JP2002356885A - Water section equipment having water passage pipe - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the omission of installation of a water receiving tank in a cabinet by overcoming a problem such that water not only flows down along a hose so as to intrude into the cabinet but also drops downward in a hose storage type faucet from which the flexible hose connected to a spout head can be pulled out with the spout head and which can house the flexible hose with the spout head. SOLUTION: In the hose storage type faucet 16 from which the flexible hose 28 connected to the spout head 26 can be pulled out with the spout head 26 and which can house the hose 28 with the spout head 26, a water-absorption heating element 48 using water-absorption heating fibers, which absorb water and generate heat, is mounted on the lowermost part of the hose 28 under a state of hanging down in the cabinet 10, and the water flowing down along the hose 28 is absorbed by the heating element 48 so as to be evaporated and emanated by virtue of water absorption and heat generation on this occasion.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plumbing system having a water pipe through which water flows, and more particularly to a technical means for preventing water from flowing down the water pipe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A hose containing a water faucet is one in which this kind of phenomenon becomes a problem. Conventionally, a hose-type water faucet in which a flexible hose is connected to a water discharge head and the flexible hose is drawn out of a stored state together with the water discharge head or stored in the original state is provided due to its convenience. It is widely used as a kitchen faucet or a hair-washing faucet for a vanity stand. In the case of a hose faucet, water flows down a flexible hose (water pipe) and enters the cabinet. There were inherent difficult problems such as intrusion.

In order to install a water faucet of this type on a cabinet, a water receiving tank 202 is conventionally provided inside the cabinet 200 as shown in FIG. Water that has flowed down along the water pipe 204 and entered the interior of the cabinet 200 is received by the water receiving tank 202 and stored there.

[0004]

However, in this case, a water receiving tank 202 is always required when installing a water storage type water faucet, so that the cost increases and the installation of the water receiving tank 202 is required. This causes a problem that the storage space inside the cabinet 200 becomes narrow. In addition, it is necessary to perform an operation such as periodically discarding the water accumulated in the water receiving tank 202, which causes a problem that the maintenance operation is troublesome.

In order to prevent water from flowing down along the hose, the following measures have been conventionally taken, that is, the gap between the hose guide and the outer surface of the hose is made as small as possible (0.
(About 1 mm) or a draining member is provided between the hose guide and the outer surface of the hose. When storing the hose, the outer surface of the hose is squeezed with a draining member to remove water adhering to the outer surface of the hose. Various measures have been taken or proposed, for example, such that water entering through a gap between the hose guide and the outer surface of the hose is discharged to the outside through a drain hole provided in the hose guide or the like. . However, even after such measures were taken, the water flowing down the hose could not be sufficiently prevented, and it was still necessary to install a water receiving tank inside the cabinet.

In addition to the above, water is supplied to a water supply system having a water supply pipe and a drain pipe as a water supply pipe for supplying water to or discharging water from predetermined equipment, for example, water supply to a low tank of a toilet. Even in a plumbing system that supplies water for flushing toilets through pipes, dew condensation occurs on the outer surface of the water supply pipe, and the condensed water flows down the water supply pipe, falls on the floor and wets the floor There was a problem.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A plumbing system having a water pipe according to the present invention has been devised to solve such a problem. Thus, in the first aspect, a water-absorbing heating element using a water-absorbing heating fiber excluding animal fibers, which generates heat by absorbing water, is attached to an outer surface of a water pipe through which water flows.
Water transmitted through the water pipe is absorbed and released by the water-absorbing heating element.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the water supply system is a hose storage type in which a flexible hose as the water pipe is connected to a water discharge head so that the hose can be pulled out and stored together with the water discharge head. Wherein the water-absorbing heating element is mounted on the outer surface of the hose so that water traveling through the hose is absorbed and released by the water-absorbing heating element.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the second aspect, the water-absorbing heating element is partially attached to a lowermost portion of the hose in a hanging state.

[0010]

As described above, according to the present invention, a water absorption heating element using a water absorption heating fiber which generates heat by absorbing water is attached to the outer surface of a water pipe, thereby absorbing and discharging water transmitted through the water pipe. It is something that has been done. Conventionally, various types of water-absorbing heat-generating fibers that generate heat by water absorption have been proposed.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 294006/1993 discloses an acrylic acid-based water-absorbing heat-generating fiber having a chemically modified product obtained by strongly cross-linking a hydrophilic group at a high density;
Specific examples include fine powders of an acrylic acid-based water-absorbing heat-generating fiber in which the hydrophilic group is sodium carboxylate, a silica-based or natural silica-alumina-based desiccant, and a ceramic-based desiccant such as molecular sieves that absorb and generate heat when absorbing water. Water-absorbing heat-generating fibers mixed with various fiber materials are exemplified.

JP-A-2000-143739 discloses that a (meth) acrylic polymer having a crosslinked structure and a salt-type carboxyl group on the surface of a fibrous material and having an average particle size of 5 μm or less is acrylate-modified. Which support the polymer particles are disclosed.

Further, JP-A-11-279943 discloses that 0.3 to 2.5 parts by weight of N-methylol (meth) acrylamide is added to 100 parts by weight of cellulose,
A water-absorbing and exothermic cellulose fiber in which 5 to 45 parts by weight of at least one water-soluble vinyl polymerizable compound having a carboxyl group or an amino group represented by OOX (X: H, NH ₄ or an alkali metal) is chemically bound is disclosed. I have. Here, the water-absorbing heat-generating property is imparted by a carboxyl group and / or an amino group represented by -COOX (X: H, NH ₄ or an alkali metal) introduced.

[0014] However, as to the mechanism of this kind of water-absorbing heat-generating fiber, the theory of transfer of latent heat, reaction heat of hydrogen bonding, molecular friction heat at the time of high-speed adsorption of water, etc., has been proposed, but the mechanism is clear. I do not know.
These water-absorbing heat-generating fibers are used for various sports clothing and other uses by utilizing their properties.

The present invention is characterized in that it is used for absorbing the water passing through the water pipe and evaporating / diverging (releasing) by the heat generated by the absorption of water. In addition, the water flowing through the water pipe can be satisfactorily removed by the water absorption heating element.

In particular, when the present invention is applied to a hose-type water faucet (claim 2), the following various advantages can be obtained. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a water hose of a hose storage type in which a flexible hose as the water pipe connected to the water discharge head can be drawn out and stored together with the water discharge head, the outer surface of the hose has the water absorption heat generation. By attaching the body, it is possible to satisfactorily solve the problem that water flows down the hose, enters the inside of the cabinet, and drops downward.

This makes it possible to omit the water receiving tank which has conventionally been inevitably installed inside the cabinet. If the water receiving tank can be omitted, the cost required for the water receiving tank can be reduced, the storage space inside the cabinet can be widened, and the water accumulated in the water receiving tank can be periodically removed. It is possible to omit troublesome maintenance work such as discarding.

When the present invention is applied to the hose-housing type water faucet, the water-absorbing heating element can be partially attached to the lowermost portion of the hose in a hanging state. As the water flowing down the hose, the water flowing down the outer surface of the hose as it is and the water between the metal outer tube 206 and the inner tube 208 of the hose 204 as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. There is water flowing down through the gap S and leaking again to the outer surface of the hose 204 in the vicinity of the lowermost portion of the hose 204, so that water is generated by water absorption at the lowermost portion of the outer surface of the hose in a hanging state. If you wear your body, you can absorb and release the water flowing down any of them.

The invention according to claim 1 is applied to a plumbing system having a water supply pipe (water supply pipe) for supplying toilet flush water to the above-mentioned low tank in addition to the hose storage type water tap. In addition, a water-absorbing heating element is attached to the outer surface of the water supply pipe, so that the phenomenon in which dew condensation water generated on the outer surface of the water supply pipe flows down the water supply pipe and falls on the floor can be satisfactorily prevented. Alternatively, the water flows down the drain pipe (water pipe),
It is possible to prevent various inconveniences.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a hose storage type faucet as a kitchen faucet will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a cabinet installed in a kitchen, 12 denotes a sink, and 14 denotes a counter. On this counter 14, a single lever type and hose storage type mixing faucet (hereinafter simply referred to as a faucet) 16) is installed. Reference numeral 18 denotes a faucet main body having a built-in main valve for controlling the amount of discharged water, the amount of discharged water, and the temperature, and a single lever type operation unit 20 is provided above the faucet.

In the faucet 16, the operation section 20 is turned up and down to adjust the amount of water to be discharged and discharged, and to the left and right to adjust the temperature of the discharged water. A water discharge pipe 22 extends from the faucet body 18 toward above the sink 12. Here, the water discharge pipe 22 is composed of a water discharge pipe main body 24 fixedly provided on the faucet main body 18 and a water discharge head 26 separate from the water discharge pipe main body 24.

A flexible hose 28 as a water pipe is connected to the water discharge head 26, and the hose 28 can be pulled out and stored together with the water discharge head 26.
The water discharge head 26 can switch between straight water discharge and shower water discharge by operating the switching operation unit 27.

Reference numeral 29 denotes a supply pipe which is disposed inside the cabinet 10 and supplies water and hot water to the faucet main body 18, the upper end of which is connected to the faucet main body 18, and the lower end of which is the water stopcock 3.
0 is connected to each of the original pipes. A connecting pipe 32 extends downward from the faucet body 18 inside the cabinet 10, and the end of the flexible hose 28 is connected to the connecting pipe 32. Here, the hose 28 is in a state of hanging down inside the cabinet 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, a tubular hose guide 36 is attached to the upper end of the water discharge pipe main body 24, and the base end of the water discharge head 26 is fitted to the end of the hose guide 36. In addition, the water discharge head 26 is detachably held by the water discharge pipe main body 24 via the hose guide 36. The hose guide 36 has the insertion hole 3 inside.
8, through which a hose 28 is slidably inserted. Here, the gap between the insertion hole 38 and the hose 28 is a minute gap of about 0.1 mm.

The hose guide 36 and the water discharge pipe main body 24 are provided with drain holes 40 and 42, respectively. The drain holes 40 and 42 are for discharging water that has entered the minute gap between the outer surface of the hose 28 and the hose guide 36 through the upper end opening of the hose guide 36 to the outside.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the flexible hose 28 has a metal outer tube 44 and a flexible resin or rubber inner tube (in this case, PVC) inside the metal outer tube 44.
And an inner tube 46 made of a stainless steel. The outer diameter of the inner tube 46 is smaller than the inner diameter of the metal outer tube 44 by a predetermined dimension, and a gap S having an annular cross section is formed therebetween. Here, the metal outer tube 44 is formed by spirally winding a strip 28A made of stainless steel.

As shown in FIG.
In the lowermost part of the hose 28, which is in a hanging state inside the water absorption heating element 4, a water absorption heating element 4 composed of an aggregate of water absorption heating fibers is provided.
8 is attached. The water-absorbing heating element 48 is made of a cloth made of water-absorbing heating fiber, and the cloth is wound around the outer surface of the hose 28. However, it is of course possible to adopt various forms other than the cloth.

In the case of the present embodiment, water flowing down along the outer surface of the hose 28 or the gap S between the metal outer tube 44 and the inner tube 46 in the hose 28 and entering the inside of the cabinet 10 is used as the water of the hose 28. The water can be absorbed by the water-absorbing heating element 48 attached to the lowermost portion on the outer surface. At this time, the water-absorbing heating element 48 generates water-absorbing heat, and the absorbed water causes the absorbed water to evaporate and diffuse (release) to the outside.

The water flowing down the gap S between the metal outer tube 44 and the inner tube 46 in the hose 28 and entering the inside of the cabinet 10 is re-formed near the lowermost portion of the hose 28. It exudes to the outer surface, where it is absorbed and released by the water-absorbing heating element 48.

According to this embodiment, the water flowing down the hose 28 can be favorably absorbed and released by the water-absorbing heating element 48, so that the water flowing down the hose 28 enters the cabinet 10. The problem of infiltration and dripping there can be satisfactorily solved. This makes it possible to omit the installation of the water receiving tank inside the cabinet 10, thereby reducing the cost required for the water receiving tank and securing a large storage space inside the cabinet 10. Moreover, troublesome maintenance work such as periodically discarding water accumulated in the water receiving tank can be omitted.

In this embodiment, since the water-absorbing heating element 48 is mounted at the lowermost part of the hose 28 in a hanging state,
With the water flowing down the outer surface of the hose 28,
In the vicinity of the lowermost portion of the hose 28, any water that leaks out to the outer surface of the hose 28 again from the gap S between the outer metal tube 44 and the inner tube 46 will not
8 can be absorbed and released.

In the above, the water-absorbing heating element 48 is used independently of the hose 2.
8, a water-absorbing heat-generating element 48 is incorporated in the outer shell made of resin in a state of being in contact with the outer surface of the hose 28, and a stopper for defining the amount of pull-out of the hose 28 with the structure is provided. It is also possible to make them double.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, but this is merely an example. For example, the present invention can be applied to various types of hose-housing faucets other than the above examples. FIGS. 4 and 5 show an example of this. The faucet 16 of this example includes a purifying filter 54 for purifying tap water (raw water), a raw water spout, a clean water spout, and a straight spout of the raw water spout. And a switching valve 56 for switching between the shower water and the shower water, and a lever-type switching operation part 58 for switching the switching valve 56 in a state of being exposed to the outside of the water discharging head 26 is provided. The present invention is also applicable to a faucet of this type.

In addition, the present invention is applied to a plumbing system having a water supply pipe as a water supply pipe for supplying toilet flush water to the low tank, and is generated on the outer surface of the water supply pipe and flows down the water supply pipe. By absorbing and discharging the condensed water by the water absorption heating element 48, it is possible to prevent the condensed water from falling to the floor in a good manner, and to provide a plumbing system having a water supply pipe or a drain pipe. The present invention can be applied to various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention, for example, it is also possible to absorb and discharge water transmitted through the water supply pipe or the drain pipe by the water absorption and heating element 48. Can be configured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a state in which a hose storage type faucet according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed on a cabinet.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the faucet of the same embodiment in a state where the inside of a water discharge pipe is cut away.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of a hose of the same embodiment and a peripheral portion thereof.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a hose-housing type water tap according to another embodiment of the present invention installed on a cabinet.

5 is a diagram showing the faucet of FIG. 4 alone.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the background of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 16 Mixing faucet (Hose retractable faucet) 26 Discharge head 28 Hose (water pipe) 48 Water absorption heating element

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A water-absorbing heating element using a water-absorbing heating fiber excluding animal fibers, which generates heat by water absorption, is attached to the outer surface of a water-flowing pipe through which water flows, and water transmitted through the water-flowing pipe is subjected to the water-absorbing heat generation. A plumbing system having a water pipe characterized by being absorbed and released by the body. 2. The water supply system according to claim 1, wherein:
A flexible hose as the water pipe is connected to a water discharge head, and is a hose storage-type water tap that can be pulled out and stored together with the water discharge head. The water absorption heating element is attached to an outer surface of the hose, and the hose is connected to the hose. A plumbing system having a water pipe, wherein water transmitted through the water is absorbed and released by the water absorption heating element. 3. The plumbing system according to claim 2, wherein the water-absorbing heating element is partially attached to a lowermost portion of the hose in a hanging state.