JP2006324164A - Planar heating element and anti-fogging mirror using it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a planar heating element capable of efficiently and uniformly warming a mirror surface in the shape of a circle, an oval, or a polygon, and also capable of efficiently and uniformly keeping the temperature of the mirror surface even in its vertical direction, without making its structure complicated, and to provide an anti-frosting mirror using it. <P>SOLUTION: This planar heating element is formed by wiring a resistance wire in a zigzag line so that a heat generating part practically takes the shape of a circle, an oval, or a polygon, and preferably spaces between the resistance wires are wider in its upper part and narrower in its lower part. In addition, this anti-fogging mirror is formed by sticking a mirror having the same planar shape as that of the heat generating part to the heat generating part together. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a planar heating element and an antifogging mirror using the same. More specifically, a planar heating element for mounting on a mirror having a substantially circular, elliptical, or polygonal planar shape, and a protective element in which the planar heating element is installed on the back surface of the mirror having the above shape. It is about a cloudy mirror.

  Conventionally, many mirrors have been used in bathroom vanities and bathrooms, but there is the inconvenience of fogging with steam. Is being used. As such a planar heating element, those having a structure in which various planar heating elements are covered with an electrically insulating material are widely used. For example, as a heating element, a carbon-based or metal-based conductive resin is impregnated on a substrate such as a glass cloth, a polyester sheet, a polyimide sheet, or mica, applied, or printed, or aluminum, copper, stainless steel A circuit is formed by etching a metal foil such as steel to form a circuit, and a circuit formed by stretching a metal resistance wire such as nickel chrome or copper nickel around an insulating substrate such as mica. In addition, as an electrical insulating material for covering the heat generating element, a synthetic resin film such as silicon, polyester, polyamide or the like, a rubber sheet, an epoxy resin impregnated glass cloth, or the like is used.

Such an anti-fog mirror is one in which a heat transfer plate such as a metal foil or a metal plate is provided between the planar heating element and the mirror in order to keep the temperature of the mirror surface uniform, and the dew condensation on the mirror surface is efficient. Developed a sensor that installs a capacitance detection sensor on the back of the mirror to detect the change in capacitance caused by the presence or absence of condensation on the mirror and automatically turns the heating element on / off. Has been. An antifogging mirror using a parallel two-circuit heating unit has also been devised.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-92602 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-57262 JP 9-23955 A

  Conventionally, in the planar heating element used conventionally, the shape of the heating part is usually square or rectangular due to the convenience of the manufacturing process. For this reason, a mirror whose plane shape is circular, elliptical or polygonal has a drawback that it is difficult to keep the temperature of the mirror surface uniform. Moreover, since the mirror installed in the bathroom vanity or the bathroom is usually installed in the vertical direction, the upper part is more easily heated than the lower part. Therefore, even if a heat transfer plate, a capacitance detection sensor, or a heat generating part of two parallel circuits is applied to a circular, elliptical, or polygonal anti-fog mirror, in any case, from a square or rectangular heat generating part The remote mirror surface has the inconvenience that it is easy to condense. Further, the sheet heating element using the capacitance detection sensor and the parallel two-circuit heating unit has a disadvantage that the configuration becomes complicated.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is a planar heating element capable of efficiently and uniformly heating a mirror surface having a circular shape, an elliptical shape, or a polygonal shape without complicating the configuration. Another object is to provide a planar heating element capable of efficiently and uniformly warming the surface of the mirror in the vertical direction, and an antifogging mirror using the same.

  As a result of intensive studies to solve these problems, the inventors of the present invention made resistance wires meander on the spare substrate so that the shape becomes a circle, an ellipse, or a polygon. By meandering wiring so that the upper part is sparse and the lower part is dense, and the resistance wire on the spare substrate is brought into contact with a supporting base material provided with an adhesive layer on the surface, and the resistance wire is transferred to the supporting base material. The inventors have found that a resistance wire can be easily wired on the support base so that the shape becomes a circle, an ellipse, or a polygon, and have reached the planar heating element and the anti-fog mirror of the present invention.

That is, the present invention is a planar heating element characterized in that resistance wires are meandered so that the shape of the heat generating portion is substantially circular, elliptical, or polygonal.
The present invention also provides a planar heating element in which resistance wires are meandered so that the shape of the heat generating portion is substantially circular, elliptical, or polygonal, and a planar shape substantially the same as the heat generating portion. It is an anti-fogging mirror characterized in that it is formed by pasting together mirrors.

  The planar heating element of the present invention is a planar heating element in which resistance wires are meandered so that the shape of the heating part is substantially circular, elliptical, or polygonal. When installed in a circular, elliptical, or polygonal mirror, the surface of the mirror can be efficiently and uniformly heated. In addition, the planar heating element of the present invention can easily meander the wiring of the mirror so that the distance between the resistance wires can be easily sparse so that the upper side is sparse and the lower side is dense. Is possible. Further, the antifogging mirror of the present invention is an antifogging mirror having a circular, elliptical, or polygonal mirror in the planar shape, but the configuration is complicated because the planar heating element as described above is used. In addition, the mirror surface can be efficiently and uniformly heated.

The planar heating element of the present invention is applied to a heater for heating circular, elliptical, or polygonal antifogging mirrors as well as circular, elliptical, or polygonal shapes. Moreover, the anti-fog mirror of this invention is applied to the circular, elliptical, or polygonal anti-fog mirror used in a bathroom vanity, a bathroom, etc.
Hereinafter, although the planar heating element and anti-fog mirror of this invention are demonstrated in detail based on FIGS. 1-6, this invention is not limited by these.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a resistance wire installation surface of the planar heating element of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the aa ′ plane in FIG. 1. 3-5 is a top view which shows an example of resistance wire installation surfaces other than FIG. 1 of the planar heating element of this invention, respectively. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the antifogging mirror of the present invention.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 to 5, the planar heating element of the present invention is configured such that the resistance wire 2 is meandered so that the shape of the heating portion 1 is substantially circular, elliptical, or polygonal. This is a planar heating element.

In the planar heating element of the present invention, when the shape of the heating part 1 is circular, the resistance wire 2 is usually meandered from one end of the diameter 3 toward the other end as shown in FIG. Preferably, however, the wiring is meandered so that the distance between the resistance wires 2 increases from one end of the diameter 3 to the other end in a direction from sparse to dense.
When the shape of the heat generating portion 1 is elliptical, the resistance wire 2 is usually meandered from one end of the long diameter 4 toward the other end as shown in FIG. The resistance wires 2 are meandered so that the distance between the resistance wires 2 becomes sparse and dense from one end of the major axis 4 toward the other end.

When the shape of the heat generating portion 1 is a polygon, the resistance wire 2 is usually meandered from one side 5 toward one side 6 facing the one side 5 as shown in FIG. However, the resistance wires 2 are preferably meandered so that the distance between the resistance wires 2 is increased from one side 5 toward the one side 6 facing the one side 5 in a sparse to dense manner.
In the case of setting sparse / dense with respect to the interval between the resistance wires 2, in any shape, the interval continuously increases from the sparse part toward the dense part, or divided into a plurality of areas within each division range. In the configuration, the intervals are even and the intervals are increased for each section. The maximum difference between the sparse part and the dense part is usually about 1.1 to 5.0 times.
Further, the shape of the outer shape of the planar heating element is not particularly limited, and may be the same shape as the shape of the heat generating portion 1 as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, or FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the shape of the heat generating part 1 may be different.

The planar heating element of the present invention is not particularly limited with respect to the other components as long as the resistance wire is installed as described above and the resistance wire is covered with the electrical insulating layer. As shown in FIG. 2, the resistance wire 2 is fixed to the support substrate 8 through the adhesive layer 7, and the resistance wire 2 is further covered with the electrical insulating layer 9.
The resistance wire 2 used in the planar heating element of the present invention is usually a wire resistance wire or a metal foil resistance wire.

In addition, examples of the supporting substrate used in the planar heating element of the present invention include, for example, phenol resin, urea resin, epoxy resin, melamine resin, polyolefin resin, polyester resin, polyimide resin, vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate resin, polyvinyl Examples thereof include synthetic resin base materials and glass cloth base materials made of alcohol resin, polystyrene resin, polyamide resin, vinylidene chloride resin, fluororesin and the like.
Examples of the base material of the electrical insulating layer include rubber, epoxy resin-impregnated glass cloth, silicon resin, polyimide resin, polyetherimide resin, polysulfone resin, polyphenylene sulfide resin, aromatic polyamide resin, mica, and the like. it can.

  When manufacturing the planar heating element of the present invention, it is necessary to meander the resistance wires on the support substrate so that the outline is circular, elliptical, or polygonal. In the present invention, for example, resistance wires are meandered on a spare substrate having pins that can be accommodated in the substrate at the time of transfer so that the shape is circular, elliptical, or polygonal, and an adhesive layer is provided on the surface. The support substrate is pressed from above the spare substrate so that the resistance wire and the adhesive layer are in contact with each other, and the resistance wire is transferred from the spare substrate to the support substrate so that the contour is circular, elliptical, or polygonal. These resistance wires can be formed on the support substrate. After the transition, the resistance wire may penetrate through the adhesive layer and be in contact with the support substrate, or may not penetrate through the adhesive layer.

  Next, the laminated body in which the resistance wire is fixed to the supporting substrate through the adhesive layer is coated with an insulating material that becomes an electric insulating layer on the surface of the resistance wire, or an insulating material that becomes an electric insulating layer is coated on both surfaces. Then, a sheet heating element having a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 2 is obtained by integrally forming by hot pressing and further providing the terminal 10. When covering both surfaces with an electrical insulating layer, a sheet heating element is prepared by previously providing a large number of through holes in the adhesive layer and the supporting substrate and filling the through holes with the material of the electrical insulating layer during hot pressing. The mechanical strength of can be improved. In the planar heating element of the present invention, a metal foil for grounding and a double-sided adhesive tape can be appropriately provided on any surface. A grounding terminal can also be provided as appropriate.

  The antifogging mirror of the present invention is an antifogging mirror formed by bonding the above-mentioned planar heating element to a mirror having a circular shape, an ellipse, or a polygonal plan shape. That is, a planar heating element in which resistance wires are meandered so that the shape of the heating part is substantially circular, elliptical, or polygonal, and a mirror having substantially the same planar shape as that of the heating part are pasted. This is an anti-fog mirror. As the antifogging mirror of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, an antifogging mirror having a configuration in which a mirror 14 is installed on a planar heating element 11 via a metal foil 12 and a double-sided adhesive tape 13 can be exemplified. In the antifogging mirror of the present invention, for example, if the mirror is circular, the heat generating part is usually circular, but a regular octagonal, regular decagonal or other heat generating part that is substantially similar in shape to the circle may be used. it can. The size of the mirror and the heat generating part may be different from each other. In addition, when the resistance lines of the planar heating element are densely spaced, the resistance lines are placed on a surface such as a wall so that the sparsely spaced part is on the upper side and the dense part is on the lower side.

  EXAMPLES Next, although an Example demonstrates this invention concretely, this invention is not limited by these.

(Manufacture of sheet heating elements)
On the iron spare substrate, the resistance lines are spaced from each other in the direction of the diameter of the circular heat generating portion from one end to the other end so that the heat generating portion has a circular shape with a diameter of 270 mm. A 13 mm resistance wire (Cu-Ni wire) was meandered, and then a PET support substrate (diameter 280 mm, thickness 0.4 mm) provided with an acrylic adhesive layer on the surface was brought into contact with the resistance wire and the adhesive layer. As described above, by pressing the spare substrate from above and transferring the resistance wire from the spare substrate to the supporting base material, a circular resistance wire having a contour as shown in FIG. 1 was formed on the supporting base material.

The spacing between the resistance wires meandered in this manner was three times the maximum difference between the spacing between the sparse portion (upper circle) and the dense portion (lower circle).
Next, an epoxy prepreg (diameter: 300 mm, thickness: 0.2 mm) as an electrical insulating layer is coated on both surfaces of the laminate produced as described above, and is integrally formed by hot pressing at a temperature of 160 ° C. Further, a terminal was provided to obtain a planar heating element having a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG.

(Production of anti-fog mirror)
On the resistance wire side surface of the sheet heating element manufactured as described above, the aluminum tape for grounding (thickness 0.05 mm) having the same shape and size as the sheet heating element, and double-sided adhesive A tape was affixed, and a circular mirror having a diameter of 400 mm and a thickness of 4 mm was affixed to obtain an antifogging mirror having a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG.
Moreover, the temperature sensor was installed in the center point of the mirror surface of this anti-fog mirror, an upper end part (125 mm above the center point), and a lower end part (125 mm below the center point).

(Mirror surface temperature measurement test)
The anti-fogging mirror was installed on the wall of a test room (width 180 cm, depth 270 cm, height 220 cm) imitating a bathroom set at a temperature of 15 ° C. and a humidity of 30%.
Next, 200 L of hot water having a temperature of 45 ° C. was put into a container installed in the test chamber to generate water vapor, and electricity was passed through the planar heating element to warm the antifogging mirror. As a result, the temperatures of the center point, upper end, and lower end of the mirror surface were all stable at 35 ° C. Moreover, although the test was performed over 1 hour, the mirror surface did not become cloudy.

(Manufacture of sheet heating elements)
On the iron spare substrate, the distance between the resistance wires becomes narrower and denser from one end to the other end of the elliptical heating portion so that the heating portion has an elliptical shape having a major axis of 540 mm and a minor axis of 270 mm. Thus, a PET support substrate (major axis 550 mm, minor axis 280 mm, thickness 0.4 mm) having an acrylic adhesive layer on the surface after meandering a resistance wire (Cu—Ni wire) having a diameter of 0.2 mm Is pressed from above the spare substrate so that the resistance wire and the adhesive layer are in contact with each other, and the resistance wire is transferred from the spare substrate to the support base material, thereby forming an elliptical resistance wire having an outline as shown in FIG. It was formed on a support substrate.

The interval between the resistance wires meandered in this manner was four times the maximum difference between the sparse portion (upper side of the ellipse) and the dense portion (lower side of the ellipse).
Next, an epoxy prepreg (major axis: 570 mm, minor axis: 300 mm, thickness: 0.2 mm) is coated on both sides of the laminate produced as described above as an electrical insulating layer, and hot-pressed at a temperature of 160 ° C. The sheet was further integrally molded and further provided with a terminal to obtain a planar heating element having a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG.

(Production of anti-fog mirror)
On the resistance wire side surface of the sheet heating element manufactured as described above, the aluminum tape for grounding (thickness 0.05 mm) having the same shape and size as the sheet heating element, and double-sided adhesive A tape was affixed, and an elliptical mirror having a major axis of 670 mm, a minor axis of 400 mm, and a thickness of 4 mm was affixed to obtain an antifogging mirror having a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG.
Moreover, the temperature sensor was installed in the center point of the mirror surface of this anti-fog mirror, an upper end part (260 mm above a center point), and a lower end part (260 mm below a center point).

(Mirror surface temperature measurement test)
The anti-fogging mirror was installed on the wall of a test room (width 180 cm, depth 270 cm, height 220 cm) imitating a bathroom set at a temperature of 15 ° C. and a humidity of 30%.
Next, 200 L of hot water having a temperature of 45 ° C. was put into a container installed in the test chamber to generate water vapor, and electricity was passed through the planar heating element to warm the antifogging mirror. As a result, the temperatures of the center point, upper end, and lower end of the mirror surface were all stable at 35 ° C. Moreover, although the test was performed over 1 hour, the mirror surface did not become cloudy.

(Comparative Example 1)
(Manufacture of sheet heating elements)
After the resistance wire (Cu-Ni wire) having a diameter of 0.15 mm was meandered on the iron spare board so that the heating wire was a square with a side of 270 mm so that the intervals of the resistance wires were all equal, A supporting substrate made of PET (280 mm on a side, thickness 0.4 mm) having an acrylic adhesive layer on the surface is pressed from above the spare substrate so that the resistance wire and the adhesive layer are in contact with each other, and the resistance wire is removed from the spare substrate. By transferring to a supporting substrate, a resistance wire having a square outline was formed on the supporting substrate.

  Next, both sides of the laminate produced as described above are coated with an epoxy prepreg (300 mm on a side, thickness 0.2 mm) as an electrical insulating layer, and are integrally formed by hot pressing at a temperature of 160 ° C. Further, a terminal was provided to obtain a planar heating element having a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG.

(Production of anti-fog mirror)
On the resistance wire side surface of the sheet heating element manufactured as described above, the aluminum tape for grounding (thickness 0.05 mm) having the same shape and size as the sheet heating element, and double-sided adhesive A tape was attached, and a circular mirror having a diameter of 500 mm was further attached to obtain an antifogging mirror having a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG.
Moreover, the temperature sensor was installed in the center point of the mirror surface of this anti-fog mirror, an upper end part (125 mm above the center point), and a lower end part (125 mm below the center point).

(Mirror surface temperature measurement test)
The anti-fogging mirror was installed on the wall of a test room (width 180 cm, depth 270 cm, height 220 cm) imitating a bathroom set at a temperature of 15 ° C. and a humidity of 30%.
Next, 200 L of hot water having a temperature of 45 ° C. was put into a container installed in the test chamber to generate water vapor, and electricity was passed through the planar heating element to warm the antifogging mirror. As a result, the temperatures of the center point, upper end, and lower end of the mirror surface were stable and non-uniform at 35 ° C., 45 ° C., and 30 ° C., respectively.

  As described above, the planar heating element of the present invention can efficiently and uniformly warm a mirror surface having a circular or elliptical plane shape. Further, the anti-fogging mirror of the present invention using this planar heating element can efficiently prevent surface fogging even if the mirror surface has a circular or elliptical shape.

The top view which shows an example of the resistance wire installation surface of the planar heating element of this invention Sectional drawing which shows the example of the a-a 'surface in FIG. The top view which shows an example of resistance wire installation surfaces other than FIG. 1 of the planar heating element of this invention The top view which shows an example of the resistance wire installation surface other than FIG. 1, FIG. 2 of the planar heating element of this invention The top view which shows an example of the resistance wire installation surface other than FIGS. 1-3 of the planar heating element of this invention Sectional drawing which shows an example of the anti-fog mirror of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heat generation part 2 Resistance wire 3 Diameter of circular heat generation part 4 Long diameter of elliptical heat generation part 5 One side of polygonal heat generation part 6 One side opposite to 5 7 Adhesive layer 8 Support base material 9 Electrical insulating layer 10 Terminal 11 Planar heating element 12 Metal foil 13 Double-sided adhesive tape 14 Mirror

Claims (7)

  A planar heating element, wherein resistance wires are meandered so that the shape of the heating part is substantially circular, elliptical, or polygonal.   The planar heating element according to claim 1, wherein the resistance wires are arranged in a meandering manner so that the distance between the resistance wires increases from one end to the other end of the diameter of the circular heating portion.   The planar heating element according to claim 1, wherein the resistance wires are arranged in a meandering manner so that the interval between the resistance wires increases from one end of the major axis of the elliptical heating portion to the other end in a sparse and dense manner.   The planar heating element according to claim 1, wherein the resistance wires are meandered so that the interval between the resistance wires becomes narrower and denser from one side of the polygonal heating portion toward one side facing the one side.   The planar heating element according to claim 1, wherein the resistance wire is a wire-like resistance wire or a metal foil-like resistance wire.   The planar heating element according to claim 1, wherein the resistance wire is fixed to the support substrate via an adhesive layer, and the resistance wire is further covered with an electrical insulating layer. A sheet heating element in which resistance wires are meandered and a mirror having substantially the same planar shape as that of the heating section are bonded so that the heating section has a substantially circular, elliptical, or polygonal shape. An anti-fog mirror characterized by

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