FR2634825A1 - Precompression pump for spraying a liquid - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a precompression pump for spraying a liquid, mounted at the end of a flask which is a reservoir for the said liquid, making it possible to tilt the pump in all directions without disturbing its operation. It includes an orifice 13 for taking up the liquid from the reservoir flask which orifice can be blocked off by a closure valve 14, an orifice 25 for expelling the liquid towards a spray head 26 and a support shell 2 in which is produced a first internal compression chamber 5, a driving piston 11 interacting with the said first chamber 5 for transferring liquid between the take up orifice and the expelling orifice. It furthermore includes a second intermediate chamber 8 for transfer between the said first chamber 5 and the said expelling orifice 25, and a precompression pipe 6 produced in the support shell 2 in which there are engaged precompression means 22, 23, 24 in sealed contact with the said pipe, the first chamber being parallel and not coaxial with the said precompression pipe. Application to aerosols and sprays.

Description

PRE-PRESSURE PUMP FOR DIFFUSION OF A LIQUID
The present invention relates to diffusion pumps such as so-called aerosol pumps which are used to extract a determined quantity of a liquid contained in a reservoir bottle and expel it outside via a diffusion head generally equipped with a swirl nozzle. Among these pumps, it relates more particularly to those whose operation ensures a prior compression of the dose of liquid withdrawn before expelling it outside by a precompression movement.

 Currently the precompression pumps used for the diffusion of a liquid comprise an orifice for withdrawing the liquid from a reservoir bottle which can be closed by a closure valve, an orifice for expelling the liquid towards a diffusion head and a support shell. in which a first internal compression chamber is produced, a driving piston cooperating with said first chamber for transferring the liquid between the withdrawal orifice and the expulsion orifice.

 Such spraying systems used for example for aerosols, have the major drawback of completely moving the pump when the user exerts pressure on the driving piston, also implying, when the liquid is ejected outwards, the displacement of the diffusion head. This displacement of the diffusion head causes drawbacks in use, in particular related to the sweeping of the liquid which is not always appreciated if it is desired to spray towards a well-defined surface, in particular when the liquid used is a lacquer, a deodorant. or a body oil.

 In addition, known systems do not allow use of the pump in all positions. In fact, when it is desired to carry out a spraying with a traditional pump, therefore with the expulsion orifice placed below the reservoir bottle, that is to say by inverting the pump, the dip tube connected to the sampling port of a traditional pump is in contact with the air contained in the tank and therefore does not allow a new spraying of liquid when the dip tube is purged.

 The present invention overcomes these drawbacks by providing a precompression pump in which the diffusion head is independent of the movement of the driving piston during operation of the pump. It considerably improves the usual operation of such pumps by ensuring a frank projection of the liquid upon diffusion in a predetermined dose to prevent smearing or drips at the end of the projection or outside periods of use and by allowing precise targeting of the area affected by the product. From the moment you obtain a diffusion of the product on a specific surface determined, it is particularly advantageous to be able to diffuse a constant predetermined unit dose and this whatever the position of the pump and its expulsion orifice even when it is returned.

 The main idea of the present invention is to produce a pump for diffusion of a liquid comprising a first compression chamber and a precompression conduit in which are engaged precompression means, the first chamber being parallel non-coaxial with the precompression conduit . We obtain a lateral transfer of the dose of liquid generated by the descent of the working piston which allows the product to reach the precompression system separate from the traditional pump systems.

 The present invention therefore relates to a precompression pump for the diffusion of a liquid, comprising an orifice for withdrawing the liquid from a reservoir bottle, closable by a closing valve, an orifice for expelling the liquid towards a diffusion head and a support shell in which a first internal compression chamber is produced, a driving piston cooperating with said first chamber for the transfer of the liquid between the withdrawal orifice and the expulsion orifice, characterized in that it further comprises a second intermediate transfer chamber between said first chamber and said expulsion orifice, and a precompression duct formed in the support shell in a cooperating situation with precompression means mounted in said support shell, the first chamber being non-coaxial parallel to said precompression duct.

 The separation in the pump of the compression chamber and the precompression conduit implies a transfer of the dose through an intermediate chamber so as to allow the separation of the compression zone and the fixed and stationary diffusion zone.

 According to a particularly advantageous secondary characteristic of the invention, the pump is associated with a sprayer further comprising a piston for closing the reservoir bottle, provided with an air purge orifice suitable for being closed by a closure cap after filling of said bottle.

 This ensures that no air bubbles remain in the reservoir bottle after filling. The diffusion of the product is thus carried out in identical unit doses from one diffusion to another, and this whatever the position of the pump and the expulsion orifice, in all the orientations of the bottle, which associated with precise targeting of the desired destination surface considerably improves the handling of such systems, in particular by making it possible to tilt the pump in all directions without disturbing its operation.

According to a secondary characteristic of the invention, the precompression means comprise an end piece, at least part of which is hollow to receive elastic means for urging a needle piston towards a position for closing the expulsion orifice when the end piece is engaged in said precompression duct
Advantageously, the end piece has externally communication channels arranged longitudinally, distributed at least partially annularly and opening laterally around said needle piston.

 According to a particular characteristic of the invention, the intermediate transfer chamber comprises an inlet orifice in communication with the compression chamber and an outlet opening connected to said expulsion orifice, said inlet orifice tending to be closed by a valve. using elastic return means.

 In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the transfer chamber is perpendicular to the compression chamber and to the precompression duct.

 Advantageously, at least part of the support shell forming the compression chamber engages in the liquid reservoir bottle.

 According to another particular characteristic of the invention, the transfer chamber is produced in a holding part mounted around the shell part which is engaged in the reservoir bottle.

 Advantageously, the retaining part also supports the end piece introduced into the precompression duct.

 According to a preferred embodiment of the pump, the compression chamber comprises at a first end the sampling orifice closable by a ball and at a second end the circumferentially sealed working piston, a helical spring placed in said chamber being associated with said piston engine.

 Finally, advantageously the diffusion head is fixed stationary on the support shell.

A particular embodiment of the invention will now be described in more detail which will make it better understand the essential characteristics and the advantages, it being understood however that this embodiment is chosen by way of example and that it is in no way Its description is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which
- Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section of the pump mounted on the liquid reservoir bottle
- Figure 2 schematically shows the pump in a longitudinal sectional view along line AA 'of Figure 1, in a rest position outside periods of use
- Figure 3 shows a longitudinal section during the descent of the engine piston during the compression phase and at the start of vaporization of the liquid
- Figure 4 shows a longitudinal section of the pump when the piston starts to rise
- Figure 5 shows a cross section at the intermediate transfer chamber.

 Figure 1 shows an overall sectional view of an aerosol type device comprising a reservoir bottle 1 of liquid on which is mounted at an upper end a diffusion pump object of the present invention.

 The reservoir bottle 1 comprises at one end, said pump and at another end, internally, a closing piston 20, a central part of which is provided with an air purge orifice 33, suitable for being closed by a closing button. 21. When the pump is operating and therefore ensures the transfer of the liquid from the reservoir bottle, the closing piston 20 rises progressively in the reservoir bottle.

 The diffusion pump comprises a support shell 2 which rests circularly on the upper ends 1A, 1B of the liquid reservoir bottle. The support shell 2 comes into contact with the inner face of the reservoir bottle at its upper end so as to provide a seal against the liquid placed in the reservoir bottle. It has an extension 3A which, when the pump is in position on the bottle, engages in the volume of liquid in the reservoir bottle. This extension 3A comprises a liquid sampling orifice 13 which can be closed off by a closing valve which in a preferred embodiment consists of a ball lii. This extension 3A of the support shell 2 is associated with a projecting shape 3B of the support shell so as to produce a compression chamber 5. This compression chamber is closed on its upper part by a driving piston 11. The driving piston is extended by a push button 10 on which the user exerts a pressure controlling the diffusion of the liquid.

 In what follows, reference will be made to the lower and upper parts of the bottle or of the pump. It is understood that this orientation is chosen with reference to the vertical rest position of the pump.

 The compression chamber 5 laterally has an opening 16 (FIG. 2) which directs the compressed liquid to an intermediate transfer chamber 8. This intermediate chamber is connected by precompression means to an expulsion orifice 25.

 The precompression means associated with the compression chamber will now be more clearly explained in the light of FIGS. 2, 3 and II representing in an enlarged manner the head of the pump in the different operating positions.

 Referring to Figure 2, we will examine the position of the closing diffusion pump, that is to say when no pressure n1 is exerted on the push button 10. In this position the piston 11 is constantly requested by a helical spring 12 placed inside the compression chamber 5, towards a high position. The support shell 2 comprises, at the level of the extension 3A engaged in the reservoir bottle, a lateral orifice 16 through which the liquid can be evacuated when the chamber 5 is compressed. This orifice 16 opens into an intermediate transfer chamber 8 provided inside a holding part 7.

 The support shell 2 further comprises a precompression duct 6 produced by a tubular element 4 of the shell directed towards the upper part of the pump. At the upper end of this precompression conduit 6 is an expulsion orifice 25 for the withdrawn liquid. The end of the tubular element 4 receives the diffusion head 26 mounted fixed and immobile on this part of the support shell 2.

 Inside this precompression duct 6 are engaged precompression means. An end piece 22 is introduced into this conduit 6 and comes into contact over the entire internal wall of the tubular element 4. This end piece 22 comprises at least one hollow part which receives elastic biasing means such as in particular a helical spring 24 This helical spring 24 supports a needle piston 23 and tends to keep this needle piston 23 closing the expulsion orifice 25. The end piece 22 externally comprises communication channels 31 formed longitudinally and distributed at least partially annularly and opening laterally around the needle piston 23. The end piece 22 is mounted on the holding piece 7 by means of a lateral opening in which the end piece 22 engages. When the end piece 22 is engaged inside of the holding part 7, they together form a square shape.

 The intermediate transfer chamber 8 produced inside the holding part 7 has at one end an inlet orifice 17 and at the other end an outlet opening. During assembly of the pump, a ball 18 is introduced through this opening, making a valve closing the inlet port 17 and a helical spring 19 tending to keep the ball 18 closed off in the port 17. This intermediate chamber is delimited by the wall of the end piece 22 when the latter is engaged in the precompression duct.

 The mounting of the holding part 7 and the end piece 22 will be better understood with reference to FIG. 5 showing a section through the intermediate transfer chamber 8.

 In this section we see the extension 3A of the support shell 2 with its lateral opening 16. The holding part 7 is engaged around the extension 3A.

The lateral opening 16 in the compression chamber 5 opens onto the inlet orifice 17 of the intermediate transfer chamber 8, the opening of which can be closed off by the ball forming a valve 18. This ball is held by a helical spring 19 coming to bear against the end piece 22. The end piece 22 has an external longitudinal groove 34 which places the intermediate transfer chamber 35 in communication with an annular groove obtained by a shoulder of the end piece 22 lying at a distance from a corresponding shoulder of the tubular element 4 to allow the distribution of the liquid withdrawn in the longitudinal communication channels 31, and thus the transfer of the withdrawn liquid towards the expulsion orifice.

 We will now better understand the operation of said pump in view of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. In the rest position (shown in FIG. 2), the drive piston is in the high position as it is acted upon by the helical spring 12.

The sampling orifice 13 is closed by the ball 14. The intermediate transfer chamber is isolated from the compression chamber 5 by the action of the ball 18 against the inlet orifice 17. Finally, the needle piston 23 urged by the helical spring 24 bears against the internal wall of the precompression duct 6 formed by the tubular element 4 and closes the expulsion orifice 25.

 When the user begins to exert pressure by means of the push button 10, he transmits a translation to the driving piston 11 and therefore compresses the helical spring 12. The pressure inside the compression chamber 5 increases, the ball 14 resting against the walls of the extension 3A closes the sampling orifice 13. The increase in pressure inside the compression chamber 5 transmits a force against the ball 18 of the transfer chamber 8 which comes in opposition to the force of the spring 19. The liquid passes from the compression chamber 5 to the transfer chamber 8 and rises via the groove 34 and the channels 31 formed in the end piece 22 along the precompression duct 6.The channels 31 opening laterally around the needle piston 23, the liquid exerts a force against said needle which tends to push it into the hollow volume of the end piece containing the spring 24. The expulsion orifice sion 25 is no longer blocked and the liquid is sent to the diffusion head 26 for an external spraying through an orifice 27 of this head. This action is shown in Figure 3.

 When the dose contained in the compression chamber 5 has been completely transmitted in the transfer chamber 8, that is to say that the driving piston 11 has completed its complete stroke, the user releases his finger and the helical spring 12 raises the engine piston. The pressure difference is then exerted in the other direction. No pressure is exerted against the ball 18 which therefore closes the inlet orifice 17 and simultaneously the piston 23 blocks the expulsion orifice 25. The pressure difference generated by the ascent of the engine piston 11 causes the the ball 14 which comes into contact with protuberances 15 blocking its ascent. The liquid contained in the reservoir bottle 1 can therefore pass through the sampling orifice 13 in the compression chamber 5 to produce a unit dose.

When the compression chamber 5 is completely filled, the pressures will equalize and the ball 14 will again block the withdrawal orifice 13. Each time the liquid is withdrawn from the compression chamber, the closing piston 20 will rise slightly by vacuum in the reservoir 1.

 It is obvious that to allow the pump to operate, the initial filling of the bottle must be done from the bottom so that when the bottle is filled, the compression chamber is also filled to initiate the first movement deportation.

 Once the bottle has been filled, the closing piston 20 is mounted in the reservoir bottle 1. It has in its center an air outlet orifice 33 which makes it possible to purge air before closing completely and so seal the reservoir bottle 1 by means of a plug 21 for closing the orifice 33. This avoids any appearance of air bubbles in the reservoir bottle 1 which would have the effect of adversely affecting the regularity in volume of the unit doses. distributed by the ascent of air bubbles at the level of the sampling orifice 13.

 The opening and closing cycle of the needle piston 23 is linked to the differences in pressures generated in the support shell 2 and to the tension of the spring 24 housed under said needle piston 23. During the delivery of the unit dose, no pressure is exerted on the liquid which is in the bottle. The closing piston 20 therefore remains in a stable and original position given to each manipulation.

 In addition, in order to prevent the support shell 2 from separating from the bottle 1 under the effect of the pressure of the liquid contained therein, the retaining capsule 30 is engaged by elastic snap-fastening in the upper part of the bottle. This capsule provides a cylindrical sheath 28 which maintains the support shell 2 while guiding the closing piston 11 in its longitudinal movements via the pusher 10. The capsule 30 also has a lateral opening 29 facing the diffusion head 26 opposite a reinforcement 32 shaped in the capsule to facilitate access of the finger to the pusher 10.

 The present invention therefore makes it possible to obtain, by a lateral separation of the compression chamber and the precompression duct, a spray pump assembly in which the diffusion head is fixed, immobile, avoiding any vertical sweeping when the liquid is expelled.

 Naturally, the invention is in no way limited by the features which have been specified in the foregoing or by the details of the particular embodiment chosen to illustrate the invention. All kinds of variants can be made to the particular embodiment which has been described by way of example and to its constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention. The latter thus includes all the means constituting technical equivalents of the means described as well as their combinations.

Claims (13)

 1. Precompression pump for the diffusion of a liquid, comprising a withdrawal orifice (13) for the liquid from a reservoir bottle (1), closable by a closure valve (14), an expulsion orifice ( 25) of the liquid towards a diffusion head (26) and a support shell (2) in which a first internal compression chamber (5) is produced, a driving piston (11) cooperating with said first chamber (5) for the transfer liquid between the withdrawal orifice and the expulsion orifice, characterized in that it further comprises a second intermediate chamber (8) for transfer between said first chamber (5) and said expulsion orifice (25) , and a precompression pipe (6) formed in the support shell (2) in a cooperative situation with precompression means (22,23,24) mounted in said support shell, the first chamber (5) being parallel non-coaxial with said conduit precompression (6).  2. Precompression pump according to claim 1, characterized in that it is associated with a sprayer further comprising a closing piston (20) of the reservoir bottle (1), provided with an orifice (33) for purging air, suitable for being closed by a closure cap (21) after filling of said bottle.  3. Precompression pump according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the precompression means comprise a tip piece (22) at least part of which is hollow to receive elastic means (24) for biasing a needle piston (23) to a position for closing the expulsion orifice when the end piece (22) is engaged in said precompression duct (6).  4. Precompression pump according to claim 3, characterized in that the end piece (22) externally comprises communication channels (31) formed longitudinally, distributed at least partially annularly and opening laterally around said needle piston (23).  5. Precompression pump according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the intermediate transfer chamber (8) has an inlet orifice (17) in communication with the compression chamber (5) and an opening outlet connected to said expulsion orifice (25), said inlet orifice (17) tending to be closed by a valve (18) using elastic return means (19).  6. Precompression pump according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the transfer chamber (8) is perpendicular to the compression chamber (5) and to the precompression duct (6).  7. Precompression pump according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that at least a part (3A) of the support shell (2) forming the compression chamber (5) engages in the reservoir bottle ( 1) liquid.  8. Precompression pump according to Revenication 7, characterized in that the transfer chamber (8) is produced in a holding part (7) mounted around the shell part (3A) which is engaged in the reservoir bottle (1 ).  9. Precompression pump according to claims 3 and 7, characterized in that the holding part (7) further supports the end piece (22) introduced into the precompression duct (6).  10. Precompression pump according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the compression chamber (5) comprises at a first end, the sampling orifice (13) closable by a ball (14) and at a second end, the circumferentially sealed working piston (11), a helicoidal return spring (12) placed in said chamber (5) being associated with said working piston (11).  11. Precompression pump according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the support shell (2) rests on the body of the reservoir bottle (1).  12. Precompression pump according to any one of claims 1 to li, characterized in that the diffusion head (26) is fixed motionless on the support shell (2).  13. Liquid spray, characterized in that it comprises a precompression pump according to any one of claims 1 to 12.