Coating implements with material supply – Material flows through porous tool – With flow-regulator
Patent
1999-08-20
2000-12-26
Walczak, David J.
Coating implements with material supply
Material flows through porous tool
With flow-regulator
401178, B43K 500
Patent
active
061648582
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a fluid regulator for supplying a consumer element with fluid from a fluid reservoir and containing a valve for establishing communication between the fluid reservoir and the consumer element when the consumer element has consumed a predetermined quantity of fluid. The fluid consumer elements can, for example, be tips or nibs for writing, painting, and brush devices or also application and discharge elements of fluid dispensers.
With heretofore known writing instruments, such as fountain pens, the supply of ink to the writing tips is effected by capillaries that by means of their capillary force draw ink out of a reservoir, whereby a pressure relief opening in the reservoir is dimensioned such that only after a partial vacuum drops below a certain value is the removed ink replaced with air. In this connection, the partial vacuum in the reservoir suffices to prevent ink from running out despite its weight. These ink supply systems have the characteristic that when a temperature change of the ambient air occurs they are no longer discharge reliable, since the air in the reservoir expands and thus reduces the partial vacuum that prevents the discharge. Measures for preventing such a discharge of ink by means of additional capillary buffer storage means for the temporary accommodation of an excess volume of ink are complicated and expensive and are effective to only a limited extent.
EP 0 240 994 B1 discloses a device of the aforementioned general type, the valve of which is disposed between a fluid reservoir and an intermediate reservoir from which the consumer element is supplied with fluid via a capillary line. If the intermediate reservoir is increasingly emptied as the fluid is consumed, there results at that location a partial pressure so that the valve, one side of which borders the fluid reservoir and the other side of which borders the intermediate reservoir, opens and the intermediate reservoir is again filled with fluid. A characteristic of this system is that it can lead to permanent disruption of the fluid supply if the partial vacuum is adjusted in another manner.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device of the aforementioned type that ensures a functionally reliable supply of a consumer element with fluid with a simple construction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This objective is realized in that the valve contains a capillary space, the capillary force of which displaces the valve element of the valve into a position that closes the valve opening of the valve when the capillary space fills itself entirely or partially with fluid from the fluid reservoir.
The inventive capillary regulator, the construction of which can be extraordinarily simple, operates in an extremely functionally reliable manner due to the high forces that occur in capillary systems, and ensures a high flow or discharge reliability of the consumer element supplied thereby.
Having the capillary space connected to the consumer element via a line, the capillarity of which is greater than that of the capillary space, or having the consumer element capillary, with its capillarity greater than that of the capillary space, ensure that the fluid supply line or the consumer element, downstream of the capillary space, reliably, constantly, fully draw in fluid.
Pursuant to further advantageous features of the capillary valve, the capillary space can on the whole be disc-shaped, whereby the valve opening is embodied in one end face and the other end face is formed by the valve element. The valve element can have an elastic diaphragm, which can have a particularly high reliability if it is reinforced by a reinforcing plate. The valve element could also have a ball for closing off the valve opening.
The pressure acting from the fluid supply column can be used directly as the valve opening force.
If the fluid reservoir is contained in a pouch, the discharge reliability is further increased since the venting of the interior of the elastic pouch is not necessary.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2392840 (1946-01-01), De Groft
patent: 3972629 (1976-08-01), Whalen, Jr.
patent: 4065215 (1977-12-01), Otsuka
patent: 4973180 (1990-11-01), Hori
patent: 5290116 (1994-03-01), Chang
patent: 5735624 (1998-04-01), O'Connor
Dataprint R. Kaufmann KG (GmbH & Co.)
Walczak David J.
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