Patent Description:
There are many liquid storage device in the market for storage, transportation, filling, discharging and the like of viscous liquid.

<CIT> disclosed a sealed liquid bag, the body thereof is a sealed soft container made by hot-melting welding or high-frequency welding PVC plastic-coated cloth; the sealed soft container is provided with an inlet valve and an outlet valve at two ends thereof. This liquid liner bag body is effective when using in the high speed low viscous liquid; however, during viscous liquid discharging, the discharge is inefficient; there are much liquid residues in the bag after discharging, rendering waste of liquid. Generally, at the end of discharging, the liner bag is twisted by spirally twisting and squeezing the body thereof to squeeze the liquid residues out.

<CIT> disclosed a sealed liquid bag, the body thereof is a sealed soft container made by hot-melting welding or high-frequency welding PVC plastic-coated cloth or PE film; the sealed soft container is provided with an inlet valve and an outlet valve at two ends thereof; the body also includes a gas bag for assisting in discharging, with an gas charging port on the gas bag. During liquid discharging, the assisted gas bag need to be charged with gas, the viscous liquid is discharged by the squeezing of the gas. This solution cannot solve the problem of liquid residues completely, and assisted gas charging is needed, rendering the increase of cost. <CIT> disclosed a sealed liquid bag, the body thereof is a sealed soft container made by hot-melting welding or high-frequency welding PVC plastic-coated cloth or PE film; when viscous liquid discharging, the intermediate bulk container for transporting liquid is tilted by mechanical structure so that the discharging outlet is located at the lowest position. Such an operation is time consuming, inefficient, and inconvenient, further there are much liquid residues in the liner bag after discharging, rendering waste of liquid. <CIT> discloses a liquid squeezing device for squeezing viscous liquid. The sealed liquid bag has to be hanged before squeezing, then with the squeezing of the hanged liquid bag, the hanged liquid bag is pulled upwardly. These squeezing device is costly and bulky, and the operation is complicated, time-consuming, inefficient and difficult. <CIT> discloses a squeezer and fluid discharge system and method. <CIT> discloses a dispenser system includes a pair of squeeze rollers for squeezing putty-like material from a bag-like container as the container is pulled between the rollers during turning of the rollers in opposite directions. <CIT> discloses an evacuation system including an evacuation member engages a product package and applies pressure thereto, such that a product in the product package moves toward an outlet in the product package for dispensing.

The invention aims to provide a simple, compact, cost-effective, operation friendly, and durable squeezer with little liquid residue in the squeezed liner bag. The above object is achieved by a squeezer according to claim <NUM>.

Preferably, each of the two ends of the squeezing segment is received in the protective part by a length of <NUM>-<NUM>; or, each of both ends of the squeezing segment is received in the protective part by a length of <NUM>/<NUM> to <NUM>/<NUM> of the total length of the squeezing segment.

Preferably, the mounting bracket comprises two first bases, two supporting rods, a second base and a locking mechanism; two ends of each of the two supporting rods are connected to the first base and the second base respectively; one end of the rolling shaft is rotatably mounted to the first base, the other end is rotatably mounted to the second base, and the locking mechanism is used to operatively lock or release the pair of rolling shafts.

Preferably, the locking mechanism includes a locking spanner and lateral threaded holes provided on two first bases, wherein the lateral threaded hole on one of the first bases is a through hole and the lateral threaded hole on the other is a through hole or a blind hole, and the locking spanner is screwed through the through threaded hole on one of the first bases into another threaded hole to operatively lock the pair of rollers.

Preferably, the protective device is a concave-convex structure provided on an outer surface of the supporting shaft and an inner surface of the elastic body.

Preferably, the protective device is a protective structure for preventing from rotating relative to each other, and the protective structure is provided at a position on the supporting shaft of the squeezing segment corresponding to the end of the elastic body.

Preferably, the protective structure comprises a plurality of axially extending grooves in a supporting shaft in the squeezing segment; and opposite flanges are provided at the opening of each of the grooves.

Preferably, the driving device is arranged at an end of the rolling shaft, wherein the driving device comprises a motor and a reducer, wherein an output shaft of the reducer and the mounting part of the rolling shaft are connected with each other, and the motor is located above the rolling shaft.

Preferably, the output shaft of the motor is perpendicular to the rolling shaft; or the output shaft of the motor is parallel to the rolling shaft.

Preferably, the cross section of the roller is circular or oval.

Preferably, an outer diameter of at least a part of the elastic body is uniformly changed in the axial direction, thereby forming an elastic body having a taper.

Preferably, the object to be clamped is a liner bag for containing liquid, and the pair of rollers are arranged to be capable of descending as the liquid in the inner liner bag is lowered while rotating relatively in the opposite direction.

The present invention is also directed to a fluid discharge system according to claim <NUM>.

The fluid discharge system provided by this invention is a zero-residue discharge system needing not to hanging the liner bag, and has a simple structure, a good manufacturing process, simple operation, and cost savings.

The preferred embodiment of this invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, so that the purposes, the characteristics and the advantages of the invention can be more clearly understood. It should be understood that the embodiments shown in the figures are not intended to limit the scope of this invention, but illustrate the essential spirit of the technical solution of this invention.

Intermediate bulk container: composite intermediate bulk container (hereinafter referred to as IBC container) is a type of packaging and transportation containers widely used in the food, biochemical, pharmaceutical, chemical and other industries in the world. Since IBC container barrels can be reused many times, they have obvious advantages in filling, storage, and transportation, and compared to cylindrical barrels, IBC container barrels can save <NUM>% of storage space, the dimensions accord with ISO standards, and not only applicable to sterile filling but also compact, convenient for safe and efficient storage in large scale, so it is widely used in the transportation, packaging, and storage of liquids, particles, and flakes etc.. At present, there are three types of existing specifications: <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. Generally, their structure includes a plastic liner (lined bag), a filling port, a draining device (a valve or a simple draining port, etc.), a side plate, a base and a cover.

The squeezer of the present invention includes at least a pair of squeezing members, such as at least two rolling shafts. When the liquid in the liner bag is needed to be discharged, the two rolling shafts clamp the liner bag, and under the driving of the driving device, the two rolling shafts rotate relative to each other to squeeze out the liquid in the liner bag, and during liquid discharging, with the reducing of the liquid in the liner bag, the two rolling shafts are always automatically descend as the liquid level decreases and squeeze the liquid under the driving of the driving device. Herein, the squeezing force is produce squeezing and pushing effect to an object, for example the liner bag and the liquid contained therein.

Next, the embodiments of this invention are described reference to figures.

Next, the first embodiment of this invention is described reference to <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG>, the squeezer includes a pair of rolling shafts <NUM>, a driving device <NUM> and a mounting bracket <NUM>. Each rolling shaft <NUM> includes mounting parts <NUM> at the ends thereof and a squeezing segment <NUM> between the mounting parts <NUM>. In this embodiment, the mounting parts <NUM> and the squeezing segment <NUM> are integral, however they can also be formed separately and assembled together. The rolling shaft <NUM> is long rod-shaped, and its dimension in the axial direction is much larger than its dimension in the radial direction, and the length of the mounting part <NUM> is much smaller than that of the squeezing segment <NUM>. The squeezing segment <NUM> is used to contact the bag body of the liner bag <NUM> (as shown in <FIG>), thereby squeezing the bag body, which will be described in detail below. The squeezing segment <NUM> includes a supporting shaft <NUM> and an elastic body <NUM> surrounding the supporting shaft <NUM>. Preferably, the elastic body <NUM> is an elastic soft body made of rubber, resin, or other high-molecular elastic materials.

Specifically, the elastic body <NUM> is cylindrical in shape, and has an inner cavity with an inner diameter matching the outer diameter of the supporting rod <NUM>. The supporting rod <NUM> inserts into the inner cavity of the elastic body <NUM>. The outer surface of the supporting shaft <NUM> can be coated with glue. The elastic body <NUM> is wrapped around and attached to the entire outer surface of the supporting shaft <NUM>, so that when the supporting shaft <NUM> rotates under the driving of the driving device, the elastic body <NUM> rotates synchronously. Alternatively, the elastic body <NUM> is integrated with the support shaft <NUM> by injection molding.

It should be understood that the elastic body <NUM> of the rolling shaft <NUM> can also be other shape, such as ellipse, triangle, or square. The mounting part <NUM> is cylindrical shaft, so as to rotatably mounted in the mounting bracket <NUM>. In this embodiment, the supporting shaft <NUM> is generally cylindrical, that is, the outer diameter of the supporting shaft is constant in the axial direction; while the outer diameter of the elastic body <NUM> changes uniformly in the axial direction, thereby forming an elastic body with a taper. However, in other embodiments, the outer diameter of the elastic body <NUM> can also be substantially constant in the axial direction (as shown in <FIG>), or only the outer diameter of a part of the elastic body <NUM> changes uniformly in the axial direction.

According to the invention, the mounting bracket <NUM> includes two first bases <NUM>, two supporting rods <NUM> and a second base <NUM>. The two supporting rods <NUM> connect two first bases <NUM> with the second base <NUM>, that is, two ends of the supporting rod <NUM> are connected with the first base <NUM> and the second base <NUM> respectively. The first base <NUM> has a concave recess <NUM> and a mounting hole <NUM>. The second base <NUM> has a recess <NUM>, an upper mounting hole <NUM>, and a lower mounting hole <NUM>. The mounting parts <NUM> at two ends of the rolling shaft <NUM> are mounted rotatably in the mounting holes <NUM> and <NUM> respectively, and the two ends of the squeezing segment <NUM> are received in the recesses <NUM> and <NUM> respectively, so that during squeezing, the ends of the squeezing segment <NUM> will not contact the object clamped (for example, the liner bag <NUM>). That is, the recesses <NUM> and <NUM> function as protective parts for the ends of the squeezing segment <NUM>, so as to ensure that the elastic body of the squeezing segment <NUM> will not be separated from the supporting shaft or being damaged during squeezing.

In some embodiments, the length of each of the two ends of the squeezing segment <NUM> received in the recesses <NUM> and <NUM> (protective parts) is <NUM>-<NUM>. Preferably, the length of each of the two ends of the squeezing segment <NUM> received in the recesses <NUM> and <NUM> (protective parts) is <NUM>-<NUM>. Preferably, the length of each of the two ends of the squeezing segment <NUM> received in the recesses <NUM> and <NUM> is <NUM>. Alternatively, the length of each end of the squeeze segment <NUM> received in the recesses <NUM> and <NUM> is <NUM>/<NUM> to <NUM>/<NUM> of the total length of the squeezing segment <NUM>.

According to the invention, the squeezing segment of one of the pair of rolling shafts <NUM> received in the recess <NUM> of the first base <NUM> and the squeezing segment of the other received in the recess of first base <NUM> are not in contact with each other; and the squeezing segment of one of the pair of rolling shafts <NUM> received in the recess of the second base <NUM> and the squeezing segment of the other received in the recess <NUM> of the second base <NUM> are not in contact with each other. Therefore, during the working process, the ends of the pair of rolling shafts will not rub against each other, thereby ensuring that the elastic body of the squeezing segment <NUM> will not be damaged or separated.

Of course, the mounting bracket <NUM> can also has other configurations. For example, the supporting rod <NUM> can be eliminated, the first base <NUM> can be an integral structure, or the second base <NUM> can have two separate parts.

In this embodiment, the first base <NUM> is provided with a locking mechanism. In particular, one of the first bases <NUM> is provided with a threaded through hole 313a, and the other is provided with a threaded hole 313b. The locking spanner <NUM> can be screwed into the threaded hole 313b via the threaded through hole 313a so as to operatively lock the pair of rolling shafts <NUM> together, and vice versa. The threaded hole 313b can be a through hole or a blind hole. Of course, the locking mechanism can also in other configurations, for example locking by buckling.

In this embodiment, the driving device <NUM> includes a motor <NUM>, a reducer <NUM>, and a transmission gear <NUM>. The motor <NUM> and the reducer <NUM> are mounted on the mounting bracket <NUM>. In particular, the reducer <NUM> is provided in the second base <NUM>. One end of the motor <NUM> is mounted in the upper recess <NUM> of the second base <NUM>, that is, the motor <NUM> is mounted above the rolling shaft <NUM>, and the output shaft thereof extends parallel to the axial direction of the rolling shaft <NUM> and is drivingly connected with the reducer <NUM>. The output shaft of the reducer is connected with the mounting part of the rolling shaft, so that the motor drives the reducer to rotate, and then drives the rolling shaft to rotate.

In other embodiments, the reducer <NUM> and the second base <NUM> can be formed separately and fixed together by a fixing device. Further, in the variant of this embodiment, the motor <NUM> can also be mounted above the rolling shaft <NUM> and perpendicular to the rolling shaft (as shown in <FIG>), that is, the output shaft of the motor <NUM> extends perpendicular to the axial direction of the rolling shaft and is drivingly connected with the reducer <NUM>. The reducer <NUM> and the end of one of the supporting shaft <NUM> are drivingly engaged, for example, the end of one of the supporting shaft <NUM> is engaged in the driving slot <NUM> of the reducer <NUM>. The transmitting gears are provided on the mounting parts <NUM> of the two supporting shaft <NUM> respectively, so that when the two rolling shafts <NUM> are locked together, the transmitting gears on the two rolling shafts <NUM> are engaged with each other. In this embodiment, the transmitting gear <NUM> is in the lower recess <NUM> of the second base <NUM>. When the motor <NUM> drives one of the rolling shaft <NUM> to rotate through the reducer <NUM>, the other rolling shaft <NUM> can be driven to rotate, so as to apply squeezing force to the object clamped. Of course, in some embodiments, the driving device <NUM> may not include the transmitting gear <NUM>. Alternatively, two driving slots may be provided in the reducer, which are respectively drivingly engaged with the ends of the pair of rolling shafts <NUM>.

Next, the second embodiment of this invention is described reference to <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>. The main difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that in the second embodiment, the supporting shaft <NUM> in the squeeze segment <NUM> of the rolling shaft <NUM> is not cylindrical, but has a protective device for preventing relative rotation between the supporting shaft <NUM> and the elastic body <NUM>, so as to prevent the elastic body <NUM> from separating from the supporting shaft <NUM>. Specifically, the outer surface of the supporting shaft <NUM> has four grooves <NUM> extending in the axial direction, and opposite flanges 1211a are provided at the opening of each groove <NUM>, that is, the groove <NUM> is substantially C-shaped. The flanges 1211a is used to prevent the supporting shaft <NUM> and the elastic body from rotating relatively, thereby prevent the elastic body <NUM> from separating from the supporting shaft <NUM>. It should be understood, the number of the grooves <NUM> is not limited to the number shown in figures, it can be <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM>, etc.; or the grooves <NUM> may also be provided only on the position in the supporting shaft <NUM> in the squeezing segment <NUM> where corresponds to the ends of the elastic body <NUM>. In addition, the protective structure may also adopt other structures, such as a concave-convex structure provided on an outer surface of both end parts of the supporting shaft <NUM> and the inner surface of the elastic body <NUM>. In this embodiment, the mounting part <NUM> is not integrally formed with the supporting shaft <NUM> of the squeezing segment <NUM>, but is sleeved over the supporting shaft <NUM>. However, in other embodiments, the mounting part <NUM> and the supporting shaft <NUM> of the squeezing segment <NUM> can also be formed integrally (as shown in the first embodiment). It should be noted that, because the supporting shaft <NUM> has a function of preventing the elastic body <NUM> from separating from it in the second embodiment, that is, protecting the squeezing segment <NUM> from being damaged and separating from it during the squeezing process. Therefore, two ends of the squeezing segment <NUM> of the rolling shaft <NUM> are not needed to be received in the recess <NUM> of the first base <NUM> and the recess <NUM> of the second base <NUM> (as shown in <FIG>).

<FIG> is a perspective view of the discharge system according to the embodiment of this invention. <FIG> is an sectional view of the discharge system in <FIG>. <FIG> are the cross-section views of the fluid discharge system according to the embodiment of this invention, showing the different phases during fluid discharging.

As shown in <FIG>, the fluid discharge system may includes a container <NUM>, a liner bag <NUM> and a squeezer <NUM>. The container <NUM> is generally an intermediate bulk container. The liner bag <NUM> is provided with a discharge port 101a and is installed in the container <NUM>. The squeezer <NUM> includes a pair of rolling shafts <NUM> and a driving device <NUM>. With reference to <FIG>, the discharge process of the fluid discharge system will be described. Firstly, the liner bag <NUM> is clamped between the pair of rolling shafts <NUM> (as shown in <FIG>). In particular, the pair of rolling shafts <NUM> are separated by the locking spanner, and then the upper part of the liner bag <NUM> is clamped in the squeezer <NUM> of the container <NUM>, then the pair of rolling shafts <NUM> are locked together by the locking spanner. Next, the driving device <NUM> is activated, when driven by the driving device <NUM>, the pair of rolling shafts <NUM> of the squeezer rotate downwardly and oppositely and squeeze the bag of the liner bag <NUM>, so as to squeeze the liquid in the liner bag <NUM>, and discharge the liquid from the discharge port 101a. During liquid discharging, as the liquid in the liner bag decreases, the pair of rolling shafts <NUM> automatically descend with the liquid level descending through the driving of the driving device <NUM> and squeeze the liquid (as shown in <FIG>). During the squeezing process, due to the protective device, the elastic body and supporting shaft of the rolling shaft <NUM> will not be separated from each other or damaged.

<FIG> are schematic diagrams showing the variant of the squeezer in <FIG>. The differences between the embodiment shown in <FIG> and the embodiment shown in <FIG> are the structure of the mounting bracket <NUM>, in particular the structure of the supporting rod. As shown in <FIG>, in this embodiment, the cross section of the supporting rod <NUM> in the squeezer <NUM> is different from that of the supporting rod shown in <FIG> and <FIG>. In this embodiment, the cross section of the supporting rod <NUM> is U-shaped. Thereby, the supporting rod <NUM> can surround the outer side of the rolling shaft, preventing the outer side of the rolling shaft from contacting the clamped object, that is, spacing the outer side of the rolling shaft from the clamped object, and further preventing hands of the operator from being clamped by the rolling shafts. Here, the outer side refers to the side of the rolling shaft opposite to the side contacting the clamped object.

Claim 1:
A squeezer (<NUM>), comprising: a pair of rolling shafts (<NUM>), a driving device (<NUM>) and a mounting bracket (<NUM>), wherein the pair of rolling shafts (<NUM>) being rotatably mounted to the mounting bracket (<NUM>), each rolling shaft (<NUM>) having a mounting part (<NUM>) at each end and a squeezing segment (<NUM>) located between the mounting parts (<NUM>); the squeezing segment (<NUM>) including a supporting shaft (<NUM>) and an elastic body (<NUM>) surrounding the supporting shaft (<NUM>); the pair of rolling shafts (<NUM>) being capable of operatively clamping an object to be clamped between the squeezing segments (<NUM>) and oppositely being rotated by the driving device (<NUM>) to apply a squeezing force to the object clamped, and the squeezer further comprising a protective device (<NUM>, <NUM>; <NUM>, 1211a) for protecting the elastic body (<NUM>) at ends of the squeezing segment (<NUM>), wherein
the mounting bracket (<NUM>) comprises a first base (<NUM>) and a second base (<NUM>) respectively arranged at both ends of the rolling shaft (<NUM>), wherein both the first base (<NUM>) and the second base (<NUM>) are provided with concave recesses (<NUM>, <NUM>), and both ends of the squeezing segment (<NUM>) are respectively received in the recesses (<NUM>, <NUM>) of the first base (<NUM>) and the second base (<NUM>); and
the squeezing segment (<NUM>) of one of the pair of rolling shafts (<NUM>) received in the recess of the first base (<NUM>) and the squeezing segment (<NUM>) of the other received in the recess of first base (<NUM>) are not in contact with each other; and the squeezing segment (<NUM>) of one of the pair of rolling shafts (<NUM>) received in the recess of the second base (<NUM>) and the squeezing segment (<NUM>) of the other received in the recess of the second base (<NUM>) are not in contact with each other.