JP2017227088A - High drainage ability product - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a product autonomously transferring water with propulsion force as force different from gravity.SOLUTION: There is provided a product, in which a surface has a plurality of water leading units, the water leading units have multiple hydrophilic regions and multiple hydrophobic regions, hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic regions is increased toward a predetermined direction on the surface, or hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic regions is decreased toward the predetermined direction, or both of hydrophilic increment in the hydrophilic regions and hydrophobic decrease in the hydrophobic region are generated, so that the product has a property that water is apparently autonomously transferred in the direction. The water transferring direction in at least one water leading unit among the plurality of water leading units is nonparallel with the water transferring direction of the other water leading units and the plurality of water leading units is so arranged that the water transferring direction of respective of the water leading units are focused on a specific region. From such product surface, water is more efficiently transferred in specific direction and water may be efficiently discharged.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an article in which water apparently moves autonomously and is removed from the surface thereof. Specifically, the water attached to the surface moves in a specific direction without using gravity or power even on a horizontal plane, It relates to articles that are excluded from the surface.

  Articles that come into contact with water, such as water-related members, water on the surface of unit bath floors, and ceiling boards, are removed to the drainage channel by gravity when the amount is large, but the remaining water is wiped off. Or it is removed by natural drying. It is a method of removing water that is undesirable in some cases, such as wiping off the wiping and taking time for natural drying, or causing water spots and scales. Therefore, various proposals have been made on techniques for removing water from the surface of an article in contact with water, preferably promptly.

  For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-39013 (Patent Document 1) includes a water-surrounding member in which irregularities are formed on a surface thereof, a water repellent paint layer is formed on a convex portion, and a hydrophilic paint layer is formed on a concave portion. It is disclosed. In such a structure, water is repelled by the water-repellent paint layer, so that the water flows into the groove-shaped recess, and the water is spread by the hydrophilic paint layer 4 formed in the recess, so that the surface tension causes a ball shape. No water is generated, and the water is drained by well flowing along the recesses.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-31665 (Patent Document 2) has different properties with respect to water in each part of a coating layer coated by an on-demand system, and relatively repels water in certain parts, and other In the portion, a water-circulating member is disclosed in which water is spread thinly in a film shape and water can be quickly drained by a combination of both.

  In any of the techniques disclosed in the above-mentioned patent documents, water applied to the water-repellent region is repelled and moved to the hydrophilic region, and the action of water spreading in the hydrophilic region is utilized. And for drainage from the final member surface, it is premised that the substrate has an inclination, and water moves in the hydrophilic region by the action of gravity.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-744 (Patent Document 3) discloses that one surface of a tunnel-shaped flow path is composed of a hydrophilic surface and a hydrophobic surface, and a value obtained by dividing the hydrophilic surface by the hydrophobic surface is from upstream to downstream. A microdroplet transport device is disclosed that transports droplets in incremental increments toward the surface. According to this device, droplets can be transported in one direction, but when the hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces are formed in a triangular pattern, the base is 1 μm to 200 μm and the height is 10 μm to 200 μm. There is a description that it is a triangle, and the droplets to be transported are derived from a living body such as blood. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-331410 (Patent Document 4) discloses a first hydrophobic surface on the upstream side, a second hydrophobic surface having a smaller contact angle than the first hydrophobic surface on the downstream side, and the upstream side. And a flow path in which the area of the second hydrophobic surface is continuously increased from upstream to downstream by forming a surface in which the first hydrophobic surface and the second hydrophobic surface are mixed in the intermediate portion on the downstream side. A microdroplet transport device for transporting drops is disclosed. According to this device, it is said that a minute droplet containing a biomolecule such as a protein having a hydrophobic functional group can be transported by a surface tension gradient built in a flow path by different hydrophobic regions. When the first hydrophobic surface and the second hydrophobic surface are alternately arranged in a wedge shape in the intermediate portion, the dimensions of the wedge shape are 10 μm to 1 mm at the bottom and 10 μm to 30 mm in length. It is described that there is. Therefore, all of the techniques disclosed in these patent documents are limited to a technique for transferring a very small amount of blood or the like for a short distance, and it is difficult to say that a technique for transferring water on a large surface of a building material or the like is disclosed. is there.

  In addition, the inventors, including the present inventors, proposed a technique for apparently autonomously moving water by controlling the area ratio of the hydrophilic region on the building material surface to the hydrophobic region to increase in a certain direction. (Application on March 29, 2016, PCT / JP2016 / 60238 application (Patent Document 5)).

JP 2003-39013 A JP 2008-31665 A JP-A-2005-744 JP 2005-331410 A PCT / JP2016 / 60238 application

  Inventors of the present invention can now remove water from the surface more efficiently by modifying / improving the previously proposed article that uses water different from gravity as a driving force to make it appear to move autonomously. Was completed. In particular, the water can be focused and collected in a specific area, and the collected water becomes a larger water droplet (group) and can be moved more efficiently. Moreover, it becomes possible to control the moving direction of water by converging and collecting water in a specific area.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an article that can move water adhering to a surface more efficiently in a specific direction without using gravity, power, or the like even on a horizontal plane and removed from the surface.

And the article by this invention is
An article having a surface in contact with water,
The surface comprises a plurality of water conducting units;
The water conveyance unit comprises a plurality of hydrophilic regions and hydrophobic regions, respectively.
The hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic region increases in a certain direction of the surface, or the hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region decreases in the certain direction, or the hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic region increases, and Cause both a decrease in hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region,
Therefore, it has the property that the water moves autonomously in this direction (hereinafter, this direction is referred to as “water movement direction”),
The water movement direction of at least one water conveyance unit of the plurality of water conveyance units is non-parallel to the water movement direction of other water conveyance units, and the water movement directions of the respective water conveyance units are converged in a specific region. The plurality of water guiding units are arranged.

It is a figure which shows the one aspect | mode of the surface of the articles | goods by this invention. In the figure, on the surface 100a of the article, a hydrophilic region 11 is formed in an inverted triangular shape, and a plurality of hydrophobic regions 12 are formed in a triangular shape. It is a figure explaining the apparent autonomous movement of the water placed on the surface of the article | item of FIG. It is a figure explaining the aspect in which the some hydrophilic region and the some hydrophobic region in the surface of an article | item are substantially the same shape. It is a figure explaining the autonomous autonomous movement of the water placed on the surface of the article | item of FIG. It is the figure of the aspect which arranged two water guide units 101 and 102, and these water guide units have the structure by which the triangular hydrophobic area | region 12 was provided in multiple numbers on the hydrophilic surface 11. FIG. The water transfer directions of the water guiding units 101 and 102 are not parallel. It is a figure of the aspect which arranged two or more water guide units. Although the water movement directions of the water guiding units in the columns 1 to 5 are non-parallel, they are directed toward the region A in the figure. A mode in which the arrangement of the plurality of water guide units 101 shown in (a) is configured continuously is the configuration shown in (b), and in this mode (b), the specific region A is strip-shaped or linear, The first water guiding unit and the second water guiding unit are placed with the specific water movement direction in the non-parallel relationship facing the specific area A across the specific area. (A) is the schematic diagram of the surface created in Example 1, and represents two rows of combinations of water-conducting units placed across the specific area A, (b) is the shape of the hydrophobic area, (c ) Represents the shape of the hydrophilic region. (A) is the schematic diagram of the surface produced in Example 2, and represents the combination 3 row | line | column of the water-conducting unit put on the specific area | region A, (b) is the shape of the hydrophobic area | region, (c ) Represents the shape of the hydrophilic region.

As described above, the present invention is a modification / improvement of the invention described in the previously proposed PCT / JP2016 / 60238 application. As long as the present invention does not contradict the present disclosure, The present disclosure is hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure. That is, the disclosure of the specification of the above-mentioned application is incorporated by reference into the disclosure of this specification.
Definitions In the present invention, “an article having a surface in contact with water” means an article in which water may remain on the surface due to rainfall or during or after a predetermined work / operation using water by a person. means. According to one aspect of the present invention, a building material can be constituted by this article, for example, an outer wall material; an inner wall of a bathroom or a shower room, a ceiling and a floor material; a bathtub; a basin or a hand basin (for example, a bowl surface) And sinks); sinks; toilet bowls; faucets; tabletops used for tables, drafts, counters, etc .; glass members such as mirrors and windows; Examples of the counter include a counter used in a hand washing place, a washroom and a bathroom, a kitchen counter, a counter used in a laboratory, a counter of a draft chamber, and the like. In particular, the building material according to the present invention can be used for interior walls, ceilings and floors of bathrooms and shower rooms; bathtubs; Top materials used; Glass members such as mirrors and windows; Counters used in hand-washing places, washrooms and bathrooms, kitchen counters, counters used in laboratories, counters in draft chambers, etc. Are preferably used.

  In the present invention, the material / material of the article is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include glass, plastic, tile, stone, metal, wood, and ceramic. Furthermore, those in which these materials are coated, those in which plastics are laminated (for example, composite materials such as laminated steel plates and coated steel plates), and the like can be used.

Surface of article and water movement The surface of the article according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of water guiding units, and the plurality of water guiding units are arranged in tandem in the “water moving direction” described later. The water guiding unit includes a plurality of hydrophilic regions and hydrophobic regions, and the hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic region increases in a certain direction on the surface of the article, or the hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region is increased on the surface of the article. It is configured to decrease toward a certain direction, or to cause both an increase in hydrophilicity in this hydrophilic region and a decrease in hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region.

  Here, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the increase in hydrophilicity or the decrease in hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region is caused by one of the following two. That is, as one aspect, it is generated by increasing the area ratio of the hydrophilic region to the hydrophobic region (hereinafter referred to as “hydrophilic / hydrophobic area ratio”) in the predetermined direction of the surface of the article. Further, as the second aspect, the affinity to water per unit area of the hydrophilic region increases toward the certain direction of the surface of the article, or the affinity to water per unit area of the hydrophobic region is increased. Caused by constructing to increase. The mechanism by which water apparently moves autonomously on such a surface is considered as follows, but this theory is assumed and the present invention is not limited to such a theory.

  The surface of the article according to the present invention includes a hydrophilic region and a hydrophobic region, and when water is placed in contact with both the hydrophilic region and the hydrophobic region, the water is pushed by the hydrophobic region and from the hydrophilic region. The pulling force acts. In the first aspect, the area ratio of the hydrophilic region to the hydrophobic region changes in a certain direction, and water is drawn to the larger area ratio of the hydrophilic region. Moreover, in the said 2nd aspect, the affinity with respect to water of this hydrophilic region or a hydrophobic region changes to a fixed direction, and water is pulled in the direction where the affinity with respect to water increases relatively. These forces are considered to be propulsive forces, and the water appears to move autonomously on the surface. In the present invention, this apparent autonomous movement direction of water is referred to as “water movement direction”. This propulsive force is different from gravity, and water moves even in an environment where the surface is horizontal and gravity does not apply any horizontal force to the water. In the present invention, the direction in which this water apparently moves autonomously is referred to as the “water movement direction”. Further, when the surface is inclined or vertical, it is possible to move water more efficiently by both the autonomous movement direction of water and the force of gravity. According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to move a relatively large water droplet of 5 mL or more or a cluster of water on a horizontal plane by at least several cm to 5 cm or more.

Water Transfer Unit First, the water transfer unit provided by the present invention will be described.
The embodiment of changing the ratio of the water-conducting unit: hydrophilic / hydrophobic area in the first embodiment The concept of the “hydrophobic / hydrophobic area ratio” in the present invention and the method of changing it will be described below. In the present invention, the hydrophilic region and the hydrophobic region include a plurality of hydrophobic regions arranged in parallel with the water movement direction in the longitudinal direction, preferably parallel to the water movement direction, and the hydrophilic region between the plurality of hydrophobic regions. In other words, a plurality of hydrophilic regions are formed in parallel with the water movement direction in the longitudinal direction, preferably in parallel with the water movement direction, and a hydrophobic region is arranged between the plurality of hydrophilic regions. Is done. A specific embodiment thereof will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a plurality of hydrophilic regions and a plurality of hydrophobic regions are formed on the surface of an article according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a plurality of hydrophilic regions 11 are formed in an inverted triangular shape on the surface 100a of the article, and a hydrophobic region 12 is further formed in a triangular shape. In this embodiment, the article surface 100a may itself be a surface having hydrophilic properties, forming the hydrophobic region 12, and the hydrophilic region 11 being provided as a result.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the apparent autonomous movement of water placed on the surface of the article of FIG. In the region A in the figure, the hydrophilic / hydrophobic area ratio increases in the upper direction of the figure, and when comparing the region A and the region B, the hydrophilic / hydrophobic area ratio increases from the region A to the region B. When the water 20 is placed on such a surface, a force 31 pushed out from the hydrophobic region 12 side acts on the water, and a force 32 drawn from the hydrophilic region 11 side acts. The water 20 moves upward from the bottom of the figure using these two forces as driving forces. In the present invention, this direction in which the hydrophilic / hydrophobic area ratio increases, that is, the direction in which the water 20 moves is defined as the “water moving direction”. In the present specification, a region having a small hydrophilic / hydrophobic area ratio or its side may be expressed as upstream, and a region having a large hydrophilic / hydrophobic area ratio or its side may be expressed as downstream. In the present invention, hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity are used in a relative meaning as long as the driving force for the water 20 is generated, and means, for example, a property expressed as an absolute value as a contact angle with water. However, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hydrophilic region has a static contact angle with water of 0 ° or more and 120 ° or less, and the hydrophobic region has a static contact angle with water of 40 ° or more and 180 °. Located in the following range.

  In the present invention, the hydrophilic region and the hydrophobic region can be formed as follows. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the article surface 100a is a surface having a hydrophilic property in itself, and the hydrophobic region 12 is a coating layer formed by painting. Moreover, according to another aspect, you may form not only a hydrophobic area | region but a hydrophilic area | region as a coating layer. When the article surface 100a is a hydrophobic surface, the hydrophilic region 11 may be formed as a coating layer.

  When a hydrophobic region is used as a coating layer, this coating layer is composed of a hydrophobic resin paint (for example, silicone resin, fluorine resin, acrylic resin, melamine resin, composite resin), an inorganic paint (for example, silicone paint), a hydrophobic photocatalyst. You may form with a paint. When the hydrophilic region is a coating layer, the coating layer may be formed of a hydrophilic resin paint, an inorganic paint, a hydrophilic photocatalyst paint, or the like. Although the formation method of a coating layer is not specifically limited, You may form by methods, such as an inkjet, screen printing, loto printing, and gravure printing.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the hydrophilic region and the hydrophobic region as the coating layer are formed as an aggregate of dots. For example, dots may be formed by applying a hydrophilic or hydrophobic substance by an inkjet method. Unless otherwise specified, this embodiment does not stop, and in the present invention, when the hydrophilic region or the hydrophobic region is formed by dots, the area of the hydrophilic region and the hydrophobic region is expressed as the sum of the areas of the dots forming the region, By comparing the sum of the areas of the dots, the hydrophilic / hydrophobic area ratio is defined.

  Moreover, according to one preferable aspect of this invention, it is preferable from a viewpoint that this coating layer is transparent with respect to visible light, does not affect the design of an article | item, or impairs it.

  In this aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the hydrophilic region and the hydrophobic region are configured to be in contact with one water droplet. For example, when water droplet adhesion due to shower use in a bathroom is assumed, the adhesion size of the water droplet is 5 mm to If it is set to 100 mm, it is preferable that the maximum width of the hydrophilic region or the hydrophobic region is 2 mm to 50 mm in a portion where the size in the direction orthogonal to the water movement direction is maximum. In other words, the maximum width of each region is preferably smaller than half of the size of the droplet.

The second embodiment of the water-conducting unit: the aspect of changing the affinity for water per unit area, and according to another aspect of the present invention, the increase in hydrophilicity or the decrease in hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region is directed in a certain direction. Thus, the article is configured in combination with a mode that is formed by increasing the affinity for water per unit area of the hydrophilic region or by increasing the affinity for water per unit area of the hydrophobic region. .

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the second aspect. In the figure, a plurality of rectangular hydrophilic regions 12 are formed on a surface 100a of the article, and a plurality of rectangular hydrophobic regions 11 are further formed. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the hydrophobic region 11 is divided into 9 regions 21 to 29 in the figure, each having a different degree of affinity for water. In this embodiment, the hydrophilicity in order from 21 Is configured to increase, that is, decrease hydrophobicity. That is, in the figure, it means that the degree of hydrophobicity decreases from black to gray to white. Also in this embodiment, the article surface 100a may be a surface having a hydrophilic property itself, so that the hydrophobic region 11 is formed, and the hydrophilic region 12 is provided as a result.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 3, as a result of such a configuration, the hydrophilicity of the surface of the article increases in the upward direction of the figure. The degree increases from region A to region B. Due to such a change in hydrophilicity, even in the embodiment of this figure, water apparently moves autonomously as in the case of the first embodiment, that is, the embodiment of FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the apparent autonomous movement of water placed on the surface of the article shown in FIG. When the water 20 is placed on the surface of the article shown in FIG. 3, a force 31 to be pushed acts on the water in accordance with the change in hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity in the first embodiment. With this force as a driving force, the water 20 moves upward from the bottom of the figure, that is, in the direction of the arrow 32. That is, in the present invention, the water 20 moves in the direction in which the hydrophilicity increases in the hydrophobic region or in the direction in which the hydrophobicity decreases. This direction is defined as the water movement direction in the present invention. The hydrophilic region 12 becomes a region (water channel) through which water passes due to its hydrophilic property, and is restricted by the deformation region of the droplet by being sandwiched by the hydrophobic region, so that the deformation of the droplet in the water movement direction (that is, the droplet on the hydrophilic side) Is facilitated to reach the downstream side more easily. In the second aspect, hydrophilicity may be increased by moving the hydrophilic region 12 toward the downstream side in the water movement direction. In that case, by the force that pushes out the water generated in the hydrophilic region 12 due to the change in hydrophilicity, Or in addition to the force which pushes out the water which arises with the change of hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic area | region 11, the force which arises in a hydrophilic area | region combines, and the water 20 moves to a downstream direction.

  In this embodiment of the present invention, the size of each region divided within the hydrophilic region or the hydrophobic region is such that one water droplet spans at least two or more regions, more desirably three or more regions. It is preferable. For example, assuming water droplet adhesion due to use of a shower in the bathroom, if the water droplet adhesion size is 5 mm to 100 mm, each region is preferably 2 mm to 50 mm along the water movement direction. It is more preferable to form a surface in which a plurality of the surfaces can move water to several centimeters or more. Furthermore, it is preferable that the hydrophilic region and the hydrophobic region are configured to be in contact with one water droplet. For example, when assuming water droplet adhesion due to shower use in the bathroom, the water droplet adhesion size is 5 mm to 100 mm. The width of the hydrophilic region or the hydrophobic region, that is, the size in the direction orthogonal to the water movement direction is preferably 2 mm to 50 mm. In other words, it is preferable that the size of each region is smaller than half the size of the droplet.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the formation of the hydrophilic region and the hydrophobic region can be performed as follows. For example, the article surface 100a itself is a surface having hydrophilic properties, and is a coating layer in which the hydrophobic region 11 is formed by painting. Here, since the hydrophobic regions 21 to 29 are regions having different degrees of hydrophobicity, the hydrophobic regions 21 to 29 are formed with different types or amounts. Moreover, according to another aspect, you may form not only a hydrophobic area | region but a hydrophilic area | region as a coating layer.

  Also about this aspect, the coating material which forms a coating layer, and the formation method of a coating layer can mention the thing similar to what was mentioned above.

Combination of a plurality of water guiding units In the present invention, a plurality of the above water guiding units are arranged on the surface of an article. Specifically, the water movement direction of at least one water conveyance unit of the plurality of water conveyance units is not parallel to the water movement direction of the other water conveyance units, and the water movement directions of the respective water conveyance units converge on a specific region. A plurality of water guiding units are arranged. This makes it possible to focus and collect water in a specific area, and the collected water becomes larger water droplets (groups), and water can be moved more efficiently. In particular, since a large water droplet (group) can easily move over the boundary region of the water guiding unit, it can be moved over a longer distance. Moreover, it becomes possible to control the moving direction of water by converging and collecting water in a specific area.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram of an embodiment in which two water guiding units 101 and 102 are arranged, and these water guiding units have a configuration in which a plurality of triangular hydrophobic regions 12 are provided on a hydrophilic surface 11. And the water movement direction of the water guide units 101 and 102 is made non-parallel. That is, the water movement direction of the water guiding unit 101 in the figure is directed in the direction of the arrow 101a in the figure, while the water movement direction of the water guiding unit 102 is directed in the direction of the arrow 102a, and they are not parallel. And these two water movement directions face the area | region shown by A in a figure. When water is placed on the surface of such an article, the water on the water guiding unit 101 moves in the direction of arrow 101a, the water on the water guiding unit 102 moves in the direction of arrow 102a, and moves in these two directions, respectively. The collected water converges toward the area indicated by A in the figure. As a result, the moving direction of water can be controlled, and water droplets (groups) can be enlarged to facilitate movement.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram of a mode in which a plurality of water guiding units are further arranged. In the figure, the water movement directions of the water conveyance units in rows 1 to 3 of column 1 are substantially parallel and are directed toward the region A in the figure. Water placed in column 1, row 1 heading units autonomously moves to column 1, row 2, and row 3 heading units. In addition, the moving directions of the water guiding units in the rows 1 to 3 of the column 2 are substantially parallel, and the water placed in the water guiding units in the columns 2 and 1 is the water guiding units in the rows 2 and 3 of the column 2. To move autonomously. That is, first, column 1 and rows 1 to 3 are a first group of water guiding units in which the direction of increasing hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic region or the direction of decreasing hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region is parallel, and column 2 Rows 1 to 3 are a second group in which the direction of increasing hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic region or the direction of decreasing hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region is parallel and non-parallel to the direction of the first group. It becomes a plurality of water conveyance units. And the water placed in these water guide units will apparently move autonomously so as to converge on the specific area A.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the water conveyance units in rows 1 to 3 in columns 3 to 5 are further provided. Similar to the first group and the second group, they are a plurality of water guiding units of the third group to the fifth group. The plurality of water guiding units of the first group to the fifth group are such that the direction of increase in hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic region or the direction of decrease in hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region is non-parallel, and the hydrophilic regions of the respective groups The direction of increasing hydrophilicity or the direction of decreasing hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region reaches the specific region. The water placed in these further plurality of water guiding units will apparently move autonomously so as to converge on the specific area A.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the embodiment of FIG. 7, the region between the plurality of water guiding units is made hydrophilic.

FIG. 7 is a diagram representing the surface of an article according to another aspect of the present invention. FIG. 7B shows a configuration in which a plurality of water guide units 101 are continuously arranged as shown in FIG. 7A. A plurality of triangular hydrophobic regions are provided on the hydrophilic surface 11 and are arranged in rows 121 and 122, respectively. And the water movement direction of the row | line | column 121 and the row | line 122 of a water guide unit is made non-parallel. Water placed on an article having such a surface moves autonomously to converge on a specific area A between the rows 121 and 122. That is, in the article shown in FIG. 7, the specific region is a band or a line, and the first water conveyance unit and the second water conveyance unit are in a non-parallel relationship across the specific region. The water moving direction is placed toward the specific area. When the water collected in the specific area A reaches a certain amount, it easily moves with a slight inclination or external force and can be removed from the article surface. In addition, since the hydrophilic region spreads at the downstream end, when the collected water reaches the downstream end of the specific region A, the water is apparently autonomous in a form that is released to a wide hydrophilic region at the downstream end. In this case, water can be excluded from the specific area A. Further, for example, when the surface of the article is placed vertically, the water focused on the specific area A is efficiently moved by gravity, and the area A is moved downward in the figure like a water channel. Eliminated.

  The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Example 1
A glass cleaning agent containing ammonium fluoride was applied to a plate glass of 150 mm × 65 mm × 2 mm, and when there was no water repellency, it was rinsed with water and dried. A water repellent (trade name: Super Galaco, manufactured by Soft 99 Corporation) was applied to the surface of the glass plate and sufficiently dried at 70 ° C. A masking tape was affixed to the water-repellent surface, a portion of the masking tape that became a hydrophilic region was cut out along the pattern shape as shown in FIG. 8, and the portion was made hydrophilic to form a pattern. That is, on the hydrophilic glass surface 11, two combinations of the water guiding units 121 and 122 each having a length of 130 mm and a width of 15 mm made up of a plurality of hydrophobic regions shown in FIG. 8B are arranged between the specific region A having a width of 1 mm. It was formed while providing. The shape of the hydrophilic region in this water conveyance unit has the shape shown in FIG. That is, the area of the hydrophilic region increases toward the specific region A.

  The cleaning agent was applied again to the surface thus obtained, and it was confirmed that there was no water repellency. After that, the surface was thoroughly rinsed with water. The remaining masking tape was taken and dried to prepare a sample.

  When the sample was placed on a horizontal plane and about 10 mL of water was applied from above, water gathered in the hydrophilic region at the center of the pattern, and when the water reached the hydrophilic region at the downstream end, water was drained in a certain direction.

Example 2
A sample was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the pattern shown in FIG. That is, on the hydrophilic glass surface 11, three rows of a combination of water guiding units 121 and 122 each having a length of 130 mm and a width of 10 mm, each having a plurality of hydrophobic regions shown in FIG. It was formed while providing. The shape of the hydrophilic region in this water conveyance unit has the shape shown in FIG.

When this sample was stood and sprayed with water, water gathered and flowed in the hydrophilic flow path at the center of the pattern. The sample was placed horizontally and sprayed with water from above. When the water droplets became large, water did not reach the upstream side, and water flowed downstream.

Claims (7)

An article having a surface in contact with water,
The surface comprises a plurality of water conducting units;
The water conveyance unit comprises a plurality of hydrophilic regions and hydrophobic regions, respectively.
The hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic region increases in a certain direction of the surface, or the hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region decreases in the certain direction, or the hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic region increases, and Cause both a decrease in hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region,
Therefore, it has the property that the water moves autonomously in this direction (hereinafter, this direction is referred to as “water movement direction”),
The water movement direction of at least one water conveyance unit of the plurality of water conveyance units is non-parallel to the water movement direction of other water conveyance units, and the water movement directions of the respective water conveyance units are converged in a specific region. An article comprising the plurality of water guiding units.   The increase in hydrophilicity or the decrease in hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region is configured to increase an area ratio of the hydrophilic region to the hydrophobic region (hereinafter referred to as “hydrophilic / hydrophobic area ratio”) in the certain direction. The article according to claim 1, produced by:   The increase in hydrophilicity or the decrease in hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region increases the affinity to water per unit area of the hydrophilic region toward the certain direction, or per unit area of the hydrophobic region. The article of claim 1, wherein the article is generated by configuring to increase water affinity. A plurality of water-conducting units of the first group in which the direction of increasing hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic region or the direction of decreasing hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region is parallel;
A plurality of water-conducting units of a second group in which the direction of increasing hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic region or the direction of decreasing hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region is parallel and non-parallel to the direction of the first group; The article according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising: The direction of increasing hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic region or the direction of decreasing hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region is non-parallel to the direction of the plurality of water-conducting units of the first group and the second group. It further has a group of a plurality of water guiding units,
The article according to claim 4, wherein a direction of increasing hydrophilicity in the hydrophilic region of each group or a direction of decreasing hydrophobicity in the hydrophobic region reaches a specific region. The specific region is a band or a line;
The first water conveyance unit and the second water conveyance unit are placed with the specific water movement direction being directed to the specific area across the specific area. The article | item as described in any one of -3.   The article according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which is a water-surrounding member.

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