SYSTEM COMPRISING A CARTRIDGE AND AN ACTUATING DEVICE

Abstract

A system including a cartridge and an actuating device for actuating the cartridge, wherein the actuating device includes a housing having an interior space in which a linearly acting drive is arranged, the cartridge includes a cylinder space and a displacement element movably arranged in the cylinder space, wherein the displacement element subdivides the cylinder space into a containing space for receiving the viscous medium and an empty space and separates them from each other in a fluid-tight manner, wherein the linearly acting drive can be engaged with the displacement element of the cartridge, wherein the cartridge and the housing each include connecting elements for releasable connection to each other along a joining direction, wherein a seal acting axially with respect to the joining direction is arranged between the housing and the cartridge, and wherein the interior space and empty space are sealed in an airtight manner in the connected state.

Claims

1. A system, comprising: a cartridge and an actuating device for actuating the cartridge to dispense a viscous medium, wherein the actuating device comprises a housing having an interior space in which a linearly acting drive is arranged, wherein the cartridge comprises a cylinder-piston arrangement having a cylinder space and a displacement element movably arranged in the cylinder space, wherein the displacement element subdivides the cylinder space into a containing space for receiving the viscous medium and an empty space and separates the containing space and the empty space from each other in a fluid-tight manner, wherein the linearly acting drive can be engaged with the displacement element of the cartridge, wherein the cartridge and the housing each comprise connecting elements for releasable connection to each other along a joining direction, wherein a seal acting axially with respect to the joining direction is arranged between the housing and the cartridge, and wherein the interior space and the empty space are sealed in an airtight manner in the connected state.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the drive comprises a drive motor and a transmission, the transmission comprising a drive spindle and a spindle nut, the drive motor being in direct or indirect engagement with the spindle nut for transmitting a rotational movement, wherein the drive spindle defines a drive axis about which the spindle nut is rotatably arranged and along which the drive spindle is arranged to reciprocate over a stroke upon rotation of the spindle nut relative to the housing.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the housing comprises a wall through which the drive spindle can be passed with a first axial end, wherein the drive spindle can be brought into engagement, indirectly or directly, with the displacement element of the cartridge at the first axial end.

4. The system according to claims 3, wherein the drive spindle comprises a first rotation-preventing element along a section in the housing, wherein a second rotation-preventing element associated with the housing is provided, and wherein the first rotation-preventing element and the second rotation-preventing element interact in such a way that the drive spindle is supported in a non-rotatable manner against the housing over at least part of the stroke.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the first rotation-preventing element and the second rotation-preventing element establish a form-fit or a force fit.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the first rotation-preventing element and the second rotation-preventing element establish a form fit, wherein the second rotation-preventing element is elastically deformable or elastically movable away from the first rotation-preventing element against a restoring force and the form fit can be released thereby.

7. The system according to claim 3, wherein the drive spindle comprises at the first axial end a coupling element for connection to the displacement element of the cartridge, wherein the coupling element is connected to the drive spindle in a rotationally fixed manner and comprises a first stop element radially spaced from the drive axis, wherein the displacement element comprises a second stop element radially spaced from the drive axis, and wherein the first stop element and the second stop element are arranged to cooperate in such a way that the coupling element is non-rotatably supported against the displacement element.

8. The system according to claim 2, wherein the actuating device comprises a motor control connected to the drive motor, which comprises a sensor system for determining an upper and a lower end position of the drive spindle.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the motor control is arranged to switch off the drive motor when the upper or lower end position is determined or to reverse the direction of rotation of the drive motor.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the actuating device comprises an elastic element which is arranged in such a way that, in an upper end position of the drive spindle in which it is retracted into the housing, it is biased indirectly or directly between the drive spindle and the housing with respect to the axial direction.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the elastic element is arranged between a second axial end of the drive spindle and a second wall section of the housing.

12. The system according to claim 10, wherein the elastic element is arranged between the coupling element and a first wall section of the housing.

13. The system according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge is connectable to the housing by means of a screw connection or a bayonet connection.

14. The system according to claim 1, wherein the seal is an annular, elastic seal with a U-shaped profile.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the actuating device comprises a carrier plate which, in the connected state, is axially gripped between a section of the housing and a section of the cartridge.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the U-profile of the seal engages around the edge of the carrier plate.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the seal together with the carrier plate is axially gripped between the section of the housing and the section of the cartridge in the connected state.

18. The system according to claim 2, wherein the drive axis and the joining direction coincide.

19. The system according to claim 2, wherein the actuating device comprises a switch for the drive motor, which switch acts in a contactless manner through a closed section of a wall of the housing.

20. The system according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge comprises a dispensing opening through which the viscous medium can be dispensed from the containing space, wherein the dispensing opening is secured against backflow of the dispensed medium by means of a non-return valve.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0054] The invention will be further explained below with reference to the drawings. It is shown in

[0055] FIG. 1: a cross-sectional view of the system according to the invention in a first cross-sectional plane;

[0056] FIG. 2: the system according to the invention in FIG. 1 in perspective cross-sectional views in a second plane;

[0057] FIG. 3 a perspective view of the actuating device according to the invention, looking at the connection side to the cartridge; and

[0058] FIG. 4 a perspective view of the cartridge, looking at the connection side to the actuating device according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0059] The same composite system, consisting of an actuating device 10 and a cartridge 12 connected to it, is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The actuating device 10 has a housing 14 with a peripheral housing wall 16, a housing cover 18, also referred to as a second wall section of the housing, and a housing base 20, also referred to as the first wall section of the housing, wherein in the illustration of FIG. 2, the housing 14 of the actuating device 10, with the exception of the housing base 20, has been left out to make the internal elements more visible. FIG. 3 shows the Actuating Device according to the invention separately. FIG. 4 shows the cartridge from FIGS. 1 and 2 separately.

[0060] A linearly acting drive, consisting of a drive motor 22 and a transmission, is arranged in the housing 14. The transmission includes a motor transmission 24 that is directly connected to the drive motor. An output shaft 26 extends out of the common housing. A spur gear 28 is mounted on the output shaft 26, which transmits the rotation of the output shaft 26 to a spindle nut 30 with a peripheral gear rim. Along a drive axis 32, a drive spindle 34 extends as a further part of the transmission, interacting with the spindle nut. The spindle nut 30 thus turns around this drive axis 32.

[0061] The drive spindle 34 is guided out of the housing 14 of the actuating device 10 with its first axial end 35 through the housing base 20. A coupling element 38 is arranged on the first axial end 35 of the drive spindle 34 and is connected to the drive spindle 34 in a rotationally fixed manner. In the assembled state as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the drive spindle 34 is indirectly engaged with a displacement element or piston 40 of the cartridge 12 via the coupling element 38.

[0062] A carrier plate 39 is located in the housing 14, against which the spindle nut 30 abuts under load. The housing base 20 is suspended in the carrier plate 39 from below. Its object is to protect the spindle nut 30 from below and to hold it in position. The object of the housing base 20 is not to divert the axial force acting on the spindle nut under load into the structure of the housing. Between the spindle nut 30 and the carrier plate 39 is a sliding element 41 for low-wear rotation of the spindle nut even under load.

[0063] The cartridge 12 further comprises a cartridge wall 42 having a peripheral wall 44 and a bottom wall 45 opposite the displacement element or piston 40. The cartridge wall 42 together with the piston 40 encloses a containing space 46 for receiving the viscous medium not shown. A dispensing opening 47 is located in the bottom wall 45. When the piston 40 is moved by means of the drive from the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 towards the bottom wall 45, the viscous medium is conveyed out of the cartridge 12 through the dispensing opening 47. In order to prevent medium that has already been dispensed from being unintentionally sucked back into the cartridge, for example when the piston 40 moves upwards again, whether intentionally or not, or when the volume of the medium in the containing space is reduced by cooling, the cartridge 12 has a non-return valve 88 inside, in front of or behind the dispensing opening 47.

[0064] The housing 14 of the actuating device 10 and the wall 42 of the cartridge 12 are designed in two parts and each comprise connecting elements for releasable connection to one another along a joining direction. In the embodiment, this is a screw connection 48. The screw connection 48 is only one possible embodiment of a releasable connection between the actuating device 10 and the cartridge 12. In its place, for example, a bayonet connection, a latching connection or another self-locking plug connection can be provided. The joining direction coincides with the drive axis 32, so that the cartridge 12 can be screwed onto the housing 14 while rotating about the drive axis 32.

[0065] The piston 40 is sealed with respect to the cylindrical inner surface of the peripheral wall 44 of the cartridge 12 by means of a double O-ring seal 49. The piston 40 thus subdivides a cylinder space 80 into the containing space 46 and an empty space 81 and separates these partial spaces from each other in a fluid-tight manner so that the viscous medium cannot escape upwards in the direction of the actuating device 10 when pressure is applied. Furthermore, the double O-ring seal 49 effects a rotational lock of the piston 40 with respect to the cartridge wall 42 and the housing 14 of the actuating device 10 connected thereto.

[0066] With regard to the joining direction, an axially acting seal 82 is arranged between the housing 14 and the cartridge 12, with which the interior space 78 and the empty space 81 are sealed airtight in the connected state. The screw connection 48 between the cartridge 12 and the housing 14 of the actuating device is preferred to alternative connections because even a short turn creates a sufficient opening gap through which the interior space 78 and the empty space 81 are vented. With a low thread pitch of the screw connection 48, the force required to overcome any vacuum is only low. Therefore, a thread pitch of the screw connection of at least 0.25 mm and particularly preferably of at least 0.5 mm as well as at most 2 mm and particularly preferably at most 1 mm is preferred.

[0067] The seal is an annular, elastic seal with a U-shaped profile that encloses the carrier plate 39 at the edges. Due to the elasticity of the seal 82, the carrier plate 39 can be fixed in a force-locked manner without further fastening means in a receiving means, which is formed in the circumferential housing wall 16 and corresponds to the contour of the carrier plate 39. The seal 82 thus also serves as an assembly aid and allows for easy, tool-free removal of the carrier plate 39 to provide access to the drive components located inside the housing.

[0068] In the connected state shown, the carrier plate 39 together with the seal 82 is axially gripped between the receiving means in the peripheral housing wall 16 and an end section of the peripheral wall 44 of the cartridge 12.

[0069] In order to prevent the drive spindle 34 from turning with the rotating spindle nut 30 when there is no load or only a low load, the spindle nut comprises a first rotation-preventing element in the form of two opposing flattening or spanner flats 50 along a section in the housing 14. Two guide elements 52, 54, which are connected to the housing 14 and abut opposite one another on both sides of the drive spindle 34, abut against the spanner flats 50, forming the second rotation-preventing element. The two guide elements 52, 54 form a fork-shaped arrangement with a kind of key mouth in their space, which engages around the spanner flats 50 of the drive spindle 34 in a form-fitting manner. The guide elements 52 and 54 are designed so that, with respect to the drive axis 32, they can deflect elastically radially outwards if the torque exerted by the drive spindle 34 via the spanner flats 50 exceeds a certain value. Elastic deflection means that the guide elements 52 and 54 of the radially outwardly oriented movement oppose a restoring force which moves them back to the initial state after the cause of the movement has ceased to exist. This ensures that the drive spindle 34 can rotate with the spindle nut 30, for example, when the cartridge 12 is screwed to the housing 10 of the actuating device and a correspondingly high torque is transmitted to the drive spindle. The first rotation-preventing element and the second rotation-preventing element thus form a rotation-preventing device with limited torque transmission.

[0070] The coupling element 38 is a predominantly cylindrically symmetrical element with a disk 60, in axial continuation of a cylindrical extension 62 and in turn in axial continuation of a hexagonal element 64, which can be actuated with a standard key, for example, to manually move the drive spindle up or down. In the cylindrical extension 62 and the hexagonal element 64, there is a bore from the side of the coupling element 38 facing the housing 14, into which the drive spindle 34 is pressed for the purpose of force closure, thus creating a rotationally fixed connection between the drive spindle 34 and the coupling element 38. In order to ensure linear drive of the piston 40 at high loads despite the anti-rotation device with limited torque transmission, the drive spindle 34 must be prevented from turning further during operation. For this purpose, the coupling element 38 comprises a first stop element 66 on its underside facing the cartridge, radially spaced from the drive axis 32.

[0071] The displacement element 40 comprises on its upper side facing the actuating device 10 a plurality of radially arranged stiffening ribs 70, of which a stiffening rib 72 forms a second stop element of the piston 40. On their upper side facing the Actuating Device 10, the stiffening ribs 70, 72 define a flat bearing surface perpendicular to the drive axis 32, on which the disc 60 of the coupling element 38 rests. The cylindrical extension 62 is then centered in a center bore 74 in the piston 40.

[0072] The second stop element 72 differs from the remaining stiffening rib 70 in that the latter comprises clearances in each of the radially outer areas, which allow the first stop element 66 to pass during a relative rotation of the coupling element 38 to the piston 40. Depending on the direction of rotation of the drive spindle 34, the first stop element 66 strikes either on the left or on the right against the continuous stiffening rib 72 after a maximum of approximately one complete revolution. The first stop element 66 and the second stop element 72 then interact in such a way that the coupling element 38 is non-rotatably abutted against the displacement element 40.

[0073] Both the housing 14 of the actuating device 10 and the wall 42 of the cartridge 12 comprise a substantially circular cylindrical basic shape, the longitudinal axis of which coincides with the drive axis 32 of the drive spindle 34. This ensures that when the cartridge 12 is screwed into the housing 14 of the actuating device 10, the piston 40 rotates around the drive axis 32 and thus transmits a torque around this axis via the coupling element 38 to the drive spindle 34 as soon as the disc 60 rests on the flat bearing surface. The rotation lock with limited torque transmission releases the drive spindle for rotation when the preset limit torque is exceeded, so that the cartridge and the actuating device are not damaged when screwed together.

[0074] In addition to the drive motor and the transmission, the housing 14 of the actuating device 10 contains a not shown motor control connected to the drive motor, the motor control including an electronic sensor system for determining the upper and lower end positions of the drive spindle 34. The upper end position is defined by an elastic element in the form of a spring washer 76 between the coupling element 38 and the housing base 20. The spring washer 76 is biased between the coupling element 38 and the housing 14 and thus indirectly between the drive spindle 34 and the housing 14 as the drive spindle 34 approaches its upper end position with respect to the axial direction. As a result, the torque required for the drive initially increases linearly, causing the sensor system of the motor control to register an increased power consumption of the drive motor 22 and to switch it off when a pre-set limit value is reached.

[0075] Instead of arranging an elastic element between the coupling element 38 and the second wall section 20 of the housing 14, an elastic element can alternatively or additionally be provided between a second axial end 36 of the drive spindle 34 and the second wall section of the housing 14, that is to say the housing cover 18.

[0076] The actuating device 10 comprises a switch 84 for the drive motor 22, which switch acts in a contactless manner through a closed section of the peripheral housing wall 16. This prevents a further opening of the housing wall, which contributes to the effective sealing of the system. A mechanical actuating element 85 of the switch 84 is provided on the outside of the housing 14 for manual actuation by pressure from above, wherein it can be moved downwards relative to the housing 14, preferably against a spring tension. In a lower area of the actuating element 85 there is a transmitter 86, for example in the form of a permanent magnet, which also moves downwards relative to the housing 14 when actuated. A sensor element 87, for example in the form of a magnetic sensor, is mounted on the inside of the housing wall 16, i.e. in the hermetically sealed interior space 78. The sensor element 87 is connected to the drive motor 22, for example via the motor control, in order to manually activate or deactivate the actuating device 10 by means of a switching pulse.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0077] 10 Actuating device [0078] 12 Cartridge [0079] 14 Housing of the actuating device [0080] 16 Peripheral housing wall [0081] 18 Housing cover, second wall section of the housing [0082] 20 Housing base, first wall section of the housing [0083] 22 Drive motor [0084] 24 Motor transmission [0085] 26 Output shaft of the motor transmission [0086] 28 Spur gear [0087] 30 Spindle nut [0088] 32 Drive axis [0089] 34 Drive spindle [0090] 35 First axial end of the drive spindle [0091] 36 Second axial end of the drive spindle [0092] 38 Coupling element [0093] 39 Carrier plate [0094] 40 Displacement element, piston [0095] 41 Sliding element [0096] 42 Cartridge wall [0097] 44 Peripheral wall [0098] 45 Bottom wall [0099] 46 Containing space [0100] 47 Dispensing opening [0101] 48 Screw connection [0102] 49 O-ring seal [0103] 50 Flattening, spanner flat [0104] 52 Guide element [0105] 54 Guide element [0106] 60 Disk of the coupling element [0107] 62 Cylindrical extension [0108] 64 Hexagonal element [0109] 66 First stop element [0110] 70 Stiffening rib [0111] 72 Second stop element, stiffening rib [0112] 74 Center bore [0113] 76 Elastic element, spring washer [0114] 78 Interior space of the housing [0115] 80 Cylinder space of the cartridge [0116] 81 Empty space of the cartridge [0117] 82 Seal [0118] 84 Switch [0119] 86 Transmitter [0120] 87 Sensor element [0121] 88 Non-return valve