JP7594472B2 - Pumping equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a pump device.

In recent years, containers that store liquids such as hand soap, body soap, and treatments and dispense the liquids have become widespread. One type of container has, for example, a container body that stores the liquid, a liquid piston that rises and falls relative to the container body, a liquid chamber into which the liquid stored in the container body flows as the liquid piston rises, and a discharge port that dispenses the liquid from the liquid chamber as the liquid piston descends. Another type of container is known to have a container that has an elastically deformable dome instead of the liquid piston, as described in Patent Document 1, for example. In such a container, the liquid is dispensed from the discharge port by pressing the dome.

JP 2001-63781 A

However, conventional containers were designed to be used in a stationary position.

The present invention relates to a pump device that is highly portable.

In order to solve the above problems, one aspect of the present invention relates to a pump device having a storage bag for storing a liquid material, an elastically deformable lid portion that forms a liquid pump chamber for storing the liquid material that flows in from the storage bag, a main body portion to which the lid portion is attached on one side and the storage bag is attached on the other side, and a discharge port that discharges the liquid material that flows out of the liquid pump chamber in response to the elastic deformation of the lid portion.

As described above, the pump device of the present invention is highly portable.

1 is an explanatory diagram showing the external configuration of a band-type device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention; 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the external configuration of a band 30. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the external configuration of a pump device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the external configuration of a pump device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention; 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a cross section of the pump device 20 taken along line II in FIG. 1. 5A to 5C are explanatory diagrams showing the operation of the pump device 20 for discharging a liquid material. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing deformation of the containing bag 222. FIG.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Note that in this specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are designated by the same reference numerals to avoid redundant description.

<General configuration of band-type device>
An embodiment of the present invention relates to a band-type device to be worn by a user, and more particularly to a band-type device having a pump device for discharging a liquid. Hereinafter, a schematic configuration of a band-type device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the external configuration of a band-type device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the band-type device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a pump device 20 and a band 30.

(Pump device 20)
1, the pump device 20 has an elastically deformable liquid dome 230 and a discharge port 250. When a user presses the liquid dome 230, the liquid dome 230 is deformed and the liquid is discharged from the discharge port 250.

The liquid contained in the pump device 20 may be a liquid, gel, or paste. Liquids, gels, and pastes all have fluidity in common, but liquids do not have a fixed shape, while gels and pastes are semi-solid and may temporarily have a fixed shape. Specifically, the liquid contained in the container body 20 may be a disinfectant. Other liquids contained in the container body 20 may be liquid detergent, fabric softener, bleach, shampoo, rinse, conditioner, body soap, cosmetic liquid, medicine, liquid seasoning, etc.

(Band 30)
The band 30 is wrapped around the target object while supporting the pump device 20. The band 30 is wrapped around the arm of a user and worn on the user's arm, for example. This allows the user to easily carry the band-type device 10. Furthermore, when a disinfectant is contained in the pump device 20 as described above, the user can easily use a certain amount of disinfectant by pressing the liquid dome 230 when away from home.

Now, with reference to Figure 2, we will explain the configuration of band 30 in more detail.

Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the external configuration of the band 30. As shown in Figure 2, the band 30 has a support part 310, a first band part 320, and a second band part 330.

The support portion 310 forms an opening 312. The pump device 20 is inserted into the opening 312. FIG. 2 shows an example in which the shape of the opening 312 in a plan view is circular, but the shape of the opening 312 is not limited to a circular shape, and the opening 312 may be formed in another shape to correspond to the shape of the pump device 20.

The inner wall of the support part 310, which forms the periphery of the opening 312, has a plurality of grooves formed therein that are spaced apart from one another in the depth direction of the opening 312. Specifically, the inner wall of the support part 310 has a first groove part 314, a second groove part 315, and a third groove part 316 formed therein. The first groove part 314 is a pair of opposing grooves, and the second groove part 315 and the third groove part 316 are grooves formed around one circumference of the inner wall of the support part 310.

The first band portion 320 extends from one side of the support portion 310. A pin 322 is provided at the tip of the first band portion 320 to be inserted into a hole 332, which will be described later.

The second band portion 330 extends from the other side of the support portion 310. An insertion hole 331 into which the first band portion 320 is inserted is formed at the tip of the first band portion 320. In addition, a plurality of holes 332 are formed between the insertion hole 331 and the support portion 310.

The user can attach the band 30 to the arm by wrapping the first band portion 320 and the second band portion 330 around the arm, inserting the first band portion 320 into the insertion hole 331, and inserting the pin 322 into one of the holes 332.

<Configuration of pump device 20>
The schematic configuration of the band-type device 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Next, the configuration of the pump device 20 will be described in more detail.

(Exterior configuration)
3 and 4 are explanatory diagrams showing the external configuration of the pump device 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention. More specifically, Fig. 3 shows the external configuration of the pump device 20 with the cap 260 attached, and Fig. 4 shows the external configuration of the pump device 20 with the cap 260 removed.

3 and 4, the pump device 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention has a main body 210, a cover member 220, a liquid dome 230, a ring 240, an outlet 250, and a cap 260. The main body 210, the cover member 220, the ring 240, the outlet 250, and the cap 260 are formed of a resin such as PP (polypropylene), and the liquid dome 230 may be formed of an elastically deformable material such as an elastomer or silicone.

The main body 210 has a pump chamber outer cylinder 212, an inlet cylinder 216, and an inlet 217. The pump chamber outer cylinder 212 and the inlet cylinder 216 are cylinders that protrude upward from the main body 210. The inlet 217 is an opening of the inlet cylinder 216. A storage bag (storage bag 222 in FIG. 5) that stores a liquid material and a cover member 220 that surrounds the storage bag are attached to the other side of the main body 210.

In this specification, the side or direction on which the cover member 220 is located as viewed from the main body 210 may be referred to as the lower side or downward direction in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction shown in FIG. 3), and the opposite side may be referred to as the upper side or upward direction. Furthermore, the direction in which the liquid is ejected from the ejection port 250 may be referred to as the forward direction in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction in FIG. 3), and the opposite side to the forward direction may be referred to as the rear side. Furthermore, the direction perpendicular to the vertical and front-rear directions may be referred to as the width direction (Y-axis direction in FIG. 3).

The cover member 220, together with the main body 210, surrounds the storage bag that contains the liquid material. A first convex portion 224, a second convex portion 225, and a third convex portion 226 are formed on the outer wall of the cover member 220 at a distance from each other in the vertical direction. Although one first convex portion 224 is shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the first convex portion 224 is formed on both sides of the width direction of the cover member 220. The second convex portion 225 and the third convex portion 226 are convex portions formed around the entire circumference of the cover member 220. When the pump device 20 is inserted into the band 30, the first convex portion 224, the second convex portion 225, and the third convex portion 226 fit into the first groove portion 314, the second groove portion 315, and the third groove portion 316 described with reference to FIG. 2, respectively, so that the band 30 is supported by the pump device 20.

The liquid dome 230 is an example of a lid, and forms a liquid pump chamber that temporarily stores the liquid that flows in from the storage bag. The liquid dome 230 is disposed inside the pump chamber outer cylinder portion 212, and is sandwiched between the ring 240 and the main body portion 210. The liquid dome 230 deforms when pressed by the user to reduce the volume of the liquid pump chamber, and returns to its original shape when the pressure is released. As shown in FIG. 3, in a plan view, the center position of the liquid dome 230 (liquid pump chamber) is different from the center position of the main body portion 210, and the liquid dome 230 is formed at a biased position in the main body portion 210.

The ring 240 is an annular member. The ring is a shape that surrounds a certain area, and the shape may be circular or angular, and may be continuous throughout or discontinuous. The edge of the liquid dome 230 is fixed by pressing the ring 240 into the inside of the pump chamber outer cylinder portion 212 from above the edge of the liquid dome 230.

The discharge port 250 is an opening for discharging the liquid. The discharge port 250 discharges the liquid that flows out of the liquid pump chamber in response to the elastic deformation of the liquid dome 230.

The cap 260 is a member that is removably attached to the injection port tubular portion 216 in order to open and close the injection port 217. Specifically, the cap 260 has a threaded portion on its inner circumference, and the cap 260 is attached to the injection port tubular portion 216 by threading the threaded portion into a threaded portion formed on the outer circumference of the injection port tubular portion 216. The injection port 217 is connected to the storage bag. Therefore, with the cap 260 removed from the injection port tubular portion 216, the user can inject a liquid into the injection port 217 using, for example, a dropper, to refill the storage bag with the liquid.

(Internal configuration)
Next, the internal configuration of the pump device 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a cross section of the pump device 20 taken along line I-I shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 5, the main body 210 of the pump device 20 has a liquid pump chamber inner cylinder 211, a liquid pump chamber outer cylinder 212, a lower inner cylinder 214, a lower outer cylinder 215, an inlet cylinder 216, an inlet 218, and an outlet 219.

The liquid pump chamber inner tubular portion 211 is a tubular portion that protrudes upward from the pump device 20. The liquid pump chamber outer tubular portion 212 is formed on the outside of the liquid pump chamber inner tubular portion 211 so as to surround the liquid pump chamber inner tubular portion 211. A groove is formed between the liquid pump chamber inner tubular portion 211 and the liquid pump chamber outer tubular portion 212. The edge of the liquid dome 230 fits into the groove, and the ring 240 is further pressed into the groove from above the edge of the liquid dome 230, thereby fixing the edge of the liquid dome 230. In addition, a liquid pump chamber P is formed between the pump chamber inner tubular portion 211 and the liquid dome 230.

The lower inner cylinder 214 and the lower outer cylinder 215 are cylinders that protrude downward from the pump device 20. The lower outer cylinder 215 is formed on the outside of the lower inner cylinder 214 so as to surround the lower inner cylinder 214. A groove is formed between the lower inner cylinder 214 and the lower outer cylinder 215. The edge of the storage bag 222 fits into the groove, and the cover member 220 is pushed into the groove from below the edge of the storage bag 222. Furthermore, the claw portion 228 formed at the tip of the cover member 220 is engaged with the engaging portion 215a formed at the lower end of the lower outer cylinder 215, so that the edge of the storage bag 222 is fixed between the main body 210 and the cover member 220.

The cover member 220 contains a liquid. The cover member 220 is made of a deformable material such as elastomer or silicone. Here, a packing 266 is provided between the cap 260 and the injection port tube portion 216. The packing 266, the fixing of the edge of the storage bag 222 described above, and the inlet valve 272 described below provide airtightness for the cover member 220. A hole 228 is formed in the underside of the cover member 220. Therefore, there is no airtightness between the cover member 220 and the storage bag 222.

To explain the above-mentioned liquid pump chamber P in more detail, a spring 274 is provided inside the liquid pump chamber P. One end of the spring 274 abuts against the liquid dome 230, and the other end abuts against the upper surface of the main body 210. When the liquid dome 230 is pressed and the upper surface of the liquid dome 230 descends, and then the pressure is released, the elastic force of the spring 274 causes the liquid dome 230 to return to its original shape.

The inlet 218 is an opening that connects the storage bag 222 and the liquid pump chamber P. The liquid contained in the storage bag 222 flows into the liquid pump chamber P through the inlet 218. The inlet 218 is provided with an inlet valve 272. When the internal pressure of the liquid pump chamber P becomes lower than the internal pressure of the storage bag 222 and the thrust caused by the pressure difference exceeds the elastic force of the inlet valve 272, the inlet valve 272 opens and the liquid flows into the liquid pump chamber P through the inlet valve 272. When the internal pressure of the liquid pump chamber P increases and the thrust caused by the pressure difference between the internal pressure of the liquid pump chamber P and the internal pressure of the storage bag 222 falls below the elastic force of the inlet valve 272, the inlet valve 272 closes and the storage bag 222 and the liquid pump chamber P are separated by the inlet valve 272. Therefore, the liquid does not flow back from the liquid pump chamber P to the storage bag 222.

The outlet 219 is an opening that connects the liquid pump chamber P and the discharge port 250. The liquid temporarily stored in the liquid pump chamber P flows out through the outlet 219 toward the discharge port 250. A ball 276 is provided in the outlet 219. The ball 276 is biased by a spring 278 in a direction to close the outlet 219. When the internal pressure of the liquid pump chamber P becomes higher than atmospheric pressure and the thrust caused by the pressure difference exceeds the elastic force of the spring 278, the ball 276 moves away from the outlet 219 to open the outlet 219, and the liquid in the pump chamber P flows out through the outlet 219 toward the discharge port 250. When the internal pressure of the liquid pump chamber P decreases and the thrust caused by the pressure difference falls below the elastic force of the spring 278, the ball 276 closes the outlet 219.

<Operation of pump device 20>
The configuration of the pump device 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Next, the operation of the pump device 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be summarized with reference to FIG.

Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the pump device 20 to discharge a liquid material. As shown in Figure 6, when a user presses the liquid dome 230 downward, the volume of the liquid pump chamber P decreases due to the elastic deformation of the liquid dome 230, and the internal pressure of the liquid pump chamber P increases. When the internal pressure of the liquid pump chamber P becomes higher than atmospheric pressure and the thrust caused by the pressure difference exceeds the elastic force of the spring 278, the ball 276 moves in a direction away from the outlet 219, opening the outlet 219. As a result, as shown by the arrow in Figure 6, the liquid material in the pump chamber P flows out through the outlet 219 toward the discharge port 250, and the discharge port 250 discharges the liquid material.

When the user then releases the pressure on the liquid dome 230, the elastic force of the liquid dome 230 and the elastic force of the spring 274 causes the liquid dome 230 to return to its dome shape. As the liquid dome 230 returns to its dome shape, the volume of the liquid pump chamber P increases and the internal pressure of the liquid pump chamber P decreases. When the internal pressure of the liquid pump chamber P decreases and the thrust caused by the pressure difference between the internal pressure of the liquid pump chamber P and the internal pressure of the storage bag 222 exceeds the elastic force of the inlet valve 272, the inlet valve 272 opens. This allows the liquid to flow from the storage bag 222 into the liquid pump chamber P via the inlet 218.

Then, when the user presses the liquid dome 230 again, the operation described with reference to FIG. 6 is repeated. As the liquid is discharged, the amount of liquid in the storage bag 222 decreases. Because the storage bag 222 is airtight, as the amount of liquid in the storage bag 222 decreases, the storage bag 222 deforms so that its volume decreases, as shown in FIG. 7. As the volume of the storage bag 222 decreases, air flows between the storage bag 222 and the cover member 220 through the hole 228.

<Action and effect>
The band-type device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention described above provides various operational effects, which will be exemplified below.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the liquid pump chamber P and the storage bag 222 are integrally provided in the pump device 20. This makes the pump device 20 highly portable as a single unit. Furthermore, in the form of a band-type device 10 in which the pump device 20 is attached to a band 30, the band 30 can be worn, for example, on the user's arm, further improving portability. Therefore, when, for example, a disinfectant is stored in the pump device 20, the user can easily use the disinfectant while away from home by pressing the liquid dome 230. Furthermore, since a dome-shaped pump is used in one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to dispense a fixed amount of liquid such as a disinfectant.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, an injection port 217 is formed for supplying liquid to the storage bag 222. Therefore, when the liquid contained in the storage bag 222 decreases, it is possible to continue using the band-type device 10 by refilling the liquid via the injection port 217. In addition, an injection port tube portion 216 having the injection port 217 as an opening is provided, and a cap 260 is removably attached to the injection port tube portion 216 by screwing. Therefore, the user can easily and reliably open and close the injection port 217 by rotating the cap 260.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, since the storage bag 222 is airtight, when the liquid flows into the liquid pump chamber P through the inlet 218, the volume of the storage bag 222 is reduced. Therefore, even if the pump device 20 does not have a dip tube, the liquid can smoothly flow from the storage bag 222 into the liquid pump chamber P. In addition, the inlet 218 is located below the inlet tube 216. If the lower end of the inlet tube 216 is located below the inlet 218, it is possible that the liquid will accumulate in the inlet tube 216 and will not reach the inlet 218. However, by positioning the inlet 218 below the inlet tube 216, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of this event.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, in a plan view, the center position of the liquid dome 230 (liquid pump chamber) is different from the center position of the main body 210, and the liquid dome 230 is formed at a biased position in the main body 210. This allows the diameter of the injection port 217 to be made larger. As a result, it becomes easier for the user to supply liquid to the storage bag 222 through the injection port 217.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a cover member 220 is provided between the main body 210 and the storage bag 222. This configuration makes it possible to prevent the storage bag 222 from being crushed by an external force, causing liquid to flow from the storage bag 222 into the liquid pump chamber P.

<Additional Information>
Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the attached drawings, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field of the present invention can conceive of various modified or altered examples within the scope of the technical ideas described in the claims, and it is understood that these also naturally belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, although the band-type device 10 has been described above as an example of a wearable device, the wearable device is not limited to the band-type device 10. For example, the wearable device may be a belt-type device consisting of a pump device 20 and a belt connected to the pump device 20, or may be a necklace-type device.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Band-type device 20 Pump device 210 Main body 216 Inlet tube 217 Inlet 218 Inlet 219 Outlet 272 Inlet valve 274 Spring 276 Ball 278 Spring 220 Cover member 222 Storage bag 224 First convex portion 225 Second convex portion 226 Third convex portion 230 Liquid dome 240 Ring 250 Discharge port 260 Cap 30 Band 310 Support portion 312 Opening 314 First groove portion 315 Second groove portion 316 Third groove portion 320 First band portion 322 Pin 330 Second band portion 331 Insertion hole 332 Hole

Claims (7)

A storage bag for storing a liquid material;
a lid portion that is elastically deformable and forms a liquid pump chamber that stores the liquid that flows in from the storage bag;
a main body portion to which the lid portion is attached on one side and the storage bag is attached on the other side;
a discharge port for discharging the liquid flowing out from the liquid pump chamber in response to elastic deformation of the lid portion;
a cylindrical portion protruding to the one side and having an opening that functions as an inlet for supplying a liquid material to the storage bag;
having
the main body portion has an inlet that forms a flow path through which the liquid flows from the storage bag into the liquid pump chamber,
The inlet is formed on a side of the lid where the containing bag is located, rather than the tubular portion . 2. The pump device of claim 1 , further comprising a cap for opening and closing said inlet. The pump device according to claim 2 , wherein the cap is detachably attached to the cylindrical portion by screwing. 4. The pump device according to claim 1, wherein when the liquid flows into the liquid pump chamber from the inlet, a volume of the containing bag is reduced. The pump device according to claim 1 , further comprising a cover member that, together with the main body, surrounds the containing bag. The pump device according to claim 1 , wherein a center position of the cover portion is different from a center position of the main body portion in a plan view of the pump device. A pump device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ;
a mounting portion that supports the pump device and is mounted to an object;
A wearable device comprising:

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