The present invention relates to a pump, and more particularly to a springless pump. The present invention further designs a container comprising the springless pump.
In fields such as toiletries, containers for containing products generally comprise pumps for dispensing the products. Generally, the pumps for dispensing the products include press pumps and hand-triggered pumps. Users pump the products by applying pressure to pressing heads (for press pumps) or triggers (for hand-triggered pumps) of the pumps. After pumping the product once, a restoring mechanism mounted on the pump will restore an actuation member to an unpressed position for the next pumping.
Conventional pumps use metal springs to restore the pumps. With the increasing requirements for environmental protection and the need to control the manufacturing cost of the pumps, the concept of a springless pump has been proposed.
b show a springless press pump 1 of the prior art. As shown in the cross-sectional views of
For the existing springless press pump disclosed above, in the process of pulling the pressing head upward, the user needs to hold a container containing the product or other parts of the press pump with the other hand, otherwise, pulling the pressing head with a single hand makes it easy to lift the entire container. This results in the inconvenient use of the springless press pumps of the prior art. Similarly, the hand-triggered pumps have the similar problem.
Therefore, there is a need for improvement of the springless pumps to overcome the aforementioned inconvenience of use in the prior art.
The present invention is made based on the technical problem existing in the prior art described above, and its object is to provide an improved springless pump which allows operation with a single hand, is easy to use, and conforms to the usual usage habits of the pump.
The present invention provides an improved springless pump mounted on a container and used for pumping a product contained in the container, which springless pump comprises:
a movable part comprising at least a pressing head and/or a piston rod; and
a stationary part comprising at least a threaded sleeve,
the springless press pump further comprising a restoring mechanism, the restoring mechanism comprising: a transmission component connected to the movable part; and a bearing component formed on or fixedly connected to the stationary part, wherein the transmission part is rigid, and is supported on the bearing component.
In the springless pump with the above structure, with the provision of the restoring mechanism, a user is enabled to easily operate the restoring mechanism after the pump performs a pumping operation to dispense the product, so as to restore the pump for the next operation. Moreover, since the spring is omitted by providing the restoring mechanism, the operation of the springless pump is labor-saving.
Preferably, the transmission part is a rigid member, so that when the user operates the transmission member, the force exerted by the user can be transmitted more effectively, thereby further making the operation of the springless pump labor-saving.
Preferably, the transmission part is rotatably or pivotably supported on the bearing component. In this way, the movable part such as the pressing head or the piston rod can be restored more effectively by the rotation or pivoting movement of the transmission part.
One type of the springless pump is a press pump comprising the pressing head and the piston rod, wherein the piston rod is connected to the pressing head, and wherein a transmission component of a restoring mechanism is connected to the pressing head or the piston rod.
Further, in a specific implementation structure, the transmission component comprises a pressing plate, the pressing plate comprising a pressing head mating portion located at one end of the pressing plate and a pressing portion at the other end of the pressing plate, and the pressing head mating portion being engaged with the pressing head; and the bearing component comprises a fulcrum portion, and the pressing plate further comprises a pivoting portion rotatably supported on the fulcrum portion.
In this way, by virtue of the action of the pressing plate, the press pump can be easily restored by pressing one end of the pressing plate.
Further, the pressing head mating portion of the pressing plate is in the shape of a fork, and two arms of the fork clamp a neck of the pressing head from two sides; and/or the stationary part further comprises a cylinder head, and the bearing component further comprises a fixing portion, the fixing portion being ring-shaped and being snapped between the threaded sleeve and the cylinder head.
Alternatively, the pressing head mating portion may be connected to the top of the pressing head.
In another specific implementation structure, the springless press pump is a dual-body pump for use in a container comprising two chambers, and the dual-body pump comprises two pressing heads, namely a first pressing head and a second pressing head, and two mounting holes are formed in the top of the threaded sleeve, the first pressing head and the second pressing head being respectively mounted in the mounting holes.
Preferably, in the springless press pump in the form of a dual-body pump, the transmission component comprises a pressing plate, the pressing plate comprising a pivoting portion and first and second pressing head mating portions located on two sides of the pivoting portion, wherein the first pressing head mating portion is connected to the first pressing head or to a first piston rod connected to the first pressing head, and the second pressing head mating portion is connected to the second pressing head or to a second piston rod connected to the second pressing head; and
the bearing component comprises a fulcrum portion formed on the top of the threaded sleeve, wherein the fulcrum portion is located between the two mounting holes, and the pivoting portion of the pressing plate is rotatably mated on the fulcrum portion.
Further, support rods are respectively formed on the tops of the first pressing head and the second pressing head, a first connection point is formed at the first pressing head mating portion, the first connection point is connected to the support rod on the first pressing head, a second connection point is formed at the second pressing head mating portion, and the second connection point is connected to the support rod on the second pressing head.
Further preferably, further comprised is a clip snapped, when the springless press pump is not operated, to a neck of the first pressing head and/or a neck of the second pressing head to prevent the downward movement of the first pressing head and/or the second pressing head. In a specific structure, the pressing plate is detachable, and the clip is integrated onto the pressing plate.
Alternatively, in the case of the dual-body pump, the transmission component is in the form of a connecting rod, and the structure of the connecting rod is as follows: a first end thereof is provided with at least one first aperture, a first piston rod is connected to the first pressing head, at least one first protruding post is formed on an outer peripheral wall of the first piston rod, and the first aperture is mated with the first protruding post;
a second end of the connecting rod is provided with at least one second aperture, a second piston rod is connected to the second pressing head, at least one second protruding post is formed on an outer peripheral wall of the second piston rod, and the second aperture is mated with the second protruding post; and
a pivoting portion is formed between the first end and the second end of the connecting rod, and the bearing component comprises a fulcrum portion formed on the top of the threaded sleeve, wherein the fulcrum portion is located between the two mounting holes, and the pivoting portion of the connecting rod is rotatably mated on the fulcrum portion.
In another specific structure, the transmission component comprises a gear train, and the bearing component comprises a gear mounting portion formed at the top of the threaded sleeve, wherein the gear train comprises:
a gear rotatably mounted on the gear mounting portion,
a first rack, which is formed on a first piston rod connected to the first pressing head, and meshes with one side of the gear; and
a second rack, which is formed on a second piston rod connected to the second pressing head, and meshes with the other side of the gear.
In the case where the transmission component of the restoring mechanism is in the form of a pressing plate, the fulcrum portion may be any one of the following forms: the fulcrum portion may be formed on the threaded sleeve, or the fulcrum portion may be clamped and fixed between the threaded sleeve and the container, or the fulcrum portion may be formed on the container.
Further, a rod part of the fulcrum portion mentioned above is foldable, and comprises a first segment and a second segment, the first segment being able to be switched between a first position in which the first segment is folded on the second segment, and a second position in which the first segment is aligned with the second segment to form a straight line. In this way, during the storage and transportation, the rod portion of the fulcrum portion can adopt a folded state, thereby allowing the pressing head to be in a depressed state to facilitate storage and transportation.
Alternatively, the following structure may also be used to facilitate storage and transportation: the fulcrum portion comprises a sleeve and a ratcheted rod, wherein one end of the ratcheted rod is connected to the pressing plate, and the other end of the ratcheted rod comprises a ratchet and is slidably accommodated in the sleeve.
In another embodiment, the transmission component comprises a rotary restoring member, the rotary restoring member comprises an operation portion and at least one abutment portion suspended from a body of the rotary restoring member, and a slope is formed on a free end of the abutment portion. Correspondingly, the bearing component comprises a mating slope formed on a neck of the threaded sleeve, and the mating slope is mated with the slope of the abutment portion. By means of the mating between the slope of the abutment portion and the mating slope of the neck of the threaded sleeve, when the operation portion is operated to rotate the rotary restoring member in one direction, the rotary restoring member can be raised, and the pressing head is in turn lifted to restore same.
Another type of the springless pump is a hand-triggered pump, wherein the stationary part comprises the threaded sleeve and a cylinder formed or mounted on the threaded sleeve, and the movable part comprises a piston rod reciprocably accommodated in the cylinder and a trigger, a first end of the trigger being connected to the piston rod, and a second end of the trigger being a free end; and wherein the bearing component is a fulcrum portion formed on the stationary portion, and the trigger is rotatably connected to the fulcrum portion at an intermediate point between the first end and the second end, such that a part of the trigger between the intermediate point and the second end constitutes the transmission part of the restoring mechanism.
By means of the structure, the user can, by alternately pressing the first end and the second end of the trigger, easily realize the pumping of the product and restore the pump after the pumping is completed.
Preferably, a limiting member is further formed on the fulcrum portion. The limiting member can limit the movement range of the trigger when the pump is restored, to prevent the pump from being excessively restored.
The present invention further relates to a container comprising a springless pump as described above.
Further, the container is a dual-chamber container, and comprises a springless pump in the form of a dual-body pump as described above, wherein the container further comprises a pump housing for covering the springless press pump, the top of the pump jacket is step-shaped and comprises a higher top face and a lower top face, the height of the higher top face corresponds to an upper dead point of a stroke of one of the first pressing head and the second pressing head, and the height of the lower top face corresponds to a lower dead point of a stroke of the other of the first pressing head and the second pressing head.
In order to facilitate the understanding of the present invention, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be appreciated that only preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings and are not intended to constitute a limitation to the scope of the present invention. Various obvious modifications, variations and equivalent substitutions of the present invention can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments shown in the drawings, and the technical features in the various embodiments described below can be arbitrarily combined without causing contradictions. These all fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.
Further, the press pump 100 of the first embodiment is further provided with a pressing plate 130. As shown in
It can be seen that the pressing plate 130 can pivot about the pivoting portion 131 when the user applies a pressing force to the pressing portion 133 or applies a downward pressure to the pressing head mating portion 132 via the pressing head. The pressing plate 130 is preferably of a rigid structure, which is beneficial to more effectively transferring the pressure applied by the user, thereby enabling the user to operate more effectively. In addition, in order to be able to further effectively operate the pressing plate 130, preferably, the pressure applied to the pressing plate 130 is substantially perpendicular to the pressing plate 130.
In order to provide a fulcrum for the pressing plate 130, a bearing component 140 is provided on the stationary portion of the press pump 100.
Of course, the bearing component 140 may also be formed in another form on the stationary part of the press pump 100 and provides a fulcrum for the pressing plate 130. For example, the fixing portion 142 may be welded to the stationary portion of the press pump 100, and it is not necessary for the fixing portion 142 to be partially ring-shaped. Moreover, in addition to the threaded sleeve 120 shown in the figures, the fixing portion 142 may also be fixed to other components of the stationary part, for example, to the cylinder head, etc. Indeed, the fixing portion 142 may be omitted, and the fulcrum portion 141 for supporting the pivoting portion 131 of the pressing plate 130 is integrally formed on the stationary portion of the press pump 100.
The operation principle of the press pump 100 of the above structure will be described in detail below.
When a product in a container on which the press pump 100 is mounted needs to be used, the user presses the pressing head 110 to dispense the product. Then, if the pressing head 110 is to be restored, the user only needs to press the pressing portion 133 of the pressing plate 130, thereby moving the pressing portion 133 downward, and in turn pivoting the pressing plate 130 about the pivoting portion 131, such that the pressing head mating portion 132 moves upward. The pressing head mating portion 132 abuts against the pressing head 110 during the upward movement, such that the pressing head 110 also moves upward along therewith, thereby restoring same. It can be seen that by the pivoting movement of the pressing plate 130 about the pivoting portion 131, the user can apply, with a simple action, a force alternately on portions of the pressing plate 130 that are located on two sides of the pivoting portion 131, so that the pressing head 110 can be easily restored.
As shown in
Different from the press pump 100 of the first embodiment, the pressing head mating portion 232 of the pressing plate 230 of the press pump 200 of the second embodiment is connected to an upper portion of the pressing head 210, particularly to the top of the pressing head 210.
The operation principle of the press pump 200 of the second embodiment will be described below.
When a product in a container on which the press pump 200 is mounted needs to be used, the user can press the pressing head mating portion 232 of the pressing plate 230, and in turn press the pressing head 210 down via the pressing head mating portion 232, and the pressing plate 230 pivots about the pivoting portion 231. After the product is dispensed from the container, the user can press the pressing portion 233 of the pressing plate 230 to pivot the pressing plate 230 about the pivoting portion 231 in the opposite direction, thereby raising the pivoting portion 231 upward, and pulling the pressing head 210 upward via the pressing head mating portion 232 to restore the pressing head 210. It can be seen that during the operation of the press pump 200, the user can press the pressing head mating portion 232 and the pressing portion 233 of the pressing plate 230 alternately with the same hand to achieve the pressing of the pressing head 210 of the press pump 200 and the restoring of the pressing head 210, and the user's hand can maintain the same posture during operation without changing.
b show a press pump 300 of a third embodiment of the present invention. In the following description of the third embodiment, for the sake of brevity, the features that are not included in the first and second embodiments are mainly described, and the same technical features as those of the first and second embodiments will not be described in detail.
As shown in
The press pump 300 comprises a threaded sleeve 320. Two pressing heads are mounted on the threaded sleeve 320, namely a first pressing head 311 and a second pressing head 312.
Referring back to
The second pressing head 312 may has the same shape as the first pressing head 311 shown in
In the press pump 300 of the third embodiment, a clip 340 is further provided. The structure of the clip 340 is shown in
In addition, a fulcrum portion 323 in the shape of a support rod is formed between the two mounting holes 322. The pivoting portion 331 of the pressing plate 330 is pivotably connected to the fulcrum portion 323.
The operation principle of the press pump 300 of the third embodiment will be described below.
When the user needs to use a product contained in the container, first the clip 340 that is snapped to the first pressing head 311 and/or the second pressing head 312 is removed. Then, the user can place his/her hand on the pressing plate 330, and when the product in the first container 351 needs to be obtained, the user presses the first pressing head mating portion 332 of the pressing plate 330 downward to move the first pressing head 311 downward, such that the product in the first container 351 is pumped out. In the process of pressing the first pressing head mating portion 332 downward, the pressing plate 330 pivots about the pivoting portion 331 such that the second pressing head mating portion 333 moves upward simultaneously.
After the pumping of the product from the first container 351 is completed, the user can press the second pressing head mating portion 333 of the pressing plate 330 downward to move the second pressing head 312 downward, such that the product in the second container 352 is pumped. In this process, the pressing plate 330 pivots about the pivoting portion 331 in the opposite direction, such that the first pressing head mating portion 332 moves upward, thereby restoring the first pressing head mating portion 332.
For the press pump 300 in the form of a dual-body pump having the above structure, depression strokes of the first pressing head 311 and the second pressing head 312 are related to each other by the pressing plate 330. For example, when the pivoting portion 331 is at the midpoint between the first connection point 334 and the second connection point 335, the depression strokes of the first pressing head 311 and the second pressing head 312 are substantially equal, such that the amount of product pumped out of the first container 351 is the same as the amount of product pumped out of the second container 352.
For the above press pump 300 in the form of a dual-body pump, the dual-chamber container on which the press pump 300 is mounted may contain the same product or two different products, for example, the left side contains shampoo and the right side contains a hair conditioner, or the two chambers may contain two products that cannot be mixed during storage but need to be mixed together when in use.
In the case of containing two different products, for example, if the amount of product pumped out of the first container 351 is different from the amount of product pumped out of the second container 352, and there is a certain proportional relationship between the two, and according to this proportional relationship, a proportional relationship between the distance from the pivoting portion 331 to the first connection point 334 and the distance from the pivoting portion 331 to the second connection point 335 can be set.
Similar to the third embodiment, the press pump 400 of the fourth embodiment is also in the form of a dual-body pump, comprising a threaded sleeve 420. A first pressing head 411 and a second pressing head 412 are mounted on the threaded sleeve 420. Different from the third embodiment, a pressing plate 430 of the press pump 400 can also be used as a clip snapped to the first pressing head 411 and the second pressing head 412, to prevent the first pressing head 411 and the second pressing head 412 from being depressed, as shown in
b show a press pump 500 of a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the following description of the fifth embodiment, for the sake of brevity, the features that are not included in the first to fourth embodiments are mainly described, and the same technical features as those of the first to fourth embodiments will not be described in detail.
The press pump 500 of the fifth embodiment is also a dual-body pump, comprising a threaded sleeve 520, and a first pressing head 511 and a second pressing head 512 mounted on the threaded sleeve 520. A first piston rod 541 is connected to the first pressing head 511, a second piston rod 542 is connected to the second pressing head 512, and a connecting rod 530 is mounted between the first pressing head 511 and the second pressing head 512.
As shown in
At least one protruding post 543 is formed on an outer peripheral wall of each of the first piston rod 541 and the second piston rod 542, preferably as shown in
In order to enable the support rod 523 to stably support the pivoting portion 531 of the connecting rod 530, it is preferable to provide two support rods 523 spaced apart from each other at a certain distance on the threaded sleeve 520, as shown in
The operation principle of the press pump 500 of the fifth embodiment will be described below.
When a product needs to be dispensed from a dual-chamber container, one of the two pressing heads is pressed down first, for example, the first pressing head 511 is pressed down first. As the first pressing head 511 moves downward, the first piston rod 541 connected to the first pressing head 511 also moves downward, driving the end of the connecting rod 530 on the side connected to the first pressing head 511 to move downward. At this time, the connecting rod 530 pivots about the pivoting portion 531 under the support action of the support rod 523, such that the other end of the connecting rod 530 on the side connected to the second pressing head 512 moves upward, thereby moving the second pressing head 512 and the second piston rod 542 connected to the second pressing head 512 upward. When the first pressing head 511 reaches a lower dead point of a stroke thereof, the second pressing head 512 also reaches an upper dead point of a stroke thereof, thereby restoring the second pressing head 512.
Next, the user can press the second pressing head 512 to obtain the product from the other chamber of the container. As the second pressing head 512 moves downward, the connecting rod 530 pivots about the pivoting portion 531 in the opposite direction to that when the first pressing head 511 was previously depressed, thereby moving the first pressing head 511 upward. In this way, when the second pressing head 512 reaches a lower dead point of the stroke thereof, the first pressing head 511 reaches an upper dead point of the stroke thereof, thereby restoring the first pressing head 511.
The press pump 600 of the sixth embodiment is also a dual-body pump, comprising a threaded sleeve 620, and a first pressing head 611 and a second pressing head 612 mounted on the threaded sleeve 620. A first piston rod 641 is connected to the first pressing head 611, and a second piston rod 642 is connected to the second pressing head 612.
Different from the previous embodiments, the press pump 600 of the sixth embodiment is provided with a gear train 630 as a linkage device between the first pressing head 611 and the second pressing head 612. Specifically, as shown in
The gear train 630 further comprises a first rack 632 formed on the first piston rod 641 and a second rack 633 formed on the second piston rod 642. The structure of the first piston rod 641 is shown as an example in
In the sixth embodiment of the present invention, preferably, further comprised is a pump housing 650 for covering the press pump 600. The pump housing 650 functions to protect the press pump 600 during processes such as transportation and storage.
The operation principle of the press pump 600 of the sixth embodiment will be described below.
During use, the user presses one of the first pressing head 611 and the second pressing head 612. For example, the first pressing head 611 is pressed to move the first pressing head 611 downward, and in turn the first piston rod 641 connected to the first pressing head 611 also moves downward. In this process, the first rack 632 on the first piston rod 641 meshes with the gear 631 to rotate the gear 631, and the rotation of the gear 631 in turn causes the second piston rod 642 and the second pressing head 612 to move upward by means of the meshing between the gear 631 and the second rack 633 on the second piston rod 642. When the first pressing head 611 is pressed to the lower dead point of the stroke thereof, the second pressing head 612 reaches the upper dead point of the stroke thereof, thereby restoring the second pressing head 612.
Next, the user can press the other of the first pressing head 611 and the second pressing head 612, for example, pressing the second pressing head 612, such that the second pressing head 612 and the second piston rod 642 connected to the second pressing head 612 move downward. By means of the meshing between the second rack 633 on the second piston rod 642 and the gear 631 and the meshing between the gear 631 and the first rack 632 on the first piston rod 641, the downward movement of the second pressing head 612 and the second piston rod 642 is transformed into the upward movement of the first pressing head 611 and the first piston rod 641. When the second pressing head 612 reaches the lower dead point of the stroke thereof, the first pressing head 611 reaches an upper dead point of the stroke thereof, thereby restoring the first pressing head 611.
b show a press pump 700 of a seventh embodiment of the present invention, and two press pumps 700′ and 700″ having variant structures of the seventh embodiment. In the following description of the seventh embodiment, for the sake of brevity, the features that are not included in the first to sixth embodiments are mainly described, and the same technical features as those of the first to sixth embodiments will not be described in detail.
The press pump 700 of the seventh embodiment shown in
Further, in the press pump 700 shown in
The fulcrum portion 740 may also be formed in a foldable structure, as shown in
As shown in
For the fulcrum portion 740 of the foldable form, when the product container is transported, the first segment 741 may be placed in the first position, such that the fulcrum portion 740 is in the folded state, and the first pressing head 711 and the second pressing head 712 of the press pump 700 are both in a lower-position state (see
It should be noted that the fulcrum portion 740 of the above foldable configuration may also be used in the case of the integral threaded sleeve such as in the third embodiment.
Alternatively, the fulcrum portion 740′ may also be integrally formed on the container 750′, as shown in
Of course, the fulcrum portion 740″ of the press pump 700″ shown in
As shown in
In the eighth embodiment, the fulcrum portion 840 has a unidirectionally telescopic structure. The unidirectionally telescopic structure can be specifically referred to
It is to be noted here that the fulcrum portion 840 of the above telescopic structure may also be used in the case of the integral threaded sleeve such as in the third embodiment.
As shown in
Correspondingly, as shown in
When the user presses the pressing head 910 of the press pump 900, the pressing head 910 moves downward, and the rotary restoring member 930 also moves downward along with the pressing head 910. At the same time, due to the mating between the slope 933 and the mating slope 921, the rotary restoring member 930 is guided to rotate in one direction. After the product in the container is dispensed once, the user can operate the operation portion 931 of the rotary restoring member 930 to rotate the operation portion 931 in the opposite direction. At this time, under the effect of the mating between the slope 933 and the mating slope 921, the rotary restoring member 930 moves upward, and the pressing head 910 is in turn lifted upward, thereby restoring the pressing head 910.
Alternatively, the rotary restoring member 930 may also be arranged such that when the rotary restoring member 930 is rotated to restore the pressing head 910, the rotary restoring member 930 can be rotated such that the abutment portion 932 thereof passes over the highest point 922 of the slope 933 of the threaded sleeve 920 before stopping. In this way, the next time the pressing head 910 is pressed, the rotary restoring member 930 does not rotate, but directly moves downward along with the pressing head 910. Then, the rotary restoring member 930 is rotated in the same direction as before, to restore the pressing head 910. In other words, in this case, the rotary restoring member 930. In this case, the inner diameter of the rotary restoring member 930 may be set to be larger than the outer diameter of the neck of the threaded sleeve 920. At this time, during the restoring operation, after the abutment portion 932 of the rotary restoring member 930 passes over the highest point 922 of the slope 933, the rotary restoring member 930 automatically falls to a lower position thereof.
As shown in
As shown in
It can be seen that in the tenth embodiment, the trigger 1010 is used to constitute the transmission part of the restoring mechanism, specifically, the part of the trigger 1010 between the intermediate point 1011 and the second end is the transmission part of the restoring mechanism.
Preferably, a limiting member 1021 may also be provided on the fulcrum portion 1020, which is, for example, a part extending obliquely from a main body of the fulcrum portion 1020 shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201711165573.X | Nov 2017 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2018/100163 | 8/13/2018 | WO | 00 |