Abstract:
A spray pump is provided where two seal caps are arranged in an upper portion and a lower portion within a cylinder housing so as to prevent the contents from leaking, the cylinder housing a wall surface with one or more leakage discharge holes so that the content which can be accumulated within the cylinder housing is discharged through the leakage discharge holes rather than a content flow path, thereby enabling an efficient operation.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to a spray pump, and in particular to a spray pump which sprays liquid contents and comprises an under cap  110 ; an over cap  120  engaged to the under cap  110 ; a cylinder housing  130  which is engaged to the bottom of the over cap  120  and has a suction through hole at its lower side and a check valve  132  installed at an inner, lower side of the top of the suction through hole; a stem  140  which passes through the over cap  120 ; a main spring  145  which is installed between the over cap  120  and an outer circumferential surface of the stem  140 ; a piston rod  150  which is engaged to the stem  140  and has at least two side passage holes  152  at a lower, side surface; a first seal cap  160  which is installed movable in upward and downward directions at the bottom of the piston rod  150 ; a second seal cap  170  which is engaged to the piston rod  150  at the top of the first seal cap  160 ; an inner spring  175  which is installed between the second seal cap  170  and the first seal cap  160 ; a first leakage discharge hole  135  which is formed at a side surface wall of the cylinder housing  130  and is positioned at the top of ‘the Highest Position of the first seal cap  160 ’ (shown as “H” in  FIG. 2 ) and the bottom of ‘the Bottommost Position of the second seal cap  170 ’ (shown as “B” in  FIG. 3 ); a second leakage discharge hole  136  which is formed at a side surface wall of the cylinder housing  130  and is positioned at the bottom of ‘the Highest Position of the second seal cap  170 ’ (shown as “H” in  FIG. 2 ); a spray button  190  which is engaged to the top of the stem  140  and has a spray passage  191  communicating in a lateral direction; and a spray nozzle member  192  which is engaged to a discharge port of the spray passage. 
     A spray pump is sort of a pump which can spray liquid contents in mist forms when a user presses a button. The spray pump has been widely used so as to spray liquid cosmetic or liquid medicine which is generally stored in a container. 
     In terms of the spray pump, there are many examples such as the Korean Registration Patent No. 10-0485039 directed to “Spray pump for cosmetic container” (hereinafter referred to as “Patent Document 1”) or the Korean Published Patent No. 10-2000-0052881 directed to “The spray pump delivery system of the capacity which concentrated is reduced.” (hereinafter referred to as “Patent Document 2”). 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the spray pump for a cosmetic container of the patent document 1 has features in that in a housing  20  is provided a cylindrical guide tube  24  which protrudes upward for thereby partitioning a compression chamber  21  and an operation chamber  22 , and from a lower, outer surface of a second valve  50  integrally protrudes a sealing ring  51  in an upward direction and with a certain elastic force, the sealing ring having a downwardly tapered surface. As the pressure in the compression chamber  21  increases, the sealing ring  51  widens in an outward direction for thereby enhancing air tightness with respect to a guide tube  24 . In case of the prior art of the patent document 1, since a spring is provided in the housing  20 , a metallic spring which serves to operate a pumping member comes into direct contact with the contents, which causes a corrosion of the metallic spring thanks to the contents. 
     Since only one leakage discharge hole is formed at the top of the piston ring  31 , the leaked liquid gathered in a space except for a passage through which liquid can pass only when the piston ring  31  rises can be discharged, so it is impossible to obtain an efficient discharge of leaked liquid, and such operations seem inefficient. The above described problems also lie in the prior art of the patent document 2. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention is made so as to improve the above mentioned problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide a spray pump which has features in that a seal cap positioned in the interior of a cylinder housing is provided at an upper side and a lower side, respectively, so as to prevent the leakage of liquid. At least one leakage discharge hole is formed at a wall surface of a cylinder housing, so the contents which may gather in the cylinder housing can discharge through at least one leakage discharge hole, not through a flow passage of the contents, for thereby obtaining an efficient operation. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a spray pump which has features in that a spring engaging shoulder is formed at the top of a stem so that a metallic spring which causes a piston rod to operate does not come into direct contact with contents. It is possible to install, outside the cylinder housing, a spring which used to be installed at the bottom of a piston rod by which the contents move in the interior of the cylinder housing. The corrosion of the spring which used to happen as it comes into direct contact with the contents can be prevented. Any spoilage of the contents due to the corrosion of the spring can be prevented. 
     It is further another object of the present invention to provide a spray pump which makes it possible to easily adjust a spray angle in a visible way with the aid of a construction that the colors change based on the spray angle of a spray nozzle member. 
     To achieve the above objects, there is provided a spray pump which sprays liquid contents, comprising an under cap  110  which has a through hole  111  at its center; an over cap  120  which is engaged to the through hole  111  of the under cap  110  and has a stem installation hole  121  at its inner side; a cylinder housing  130  which is engaged to the bottom of the over cap  120  and has a suction through hole at its lower side and a check valve  132  installed at an inner, lower side of the top of the suction through hole for thereby allowing fluids to flow only in a suction direction; a stem  140  which passes through the stem installation hole  121  of the over cap  120 , the center of the stem being passed through from its top to bottom; a main spring  145  which is installed between the over cap  120  and an outer circumferential surface of the stem  140 ; a piston rod  150  which is inserted into the bottom of the stem  140  and has, on its central axis, a fluid passage hole  151  whose top is open and whose bottom is closed, at least two side passage holes  152  being formed at the lower side surface of the fluid passage hole  151 ; a first seal cap  160  which is installed movable in upward and downward directions at the bottom of the piston rod  150  and closes the side passage hole  152  at a descending point and opens the side passage hole  152  at an ascending point, an outer circumferential surface of the first seal cap  160  coming into close contact with an inner surface of the cylinder housing  130 ; a second seal cap  170  which is engaged to the piston rod  150  at the top of the first seal cap  160 , an outer circumferential surface of the second seal cap  170  coming into close contact with an inner surface of the cylinder housing  130 ; an inner spring  175  which is installed between the second seal cap  170  and the first seal cap  160 ; a first leakage discharge hole  135  which is formed at a side surface wall of the cylinder housing  130  and is positioned at the top of ‘the Highest Position of the first seal cap  160 ’ (shown as “H” in  FIG. 2 ) and the bottom of ‘the Bottommost position of the second seal cap  170 ’ (shown as “B” in  FIG. 3 ); a second leakage discharge hole  136  which is formed at a side surface wall of the cylinder housing  130  and is positioned at the bottom of ‘the Highest Position of the second seal cap  170 ’ (shown as “H” in  FIG. 2 ); a spray button  190  which is engaged to the top of the stem  140  and has a spray passage  191  communicating in a lateral direction; and a spray nozzle member  192  which is engaged to a discharge port of the spray passage. 
     In addition, the stem  140  has a spring engaging shoulder  141  formed along an outer circumferential surface of the top, and main spring  145  is installed between the upper surface of the over cap  120  and the spring engaging shoulder  141 , and an outer cover  195  has an opening  196  formed at its top through which opening passes the spray button  190  and is engaged to the under cap  110 . 
     Meanwhile, the spray nozzle member  192  is made from a transparent material or a semitransparent material, and a spray nozzle connection member  193  whose colors change based on the spray angles of the spray nozzle member  192  is inserted between the spray passage  191  and the spray nozzle member  192 . 
     According to the present invention, 
     In addition, a spring engaging shoulder is formed at the top of a stem so that a metallic spring which causes a piston rod to operate does not come into direct contact with contents. It is possible to install, outside the cylinder housing, a spring which used to be installed at the bottom of a piston rod by which the contents move in the interior of the cylinder housing. The corrosion of the spring which used to happen as it comes into direct contact with the contents can be prevented. Any spoilage of the contents due to the corrosion of the spring can be prevented. 
     Meanwhile, the spray pump makes it possible to easily adjust a spray angle in a visible way with the aid of the provision of a spray nozzle connection member  193  whose colors can change based on the spray angle of a spray nozzle member  192 . 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a cross sectional view illustrating a conventional spray pump. 
         FIG. 2  is a cross sectional view illustrating a spray pump according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view illustrating a state that a spray pump sprays according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view illustrating a state that a spry pump is disassembled and assembled according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The spray pump according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same elements or parts shown in the drawings are given the same reference numerals. The detailed descriptions on the known function or construction will be omitted in the middle of the descriptions. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the spray pump according to the present invention comprises an under cap  110 , an over cap  120 , a cylinder housing  130 , a stem  140 , a main spring  145 , a piston rod  150 , a first seal cap  160 , a second seal cap  170 , an inner spring  175 , a first leakage discharge hole  135 , a second leakage discharge hole  136  and a spray button  190 . 
     First of all, the under cap  110  will be described. As shown in  FIG. 2 , in the center of the under cap  110  is formed a through hole  111 . The under cap  110  is engaged to the top of a container which stores liquid contents. In this case, as shown in  FIG. 2 , it is preferred that a gasket  112  is further installed so as to increase a sealing performance between the under cap  110  and the container. 
     Next, the over cap  120  will be described. As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , the over cap  120  is engaged to a through hole  111  of the under cap  110 . At an inner side of the over cap is formed a stem installation hole  121 . As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , a suction through hole is formed at a lower side of the over cap  120 . To the bottom of the over cap  120  is engaged the cylinder housing  130  which is installed as a check valve  132  allowing fluid to flow only in a suction direction is mounted at the bottom of the upper, inner side of the suction through hole which is formed at the lower side. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , the stem  140  passes through a stem installation hole  121  of the over cap  120 . The top and bottom of the stem pass through. A spring engaging shoulder  141  is formed along an upper, outer circumferential surface of the stem. As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a main spring  145  is installed between the over cap  120  and an outer circumferential surface of the stem  140 , so the stem  140  is operable with elastic force with respect to the over cap  120 . As a result, any contacts between the liquid contents and the main spring  145  are not allowed, so it is possible to prevent corrosions or damages of the main spring  145  the problems of which used to happen as it comes into direct contact with the liquid contents. In this case, the main spring  145  can be installed between the over cap  120  and the stem  140  in various forms. As one example, as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , it is preferred that a spring engaging shoulder  141  is further formed along an upper, outer circumferential surface in the stem  140 , and the main spring  145  is installed between the upper surface of the cylinder over cap  120  and the spring engaging shoulder  141 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , at the bottom of the stem  140  is formed a fluid passage hole  151  whose too is open and whose bottom is closed in the central axis. The piston rod  150  with at least two side passages is inserted into the side surface of the bottom of the fluid passage hole  151 . As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , at the bottom of the piston rod  150  is installed a first seal cap  160  which closes the side passage hole  152  at the descending point and opens the side passage hole  152  at the ascending point and which is movable upward and downward. The outer circumferential surface of the first seal cap  160  comes into close contact with the inner surface of the cylinder housing  130 . 
     Meanwhile, as shown in  FIGS. 2 to 4 , at the top of the first seal cap  160  is installed a second seal cap  170  which is engaged to the piston rod  150  and whose outer circumferential surface comes into close contact with the inner surface of the cylinder housing  130 . As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , between the second seal cap  170  and the first seal cap  160  is installed an inner spring  175 , so the side passage hoe  152  can be opened or closed as the first seal cap  160  ascends or descends by a difference in the operations which is caused by the elastic force of the inner spring  175  and the viscosity of the liquid contents. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , at a side surface wall of the cylinder housing  130  is formed a first leakage discharge hole  135  whose position corresponds to the top of ‘the Highest Position of the first seal cap  160 ’ (shown as “H” in  FIG. 2 ) and whose position corresponds to the bottom of ‘the Bottommost position of the second seal cap  170 ’ (shown as “B” in  FIG. 3 ), and a second leakage discharge hole  136  whose position corresponds to the bottom of ‘the Highest Position of the second seal cap  170 ’ (shown as “H” in  FIG. 2 ) is formed. If a leakage occurs through a space between the first seal cap  160  and the second seal cap  170 , the second seal cap  170  descends, and leakage occurs through the second leakage discharge hole  136  and the first leakage discharge hole  135 . Since leakage occurs over the second seal cap  170  only when the liquid contents all pass through the small gaps between the first seal cap  160 , the second seal cap  170  and the side surface wall of the cylinder housing  130 , there is barely a possibility of leakage. When leakage occurs even under the above mentioned situation, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the second seal cap  170  ascends, and the leaked content is discharged through the second leakage discharge hole  136 . Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to prevent the gathering of leaked contents at the portions except for the passages through which liquid contents pass. 
     In the conventional construction, the spring is installed in the space full of liquid contents all the time. The present invention however has features in that the inner spring  175  is positioned in a space between the first seal cap  160  and the second seal cap  170 . The space formed between the first seal cap  160  and the second seal cap  170  may be filled with a small amount of liquid contents only when leakage occurs and may serve to efficiently discharge the leaked liquid contents immediately, so the inner spring  175  does not come into contact with the liquid contents as compared to the conventional invention, whereby damages such as corrosion don&#39;t occur in the present invention. 
     Next, as shown in  FIGS. 2 to 4 , to the top of the stem  140  is engaged a spray button  190  equipped with a spray passage  191  communicating in a lateral direction, and to the discharge port of the spray passage  191  is engaged a spray nozzle member  192 . In this case, the spray nozzle member  192  is made from a transparent or semitransparent material. It is preferred that the spray nozzle member  192  whose colors change based on the spray angle of the spray nozzle member  192  is inserted between the spray passage  191  and the spry nozzle member  192 , so the spray angles can be easily checked with bare eyes based on the differences in colors. 
     Meanwhile, as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , when finishing a protection of the operation portions and an exterior, there is further provided an outer cover  195  at the top of which is formed an opening through which the spray button  190  passes and which is engaged to the under cap  110 . 
     The operations of the spray pump according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 
     In a standby state as shown in  FIG. 2 , the liquid contents which are sucked via the check valve  132  are stored at the bottom of the first seal cap  160 . In this case, the first seal cap  160  remains descended with respect to the piston rod  150  by means of the inner spring  175  and is closing the side passage hole  152 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , when a user presses the spray button  190 , the piston rod  150  descends. In this case, the first seal cap  160  ascends a little with respect to the piston rod  150  by means of the pressure from the liquid contents gathered at the bottom of the first seal cap  160 , so the side passage hole  152  is opened. Therefore, the liquid contents pass through the side passage hole  152 , the fluid passage hole  151  and the spray passage  191  and are sprayed through the spray nozzle member  192 . 
     Next, when the user releases the pressed spray button  190 , the piston rod  150  ascends by the main spring  145 . At this time, the first seal cap  160  keeps the descended state with respect to the piston rod  150  with the aid of the inner spring  175 , and the side passage hole  152  is closed. The pressure of the lower side of the first seal cap  160  of the cylinder housing  130  is lowered by means of the ascending operation with respect to the cylinder housing  130  of the first seal cap  160 , and the liquid contents are sucked in via the heck valve  132 , and the sucked contents gather at the lower side of the first seal cap  160  of the cylinder housing  130  for thereby finishing one cycle. 
     As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described examples are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the meets and bounds of the claims, or equivalences of such meets and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.