduced.

(63) In addition, even if the interior bag 102 sticks to any of the grooved blocks 132 by pressure, a cross section R of the guiding grooves 131 forming the flow path is large and the guiding space 135 forming the flow path in the longitudinal direction is necessarily secured in the back of the guiding grooves 131 as shown in FIG. 16A. Therefore, it becomes possible to stabilize an ejection amount of the content per unit time without increasing the resistance of the flow path.

(64) Note that the number of the grooved blocks, the dimensions of the respective parts, the angle, or the like may be appropriately set according to the shape or material of the interior bag 102, the viscosity of the content F, or the like.

(65) In addition, the width, depth, shape, or the like of the guiding grooves 131 maybe appropriately set according to the shape or material of the interior bag 102, the viscosity of the content F, or the like.

(66) A description will be given of the results of a jetting experiment when the remaining-amount reduction members 110 according to the first embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter called the present invention), the remaining-amount reduction members 610 according to the conventional invention (hereinafter called the conventional invention), and the dip tubes 511 described above are used in a two-component simultaneous-ejection aerosol container as shown in FIG. 14 in which two interior bags are arranged in one exterior can.

(67) As shown in the table of FIG. 8, the same amount of first and second agents having the same viscosity were filled, and pressure inside an aerosol can was set at 0.7 MPa (at 25 C.)

(68) Initially, the first and second agents are jetted by a nearly equal amount with the present invention, the conventional invention, and the dip tubes as shown in the table of FIG. 8.

(69) As shown in FIG. 5, in the case of the present invention, the jetting was continuously performed in a state in which the ratio of the second agent to the first agent was almost equally kept at 1 or so after the initial jetting to reduce remaining amounts. Final remaining amounts of both the first and second agents were 0.6 g.

(70) Conversely, in the case of the conventional invention, final remaining amounts of the first and second agents become very small, i.e., the final remaining amounts of the first and second agents were 1.6 g and 0.3 g, respectively. However, as shown in FIG. 6, jetting amounts of the first and second agents are largely different from each other, and the ratio of the second agent to the first agent continues to reduce until the jetting of the first agent is almost finished and becomes 0.7 at a maximum. After that, only the second agent is jetted.

(71) Further, in the case of the dip tubes, as shown in FIG. 7, the jetting is continuously performed in a state in which the ratio of the second agent to the first agent is nearly equally kept at 1 or so to reduce remaining amounts. However, final remaining amounts become very large, i.e., the final remaining amounts of the first and second agents are 4.6 g and 1.0 g, respectively.

(72) As is also clear from the experimental results, the final remaining amounts with the remaining-amount reduction members of the present invention are as small as those with the remaining-amount reduction members of the conventional invention, and the ratio of the second agent to the first agent in the jetting with the remaining-amount reduction members of the present invention is as equal as that with the dip tubes. Thus, it appears that the remaining-amount reduction members of the present invention reduce final remaining amounts of contents to be ejected, stabilizes ejection amounts of the contents per unit time, and smoothly ejects the contents to the end.

(73) [Second Embodiment]

(74) As shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 12, a remaining-amount reduction member 210 according to a second embodiment of the present invention has, besides the configuration of the remaining-amount reduction member 110 according to the first embodiment described above, a configuration in which arc surfaces 233 have two respective outer-surface grooves 238 extending in the longitudinal direction at their positions at which the outer-surface grooves 238 do not overlap with the arc surfaces 233 of adjacent grooved blocks 232 in the longitudinal direction (the same constituents as those of the first embodiment are shown in the figures by corresponding reference signs in the 200s and their descriptions will be omitted).

(75) As shown in FIG. 12B, the outer-surface grooves 238 are provided at the two spots of the arc surface 233 of each of the grooved blocks 232 so as to extend in the longitudinal direction.

(76) In the embodiment, the outer-surface grooves are formed at exact positions and have an exact cross-sectional shape such that they do not overlap with arc surfaces 233d of adjacent grooved blocks 232d, i.e., the outer-surface grooves are formed at positions and have a cross-sectional shape such that they form surfaces continuing to groove forming surfaces 234d.

(77) Thus, besides guiding space 235 in which space on the outside of groove forming surfaces 234 and the outer-surface grooves 238 of the respective grooved blocks 232 are alternately arranged in the longitudinal direction to be linearly continuous to continuously form central guiding grooves 231, a guiding path on the side of an outer surface similar to that of the conventional invention shown in the experimental example described above is formed. Asa result, since a content further smoothly flows toward an inflow port, it becomes possible to stabilize an ejection amount of the content.

(78) Note that in the embodiment, the guiding grooves 231 are formed into a shape different from that of the guiding grooves 131 of the first embodiment. However, the guiding grooves 231 may be formed into an appropriate shape according to the viscosity of content liquid, the material of an interior bag, or the like and in consideration of manufacturing easiness or the like.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

(79) The remaining-amount reduction member of the present invention may be used not only in each interior bag of general aerosol containers having one interior bag or aerosol containers having two interior bags accommodating different contents but also in aerosol containers having a multiplicity of interior bags. It is possible to design specific shapes using the technical features of the present invention according to various use modes and appropriately modify the remaining-amount reduction member according to the contours or shapes of aerosol containers.

(80) In addition, the remaining-amount reduction member may be used not only in aerosol containers but also in flexible containers to be pressed by a person's hand from the outside of the containers such that a content flows toward an inflow port or containers having other press means.