WO2000018660A1

WO2000018660A1 - Spray vessel and method of manufacturing the spray vessel

Info

Publication number: WO2000018660A1
Application number: PCT/KR1999/000507
Authority: WO
Inventors: Young Suk Lee
Original assignee: PARK JIN HA
Current assignee: PARK JIN HA
Priority date: 1998-09-29
Filing date: 1999-09-02
Publication date: 2000-04-06
Anticipated expiration: 2001-03-29
Also published as: KR100298541B1; WO2000018660B1; AU5532199A

Abstract

A spray vessel including a body of engineering plastic having a cylindrical shape to hold a content to be injected and a coupling part on its upper side end along its outer circumference; and a nozzle assembly of engineering plastic having a coupling part on its outer circumference to mate with the coupling part of the body. The coupling parts are joined to each other by a spin welding process such that the body is integrally formed with the nozzle assembly. A method of manufacturing such a spray vessel by injection molding and spin welding assures excellent pressure resistance and productivity.

Description

SPRAY VESSEL AVID METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SPRAY VESSEL

Technical Field The present invention generally relates to a spray vessel and a method of manufacturing the spray vessel which has a body and a nozzle assembly of engineering plastic, and coupling parts, joined to each other by spin welding.

Background Art

A typical spray vessel holds a fluid to be injected that is sealed with an injection gas and jetted out by using the pressure of the injection gas. The spray vessel is made of steel or aluminum, and has an internal pressure of 15kgr/50°C, filled with LPG, D.M.E. Freon gas, etc.

FIG. 1 is a side-sectional view of a conventional spray vessel. As depicted in FIG. 1, a conventional spray vessel 10 includes a body 11, a steel cup 2 integrally formed on body 11 's upper portion, a stem 1 with a gasket 4 and an orifice 5, a spring 6, a holder 8, and a tube 9, and delivers an atomized mist of liquid once stem 1 is pressed.

The manufacture of small spray vessels of steel (or aluminum) requires a high-level technique in order to meet the consumers' taste, and making aluminous spray vessels needs the imports of raw materials from abroad and uneconomically increases the cost of equipment. In addition, this causes a fraction defective of 5 to 12%, and various types of small- sized spray vessels required by consumers have been hardly manufactured. Since the vessel or components are made of aluminum or steel, if the spray vessel holds a fluid, its components must be coated with anti-corrosive, which increases the production costs . In order to solve this problem, the applicant of this invention has filed a utility model application No. 97-3709. In this application No. 97-3709, a spray vessel has a body holding a content to be injected, a nozzle assembly of synthetic resin in which a liquid is subdivided to form a stream of small drops, and multi-stage jaw members, formed on the inner circumference of the body's upper part and the nozzle assembly's outer surface to be opposed to one another. The body is designed to be coupled with the nozzle assembly by ultrasonic welding while the body's jaw member contacts the nozzle assembly's. However, this conventional spray vessel has a low pressure resistance.

Disclosure of Invention The present invention encompasses a spray vessel and a method of manufacturing the spray vessel that includes a body and a nozzle assembly formed of engineering plastic by injection molding, and coupling parts joined to each other by particular spin welding, thus enhancing the pressure resistance and productivity.

According to the present invention, a spray vessel includes a body of engineering plastic having a cylindrical shape to hold a content to be injected and a coupling part on its upper side end along its outer circumference; and a nozzle assembly of engineering plastic having a coupling part on its outer circumference to mate with the coupling part of the body. The coupling parts are joined to each other by a spin welding process such that the body is integrally formed with the nozzle assembly. The coupling part of the body includes a groove formed to a given depth and having a vertical outer side and a slant inner side; a rest jaw formed on an inner portion of the body's upper section, linked to the groove's inner side; and a slant surface formed on an outer portion of the body's upper section, linked to the groove's outer side, while the coupling part of the nozzle assembly includes a projection exactly fitted into the groove not to contact the groove's bottom; a contact surface closely contacting the rest jaw, inside of the projection; and an inserting portion curved to its lower part from the contact surface apart from the body's inner surface.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a spray vessel includes the steps of performing an injection molding to form a body of engineering plastic having a coupling part on its upper portion and a plurality of latch-type jaw members on an appropriate position; performing an injection molding to form a nozzle assembly of engineering plastic having a coupling part on its outer circumference mating with the coupling part of the body and a plurality of latch-type jaw members on an appropriate position; and aligning the body and the nozzle assembly by the latch-type jaw members and turning the nozzle assembly against the body at a given speed to join the coupling parts to each other.

Brief Description of Drawings

The nature and mode of operation of preferred embodiments of the present invention will become more fully described in the following detailed description, taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side-sectional view of a conventional spray vessel;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are each an exploded-perspective view and a bottom view of a spray vessel in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the coupling state of the spray vessel in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a side-sectional view of the coupling state of coupling parts in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of FIG.5's A; FIG. 7 is a side-sectional view of coupling parts in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a side-sectional view of coupling parts in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a side-sectional view of coupling parts in accordance with a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for carrying Out the Invention

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will become apparent from a study of the following detailed description, when viewed in light of the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 2 and 3 each depict an exploded-perspective view and a bottom view showing a spray vessel according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the spray vessel according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

A spray vessel 100 of the present invention includes a body 100 made of engineering plastic; a nozzle assembly 120 that is housed in body 110 and delivers an atomized stream of liquid; and coupling parts 200 and 300 provided to body 110 and nozzle assembly 120, respectively at which body 110 and nozzle assembly 120 are integrally formed by spin welding. Body 110 in which a liquid to be injected is held is in a cylindrical shape for spin welding. Nozzle assembly 120 is designed to be sealed on body 110 's upper part and joined to body 110 and serves to release the held liquid, explosively. Latch-type jaw members 112 and 122 are each provided on the bottom of body 110 and the top of nozzle assembly 120, and are used to catch body 110 and nozzle assembly 120 by jigs of a spin welding machine (not shown) during spin welding. Each of jaw members 112 and 122 is protruded slanting to one side and divided into four parts. That is, when viewing body 100 from above, body 110 is counterclockwise caught via jaw members 112 by the spin welding machine while nozzle assembly 120 is clockwise fastened thereby. FIG. 5 is a side-sectional view of the coupling state in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of FIG. 5's A. As shown therein, coupling parts 200 and 300 are provided to body 110' s upper side end and nozzle assembly 120 's outer surface. Coupling part 200 includes a groove 210 formed to a given depth with a vertical outer side 214, a slant inner side 212 and a bottom 216, a rest jaw 220 formed on the inner portion of body 110 's upper section, and a slant surface 230 formed on the outer portion of body 110 ' s upper section, linked to groove 210' s outer side 214.

Coupling part 300 of nozzle assembly 120 includes a projection 310 exactly fitted into groove 210 not to contact its bottom 216, a contact surface 320 that comes in close contact with rest jaw 220 inside of projection 310, and an inserting portion 330 curved to the lower part from contact surface 320 apart from body 110 's inner surface.

Reference numerals 124, 126, 128, 130 and 132 designate a stem, a sealant, a spring, a housing, and a holder, respectively. The method of manufacturing the inventive spray vessel is now fully described.

This method includes the steps of performing an injection molding to form body 110 of engineering plastic with a plurality of latch-type jaw members 112 and coupling part 200; performing an injection molding to form nozzle assembly 120 of engineering plastic with a plurality of latch-type jaw members 122 and coupling part 300 to be joined to coupling part 200 of body 110; aligning body 110 and nozzle assembly 300 by latch- type jaw members 122 and 112 and turning nozzle assembly 120 against body 110 at a given speed to join coupling parts 200 and 300 to each other.

In joining nozzle assembly 120 to body 110, body 110 is fixed to the jig provided to the spin welding machine's lower part. At this point, body 110 is not turned by the jig by the use of latch-type jaw members 112. Nozzle assembly 120 is then put on body 110 so as to make projection 310 of coupling part 300 exactly mate with groove 210 of coupling part 200. The jig, attached to the spin welding machine's rotating part, rotates nozzle assembly 120 being caught in latch-type jaw members 122 at high speed, e.g. at 1700 to 1800 rpm for about 0.3 to 1 sec.

In the spin welding of coupling parts 200 and 300, nozzle assembly 120 is turned in a given direction at high speed while projection 310 of nozzle assembly 120 is being inserted into body 110 's groove 210. At this point, welding is performed with respect to projection 310 and inner and outer sides 212 and

214, and contact surface 320 and rest jaw 220. In welding process, if a flash (in plastics or metal casting that portion of the charge which overflows from the mold cavity at the joint line) is produced and overflows outside of vessel 100, this is not good in appearance and causes poor welding. Thus, an appropriate space is provided to coupling parts

200 and 300 of vessel 100, and the flash is guided to that space, thus ensuring a satisfactory welding process. As shown in FIG. 6, the flash made in rest jaw 220 and contact surface 320 is introduced to a gap 332 between inserting portion 330 and body 110 's inner surface. The flash within groove 210 is guided to bottom 216 of groove 210, and the other flash in outer side 214 of groove 210 is led to either bottom 216 or the outside along slant surface 230 such that body 110 is integrally formed with nozzle assembly 120.

The following table shows test results (serial No. TS- 13008) measured by Korean Chemical Research Institute, and a hydraulic pressure test is performed with respect to the inventive vessel of engineering plastic, aluminous one, and a tin one under the pressure of 35kgr/cm^: in order to check whether or not each one of them suffers from leakage of liquid or deformation.

[Table 1]

As shown in Table 1, the inventive vessel 100 does not suffer from leakage of liquid or deformation under the pressure of 35kgr/crtr , while the leakage of liquid and deformation occur in the other two vessels under the pressure of less than

25kgr/cm.

In conclusion, the inventive spray vessel has a pressure resistance lOkgr/cm² higher than the conventional aluminous or tin vessel.

FIG. 7 is a side-sectional view of a spray vessel in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, a coupling part 400 of body 110 has a groove 410 with a vertical outer side 414, a slant inner side 412, and a bottom 416, a rest jaw 420 formed on the inner portion of body 110 's upper section, and a slant surface 430 on the outer portion of body 110 ' s upper section, linked to groove 410 's outer side 414.

A coupling part 500 of nozzle assembly 120 includes a projection 510 formed on nozzle assembly 120' s outer circumference to contact groove 410 's inner side 412 and not to contact outer side 414 and bottom 416, a contact surface 520 inside of projection 510 contacting rest jaw 420, and an inserting portion 530 curved to the lower part from contact surface 520 apart from body 110 's inner surface.

When performing a spin welding with respect to coupling parts 400 and 500 put in contact with each other, nozzle assembly 120 is integrally formed with body 110. At this point, a part of a flash made in groove 410 flows to the outside of groove 410 's bottom 416, and the other one produced between rest jaw 420 and contact surface 520 is moved to a gap 532 formed between inserting portion 530 and body 110' s inner surface.

FIG. 8 is a side-sectional view of a spray vessel in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the present invention.

A coupling part 600 of body 110 includes a groove 610 formed to a given depth on body 110' s upper section with a slant inner side 612 and a vertical outer side 614, and a rest jaw 620 linked to groove 610 's inner side 612.

A coupling part 700 of nozzle assembly 120 includes a projection 710 formed on nozzle assembly 120' s outer circumference to be relatively longer than groove 610 and contact the overall surface of groove 610, a contact surface 720 inside of projection 710 apart from rest jaw 620, and an inserting portion 730 curved to the lower part from contact surface 720 apart from body 110' s inner surface.

When performing a spin welding with respect to coupling parts 600 and 700 put in contact with each other, nozzle assembly 120 is integrally formed with body 110. At this point, a part of a flash generated in groove 610 's inner side 612 flows to a gap 732 between inserting portion 730 and body 110' s inner surface, and the other flash, produced between groove 610 's bottom 616 and outer side 614, is introduced to the outside . FIG. 9 is a side-sectional view of a spray vessel in accordance with a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As depicted in FIG. 9, a coupling part 800 of body 110 includes an L-shaped jaw 810 formed on body 110' s upper section, linked to body 110' s inner surface, and a slant surface 830 tilting to the outside from jaw 810. A coupling part 900 of nozzle assembly 120 includes a l-shaped jaw 910 formed mating with jaw 810, and an inserting portion 930 curved to the lower part from T-shaped jaw 910 apart from body 110 's inner surface.

When performing a spin welding with respect to coupling parts 800 and 900 contacting each other, nozzle assembly 120 is integrally formed with body 110. A part of flash generated in jaws 810 and 910 is introduced to the outside along slant surface 830 and the rest is moved to a gap 932 between inserting portion 930 and body 110' s inner surface.

The present invention is not limited to the above description, and can be modified within the scope of the inventive concept. For example, in this invention, body 110 and nozzle assembly 120 are in the cylindrical shape, and may be formed in another shape. In other words, for spin welding of vessel 100, only the coupling parts of body 110 and nozzle assembly 120 can be circular, and body 110 and nozzle assembly 120 may be formed in a shape other than cylindrical one.

Each of latch-type jaw members 122 and 112 is four in the first preferred embodiment, and it is preferable that the number of the jaw members is four to eight so as to perform the spin welding process more rapidly by decreasing a gap of time for fixing the jaw members to the jigs of the spin welding machine and to assure the constant welding condition.

In addition, the groove and projection are each provided to coupling parts 200 and 300 so as to join nozzle assembly 120 to body 110, and on the contrary, body 110 may have a projection while nozzle assembly 120 has a groove.

According to the present invention, after injection molding of the body and nozzle assembly of engineering plastic, they are very firmly coupled to one another by spin welding, and the inventive spray vessel has an improved pressure resistance, and can be easily manufactured by performing the welding process rapidly and safely, thus lowering the overall production costs and enhancing the productivity. The inventive spray vessel is prevented from explosion increases the safety and reliability with the improved pressure resistance. In addition, according to the inventive method, various types of small spray vessels can be manufactured with reasonable costs by stabilizing the spin welding process, and engineering plastic is used instead of aluminous or metallic materials, thus assuring excellent water proof and anticorrosive characteristics and having an advantageous price competition aspect.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as recited in the accompanying claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A spray vessel comprising: a body of engineering plastic having a cylindrical shape to hold a content to be injected and a coupling part on its upper side end along its outer circumference; and a nozzle assembly of engineering plastic having a coupling part on its outer circumference to mate with said coupling part of the body, said coupling parts being joined to each other by a spin welding process such that the body is integrally formed with the nozzle assembly.

2. A spray vessel according to claim 1, wherein the coupling part of the body includes a groove formed to a given depth and having a vertical outer side and a slant inner side; a rest jaw formed on an inner portion of the body's upper section, linked to the groove's inner side; and a slant surface formed on an outer portion of the body's upper section, linked to the groove's outer side, while the coupling part of the nozzle assembly includes a projection exactly fitted into the groove not to contact the groove's bottom; a contact surface closely contacting the rest jaw, inside of the projection; and an inserting portion curved to its lower part from the contact surface apart from the body's inner surface.

3. A spray vessel according to claim 1, wherein the coupling part of the body includes a groove formed to a given depth with a vertical outer side, and a slant inner side; a rest jaw formed on an inner portion of the body's upper section, linked to the inner side of the groove; and a slant surface formed on an outer portion of the body's upper section, linked to the outer side of the groove, while the coupling part of the nozzle assembly includes a projection with an inner side contacting the groove's inside, and an end and an outer side formed not to contact the groove; a contact surface coming in close contact with the rest jaw, inside of the projection, and an inserting portion curved to its lower part from the contact surface apart from the body's inner surface.

4. A spray vessel according to claim 1, wherein the coupling part of the body includes a groove formed to a given depth with a vertical outer side, and a slant inner side; a rest jaw formed on an inner portion of the body's upper section, linked to the inner side of the groove; and a slant surface formed on an outer portion of the body's upper section, linked to the outer side of the groove, while the coupling part of the nozzle assembly includes a projection formed to be relatively longer than the groove and contact the overall surface of the groove; a contact surface formed inside of the projection apart from the rest jaw; and an inserting portion curved to its lower part from the contact surface apart from the body's inner surface.

5. A spray vessel according to claim 1, wherein the coupling part of the body includes an L-shaped jaw formed on the body's upper section, linked to the body's inner surface; and a slant surface tilting to the outside from the jaw, while the coupling part of the nozzle assembly includes a T-shaped jaw apart from the body's inner surface; and an inserting portion curved to the lower part from the T-shaped jaw apart from the body's inner surface.

6. A method of manufacturing a spray vessel comprising the steps of: performing an injection molding to form a body of engineering plastic having a coupling part on its upper portion and a plurality of latch-type jaw members on an appropriate position; performing an injection molding to form a nozzle assembly of engineering plastic having a coupling part on its outer circumference mating with the coupling part of the body and a plurality of latch-type jaw members on an appropriate position; and aligning the body and the nozzle assembly by the latch- type jaw members and turning the nozzle assembly against the body at a given speed to join the coupling parts to each other.