JPH0441090Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a liquid outflow prevention device that is attached to a vent portion of a liquid container having a vent hole in the upper part.

(Prior art) Conventionally, the upper part of a liquid container used for containing, storing, transporting, etc. a liquid is used to prevent an increase in the pressure inside the container when liquid is injected, a negative pressure inside the container when liquid is poured out, and a A vent hole is provided to prevent pressure increase due to evaporated gas and temperature rise during storage and to maintain the pressure inside the container at approximately atmospheric pressure.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) By the way, when replenishing or injecting liquid into a liquid container with a vent formed at the top, the gas inside the container will be discharged from the vent as the liquid level in the container rises. As a result, the pressure inside the container is maintained at approximately atmospheric pressure, allowing for smooth replenishment and injection of liquid. With liquid containers that are placed in areas that cannot be seen from the outside, the liquid level position at the time of refilling cannot be visually confirmed from the outside, so it is easy to refill or inject the liquid without realizing that it has reached the specified capacity, that is, the full state. There were cases in which liquid overflowed from the ventilation hole and flowed out due to excessive supply or injection. In particular, in the case of a liquid container placed in a part that cannot be seen from the outside, there is a risk that the liquid will not be noticed leaking out of the vent hole, leading to a serious accident.

In addition, when a liquid container with ventilation holes is used as a liquid container mounted on a vehicle, etc., when it contains a predetermined amount of liquid, that is, when the tank is full, acceleration and However, due to centrifugal force caused by sharp turns or gravity when driving on an incline, the liquid level within the container becomes significantly inclined relative to the container, causing a problem in that the liquid may flow out from the vent hole.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention was devised in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and is intended to prevent liquid from flowing out from the vent holes of the liquid container, which was a problem with the liquid containers provided with the vent holes. The following measures will be taken to prevent this.

In the present invention, as a device for preventing liquid from flowing out from a vent hole of a liquid container, the device has a hollow part that communicates with the outside through a plurality of small holes through which liquid can flow.
A float is provided at the top with a valve body capable of closing the opening inside the container of the ventilation hole, and a float is fixed around the ventilation hole in the upper part of the liquid container, and the float is connected to a predetermined position just below the opening inside the container of the ventilation hole. A float guide is provided which is supported at a predetermined position so as to be movable up and down, defines the range of vertical movement of the float, and restricts lateral movement.

(Function) The float floats on the surface of the liquid that has reached a predetermined position, moves upward toward the vent opening as the liquid level rises, and moves toward the opening of the vent defined by the float guide. After moving within the range, the valve body provided at the top acts to close the opening of the vent inside the container.

Further, the small hole that communicates between the inside and outside of the hollow part of the float acts as a flow path through which the liquid that has reached the position of the small hole in the float flows into the hollow part, and after a predetermined period of time, the liquid flows into the hollow part of the float. This serves to lower the float to the predetermined position and open the opening of the vent inside the container.

In addition, in a float in which a closed air chamber or a foam section is provided in the upper part of the hollow section of the float, when the liquid level reaches the closed air chamber or the foam section, the liquid in the hollow section is It acts to keep the opening inside the container of the vent hole closed regardless of whether it is present or not.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration and structure of a liquid outflow prevention device according to the present invention.

In the figure, the liquid outflow prevention device 2 includes a float guide 4 fixed to a ventilation opening formed in the upper plate 3 of the liquid container 1, and a float guide 4 installed inside the float guide 4 so as to be vertically movable. It is composed of a float 6. A flange 5 is provided on the upper part of the float guide 4 and is connected to the outer peripheral edge of the upper plate 3 of the liquid container 1 via a packing 18 . A nipple portion 10 is provided that protrudes in the direction. In addition, the liquid container 1 is
A straight vent hole 11 is provided extending toward the lower surface of the inner flange 5, and a truncated conical valve seat 9 is formed at the opening edge of the vent hole 11 inside the container. Furthermore, a plurality of fixing claws 7 are provided at symmetrical positions on the upper part of the outer circumferential wall of the float guide 4, and these fixing claws 7 are connected to notches (not shown) formed at the periphery of the opening of the upper plate 3 of the liquid container 1. Together, they are connected by a well-known bayonet, and the upper plate 3 and packing 18 are clamped together with the flange 5. In this way, the float guide 4 is detachably fixed to the upper plate 3 by the fixing claws 7. Note that since the seal 18 is attached to the joint surface of the flange 5, the airtightness of the joint is maintained.

The float 6, which is installed inside the float guide 4 and located directly below the inner opening of the container 11, is integrally formed by resin molding, etc., and has a hemispherical valve body part 8 at the top that is engaged with and detached from the valve seat 9. At least one small hole 14 for air venting is formed around the valve body part 8 to communicate the inside and outside of the hollow part 6b in the float 6, and the lower bottom of the float 6 is provided with a hole 14 for liquid circulation. At least one possible small hole 15 is drilled. Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 7, the valve body portion 8 may be formed separately from a rubber material with good sealing properties.

Float guide 4 that supports the bottom of the float 6
A liquid inlet/outlet opening 12 is provided at the bottom of the float guide 4, and an air hole 1 is provided at the upper part of the peripheral wall of the float guide 4.
3 is drilled.

Note that the bottom support position and vertical movement range of the float 6 are based on the bottom position of the float guide 4, that is,
It is defined by the lower length of the peripheral wall of the float guide 4, and the lower length of the peripheral wall of the float guide 4 is predetermined so as to provide a desired liquid level position. Further, the peripheral wall restricts lateral movement of the float 6.

Now, in the liquid outflow prevention device 2 configured as described above, when the position of the liquid level 16a in the liquid container 1 is below the bottom of the float guide 4 as shown in the figure, the float 6 is Since it does not operate while being supported by the bottom of 4, the ventilation hole 11
is held open, and the vented state of the liquid container 1 is maintained.

Next, the operation of the liquid outflow prevention device 2 when the liquid level 16a in the liquid container 1 rises due to liquid replenishment will be described. When the liquid level 16a of the liquid 16 in the liquid container 1 reaches a level higher than the bottom of the float guide 4 due to liquid replenishment, the liquid 16 enters the float guide 4 through the liquid inlet/outlet opening 12 of the float guide 4, and the second As shown in the figure, the float 6 is pushed upward by buoyancy, and the float 6
The valve body portion 8 and the valve seat 9 at the opening inside the container of the vent hole 11 are closely joined, and the opening inside the container of the vent hole 11 is closed. When the valve seat 9 at the opening is closed and the vent hole 11 is closed, the internal pressure of the liquid container 1 increases due to the rise in the liquid level 16a. Replenishment of the liquid 16 is no longer possible (because the inlet side is full), and replenishment of the liquid is stopped with a predetermined air layer remaining at the top of the liquid container 1. That is, the float 6 has the same function as a liquid replenishment amount control valve.

By the way, from the time when the liquid level 16a reaches the bottom of the float 6, inside the hollow part 6a of the float 6,
When the liquid 16 starts to gradually flow in through the small holes 15 and the liquid level 16a stops rising, that is, after a certain period of time after the liquid supply stops, the liquid does not flow into the hollow part 6b of the float 6. The float 6 sinks into the liquid and, as shown in FIG. 3, descends to the bottom position of the float guide 4, and the connection between the valve body 8 and the valve seat 9 is released and the vent hole 11 is opened. The inside of the liquid container 1 is brought to approximately atmospheric pressure. In this way, the float 6 of the liquid outflow prevention device 2 acts as a replenishment amount control valve when replenishing liquid, and prevents the liquid from flowing out from the vent portion due to excessive replenishment. Since the vent hole is automatically opened after the amount of time required for the liquid to settle, this prevents deformation or damage to the container due to increased pressure within the liquid container, and prevents liquid from blowing out when opening the spout or inlet. I can do it.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, even if the liquid container 1 is tilted and the liquid level 16a rises to the vent portion, the float 6 will quickly move upward due to buoyancy, and the valve body portion 8 will be moved upward. Connected to seat 9, vent hole 11
Since the inner opening of the container is closed, the liquid 15 is prevented from flowing out from the vent hole 11.

By the way, when the entire interior of the float 6 is composed of only the hollow portion 6b that communicates with the outside through the small holes 14 and 15, the liquid container 1 may remain tilted for a long time as shown in FIG. If sustained,
Since the liquid 16 flows into the hollow portion 6b through the small hole 15, there is a possibility that the float 6 will settle, the vent hole 11 will be in an open state, and the liquid 16 will flow out to the outside.

Therefore, in this invention, we have developed the structure shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 as a countermeasure when applied to a liquid container installed in a vehicle that may be left in an inclined state for a long time due to parking on a slope, etc. using a float.

The float 6 shown in FIG. 5 has a two-layer structure, having a sealed air chamber 6a at the top and a hollow section 6b communicating with the outside through small holes 14 and 15 at the bottom. The hollow part 6b acts to sink the float by letting liquid flow into it, and the upper sealed air chamber 6a receives the buoyant force from the liquid level that has risen to the position of this sealed air chamber, causing the float 6 to sink. acts so that it floats on the liquid surface.

That is, in the float 6 having the structure shown in FIG. 5, when the liquid container is in the correct position such as during liquid replenishment, the lower hollow part 6b is filled in the same way as the single-layer float shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. Therefore, the liquid container floats and sinks, and when the liquid container is tilted, the buoyancy is maintained by the upper closed air chamber 6a, so even if the tilted state shown in Fig. 4 continues for a long time, the vent hole will not be blocked. The liquid will not leak out.

The float shown in FIG. 6 has a foam section 6a at the top.
The upper foam part 6a has a structure in which a hollow part 6b that communicates with the outside through small holes 14 and 15 is provided in the lower part. It has the same function and effect as the closed air chamber shown in .

(Effects of the invention) As explained above, the liquid spill prevention device according to the invention has a simple structure consisting only of a float and a float guide that supports the float, but the liquid leakage prevention device according to the invention prevents liquid from flowing into the liquid container. Since the amount of replenishment can be reliably controlled by automatically closing the vent hole during replenishment, excessive replenishment does not occur during replenishment, and liquid outflow from the vent hole can be reliably prevented. Furthermore, since it has means for automatically opening the vent hole after a certain period of time has passed after the end of replenishment, it is possible to prevent damage to the container due to an increase in internal pressure. In addition, even when the liquid container is tilted, or the liquid level and the container are tilted relative to each other due to acceleration when the vehicle is running, centrifugal force when turning, etc., the vent can be reliably closed, allowing air to flow through the vent. Prevents liquid leakage.

In addition, since the liquid spill prevention device according to the present invention is installed inside the container, there is no need to provide a special installation space outside the container, and as shown in the example, it can be attached and detached using a bayonet type or other fixing method. Since it can be provided freely, it can be easily replaced depending on the type of liquid to be stored, the purpose of use, etc. Furthermore, since it can be easily formed by resin molding or the like, it is possible to provide an inexpensive and high-performance liquid outflow prevention device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a liquid spill prevention device showing one embodiment of the present invention, Figs. 2 to 4 are explanatory diagrams of the same operation, and Figs. 5 and 6 show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the upper part of the float showing another embodiment of the valve body portion. 1...Liquid container, 2...Liquid spill prevention device, 4
...Float guide, 6...Float, 6b...
Hollow part, 8... Valve body part, 9... Container inner side opening of vent hole, 11... Vent hole, 14, 15... Small hole.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. A device that is attached to the vent portion of a liquid container provided with a vent at the top, and that communicates with the outside through a plurality of small holes through which liquid can flow. a float having a hollow part and having a valve body part on the upper part capable of closing the opening inside the container of the vent hole; The float guide is supported in a vertically movable manner at a predetermined position immediately below the inner opening of the container, and defines the vertical movement range of the float and restricts lateral movement. Liquid spill prevention device. 2. The liquid outflow prevention device according to claim 1, which is a utility model, and is characterized in that a sealed air chamber is provided in the upper part of the hollow part of the float. 3. The liquid outflow prevention device according to claim 1, which is a registered utility model, characterized in that a foam portion is provided in the upper part of the hollow portion of the float.