JP2003222273A - Flexible metal pipe and manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a metal pipe having flexibility and an antibacterial property and incurring no damage even when by repeated bending, and also to provide a method for readily manufacturing the metal pipe. <P>SOLUTION: The metal pipe 10 is made of antibacterial metal and has bellows-shaped folds for flexibility. Silicone rubber primer is applied to an outer periphery of the metal pipe, a sheet of silicone rubber 20 is wound around the pipe, and they are molded under heat and pressure with a mold 30. A material for the inside of the metal pipe 10 may be copper or a copper alloy, and heat-resisting rubber may be silicone rubber. <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 flexible and antibacterial metal tube used for water supply and drainage facilities and the like, and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, pipes used for water supply and drainage facilities have been required to be flexible in order to align devices. As a means for giving the tube such flexibility, it is known to form the tube in a bellows shape. However, if it is simply formed into a bellows shape, it may be damaged by metal fatigue if repeatedly bent. Therefore, it is conceivable to reinforce the bellows portion of the pipe.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-159478 discloses a structure in which a silicon rubber layer is provided on the outer circumference of a bellows-shaped metal tube. However, since the object of the present invention is to provide a stretchable tube having excellent stretchability and eccentricity characteristics, and further improved durability and vibration damping characteristics, it is possible to embed a metal wire group in a silicone rubber layer. Is an essential requirement. Therefore, a considerable manufacturing cost is unavoidable for installing the metal wire rod group.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-352482 discloses a structure in which a metal flexible tube is covered with a resin blended with silicon. However, since the object of the present invention is to provide a resin material that can be used for a long period of time in an atmosphere of high temperature and high humidity such as in a kitchen, the shape of the pipe and the coating process of the resin are not particularly limited. Is not mentioned.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention provides a metal tube having a simple structure, yet having flexibility and antibacterial property that is not damaged even if it is repeatedly bent, and
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for easily manufacturing the metal tube.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the flexible metal tube of the present invention has the following constitution, that is, it is made of a metal having antibacterial property and is provided with bellows-like irregularities. It is characterized in that heat-resistant rubber is bonded to the outer peripheral surface of a flexible metal tube in a close contact state, and the irregularities on the outer peripheral surface of the metal tube are embedded with the rubber.

Here, copper or copper alloy may be used as the material of at least the inner surface of the metal tube, and silicon rubber may be used as the heat-resistant rubber to contribute to the workability and the reduction of manufacturing cost.

To manufacture such a flexible metal tube,
After applying a silicone rubber primer to the outer surface of a flexible metal tube made of metal with antibacterial properties and having bellows-shaped irregularities, wind a sheet of silicone rubber and heat it with a mold. A pressure molding method is preferable.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the examples shown in the drawings. Here, as the flexible metal tube, a silicon-added copper tube used in a water supply / drainage facility is mentioned. However, the present invention has a simple structure and is flexible enough not to be damaged even if it is repeatedly bent. Also, the present invention can be applied to general metal tubes having antibacterial properties, and the manufacturing method thereof is not limited to the examples described below, and conventionally known methods can be appropriately applied.

FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view showing a manufacturing process of a flexible metal tube according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1 (a), a bellows-shaped uneven portion (11) is formed on the metal pipe (10). Due to the uneven portion (11), the metal tube (10) can be bent and has flexibility.
The shape of the concavo-convex portion (11) may be a spiral shape or a shape in which a plurality of spirals intersect, in addition to the shape in which a plurality of circular portions are continuous as shown in the drawing, and the metal may be formed through the concavo-convex portion (11). It is optional as long as it can impart flexibility to the tube (10).

As the material of the metal tube (10), a material having antibacterial properties such as copper or copper alloy is selected. For example, JIS
Materials of H3300 temper 0 standard can be used. However,
The entire metal tube (10) does not have to be made of a single material, and the inner surface (1) in contact with the fluid flowing through the metal tube (10)
It is sufficient that 2) has antibacterial properties. Metal tube (10)
Most of the above may be made of stainless steel, iron, aluminum or the like, and copper may be added to the inner surface (12) of the device.

The thickness of the metal tube (10) is appropriately set in consideration of the pressure of the fluid flowing therethrough, the installation environment, etc., but depending on the manufacturing cost and the like, it is about 0.2-1.
It is preferably 0 mm. Similarly, the outer diameter of the metal tube (10) is preferably about 7 to 20 mm.

The shape of the concavo-convex portion (11) of the metal pipe (10) is the above-mentioned standard of the metal pipe (10) and the metal pipe (10).
It is set depending on the rubber to be described later attached to, the purpose of bending the metal pipe (10), and the like. In the case of the present embodiment, it is preferable that the step of the unevenness in the uneven portion (11) is about 1 to 1.5 mm and the pitch of the unevenness is about 3 to 5 mm. The step and pitch of the unevenness and the inclination angle of the groove are values that depend on the thickness and the diameter of the metal tube (10), and are appropriately adjusted according to the change in the thickness or the diameter of the metal tube (10). To be done.

A silicone rubber primer is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the metal tube (10) as described above. And
After air-drying for about 30 minutes, the next step is performed.

As shown in FIG. 1B, a metal tube (10)
A sheet-shaped silicone rubber (20) is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the concave-convex portion (11) and is cut at the peripheral portion (21). The material of the silicone rubber (20) is, for example, TSE.
A mixture of 221-5U and 0.5% by weight of a vulcanizing agent TC-8 can be used. In this embodiment, the thickness of the silicone rubber (20) is about 2 mm, but depending on the unevenness of the unevenness in the unevenness portion (11) of the metal tube (10),
It is selected appropriately.

The rubber wound around the outer peripheral surface of the uneven portion (11) of the metal tube (10) is not limited to silicon. Although any rubber material can be used as long as the usable temperature range exceeds 100 ° C., silicone rubber-based, fluororubber-based and the like are preferable because they have particularly high heat resistance, and silicone rubber is most preferable. . Silicon rubber has significantly higher heat resistance than other rubber materials. Therefore, it can be used at 200 ° C. or higher, and is useful for sanitary equipment, hot water supply equipment, etc. used at high temperatures of about 70 to 120 ° C. Moreover, silicon rubber is inexpensive, and various raw materials such as liquid to solid are easily available, which is convenient in manufacturing. In this embodiment, silicone rubber having a JISA hardness of about 10 to 80 can be preferably used.

The silicone rubber to be used is not pure and may be rubberized by heating and vulcanizing it after appropriately adding additives to liquid silicone. For example, the silicone rubber may be colored to contribute to the improvement of the appearance.

The metal tube (10) wound with the sheet-shaped silicone rubber (20) is housed in a mold (30) as shown in FIG. The molding is
For example, at about 170 ° C. for about 20 minutes, pressure about 50 kg / c
carried out in m ^2. Thereby, the thickness of the silicone rubber (20) is about 0.1 to 1.0 m from the outermost diameter of the metal tube (10).
to m.

After molding, as shown in FIG. 1D, burrs formed at the end of the silicone rubber (20) are cut off with a cutter to obtain a product.

The above is a sheet-shaped silicone rubber (20)
The method of winding the wire around the metal tube (10) has been described.
The step of adding the silicon rubber (20) to the metal pipe (10) is a well-known method as long as the two can be joined in a close contact state and the uneven portion (11) of the metal pipe (10) can be embedded with the silicon rubber (20). Any method can be used as appropriate.

As described above, in the flexible metal tube according to the present invention, since the silicon rubber (20) is embedded in the uneven portion (11) of the metal tube (10), the metal tube (10) is bent. In this case, the local stress generated in the uneven portion (11) can be dispersed in the silicon rubber (20) in contact with it. Therefore, damage due to metal fatigue is prevented, and it can be repeatedly bent. Further, since the metal is covered with the silicon rubber (20), it also has an effect of suppressing the influence from the external environment such as rust prevention.

[0022]

[Example] A copper tube (10) having an outer diameter of 10.6 mm and a thickness of 0.6 mm was subjected to a bellows-like processing of an innermost diameter 8 mm of an uneven portion (11), a pitch of 3.7 mm, and a length of 270 mm, and its outer peripheral surface. Was coated with silicone rubber (20) having a hardness of 50 degrees to have an outer diameter of 12 mm after molding. This copper tube (10)
And a copper tube not coated with silicone rubber,
A bending test was carried out by bending it to 0 ° and returning it to a straight line again.

As a result, the copper tube (10) of the present invention coated with silicone rubber was not abnormal, but the copper tube not coated with silicone rubber was damaged when it was bent back.

[0024]

According to the flexible metal tube and the method of manufacturing the same of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. That is, according to the flexible metal tube of claim 1, heat-resistant rubber is bonded in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of a flexible metal tube having bellows-shaped irregularities, and Since the irregularities on the outer peripheral surface of the metal pipe are embedded, the local stress generated when the metal pipe is bent is effectively dispersed in the rubber. Therefore, damage can be prevented even when repeatedly bent.

According to the flexible metal tube of claim 2,
Since the material of at least the inner surface of the metal tube is copper or copper alloy,
Antibacterial properties can be obtained while improving processability and reducing manufacturing costs.

According to the flexible metal tube of claim 3,
Since the metal tube is covered with silicon rubber, heat resistance can be obtained while improving workability and reducing manufacturing cost.

According to the method of manufacturing a flexible metal tube of claim 4, a primer of silicon rubber is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the metal tube, the sheet-shaped silicon rubber is wound, and heated and pressed by a mold. Since it is molded, it can be manufactured with high productivity with a simple device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view showing a manufacturing process of a flexible metal tube.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 metal tubes 11 uneven parts 12 Inside 20 silicone rubber 21, 22 cut surface 30 molds

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Tetsuo Ino             4-2-1 Nihonbashi Muromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo             Wacom Denso Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Koichi Kobayashi             4-2-1 Nihonbashi Muromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo             Wacom Denso Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3H111 AA02 BA04 BA12 BA13 CA02                       CA44 CA52 CB03 CB14 CB23                       CC12 CC18 DB03 DB05 EA12                       EA13                 4F100 AB01A AB17A AB31A AK52B                       AN00B BA02 BA07 DA13                       DD16A GB90 JC00A JJ03B                       JK17

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A heat-resistant rubber is adhered to an outer peripheral surface of a flexible metal tube which is made of a metal having antibacterial property and has bellows-like unevenness, and the outer periphery of the metal tube is bonded with the rubber. A flexible metal tube having irregularities on its surface embedded therein. 2. The flexible metal tube according to claim 1, wherein the material of at least the inner surface of the metal tube is copper or a copper alloy. 3. The flexible metal tube according to claim 1, wherein the rubber having heat resistance is silicone rubber. 4. A silicone rubber primer is applied to the outer peripheral surface of a flexible metal tube made of a metal having antibacterial properties and having bellows-shaped irregularities, and then a sheet-shaped silicone rubber is wound, A method for producing a flexible metal tube, which comprises heat-pressing and molding with a mold.