EP0697000B1

EP0697000B1 - A container

Info

Publication number: EP0697000B1
Application number: EP94915312A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Svante Borg
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-05-03
Filing date: 1994-05-02
Publication date: 1999-03-24
Anticipated expiration: 2014-05-02
Also published as: SE9301505L; SE9301505D0; WO1994025372A1; AU6660094A; DE69417412T2; EP0697000A1; DE69417412D1; SE506711C2

Abstract

A container for fluid comprises a casing (1), a hose (2) of elastic material arranged within the casing and a fluid connection (3) communicating with the interior of the hose. The hose is adapted to exert, in a state expanded by fluid, the fluid to a pressure, which on opening of the connection gives rise to fluid discharge from the hose.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION AND PRIOR ART

This invention is related to a container for a fluid. The fluid may be of the most different kinds. It may consist of water, fuel, cleaning preparations, food stuffs etc. Also gases may be in question.
More specifically, the present invention is related to a container as defined in the precharacterizing part of claim 1.
Such a container is dislosed in US-A-4,854,481. The hose is in this patent emptied by forcing air into a reservoir between the casing and the hose. It is a complication to have to rely on means for forcing air into the container in order to achieve emptying thereof.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a container capable of uniting excellent funtionality with a simple and reliable design of the hose and its casing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is fulfilled by the container according to the invention having its hose, in its empty state, secured so that it is stretched to a substantially larger length than the length of the hose in its unloaded state.
Thus, the inherent elasticity of the hose is used for generating power for emptying the hose, the stretched condition of the hose in its empty state ensuring efficient emptying of the hose.
Preferable developments of the container according to the invention are defined in the dependent claims. Among these, claim 4 may for example be stressed, which claim defines the manner in which the casing is designed to give rise to a minimum of wear or, otherwise, trying influence of the hose during its expansion/contraction.
An advantageous design of means for securing the hose is defined in claim 5, namely a design comprising a clamp body adapted to clamp the hose between itself and a widening portion of the chamber in the casing.
It has been found suitable to use, as a material for the hose, a rubber latex material since it has an excellent elasticity and endures repeated expansion/contraction. However, the rubber latex material is not compatible with all types of fluids. In such a case a second hose may, according to claim 9, be arranged within the first mentioned hose, said second hose being of a different material and being adapted to contain the fluid in question within itself. The second hose is adapted to assume a folded state within the first hose on contraction thereof.
A particularly advantageous formation of the casing of the container is defined in claim 10. In order to achieve, in such an embodiment, a good resistance to the actuation of the hose radially outwardly, when the hose is in an expanded state, the feature according to claim 12 may be used.
The other features defined in the claims are dealt with more closely in the following description.

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With reference to the enclosed drawings, a more close description of embodiment examples of the invention follows hereinafter.
In the drawings:

Fig. 1: is a longitudinal section through a container designed in accordance with the invention in an empty state;
Fig. 2: is a view similar to Fig. 1 but illustrates the container in a filled state;
Fig. 3: is an enlarged view in section of an end of the container according to a second embodiment;
Fig. 4: is a view partially similar to Fig. 1 of a third embodiment;
Fig. 5: is a section along the line V-V in Fig. 4;
Fig. 6: is a view similar to Fig. 4 but illustrating the container in a filled state;
Fig. 7: is a perspective exploded view illustrating a casing of a container according to a fourth embodiment; and
Fig. 8: is a longitudinal section through an assembled container using the casing according to Fig. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The container for a fluid illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a casing generally denoted 1, a hose 2 of elastic material arranged within the casing and a fluid connection 3 communicating with the interior of the hose. The hose 2 is adapted to, in a state expanded by the fluid, exert the fluid to a pressure, which on opening of the connection 3 gives rise to fluid discharge from the hose 2. It is pointed out that a suitable valve for regulating the fluid discharge should be present in the connection 3 between the interior of the hose 2 and an orifice, through which the fluid is discharged. Such a valve could be arranged directly on the container 1 itself or in a conduit connected to the container 1. As will be explained in the following, such a conduit 4 is indicated in Fig. 2. This conduit 4 forms, accordingly, a part of the connection designated 3 in Fig. 1.
The container comprises means 5 for securing an open end portion 6 of the hose within the casing 1. The casing has a chamber 7 intended for receiving the hose 2, said chamber having a substantially round cross-section and changing, at the open end portion 6 of the hose, from a portion 8 having a relatively large diameter to a portion 9, in which the hose 2 is secured, via gently rounded surface portions comprising an inwardly concavely curved surface portion 10 and an inwardly convexely curved surface portion 11.
The portion 9, in which the open end portion 6 of the hose is secured, comprises a surface portion 12 widening in a direction away from the portion 8 having the relatively large diameter, the securing means 5 comprising a clamp body 13 adapted to clamp the hose 2 between itself and the surface portion 12.
The clamp body 13 has a through passage 14 forming a part of the connection 3. The chamber 7 has its smallest diameter in the area between the convexely curved surface portion 11 and the surface portion 12. The cross-section of the clamp body 13 widens at least partially in substantially similar regard as the surface portion 12. It is preferred that the surface portion 12 and the external surface of the clamp body are substantially conical.
The casing 1 is formed by a tube 15 and end pieces 16 arranged thereat. These end pieces 16 are received within the tube at the opposite ends thereof. Means 17 are provided for counteracting the end pieces 16 from moving further into the tube 15 than that which appears from Figs. 1 and 2. These means are, in the embodiment, formed by ring-shaped members provided in a groove in the peripheries of the end pieces 16 and taking support in grooves or against abutments formed in the internal surface of the tube 15.
As appears from Figs. 1 and 2, the hose 2 is, in the embodiment, provided with a through opening and it is, at its two opposite open end portions, secured to the oppositely located end pieces 16. In its empty state, the hose 2 is secured so that it is stretched to a substantially larger length than the length of the hose in its un-loaded state. This means that the hose 2 exerts traction forces tending to move the end pieces 16 towards each other. These forces are counteracted by the means 17 previously mentioned.
In the embodiment, the end pieces 16 are form alike in that they both comprise the previously described concave and convex, respectively, surfaces 10, 11 and the surface portion 12 widening in the direction away from the portion 8. The clamp body 13 at the end of the casing 1 located to the right in Figs. 1 and 2 is similar to the clamp body previously described with exception for the former lacking the through passage 14 forming a part of the connection 3. However, the passage 14 could also be arranged in the clamp body 13 located to the right in Figs. 1 and 2 if it would be desired to be able to carry out filling and/or emptying of the hose 2 at both ends of the container.
The gently rounded transitions all the way from the portion 8 of the casing 1 having the largest diameter to the surface portion 12 are essential to achieve a maximum of leniency as far as the contact to the hose 2 is concerned. Uneven or sharp transitions or corners would involve a considerably reduced lifetime. In order to obtain a maximum of leniency also in the transition between the tube portion 8 and the inwardly concavely curved surface portions 10 of the end pieces 16, the respective end piece 16 is extended to a pointed mantle closely adjoining to the interior side of the tube 15.
At the end of the container presenting the connection 3, the end piece 16 may comprise members 18 for securing to the conduit 4 previously mentioned. Those members 18 may for instance consist of a thread adapted to co-operate with a corresponding thread device 19 on the conduit 4.
In the embodiment according to Figs. 1 and 2, it is conceived that the clamp bodies 13 should be located introduced into the end portions of the hose 2 and remain in such a frictional engagement with the hose that it is the traction force of the hose, which in the empty position of the hose according to Fig. 1 pulls the clamp bodies 13 towards the centre of the container and then there will appear a clamping action on the end portions of the hose located between the respective clamp bodies 13 and the surface portions 12.
In order to achieve a more safe retaining of the clamp bodies 13 in place, it would be possible to actuate the clamp bodies into a clamping pressing against the end portions of the hose 2 by means of some further type of actuation members. Such actuation members could for instance have the character of screw members, which in away, which is not illustrated, would be arrangeable at the end pieces 16. Such actuation members reduce the risk for actuation outwardly of the clamp bodies 13 at high pressures within the hose 2 and consequent release of the clamping of the hose.
On filling of the container illustrated in Fig. 1, its connection 3 is caused to communicate with a source of a fluid under pressure. The valve occurring in the connection 3 is opened so that the fluid may flow into the interior of the hose 2. The hose 2 then expands so that it is laid against the surfaces of the casing 1 delimiting the chamber 7 as is indicated in Fig 2. It is then essential that the hose 2 at all places will rest against the casing 1 over gently rounded surfaces so that no pointlike wear occurs. When the hose is to be emptied, the valve described is opened, the inherent tendency of the hose 2 to resume its original shape resulting in discharge of the fluid under pressure from the hose. From that stated it appears that it is desirable that the hose has a relatively small internal diameter in unloaded state in order for the fluid to be pressed out of the hose to the largest possible extent on return of the hose.
The variant in Fig. 3 differs from the embodiment previously described in that the clamp body 13 here forms an integrated part of a tube nipple 20, which with assistance of an internally threaded portion 21 may be brought into thread engagement with a corresponding externally threaded portion 22 on the end piece 16. The nipple 20, comprises means, such as an internal thread 23, for connection to a conduit.
From that stated, it appears that the clamp body 13 according to Fig. 3 can be forcefully pressed against the end portion of the hose 2 so that this in turn is pressed against the surface portion 12 of the end piece 16. In that way the clamping of the hose 2 becomes more efficient.
The variant according to Figs. 4-6 differs from the one illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 in that a second hose 24 is arranged within the first mentioned hose 2, said second hose being adapted to contain the fluid in question within itself. This second hose 24 is adapted to assume a folded state within the first hose 2 on contraction thereof. This folded state appears more closely from Fig. 5.
The inner hose 24 should have the ability to expand, in the filled state of the container, according to Fig 6 so that it rests against the externally located first hose 2, which in its turn rests against the internal surface of the casing 1. On discharge of the container, the outer hose 2 will, as a result of its tendency to return to the original state, act compressing on the inner hose 24 so that the fluid therein will be pressed out through the passage 14 in the clamp body 13. However, the inner hose 24 is conceived to have a smaller capacity to return then the outer hose 2, so that the inner hose during the contraction of the outer hose is successively folded to a compressed position appearing from Fig. 5. This means that the folded inner hose 24 will reduce the free internal volume in the outer hose 2, which in turn gives rise to smaller remaining volume of fluid in the device.
The inner hose 24 is primarily intended to be used in cases where the highly elastic material in the outer hose 2 is not compatible with the fluid in question.
As appears from Figs. 4 and 6, it is intended that the clamp body 13 should clamp not only the outer hose 2, but also the inner hose 24 while the hoses rest on each other in a sandwich relationship.
In the variant according to Figs. 7 and 8, the casing 1 is formed by two casing halves 25, 26 intended to be secured to each other so that their parting plane extends along the longitudinal direction of the container. As can be seen, the casing halves 25, 26 form in unison the annular concave and convex surface portions 10 and 11 respectively at the ends of the casing 1. The casing halves 25 and 26 may preferably be produced of compression molded plastics, although also other materials may be involved. The casing halves 25 and 26 may be secured to each other by means of glueing, riveting, screw connections etc., those securing techniques being possible to realise with the assistance of flanges 27 arranged on the casing halves. Elongated strips 28 may be adapted to be pushed onto flange portions extending along the longitudinal direction of the casing 1 and lying against each other so as to hold those flange portions together.
The casing halves 25 and 26 enclose between each other a tube 29 adapted to internally receive the hose 2. This annularly continuous tube 29 has the purpose to function force absorbing in the middle area of the casing halves 25 and 26 on expansion of the hose 2 and, thus, counteract separation of the casing halves 25 and 26 from each other in the area of the tube 29.
It is important that the transition between the internal surface of the tube 29 and adjacent surfaces of the chamber within the casing halves 25 and 26 occurs without any sharp edge or the like, which in the example is realised by the tube 29 being received in a widened seat 30 in the casing halves 25, 26, said seat emerging, via a step 31 corresponding to the material dimension of the tube 29, into an adjacent surface portion 10 of the chamber between the casing halves 25, 26, namely the inwardly concave surface portion.
In this embodiment the portion 9, in which the hose 2 is secured, is formed on a part 32 separate from the casing halves 25, 26, said part being adapted to be received in a seat 33, which is jointly delimited by the casing halves 25, 26. As is most clearly apparent from Fig 7, this seat 22 may have a polygonal cross sectional form corresponding to the likewise polygonal cross-sectional form of the part 32 so that the same cannot rotate in the seat 33. A shoulder 34 turned in a direction away from the chamber 7 within the casing halves 25, 26 delimits the possibility of movement of the part 32 in a direction towards the chamber 7. The surface portion 12 widening away from the chamber 7 is here formed on the part 32. A clamp body 13 with a corresponding peripheral surface serves for clamping the hose 2 between itself and the surface portion 12.
The securing means 5 comprise in this embodiment also a member 35 adapted to actuate the clamp body 13 towards the surface portion 12. This member 35 has, in the example, the character of a screw nipple in thread engagement in an internally threaded hole in a part 32. The member 35 comprises here a key grip 36 and a shaft 37, on which a suitable connection member is attachable. A through passage 14 extends through the clamp body 13 located to the left in Fig. 8 and a corresponding passage 38 is present through the member 35.
The actuation member 35 is adapted to clamp, between itself and the clamp body 13, an end portion of the hose 2 as is clearly apparent from Fig. 8. In that way the hose is efficiently secured against being drawn out of securing engagement inwardly in the chamber 7. As can be seen, the end portion of the hose 2 will, in the transition from the surface portion 12 to the position between the clamp body 13 and actuation member 35, form a relatively transverse angle, which additionally counteracts inadvertent release. In order to avoid the extreme end portion of the hose from choking the passage 14, 38 it is suitable that the actuation member 35 and/or the clamp body 13 has a recess 39 in the area of the passage 14, 38.
The design at both ends of the casing 1 is substantially similar with the exception that in the example filling and/or emptying of the hose 2 with regard to fluid only is intended to occur at the left end, which has the consequence that the clamp body 13 and actuation member 35 at the right end do not have to present any through passages as those denoted 14 and 38 respectively to the left; the actuation member 35 to the right does not either have to present any connection means corresponding to that denoted 37 to the left.
It is preferred that the hose 2, when it is provided in the casing, is stretched so that it is extended to a length which is up to 3 times larger than the length of the hose in its free uninfluenced state.

Claims

A container for fluid, comprising a casing (1), a hose (2) of elastic material arranged in the casing and a fluid connection (3; 14) communicating with the interior of the hose, the hose being arranged, in a state expanded by the fluid, to exert the fluid to a pressure, which on opening of the connection gives rise to fluid discharge from the hose, which, at its opposite end portions, is secured to opposite end portions of the casing (1), characterised in that the casing (1) is rigid and in that the hose (2) is secured so that it is stretched to a substantially larger length than the length of the hose in its un-loaded state.
A container according to claim 1, characterised in that the hose (2), when it is provided in the casing (1), is stretched so that it is extended to a length which is up to 3 times larger than the length of the hose in its free uninfluenced state.
A container according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises means (5) for securing an open end portion of the hose (2) within the casing (1).
A container according to claim 3, characterised in that the casing (1) has a chamber (7) intended for receiving the hose, said chamber having a substantially round cross-section and changing, at the open end portion of the hose, from a portion having a relatively large diameter (8) to a portion (9), in which the hose is secured, via gently rounded surface portions, comprising an inwardly concavely curved surface portion (10) and an inwardly convexely curved surface portion (11).
A container according to claim 4, characterised in that the portion (9), in which the open end portion of the hose is secured, comprises a surface portion (12) widening in a direction away from the portion having the relatively large diameter, and that the securing means (5) comprise a clamp body (13) adapted to clamp the hose (2) between itself and the widening portion (12).
A container according to claim 5, characterised in that the clamp body (13) has a through passage (14) forming a part of the connection.
A container according to claim 5 or 6, characterised in that the chamber (7) has its smallest diameter in the area between the convexely curved surface portion (11) and the widening portion (12).
A container according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the casing (1) is formed by a tube (15) and end pieces (16) arranged thereat.
A container according to any preceding claim, characterised in that a second hose is arranged within the first mentioned hose, said second hose being intended to contain the fluid in question within itself, and that this second hose (24) is adapted to assume a folded state within the first hose on contraction thereof.
A container according to any preceding claim, with exception of claim 8, characterised in that the casing is formed by two casing halves (25, 26) secured to each other so that their parting plane extends along the longitudinal direction of the container.
A container according to claim 10 and any of the claims 4-6, characterised in that the casing halves (25, 26) in unison form the concave and convex surface portions (10, 11) at at least one end of the casing (1).
A container according to any of the claims 10 and 11, characterised in that the casing halves between each other enclose a tube (29) adapted to internally receive the hose.
A container according to any of claims 10-12, characterised in that the portion (9) in which the hose is secured, is arranged on a part (32) separate from the casing halves, said part being adapted to be received in a seat (33) which is delimited by the casing halves in unison.
A container according to claim 5, characterised in that the securing means (5) comprise a member (35) adapted to actuate the clamp body (13) against the widening portion (12).
A container according to claim 14, characterised in that the actuation member (35)is adapted to clamp an end portion of the hose (2) between itself and the clamp body (13).