JP3196101B2 - 3D surface heater - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heater for heating a three-dimensional surface suitable for heating an object to be heated having a three-dimensional surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a three-dimensional surface heating heater for heating an object to be heated having a three-dimensional surface, for example, a toilet seat used in a Western style toilet.

FIG. 7 is a rear view showing a three-dimensional surface heater for heating a toilet seat of a Western-style toilet among conventional three-dimensional surface heaters of this kind. As shown in FIG.
0 is provided with a seat surface 81 formed of a plate made of a synthetic resin in a ring shape, and the seat surface 81 is entirely curved in the width direction so that an inner periphery 82 and an outer periphery 84 thereof are directed downward. A concave portion 83 is formed on the back surface of the surface 81, while an aluminum foil (not shown) on which a heating resistance wire (Nichrome wire) 85 is attached in a meandering manner is adhered in the concave portion 83 using an adhesive.
Further, a bottom plate (not shown) for closing the concave portion 83 is attached to the inner and outer peripheral portions 82 and 84 of the seat surface 81.

[0004] When the heating resistance wire 85 is energized, the heating resistance wire 85 is heated to a predetermined temperature, thereby heating the surface of the seating surface 81.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional thermal toilet seat 80 has the following problems. The work of attaching the linear heating resistance wires 85 to the aluminum foil by meandering one by one and the work of uniformly bonding the aluminum foil in the recess 83 are both complicated, and cost reduction cannot be achieved. Moreover, when the bonding position of the aluminum foil is shifted, it is difficult to correct it.

In order to uniformly heat the entire seating surface 81, it is necessary to closely distribute the heating resistance wires 85, but this increases costs on both the material side and the working side. In addition, since the heating resistance wire 85 has a predetermined elasticity, there is a limit even if the heating resistance wire 85 is closely distributed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object not only efficient and uniform heating of a heated object having a three-dimensional surface such as the above-mentioned toilet seat, but also simple manufacturing and mounting operations. An object of the present invention is to provide a three-dimensional surface heater.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a three-dimensional surface heating heater which is attached to the back of a heated object having a three-dimensional surface and heats the heated object.
The three-dimensional surface heating heater includes a synthetic sheet formed of a synthetic resin, and a heat generating sheet having at least a desired resistance pattern formed on the synthetic resin sheet. Form resistance pattern
The surface thus formed is adhered and integrated with the formed sheet facing the molded sheet , and the entire shape is curved or bent to have substantially the same shape as the back surface of the object to be heated.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a warm toilet seat 1 of a Western style toilet to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the warm toilet seat 1 includes a seat surface 10, a three-dimensional surface heater 20 according to the present invention, and a bottom plate 60. Hereinafter, each component will be described.

The seat 10 is made of synthetic resin (for example, ABS resin).
The seat surface 10 is formed in a ring shape and the entire inner surface 13 and the outer periphery 14 of the seat surface 10 are downwardly curved by intricately curving the entire seat surface 10 so that the center thereof is convex. Is provided with a concave portion 15 on the back surface thereof. At predetermined positions of the seat surface 10, mounting holes 17 for swingably fixing the seat surface 10 to a toilet body (not shown),
17 are provided.

Next, the heater 20 for the three-dimensional surface is formed by forming a thin sheet into a ring shape and forming the thin sheet into a curved shape substantially the same as the concave portion 15 of the seating surface 10 so that the inner and outer peripheral portions 23 and 24 are lowered. It is configured to point to.

FIG. 2 shows the three-dimensional surface heater 20.
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the three-dimensional surface heater 20 includes a formed sheet 21 and the formed sheet 21.
And two heat generating sheets 31 and 31 adhered to each other.

The molded sheet 21 has a thickness of 200 to 200.
The seat 22 is formed by molding a 250 μm PET (polyethylene terephthalate) sheet 22 so as to be curved to have substantially the same shape as the shape of the concave portion 15 of the seating surface 10.

The two heat-generating sheets 31 have a line-symmetrical shape and are each formed in a shape (substantially C-shape) that covers the upper surface of the molded sheet 21 by half.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing one of the heat generating sheets 31. FIG. As shown in FIG.
Is to form two electrode patterns 33, 33 by printing silver paste on both sides in the longitudinal direction of a PET sheet 32 having a thickness of 75 μm.
A resistance pattern 35 made of a large number of carbon films is printed and formed in parallel so as to connect the third and the third 33. Each of the resistance patterns 35 is formed to meander so as to cover the entire surface of the sheet 32 as uniformly as possible.

A metal terminal 37 is attached to one end of each of the two electrode patterns 33 of the sheet 32.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the metal terminal 37. As shown in the drawing, the metal terminals 37 are inserted into the holes 39 provided in the sheet 32 from the side of the sheet 32 on which the electrode patterns 33 are provided, and the eyelets 41 of the metal terminals 37 are lined with a ring-shaped washer 43. It is formed by caulking the eyelet 41.

In FIG. 3, eight slits 45 are provided in the sheet 32, and seven notches 39 are provided on the outer side of the sheet 32.
These slits 45 and notch grooves 39
2 is provided in order to be able to easily perform the bending when bending the molded sheet 21 in accordance with the curved surface of the molded sheet 21 shown in FIG.

Next, the manufacture of the three-dimensional surface heater 20 is performed by a vacuum forming method. That is, first, as shown in FIG. 5, the surface on which the two heat generating sheets 31 shown in FIG. 3 and the resistance pattern 35 thereof are provided in a seat-surface-shaped concave portion 53 provided on the upper surface of a vacuum molding die 51 is provided. Insert it up.

On the other hand, a PET sheet 22A (which will later become the molded sheet 21) having a shape covering the upper surface of the mold 51 is prepared, and a hot melt type adhesive 54 is applied to one surface thereof. As the adhesive 54, for example, an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) is used.

Then, the PET sheet 22A is heated in advance (110 ° C. to 150 ° C.) to soften the PET sheet 22A. In this state, the PET sheet 22A is placed on the mold 51 with the surface coated with the adhesive 54 facing down.

Then, if air is evacuated from the hole 55 provided in the concave portion 53 and evacuated, the two heat generating sheets 3
1, 31 and the PET sheet 22A are formed into the shape of the concave portion 53, that is, the shape of the concave portion 15 of the seating surface 10. At this time, P
The ET sheet 22A and the two heat generating sheets 31, 31 are adhered and integrated by the adhesive 54.

Then, the integrated PET sheet 22A is removed from the mold 51, and the molded portion of the PET sheet 22A is cut into a ring and taken out.

Finally, a lead wire 57 (see FIG. 1) is attached to the metal terminal 37 (see FIG. 4) attached to the heat generating sheet 31, and a connection portion between the metal terminal 37 and the lead wire 57 is made of an epoxy-based insulating resin. Seal with. Thus, the three-dimensional surface heater 20 is completed.

Since the three-dimensional surface heater 20 has a structure in which the electrode pattern 33 and the resistance pattern 35 are sandwiched between the sheet 32 of the heat generating sheet 31 and the molded sheet 21, an insulating layer and the like are additionally provided. Even if it is not provided, the insulation is ensured.

Next, returning to FIG. 1, the bottom plate 60 is formed by molding a synthetic resin plate into substantially the same shape as the shape of the lower surface of the seating surface 10. That is, the bottom plate 60 is fixed to the lower ends of the inner and outer peripheries 13 and 14 of the seating surface 10 and is formed in a shape to close the concave portion 15.

In order to assemble the warm toilet seat 1, as shown in FIG. 1, the three-dimensional surface heater 20 is housed in the recess 15 of the seat surface 10, and the bottom plate 60 is attached thereunder. Of the seat 1 by fixing means (not shown)
It is fixed to the lower ends of the inner and outer peripheral portions 13 and 14 of the “0”.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of the assembled thermal toilet seat 1 taken along the line AA shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the lower ends (upper ends in the figure) of the inner and outer peripheries 23 and 24 of the three-dimensional surface heater 20 are pushed up to the seat surface 10 by abutting against the bottom plate 60, whereby the three-dimensional surface heater The heater 20 is in close contact with the back surface of the seating surface 10.

Particularly in the case of the present invention, the heater 2 for heating the three-dimensional surface is used.
0 has almost the same shape as the back surface of the seating surface 10, so that the three-dimensional surface heater 20 has all the
0 is fixed in a state of being pressed tightly against the back surface.

Therefore, even if the space between the seat surface 10 and the three-dimensional surface heater 20 is not bonded by an adhesive or other fixing means, a good contact state between them can be maintained. Of course, both may be further bonded.

When a voltage is applied to the lead wire 57 (see FIG. 1), the entire surface of the three-dimensional surface heater 20 is substantially uniformly heated, and the heat warms the seating surface 10 from the back side. Most of the heat is transmitted to the seating surface 10 because air with poor heat conduction is interposed on the back surface side of the three-dimensional surface heater 20.

Since the three-dimensional surface heater 20 has a thin plate shape and a concave back surface, when storing the three-dimensional surface heater 20 alone, a large number of sheets are stacked using the concave portion. And the storage space can be reduced.

By the way, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a special device is added to the shape of the resistance pattern 35. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, each resistance pattern 35 in this embodiment is the same as the resistance pattern 35 except for the resistance pattern 35 at one end indicated by an arrow E.
For all other resistance patterns 35, the total length L, the width W, and the meandering pitch P of the resistance patterns 35 are constant. More specifically, the total length L ≒ 275 mm and the width W = 2
mm and the meandering pitch (the distance between the center lines of the meandering adjacent resistive patterns 35) P = 4 mm, all of which are constant.

If this condition, that is, the distribution pattern of the resistor patterns 35 is designed so that the total length, width, and meandering pitch of the resistor patterns 35 are constant in any of the resistor patterns 35, even if each resistor pattern 35 is formed, Even if the width of the heat generating sheet 31 changes, the area of the surface on which each of the resistance patterns 35 is provided becomes substantially constant, and thus the amount of heat generated per unit area becomes constant. The reason is as follows.

That is, since the entire length and meandering pitch of each resistance pattern 35 are constant, the area occupied by the resistance pattern 35 on the substrate surface is substantially constant. On the other hand, since the total length and width of each resistance pattern 35 are constant, the resistance value of each resistance pattern 35 is substantially the same, and the amount of heat generation is constant in each part of each resistance pattern 35. Therefore, the calorific value per unit area is substantially constant.

Specifically, arrows F, G, H, and
Comparing the resistance patterns 35 in the portions indicated by I and J, the length of the resistance pattern 35 indicated by the arrow F is 275.0 mm.
The occupied area (actually measured value, the same applies hereinafter) is 1209 mm ² , the length of the resistance pattern 35 indicated by the arrow G is 276.9 mm, the occupied area is 1281 mm ² , and the length of the resistance pattern 35 indicated by the arrow H is 2
76.9 mm, the occupied area is 1162 mm ² , the length of the resistance pattern 35 indicated by the arrow I is 274.9 mm, and the occupied area is 1189.
mm ² , the length of the resistance pattern 35 of the arrow J is 276.5 mm
And the occupied area was 1209 mm ² .

Accordingly, the total length, width and pitch of each resistor pattern 35 need not be designed so that the heat value per unit area is constant in consideration of the relationship between the heat value and the area of each resistor pattern 35. Even if it is designed to be even constant, the calorific value per unit area becomes constant, and the design becomes extremely easy.

By the way, in each of the resistor patterns 35, the width and the meandering pitch are fixed in addition to the total length.
Even if the width and the meandering pitch are not necessarily constant, if the ratio between the width and the meandering pitch is the same, the calorific value per unit area becomes constant.

That is, the resistance pattern 35 at the end shown by the arrow E
Is length L = 275.7 mm and width W = 1.3.
mm, meandering pitch P = 2.6 mm. That is, the width W:
The meandering pitch P is set to 1.3: 2.6 = 1: 2. This is because the width W of each resistor pattern 35: meandering pitch P =
The same ratio as 2: 4 = 1: 2. Also in this case, the amount of heat generated per unit area is substantially the same as that of each of the resistance patterns 35.

Since the power W is equal to V ² / R, and the resistance patterns 35 are connected in parallel and V is constant, the power W is inversely proportional to the resistance R. And the resistance pattern 35 of the arrow E
Is 1.3 mm, the resistance value is (2 / 1.3) times the resistance value of the other resistance patterns 35, and the heat generation power is (1.3 / 2 = 0.65) times the other. Becomes

On the other hand, the occupied area of the resistance pattern 35 indicated by the arrow E is (1.3 / 2) as compared with the other resistance patterns 35 in width and meandering pitch of the resistance pattern 35.
The area is also about (1.3 / 2). In other words, the area of the heat generation power becomes (1.3.2) in proportion to (1.3 / 2).
3/2), so that the amount of heat generated per unit area is substantially the same.

That is, the measured value of the occupied area of the resistance pattern 35 indicated by the arrow E was 795 mm ² . The arrow F
Compared to the area occupied by the resistance pattern 35, 795 /
1209 = 0.66, which indicates that the occupied area also decreases at the same ratio as the decrease in heat generation power, and thus the heat generation amount per unit area is substantially constant.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and for example, the following modifications are possible. In the above embodiment, the adhesive 54 was applied to the molded sheet 21 side. Conversely, a hot melt type adhesive was applied to the heat generating sheets 31 and 31 and heated to form the molded sheet 2.
It may be made to adhere to one side and integrated.

In the above embodiment, the resistance pattern 3 is used to uniformly heat the entire surface of the three-dimensional surface heater 20.
5 are formed to meander, but in some cases it is not necessary to meander, and for example, a resistance pattern may be printed on the entire surface between two electrode patterns. Various modifications can be made to the shape and arrangement of.

In the above embodiment, the molded sheet and the like are constituted by PET sheets. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is made of another thermoplastic synthetic resin (for example, vinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate). Sheet may be used. The materials of other members can be similarly changed.

In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the heater for heating a three-dimensional surface according to the present invention is used for heating a toilet seat. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other various three-dimensional heaters such as a curved mirror may be used. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to an object to be heated having a surface.

In the above embodiment, the heat generating sheet 31 is composed of two parts (substantially C-shaped) having a line-symmetrical shape, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the entirety is one sheet (substantially O-shaped). It may be formed as.

[0047]

As described above in detail, the three-dimensional surface heater according to the present invention has the following excellent effects. By simply storing and pressing the three-dimensional surface heater on the back surface of the object to be heated, the entire surface of the three-dimensional surface heater can be securely brought into close contact with the back surface of the object without any positional displacement. The close contact with the heating element, the positioning and mounting work can be performed easily, and the cost can be reduced.

Since the heater is in close contact with the rear surface of the object to be heated, the heat of the three-dimensional surface heater can be efficiently and uniformly used for heating the object to be heated, and the power consumption required to warm the object to be heated is reduced. Not only can be achieved, but also the time for raising the temperature to a predetermined temperature can be shortened.

Since the heating sheet having the resistance pattern formed thereon and the molded sheet can be manufactured only by molding and bonding, the production can be easily performed. In particular, if a manufacturing method in which molding and bonding are performed at the same time is used, the manufacturing process can be simplified, manufacturing efficiency can be improved, and cost can be reduced.

Since the heat generating sheet was bonded with the surface on which the resistance pattern was formed facing the molded sheet, the resistance pattern was sandwiched between the heat generating sheet and the molded sheet.
The insulation can be ensured without providing an additional insulating layer or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a warm toilet seat 1 of a Western style toilet to which a three-dimensional surface heater 20 according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the three-dimensional surface heater 20.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a heat generating sheet 31.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of a metal terminal 37 attached to a heat generating sheet 31.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method of manufacturing the three-dimensional surface heater 20.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of the assembled thermal toilet seat 1 taken along line AA shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a rear view showing a three-dimensional surface heater for a warm toilet seat of a conventional Western style toilet.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the heat generation sheet 31.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Seat surface (heated body) 15 Depression 20 Heater for three-dimensional surface heating 21 Molding sheet 31 Heat generation sheet 32 Sheet 33 Electrode pattern 35 Resistance pattern

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Susumu Aihara 335 Karisuku, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Teikoku Kogyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-8-273810 (JP, A) JP-A 62-145599 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H05B 3/06 H05B 3/34 H05B 3/20 A47K 13/30

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heater for heating a three-dimensional surface which is attached to a back surface of a heated object having a three-dimensional surface and heats the heated object, wherein the three-dimensional surface heater comprises a molded sheet made of synthetic resin and a synthetic resin made of synthetic resin. A heat generating sheet having at least a desired resistance pattern formed on the sheet, wherein the heat generating sheet and the formed sheet are separated by a resistance pattern of the heat generating sheet.
The solid body is characterized in that the surface on which the pattern is formed is bonded and integrated with the surface facing the molded sheet , and the entire shape is curved or bent to be substantially the same as the back surface of the object to be heated. Surface heating heater. 2. A method of manufacturing a heater for heating a three-dimensional surface which is attached to a back surface of a heated object having a three-dimensional surface and heats the heated object, comprising: a molded sheet made of a synthetic resin; A heating sheet formed with a desired resistance pattern and a vacuum forming mold curved or bent to have substantially the same shape as the back surface of the object to be heated are prepared, and at least one of the forming sheet and the heating sheet is prepared. A hot-melt type adhesive is applied to one side, and the heating sheet is vacuum-molded into the mold from above the heating sheet while the heating sheet is set in the vacuum molding mold. A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional surface heater, comprising simultaneously bonding and integrating a sheet and a formed sheet and forming the object to be heated into a rear surface shape.