JP2012152299A - Heated toilet seat - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heated toilet seat that requires no conventional heater assembly step, and hardly causes temperature variation.SOLUTION: The heated toilet seat 1 is configured such that an annular toilet seat body 2 is resin-molded into a skin layer 4 formed of a continuous annular insulation resin, and a heater layer 5 covered by the skin layer 4 and formed of a conductive resin disconnected in a circumferential direction, a gate mark 6a formed after cutting off a gate for injection molding, remains in a part of the skin layer 4, and a heater layer 5 is disconnected at a welded portion 7 that is on the opposite side from the gate mark 6a, and both disconnected ends 5a and 5b serve as power feeding portions 8 connected with an external power supply.

Description

  The present invention relates to a heated toilet seat that warms the buttocks when seated on a toilet seat body for toilet.

  Conventionally, as this type of heated toilet seat, a sheet heater such as a PTC heater is embedded in the toilet seat or attached to the back surface of the toilet seat. This planar heater is configured by forming printed wiring in a predetermined pattern and sticking a synthetic resin sheet on the surface (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-204447 A

  However, in the conventional example shown in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to attach a planar heater to the back side of the resin or aluminum surface layer on the toilet seat body surface. Since the application of such a planar heater is a manual operation, the operation tends to vary, and there are problems such as uneven temperature on the toilet seat surface.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a heating toilet seat that can eliminate the assembly process of the conventional heater and is less likely to cause temperature unevenness.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a heated toilet seat according to the present invention has an annular toilet seat body that is covered with a skin layer made of an insulating resin that is continuous in an annular shape, and is covered with the skin layer and divided in the circumferential direction. A heater layer made of a conductive resin is resin-molded, and a gate mark obtained by cutting out an injection molding gate is left in a part of the skin layer, and the heater layer is a weld part facing the gate mark. The both ends of the divided heater layer are used as a power feeding unit connected to an external power source.

  Moreover, it is preferable that both the divided | segmented front-end | tip parts of the said heater layer penetrate the said skin layer, and are exposed outside, respectively, and connect an electrode member to these each exposed electric power feeding part.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the lower surface of the toilet seat body is induction-welded to a resin base plate.

  Moreover, it is preferable to form the skin layer in a thin thickness of 2 mm or less.

  The present invention can eliminate a conventional heater assembly process and can provide a heated toilet seat that is less likely to cause temperature unevenness.

It is a top view of the sandwich molded product which comprises the toilet seat main body of the heating toilet seat of this invention. (A) is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. 1, (b) is the sectional view on the BB line of FIG. 1, (c) is an enlarged view of the induction heating welding part of (b). (A) is explanatory drawing of the sandwich molded product which consists of the skin layer and heater layer after shaping | molding, (b) is an enlarged view explaining the state which the heater layer is not connected in the weld part. (A) is explanatory drawing of the process of resin-molding the skin layer same as the above, (b) is CC sectional view taken on the line of (a). (A) is explanatory drawing of the process which resin-molds the heater layer same as the above, (b) is the DD sectional view taken on the line of (a), (c) is a weld part of (b) of a heater layer. It is explanatory drawing of the state in which both front-end | tip parts were parted.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 is a plan view of the heating toilet seat 1 of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. FIG. 2C is an enlarged view of the welded portion between the toilet seat body 2 and the base plate 3.

  The heating toilet seat 1 includes an annular toilet seat body 2 having an open center in a plan view, and a base plate 3 joined to the lower surface of the toilet seat body 2.

  The surface of the toilet seat body 2 is formed by a skin layer 4, and this skin layer 4 serves as a seating surface. A heater layer 5 for heating is embedded in the skin layer 4. The heater layer 5 is covered with the skin layer 4. The heater layer 5 and the skin layer 4 are integrally molded by injection molding.

  As a material of the skin layer 4, for example, an insulating resin such as PP or PMMA having strong chemical resistance is suitable. The skin layer 4 is preferably formed to a thickness of 2 mm or less.

  As a material for the heater layer 5, for example, a conductive resin in which a recycled material such as plastic waste is uniformly mixed with a metallic powder is suitable.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the cross-sectional shape of the skin layer 4 in this example is formed in an arch shape, and the cross-sectional shape of the heater layer 5 is also a cross-sectional arch shape having the same curvature as the skin layer 4. Is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the skin layer 4 is continuously formed in an annular shape that branches left and right starting from the gate trace 6 a and is merged at the weld portion 7. Here, the gate mark 6a indicates a mark obtained by cutting the gate 6 (FIG. 3A), which is an inlet of the molten resin, after molding. The weld part 7 refers to a part where the molten resin injected from the gate 6 is united in the mold cavity 10. L in the figure indicates a weld line.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the heater layer 5 has a shape that is divided in the circumferential direction, that is, a substantially horseshoe shape that branches from the gate trace 6a to the left and right and is divided in front of the weld portion 7. Yes. Let both the front-end | tip parts 5a and 5a of this parted heater layer 5 be the electric power feeding part 8 connected to an external power supply.

  Next, the manufacturing method of the sandwich molded product which consists of the skin layer 4 and the heater layer 5 which comprise the toilet seat main body 2 is demonstrated with reference to FIG. 4, FIG.

  Two types of molten resin are sequentially injected from two injection devices (not shown) from a gate 6 shown in FIG. 4A into a mold cavity 10 constituted by a fixed mold and a movable mold, and are simultaneously molded. To do.

  First, when a molten insulating resin material (hereinafter referred to as skin material 11) is injected from one injection device into the mold cavity 10, as shown by the arrow in FIG. It is divided into left and right and is filled toward the weld site 7. The amount of skin material 11 injected is set to be smaller than the total volume of the mold cavity 10. As a result, the skin material 11 is interrupted before reaching the weld site 7, and a space 10 a having a predetermined volume that is not filled with the skin material 11 remains in the weld site 7. In the skin material 11 immediately after the injection, only the portion in contact with the mold surface 13 is first cooled and solidified to form a solidified film 11a having a predetermined thickness. The skin material 11 that does not come into contact with the mold surface 13 is not immediately cooled but is kept in the fluid skin material fluidized bed 11c. That is, as shown in FIG. 4B, the solidified film 11a of the skin material 11 that is in contact with one mold surface 13 continuously from the gate 6 to the front of the weld site 7, and the other mold surface. 13 is formed. Further, a fluid skin material fluidized layer 11c is formed between the solidified films 11a and 11a.

  Before the skin material fluidized bed 11c is hardened, the heater material 12 is injected into the mold cavity 10 from the other injection device as shown in FIG. The heater resin material 12 is divided into left and right starting from the gate 6 while being pushed in the direction of arrow P while pushing the fluid skin material fluidized layer 11c in the direction of arrow P (see FIG. 5B). Status). The injection amount of the heater material 12 is set to an amount equal to the volume of the space 10a (FIG. 4A) existing in the weld site 7. As a result, the skin material fluidized bed 11c is pushed into the space 10a (FIG. 4A) of the weld portion 7 by the injection pressure of the heater material 12, and the skin is seen from both sides along the weld line L as shown in FIG. The material fluidized beds 11c are united. The united skin material fluidized layer 11c is cooled and solidified at the portion of the weld portion 7 in contact with the mold surface to form a solidified film 11b having a predetermined thickness, and is formed continuously with the solidified film 11a. The skin layer 4 is formed by the continuous individual solidified films 11a and 11b.

  On the other hand, the heater material 12 is filled between the solidified films 11a and 11a while pushing the skin material fluidized bed 11c, but the front end of the heater material 12 stops before the weld line L as shown in FIG. . That is, the heater material 12 cannot be united at the weld site 7 due to the skin material fluidized bed 11 c existing at the weld site 7. Thereby, the horseshoe-shaped heater layer 5 divided by the skin material solidified layer 4a (FIG. 3) in the weld portion 7 is formed along the inside of the skin layer 4. The both end portions 5a and 5a of the heater layer 5 which are divided are referred to as power feeding portions 8, respectively. In this example, the mold temperature of the power supply unit 8 is partially increased during molding, and the power supply unit 8 is cored out of the skin layer 4.

  Thereafter, after the molten resin is cooled and solidified in the mold cavity 10, the mold is opened, and a sandwich molded product composed of the skin layer 4 and the heater layer 5 is taken out (FIG. 3A). After molding, the sprue, runner 9 and gate 6 are no longer necessary and are discarded. Only the gate trace 6 a remains in one place of the skin layer 4. The taken-out sandwich molded product is used as the toilet seat body 2. Both tip portions 5a of the heater layer 5 used as the power feeding portion 8 are formed so as not to be connected at the weld portion 7 as shown in FIG. Thereafter, the skin layer 4 of the toilet seat body 2 and the resin base plate 3 are joined by induction heating welding 20 (FIG. 2C) to assemble the heating toilet seat 1.

  Thus, according to the above configuration, the annular toilet seat body 2 is formed by sandwich molding of the heater layer 5 made of conductive resin and the skin layer 4 made of insulating resin. The simultaneous molding of the heater layer 5 and the skin layer 4 can eliminate the assembly process of attaching a conventional planar heater. In addition, since the heater layer 5 is continuously formed over the entire inside of the skin layer 4 except for the power feeding unit 8 side, the temperature unevenness of the toilet seat body 2 can be made difficult to occur, and the user can feel comfortable. Can be given.

  Moreover, resources can be used effectively by using a conductive resin mixture in which recycled plastic waste that cannot be used as a surface material is mixed with metal as the material of the heater layer 5. Further, by enclosing the heater layer 5 with the insulating resin skin layer 4, it is possible to increase the toughness of the molded product while reducing both material costs and environmental measures. Further, the appearance quality can be improved by coating the skin layer 4 with a transparent or light blue color.

  Further, since the power supply portions 8 and 8 of the heater layer 5 are separated by the weld line L, each power supply portion 8 is connected to an external power source via the pair of electrode members 14 and 14 (FIG. 2B). When connecting, it is possible to prevent a short circuit between the pair of electrode members 14 and 14. Further, at the time of molding, the mold temperature of the power supply unit 8 is partially increased, and both the end portions 5a and 5a of the heater layer 5 serving as the power supply unit 8 are cored out to the outside. Thereby, electrical connection between the power feeding unit 8 and the electrode member 14 can be facilitated. As a result, it is possible to save the post-processing work of cutting the skin layer 4 after molding and connecting the power supply unit 8 and the electrode member 14.

  Further, since the skin layer 4 of the toilet seat body 2 and the resin base plate 3 are joined by induction heating welding 20, it is possible to perform non-contact and energy-efficient welding in a short time, and reheat the welded portion. There is an advantage that the toilet seat body 2 and the base plate 3 can be disassembled simply by doing. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the toilet seat body 2 is formed in an arch shape in cross section so that the space between the toilet seat body 2 and the base plate 3 is hollow over the entire length of the annular toilet seat body 2. As a result, the toilet seat body 2 can be reduced in weight and bendable. In addition, since the skin layer 4 of the toilet seat body 2 is united at the weld site 7 and continuously formed in an annular shape, the softness and fit to the human body are improved while sufficiently securing the strength of the skin layer 4.

  Note that the thickness of the skin layer 4 is, for example, about 0.2 mm to 10 mm as a function of the heating toilet seat 1, but in this example, it is thinned to about 2 mm or less. Thereby, as soon as the heater layer 5 is energized, the surface of the skin layer 4 can be warmed at an appropriate temperature, and it is not necessary to energize the heater layer 5 constantly, and standby power can be reduced. Moreover, by interlocking with a human touch switch (not shown), it can be used as an instant heating toilet seat that is warmed only when there is a person, and a sufficient energy saving effect can be expected.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the molten resin is injected into the mold cavity 10 from one gate 6 is described, but the number of gates 6 may be plural.

  The toilet seat body 2 and the base plate 3 are joined by induction heating welding 20, but not limited thereto, adhesion, outsert molding, hot plate welding, vibration welding, or the like may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heating toilet seat 2 Toilet seat main body 3 Base board 4 Skin layer 5 Heater layer 5a Tip part 6 Gate 6a Gate trace 7 Weld part 8 Feeder part 9 Runner 10 Mold cavity 10a Space 11 Skin material 11b Solidified film 11a Solidified film 11c Skin material flow Layer 12 Heater material 13 Mold surface 14 Electrode member

Claims (4)

An annular toilet seat body is resin-molded by a skin layer made of an insulating resin that is continuous in an annular shape and a heater layer made of a conductive resin that is covered with the skin layer and divided in the circumferential direction, and the skin A gate mark obtained by cutting out the gate for injection molding is left in a part of the layer, and the heater layer is divided at a weld portion facing the gate mark, and both ends of the divided heater layer are separated from each other. A heating toilet seat characterized by being a power feeding unit connected to an external power source.   2. The heating toilet seat according to claim 1, wherein both divided end portions of the heater layer are exposed to the outside through the skin layer, and electrode members are connected to the exposed power feeding portions. .   The heating toilet seat according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a lower surface of the toilet seat body is induction-welded to a resin base plate. The heating toilet seat according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the skin layer has a thickness of 2 mm or less.

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