WO2005004690A1

WO2005004690A1 - Dispenser

Info

Publication number: WO2005004690A1
Application number: PCT/JP2004/010360
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tetsuya Nomoto; Alikhan Abulkassov; Alexander Doronichev; Masakazu Teramoto
Original assignee: Saraya Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2003-07-14
Filing date: 2004-07-14
Publication date: 2005-01-20
Also published as: JP2007534347A; TW200518706A

Abstract

There is provided a dispenser which is adaptable to a wider range of viscosity of liquid and capable of stably dispensing a predetermined amount of liquid and in which a dispensed amount of the liquid can easily be changed without changing or adding parts. In the dispenser for dispensing the liquid and including a replaceable pouch (10) formed by integrally mounting a nozzle (20) to a pouch body housing the liquid, the nozzle leading the liquid outside from the pouch body, a gear pump (22) for allowing discharge of the liquid through a liquid flow path of the nozzle during driving of the gear pump is provided to a midway portion of the liquid flow path and gear pump driving means which can be connected to the gear pump (22) and which has a motor for driving the gear pump (22) in the connected state is provided to a dispenser body housing in itself the pouch (20).

Description

DESCRIPTION DISPENSER

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an automatic dispenser for dispensing a liquid such as a cleaning solution and a chemical liquid.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, as a dispenser for dispensing a liquid such as a cleaning solution and a chemical liquid, there is a known disposable type of dispenser in which only a pouch for housing the liquid can be replaced to be thrown away after one use. In such a dispenser, a nozzle for leading the liquid outside from the pouch is mounted to a dispenser body in advance and the pouch is connected to the nozzle in the mounting. However, in such a dispenser, although the pouch can be replaced, the same nozzle remains mounted to the dispenser body and is used as a nozzle through which the liquid passes. Therefore, the nozzle itself may possibly be contaminated and the dispenser is not satisfactory to ensure hygienic safety. Conventionally, as a dispenser for coping with such problems, there is a known dispenser as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 8- 66329, for example, in which a pouch and a nozzle formed integrally with the pouch are replaced. In a midway portion of the nozzle connected to the pouch, a discharge control member for controlling a flow of the liquid is normally provided. In prior-art dispensers, as such a discharge control member, a cylinder pump or a tube pump which carries out a stroke operation along a longitudinal direction of the member is used in general. However, in the dispenser using the cylinder pump or the tube pump, there are the following problems: (a) an amount of a stroke needs to be changed to change an amount of the liquid dispensed at a time. For this purpose, parts need to be changed or added; (b) in achieving the stroke operation in the cylinder pump by using a driving force of a motor, a rotational motion needs to be converted into a stroke motion and a loss of the driving force due to this conversion is relatively large; (c) because the tube pump is normally made of rubber, the pump cannot be used for some kinds of liquid. Conventionally, it is difficult to obtain a stable dispensed amount of liquid by the dispenser depending on viscosity of the liquid such as a cleaning solution and a chemical liquid used in the dispenser. Especially in an automatic dispenser including a motor and for carrying out a pumping operation by a driving force of the motor, motor torque suitable to a high-viscosity liquid cannot be obtained and a desired dispensed amount may not be obtained. In some cases, the dispenser is only adaptable to an extremely narrow range of viscosity of liquid and can be used for only a few kinds of liquid. Therefore, it is preferable that the dispenser is not affected by viscosity of liquid and is adaptable to a wider range of viscosity of liquid. Moreover, if a high-viscosity and thixotropic liquid is used, for example, air existing between the pouch and the pump in the nozzle may hinder the liquid from flowing into the pump after mounting of the pouch to the dispenser body. Therefore, it is important in the dispenser to remove air existing between the pouch and the pump to enable the liquid to flow into the pump. The present invention has been accomplished with the above technical problems in view and it is an object of the invention to provide a dispenser which is adaptable to a wider range of viscosity of liquid and capable of stably dispensing a predetermined amount of liquid and in which a dispensed amount of the liquid can easily be changed without changing or adding parts.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION In an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dispenser for dispensing liquid and comprising a replaceable pouch formed by integrally mounting a nozzle to a pouch body housing the liquid, the nozzle leading the liquid outside from the pouch body. In the dispenser, a gear pump for allowing discharge of the liquid through a liquid flow path of the nozzle during driving of the gear pump is provided to a midway portion of the liquid flow path and gear pump driving means which can be connected to the gear pump and which has a motor for driving the gear pump in the connected state is provided to a dispenser body housing in itself the pouch. In the nozzle, a tubular member for purging air included in the liquid may be provided such that the tubular member extends in a longitudinal direction of the nozzle and that a lower end portion of the tubular member is positioned on an upstream side of the gear pump. The gear pump driving means on a side of the dispenser body may include a rotary member capable of being directly connected to the gear pump and rotatable as the motor is driven and a gear disposed between the motor and the rotary member to reduce a rotational speed of the motor. Furthermore, as a configuration for allowing connection of the gear pump and the rotary member on a side of the gear pump driving means to each other, one of the gear pump and the rotary member may be provided with an inserted shaft rotatable about a predetermined axis and the other may be provided with a hole in which the inserted shaft is inserted and which has on its inner peripheral face a rib for restricting rotation of the inserted shaft in the hole. Moreover, the inserted shaft may be tapered on its tip end side and the rib in the hole may extend in a depth direction of the hole and may be tapered on an open side of the hole. Furthermore, a microcomputer for controlling driving of the motor may be provided. Moreover, the gear pump may be positioned below the pouch body when the pouch and the nozzle are housed in the dispenser body. In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dispenser for dispensing liquid and comprising a pouch housing the liquid and a nozzle for leading the liquid outside from the pouch. A gear pump for allowing discharge of the liquid through a liquid flow path of the nozzle during driving of the gear pump is provided to a midway portion of the liquid flow path and a tubular member for purging air included in the liquid is provided such that the tubular member extends in a longitudinal direction of the nozzle and that a lower end portion of the tubular member is positioned on an upstream side of the gear pump. ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION According to the one aspect of the present invention, in the dispenser for dispensing the liquid and comprising the replaceable pouch formed by integrally mounting the nozzle to the pouch body housing the liquid, the nozzle leading the liquid outside from the pouch body, the gear pump for allowing discharge of the liquid through the liquid flow path of the nozzle during driving of the gear pump is provided to the midway portion of the liquid flow path and the gear pump driving means which can be connected to the gear pump and which has the motor for driving the gear pump in the connected state is provided to the dispenser body housing in itself the pouch. Therefore, a dispensed amount of the liquid can arbitrarily and easily be changed according to characteristics of liquid of every kind without changing or adding parts. In the nozzle, the tubular member for purging air included in the liquid is provided such that the tubular member extends in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle and that the lower end portion of the tubular member is positioned in the vicinity of the upstream side of the gear pump. Therefore, even if a high-viscosity and thixotropic liquid is used, it is ensured that the liquid flows into the gear pump as the pouch is mounted to the dispenser body. By obtaining relatively large torque by using reduction gears, it is possible to adapt to a case in which a rotational resistance in the gear pump becomes large as a clearance in the gear pump is narrowed in discharging a low-viscosity liquid. As a result, it is possible to adapt to a wider range of viscosity of liquid from low viscosity to high viscosity. Furthermore, one of the gear pump and the rotary member is provided with the inserted shaft rotatable about the predetermined axis and the other is provided with a hole having on its inner peripheral face the rib capable of restricting rotation of the inserted shaft in the hole. Therefore, in mounting of the gear pump to the dispenser body, it is possible to easily carry out the mounting by only inserting the inserted shaft into the hole and rotating the inserted shaft with respect to the hole. Moreover, the inserted shaft is tapered on its tip end side and the rib in the hole extends in a depth direction of the hole and is tapered on an open side of the hole. Therefore, the inserted shaft inserted with any inclination about an axis into the hole can smoothly be guided into the bearing hole without obstruction of the inserted shaft by the rib. Furthermore, the microcomputer for controlling driving of the motor is provided. Therefore, the dispensed amount of the liquid can further arbitrarily and easily be changed. Moreover, the gear pump is positioned below the pouch body when the pouch and the nozzle are housed in the dispenser body. Therefore, accumulation of air in the gear pump is suppressed and therefore the liquid can be discharged further stably. According to the other aspect of the invention, in the dispenser for dispensing liquid and comprising the pouch housing the liquid and the nozzle for leading the liquid outside from the pouch, the gear pump for allowing discharge of the liquid through the liquid flow path of the nozzle during driving of the gear pump is provided to the midway portion of the liquid flow path and the tubular member for purging air included in the liquid is provided such that the tubular member extends in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle and that the lower end portion of the tubular member is positioned in the vicinity of the upstream side of the gear pump. Therefore, even if a high-viscosity and thixotropic liquid is used, it is ensured that the liquid flows into the gear pump as the pouch is mounted to the dispenser body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an outward appearance of a dispenser according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a back perspective view of the dispenser detached from a mounting plate. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a procedure by which a pouch is mounted to a dispenser body. Fig. 4A is a front view of a nozzle. Fig. 4B is a side view of the nozzle. Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the nozzle. Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a lower portion of the dispenser and taken along a line A-A in Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a dispenser according to a second embodiment of the invention and similar to Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a driving force transferring mechanism from a motor to a driving shaft according to the second embodiment. Fig. 9A is a perspective view showing a state before mounting of the nozzle having a gear pump to a motor box to be mounted into a dispenser body according to the second embodiment. Fig. 9B is a perspective view showing a state after mounting of the nozzle having the gear pump to the motor box to be mounted into the dispenser body according to the second embodiment. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the nozzle having the gear pump according to the second embodiment. Fig. 11A is a perspective view of a bearing hole provided to the gear pump according to the second embodiment. Fig. 11B is a front view of the bearing hole provided to the gear pump according to the second embodiment. Fig. 12A is a diagram showing a state immediately after insertion of an inserted shaft into the bearing hole of the gear pump and viewed from a side of the dispenser body. Fig. 12B is a diagram showing a state of engagement of the inserted shaft with ribs in the bearing hole of the gear pump and viewed from the side of the dispenser body. Fig. 13 is a sectional explanatory view of the nozzle according to the second embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below by reference to the accompanying drawings. FIRST EMBODIMENT Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a dispenser according to the first embodiment of the invention. The dispenser 1 includes a case 2 extending vertically and having an elongated shape and being located to extend vertically in use. The case 2 is formed of a housing body 3 opening on a front side and housing various components and a cover body 4 mounted to a front side of the housing body 3. The cover body 4 has a hole 4a (see Fig. 6) at its lower end portion and is mounted to the housing body 3 such that a liquid discharge portion 24 forming a lower end of a liquid discharge nozzle 20 (see Figs. 4 and 5 for details) retained on the housing body 3 projects downward through the hole 4a. In the dispenser 1, if a user holds out his/her hand under a main body, a sensor 37 housed inside senses it and a motor 30 similarly housed inside is driven and, as a result, liquid is discharged from the liquid discharge portion 24. Fig. 2 is a back perspective view of the dispenser 1 detached from a mounting plate. To install the dispenser 1, the mounting plate 7 is supported on an installation surface so as not to move to begin with. Then, the dispenser 1 is hung on the mounting plate 7 on a back face side of the housing body 3. The mounting plate 7 is provided with a plurality of (in this embodiment, three) hanger holes 8a, 8b, and 8c for receiving head portions of screw members (not shown) such as round machine screws tightened in advance to the installation surface and a plurality of (in this embodiment, two for each side portion) receiving portions 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d formed along left and right side portions of the plate and for receiving hook portions of the dispenser 1 to retain the dispenser 1. On the other hand, the dispenser 1 is provided with hollows 5a, 5b, and 5c corresponding to the hanger holes 8a, 8b, and 8c of the mounting plate 7 and for allowing the head portions of the screw members to escape and hung hooks 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d corresponding to the receiving portions 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d of the mounting plate 7 to be hung on the receiving portions 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d. In Fig. 2, reference numerals of the hanger hole and the hollow actually corresponding to each other and the receiving portion and the hung hook actually corresponding to each other include the same letters of the alphabet. Fig. 3 shows an appearance in which a pouch 10 formed integrally with a nozzle 20 is mounted to the housing body 3 of the dispenser 1 from which the cover body 4 is detached. To a lower end portion of the pouch 10 for housing the liquid, the nozzle 20 extending downward so as to lead the liquid outside from the pouch 10 is connected. The nozzle 20 basically includes a pouch connecting portion 21 connected at its upper end portion to the pouch 10, a gear pump 22 for housing gears 22c and 22d and allowing discharge of the liquid through a liquid flow path during driving of the gears 22c and 22d, a liquid leakage preventing valve 23 for preventing leakage of the liquid except when the gear pump 22 is driven, and the liquid discharge portion 24 for discharging the liquid from its lower end portion. A detailed configuration of the nozzle 20 will be described later by reference to Figs. 4A, 4B and 5. The housing body 3 is provided with a housing space 11 for housing the pouch 10, and retaining panels 12 in shapes adapted to an outside shape of the pouch 10 so as to retain the housed pouch 10 are mounted to a front side of the housing space 11. In the housing body 3, a motor box 13 to which the gear pump 22 of the nozzle 20 is directly mounted is installed into the housing body 3 and on a lower side of the housing space 11. In the motor box 13, configurations such as a motor, a gear, a battery, and the like for driving the gear pump 22 are mounted, which will be described later in detail. A mounting portion 14 to which the gear pump 22 is mounted is formed on a front face side of the motor box 13. The mounting portion 14 is provided with a receiving portion 14b for receiving a projecting portion 22e (see Figs. 4A and 4B) projecting from the gear pump 22 and a retaining portion 14a formed around the receiving portion 14b and adapted to an outside shape of the gear pump 22 so as to retain the gear pump 22. The gear pump 22 is positioned below the pouch body retained in the housing space 11 when the pouch 10 is housed in the housing body 3 as shown in Fig. 3. Next, referring to Figs. 4A, 4B and 5, the nozzle 20 will be described in detail. Figs. 4A and 4B are respectively front and side views of the nozzle 20 and Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the nozzle 20. In a vicinity of the lower end portion of the pouch 10, a mounting member 10a for connecting the nozzle 20 to the pouch 10 is fixed. The mounting member 10a has a hole 10b communicating with an inside of the pouch 10, and the pouch 10 and the nozzle 20 are connected to each other in a liquid-tight manner by inserting and fitting an upper end portion of the pouch connecting portion 21 of the nozzle 20 in the hole 10b. To a lower end portion of the pouch connecting portion 21, the gear pump 22 is connected. As can be seen from Fig. 5, the gear pump 22 is formed of a gear case 22a which is a case for housing respective configurations and has a seal (denoted as "T") at an open edge portion, a first side plate 22b, a first gear 22c made of resin, a second gear 22d having a gear shaft (denoted as "S") and made of resin, a second side plate 22f, an annular seal 22g, and a cover 22h engaged with the gear case 22a to cover an open side of the case 22a. The first and second side plates 22b and 22f are members for retaining the first and second gears 22c and 22d for achieving smooth operations of the gears 22c and 22d. The second side plate 22f is in a shape adapted to an inside of the seal "T" provided to the open edge portion of the gear case 22a. When the gear pump 22 is assembled, the second side plate 22f is in close contact at its outer peripheral portion with the inside of the seal "T" of the gear case 22a and the annular seal 22g is in contact with a periphery of the gear shaft "S" projecting from the second side plate 22f to thereby ensure a sealed space in which the first gear 22c and the second gear 22d are housed and through which the liquid passes. An annular recessed portion for housing the annular seal 22g is formed on an inner face side of the cover 22h and projects as a projecting portion (denoted as "R") on an outer face side of the cover 22h. The recessed portion is in such a shape as to be able to house the annular seal 22g such that the inner face of the cover 22h becomes substantially flush with the annular seal 22g. Although it is not especially shown in the drawings, the mounting portion 14 of the housing body 3 is formed with a recessed portion for receiving the projecting portion "R" of the cover 22h so as to avoid forming a gap between the mounting portion 14 and the cover 22h in a mounted state. A pair of mounting projecting portions 22e is formed at a tip end of the gear shaft "S" and the projecting portions 22e project outside an outside face of the cover 22h when the gear pump 22 is assembled as can clearly be seen from Fig. 4B. In mounting the nozzle 20 to the housing body 3, the projecting portions 22e are inserted into the receiving portion 14b (see Fig. 3) of the mounting portion 14 on the front face side of the motor box 13 and, as a result, the motor 30 (see Fig. 6) and the gear pump 22 are connected such that the gear pump 22 is driven as the motor 30 is driven. Furthermore, the liquid leakage preventing valve 23 is connected to a lower end portion of the gear pump 22. The liquid leakage preventing valve 23 has a valve seat forming portion 23d forming a valve seat, a valve element 23c, a coil spring 23b, and a housing body 23a for housing these configurations. In the liquid leakage preventing valve 23, while the gear pump 22 is not driven, the valve element 23c is biased upward by the coil spring 23b to be seated on the valve seat of the valve seat forming portion 23d to thereby maintain a closed state and prevent liquid leakage except when the gear pump 22 is driven. While the gear pump 22 is driven, the valve element 23c is moved downward by fluid pressure of the liquid and the liquid can be discharged outside from the gear pump 22. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional explanatory view of a lower portion of the dispenser 1 and taken along a line A-A in Fig. 1. As described above, in the motor box 13 mounted into the housing body 3, the motor 30 for driving the gear pump 22 is mounted. The motor 30 itself is driven with electric power supplied from the battery (not shown) housed in a battery housing portion 39. To an output shaft 31 of the motor 30, a gear 32 is mounted. A disc-shaped gear 33 engaged with the gear 32 is pivoted to be rotatable about a shaft set below the output shaft 31. On the shaft on which the gear 33 is pivoted, a disc-shaped gear 34 in addition to the gear 33 is rotatably pivoted. Moreover, a gear 35 engaged with the disc-shaped gear 34 is rotatably pivoted about a shaft set below the shaft on which the disc-shaped gear 34 is pivoted. The gear 35 is retained to correspond to the receiving portion 14b of the mounting portion 14 provided on the front face side of the motor box 13 (see Fig. 3) and is directly connected to the projecting portions 22e (see Figs. 4 and 5) of the gear pump 22 inserted into the receiving portion 14b. When the gear pump 22 is mounted into the mounting portion 14, a driving force from the output shaft 31 of the motor 30 is transferred to the gear pump 22 through the gears 33, 34, and 35 to drive the gear pump 22. In this case, the gears 34 and 35 function as reduction gears for reducing a rotational speed of the motor 30. By using such reduction gears, relatively large torque can be obtained. With such large torque, it is possible to adapt to a case in which a rotational resistance in the gear pump becomes large as a clearance in the gear pump is narrowed in discharging a low-viscosity liquid such as alcohol. In other words, with the dispenser 1, it is possible to adapt to a wider range of viscosity of liquid from low viscosity to high viscosity. As shown in Fig. 6, in the dispenser 1, the sensor 37 is mounted on a lower portion of the housing body 3 to be oriented downward. The sensor 37 senses a hand held out under the dispenser 1. The dispenser 1 is provided with a microcomputer (not shown) for controlling driving of the motor such that the motor 30 is driven for a certain time period in response to sensing of the hand by the sensor 37. In the microcomputer, a DIP switch (not shown) which can be switched arbitrarily is provided on a board of the microcomputer. By switching the DIP switch, a driving time and a driving speed of the motor can be set arbitrarily. The DIP switch may be provided to project outside the dispenser body such that the driving time of the motor can be changed from outside. The dispenser 1 is provided with a switch 38 for turning the sensor 37 on/off. The switch 38 is for preventing the sensor 37 from erroneously reacting when the main body cover is opened to replace the pouch or the battery, for example. As is apparent from the above description, in this dispenser 1, by changing the driving time and the driving speed of the motor 30 driven in response to sensing of the hand by the sensor 37, the dispensed amount of the liquid can be changed easily without necessity of changes or addition of parts. Especially, in the first embodiment, because the driving time and the driving speed of the motor can be changed with control by the microcomputer, it is possible to further arbitrarily and easily change the dispensed amount of the liquid. According to this, by setting the driving time and the driving speed of the motor according to characteristics of a liquid such as a cleaning solution and a chemical liquid, it is possible to easily obtain an optimum dispensed amount for a liquid of every kind. Especially for a chemical liquid, "a proper dose of chemical liquid" which is the most effective in use of the chemical liquid is prescribed and it is possible to easily obtain this dose by the dispenser 1. Furthermore, in the dispenser 1, because the nozzle 20 having the gear pump 22 is used, there is no fear of deterioration of a part forming the liquid flow path in the nozzle 20 unlike in a nozzle having a tube pump made of rubber and the dispenser 1 can be applied to any kind of liquid. Moreover, in the dispenser 1, because the gear pump 22 is positioned below the pouch body retained in the housing space 11 when the pouch 10 and the nozzle 20 are housed in the dispenser body as shown in Fig. 3, accumulation of air in the gear pump 22 is suppressed and therefore the liquid can be discharged further stably. SECOND EMBODIMENT Next, the second embodiment which is different from the above first embodiment will be described. Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional explanatory view of a portion of a dispenser according to the second embodiment of the invention. The first embodiment shows an example in which the gear shaft projects from the gear pump 22 and is mounted to the dispenser body to thereby connect the motor 30 and the gear pump 22. On the other hand, in the dispenser 40 according to the second embodiment, an end portion of a driving shaft 65 rotated as a motor 30 is driven projects to a front face side of a dispenser body and is inserted into a gear pump 122 to thereby mount the gear pump 122 to the dispenser body. Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a driving force transferring mechanism from the motor 30 to the driving shaft 65. The motor 30 is fixed to a mounting plate 70 from a back face side by using a pair of screw members 71, the plate 70 being disposed in parallel to a back face of the dispenser body. In this fixed state, an output shaft 31 of the motor 30 projects to a front face side of the plate through a hole 70a formed in the mounting plate 70 and a gear 62 is mounted to the output shaft 31. To the mounting plate 70, a first pivot member 66 having a shaft 66a is fixed on a lower side (left side in Fig. 8) of the output shaft 31 of the motor 30 such that the shaft 66a extends in parallel to the output shaft 31. A gear 63 comprised of a large gear 63a and a small gear 63b integrally formed with the large gear 63a is mounted to the first pivot member 66 and is pivoted to be rotatable about the shaft 66a. The large gear 63a is engaged in a mounted state with the gear 62 mounted to the output shaft 31 of the motor 30 to be movable in synchronization with the gear 62. Furthermore, to the mounting plate 70, on a lower side

(left side in Fig. 8) of the first pivot member 66, a second pivot member 67 having a shaft 67a is fixed such that the shaft 67a extends in parallel to the shaft 66a of the first pivot member 66. A gear 64 comprised of a large gear 64a and a small gear 64b integrally formed with the large gear 63a is mounted to the second pivot member 67 and is pivoted to be rotatable about the shaft 67a. The large gear 64a is engaged in a mounted state with the small gear 63b of the gear 63 mounted to the first pivot member 66 to be movable in synchronization with the small gear 63b. To a front end side of the shaft 66a of the first pivot member 66, an E-ring 68 for preventing coming off of the gear 63 from the shaft 66a is mounted. Here, an E-ring is not provided to the shaft 67 a of the second pivot member 67. Because the gear 63 has a larger diameter than the gear 64 and the large gear 63a of the gear 63 covers a part of a front face of the large gear 64a of the gear 64 when the gears 63 and 64 are mou nted respectively to the pivot members 66 an d 67 , comi ng off of the gear 64 from the shaft 67a of the second pivot member 67 can properly be prevented. Moreover, to the mounting pl ate 70, on a lower side

(left side in Fig . 8) the second pivot member 67 , the driving shaft 65 integral ly formed with a gear 65b is m ounted from a front face side of the plate to extend in paral lel to the shaft 67a of the second pivot member 67 and to be rotatable with respect to the mounting plate 70. To put it more specifical ly, a rear end portion 65a of the driving shaft 65 is retai ned to project to a back face side of the plate through a tubular support me m ber 72 (see F ig . 7) press-fitted and fixed from the back face side of the plate i n a hole 70b formed in the mountin g plate 70. The support member 72 is fixed to the back face side of the mounti ng plate 70 and pivotally supports the driving shaft 65 for rotation on an i nner peripheral face of the member 72. To the rear end portion 65a of the driving shaft 65 projecting further to the back face side from the support member 72 , an E-ring 73 is mounted to thereby prevent the driving shaft 65 from being detached from the mounting plate 70. When the driving shaft 65 is mounted, the gear 65b is positioned on the front face side of the plate and is engaged with the small gear 64b of the gear 64 mounted to the second pivot member 67 to be movable in synchronization with the small gear 64b. As the gear 65b is actuated, the driving shaft 65 rotates about its central axis. The driving shaft 65 projects forward of the dispenser body on a front end side of the shaft 65 and forms an inserted shaft 65c to be inserted into the gear pump 122 (see Fig. 10). The inserted shaft 65c has a substantially triangular sectional shape and is tapered on its tip end side. Similarly to the case in the above first embodiment, in the driving force transferring mechanism having the above configuration, the gears 63 and 64 function as reduction gears for reducing a rotational speed of the motor 30. By using such reduction gears, relatively large torque can be obtained. With such large torque, it is possible to adapt to a case in which a rotational resistance in the gear pump becomes large as a clearance in the gear pump is narrowed in discharging a low-viscosity liquid such as alcohol. In other words, with the dispenser 40, it is possible to adapt to a wider range of viscosity of liquid from low viscosity to high viscosity. Figs. 9A and 9B are respectively perspective views showing states before and after mounting of a nozzle 120 having the gear pump 122 to a motor box 100 mounted into the dispenser body (housing body 3). In Figs. 9A and 9B, in order to clarify the drawings, configurations in the housing body 3 excluding the motor box 100 are omitted. The motor box 100 includes configurations related to motor driving and transfer of the driving force such as the motor 30, the gears 62, 63, and 64, the driving shaft 65, the mounting plate 70, and the battery. On a front face side of the motor box 100, a mounting portion 101 to which the gear pump 122 is mounted is formed and is provided with a retaining portion 101a formed around the inserted shaft 65c of the driving shaft 65 projecting from an inside of the motor box 100 and in a shape adapted to an outside shape of the gear pump 122 so as to retain the gear pump 122. In mounting the gear pump 122, the inserted shaft 65c of the driving shaft 65 is inserted into a bearing hole 123 (see Figs. 10 and 11) provided to the gear pump 122. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the nozzle 120 having the gear pump 122. Figs. 11A and 11 B are respectively perspective and front views of the hole 123 provided to the gear pump 122. Although the gear pump 122 has in itself a pair of gears (not shown) engaged with each other to be movable in synchronization with each other similarly to the case in the above first embodiment, the gear pump 122 is different from the case in the above first embodiment in that the gear directly connected to the motor box 100 has the bearing hole 123 formed with its center on an axis of rotation of the gear. On an inner peripheral face of the bearing hole 123, ribs 124 extending in a depth direction are formed. In the second embodiment, as can clearly be seen from Fig. 11B, three ribs 124 having substantially triangular sectional shapes are formed to correspond to the shape of the above- described inserted shaft 65c of the driving shaft 65 and are disposed at regular intervals in a circumferential direction such that an apex of each the triangle is oriented inward. In mounting the gear pump 122, if the inserted shaft 65c of the driving shaft 65 is inserted into the bearing hole 123 and then driven by driving of the motor 30, the inserted shaft 65c rotates in the bearing hole 123 to such a position that respective apexes of the inserted shaft 65c come in contact with and are engaged with side portions of the ribs 124. Then, after that, rotation of the inserted shaft 65c in the bearing hole 123 is restricted by the ribs 124 and the gears of the gear pump 122 are driven with the inserted shaft 65c kept engaged with the ribs 124. Figs. 12A and 12B respectively show a state immediately after insertion of the inserted shaft 65c into the bearing hole 123 of the gear pump 122 and an engaged state of the inserted shaft 65c with the ribs 124 from a side of the dispenser body. As can be seen from these drawings, the inserted shaft 65c is rotated counterclockwise when viewed from the side of the dispenser body and brought into an engaged state as shown in Fig. 12B with the ribs 124 after the inserted shaft 65c is inserted to thereby complete mounting of the gear pump 122. In such a second embodiment, by only rotating the inserted shaft 65c in the bearing hole 123 until the inserted shaft 65c is engaged with the ribs 124 after the inserted shaft 65c is inserted into the bearing hole 123, the gear pump 122 can be mounted relatively easily. As shown in Fig. 11A, each of the ribs 124 has a guide face 124a curved so as to facilitate guiding of the inserted shaft 65c of the driving shaft 65 into the bearing hole 123 on an open side of the bearing hole 123. Here, each of the ribs 124 is tapered such that two apexes of the triangle of the section converge to an apex on the inner peripheral face of the bearing hole 123 toward the open side of the bearing hole 123. On the other hand, as described above, the inserted shaft 65c of the driving shaft 65 is tapered on its tip end side. With such shapes of the ribs 124 and the inserted shaft 65c, in mounting the gear pump 122, the inserted shaft 65c inserted with any inclination about an axis into the bearing hole 123 can smoothly be guided into the bearing hole 123 without obstruction of the respective apexes of the triangle of the section of the inserted shaft 65c by the ribs 124. Fig. 13 is a vertical sectional explanatory view of the nozzle 120. Although the nozzle 120 is different in shape from the case in the above first embodiment, the nozzle 120 basically has a configuration having the same operation. In other words, the nozzle 120 has a pouch connecting portion 121, a gear pump 122, a liquid leakage preventing valve 126, and a liquid discharge portion 127 from an upstream side of the liquid. Furthermore, in this second embodiment, to ensure that the liquid flows into the gear pump 122 when the pouch 10 is mounted to the housing body 3, an air vent tube 128 is provided in the nozzle 120. The air vent tube 128 is supported to extend along a central axis of the pouch connecting portion 121 in the portion 121 with an upper end portion of the tube 128 extending further upward than an upper end portion of the pouch connecting portion 121 to be exposed to the pouch 10 and a lower end portion of the tube 128 being positioned in a vicinity of an upstream side of a gear 125 of the gear pump 122. If a high-viscosity and thixotropic liquid is used, for example, even if the pouch 10 is set in the housing body 3, air and liquid do not change places at a portion between the pouch 10 and the gear 125 (i.e., the pouch connecting portion 121 and the upper end portion of the gear pump 122) and the liquid may not flow into the nozzle 120 because of surface tension which occurs near a lowermost portion of the pouch 10 (around a portion where the nozzle 120 is connected). Because the gear pump 122 has a small self-priming power, it is impossible to draw in the high- viscosity liquid from the pouch 10 if air is filled in the nozzle 120. To solve such problems, the above air vent tube 128 is provided. This produces a cycle in which air in the nozzle 120 is first purged through the air vent tube 128, the liquid flows into the nozzle 120 due to downward pressure of the liquid, and, as a result, air is further purged through the air vent tube 128 and the liquid flows into the nozzle 120. As a result, even if the high-viscosity thixotropic liquid is used, it is ensured that the liquid flows into the gear pump 122 as the pouch 10 is mounted to the housing body 3. In Fig. 13, movement of air in purging of air is shown with arrows 130A, 130B, and 130C in order. It is needless to say that the invention is not limited to the shown embodiments and that various improvements and changes in design can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A dispenser for dispensing liquid and comprising a replaceable pouch formed by integrally mounting a nozzle to a pouch body housing the liquid, the nozzle leading the liquid outside from the pouch body, wherein a gear pump for allowing discharge of the liquid through a liquid flow path of the nozzle during driving of the gear pump is provided to a midway portion of the liquid flow path and a gear pump driving means which can be connected to the gear pump and which has a motor for driving the gear pump in the connected state is provided to a dispenser body housing in itself the pouch.

2. A dispenser according to claim 1, wherein a tubular member for purging air included in the liquid is provided in the nozzle such that the tubular member extends in a longitudinal direction of the nozzle and that a lower end portion of the tubular member is positioned in a vicinity of an upstream side of the gear pump.

3. A dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gear pump driving means on a side of the dispenser body includes a rotary member capable of being directly connected to the gear pump and rotatable as the motor is driven and a gear disposed between the motor and the rotary member to reduce a rotational speed of the motor.

4. A dispenser according to claim 3, wherein, as a configuration for allowing connection of the gear pump and the rotary member on a side of the gear pump driving means to each other, one of the gear pump and the rotary member is provided with an inserted shaft rotatable about a predetermined axis and the other is provided with a hole in which the inserted shaft is inserted and which has on its inner peripheral face a rib for restricting rotation of the inserted shaft in the hole.

5. A dispenser according to claim 4, wherein the inserted shaft is tapered on its tip end side and the rib in the hole extends in a depth direction of the hole and is tapered on an open side of the hole.

6. A dispenser according to any of claims 1 to 5 further comprising a microcomputer for controlling driving of the motor.

7. A dispenser according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the gear pump is positioned below the pouch body when the pouch and the nozzle are housed in the dispenser body.

8. A dispenser for dispensing liquid and comprising a pouch housing the liquid and a nozzle for leading the liquid outside from the pouch, wherein a gear pump for allowing discharge of the liquid through a liquid flow path of the nozzle during driving of the gear pump is provided to a midway portion of the liquid flow path and a tubular member for purging air included in the liquid is provided such that the tubular member extends in a longitudinal direction of the nozzle and that a lower end portion of the tubular member is positioned in a vicinity of an upstream side of the gear pump.