JP2011097994A - Rotary body - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rotary body capable of improving the durability. <P>SOLUTION: A wheel 14 is rotatably attached to the bottom of a head of a vacuum cleaner, and is used in such a state as to rotate in contact with a floor surface according to the movement of the head. The wheel 14 includes a shaft member 20 and a cylindrical foam layer 21 disposed to cover the outer surface of the shaft member 20. A cylindrical fluffed layer 22 with a plurality of fibers subjected to electrostatic flocking is disposed on the outer surface of the foam layer 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a rotating body that rotates while a fluff layer is in contact with a contacted portion.

  As such a rotating body, for example, a rotating body that is rotatably attached to a head of an electric vacuum cleaner and used as a wheel for moving the head is known (for example, Patent Document 1). The rotating body of this Patent Document 1 has a configuration in which a belt-like velor material (fluff layer) is wound around the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical wheel, and the velor is cleaned when the floor surface (contacted part) is cleaned with an electric vacuum cleaner. By rotating the rotating body while the material is in contact with the floor surface, the head is moved gently without damaging the floor surface.

JP 2003-189939 A

  By the way, since the rotary body of patent document 1 is the structure which wound the strip | belt-shaped velor material around the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical wheel, a seam will be formed in the butt | matching part of the both ends of this velor material inevitably. For this reason, there has been a problem that the velour material is drowned from the seam, or the cushioning property is lowered due to the sag of the velor material with a long-term use, and the durability is lowered.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such problems. The object is to provide a rotating body capable of improving durability.

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is a rotating body used in a state of rotating while being in contact with a contacted portion, and includes a shaft member and an outer peripheral surface of the shaft member. A cylindrical foam layer provided so as to cover the outer surface of the foam layer, and a cylindrical fluff layer formed by electrostatically flocking a plurality of fibers is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer. To do.

  According to the said structure, since the cylindrical foam layer without a joint line is provided in the outer peripheral surface of a shaft member, it becomes difficult to blow a foam layer from a shaft member. In addition, since the foam layer has cushioning properties, the cushioning properties are not lost even if the fluff layer falls. Therefore, durability can be improved.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, a non-fluff layer region in which the fluff layer is not provided is formed at both axial ends of the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer. It is a summary.

  According to the above configuration, the both end edges in the axial direction at the joint portion between the foam layer and the fluff layer are located inside the both end edges of the foam layer in the axial direction. Even if both sides rub against an object, it is possible to prevent the fibers constituting the fluff layer from falling off from the foam layer.

  Invention of Claim 3 makes the outer peripheral surface of this foam layer smooth between the outer peripheral surface of the said foam layer, and the said fluff layer in invention of Claim 1 or Claim 2. The gist is that a thin film layer is interposed.

  According to the said structure, since the outer peripheral surface of a foam layer becomes smooth by a thin film layer, it becomes possible to suppress the dispersion | variation in the height of each fiber electrostatically flocked to the outer peripheral surface of this foam layer.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the rotary body which can aim at the improvement of durability can be provided.

The bottom view which shows the head of the vacuum cleaner of embodiment. The side view which shows the use condition of the head of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. In embodiment, (a) is a perspective view of a wheel, (b) is a front view of (a). In embodiment, (a) is a perspective view of a foam layer, (b) is a perspective view which shows a state when electrostatic flocking is carried out to the outer peripheral surface of a foam layer. In embodiment, the perspective view which shows a state when covering the shaft member with the foam layer by which electrostatic flocking was made on the outer peripheral surface. The perspective view which shows the wheel of the example of a change. Sectional drawing which shows the wheel of the example of a change.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the rotating body of the present invention is embodied as a wheel disposed on the head of a vacuum cleaner will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, the structure of the head of the vacuum cleaner in which wheels are arranged will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the head 11 of the vacuum cleaner has a substantially T-shape when viewed from the bottom, and a rectangular suction port 12 that is long in the left-right direction is located at the front side of the bottom surface 11a. It is open. On the bottom surface 11a of the head 11, a pair of left and right accommodation recesses 13 are formed at the front end and the rear end, respectively. That is, on the bottom surface 11a of the head 11, two receiving recesses 13 are provided on both sides of the suction port 12 in the front-rear direction.

  A wheel 14 as a rotating body is housed in each housing recess 13 so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the left-right direction, and a part of each wheel 14 protrudes from each housing recess 13. ing. One end side of the connection pipe 15 is pivotally connected to the rear end portion of the head 11 with respect to the head 11, and the other end side of the connection pipe 15 is a main body (not shown) of the vacuum cleaner. It is connected to the.

  When the vacuum cleaner is used, dust such as dust, dust, hair, etc. near the suction port 12 on the floor surface F as a contacted part together with air passes through the suction port 12 and the connection pipe 15 and the main body of the vacuum cleaner. It is sucked into a part (not shown).

Next, the configuration of the wheel 14 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the wheel 14 includes a shaft member 20, a cylindrical foam layer 21 formed on the outside of the shaft member 20, and an outer side of the foam layer 21. And a fluff layer 22 formed through a thin film layer 25.

  The shaft member 20 includes a round bar-shaped shaft portion 23 and a diameter-expanded portion 24 that is disposed at the center portion of the shaft portion 23 and has a larger diameter than other portions of the shaft portion 23. A foam layer 21 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the enlarged diameter portion 24 so as to cover the entire outer peripheral surface. The foam layer 21 has the same length as the enlarged diameter portion 24 in the axial direction.

  The entire outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 21 is covered with a thin film layer 25 that smooths the outer peripheral surface, and the entire outer peripheral surface of the thin film layer 25 is provided with a fluff layer 22 formed by electrostatically flocking a plurality of fibers. It has been. In the present embodiment, the shaft member 20 and the foam layer 21 are made of a comparatively lightweight ABS resin (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer) among synthetic resins, and the fibers constituting the fluff layer 22 have resilience and Polyamide fibers with excellent wear resistance are used.

Next, a method for manufacturing the wheel 14 will be described.
When manufacturing the wheel 14, first, the cylindrical foam layer 21 is formed by an extrusion molding method. At this time, since the thin film layer 25 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 21, the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 21 is smoothed by the thin film layer 25. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4A, after the molded foam layer 21 is cut to a predetermined length, an adhesive is applied to the entire outer peripheral surface of the thin film layer 25 as shown in FIG. 4B. The fluff layer 22 is formed by electrostatically flocking a polyamide fiber having a desired length (for example, 1 mm) over the entire outer peripheral surface.

  Subsequently, the shaft member 20 is molded by an injection molding method. At this time, the shaft member 20 is molded so that the outer diameter of the enlarged diameter portion 24 is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the foam layer 21. Subsequently, the double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape is adhered to several locations on the outer peripheral surface of the enlarged diameter portion 24 of the shaft member 20 (or an adhesive is applied). Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the foam layer 21 is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the enlarged diameter portion 24 in a state of being elastically deformed until the inner diameter of the foam layer 21 becomes larger than the outer diameter of the enlarged diameter portion 24. Then, with the elastic restoring force of the foam layer 21, the wheel 14 is completed by adhering and fixing the inner peripheral surface of the foam layer 21 in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the enlarged diameter portion 24.

Next, the operation of the wheel 14 will be described.
Now, when cleaning the floor F with an electric vacuum cleaner, the head 11 is first placed on the floor F as shown in FIG. Then, each wheel 14 provided in the head 11 comes into contact with the floor surface F. When the vacuum cleaner is operated in this state, dust such as dust, dust, hair, etc. near the suction port 12 on the floor surface F together with air passes through the suction port 12 and the connection pipe 15 to the main body (illustration). Abbreviated) When the head 11 is moved in the front-rear direction along the floor surface F so as to clean the entire floor surface F, the wheels 14 roll on the floor surface F as the head 11 moves.

  At this time, the sound generated when each wheel 14 rolls on the floor surface F is effectively suppressed by the sufficient cushioning property of the foam layer 21 of each wheel 14. Further, since the foam layer 21 of each wheel 14 has no seam, the foam layer 21 is not clogged with dust and the foam layer 21 is not swollen from the shaft member 20. Therefore, each wheel 14 can endure long-term use.

According to the embodiment detailed above, the following effects are exhibited.
(1) In the wheel 14, since the cylindrical foam layer 21 having no seam is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the enlarged diameter portion 24 of the shaft member 20, the foam layer 21 from the shaft member 20 is used when the wheel 14 is used. It is possible to suppress drowning and to suppress a decrease in designability. Moreover, since the foam layer 21 has sufficient cushioning properties, the cushioning properties are not lost even if each fiber constituting the fluff layer 22 is damaged. Therefore, the durability of the wheel 14 can be improved.

  (2) A thin film layer 25 for smoothing the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 21 is interposed between the foam layer 21 and the fluff layer 22. For this reason, since the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 21 in which irregularities are formed by a plurality of cells can be smoothed by the thin film layer 25, when each fiber is electrostatically flocked on the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 21 , Variation in the height of each fiber can be suppressed.

  Incidentally, if the thin film layer 25 is not present, each fiber must be electrostatically implanted using an adhesive on the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 21 in a state where the irregularities are formed by the cells. There is a problem in that the adhesive is not uniformly applied to the surface, or the height varies between the electrostatically implanted fibers.

  (3) Since the wheel 14 has a configuration in which the fluff layer 22 formed by electrostatically flocking each fiber is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 21, without the process of weaving a woven fabric or knitting a knitted fabric, The color, length, thickness, and material of each fiber can be easily changed.

  (4) Since the wheel 14 has a configuration in which the cylindrical foam layer 21 is adhered to the outer peripheral surface of the columnar enlarged diameter portion 24, the inner diameter of the foam layer 21 and the outside of the enlarged diameter portion 24 of the shaft member 20. The cushioning property can be easily adjusted by appropriately changing the diameter.

(Example of change)
In addition, the said embodiment can also be changed and actualized as follows.
-As shown in FIG. 6, you may make it form the non-fluff layer area | region 30 in which the fluff layer 22 is not provided in the wheel 14 at the both ends of the axial direction in the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 21. FIG. If it does in this way, the both ends edge of the axial direction in the junction part of foam layer 21 and fluff layer 22 comes to be located inside the both ends edge of foam layer 21 in the axial direction. For this reason, even if the both sides of the axial direction in the wheel 14 are rubbed with a thing, it can suppress that each fiber which comprises the fluff layer 22 falls from the foam layer 21. FIG. That is, by forming the non-fluff layer region 30 in which the fibers are not electrostatically flocked at both edge portions in the axial direction of the wheel 14 that is heavily consumed, the fibers constituting the fluff layer 22 fall off from the foam layer 21. It can be effectively suppressed.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the wheel 14, an annular recess 31 is formed in the axial central portion of the outer peripheral surface of the enlarged diameter portion 24 of the shaft member 20, and the foam layer 21 is disposed in the recess 31. You may make it do. If it does in this way, the both ends of the axial direction in the foam layer 21 and the fluff layer 22 can be protected by the side wall of the recessed part 31. In this case, the positional relationship between the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 21 and the outer peripheral surface of the enlarged diameter portion 24 may be appropriately changed depending on the application of the wheel 14.

  -In the wheel 14 shown in FIG. 7, you may roughen the bottom face 31a of the recessed part 31. FIG. In this way, since the frictional resistance between the outer peripheral surface of the enlarged diameter portion 24 of the shaft member 20 and the inner peripheral surface of the foam layer 21 is increased, the foam layer 21 becomes larger in diameter when the wheel 14 rolls. In contrast, sliding in the circumferential direction can be suppressed.

In the shaft member 20, the shaft portion 23 and the enlarged diameter portion 24 may be formed separately, and the shaft portion 23 and the enlarged diameter portion 24 may be configured to be relatively rotatable.
-Although the cell of the foam (foam material) which comprises the foam layer 21 may be open-celled or single-celled, it is preferable to make this cell open-celled from a viewpoint of cushioning improvement.

  -The foam layer 21 may be integrally formed outside the shaft member 20 by two-color molding. In this case, in order to firmly weld the shaft member 20 and the foam layer 21, it is preferable that the synthetic resin material constituting the shaft member 20 and the synthetic resin material constituting the foam layer 21 are the same.

The wheel 14 is not limited to the head 11 of the vacuum cleaner, but may be used as a caster such as a carriage, a desk, or a chair.
-A film-like hot melt material is pasted on the outer peripheral surface of the enlarged diameter portion 24 of the shaft member 20 in advance, and the foam layer 21 is placed thereon, and then the hot melt material is melted by heat treatment. Then, the foam layer 21 may be joined to the shaft member 20 by solidifying by cooling. In this way, since the foam layer 21 can be put on the shaft member 20 without touching the adhesive surface (joint surface) between the shaft member 20 and the foam layer 21, workability at the time of manufacturing the wheel 14 is improved. Can be improved.

The timing at which the fluff layer 22 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer 21 (thin film layer 25) by electrostatic flocking may be after the shaft layer 20 is covered with the foam layer 21.
Further, the technical idea that can be grasped from the above embodiment will be described below.

(A) A diameter-enlarged portion having a diameter larger than that of the other portion of the shaft member is disposed at the central portion of the shaft member, and an annular central portion in the axial direction on the outer peripheral surface of the diameter-enlarged portion is provided. A recess is formed,
The rotating body according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the foam layer is disposed in the recess.

If it does in this way, the both ends of the axial direction in a foam layer and a fluff layer can be protected by the side wall of a crevice.
(B) The rotating body according to (a) above, wherein the bottom surface of the recess is roughened.

  In this way, since the frictional resistance between the shaft member and the foam layer is increased, the foam layer can be prevented from sliding in the circumferential direction with respect to the shaft member.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Wheel as rotary body, 20 ... Shaft member, 21 ... Foam layer, 22 ... Fluff layer, 24 ... Diameter-expanded part of shaft member, 25 ... Thin film layer, 31 ... Recessed part, 31a ... Bottom face of recessed part, 30 ... Non-fluff layer region, F ... floor surface as a contacted part.

Claims (3)

A rotating body used in a state of rotating while being in contact with a contacted part,
A shaft member and a cylindrical foam layer provided so as to cover the outer peripheral surface of the shaft member;
A rotating body comprising a cylindrical fluff layer formed by electrostatically flocking a plurality of fibers on the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer. 2. The rotating body according to claim 1, wherein a non-fluff layer region in which the fluff layer is not provided is formed at both axial ends of the outer peripheral surface of the foam layer. The thin film layer which smoothes the outer peripheral surface of this foam layer is interposed between the outer peripheral surface of the said foam layer and the said fluff layer, The Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. Rotating body.

Images