JP2003199682A - Shower unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact full shower unit not to occupy a large space. <P>SOLUTION: On the upper side of a main body 1, a fan-shaped nozzle 12 is provided for emitting a jet of water currents over the body from the neck to the shoulders. On the lower side of the main body 1, a wide angle nozzle is provided for emitting a jet of water currents over all the back. Each of two arms 4 is equipped with a turning nozzle 14 for emitting a jet of water currents over the breast and the belly with pulsing, a turning nozzle 15 for emitting a jet of water currents over the legs with pulsing, a fan-shaped nozzle 16 for emitting a jet of water currents over the body from the shoulders to the sides of the body, and a wide angle nozzle 17 for emitting a jet of water currents over the shoulders and the upper arms. Thus, even when the length of each of the arms 4 is shortened approximately to the thickness of the body from the breast to the back, a jet of hot water currents can be emitted over both the front side and the back side of the body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shower device for performing a shower hot bath.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional shower device of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
There was a thing as described in 0-28656 gazette. As shown in FIG. 9, the shower device 101 has a certain spread (that is, a certain spread) to a bather 103 who sits down and takes a hot bath in the shower device 101 installed in a bathroom 102 inside or outside a house or in a dedicated shower room. The ejection pattern is all conical and the ejection angle is about 30 °
A plurality of ejection nozzles 104 ejected at a distance of 50 ° are directed toward the front surface and a part of the rear surface of the bather 103, and the nozzle arms 105 or a part of the shower device 1 are spaced at regular intervals. It was installed and configured. The hot water shower ejected from the plurality of ejection nozzles 104 is adapted to take a shower bath while being ejected in an uneven shape at intervals in front, back, left and right of the lower body of the bather 103.

[0003]

However, there is a problem in that the main body of the shower device cannot be installed because the width and depth dimensions of the main body of the shower device including the nozzle arm portion are large. Also, even if it could be installed, the washing space became smaller, and I felt a feeling of pressure and discomfort. On the other hand, if the shower device body is downsized so that it can be installed in a small bathroom, the arm portion becomes shorter, and a new problem that it is impossible to spout at the feet or the front part of the body at an appropriate temperature is considered. Even if it can be ejected, the ejected pattern is ejected with a certain spread, so that the temperature of the ejected hot water is lowered over a long distance, and the problem that the whole body feels warm and feels cold. In addition, especially in the winter and the middle season, the bathroom of a general household has a low temperature, and if the bathing interval is interrupted, it is more difficult to warm up due to low temperature and high humidity. Therefore, in the conventional shower device, the jet airflow generated by the jet nozzles arranged at regular intervals entrains the cool air in the bathroom for a while after bathing, that is, until the body warms, and the cool air is generated. , I felt uncomfortable due to the complicated situation in which a draft was applied from the top, bottom, front, back, left and right of the bather's body surface.

Further, since the conventional shower device has a nozzle which is in a conical ejection state having a constant angle, the ejected fine particles of the hot water shower are scattered on a part of the face or hair to cause water droplets. There was also a problem of hitting and feeling discomfort. The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a shower device that is small in size, occupies a small area, and uniformly warms the whole body.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a jet nozzle for jetting toward the front part of the upper half of the body of a bather at the tip of the arm or in the vicinity of the tip, and the front part of the lower half of the body on the arm supporting side of the front nozzle. The jet main body is provided with a jet nozzle for jetting the jet toward the back of the bather.

According to the above invention, the length of the arm can be shortened to about the body thickness from the chest to the back even when hot water is jetted to both the front side and the back side of the body, and the shower body itself is It is possible to reduce the size. Further, the arm can be movably supported by the main body, and the arm can be housed in the main body when not in use so as to be compact.

Therefore, the bather can immediately take a comfortable shower bath without being exposed to the cold airflow, and can take a bath without feeling a feeling of pressure because the bathroom becomes narrow even when the shower device is not used. .

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a jet nozzle is provided at or near the tip of the arm for jetting toward the front of the body of the bather, and the shower body is jetted toward the back of the bather. It is equipped with a jet nozzle that does.

Even if the length of the arm is shortened to about the thickness of the body extending from the chest to the back, warm water is jetted to both the front side and the back side of the body. In other words, the warm feeling to the whole body and the compactness of the shower device can both be achieved. Also, by supporting the arm on the shower body and making it movable, it is possible to store it in the body, and when not in use,
Compactness is enhanced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the jetting means for jetting toward the front surface of the lower half of the body is provided on the arm support side of the jet nozzle for jetting toward the front surface of the upper half of the body.

In order to maintain the compactness of the shower body, hot water is jetted to the upper body and the lower body even if the arm length is shortened. That is, it is possible to enhance the thermal sensation of not only the upper body with a relatively short ejection distance but also the lower body.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the ejection nozzle for ejecting toward the body side portion is provided on the arm support side of the ejection nozzle for ejecting toward the front surface of the upper half of the body.

In order to maintain the compactness of the shower body, even if the body width is made smaller than the body width, if it can be used by being wider than the arm body width, the body front surface as well as the body side surface can be used. Hot water is ejected. That is, hot water is jetted from four directions of the front side of the body, the back side of the body, and both side sides of the body, so that the warm bath effect of the whole body can be enhanced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a jet nozzle for jetting toward the vicinity of the shoulder of the body is provided on the arm supporting side.

While maintaining the compactness of the shower body, the front side of the body, the back side of the body, both sides of the body,
Hot water is jetted from 6 directions on both shoulders of the upper surface of the body, and the effect of warming the whole body can be enhanced.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the jet nozzle that jets toward the front surface of the upper half body and the front portion of the lower half body is a swirl type nozzle that spouts an intermittent flow while swirling in an acute cone shape. .

By making the jet angle acute and ejecting the swirling intermittent flow, a relatively strong stimulus is given to the human body surface by securing the amount of jet water per unit area.
The strength and weakness of the intermittent flow is transmitted to the human body. Therefore, the skin sensation is not paralyzed by the jet stimulus of a constant intensity and the stimulus is not felt, and an appropriate stimulus sensation is always continuously felt. Therefore, a sufficient heating effect and a sense of stimulation can be received.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, the ejection angle θ1 of the ejection nozzle ejecting toward the front surface of the upper half of the body is made larger than the ejection angle θ2 of the ejection nozzle ejecting toward the front surface of the lower body.

As the ejection angle becomes wider, the amount of ejected water per unit area decreases and the thermal sensation felt on the human body surface decreases. Further, if the jetting distance is long, the temperature of the jet stream is lowered because of being easily affected by the ambient temperature. In other words, by increasing the injection angle to the upper body side where the injection distance is relatively short and increasing the injection area, and narrowing the injection angle to the lower body side where the injection distance is far and decreasing the injection area, the thermal sensation received by each part of the human body Can be made substantially uniform. Therefore, the thermal sensations of the upper body and the lower body can be made constant, and it becomes difficult to feel the cold.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the jet nozzle for jetting toward the side of the body is a fan-shaped nozzle for jetting in a flat shape with an obtuse jet angle.

From the upper arm to both flanks, thighs,
While making a hot water shower curtain that covers the both sides of the human body reaching the toes, it blows out toward the side of the body, blocking the cold air flow from the left and right sides of the body, and part of the hot water is directly and efficiently. It will be sprayed on the side of the body.
Therefore, a comfortable and effective hot water shower bath can be performed without giving a "cool feeling" to the bather.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the jet nozzle for jetting toward the shoulder of the body is a wide-angle nozzle which jets in a full cone shape with an obtuse jet angle.

By increasing the injection angle and injecting in a full cone shape, the amount of water sprayed per unit area becomes uniform and small, and it is possible to spray many human surfaces even at a short distance, and at the same time, warm water can be sprayed. The sensible temperature of can also be reduced. Therefore, a thermal sensation near the shoulder can be secured by the ejection nozzles provided one on each side. Further, it is easy to secure the balance of the injection temperature with each part of the whole body.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, a jet nozzle for jetting to the neck and shoulder of the body is provided in the main body, and a fan-shaped nozzle is provided so that the jet form is flat.

Then, the bather is wrapped with a thin-film shower curtain made of warm water on a substantially horizontal surface under the neck and a substantially vertical surface on the side of the human body, and hot water is sprayed on the front of the body by a jet nozzle provided on the arm. Will be ejected. In other words, the whole body can be warmed up in a short time due to the blocking action of the cold air, the containment action of the internal hot air, and the heating action in which the jet directly contacts the skin.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, a jet nozzle for jetting to the back of the body is provided in the main body, and the jet nozzle is a wide-angle nozzle that jets in a full cone shape with an obtuse angle.

By increasing the spray angle and spraying in a full cone shape, the amount of sprayed water per unit area becomes uniform and small, and it is possible to spray many human surfaces even at a short distance, and at the same time, warm water can be sprayed. The sensible temperature of can also be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to secure the injection amount to the entire back with a small number of ejection nozzles and to make the injection temperature of each part of the whole body uniform.

[0028]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is an external side view showing the shower apparatus and its jetting state in Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external top view showing the jetting state of the shower apparatus, and FIG.
Is an external front view showing a jetting state of the shower device, FIG. 4 is a hot and cold water supply pipe diagram showing a hot and cold water circuit of the shower device, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a swirl nozzle and its ejection pattern, FIG. 6 is a fan nozzle and its ejection pattern, and FIG. 7 is a view showing a wide-angle nozzle and its ejection pattern. FIG. 8 is a graph showing the injection distance of various nozzles and the amount of temperature decrease of the injection water temperature.

Reference numeral 1 is the main body of the shower device having an elliptical structure, and the maximum width 2 thereof is narrower than the average shoulder width of an adult (collection of anthropometric data of Japanese people: by the publisher, Human Life Engineering Research Center). The maximum vertical length 3 is about the average length from the shoulder to the waist of an adult (collection of anthropometric data of Japanese people: published by the Research Center for Human Life Engineering).

On both sides of the upper side of the main body 1, there are constructed arms 4 supported by the main body and curved in a substantially crescent shape so as to be movable with a supporting portion 5 as a fulcrum, and when the arm 4 is moved forward. The distance 6 between the tips of both arms and the abdomen is made wider than the average shoulder width of an adult (collection of anthropometric data of Japanese: published by the Research Center for Human Life Engineering). The shower device body 1 is fixed by a fitting 9 provided on a wall surface 8 of the bathroom 7. The wall may be attached by a double-sided tape or an adhesive member such as a suction cup. 10 is a chair 11 arranged in front of the main body 1
Is a bather sitting in.

On the upper side of the main body 1, there is a fan-shaped nozzle 12 for injecting a flat water stream from the neck toward the left and right shoulders, and on the lower side of the main body 1, a wide-angle nozzle for injecting a full conical water stream over the entire back surface. Two 13 are provided for each of the left and right objects. Further, to both arms 4, respectively, a swirl type nozzle 14 which injects in a sharp-angled cone shape while pulsating the chest and abdomen in order from the arm tip side to a fulcrum side, and a swirl in which an acute-angled cone shape ejects while pulsating the foot. Mold nozzle 15, fan-shaped nozzle 16 that jets a flat water stream from the shoulder opening toward the body side (lateral abdomen, side of thigh, side of lower knee), wide angle that jets a full cone water stream to the shoulder and the upper arm Two nozzles 17 are provided for each of the left and right sides.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a pipe connection port provided in the lower portion of the shower device main body 1. From the pipe connection port 18, each jet nozzle 12, 13 provided in the main body and each jet nozzle 14, provided in the arm, Each of left, right, 15, 16 and 17 pipes 19 has two systems.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a hot and cold water mixing tap (a thermo type hot and cold water mixing tap is generally used, which will be referred to as a mixing tap hereinafter) having a flow rate adjusting function and a temperature adjusting function, and its discharge part 21 and the pipe connecting port 18 are provided. Are connected by a shower hose 22. A switching means 24 for switching the flow path to the hand shower 23 or the shower main body 1 is provided in the middle of the shower hose 22. A city water pipe (not shown) and a stop water heater (not shown) are connected to the water supply / hot water supply side of the mixing tap 20, respectively.

1, 2, and 3 are injection areas of the hot water shower curtain formed by the injection of the fan-shaped nozzles 12 and 16, respectively. And are hot-water shower jet regions formed by the jets of the wide-angle jet nozzles 13 and 17, respectively. And are swirl type nozzles 14 and 15
Is an injection area formed in each of the above.

Next, the operation and action will be described. First, a temperature control knob (not shown) of the mixing stopper 20 is set to a shower hot bath temperature (for example, about 42 ° C.), and then a flow passage switching knob (not shown) for switching the flow path to the washing room side currant or the shower side. Is switched to the shower side, and the switching means 24 is switched to the shower device body 1 side.

In this state, when the flow rate adjusting knob (not shown) is turned to open it, the water heater (not shown) connected to the mixing tap 20 is activated, and hot water and water are mixed from the city water pipes, respectively. Hot and cold water of a set temperature (for example, about 42 ° C.) passes through the pipe 19 arranged in the main body 1 and the arm 4 of the shower apparatus, and various ejection nozzles 12, 13, 14, 15, 1
The hot water is jetted from each nozzle by the jet characteristics of the jet nozzles supplied to the nozzles 6 and 17, respectively.

That is, the fan-shaped nozzle 12 and the fan-shaped nozzle 16 eject in a thin curtain fan-shaped ejection pattern as shown in FIG. 5, and the hot water shower curtain region shown in FIGS.
Is formed. Further, the swirl nozzles 14 and 15 are jetted in a spiral jet pattern shape that pulsates and lifts in an empty cone shape as shown in FIG.
Is formed. Further, the wide-angle nozzles 13 and 17 are jetted in a wide-cone wide-angle jet pattern shape as shown in FIG. 7, and form jet regions shown in FIGS.

Therefore, when the bather 10 uses the chair 11 with his back facing the main body 1, he or she sits on the chair 11, and a substantially horizontal thin film jet ejected from the fan-shaped nozzle 12 is formed near the back of the neck. The full-cone jet flows from the wide-angle nozzle 13 onto the back. In addition, from the swirling nozzles 14 and 15 located diagonally forward of the head, swirling jets that pulsate and lift in an empty cone hit the vicinity of the chest / belly and foot. In addition, from the fan-shaped nozzle 16 located near the side of the head, a thin film-like jet that is substantially vertical and flows from the shoulder to the side of the body (lateral belly, lateral thigh,
A wide-angle nozzle 17 is ejected in the vicinity of the lower part of the knee), and a full-cone jet flows from the wide-angle nozzle 17 positioned diagonally above and behind the shoulder so as to wrap around the shoulder from above the body.

In other words, the hot air shower curtain formed by the fan-shaped nozzles 12 and the hot water shower curtain formed by the fan-shaped nozzles 16 cool the airflow flowing from the upper and side parts of the body toward the human body, or the surrounding wall. It has the effect of blocking the cold air from the cold air, and the effect of preventing heat radiation by rising from the lower layer to the upper layer of the hot water shower curtain or suppressing the heat flow radiating from the inside to the outside of the hot water shower curtain. In addition to this, FIG.
Nozzles 12 to 17 having sensible temperature characteristics as shown in
It has the effect of directly touching the skin around the neck, back, shoulders, chest / abdomen, and feet, as well as warming the whole body of the bather by the warming effect of the hot water flowing down at each part.

Also, the neck part, which has the highest sensation for the human body,
Concentrating a warm bath on the shoulders, waist, and feet can basically satisfy the shower bath without giving a "cold feeling" to the bather who entered the cold bathroom. Moreover, since the hot water shower does not splash or hit the hair, face and both ears, the shower bath is comfortable and smart. In addition, since the chest, abdomen, and feet pulsate and lift, there is a feeling of irritation, and the blood circulation promoting effect also increases, and the heat effect increases.

The effect of the above hot water shower shower induces a sudden dangerous state not only in the winter and in the intermediate period but also throughout the year for the elderly, the care recipient, the heart diseased person and the bather 10 who has a healthy handicap. There is an effect that it is very little to do. In addition, even for healthy people, it is a shower bath that is relatively "cold" in the winter and intermediate seasons, but such a situation is hardly felt.

5 to 7, a fan type, a swirling type,
3 shows a configuration of a wide-angle nozzle and a jetting pattern. From the fan-shaped nozzle shown in FIG. 5, the ejection state is as follows. The swirl nozzles 14 and 15 shown in FIG. 6 are the same as those disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-34849. In particular, the swirl nozzle 14 is provided with an ejection hole 14a at the tip thereof. An inner wall 14b is formed on the hole 14a, and the core 1 for generating fine particles is maintained at a constant interval 14c.
4d is mounted, a straight hole 14e corresponding to the ejection hole 14a is formed in the center of the core 14d, and a plurality of inflow chambers 14f are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the core 14d.
An inflow swirl port 14g is provided at the upper part of d. Then, when the hot water enters the inflow swirl port 14g, it flows into the core 14d through the inclined portion 14h and the inflow chamber 14f, and a part of the hot water amount goes into the straight hole 14e, and the rest of the hot water goes into the swirl groove 14 on the outer periphery.
The rotational force is given vigorously in i, and the swirling flow of the hot water and the straight flow from the straight hole 14e are ejected from the inner wall 14b to the ejection hole 1
Due to the interaction in the process of reaching 4a, the spouted particles continuously form a dense and dense state, and a swirl pulsating state 14j becomes a swirl jet pattern (empty conical jet), and the jet hole 14a
It is something that erupts more. The swirling nozzle 15 differs from the swirling nozzle 14 in the inner diameter of 14e, and the swirling nozzle 15 has a larger diameter. Therefore, the turning groove 1
The amount of water flowing into 4i is reduced, the swirlability is reduced, and the ejection angle is reduced.

Further, in FIG. 7, the wide-angle nozzle 13 is
The nozzle principle described in JP-A-10-28656 is applied, and the shape of the nozzle tip surface 13a is flared into a trumpet shape 13b. Normally, a nozzle having an ejection hole angle of about 50 degrees is 90. The angle is wide before and after. The jetting state at this time shows a full-cone shaped jetting hole pattern, and shows a pulsating jetting state as well as a wide angle and a slightly smaller jetted particle size than in the conventional case. The wide-angle nozzle 13 and the wide-angle nozzle 17 are the same.

[0045]

As described above, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, even if the length of the arm is shortened to about the body thickness from the chest to the back, warm water is applied to both the front side and the back side of the body. Can be spouted. That is, a warm feeling can be secured by ejecting from the front side as much as possible even to the front surface of the body where the ejection distance is short and the body shape has irregularities. Further, when the injection nozzles are provided for the upper body and the lower body, the ejection surface can be increased by ejecting from the front side with respect to the front surface of the upper body, which has many irregularities on the body surface. In addition, it is visually like a shower. From the above, it is possible to achieve both the warm feeling to the whole body and the compactness of the shower device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a shower device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the device.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the device.

[Figure 4] Hot and cold water piping system diagram of the same equipment

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a fan-shaped nozzle of the device and a jet pattern diagram.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a swirl type nozzle of the device and a jet pattern diagram.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a main part of a wide-angle jet nozzle of the same device.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the characteristics of the injection distance of various nozzles and the temperature decrease amount of the injection water temperature.

FIG. 9 is an external side view of a conventional shower device.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 Shower unit body 4 arms 12 fan-shaped nozzle 13 Wide-angle nozzle 14 swirl type nozzle 15 swivel nozzle 16 fan-shaped nozzle 17 Wide-angle nozzle 18 Piping connection 19 Internal piping 24 switching means

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Shigeru Shirai             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2D032 FA02 FA04                 4F033 AA11 BA04 CA02 CA03 DA05                       EA06

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A shower main body, a moving arm supported by the shower main body, and a plurality of jet nozzles for jetting hot water or cold water to the shower main body and the arm, and the tip of the arm or in the vicinity of the tip. A shower device equipped with a jet nozzle for jetting toward the front part of the body of a bather and a jet nozzle for jetting toward the back part of the bather in the shower body. 2. A jet nozzle that jets toward the front of the upper half of the body of a bather at or near the tip of the arm, and jets toward the arm front side of the jet nozzle that jets toward the front of the upper body. The shower apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a jetting unit. 3. The shower device according to claim 1, wherein the jet nozzle for jetting toward the side of the body is provided on the arm support side of the jet nozzle for jetting toward the front of the upper half of the body. 4. The shower device according to claim 1, wherein a jet nozzle for jetting toward the vicinity of the shoulder of the body is provided on the arm supporting side. 5. The jet nozzle for jetting toward the front surface of the upper half of the body and the front portion of the lower half of the body is a swirl type nozzle that spouts an intermittent flow while swirling and has a sharp cone shape.
Or the shower device according to the item 2. 6. The shower apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the ejection angle θ1 of the ejection nozzle ejecting toward the front surface of the upper body is larger than the ejection angle θ2 of the ejection nozzle ejecting toward the front surface of the lower body. 7. The shower device according to claim 3, wherein the ejection nozzle ejecting toward the body side portion is a fan-shaped nozzle ejecting in a flat shape with an obtuse ejection angle. 8. The shower apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the jet nozzle for jetting toward the shoulder of the body is a wide-angle nozzle which jets in a full cone shape with an obtuse jet angle. 9. The shower according to claim 1, wherein a jet nozzle for jetting to the shoulder of the body is provided in the main body, and the jet nozzle is a fan-shaped nozzle so that the jet form is flat. apparatus. 10. A wide-angle nozzle that ejects to the back of the body by providing a jet nozzle in the main body, and jets in a full cone shape with an obtuse jet angle.
The shower device according to the item.