JP3227592B2 - Fluid supply device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a so-called non-self-standing container (a container whose main part is formed of a flexible material and cannot be kept upright by itself). The present invention relates to a fluid supply device for appropriately supplying a fluid such as a paste.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known to those skilled in the art, a dental silicone rubber impression material is composed of a base paste mainly composed of a silicone having a Si--H group and a silicone having a vinyl group, and a silicone and platinum having a vinyl group. A dental alginate-based impression material is produced by kneading a hardener paste mainly composed of a catalyst, and a dental alginate-based impression material is obtained by kneading a base paste mainly composed of alginic acid and a hardener paste mainly composed of gypsum. Generated by summing. Furthermore, other dental polyether rubber impression materials, dental thiochol rubber impression materials, and the like are also produced by kneading two types of pastes. As a fluid supply device that can be used effectively for such kneading, a fluid supply device in which two receiving portions are disposed on the upper surface of a housing has been proposed and put into practical use. The two receiving portions formed on the upper surface of the housing are connected to the mouth and neck of the container containing the base paste and the mouth and neck of the container containing the hardener paste, respectively. Inside the housing,
A suction means is provided in association with each of the two receiving portions, and a kneading means is provided. The base material paste is sucked from the mouth and neck of the container connected to the one receiving part by the action of the suction means, and the hardener paste is drawn from the mouth and neck of the container connected to the other receiving part by the action of the suction means. The base paste and the curing agent paste are kneaded by a kneading means, and are discharged from a discharge port provided on the front surface of the housing.

[0003]

Thus, not only the mouth and neck of the container but also the main part have sufficient rigidity. In particular, even when the main part is not supported, the container can be turned upside down with the mouth and neck down. In the case of a so-called self-standing container that can be self-supporting, the mouth and neck of the container are connected to a receiving portion formed on the upper surface of the housing of the fluid supply device, so that the container can be easily and sufficiently attached to the fluid supply device as required. can do. However, in the case of a non-self-supporting container whose main part is formed of a flexible material such as a synthetic resin sheet or film, the mouth and neck of the container are attached to a receiving part formed on the upper surface of the housing of the fluid supply device. It is necessary to connect as required and appropriately hold the main part in a required position, and the operation of mounting the container to the fluid supply device as required becomes considerably complicated. That is, in a non-self-standing container, the operation of connecting the mouth and neck of the container to the receiving portion of the housing cannot be performed by grasping the main part of the container like a self-standing container, You have to grab it directly. Therefore, it is difficult to make a connection by applying a sufficient force, and the connection may be insufficient. In addition, even when the connection is properly performed, the operation of vertically supporting the main part of the container from the mouth and neck upwardly raises the mouth and neck, thereby making the connection insufficient. There is a possibility that it will happen.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned facts, and a technical problem of the present invention is that a fluid supply device requires a container even in the case of a non-self-standing container whose main part is formed of a flexible material. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved fluid supply device which can be easily and reliably mounted as described above.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above technical object, the present invention provides a support frame, which is mounted on a housing so as to be movable between a mounting / removing operation position and an operating position. A container support mechanism including a main part holding means and a mouth / neck part holding means provided on the body is provided, and the support frame of the container support mechanism is moved to a detachable operation position, and the main part is held by the main part holding means. When the container is mounted on the container support mechanism while holding the mouth and neck by means of the mouth and neck holding means and then the support frame is moved to the operating position, the mouth and neck of the container mounted on the container support mechanism Is arranged in the housing
Sealed in the through-opening formed in the receiving part
In configured to be automatically connected.

That is, according to the present invention, as a fluid supply device for achieving the above technical object, there is provided a housing in which a receiving portion is provided, a mouth and neck portion, and a main portion formed of a flexible material. And a container support mechanism for supporting a container containing a fluid, wherein the container support mechanism is movably mounted between the detachable operation position and the operation position on the housing. A body, a main part holding means disposed on the support frame for releasably holding a main part of the container, and a support frame for releasably holding the mouth and neck of the container. Mouth and neck holding means disposed,
The support frame is moved to the attachment / detachment operation position, the main part is held by the main part holding means, and the mouth and neck is held by the mouth and neck holding means, and the container is mounted on the container support mechanism.
Thereafter, when the support frame is moved to the operating position, the mouth and neck of the container mounted on the container support mechanism is sealed in a through opening formed in the receiving portion of the housing.
And a fluid supply device configured to be automatically connected in a state .

The receiving portion is provided on an upper surface of the housing, and the support frame of the container supporting mechanism is mounted so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis extending substantially horizontally.
When the support frame is in the mounting / demounting operation position, the container mounted on the container support mechanism moves upward from the mouth and neck portion located away from the receiving portion and away from the receiving portion. When the support frame is moved to the working position, the container mounted on the container support mechanism is connected to the receiving portion when the support frame body is inclined at an inclination angle α of 20 degrees ≦ α ≦ 70 degrees. Preferably, it extends substantially vertically upwards from the mouth and neck. A detecting means for detecting when the support frame of the container support mechanism is moved to the operating position can be provided.

[0008]

In the fluid supply device of the present invention, the main part of the container is held by the main part holding means in a state where the support frame of the container supporting mechanism is set at the attaching / detaching operation position suitable for the container attaching / detaching operation. The part can be held by the mouth and neck holding means, and the container can be mounted and fixed to the container supporting mechanism sufficiently easily. After the container is mounted on the container support mechanism, as long as the support frame of the container support mechanism in a state where the container is fixed is moved from the attaching / detaching operation position to the operation position, the mouth / neck portion of the container is disposed in the housing. form to the receiving portion
It is automatically connected in a sealed state to the formed through-opening . In this way, it is possible to easily and reliably connect the container to the receiving part. After the container is mounted on the container support mechanism, as long as the support frame of the container support mechanism is moved from the mounting operation position to the operation position, the mouth and neck of the container are automatically moved to the receiving portion arranged in the housing. Connected. When substantially all of the liquid contained in the container has been consumed, the support frame of the container support mechanism is returned to the mounting operation position, the main part of the container is detached from the main part holding means, and the mouth and neck are removed. The mouth and neck can be detached from the part holding means, and thus the container can be detached sufficiently easily from the container support mechanism.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a fluid supply device constructed in accordance with the present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the fluid supply device of the present invention, which may be suitably used to produce a dental impression material. This fluid supply device comprises a housing, generally designated by the numeral 2. The housing 2 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped main part 4 and a protruding part 6 projecting upward and forward from the main part 4. On the upper surface of the main part 4 of the housing 2, two receiving parts 10 are arranged at intervals in the lateral direction, and two container supporting mechanisms 1 are also associated with the two receiving parts 10.
2 are provided. A container 14 having a main portion 16 and a mouth-neck portion 18 is attached to each of the container support mechanisms 12, and the mouth-neck portion 18 of the container 14 is connected to the receiving portion 10. The receiving unit 10, the container support mechanism 12, and the container 14 will be described in further detail later. In the housing 2, together with suction means (not shown) such as two suction pumps disposed in association with each of the two receiving portions 10, and mixing means such as a static mixer or a dynamic mixer. (Not shown) are provided. Housing 2
An inclined surface 20 is formed on the front surface of the protruding portion 6 so as to incline backward and downward. The inclined surface 20 is provided with a discharge portion 22 that inclines downward and protrudes forward. ing. The suction means and the kneading means arranged in the housing 2 do not constitute a novel feature of the illustrated fluid supply device constructed according to the present invention, but may be of a known form per se. Therefore, the description of the details of these configurations is omitted in this specification.

In the fluid supply apparatus as described above, for example, a container 14 containing a fluid which may be a base paste is mounted on one of the two container support mechanisms 12, and a fluid which may be a hardener paste is mounted on the other. Is mounted. Then, the fluid is sucked from each of the two containers 14 by the action of the suction means provided in the housing 2, and is supplied to the kneading means provided in the housing 2. The mixing means mixes the fluids supplied from the two containers 14 to generate a dental impression material, and the impression material is discharged to a discharge unit 22 provided on the front surface of the housing 2.
It is discharged from a discharge port formed at the distal end of the discharge section 22 through a discharge path inside.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2 and 3, each of the two receiving portions 10 is constituted by a receiving block 24 fixed to the upper surface of the main portion 4 of the housing 2. A through opening 26 is formed at the center of each of the receiving blocks 24. The cross-sectional shape of the through-opening 26 may be circular. An O-ring 28 for sealing is provided at the upper end of the through opening 26.

Each of the two container support mechanisms 12 disposed in association with the two receiving portions 10 includes a bracket member 30 fixed to the upper surface of the main portion 4 of the housing 2. Each of the bracket members 30 disposed adjacent to and behind the receiving block 24 is provided with a flat base 3.
2, a pair of upright walls 34 extending upward from a rear portion of the base 32 at a lateral interval, and a contact piece 36 provided at a front portion of the base 32. A support frame 40 is provided between a pair of upright walls 34 of the bracket member 30 via a pivot shaft 38.
Is mounted so as to be free to turn. The support frame 40 includes a lower member 42, a rod member 44, and an upper member 46. The lower end of a rod member 44 formed of a straight bar extending straight is fixed to the lower member 42, and the upper end is fixed to the upper member 46. The pivot shaft 38 extends substantially horizontally through the lower member 42 of the support frame 40 together with the pair of upright walls 34 of the bracket member 30, and the support frame 40 is shown by a solid line in FIG. It is mounted so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis (that is, the central axis of the pivot shaft 38) extending substantially horizontally between the operation position indicated by the dashed line and the attachment / detachment operation position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Have been. In the operation position, the rod member 44 of the support frame 40 extends substantially vertically, and in the attachment / detachment operation position, the rod member 44 of the support frame 40 is 20 degrees ≦ α ≦ 70 degrees, particularly 30 degrees.
The angle is inclined upward and rearward (therefore in the direction away from the receiving part 10) at an inclination angle α preferably in the range of degree ≦ α ≦ 60 degrees. As can be clearly seen from FIG. 3, the abutment piece 36 is inverted L-shaped and extends upward and then substantially horizontally rearward. Abutment piece 36
An opening 48 is formed at the center in the width direction of the portion extending substantially horizontally. Base 32 of bracket member 30
Is provided with a detection means 50. This detecting means 50
Is composed of a microswitch having a detection arm projecting upward through the opening 48. Support frame 4
The lower member 42 has a substantially inverted L-shaped main part, a contact surface 52 is formed on the lower surface of the front part of the main part, and a contact surface 54 (FIG. 2) is formed on the lower part of the rear surface. I have. When the support frame 40 is moved to the operation position, the contact surface 52 comes into contact with the upper surface of the contact piece 36, and therefore, the support frame 40 is prevented from further turning counterclockwise in FIG. The support frame 40 is held in the above-mentioned working position by its own weight. Further, the contact surface 52 acts on the detection arm of the micro switch constituting the detection means 50, and thus the detection means 5 detects that the support frame 40 has been moved to the operation position.
0 is detected. The detection signal of the detection means 50 is sent to a control means (not shown) which can be constituted by a microcomputer, and only when the detection means 50 generates the detection signal, the operation of the apparatus (ie, the suction described above) Means and operation of the mixing means) are permitted. When the support frame 40 is moved to the mounting / dismounting operation position, the contact surface 54 comes into contact with the upper surface of the base 32 of the bracket member 30, and thus the support frame member 40 is prevented from further turning clockwise in FIG. 2. The support frame 40 is held at the mounting operation position by its own weight. If desired, support frame 4
Appropriate locking means for releasably locking the 0 to the working position and / or the mounting operation position may be provided.

Continuing the description with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3,
At the front of the lower member 42 of the support frame 40, the container 14
The mouth-and-neck holding means 56 for detachably holding the mouth-and-neck portion 16 is provided. As clearly illustrated in FIG.
The lower member 42 has a protruding plate-like portion extending forward, and an opening 58 is formed in the protruding plate-like portion. The opening 58 is formed in a laterally outer edge of the semicircular portion and a width corresponding to its diameter in the lateral direction of the protruding plate portion (in the container support mechanism 12 located on the right side in FIG. The container support mechanism 12 has a rectangular shape extending to the left edge of the protruding plate-like portion). A locking groove 60 extending over the entire inner surface is formed on the inner surface defining the opening 58.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the support frame 4
The main part holding means 62 for detachably holding the closed end of the main part 16 of the container 14 (that is, the closed end located on the opposite side of the mouth-neck part 18) is provided at the front part of the upper member 46. Are arranged. The upper member 46 is formed with a pair of projecting walls 66 projecting forward and then hanging downward,
A holding member 70 is mounted between the pair of projecting wall portions 66. Short axes 72 projecting substantially horizontally are integrally formed on both lateral sides of the holding member 70, and each of the short axes 72 is rotatably mounted on each of the pair of projecting wall portions 66,
Thus, the holding member 70 is pivotally mounted between the working position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2 and the non-working position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2 with the central axis of the short shaft 72 as the pivot axis. FIG.
As is clearly shown in FIG. 3, when the holding member 70 is in the operating position, the substantially flat clamping surface 74 of the holding member 70 is brought into close proximity to and substantially with the front surface 76 of the base wall 64. They are located in parallel. When the holding member 70 is moved to the inoperative position, a considerable gap is formed between the holding member 70 and the front surface 76 of the base wall 64.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the container 14, which may be in a known form, has a main part 1 as described above.
6 and the mouth and neck 18. The main part 16 is formed in a bag shape from a flexible material which may be an appropriate synthetic resin sheet or film such as a polyethylene sheet or film. on the other hand,
The mouth and neck 18 is formed by injection or compression molding from a suitable synthetic resin such as polyethylene or polypropylene, and is relatively rigid. The mouth-neck portion 18 has a substantially cylindrical shape, is connected to the center of one end of the main portion 16, and communicates with the inside of the main portion 16. An annular flange 78 and a male thread 80 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the mouth and neck portion 18. The thickness of the annular flange 78 corresponds to the width of the locking groove 60 of the mouth and neck holding means 56 described above. A fluid that may be, for example, a base material paste or a curing agent paste is contained in such a container 14, and before the container 14 is mounted on the container support mechanism 12 as described below, A lid (not shown) having a female thread to be screwed into the male thread 80 is attached, and the mouth and neck portion 18 is closed.

The container 14 can be mounted on the container support mechanism 12 in the following procedure. First, the support frame 40 is moved to the attachment / detachment operation position shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 2 and a solid line in FIG. Then, the holding member 70 of the main part holding means 62 is maintained in a state where it is swung to the non-operating position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Is inserted into the gap between the holding member 70 and the front surface 76 of the base wall 64, and then the holding member 70 is pivoted to the working position shown by the solid line in FIG. Thus, as can be clearly understood by referring to FIG. 2, the closed end of the main portion 16 of the container 14 is compressed and pinched between the fastening surface 74 of the holding member 70 and the front surface 76 of the base wall portion 64. Is done. Since the closed end of the main portion 16 of the container 14 is compressed so that the clamping surface 74 of the holding member 70 extends substantially parallel to the front surface 76 of the base wall 64, the holding member 70 is sufficiently securely in the working position. Maintained to hold the closed end of the main portion 16 of the container 14. If desired, a suitable locking means for releasably locking the holding member 70 in the operating position can be provided. Further, a material having a high coefficient of friction and elasticity such as a rubber plate may be attached to the fastening surface 74 of the holding member 70 and / or the front surface 76 of the base wall portion 64. Subsequent to or prior to the holding of the closed end of the main portion 16 of the container 14 by the main portion holding means 62, the annular flange 78 formed on the mouth and neck portion 18 of the container 14 is attached to the mouth and neck holding means 56. The mouth-and-neck portion 18 of the container 14 is inserted into the opening 58 of the mouth-and-neck portion holding means 56 by being positioned in the locking groove 60. Thus, since the annular flange 78 is locked in the locking groove 60, the mouth and neck 18 is prevented from moving in the central axis direction with respect to the mouth and neck holding means 56, and the mouth and neck 16 is prevented from moving.
Is sufficiently reliably held. The opening 58 in which the locking groove 60 is formed is opened in the direction of the pivot axis of the support frame body 40.
That is, in FIG. 1, the container supporting mechanism 12 located on the right side is open to the right edge of the protruding plate-shaped portion, and the container supporting mechanism 12 located on the left side is opened to the left edge of the protruding plate-shaped portion. Since the support frame 40 is closed in the vertical direction, the mouth and neck portion 18 of the container 14 is not accidentally detached from the locking groove 60 when the support frame 40 is turned. When the container 14 is mounted as required on the support frame 40 in a state where the container 14 is set in the attachment / detachment operation position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2 and shown by the solid line in FIG. Along the member 44 and thus the cervix 18
20 degrees ≦ from the top toward the rear, that is, in the direction away from the receiving part 10 formed in the main part 4 of the housing 2.
It extends at an inclination angle α that is preferably α ≦ 70 degrees, particularly preferably 30 degrees ≦ α ≦ 60 degrees. State holding operation of the mouth-and-neck portion 18 of the container 14 by holding the operation and neck holding means 56 of the closed end of the main portion 16 of the container 14 by the main portion holding means 62 which allowed the support frame 40 in the detachable operating position Therefore, it is possible for one operator to perform the operation easily and quickly.

Thereafter, the lid (not shown) is detached from the mouth and neck portion 18 of the container 14, the mouth and neck portion 18 is opened, and the support frame 40 is shown by a solid line in FIG. Swivel to the operating position indicated by the dashed line. As can be clearly understood with reference to FIGS.
When the operator turns 0 to the operating position, the detecting means 50 detects this as described above and generates a signal, and the tip of the mouth and neck 18 of the container 14 mounted on the support frame 40 is Receiving part 1 arranged on the upper surface of main part 4
The O-ring 28 which is inserted into the through-opening 26 and is disposed in the through-opening 26 is brought into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the distal end of the mouth-and-neck portion 18.
28 is formed in the receiving portion 28 while being sealed by
Is automatically connected to the through hole 26, and a state is established in which the fluid contained in the container 14 can be sucked into the housing 2 through the through opening 26 of the receiving portion 10. FIG.
When the support frame 40 is in the operative position, as is clearly shown in FIG. 2, the container 14 is moved upwardly from the neck 18 connected to the receiving part 10 along the rod member 44, and thus substantially vertically. Extends upward. For example, the main part 16 of the container 14
If there is a possibility that the fluid may leak from the mouth and neck 18 when the lid is detached from the mouth and neck 18 when the viscosity of the fluid contained in the container is small, the fluid may be inserted into the receiving unit 10 as necessary. A lid provided with an appropriate valve mechanism to be opened can be attached to the mouth and neck portion 18, and the mouth and neck portion 18 can be inserted into the receiving portion 10 without removing the lid.

The container 1 mounted on the container support mechanism 12
When substantially all of the fluid contained in the container 4 has been consumed, the support frame 40 is again swung to the mounting / removing operation position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2 and the solid line in FIG. The holding member 70 is rotated to the non-operation position shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 2 so that the closed end of the main portion 16 of the container 14 is detached from the main portion holding means 62 and the mouth and neck portion 18 of the container 14 is moved in the lateral direction. By moving outwardly, the container 14 can be detached from the mouth and neck holding means 56, and thus the container 14 can be detached from the container support mechanism 12 easily and quickly.

In the embodiment described above, the housing 2
Although two receiving portions 10 are provided in the apparatus and two container supporting mechanisms 12 are provided, the present invention is also applied to a fluid supply device in which the receiving portion 10 and the container supporting mechanism 12 are each single. It goes without saying that it can be applied. Further, the fluid supply device of the present invention can be advantageously applied to supply of any fluid. In particular, a mode in which two receiving portions are provided in the housing and two container support mechanisms are provided. Is suitable for mixing and supplying the two-component paste-type impression materials such as the dental silicone rubber impression material, the dental polyether rubber impression material, the dental thiochol rubber impression material, and the dental alginic acid-based impression material. Can be used for

[0021]

According to the fluid supply device of the present invention, the main portion of the container and the mouth and neck are located at predetermined positions on the support frame, even though the main portion is a non-self-standing container formed of a flexible material. Since the container can be moved with the parts fixed, the mouth and neck of the container can be reliably positioned at the receiving portion of the housing in conjunction with the movement of the support frame.
In addition, the container can be attached to and detached from the container support frame with a very simple operation, and the container can be easily and quickly mounted as required.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a fluid supply device constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial side view showing a receiving unit, a container supporting and supporting mechanism, and a container in the fluid supply device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing a receiving part, a container support mechanism, and a part of the container in the fluid supply device of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 2: Housing 10: Receiving part 12: Container support mechanism 14: Container 16: Main part of container 18: Neck and neck of container 40: Support frame 50: Detection means 56: Neck and neck holding means 62: Main part holding means

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B01J 4/00-4/04 A61C 9/00 B29C 31/04 B65B 1/00-3/36

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A fluid having a housing provided with a receiving portion, and a container supporting mechanism having a mouth and a neck and a main portion formed of a flexible material and supporting a container containing a fluid. In the supply device, the container support mechanism is configured to freely move between a mounting / removing operation position and an operation position, and to support the main body of the container in a releasable manner. And a mouth and neck holding means disposed on the support frame for releasably holding the mouth and neck of the container. At least in the operation position, the main part is held by the main part holding means and the mouth and neck is held by the mouth and neck holding means, and the container is mounted on the container supporting mechanism,
Thereafter, when the support frame is moved to the operating position, the mouth and neck of the container mounted on the container support mechanism is sealed in a through opening formed in the receiving portion of the housing.
The fluid supply device is configured to be automatically connected in a state . 2. The receiving portion is provided on an upper surface of the housing, and the support frame of the container support mechanism is mounted to be pivotable about a pivot axis extending substantially horizontally. When the frame is in the mounting / demounting operation position, the container mounted on the container support mechanism is moved upward by 20 degrees in a direction away from the receiving portion upward from the mouth and neck portion located apart from the receiving portion. ≤ α ≤ 70 degrees inclination angle α
When the support frame is moved to the operating position, the container mounted on the container support mechanism is substantially vertically upward from the mouth and neck connected to the receiving portion. The fluid supply device of claim 1, wherein the fluid supply device extends. 3. The fluid supply device according to claim 1, wherein a detection means for detecting when the support frame of the container support mechanism is moved to the operating position is provided.