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US 2003/0197030 A1Published application
Fluid dispenser pump
AssigneeValois SAS
InventorLudovic Petit
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AssigneeValois SAS
InventorLudovic Petit
Estimating the term…
A fluid dispenser pump actuated manually to dispense a metered quantity or “dose” of fluid each time it is actuated, said pump including a pump body (10) containing a pump chamber (11) and a return spring (50) resiliently urging the pump towards its rest position and returning it automatically to said rest position after each occasion on which it is actuated, said pump chamber (11) being provided with an outlet valve (40), said outlet valve (40) being urged towards a closed position by the pressure from the fluid while the pump is being actuated, and being opened mechanically by a valve control element (60) at the end of actuation, once the full dose has been prepared, said pump being characterized in that it includes valve locking means for keeping the outlet valve (40) in the open position while the fluid is being expelled from the pump chamber (11), to prevent the flow of fluid from closing said outlet valve (40) again before the full dose of fluid has been expelled, said outlet valve (40) being closed mechanically at the end of fluid expulsion by said valve control element (60) under the effect of said return spring (50) of the pump.
1/ A fluid dispenser pump actuated manually to dispense a metered quantity or “dose” of fluid each time it is actuated, said pump including a pump body (10) containing a pump chamber (11) and a return spring (50) resiliently urging the pump towards its rest position and returning it automatically to said rest position after each occasion on which it is actuated, said pump chamber (11) being provided with an outlet valve (40), said outlet valve (40) being urged towards a closed position by the pressure from the fluid while the pump is being actuated, and being opened mechanically by a valve control element (60) at the end of actuation, once the full dose has been prepared, said pump being characterized in that it includes valve locking means for keeping the outlet valve (40) in the open position while the fluid is being expelled from the pump chamber (11), to prevent the flow of fluid from closing said outlet valve (40) again before the full dose of fluid has been expelled, said outlet valve (40) being closed mechanically at the end of fluid expulsion by said valve control element (60) under the effect of said return spring (50) of the pump.
2/ A pump according to claim 1, in which the pump chamber (11) is defined between a first piston (20) and a second piston (30).
3/ A pump according to claim 1, in which said valve locking means consist in wedging the outlet valve (40) in the open position.
4/ A pump according to claim 1, in which said outlet valve (40) comprises a valve element (41) and a valve seat (42), said valve element (41) comprising a valve head (43) co-operating in leaktight manner with said valve seat (42) when the valve (40) is in the closed position, and a valve body (44) extending axially from said valve head (43), the diameter of said valve body (44) being smaller than the diameter of said head (43), said valve body (44) being provided with a valve foot (45) at its end opposite from said valve head (43), said valve foot (45) being of diameter larger than the diameter of said valve body (44), the valve control element (60) being mounted to slide around said valve body (44), and co-operating mechanically with said valve foot (45) to open the outlet valve (40), and with said valve head (43) to close the outlet valve (40).
5/ A pump according to claim 4, in which the valve seat (42) is formed in said first piston (20), said valve head (43) being inserted in said first piston (20) with a friction force, a force greater than said friction force being necessary to move said valve head (43) relative to said valve seat (42) between its closed and open positions.
6/ A pump according to claim 5, in which the valve seat (42) is formed by a radial annular surface that is substantially perpendicular to the central axis of the pump and that surrounds the inlet (71) of an expulsion channel (70) connecting the pump chamber (11) to a dispensing orifice, said valve head (43) co-operating with said radial annular surface (42) via a respective radial surface (43′).
7/ A pump according to claim 5, in which the first piston (20) includes an axial sleeve (21) in which said valve head (43) is mounted to slide, the inside diameter of said axial sleeve (21) being slightly smaller than the outside diameter of said valve head (43) to define said friction force, and therefore to define the force necessary to move said valve head (43) relative to said valve seat (42).
8/ A pump according to claim 7, in which said axial sleeve (21) is provided with abutment means (22) such as a radial shoulder to define the open position of said valve head (43).
9/ A pump according to claim 7, in which the surface (23) of said axial sleeve (21) on which said valve head (43) slides is at least partly frustoconical.
10/ A pump according to claim 4, in which said valve head (43) is provided with fluid passageway means (48) such as one or more openings provided in the periphery of said valve head (43).
11/ A fluid dispenser device characterized in that it includes a pump according to claim 1.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Backward citations are indexed for grants only.
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With manually operated pistons: the dosing device being provided with a dip tube and fitted to a container, e.g. to a bottleneck
Spraying apparatus
Term end not estimated
The present invention relates to a fluid dispenser pump, and more particularly to a pump actuated manually to dispense a metered quantity or “dose” of fluid each time it is actuated.
Pumps, and in particular “metered dose” pumps that dispense a dose of substance each time they are actuated, are well known from the state of the art. They are generally used to dispense fluids, such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, perfumes, or the like. Such a pump generally includes a pump chamber defined between an inlet valve of the pump chamber and an outlet valve of the pump chamber. During actuation, the inlet valve is closed automatically, and after a moment, the outlet valve is opened, thereby making it possible to expel the fluid contained in the pump chamber. To improve the operation of such a pump, it has been proposed to organize the outlet valve of the pump chamber such that, while the pump is being actuated, the pressure of the fluid inside the pump chamber urges the outlet valve towards its closure position, which guarantees full leaktightness. The outlet valve is then opened mechanically, preferably at the end of actuation, once the full dose has been prepared, so as to open the passageway and enable the fluid contained in the pump chamber to be expelled. Such a pump is described in particular in French Patent Application FR 00-13569, filed on Oct. 23, 2000. Although such a pump operates satisfactorily, it can suffer from a problem affecting outlet valve operation. Since the outlet valve is urged towards its closed position by the pressure of the fluid during actuation, and then opened mechanically to enable the fluid to be expelled, there is a risk that the fluid flowing out of the pump chamber after the outlet valve has opened might return said outlet valve to its closed position, so that the dose of fluid might not be dispensed in full. Dose reproducibility is therefore not guaranteed.
An object of the present invention is to provide a fluid dispenser pump that does not suffer from the above-mentioned drawbacks.
The present invention is described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given by way of non-limiting example, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic section view of a fluid dispenser pump in an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, with the pump in the rest position;
FIG. 2 is a view similar to the FIG. 1 view, with the pump in the actuating position;
With reference to the drawings, the present invention relates to a pump having a pump body 10 containing a pump chamber 11. The pump chamber 11 is defined between a first piston 20, referred to as the “top piston” and a second piston 30 referred to as the “bottom piston”, and the pump chamber 11 is provided with an inlet valve 80 and with an outlet valve 40. The inlet valve 80 may advantageously be in the form of a ball co-operating with a suitable valve seat. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the top piston 20 is advantageously mounted to slide in a large-diameter pump body portion, and the bottom piston 30 is mounted to slide in a small-diameter pump body portion. This is conventional for this type of pump. The pump is further provided with a-return spring 50 which urges the pump resiliently towards its rest position shown in FIG. 1, and which automatically returns it to this position after each occasion on which the pump is actuated. In the example shown, the return spring 50 is disposed between the pump body and the inlet valve seat 80, but any other positioning may also be imagined for the return spring 50.
The outlet valve 40 is organized such that, during actuation of the pump, it is urged by the pressure from the fluid contained in the pump chamber 11 towards its closed position, said outlet valve 40 being opened mechanically by a valve control element 60 at the end of actuation once the full metered quantity or “dose” has been prepared. The valve control element 60 cooperates firstly with the outlet valve 40 and secondly with the bottom piston 30 or with an element secured to integral therewith.
In the invention, the pump includes valve locking means for keeping the outlet valve 40 in an open position while the fluid is being expelled from the pump chamber 11. In this way, the flow of fluid out from the pump chamber 11 is prevented from closing the outlet valve 40 again before the dose contained in said pump chamber 11 has been expelled in full. The outlet valve 40 is then closed mechanically, at the end of fluid expulsion, by said valve control element 60 under the effect of the return spring 50 of the pump. Advantageously, the outlet valve locking means consist in wedging the outlet valve 40 in the open position, as described below with reference to an advantageous embodiment of the present invention.