JP2013220051A - Lifting pipe and water lifting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lifting pipe and a water lifting device that can efficiently lift water to sufficient height while not requiring the energy for lifting water, and having high flexibility of layout.SOLUTION: A water lifting device 1 includes a lifting pipe 10 and a filter whose mesh is finer than the space between a plurality of modified cross-section fibers 11 contained in the lifting pipe 10. A liquid that passes through the mesh of the filter is supplied to the first end of the lifting pipe 10 and is guided from the first end to the second end of the lifting pipe by capillary phenomenon. The lifting pipe 10 includes a bundle of a plurality of modified cross-section fibers 11 each having a modified cross section and lifting the liquid by capillary phenomenon, and a jacket 12 made from a liquid-impermeable material and covering the outer periphery of the bundle of the plurality of modified cross-section fibers 11.

Description

  The present invention relates to a pumping pipe and a pumping device. In addition, the “pumping device” in the present invention is “a device that guides liquid from a certain position to another position”. In the following text, there is a description of “water”, but liquids other than “water” are not excluded.

  The pumping device, for example, guides water contained in a water storage tank to the root of a potted plant. The thing of the invention disclosed by patent documents 1-3 is known as a pumping apparatus.

  In the invention described in Patent Document 1, a supply / discharge tube is provided between a storage unit that stores liquid and a cultivation container, and the pump is used as a power source to guide the liquid from the storage unit to the cultivation container through the supply / discharge tube. Is. The invention described in Patent Document 2 does not require a power source, and guides water from a water storage tank to a vegetation part by utilizing a capillary phenomenon in a perforated pipe filled with sand. The invention described in Patent Document 3 guides water using a pumping material made of a ceramic porous body in which pores of a predetermined diameter communicate and are one-dimensionally oriented. The invention described in Patent Document 4 is a polyester filament having a core portion having a circular hollow portion in cross section and a plurality of fin portions protruding radially from the outer surface of the core portion, and relates to a fiber yarn for weaving and knitting. .

JP 2004-024029 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-181775 JP 2008-301744 A JP 2008-057060 A

  The pumping device described in Patent Document 1 requires a power source and energy in order to guide the liquid from the reservoir to the cultivation container through the supply / discharge tube. The pumping device described in each of Patent Documents 2 and 3 does not require a power source, but due to the capillarity due to the size of the sand, the diameter of the hole in the perforated pipe, the direction of the hole and the way the holes are connected, The height that can be pumped up is limited. In the pumping device described in Patent Document 3, the pumping material made of a ceramic porous body needs to have a predetermined shape in accordance with the application and the placement conditions, so that the degree of freedom in placement becomes low.

  In a conventional pumping pipe, a hollow fiber having a hollow communicating with the inside is generally used. In the annular structure having only the hollow portion, it was easy to pump water by the hollow portion, but in order to take out the pumped liquid from the hollow portion, a device having an action of taking out the liquid is attached to the end of the hollow fiber. There was a need.

  Moreover, although the hollow fiber as described in Patent Document 4 was not assumed to function as a component of the pumping member, it is assumed that only this hollow fiber is used as a part that functions as pumping water. Then, the amount of pumped water per cross-sectional area is limited. That is, if the cross-sectional shape is a hollow fiber having an irregular cross-sectional shape other than a circular shape, the cross-sectional area of the hollow portion that is a portion that functions as pumping water with respect to the cross-sectional area of the region portion that connects the outermost projections The ratio is small and the pumping function per hollow fiber is limited to a small value. In addition, although it is conceivable to use a group of a plurality of irregular cross-section hollow fibers at a high density, a gap formed between the plurality of irregular cross-section hollow fibers can be expected to be pumped to some extent by a capillary phenomenon. Since the outer part of the group of irregularly shaped hollow fibers is open to the outside, it is expected that water will not reach the end of pumping due to water leaking to the outside or evaporating during pumping.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and can pump water without a special power source from the outside, and does not reduce the efficiency of pumping. An object is to provide a pumping device and a pumping device that are sufficiently secured and that do not require a special device for taking out the pumped liquid from the hollow portion.

  The pumping pipe of the present invention has a plurality of irregular fibers whose cross-sectional shape is non-circular, and a jacket made of a material that does not allow liquid to permeate, and covers the plurality of irregular fibers. The liquid is pumped by the gap between the plurality of irregularly shaped fibers and the outer sheath functioning as a capillary tube. The plurality of irregularly shaped fibers preferably have an outermost diameter of 0.1 μm or more and 100 μm or less. In addition, it is preferable that the plurality of irregularly shaped fibers do not have pores.

  A pumping device according to the present invention includes the above-described pumping tube according to the present invention and a filter having a mesh size smaller than the assumed minimum gap between a plurality of irregular cross-section fibers included in the pumping tube. The liquid that has passed through is supplied to the first end of the pumping pipe, and the liquid is guided from the first end to the second end of the pumping pipe by capillary action. In order to allow liquid to leak from the outside of the pumping pipe, it is preferable that a part of the outer jacket is removed and a plurality of irregular cross-section fibers are exposed in a certain range including the second end of the pumping pipe. It is preferable to have another pumping pipe that is subordinately connected to the above-described pumping pipe of the present invention, and the other pumping pipe preferably has a fiber of a different type or a different size from the deformed fiber. In addition, it is preferable to provide a filter function by disposing a pumping pipe having a smaller gap functioning as a capillary phenomenon for pumping water on the liquid inlet side.

  The pumping pipe and the pumping apparatus of the present invention can pump water without a special power source from the outside, and do not reduce the efficiency of pumping, sufficiently ensure the degree of freedom of arrangement, and further pump the water. A special device for removing the liquid from the hollow part can be dispensed with.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the pumping apparatus 1 of this embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the pumping pipe 10 contained in the pumping apparatus 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows another example of the cross-sectional shape of the irregular cross-section fiber 11 contained in the pumping pipe 10. It is a figure which shows another example of the cross-sectional shape of the irregular cross-section fiber 11 contained in the pumping-up pipe 10. It is a figure which shows a mode that the outer covering 12 is removed in the fixed range including the 2nd end of the pumping pipe 10, and the several irregular cross-section fiber 11 is exposed. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the internal diameter of the through-hole of the irregular cross-section fiber 11, and pumping height. It is a figure which shows the structure of the pumping apparatus by which the pumping pipe 10A, the pumping pipe 50, and the pumping pipe 10B are connected in cascade. It is sectional drawing of the pumping-up pipe. It is sectional drawing of the microtube 51 contained in the pumping-up pipe 50. FIG.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  Drawing 1 is a figure showing the composition of pumping device 1 of this embodiment. In the figure, in addition to the pumping device 1 including the pumping pipe 10 and the filter 20, a water storage tank 30 and a fiber material sheet 40 are also shown. The filter 20 is fixed and provided so as to cover the end surface of the first end of the pumped-up pipe 10. The eyes of the filter 20 are smaller than the assumed minimum gap between the plurality of irregular cross-section fibers 11. Thereby, the assumed minimum gap between the plurality of irregularly shaped cross-section fibers 11 is blocked by foreign matters mixed with the pumped water, and the pumping capacity is prevented from being lowered. Specifically, the “assumed minimum gap” is defined by a gap between a circle circumscribing the irregular cross section and the concave portion of the cross section.

  The first end of the pump 10 is submerged in the water 31 in the water tank 30. The second end of the water pump pipe 10 is in contact with the fiber material sheet 40. And this pumping device 1 supplies the water 31 which passed the eyes of the filter 20 to the 1st end of the pumping pipe 10, and guides the water to the 2nd end from the 1st end of the pumping pipe 10 by a capillary phenomenon, Water is directed to the fiber sheet 40 that is in contact with the second end of the tube 10. The fiber material sheet 40 is a sheet of non-woven fabric, water absorbent paper, or the like. When the modified cross-section fiber has a hollow portion, a fiber material sheet having a hair-like body as an option may be used.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the pumping pipe 10 included in the pumping device 1. The pumping pipe 10 includes a plurality of irregular cross-section fibers 11 and a jacket 12. Each irregular cross-section fiber 11 has an irregular cross-sectional shape in which one or a plurality of grooves extending in the longitudinal direction is formed on the outer surface, and liquid can be pumped by capillary action in the grooves. In addition, each modified cross-section fiber 11 may have a through hole extending in the longitudinal direction, and in this case, liquid can be pumped by capillary action in the through hole. As used herein, the irregular cross section refers to a non-circular cross section. A structure in which the surface area of the irregular cross-section fiber is larger than the fiber surface area of the circular cross section, for example, a structure having grooves such as irregularities on the surface is also preferable. By doing in this way, it becomes possible to make the outer periphery of a deformed fiber function as a channel of liquid at the time of pumping. Thereby, the pumping efficiency per unit cross-sectional area can be increased.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the modified cross-section fiber 11 may have a structure in which fins protrude in six directions from the central axis. The jacket 12 is made of a material that does not allow liquid to pass through, and covers the outer periphery of a bundle of a plurality of irregularly shaped fibers 11. The size of the irregular cross-section fiber 11 (distance between the outermost ends of the fins) is, for example, 10 μm, and the size of the pumped-up pipe 10 (outer diameter of the jacket 12) is, for example, 100 μm. The outermost diameter of the modified cross-section fiber 11 is preferably 0.1 μm or more and 100 μm or less. Note that the definition of “outermost diameter” is “the distance at which the distance between two points on the outer circumference is the longest”.

  The cross-sectional shape of the irregularly-shaped cross-section fiber 11 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 2, and for example, as shown in FIG. Eight groove portions extending in the direction may be formed, and through holes extending in the longitudinal direction may be formed. Moreover, the cross-sectional shape of the irregular cross-section fiber 11 may be a flat sheep cloud shape as shown in FIG. 4, for example. These form grooves on the surface and form gaps that become capillaries between irregularly shaped cross-section fibers. FIG. 3 is a photograph of Octa (trademark of Teijin Fibers Ltd.'s high-special special cross-section fiber), and FIG. 4 is a photograph of Body Cool (trademark of nylon microfiber of Toray Industries, Inc.). Both figures show possible shapes as irregular cross sections. Octa and body cool have sweat-absorbing and water-absorbing functions, respectively, but are not necessarily required for the irregular cross-section fibers (used in the pumping pipe of the present application). Further, although there may be a hole in the center of the irregular cross-section fiber, it is not always necessary.

  Various materials such as glass and resin can be used as the material of the modified cross-section fiber 11. For example, when the modified cross-section fiber 11 is a chemical fiber such as polyester / nylon, it is preferable to form the modified cross-section fiber.

  Further, it is preferable to use a resin such as polyethylene / polyvinylidene chloride / ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer as the material of the jacket 12, and in this case, a plurality of irregular cross-section fibers are used in the thin film film of the copolymer. By wrapping 11 groups, the pumping pipe 10 can be produced. Alternatively, it is also preferable that a tube made of a stretchable material such as rubber is used as the jacket 12, and in this case, a plurality of irregular cross-section fibers 11 are formed in the tube with the tube inner diameter expanded. The pumped-up pipe 10 can be produced by returning the tube inner diameter after inserting the group. Further, after collecting a plurality of irregularly shaped cross-section fibers in a bundle shape, the above-described resin is extruded and coated on the aggregate, whereby the pumping pipe 10 can be manufactured.

  In the pumping pipe 10 of the present embodiment, a bundle of a plurality of deformed cross-section fibers 11 each having a deformed cross-sectional shape and pumping liquid by capillary action is covered with a jacket 12 made of a material that does not allow liquid to permeate. It does not require energy for pumping, has a high degree of freedom in arrangement, and can pump water efficiently up to a sufficient height.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of irregular cross-section fibers are obtained by removing the jacket 12 in a certain range including the second end contacting the fiber material sheet 40 among the first end and the second end of the pumped-up pipe 10. 11 is exposed, and it is preferable to take out the liquid from the exposed plural modified cross-section fibers 11. By doing in this way, the water guide | induced to the 2nd end from the 1st end of the pumped-up pipe 10 by capillary phenomenon leaks out from the part from which the several modified cross-section fiber 11 exposed in the 2nd end side was exposed. . If the exposed part is directed downward, the leaked water is released naturally from the pumping pipe 10. Further, by providing the fiber sheet 40 in contact with the exposed portion, it is possible to forcibly discharge the water from the pumping pipe 10 to the outside. When a hollow portion exists in the modified cross-section fiber 11, the water pumped to the second end surface (the tip of the modified cross-section fiber 11) by capillary action may be brought into contact with the fiber material sheet 40 having the hair. When the water spreads over the entire fiber sheet 40, for example, unless the fiber sheet 40 is installed in a flowerpot / planter or the like in which a plant that needs water supply is placed, Automatic water supply is possible without using a power source.

  Each of the size of the modified cross-section fiber 11 and the size of the pumping pipe 10 is not limited to the above numerical example. What is necessary is just to determine the size of the irregular cross-section fiber 11 according to what height needs to pump up using a capillary phenomenon. As an example, when the modified cross-section fiber 11 has a through hole, the relationship between the inner diameter of the through hole and the pumping height is shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, the height at which the modified cross-section fiber 11 can be pumped by capillary action depends on the inner diameter of the through hole. By appropriately selecting the inner diameter of the through hole between 0.1 μm and 100 μm, the pumpable height can be selected in the range of several hundred m to several tens cm. On the other hand, the size of the pumping pipe 10 is appropriately set according to the required pumping amount. When the pumping amount is large, the pumping pipe 10 may be a large diameter, and when the pumping amount is small, the pumping pipe 10 may be a small diameter. When the amount of pumping required is large, it is also effective to use a plurality of pumping pipes 10 in parallel.

  In the configuration example shown in FIG. 1, the fiber material sheet 40 is provided in order to take out water from the second end side of the water pumping pipe 10, but this is not a limitation. Any material can be used in place of the fiber sheet 40 as long as the pumped water can be taken out from the modified cross-section fiber 11 by capillary action or the like. The use of powder is conceivable.

  The pumping apparatus of the present embodiment may include the pumping pipe 10 having the configuration described with reference to FIG. 2 and another type of pumping pipe connected in cascade to the pumping pipe 10. Moreover, the pumping apparatus of this embodiment may be formed by cascading a first pumping pipe and a second pumping pipe of different types or different sizes, each of which pumps liquid by capillary action. Here, the “different type” means, for example, a case where one pumping pipe uses a modified cross-section fiber and the other pumping pipe uses a hollow fiber. In addition, the “different size” means, for example, that both pumped pipes use modified cross-section fibers, but the different cross-section fibers have different sizes, or both pumped pipes use hollow fibers. When the hollow fibers have different sizes or inner diameters. If the gap between capillarity for pumping water between different species is smaller, it can be made to function as a filter by being arranged on the entrance side. In that case, the filter 20 may not be used separately.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a pumping device in which the pumping pipe 10A, the pumping pipe 50, and the pumping pipe 10B are connected in cascade. The pumping pipe 10 </ b> A and the pumping pipe 50, and the pumping pipe 10 </ b> B and the pumping pipe 50 are connected to each other by a connection portion 60. The connecting portion 60 is hermetically sealed with a resin coating or the like so that liquid leakage does not occur due to the connection of the pumping pipe. Each of the pumping pipe 10A and the pumping pipe 10B has the same configuration as the pumping pipe 10 described with reference to FIGS. The pumping pipe 50 is different from the pumping pipes 10, 10A, and 10B, and is, for example, as shown in FIGS. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the water pump 50. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the microtubule 51 included in the water pump 50.

  The pumping pipe 50 includes a microtubule 51 having a through hole whose inner diameter is substantially uniform over the entire length in the longitudinal direction. The pumping pipe 50 is configured by bundling a plurality (109 in FIG. 8) of microtubules 51, and the outer periphery thereof is covered with a jacket 52. As shown in a cross-sectional view in FIG. 9, each microtube 51 included in the pumping pipe 50 has a plurality of (91 in the figure) penetrations in the glass portion 53 whose outer diameter is substantially uniform in the longitudinal direction. A hole 54 is provided in the longitudinal direction, and the outer periphery of the glass portion 53 is covered with a covering portion 55. Each through-hole 54 has a substantially uniform inner diameter over the entire length in the longitudinal direction. The inner diameter of each through hole 54 is preferably 0.1 μm or more and 100 μm or less. For example, the inner diameter of each through hole 54 is about 8 μm, the outer diameter of the glass portion 53 is about 125 μm, the outer diameter of the covering portion 55 is about 170 μm, and the outer diameter of the outer cover 52 is about 2 mm.

  By making the size of the modified cross-section fiber 11 of the pumping pipe 10 </ b> A arranged on the lower side (water tank side) with respect to the pumping pipe 50 smaller than the inner diameter of the through-hole 54 of the pumping pipe 50, the pumping pipe 10 </ b> A becomes the pumping pipe 50. Can function as a filter. Moreover, the pumping pipe 10 </ b> B arranged on the upper side with respect to the pumping pipe 50 facilitates spreading the pumped water on the fiber material sheet 40. In addition, even if different types of pumping pipes are connected, pumping water by capillarity is realized without interruption at the connecting portion, because the modified cross-section fibers 11 of the pumping pipes 10A and 10B enter the through holes 54 of the pumping pipe 50. .

  Moreover, although the water supply to the plant was mentioned in this embodiment as an application, besides this, it can utilize for various uses for which water is required, such as cooling by the heat of vaporization. Furthermore, although terms such as “pumped water” and “water storage” are used, the liquid is not limited to water.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Pumping device 10, 10A, 10B ... Pumping pipe, 11 ... Profile cross-section fiber, 12 ... Outer coating, 20 ... Filter, 30 ... Water tank, 40 ... Fiber material sheet, 50 ... Pumping pipe, 51 ... Microtube, 52 ... jacket, 53 ... glass part, 54 ... through hole, 55 ... covering part, 60 ... connection part.

Claims (7)

A plurality of irregularly shaped fibers having a non-circular cross-sectional shape;
A jacket made of a material that does not allow liquid to pass through and covering the plurality of deformed fibers,
A pumping pipe characterized in that the liquid is pumped by a gap between the plurality of deformed fibers and a gap between the plurality of deformed fibers and the jacket functioning as a capillary tube.   The pumping pipe according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of deformed fibers have an outermost diameter of 0.1 µm or more and 100 µm or less.   The pumping pipe according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of deformed fibers do not have a hole portion. The pump according to claim 1 or 2, and a filter having a mesh size smaller than an assumed minimum gap between a plurality of irregularly shaped cross-section fibers included in the pump.
Supplying the liquid that has passed through the eyes of the filter to the first end of the pumping pipe, and guiding the liquid from the first end to the second end of the pumping pipe by capillary action;
A pumping device characterized by that.   In a certain range including the second end of the water pumping pipe, a part of the jacket is removed and the plurality of modified cross-section fibers are exposed so that liquid leaks from the outside of the water pumping pipe, The water pumping device according to claim 4 characterized by things. Having another pumping pipe subordinately connected to the pumping pipe according to claim 1 or 2,
The pumping device according to claim 4, wherein the another pumping pipe has a fiber of a different type or a different size from the deformed fiber.   The pumping device according to claim 6, wherein a filter function is provided by disposing a pumping pipe having a smaller gap functioning as a capillary phenomenon for pumping water on the liquid intake side.