JP6663519B2 - Fluid cell, mat device, and method of manufacturing fluid cell - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fluid cell, a mat device, and a method for manufacturing a fluid cell.

Conventionally, a flexible cylinder that can be filled with a fluid and an inner peripheral surface of the flexible cylinder are fixed to each other in a state where the flexible cylinder is sandwiched in a radial direction. A fluid cell including a closed closure is known. In this type of fluid cell, when a fluid is filled in the flexible cylinder, a corner is formed at an axial end of the flexible cylinder. The corner is pointed toward the outside in one direction intersecting the direction in which the flexible tube is sandwiched in the closing portion in the radial direction of the flexible tube.
In order to suppress the occurrence of the corners, for example, a fluid cell as shown in Patent Document 1 below is known. In this fluid cell, a triangular ear in plan view having a base extending in the sandwiching direction, and a vertex angle protruding outward in the axial direction, is closed at an axial end of the flexible cylinder. By forming after the formation, the occurrence of the corners is suppressed.

JP-A-10-5289

  However, in the above-mentioned conventional fluid cell, after forming the closed portion, it is necessary to separately form the ears separately, which increases the number of work steps.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and has as its object to provide a fluid cell that can be manufactured easily with reduced man-hours.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes the following means.
(1) A flexible cylinder capable of being filled with a fluid therein, and inner peripheral surfaces of the flexible cylinder fixed to each other in a state where the flexible cylinder is sandwiched in a radial direction, and both ends of the flexible cylinder are opened. And a pair of closed portions each separately closed, in the axial end of the flexible tube, the flexible tube in the closed portion of the radial direction of the flexible tube, A valley fold that is folded inward in one direction that intersects the sandwiching direction is formed, and the closing portion is disposed at a position where the valley fold is formed along the axial direction. It is characterized by.

  In the present invention, the closing portion is provided at a position where the valley fold is formed along the axial direction. For this reason, when a fluid is filled in the flexible cylinder and expanded, the axial end of the flexible cylinder tends to spread in the direction of being sandwiched such that the inner surfaces of the valley folds are separated from each other. . Thereby, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a sharp corner toward the outside in the one direction at the end of the flexible cylinder in the axial direction. Further, by adjusting the position of the closing portion after forming the valley fold portion, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of the corner portion at the axial end portion of the flexible tube, so that the radial direction of the closing portion can be suppressed. Compared to a configuration in which triangular ears in plan view are separately formed at the ends, the number of steps can be reduced and the fluid cell can be easily manufactured.

  (2) In the fluid cell according to the above (1), a fixing portion for fixing the inner surfaces to each other is formed on a pair of inner surfaces of the valley folded portion facing each other, and the closing portion and the fixing portion are fixed. The parts may be formed integrally.

In this case, when a fluid is filled in the flexible cylinder and expanded, the inner surfaces of the valley folds fixed to the fixing part are mutually restrained. Therefore, at the axial end of the flexible cylinder, the outer peripheral surface located around the fixed portion can be formed into a flat surface orthogonal to the one direction.
Further, since the closing portion and the fixing portion can be integrally formed, the fluid cell can be manufactured more easily.

  (3) The fluid cell according to the above (1) or (2), wherein the closing portion is disposed axially inside the flexible cylinder with respect to both end edges of the flexible cylinder, The ear may have a lug projecting outward from the closing part in the axial direction.

  In this case, since the ear portion is formed in the flexible tube, for example, an attachment member for attaching the fluid cell to the mat device can be provided in the ear portion.

  (4) In the fluid cell according to the above (3), the closing portion extends along the one direction and is disposed along the entire direction of the flexible cylinder along the one direction, and the ear portion includes: It may be formed over the entire area of the flexible cylinder along the one direction.

  In this case, the ears are arranged over the entire area of the flexible tube along the one direction. For this reason, a large area of the ear part can be ensured. For example, the number, shape, and the like of the attachment members attached to the ear part can be selected with a degree of freedom.

  (5) In the fluid cell according to the above (3) or (4), the ear portion may be formed with a regulating portion which is connected to another fluid cell and regulates a relative displacement between the fluid cells.

  In this case, the restricting portions formed on the ears restrict the relative displacement between the plurality of fluid cells, and can increase the independence of the fluid cells.

  (6) The fluid cell according to any one of (1) to (5) above, wherein the flexible cylinder has a partition wall that partitions the inside of the flexible cylinder into two filling chambers. The partition wall may be provided, and may partition the inside of the flexible tube in the one direction.

  In this case, the inside of the flexible tube is partitioned into two filling chambers in the one direction in which the valley folds are folded. Therefore, the flexible cylinder can be easily made to stand alone in the one direction. Further, the outer peripheral surface located around the fixing portion can be formed in a flat shape orthogonal to the one direction, so that a user lying on the fluid cell can have a comfortable use.

  (7) The mat device according to the present invention is a fluid cell according to any one of the above (1) to (6).

  In this case, in the mat device, the above-described respective effects can be achieved.

  (8) The method for manufacturing a fluid cell according to the present invention is the method for manufacturing a fluid cell according to the above (2), wherein the fixing part and the closing part are formed simultaneously.

  In this case, since the fixed part and the closed part are formed at the same time, the number of steps can be reduced and the fluid cell can be easily manufactured.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a man-hour can be suppressed and a fluid cell can be simply manufactured.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a mat device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the fluid cell in the mat apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view of an axial end of the fluid cell shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4A is a front view and FIG. 3B is a top view in a process of filling the fluid cell shown in FIG. 3 with air. FIG. 3 is a view showing (a) a valley folding step, (b) a closing step and a fixing step, and (c) a step of disposing a mounting member in a manufacturing process of the fluid cell shown in FIG. 2. It is a front view which shows (a) 1st modification and (b) 2nd modification among the modification of the fluid cell which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view showing the 3rd modification of the fluid cell concerning a 1st embodiment. It is a perspective view showing a fluid cell concerning a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a side view of the fluid cell shown in FIG. 8.

(1st Embodiment)
Hereinafter, a mat device 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
Examples of the mat device 10 include a bed device on which a user lies and a cushion device on which the user sits. In the present embodiment, a bed device is adopted as an example of the mat device 10. Hereinafter, the configuration of each part of the mat device 10 will be described using the front-back direction X, the left-right direction Y, and the up-down direction Z.

As shown in FIG. 1, a mat device 10 includes a mat section 11 on which a user lies, a supply / exhaust section 12 for supplying / exhausting air to / from the mat section 11, and a control section 13 for controlling the supply / exhaust section 12. , Is provided.
The mat portion 11 has a plurality of fluid cells 15, and the inside of these fluid cells 15 is filled with air by supplying air therein, and supports the load of the user lying on the mat portion 11. The internal pressure of the fluid cell 15 corresponds to the hardness of the mat portion 11, and by setting the internal pressure of the fluid cell 15 in accordance with the weight of the user, the hardness of the mat portion 11 is optimized for the user. Can be.

The fluid cell 15 is a rod-shaped cell extending in the left-right direction Y in the mat portion 11. In the illustrated example, the plurality of fluid cells 15 are arranged in the front-rear direction X so that the mat portion 11 is disposed. Is composed. The fluid cell 15 is formed of a film material such as a vinyl chloride film or a urethane film, is rounded around the center axis O1, and is connected by, for example, welding both peripheral ends thereof. A peripheral end line 15f extending in the left-right direction Y is formed at the welded portion of the film material. In the fluid cell 15, the peripheral end line 15f is located at the lower end, and a portion of the film material located above the peripheral end line 15f forms a flexible tube 15a described later.
The fluid cells 15 arranged adjacent to each other may or may not be fixed to each other. The fluid cell 15 can be attached to a cover (not shown) that integrally covers the plurality of fluid cells 15 via, for example, a button or a string as an attachment member 19 described later.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the fluid cell 15 has a flexible tube 15 a capable of being filled with a fluid, and an inner peripheral surface of the flexible tube 15 a fixed with the flexible tube 15 a sandwiched in a radial direction. And a closing portion 15b in which the both ends of the flexible tube 15a are closed separately. The central axis O1 of the flexible cylinder 15a extends along the left-right direction Y. One of the radial directions orthogonal to the center axis O1 extends along the up-down direction Z in a plan view of the flexible cylinder 15a viewed from the left-right direction Y. The flexible cylinder 15a has a rectangular shape when viewed from the front-back direction X and the left-right direction Y. The flexible tube 15a may be formed of a plurality of film materials.

  A partition wall 15c extending in the left-right direction Y is formed in the flexible cylinder 15a. The partition wall 15c is formed near the center of the flexible cylinder 15a in the vertical direction Z. The interior of the fluid cell 15 (the flexible cylinder 15a) is partitioned into two filling chambers in the vertical direction Z by the partition wall 15c. Each filling chamber is provided with a supply / exhaust port 15e for supplying and discharging air. A pipe forming the air supply / exhaust section 12 is connected to each air supply / exhaust port 15e.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the end of the flexible tube 15 a in the left-right direction Y is one of the radial directions of the flexible tube 15 a, which intersects the direction in which the flexible tube 15 a is sandwiched by the closing portion 15 b. A valley fold 16 that is folded inward in the vertical direction Z is formed. The valley fold 16 is folded in one of the radial directions of the flexible tube 15a, and is folded downward in the up-down direction Z in the illustrated example. In a state where the air is discharged from the fluid cell 15 (the flexible cylinder 15a), the valley fold 16 is formed over the entire length of the flexible cylinder 15a in the left-right direction Y in a state where the fluid cell 15 is folded in the front-rear direction X. Have been. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, in the process of filling the fluid cell 15 with air, the valley fold 16 is formed over the entire length of the flexible cylinder 15a in the left-right direction Y. The valley folds 16 may be formed on the upper surface and the lower surface, respectively.

The closing portion 15b is disposed at a position where the valley folded portion 16 is formed along the left-right direction Y. That is, the closing portion 15b is formed so as to overlap the valley folded portion 16.
A pair of closed portions 15b are formed at both ends of the fluid cell 15 in the left-right direction Y. The closing portion 15b extends along the up-down direction Z and is arranged over the entire area of the flexible tube 15a.
The closing part 15b closes both ends of the flexible cylinder 15a by bonding the inner peripheral surfaces of the flexible cylinder 15a to each other. In the illustrated example, the closing portion 15b is formed by welding the inner peripheral surfaces of the flexible cylinder 15a to each other.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a fixing portion 17 for fixing the inner surfaces 16 c to each other is formed on a pair of inner surfaces 16 c of the valley folded portion 16 facing each other. The fixing part 17 is formed integrally with the closing part 15b. The fixing portion 17 and the closing portion 15b are formed by welding lines that vertically traverse the flexible tube 15a in the vertical direction Z.

When the fluid cell 15 is filled with air, the valley folds 16 are separately formed at both ends in the left-right direction Y of the upper surface facing upward on the outer surface of the flexible tube 15a.
The valley fold portion 16 includes a valley fold concave portion 16a and an opposing portion 16b. The valley folds 16 are recessed downward and open upward. The valley folding concave portion 16a has a triangular shape in which two tops are arranged along the front-rear direction X and the remaining tops are arranged outside in the left-right direction Y when viewed from above. The facing portion 16b extends outward from the outer end in the left-right direction Y of the valley folding concave portion 16a. The facing portion 16b is formed by a pair of front and rear inner surfaces 16c of the valley folded portion 16 facing each other in the front and rear direction X. A fixing portion 17 is formed at an inner end of the facing portion 16b in the left-right direction Y.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the closing portion 15b is disposed on the inner side in the left-right direction Y of the flexible tube 15a than both end edges of the flexible tube 15a, and the flexible tube 15a is located outside the closing portion 15b in the left-right direction Y. The ear 18 is formed so as to protrude toward. The ears 18 are separately formed at both ends in the left-right direction Y of the flexible cylinder 15a. The ear 18 has a rectangular shape that is long in the vertical direction Z when viewed from the front-back direction X.

At both ends in the vertical direction Z of the ear portion 18, two mounting members (regulators) 19 are arranged at intervals in the vertical direction Z. In the illustrated example, the attachment member 19 is a synthetic resin snap button disposed in a hole formed in the ear 18. With this mounting member 19, the fluid cell 15 is mounted on a cover (not shown) of the mat device 10. The mounting member 19 is connected to another fluid cell 15 via the cover, and functions as a restricting portion that restricts relative displacement between the fluid cells 15.
One or three or more attachment members 19 may be provided, or may be provided at the center of the ear 18 in the vertical direction Z. Further, a metal snap button may be employed as the attachment member 19.

Next, a method of manufacturing the fluid cell 15 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the film material forming the fluid cell 15 is rounded around the central axis O1, and both peripheral ends are welded to each other to be connected to form a peripheral end line 15f. Thereby, the flexible cylinder 15a is formed.
Next, as a valley folding step, as shown in FIG. 5A, the upper end portion of the outer peripheral surface of the flexible cylinder 15a extending along the left-right direction Y is folded inward in the up-down direction Z to form a valley. The folded portion 16 is formed. In the illustrated example, a valley fold 16 that is parallel to the central axis O1 is formed over the entire length of the flexible cylinder 15a. In the valley folding step, it is not always necessary to form the valley fold 16 over the entire length of the flexible tube 15a, and at least the end of the flexible tube 15a in the left-right direction Y is folded inward in the up-down direction Z. Is enough. In addition, the valley fold 16 may be formed to be inclined with respect to the center axis O1.

The maximum depth of the valley fold line 16d defined at the bottom of the groove of the valley fold 16 is, in the state filled with air, the front-rear direction X in the center of the fluid cell 15 in the left-right direction Y. Is preferably 15% to 50% of the thickness dimension (hereinafter referred to as the central cell width).
When the maximum depth of the valley fold line 16d is equal to or less than 15% of the cell width at the central portion, a sharp corner is formed slightly at the end in the left-right direction Y of the flexible tube 15a. Has been confirmed. Further, when the maximum depth of the valley fold line 16d is 50% or more of the cell width at the center, the thickness dimension in the front-rear direction X at both ends in the left-right direction Y of the upper surface of the fluid cell 15 (hereinafter, referred to as the thickness) , The cell width at the end) is larger than the cell width at the center.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, the flexible tube 15a is sandwiched and welded from both sides in the front-rear direction X by, for example, welding means (not shown) at the open end of the flexible tube 15a. The inner peripheral surfaces of the flexible cylinders 15a are connected to each other over the entire area in the vertical direction Z. Thereby, the fixing step of fixing the pair of inner surfaces 16c of the valley fold 16 facing each other and the closing step of closing the openings at both ends of the flexible cylinder 15a with the closing sections 15b are performed simultaneously.
As shown in FIG. 5 (c), by this welding operation, closed portions 15b extending along the up-down direction Z are formed at both ends in the left-right direction Y of the flexible tube 15a. A fixing portion 17 is formed in a portion of the valley fold 16 located above the valley fold line 16d.
Further, ear portions 18 are separately formed in portions of the flexible cylinder 15a located outside the closing portion 15b in the left-right direction Y. In addition, by performing this welding work at the same time as welding the two peripheral ends of the film material to form the peripheral end line 15f as described above, the peripheral end line 15f, the closing portion 15b, and the fixing portion 17 are formed. They may be formed simultaneously.

Then, mounting members 19 are provided at both ends of the ear 18 in the vertical direction Z. In the illustrated example, the mounting member 19 located on the upper side is mounted on the facing portion 16b of the valley folded portion 16.
When the fluid cell 15 manufactured as described above is used as the mat device 10, the plurality of fluid cells 15 are attached to the cover of the mat device 10 using the attachment member 19, and the supply / exhaust unit 12 and the control unit are controlled. The interior of the fluid cell 15 is filled with air using the part 13.

Here, in the state filled with air, the cell width at the end is about twice the depth of the valley fold 16 to the valley fold line 16d. Therefore, the depth of the valley fold 16 can be set based on the cell width at the end when air is filled.
The interval (pitch) in the front-rear direction X when the receiving member to which the mounting member 19 disposed on the ear portion 18 of the fluid cell 15 is mounted is provided on the cover of the mat device 10 is equal to the cell width at the end. It is preferred that Thereby, the gap between the fluid cells 15 in the front-rear direction X can be narrowed, and when the user places his hand between the plurality of fluid cells 15, the hand is moved to the gap formed between the fluid cells 15. It can be prevented from entering.
From the above, it can be said that the gap between the fluid cells 15 can be effectively narrowed by setting the depth of the valley fold 16 to half the pitch.

Next, a modified example of the fluid cell 15 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 6A, in the fluid cell 25 of the first modified example, the closed portion 25b is formed in a curved shape that gradually projects outward in the left-right direction Y as it goes inward in the vertical direction Z. Have been. By forming the closing portion 25b in this manner, it is possible to easily secure portions where the mounting members 19 are provided at both ends of the ear portion 18 in the vertical direction Z. According to this configuration, when the ear portion 18 is folded in the front-rear direction X as compared with the case where the closing portion 25b is formed in a linear shape extending along the vertical direction Z, the mounting member 19 25 can be easily arranged near the center in the front-rear direction X.
Further, as other aspects of the closing portion, in a plan view viewed from the front-rear direction X, gradually ascending upward, an inclined line directed outward in the left-right direction Y, or, in the plan view, gradually ascending upward, the left-right direction. It may be formed so as to form an inclined line toward the inside of Y.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, in the fluid cell 35 of the second modified example, a hook-and-loop fastener extending in the up-down direction Z is provided on the ear 18 as a mounting member 29. The hook-and-loop fastener is provided over substantially the entire area of the ear 18 in the vertical direction Z. By employing the hook-and-loop fastener as the attachment member 29 in this manner, the attachment / detachment work of the attachment member 19 can be facilitated as compared with the configuration in which the snap button is adopted. Further, when the hook-and-loop fastener is provided over a wide range of the ear portion 18, the mounting strength of the mounting member 29 can be increased.
Further, as another mode of the attachment member, a fixing hole is provided in the ear portion 18, and a fixing cord having nodes formed at predetermined intervals is passed through the fixing holes of the plurality of fluid cells 15 arranged in the front-rear direction X. It may be configured to penetrate.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7, in the fluid cell 15A of the third modification, the fixing portion 17 is not formed in the valley fold portion 16, and the inner surfaces 16c of the valley fold portion 16 are not fixed to each other. For this reason, the valley fold portion 16 is not formed with a pair of front and rear inner surfaces 16c facing each other in the front and rear direction X, and the pair of front and rear inner surfaces 16c are integrated with the valley fold concave portion 16a. It is open upward. In the fluid cell 15 </ b> A, one attachment member 19 is provided below the ear 18.

  As described above, according to the fluid cell 15 according to the present embodiment, the closing portion 15b is disposed at the position where the valley fold 16 is formed along the axial direction. Therefore, when the flexible cylinder 15a is filled with a fluid and expanded, the axial end of the flexible cylinder 15a is positioned such that the inner surfaces of the valley folds 16 are separated from each other. Attempts to spread in the direction of being pinched. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a sharp corner toward the outside (upper side) in the up-down direction Z at the end of the flexible tube 15a in the left-right direction Y. Further, by adjusting the position of the closing portion 15b after forming the valley folded portion 16, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of the corner at the end in the left-right direction Y of the flexible tube 15a. The fluid cell 15 can be manufactured easily with reduced man-hours as compared with a configuration in which triangular ears in a plan view are separately formed at the ends in the vertical direction Z of 15b.

Further, when the flexible cylinder 15a is filled with a fluid and expanded, the inner surfaces 16c of the valley folds 16 fixed to the fixing portion 17 are mutually restrained. Therefore, at the axial end of the flexible tube 15a, the outer peripheral surface located around the fixed portion 17 is flattened at right angles to one direction in which the valley-folded portion 16 of the radial direction of the flexible tube 15a is folded. It can be formed in a planar shape.
Further, since the closing portion 15b and the fixing portion 17 can be integrally formed, the fluid cell 15 can be manufactured more easily.

Further, since the ear portion 18 is formed on the flexible tube 15a, for example, a mounting member 19 for mounting to the mat device 10 or the like can be provided on the ear portion 18.
Further, the ears 18 are arranged over the entire area of the flexible tube 15a along the one direction. Therefore, a large area of the ear 18 can be ensured. For example, the number, shape, and the like of the attachment members 19 attached to the ear 18 can be selected with a degree of freedom.

In addition, the relative displacement between the plurality of adjacent fluid cells 15 is regulated by the attachment member 19 formed on the ear portion 18, and the self-sustainability of the fluid cell 15 can be improved.
The inside of the flexible cylinder 15a is divided into two filling chambers in one direction in which the valley fold 16 is folded. Therefore, the flexible tube 15a can be easily made independent in the one direction. Further, the outer peripheral surface located around the fixing portion 17 can be formed in a flat shape perpendicular to the one direction, so that a user lying on the fluid cell 15 can have a good feeling of use.

In addition, according to the mat device 10 according to the present embodiment, since the fluid cell 15 is provided, the mat device 10 can exert the above-described respective effects.
Further, according to the method of manufacturing the fluid cell 15 according to the present embodiment, the fixing step and the closing step are performed simultaneously, so that the fluid cell 15 can be manufactured easily with reduced man-hours.

(2nd Embodiment)
Next, a fluid cell 45 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the second embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. Only different points will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the fluid cell 45 has a plurality of fluid cells 45 connected to each other in the front-rear direction X to form a fluid cell unit 50. In the illustrated example, three fluid cells 45 are connected to each other. The number of fluid cells 45 to be connected may be two or four or more.

  At the lower part of the fluid cell 45, a connecting piece 40 extending from the outer peripheral surface to the front-rear direction X over the entire region in the left-right direction Y and connecting the fluid cells 15 adjacent to each other is provided. The connecting piece 40 is formed integrally with the outer wall of the flexible cylinder 45a in each fluid cell 45. As described above, by connecting the plurality of fluid cells 45 by the coupling pieces 40 to form the fluid cell unit 50, the handling property of the fluid cells 45 in the mat device 10 can be ensured.

Further, in the present embodiment, a regulating portion 49 connected to another adjacent fluid cell 45 and regulating the relative displacement of each other is formed at the ear portion 48 of the fluid cell 45. The restricting portion 49 extends in the front-rear direction X from the end in the left-right direction Y of the ear portion 48. The restricting portion 49 is formed in a rectangular band shape that is long in the front-rear direction X when viewed from the left-right direction Y.
The restricting portions 49 formed on the ear portions 48 of the fluid cells 15 adjacent to each other are connected to each other. In the illustrated example, two restricting portions 49 are separately formed on the ear portion 48 at different positions in the vertical direction Z. Of the regulating portions 49, the one located above is formed at the upper end of the ear portion 48, and the one located below is formed at the center in the vertical direction Z. The restricting portions 49 are connected to each other by locking of locking portions (not shown).

  As described above, according to the fluid cell 45 according to the present embodiment, the relative displacement between the plurality of adjacent fluid cells 45 is regulated by the regulating portion 49 formed on the ear portion 48, and the fluid cell 45 becomes independent. Can be enhanced.

Note that the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the fluid cell 15 filled with air is adopted as the fluid cell is described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and a fluid cell filled with liquid may be used.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the configuration in which the closing portion 15b and the fixing portion 17 are integrally formed has been described, but the present invention is not limited to such a mode. The closing portion and the fixing portion may be formed separately. For example, another mode in which the fixing portion is located inside the closing portion in the left-right direction Y may be appropriately adopted.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration is shown in which the flexible tube 15a is formed with the ear portion 18 connected to the closing portion 15b over the entire area in the vertical direction Z and protruding outward in the left-right direction Y. It is not limited to such an embodiment. The ear portion may not be connected to the closing portion over the entire area in the vertical direction Z, and the ear portion may not be formed in the flexible cylinder.

  In the above embodiment, the flexible cylinder 15a has the configuration in which the partition wall 15c that partitions the inside of the flexible cylinder 15a into two filling chambers in the up-down direction Z is provided. Not limited to The partition wall may partition the inside of the flexible cylinder in a direction different from the vertical direction Z, and the flexible cylinder may not be provided with a partition wall.

  In addition, without departing from the spirit of the present invention, it is possible to appropriately replace the components in the above-described embodiment with known components, and the above-described modifications may be appropriately combined.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Mat apparatus 15, 25, 35, 45 Fluid cell 15a Flexible cylinder 15b, 25b Closure part 16 Valley folding part 16c Inner surface 17 Fixed part 18, 48 Ear 19, 29 Mounting member (regulation part)
40 Connecting piece 49 Regulator

Claims (7)

A flexible cylinder that can be filled with a fluid inside,
A pair of closing portions each separately closing the opening at both ends of the flexible tube,
Ears projecting outward from the closing portion in the longitudinal direction of the flexible tube,
On the upper surface of the flexible cylinder, a valley fold portion folded downward is formed,
The closing portion is configured such that the inner peripheral surfaces of the flexible tube are fixed to each other in a state where the valley fold portion is folded,
An air cell in which a height of a part of an upper surface of the flexible cylinder is higher than a height of the pair of closed portions when a fluid is filled in the flexible cylinder.   The air cell according to claim 1, wherein the ear portion is provided with a restricting portion that is connected to another air cell and restricts a relative displacement of each other.   The air cell according to claim 1, further comprising a fixing portion that fixes inner surfaces facing each other in the valley folded portion.   4. The air cell according to claim 1, wherein the ear portion is formed over the entire area of the flexible tube along a vertical direction. 5. The flexible cylinder is provided with a partition wall that partitions the inside of the flexible cylinder into two filling chambers,
5. The air cell according to claim 1, wherein the partition wall partitions the inside of the flexible tube in a vertical direction.   The air cell according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a supply / exhaust port is provided on a side surface of the flexible cylinder.   A mat device comprising a plurality of the air cells according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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