JP4998776B2 - Steam vacuum cleaner hose - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a steam vacuum cleaner hose provided in a steam vacuum cleaner that cleans a surface to be cleaned while discharging steam.

  In general, as shown in FIG. 7, a hose for a vacuum cleaner has a plurality of insulation coated conductive wires 2... In the hose axial direction along the inner peripheral surface of a flexible hose body 1. A structure is known that is wound spirally while maintaining an interval to give appropriate shape retention and flexibility.

  Such a vacuum cleaner hose is connected and connected between an operation tube with a hand switch equipped with an intake nozzle and a vacuum cleaner main body, and an insulation coated conductive wire 2 is provided on the vacuum cleaner main body side. It is used as a signal line for an on / off control circuit of an electric blower, a power supply line for a rotary brush provided on the intake nozzle side, or the like.

  In this type of vacuum cleaner hose, for example, as disclosed in the cited documents 1 to 3, various improvements are made to the structure of the insulation-coated conductive wire, thereby reducing weight and improving operability. Attempts have been made.

JP-A-2-268717 JP 2000-175858 A JP 2002-369774 A

  There are various types of electric vacuum cleaners, and one of them is a steam type vacuum cleaner that cleans the surface to be cleaned while discharging steam. In such a steam type vacuum cleaner, steam that becomes a conductive medium may be sucked into the hose, and if the insulation-coated conductive wire through which a large current flows is damaged and leaks, a serious accident may occur. was there. Moreover, when using the insulation coated conductive wire of the hose as the power supply line of the heater for generating steam, compared to the case of using it as the signal line of the on / off control circuit of the electric blower described above, the power supply line of the rotating brush, etc. Since a large current would flow, the danger was further increased.

  Therefore, in the case of a steam type vacuum cleaner hose, the thickness of the insulation coating material of the insulation coating conductive wire is made sufficiently thicker than that of the general vacuum cleaner hose as described above. It was necessary to take measures.

  However, when the thickness of the insulation coating material of all the insulation coating conductive wires is uniformly increased, the thick insulation coating conductive wire is spirally wound, increasing the weight of the entire hose, When the hose is bent, the insulation-coated conductive wires easily interfere with each other, resulting in a hose with poor operability.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and its purpose is for a steam type vacuum cleaner having excellent operability while taking safety measures to surely prevent an accident due to electric leakage. Is to provide a hose.

In order to solve the above problems, the hose 10 for a steam cleaner of the present invention is provided in a steam cleaner that cleans the surface to be cleaned while discharging steam, and has a flexible hose body 30. Along the inner peripheral surface of the wire, a large current insulating coated conductive wire 31, 31 and a small current insulating coated conductive wire 32, 32 are spirally wound adjacent to each other in the hose axis direction and maintaining a predetermined interval. The insulation coating material 41 in the high-current insulation coated conductive wires 31 and 31 is made thick, and the insulation coating material 46 in the small-current insulation coating conductive wires 32 and 32 is insulated from the large current insulation. The hose body is made thinner than the insulating coating material 41 in the coated conductive wires 31, 31, the small- sized insulating coated conductive wires 32, 32 are smaller in diameter than the large-current insulating coated conductive wires 31, 31. 30 is Spiral first bulging protrusions 35 and 35 having a large protrusion amount in the hose diameter outward direction, and spiral second bulging protrusions 36 and 36 having a small protrusion amount in the hose diameter outward direction. And the high-voltage insulation covering conductive wires 31 and 31 are accommodated inside the first bulge protrusions 35 and 35, and the small current is disposed inside the second bulge protrusions 36 and 36. It is characterized in that the inner peripheral surface of the hose is substantially smoothed by accommodating the insulating coated conductive wires 32, 32 for use .

  Specifically, the insulation coating conductive wires 31 and 31 for large current are used as power supply wires for the heater 17 for generating steam, and the insulation coating conductive wires 32 and 32 for small current are controlled to turn on and off the electric blower 18. It is used as a signal line of a circuit.

  Further, the insulation coating material 41 of the insulation coating conductive wires 31, 31 for large current is formed into a two-layer structure comprising an inner layer 42 covering the conduction wire 40 and an outer layer 43 covering the inner layer 42. The outer layer 43 is in a non-adhered state. Further, the inner layer 42 of the insulating covering material 41 is bonded to the conductive wire 40.

  In the steam type vacuum cleaner hose according to the present invention, the insulation coating material of the insulation coating conductive wire for large current used as, for example, the power supply line of the heater for generating steam is made thick, so that a risk of causing a serious accident It is possible to improve the safety by reliably preventing the potential leakage. In addition, the insulation coating conductive wire for small current that is sufficient as a safety measure, for example, as a safety measure just by applying a normal insulation treatment, has a small diameter with the insulation coating material suppressed in thickness, so the entire hose The weight can be reduced, and interference between the conductive wires when the hose is bent can be prevented to improve flexibility. Thereby, it can be set as a safe and convenient hose.

  In addition, the insulation coating material for high-current insulation coating conductive wires is not only thick, but also has a non-adhesive two-layer structure. Can be prevented from propagating to the inner layer. Furthermore, by bonding the conductive wire and the inner layer to each other, it is possible to prevent the insulating coating material from rotating and twisting with respect to the conductive wire, and to suppress damage to the insulating coating material. Thereby, electrical leakage can be prevented more reliably and safety can be further enhanced.

  Furthermore, the large and small diameter conductive wires are housed inside the protrusions with different protrusions bulging and formed on the hose body, and the inner surface of the hose is substantially smoothed to suppress wind loss in the hose. Thus, the suction efficiency of the vacuum cleaner can be increased.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 4, the steam-type vacuum cleaner hose 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention is a steam-type vacuum cleaner, and in the steam-type vacuum cleaner, an operation cylinder 13 with a hand switch 12 including an intake nozzle 11, a vacuum cleaner main body 14, Are connected to each other.

  The intake nozzle 11 of this steam cleaner is equipped with a steam generator 15 and a wiping member 16. In the steam generator 15, water supplied from a tank (not shown) is heated by a steam generating heater 17 and discharged as steam toward the surface to be cleaned. When the operation tube 13 is operated in this state and the intake nozzle 11 is moved on the surface to be cleaned, the surface to be cleaned moistened by steam is wiped by the wiping member 16, and this causes the surface to be cleaned to be cleaned. Adhering dust is removed. Moreover, the cleaner main body 14 is equipped with an electric blower 18, and by driving the electric blower 18, dust on the surface to be cleaned is sucked together with air from the suction port 20 of the intake nozzle 11. ing.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the hose 10 includes a flexible hose body 30, and a high-current insulation-coated conductive wire wound spirally along the inner peripheral surface of the hose body 30. 31 and 31 and insulation coating conductive wires 32 and 32 for small current, and the shape retaining property of the hose 10 is well maintained by these conductive wires 31 and 32.

  The hose body 30 is made of, for example, soft polyvinyl chloride (PVC), soft polyethylene (PE), soft polypropylene (PP), other soft synthetic resin materials, or materials obtained by mixing rubber with these materials. Is formed.

  The hose body 30 is formed with, for example, a total of four spiral protrusions 35, 36... Bulging outward from the hose diameter, and a flat portion 37. Has been. The protrusions 35, 36,... Are two first bulging protrusions 35, 35 that have a large protrusion amount in the hose diameter outward direction, and two that have a small protrusion amount in the hose diameter outward direction. The second bulging protrusions 36 and 36 are included. The first bulging protrusions 35 and 35 and the second bulging protrusions 36 and 36 are alternately formed in the hose axis direction while maintaining a predetermined interval in the hose axis direction. The insides of the first bulging protrusions 35, 35 are large-diameter concave grooves 35a, 35a having a substantially U-shaped cross section, and the insides of the second bulging protrusions 36, 36 are small-diameter concaves having a substantially U-shaped cross section. Grooves 36a and 36a are provided. The shape of the concave grooves 35a, 36a,... Is not limited to a substantially U-shaped section, and may be, for example, a substantially U-shaped section or a substantially V-shaped section.

  The large-diameter concave grooves 35a, 35a of the first bulging protrusions 35, 35 accommodate large current insulating coated conductive wires 31, 31. The small-diameter grooves 36a, 36a of the second bulging protrusions 36, 36 accommodate insulating coating conductive wires 32, 32 for small current. That is, the inner peripheral surface of the hose body 30 while the insulation coating conductive wires 31 and 31 for large current and the insulation coating conductive wires 32 and 32 for small current are alternately adjacent to each other in the hose axial direction and maintaining a predetermined interval. Is spirally wound along. It should be noted that the insulation coating conductive lines 31 and 31 for large currents and the insulation coating conductive lines 32 and 32 for small currents are not limited to two each, and may be smaller or larger. A protrusion may be formed on the hose body 30 according to the number of the hose.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the high-voltage insulation-coated conductive wires 31, 31 are formed by covering the conductive wire 40 with a thick insulation coating material 41 and having a large-diameter cross section. The conductive wire 40 is made of, for example, a steel wire, a piano wire, or a hard steel wire made of a hard wire material obtained by subjecting these wires to rust prevention plating. The insulation coating material 41 has a two-layer structure including an inner layer 42 that covers the conductive wire 40 and an outer layer 43 that covers the inner layer 42. The inner layer 42 is made of, for example, semi-rigid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or other semi-rigid synthetic resin material. The outer layer 43 is made of, for example, semi-rigid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or other semi-rigid synthetic resin material. The conductive wire 40 and the inner layer 42 are bonded to each other, the inner layer 42 and the outer layer 43 are not bonded, and the outer layer 43 and the hose body 30 are bonded. The large current insulating conductive wires 31 and 31 thus configured are used as power supply lines for supplying power to the steam generating heater 17 provided on the intake nozzle 11 side.

  Since a large current flows through the insulation-coated conductive wires 31 for such a large current, there is a possibility that steam, which is a conductive medium, may be sucked into the hose 10 when there is a leakage. There is a risk of causing a serious accident. Therefore, as described above, in the insulation coating conductive wires 31 and 31 for a large current, the insulation coating material 41 is made thick so that leakage is reliably prevented. In addition, the insulation coating material 41 is not only thick, but also has a non-adhered two-layer structure, so that even if the outer layer 43 is damaged and a crack occurs, the crack propagates to the inner layer 42. As a result, the insulation performance is further enhanced. Further, by bonding the conductive wire 40 and the inner layer 42 to each other, the insulation coating material 41 is prevented from rotating and twisting with respect to the conductive wire 40, and damage such as cracking of the insulation coating material 41 is suppressed.

  The insulation coating conductive wires 32 and 32 for small current are formed by covering the conductive wire 45 with a thin insulation coating material 46 and having a small-diameter cross section. As the conductive wire 45, the same material and the same diameter as the conductive wire 40 of the insulation coating conductive wires 31 and 31 for large current are used. That is, for example, it consists of a hard wire made of a steel wire, a piano wire, a hard wire or the like obtained by subjecting these wires to rust prevention plating. The insulating coating material 46 has a single layer structure, and is made of, for example, semi-rigid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or other semi-rigid synthetic resin material. The insulating coating material 46 is bonded to the conductive wire 45 and the hose body 30. The small-sized insulating covering conductive wires 32 and 32 configured in this way are used as signal lines of the on / off control circuit of the electric blower 18 provided on the cleaner body 14 side.

  Since a small current flows through the insulation-coated conductive wires 32 and 32 for small currents, even if there is a leakage, a serious accident will not be caused. As enough. Therefore, in the insulation coating conductive wires 32 and 32 for small current, the insulation coating material 46 is thinner than the insulation coating material 41 in the insulation coating conductive wires 31 and 31 for large current (when performing normal insulation treatment). The same is used, and the diameter is smaller than that of the insulation-coated conductive wires 31 for a large current. This makes it possible to reduce the weight of the hose 10 as a whole, and when the hose 10 is bent, the hose 10 is easy to bend by preventing interference between the conductive wires 31, 32,. 10 is set. In addition, the thickness of the insulation coating material 41 in the insulation coating conductive wires 31 and 31 for large current is about 2 to 4 times the thickness of the insulation coating material 46 in the insulation coating conductive wires 32 and 32 for small current. .

  The method for manufacturing the hose 10 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 5, a set of four conductive wires 31, 32,... Similarly, an interval between the line and the subsequent winding line is wound in a spiral shape with a predetermined interval (W) maintained.

  Subsequently, a band-shaped material 50 for forming a hose body having a width corresponding to approximately four pitches of the conductive wires 31, 32,... Is extruded from the synthetic resin extruder. The strip 50 is spirally wound on the conductive wires 31, 32, so that the three protrusions 35, 36,... Along the length direction cover the conductive wires 31, 32,. To do. Then, the side edges 51, 51 of the preceding belt-like material 50 and the following belt-like material 50 are superposed or superposed on the conductive wire 31 so that the grooves 35a, 36a,. The hose 10 in which the conductive wires 31, 32,.

  The hose 10 thus manufactured has spiral large and small protrusions 35, 36,... Alternately projecting in the hose axial direction on the outer peripheral surface, the inner peripheral surface is substantially smooth, There are few structures.

  When the hose 10 is used, connecting cylinders 55 and 56 are connected to both ends of the hose 10 as shown in FIG. Then, the connecting cylinder 55 on one end side of the hose 10 is inserted and connected on the cleaner body 14 side, and at the same time, the electric connector 55a is inserted and connected, and the connecting cylinder 56 on the other end side is inserted and connected to the operation cylinder 13 side. The electrical connector 56a is inserted and connected.

  Thus, a series of air paths are formed between the cleaner body 14 and the intake nozzle 11 by connecting the cleaner body 14 and the operation cylinder 13 via the hose 10. In addition, the power supply on the cleaner body 14 side and the steam generating heater 17 on the intake nozzle 11 side are electrically connected by the insulation coating conductive wires 31, 31 for large current, and the insulation coating conductive wire 32 for small current, 32 forms an on / off control circuit for the electric blower 18 on the cleaner body 14 side. Then, by operating the hand switch 12 of the operation cylinder 13, electric power is supplied to the steam generating heater 17 to discharge steam, or the electric blower 18 can be driven with the on / off control circuit turned on. It has become.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is needless to say that many modifications can be added to the above-described embodiment within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the insulation coated conductive wire for a large current of the hose is used as the conduction wire of the heater for generating steam, but it may be used as another conduction wire. In a steam type vacuum cleaner in which a steam generator is provided on the main body side of the vacuum cleaner, it is not necessary to supply power to the steam generating heater via the conductive wire of the hose. For example, the wire may be used as a power supply line for supplying power to a rotating brush provided on the intake nozzle side.

It is a partially broken side view of the hose for steam type vacuum cleaners concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is the principal part expanded sectional view similarly. It is the expanded sectional view of the insulation coating conductive wire part for the large current similarly. It is a side view of a steam type vacuum cleaner. It is a figure which shows typically the manufacture process of a hose. It is a side view of the hose which connected the connection cylinder. It is a partially broken side view of the conventional hose for vacuum cleaners.

Explanation of symbols

  10 .... Hose for steam type vacuum cleaner, 17 .... Heater for steam generation, 18 .... Electric blower, 30 ... Hose body, 31 ... Insulated conductive wire for large current, 32 ... Insulation for small current Covered conductive wire, 35... First bulge protrusion, 36... Second bulge protrusion, 40.. Conductive wire of insulation coated conductive wire for large current, 41.. Insulation coated conductive wire for large current Insulation coating material, 42 .. Inner layer, 43 .. Outer layer, 45 .. Insulation coating conductive wire for small current, 46 .. Insulation coating material for insulation current conductive wire for small current

Claims (4)

A steam-type vacuum cleaner hose (10) provided in a steam-type vacuum cleaner that cleans the surface to be cleaned while discharging steam, along the inner peripheral surface of the flexible hose body (30), Insulating coated conductive wires (31) (31) for current and insulating coated conductive wires (32) (32) for small current are spirally wound while adjoining in the hose axis direction and maintaining a predetermined interval, The insulation coating material (41) in the insulation coating conductive wires (31) and (31) for large current is made thick, and the insulation coating material (46) in the insulation coating conductor wires (32) and (32) for small current. Is made thinner than the insulation coating material (41) in the insulation coating conductive wire (31) (31) for large current, and for the small current than the insulation coating conductive wire (31) (31) for large current. the insulating coating conductive wire (32) (32) and a small diameter, The hose body (30) includes a spiral first bulging protrusion (35) (35) having a large protrusion amount in the hose diameter outward direction, and a spiral having a small protrusion amount in the hose diameter outward direction. Second bulging protrusions (36) and (36), and the high-current insulation coated conductive wires (31) and (31) are provided inside the first bulging protrusions (35) and (35). The hose inner peripheral surface was made substantially smooth by accommodating the small-current insulating covering conductive wires (32) and (32) inside the second bulging protrusions (36) and (36). A steam-type vacuum cleaner hose characterized by that. The insulation coating conductive wires (31) (31) for large current are used as power supply wires of the heater (17) for generating steam, and the insulation coating conductive wires (32) (32) for small current are used as an electric blower ( 18. The steam type vacuum cleaner hose according to claim 1, wherein the hose is used as a signal line of an on / off control circuit according to 18). The insulation coating material (41) of the insulation coating conductive wires (31) and (31) for large current is composed of an inner layer (42) covering the conduction wire (40) and an outer layer (43) covering the inner layer (42). The steam type vacuum cleaner hose according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the inner layer (42) and the outer layer (43) are non-adhered as a two-layer structure comprising: The steam-type vacuum cleaner hose according to claim 3, wherein an inner layer (42) of the insulating coating material (41) is bonded to the conductive wire (40).