Liquid discharge regulator and liquid feeder equipped with the same

Abstract

A compact liquid discharge regulator is provided at low cost by arranging a channel spirally formed in the surface of a passage forming member. The surface of the passage forming member is brought into close contact with the inner surface of a housing part, and the channel functions as a liquid passage. In this construction, the sectional form and length of the channel can be formed at high precision in accordance with the design. Therefore, a desired pipe loss is obtainable only by designing in advance the sectional form and length of the channel so as to correspond to the pipe loss. Particularly, with injection molding, mass production of a passage forming member of identical pipe loss can be effected merely by preparing a mold corresponding to the pipe loss, thus leading to a considerable reduction in the manufacturing cost of the discharge regulator.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A liquid feeder comprising: 
 a main body including; 
 an outlet part in one end of the main body, the outlet part having an outlet for discharging a liquid stored in the main body, and  
 a discharge regulation section provided in the outlet part of the main body for introducing the liquid from the main body to the outlet to regulate the discharge of the liquid.  
   
     
     
         2 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 1   , wherein the discharge regulation section includes a discharge regulator comprising: 
 a casing having a liquid inlet part and a liquid outlet part; and    a passage forming member formed with a channel in a surface thereof, the surface of the passage forming member coming into contact with an inner surface of the casing to define a passage for introducing a liquid from the inlet part to the outlet part and regulate the discharge of the liquid from the outlet part.    
     
     
         3 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 2   , wherein the channel is formed windingly to have a length sufficiently longer than the overall length of the passage forming member.  
     
     
         4 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 2   , wherein the passage forming member is of a columnar shape and the channel is spirally formed in a peripheral surface thereof.  
     
     
         5 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 2   , wherein a plurality of housing parts for housing the passage forming member are disposed in the casing and a plurality of passage forming members of different pipe losses are housed in their respective housing parts to obtain the plurality of liquid passages, the liquid discharge regulator further comprising: 
 a passage switcher for switching the liquid passages such that the discharge of the liquid flowing through the outlet part is regulated by selectively switching the passage switcher.    
     
     
         6 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 5   , wherein the channel is formed windingly to have a length sufficiently longer than an overall length of the passage forming member.  
     
     
         7 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 5   , wherein the passage forming member is of a columnar shape and the channel is spirally formed in a peripheral surface thereof.  
     
     
         8 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 5   , wherein the diameter of a liquid passage from the inlet part to the channel becomes smaller when approaching from the inlet part of the channel.  
     
     
         9 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 5   , wherein the passage forming member is formed of a plastic by infection molding.  
     
     
         10 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 5   , wherein the passage switcher is disposed between the housing part and the inlet or the outlet part.  
     
     
         11 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 2   , further comprising: 
 a bypass passage disposed in the casing for providing communication between the inlet part and the outlet part; and    a bypass passage switcher for controlling switching of the bypass passage such that when the bypass passage is opened, a liquid is allowed to discharge through the outlet part in an amount sufficiently greater than the flow rate of the passage formed by the passage forming member.    
     
     
         12 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 2   , wherein the passage forming member is movable relative to the casing, and, by a relative movement of the passage forming member, a position of the channel opposite to one of the inlet and outlet parts is changed for correction of the length of the channel from one position to another.  
     
     
         13 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 12   , wherein the casing has a cylindrical chamber, and the passage forming member has the form of a cylinder and is movable along an axis direction of the cylindrical chamber, further comprises: 
 a controller rotatably mounted in the casing but being unmovable with respect to the axial direction, the controller being operatively engaged with the passage forming member; and    a movement conversion mechanism for converting a rotational movement of the controller into an axial movement of the passage forming member relative to the casing to change the position of the channel opposite to one of the inlet and outlet parts for the correction.    
     
     
         14 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 13   , wherein the movement conversion mechanism includes: 
 a force transmission means for transmitting the rotational force of the controller to the passage forming member; and    a retaining means for keeping the passage forming member from being rotated by the rotational force of the controller.    
     
     
         15 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 12   , further comprising a bypass passage disposed in the casing for providing communication between the inlet part and the outlet part, the bypass passage being subjected to switching control in response to the position of the passage forming member relative to the casing, such that when the bypass passage is opened, a liquid is allowed to discharge through the outlet part in an amount sufficiently greater than the flow rate of the passage formed by the passage forming member.  
     
     
         16 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 15   , wherein the passage forming member is of a hollow cylinder, having the channel spirally formed in a peripheral surface thereof and a hollow region functioning as the bypass passage.  
     
     
         17 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 12   , further comprising a regulation region located in a portion of the passage forming member, the regulation region closing one of the inlet and outlet parts to regulate liquid communication from the inlet part to the outlet part.  
     
     
         18 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 2   , wherein the diameter of a liquid passage from the inlet part to the channel becomes smaller as approaching from the inlet part to the channel.  
     
     
         19 . A liquid feeder according to    claim 2   , wherein the passage forming member is formed of a plastic by injection molding.