JP2024146658A - Discharger - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a discharger improved in operability of an operation lever for pressing a discharge head down and of a stopper member for restricting the discharge head from being pressed down.SOLUTION: A discharger is provided with an attachment cap 11, a pump mechanism 20, a stem 22, a discharge head 23 and an operation lever 24. The attachment cap 11 has a support part 15 for turnably supporting the operation lever 24 formed therein and has a stopper member 30 provided outside the support part 15. The stopper member 30 has an operation main surface 31A and an arm part 32 provided with a restricting part 33 and extended from the operation main surface 31A. A through-hole 15b, through which the arm part 32 being inserted therethrough is allowed to turn, is formed in the support part 15. When the stopper member 30 is made to approach the support part 15 so that the member is brought into a lock state, the restricting part 33 restricts the discharge head 23 from being pressed down, and when the stopper member 30 is separated from the support part 15 so that the member is brought into a non-lock state, the restriction by the restricting part 33 is released.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a dispenser equipped with a stopper member that regulates the operation of an operating lever.

When an operating lever (trigger lever) is operated, a stem with a discharge head is depressed in conjunction with the operation of the lever, driving a pump mechanism, and the liquid contents are drawn up from the container body through the stem and then discharged from the discharge head. In this type of dispenser, a configuration is known in which a stopper member is provided that locks and unlocks the operating lever to prevent leakage of the liquid contents due to erroneous operation of the operating lever (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2019-98241 A

However, in the conventional dispenser described above, the stopper member is small and is located in a hidden position between the operating lever and the support part, so there is still room for improvement in the operability (usability) of locking and unlocking the dispenser.

In addition, in order to dispense the liquid contents in a conventional dispenser, after releasing the lock, the user would normally use their thumb to hold down the support part that rotatably supports the operating lever, while using the remaining fingers to grip the operating lever. In this case, the thumb is not held and fixed on the support part, and each time the operating lever is operated, the thumb tends to slide along the support part, resulting in unstable operation and, further, the fingers easily become fatigued (tired) when used for a long period of time.

The present invention aims to solve the problems of the conventional technology described above by creating a dispenser that improves the operability of the operating lever that presses down the discharge head and the stopper member that restricts the pressing down of the discharge head.

Among the means for solving the above problems, the first means of the present invention is
A dispenser comprising: an attachment cap to which a container body is attached; a pump mechanism for pumping up a liquid content from the container body; a stem arranged to be movable up and down relative to the pump mechanism; a discharge head connected to an upper end of the stem and for discharging the liquid content pumped up through the stem; and an operating lever for pressing down the discharge head to drive the pump mechanism,
a support portion for rotatably supporting the operation lever is formed on the mounting cap, and a stopper member is provided on the outer side of the support portion so as to be capable of approaching and moving away from the support portion by being rotatably supported on the mounting cap,
the stopper member has a main operation surface and an arm portion having a restricting portion and extending from the main operation surface, and a through hole is formed in the support portion through which the arm portion is inserted and which allows the arm portion to rotate;
When the stopper member is brought close to the support portion to enter a locked state, the regulating portion regulates the downward pressing of the ejection head, and when the stopper member is moved away from the support portion to enter an unlocked state, the regulation by the regulating portion is released.

In the first aspect of the present invention, the stopper member is provided on the outside (rear) of the support portion, which allows the stopper member to be larger than conventional stopper members, making it easier to operate.

The second means of the present invention is the above-mentioned first means plus a means in which the arm portion is provided with a first locking protrusion that sets the stopper member in an unlocked state and a second locking protrusion that sets the stopper member in a locked state by engaging with the through hole.
With the above-described means, the stopper member can be held and fixed in the unlocked state and the locked state, thereby improving the operability of the dispenser.

The third means of the present invention is the above-mentioned second means plus the following means: the arm portion is formed with a long hole and an elastically deformable upper edge portion formed along the long hole, and a first locking protrusion and a second locking protrusion are formed on the upper edge portion.
With the above-mentioned means, the upper edge portion elastically deforms each time the first and second locking protrusions overcome the inner edge portion of the through hole, so that the stopper member can be easily set to the unlocked and locked states simply by rotating it clockwise and counterclockwise.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the main operating surface of the stopper member is a holding portion that can be held by a finger in the unlocked state.
With the above-mentioned means, the dispenser can be used by holding it with a finger (mainly the thumb) against the holding portion, so that the finger is less likely to shift position vertically even when the operating lever is repeatedly gripped and released back and forth. As a result, the operating lever can be operated stably and the dispenser can be used for long periods of time without tiring the user.

The fifth aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned first or second aspect, further comprising the addition of a sound-emitting rib provided on the support portion which emits a sound when it comes into contact with a regulating portion provided on the rotating stopper member.
With the above-described means, the user can confirm that the dispenser has gone from a locked state to an unlocked state, or that the locked state has been released, based on the presence or absence of a popping sound.

According to the present invention, the stopper member can be made larger than before, and therefore the stopper member can be made easier to operate.
Furthermore, since the main operating surface of the stopper member can be used as a holding portion for holding the finger, the operation of the operating lever can be stabilized, and the dispenser can be used for a long period of time without causing fatigue.

1 is a side view of a discharge container according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a first embodiment of a dispenser according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the dispenser showing a locked state. FIG. 13 is a partial cross-sectional view of the dispenser showing an unlocked state. FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view of a dispenser according to a second embodiment, showing a locked state. FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view of a dispenser according to a second embodiment, showing an unlocked state.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Fig. 1 is a side view of a discharge container according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a first embodiment of a dispenser according to the present invention, Fig. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the dispenser in a locked state, and Fig. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the dispenser in an unlocked state.
As shown in FIG. 1, the discharge container 1 comprises a bottomed cylindrical container body 2 for containing a liquid, and a discharger 10 detachably attached to a mouth portion 3 of the container body 2, all of which are made of synthetic resin material.

The dispenser 10 comprises an attachment cap 11, a pump mechanism 20, a pumping tube 21, a stem 22, a dispenser head 23, an operating lever 24, and a stopper member 30. In this embodiment, the dispenser 10 is a trigger-type liquid dispenser in which the dispenser head 23 is lowered by gripping the operating lever 24, and the liquid content is sprayed from the tip of the nozzle portion 23A of the dispenser head 23. The liquid content contained in the container body 2 may be, for example, a lotion, a cleaning solution, an alcohol disinfectant, etc., but is not limited to these.

In the following, the direction in which the stem 22 extends along the container axis O is referred to as the up-down direction, the container body 2 side in the up-down direction is referred to as the down direction, and the discharge head 23 side is referred to as the up-down direction. The direction perpendicular to the up-down direction is referred to as the front-rear direction, and the direction perpendicular to both the up-down direction and the front-rear direction is referred to as the left-right direction. In the front-rear direction, the side from which the content liquid is discharged from the tip of the discharge head 23 is referred to as the front, and the opposite side is referred to as the rear. Note that Figure 1 is a side view of the discharge container 1 as seen from the left, and corresponds to a view in which the container body 2 is broken away to show its internal structure.

The mounting cap 11 is formed by stacking the lower cylinder section 12, the middle cylinder section 13, and the upper cylinder section 14, which have different diameters, coaxially in the height direction. The middle cylinder section 13 and the upper cylinder section 14 are formed integrally and fitted onto the fitting cylinder at the upper end of the cylinder 20A. The lower cylinder section 12, which has the largest diameter, is removably attached to the container body 2 by screwing it into the mouth section 3 of the container body 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the middle cylinder 13 is integrally formed with a support portion 15 extending from the rear side surface, and a convex shaft portion 13a is provided on both the left and right side surfaces of the middle cylinder 13. The support portion 15 is configured with an inclined surface 15A that extends upward at an angle and side surfaces 15B on the left and right, with a convex rotating shaft 15a protruding from the upper end of both side surfaces 15B, and a rectangular through hole 15b penetrating in the front-rear and up-down directions is drilled into the inclined surface 15A.

The pump mechanism 20 is configured to include a cylinder 20A and a piston (not shown) disposed within the cylinder 20A. The pump mechanism 20 is configured to pump the liquid contained within the container body 2 from the lower end of the pumping tube 21 through the stem 22 and further discharge it to the outside from the tip of the nozzle portion 23A of the discharge head 23 connected to the upper end of the stem 22 by gripping and releasing the operating lever 24 in the forward and backward directions. The pumping tube 21 extends downward from the cylinder 20A, and its lower end is located near the bottom of the container body 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the stem 22 extends upward from the cylinder 20A and protrudes upward through the lower cylinder portion 12, middle cylinder portion 13, and upper cylinder portion 14 of the mounting cap 11. The lower portion of the stem 22 is connected to a piston (not shown) in the cylinder 20A, and is configured so that when the stem 22 descends, the piston also descends in the cylinder 20A. A biasing member (not shown) that biases the stem 22 and the piston upward is disposed in the cylinder 20A, and the stem 22 is configured to be able to move up and down integrally with the discharge head 23.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ejection head 23 is configured to have a connecting portion 23B connected to the upper end of the stem 22, a nozzle portion 23A extending forward from the connecting portion 23B, and a head rear portion 23C protruding rearward from the connecting portion 23B. Inside the nozzle portion 23A, a flow path (not shown) is formed that communicates with the stem 22 via the connecting portion 23B.

The operating lever 24 is rotatably supported on the support portion 15 via the rotating shaft 15a. When the tip of the operating lever 24 is pulled backward, the operating lever 24 rotates counterclockwise around the rotating shaft 15a, and at this time, a part of the operating lever 24 presses down on the nozzle portion 23A, making it possible to press the discharge head 23 downward. The operating lever 24 is formed with a window portion 24A through which the nozzle portion 23A of the discharge head 23 is inserted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the stopper member 30 is integrally formed with an operation section 31 having a main operation surface 31A arranged opposite the inclined surface 15A on the outside (rear position) of the support section 15 and a pair of operation side surfaces 31B connected to both the left and right sides of the main operation surface 31A, an arm section 32 having a generally arc shape in a side view extended forward from the main operation surface 31A, and a restricting section 33 formed at the front end of the arm section 32. In addition, a pair of widening sections 31C formed by widening the opposing distance in the left-right direction are connected to the lower end of the operation side surface 31B, and each of the pair of widening sections 31C is formed with an axial hole 31a into which the axial section 13a is inserted.

The arm portion 32 has an elongated hole 32A that opens in an arc shape on the side, and an upper edge portion 32B that is arc-shaped and provided at the top of the elongated hole 32A along the elongated hole 32A, and the upper edge portion 32B is configured to be elastically deformable toward the elongated hole 32A. A first locking protrusion 32a having a convex shape protrudes from a predetermined position toward the rear of the upper edge portion 32B, a similar second locking protrusion 32b protrudes from a predetermined position toward the front of the upper edge portion 32B, and a third locking protrusion 32c protrudes from the position closest to the front.

The restricting portion 33 is integrally formed on the front end of the arm portion 32. The front facing surface of the restricting portion 33 is formed as a substantially semi-cylindrical surface that conforms to the side surface of the stem 22 so that it can come into contact with or be close to the side surface of the stem 22. In the locked state described below, the upper end of the restricting portion 33 abuts against the lower surface of the head rear portion 23C of the ejection head 23, and at the same time, the lower surface of the restricting portion 33 can abut against the upper end of the upper tube portion 14.

When the arm portion 32 is inserted from rear to front through the through hole 15b of the support portion 15, the stopper member 30 is supported rotatably by sandwiching the middle tube portion 13 from the left and right sides with a pair of widening portions 31C and inserting the shaft portion 13a on the middle tube portion 13 side into the shaft hole 31a formed in each widening portion 31C. The stopper member 30 rotates in the counterclockwise and clockwise directions as the through hole 15b allows the arm portion 32 to rotate.

The stopper member 30 is in a locked state when the upper end 30A is pushed up and rotated in the most counterclockwise direction so as to be close to the support part 15, and is in an unlocked state when the upper end 30A is pushed down and rotated in the most clockwise direction so as to be away from the support part 15.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the locked state, the first locking protrusion 32a is locked to the inner edge 15c on the upper side of the through hole 15b, so that the stopper member 30 is held and fixed in a position close to the support portion 15, thereby restricting the rotation of the stopper member 30 around the shaft portion 13a. At the same time, the restricting portion 33 is in contact with or close to the rear side surface of the stem 22, and is positioned so as to be sandwiched from above and below between the lower surface of the head rear portion 23C and the upper end of the upper tube portion 14. This makes it possible to restrict the downward depression of the ejection head 23.

In addition, when the upper end 30A of the stopper member 30 is pressed down in the locked state, as shown in FIG. 4, the first locking protrusion 32a moves clockwise over the inner edge 15c of the through hole 15b, releasing the lock, and the stopper member 30 can be rotated clockwise. This causes the restricting portion 33 to move rearward away from the stem 22, allowing the stem 22 to move up and down, and the ejection head 23 can be set to an unlocked state in which the restriction on pushing down is released.

When the stopper member 30 is further rotated clockwise to the end, the second locking protrusion 32b climbs over the inner edge 15c of the through hole 15b, and the inner edge 15c of the through hole 15b can be locked between the second locking protrusion 32b and the third locking protrusion 32c. This makes it possible to reliably hold and fix the stopper member 30 in a lower position spaced apart from the inclined surface 15A of the support portion 15. Note that if the stopper member 30 can be held and fixed by only the second locking protrusion 32b being locked to the inner edge 15c of the through hole 15b, the third locking protrusion 32c may not be included.

When the first locking protrusion 32a and the second locking protrusion 32b climb over the inner edge 15c of the through hole 15b, the upper edge 32B can be elastically deformed toward the long hole 32A. Therefore, the stopper member 30 can be easily set to the unlocked state and the locked state simply by rotating it clockwise and counterclockwise.

In this way, in the dispenser 10 of the present invention, the stopper member 30, particularly the main operation surface 31A, can be provided on the outside (rear position) of the support portion 15, so the main operation surface 31A can be configured to be larger than in the past. Therefore, it is possible to improve the operability (usability) of the operation to set the lock state and the unlocking operation to set the unlock state using the main operation surface 31A.

In addition, in order to perform the operation of discharging the content liquid in the above-mentioned dispensing container 1, it is necessary to set the stopper member 30 of the dispenser 10 from the locked state to the unlocked state, but in the unlocked state as described above, the stopper member 30 is held and fixed in an open state away from the inclined surface 15A of the support part 15 (see FIG. 4). Therefore, when the user uses the dispensing container 1, the user can operate the operation lever 24 using the remaining multiple fingers while holding the thumb in contact with the main operation surface 31A of the stopper member 30. That is, in the unlocked state, the main operation surface 31A of the stopper member 30, which is held and fixed in an open state, can be used as a holding part that allows the user's fingers (mainly the thumb) to be held and fixed. Therefore, even if the reciprocating operation of gripping and releasing the operation lever 24 is repeated in this state, it is possible to prevent the thumb from shifting in the vertical direction, and as a result, it is possible to stabilize the operation of the operation lever 24 and to make the dispenser 10 less tiring even when used for a long time.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of a dispenser according to a second embodiment, showing the dispenser in a locked state, and FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of a dispenser according to the second embodiment, showing the dispenser in an unlocked state.
The dispenser 10 of the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that a popping sound is generated when the stopper member 30 is set to the unlocked state and when it is released from the unlocked state, but the other configurations and effects are the same as those of the first embodiment. Therefore, the following description will focus on the differences and use the same reference numerals to refer to the same members.

5 and 6, in the dispenser 10 of the second embodiment, a sound-emitting rib 34 is integrally formed on the inner peripheral surface of the inclined surface 15A constituting the support portion 15 and extending upward from the upper edge of the through hole 15b. The sound-emitting rib 34 is formed with a cross section that is approximately U-shaped as a whole, and is formed with a base 34a on the fixed end side connected to the inner peripheral surface of the inclined surface 15A, a main body 34b extending upward from the base 34a, and a free end side consisting of a resilient portion 34c bent approximately U-shaped and facing downward. The main body 34b and the resilient portion 34c on the free end side are supported so as to be swingable in the front-rear direction with the base 34a on the fixed end side as a fulcrum. When the resilient portion 34c is played in the front-rear direction, the main body 34b and the resilient portion 34c on the free end side vibrate, and it is possible to emit a playing sound from the sound-emitting rib 34. The lower end of the elastic portion 34c is located on the rotation trajectory of the upper end 33a of the restricting portion 33, so it can come into contact with the upper end 33a, but cannot come into contact with the upper edge 32B of the arm portion 32. The arm portion 32 in the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it does not have an elongated hole 32A that opens in an arc shape on the side, but it may have an elongated hole 32A like the first embodiment.

Similarly, when the user presses down on the upper end 30A of the stopper member 30, the arm portion 32 rotates clockwise within the through hole 15b, and the dispenser 10 is set from the locked state shown in FIG. 5 to the unlocked state shown in FIG. 6. At this time, the upper end portion 33a of the restricting portion 33 contacts the spring portion 34c arranged on the rotation trajectory and bounces the spring portion 34c, generating a bouncing sound from the sound-producing rib 34. This allows the user to confirm that the dispenser 10 has changed from the locked state to the unlocked state by the presence or absence of the bouncing sound.

In addition, when the user pushes up the stopper member 30 in the unlocked state and rotates the arm portion 32 counterclockwise to set the locking state, the upper end portion 33a of the restricting portion 33 contacts the spring portion 34c and bounces it, causing a bouncing sound to be generated from the sound-emitting rib 34 in the same manner as described above. This allows the user to confirm that the dispenser 10 has been released from the unlocked state by the presence or absence of the bouncing sound.

Although the configuration and the effects of the present invention have been described above based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.
For example, in the above embodiment, a case was shown in which the middle tube portion 13 and the upper tube portion 14 that constitute the mounting cap 11 are formed integrally, and the lower tube portion 12 is formed separately from these, but the lower tube portion 12, the middle tube portion 13, and the upper tube portion 14 may also be formed integrally.
In the above embodiment, the container body 2 is made of a synthetic resin material, but it may be made of glass, metal, or the like.

In addition, the above description shows a case where the thumb is placed against the main operating surface 31A (holding portion) of the stopper member 30, but the main operating surface 31A (holding portion) may also be used with a part other than the thumb, for example, the part between the thumb and index finger.

The present invention can expand the range of applications in the field of dispensers in which the contents are dispensed by operating an operating lever.

1: Discharge container 2: Container body 3: Mouth portion 10: Discharger 11: Attachment cap 12: Lower tube portion 13: Middle tube portion 13a: Shaft portion 14: Upper tube portion 15: Support portion 15A: Inclined surface 15B: Side surface 15a: Rotating shaft 15b: Through hole 15c: Inner edge portion 20: Pump mechanism 20A: Cylinder 21: Pumping tube 22: Stem 23: Discharge head 23A: Nozzle portion 23B: Connection portion 23C: Head rear portion 24: Operation lever 24A: Window portion 30: Stopper member 30A: Upper end 31: Operation portion 31A: Operation main surface 31B: Operation side surface 31C: Widened portion 31a: Shaft hole 32: Arm portion 32A: Long hole 32B: Upper edge portion 32a : First locking protrusion 32b : Second locking protrusion 32c : Third locking protrusion 33 : Restricting portion 33a : Upper end portion 34 : Sound-emitting rib 34a : Base portion 34b : Main body portion 34c : Elastic portion O : Container shaft

Claims (5)

A dispenser comprising: an attachment cap (11) to which a container body (2) is attached; a pump mechanism (20) that draws up a liquid content from the container body (2); a stem (22) that is provided so as to be movable up and down relative to the pump mechanism (20); a discharge head (23) that is connected to the upper end of the stem (22) and discharges the liquid content drawn up through the stem (22); and an operating lever (24) that presses down the discharge head (23) to drive the pump mechanism (20),
The mounting cap (11) is formed with a support portion (15) for rotatably supporting the operating lever (24), and has a stopper member (30) that is rotatably supported on the mounting cap (11) and is provided on the outside of the support portion (15) so as to be movable toward and away from the support portion (15),
The stopper member (30) has a main operation surface (31A) and an arm portion (32) provided with a regulating portion (33) and extending from the main operation surface (31A), and a through hole (15b) is formed in the support portion (15) to allow the arm portion (32) to rotate when inserted therethrough,
When the stopper member (30) is brought close to the support portion (15) to be in a locked state, the regulating portion (33) regulates the downward pushing of the ejection head (23), and when the stopper member (30) is moved away from the support portion (15) to be in an unlocked state, the regulation by the regulating portion (33) is released. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the arm portion (32) is provided with a first locking protrusion (32a) that sets the stopper member (30) in an unlocked state by engaging with the through hole (15b) and a second locking protrusion (32b) that sets the stopper member (30) in a locked state. The dispenser according to claim 2, wherein the arm portion (32) is formed with a long hole (32A) and an elastically deformable upper edge portion (32B) formed along the long hole (32A), and the first engaging protrusion (32a) and the second engaging protrusion (32b) are formed on the upper edge portion (32B). The dispenser according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the main operating surface (31A) of the stopper member (30) is a holding portion that can be held by a finger in the unlocked state. The dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the support portion (15) is provided with a sound-emitting rib (34) that emits a sound when it comes into contact with a restricting portion (33) provided on the rotating stopper member (30).