JP7526993B2 - Washing machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cleaning device that can spray the liquid inside by compressing/releasing it with one hand and can reduce the volume.

In medical facilities and nursing care facilities, for example, blow-molded bottles and blow-molded bags made from plastic are used as containers for spraying cleaning liquid onto contaminated areas to clean them. A water storage container, such as that disclosed in Patent Document 1, is known as a buttocks washer for treating waste from people requiring care. This water storage container is made of polyethylene, and when compressed by hand, water sprays out from a hole in a cap attached to the tip.

Patent Document 2 also discloses a bellows-shaped container with a body having multiple ring-shaped tops as a medical container to be filled with a medicinal liquid. In this container, the dimensions of the bellows ring-shaped tops gradually decrease toward the bottom to enable volume reduction, and the slope from the ring-shaped tops to the bottom is steeper than the slope from the ring-shaped tops to the mouth.

Jitto No. 3142146 Publication JP 2015-223373 A

The water container in Patent Document 1 is compressed and released with one hand to spray the cleaning solution. When released from compression, the water container returns to its original shape, but such an easily returning structure makes it difficult to maintain the reduced volume state when disposed of. On the other hand, the bellows-shaped container in Patent Document 2 has a special bellows structure in which the dimensions of the ring-shaped top gradually decrease toward the bottom, making it possible to reduce the volume without returning to its original state when crushed. On the other hand, since the crushed bellows do not return to their original state, it is difficult to use it for applications in which the liquid medicine inside is sprayed by repeatedly compressing and releasing it. According to column 0013 of Patent Document 2, it is suggested that if it is a simple bellows structure, it will return to its original shape when the pressure is released. However, with a simple bellows structure, a structure is required to maintain the reduced volume state by maintaining the pressure applied (for example, by sealing the inside so that air does not enter) when discarded.

The present invention was proposed in light of the current situation, and aims to provide a cleaning device that can be compressed and released with one hand to spray cleaning liquid and can be reduced in volume when disposed of.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the cleaning device of the present invention has a cylindrical body between a neck and a bottom, and the body is bellows-shaped, having, in order from the curved side, a first ring-shaped apex, a first inclined surface, a U-shaped groove, a second ring-shaped apex, a second inclined surface, a ring-shaped valley, a third inclined surface, a third ring-shaped apex, and a fourth inclined surface above and below the concave curved surface whose peripheral side is curved like a drum toward the axis of the body,
the dimensions of the first ring- shaped apex, the second ring- shaped apex, and the third ring- shaped apex are gradually reduced in this order, the first slope and the second slope are inclined in the same direction, the slope of the third slope is more acute than the slope of the second slope with respect to a cross section sandwiching the ring-shaped valley, and the slope of the fourth slope is more acute than the slope of the third slope with respect to a cross section sandwiching the third ring- shaped apex,
The first slope is shorter than the second slope.

The cleaning device of the present invention can be compressed with one hand to spray the cleaning liquid, and the volume can be reduced when discarded.

1A is a perspective view of a cleaning device according to the present embodiment, FIG. 1B is a side view, and FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing how to remove cleaning fluid from a cleaner. FIG. 2A shows the cleaner being compressed by pinching it between the thumb and fingers, and FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C show the cross-sectional state when compressed and released, respectively. 3A to 3D are diagrams showing how to dispose of a cleaning device after use.

Below, an embodiment of a cleaning device to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a cleaning device 1, in which Fig. 1A is a perspective view, Fig. 1B is a side view, and Fig. 1C is a cross-sectional view. As shown in Fig. 1A, the cleaning device 1 of this embodiment includes a blow-molded container 2 and a cap 3.

The blow molded container 2 can be made of polyolefin, polyethylene terephthalate, or the like. In this embodiment, polyethylene is used, and in particular, soft low-density polyethylene is used, which is easily deformed and returns to its original shape. The blow molded container 2 is cylindrical and generally has a bellows structure. A cap 3 is detachably attached to the tip of the blow molded container 2. A through hole 34 is provided in a ceiling surface 33 of the cap 3, penetrating the inside and outside of the cap.

In Figures 1B and 1C, the cap 3 is removed from the blow molded container 2. The blow molded container 2 has a neck portion NK, a body portion MB, and a bottom portion BM. The neck portion NK has a male thread 6 on its outer circumferential surface, which detachably screws into a female thread 30 provided on a lower portion of the inner circumferential surface 31 of the cap 3. The top surface 5 of the neck portion NK is in a sealed state when the cleaner 1 is shipped.

The body MB is cylindrical with the axis C at its center, and in most cross sections, it has a shape that is either a circle, an ellipse, a rounded rectangle, or a rectangle or square, which is convex outward, and is similar to one another. A star shape that is concave inward in the cross section is not preferable. In this embodiment, the body MB has a rounded rectangular cross section. It is also desirable that the shape be symmetrical above and below with respect to the cross section H that crosses the concave curved surface 12 located in the axis C direction of the body MB. This is because a symmetrical shape will deform evenly above and below.

The ring-shaped top R1 located between the neck NK and the body MB is circular or square, regardless of the cross-sectional shape of most of the other parts of the body MB. This is because the cross-section smoothly connects with the circular neck NK.

From the ring-shaped apex R1 toward the bottom BM, the ring-shaped apex R2, the ring-shaped valley S1, the ring-shaped apex R3, and the ring-shaped apex R4, and the ring-shaped apex R8, the ring-shaped valley S2, the ring-shaped apex R7, the ring-shaped apex R6, and the ring-shaped apex R5 correspond to the top and bottom of the cross section H, respectively. The ring-shaped apex R2, the ring-shaped apex R3, and the ring-shaped apex R4 have shapes in which the dimensions increase in order. Similarly, the ring-shaped apex R7, the ring-shaped apex R6, and the ring-shaped apex R5 have shapes in which the dimensions increase in order. When viewed from the cross section H, the ring-shaped apex R4, the ring-shaped apex R3, and the ring-shaped apex R2 have shapes in which the dimensions decrease in order. Similarly, the ring-shaped apex R5, the ring-shaped apex R6, and the ring-shaped apex R7 have shapes in which the dimensions decrease in order. In addition, a U-shaped groove 10 that goes around the body MB is provided at approximately the same position below the ring-shaped top R3 and above the ring-shaped top R5.

The torso MB is formed with slopes 7 and 8 on the neck NK side and slopes 17 and 16 on the bottom BM side, sandwiching the ring-shaped tops R2 and R7, respectively, to form a mountain, but the angles of inclination are not the same. The slope farther from the cross section H has a more acute angle. For example, if we take the mountain with the ring-shaped top R2 as its apex and express it as an angle, then if the angle of inclination of slope 7 relative to the cross section at the ring-shaped top R2 is α and the angle of inclination of slope 8 is β, then α<β.

Slopes 8 and 9 are formed on either side of the ring-shaped valleys S1 and S2 on the neck NK side, and slopes 16 and 15 are formed on the bottom BM side to form valleys, but the angles of inclination are not the same. The slope farther from the cross section H has a sharper angle. For example, if we take the peak with the ring-shaped valley S1 as its apex and express the angle of inclination of slope 8 with respect to the cross section at the ring-shaped valley S1 as γ and the angle of inclination of slope 9 as δ, then γ < δ.

Furthermore, although inclined surfaces 9 and 11 are formed on the neck NK side and inclined surfaces 15 and 13 are formed on the bottom BM side of the ring-shaped apex R3 and R6, respectively, sandwiching the U-shaped gutter 10, the inclined surfaces are inclined in the same direction (inclined surfaces 9 and 11 are upward, and inclined surfaces 15 and 13 are downward), the inclination angles are not necessarily the same. For example, if we take the ring-shaped apex R3 as an example and express it in terms of angles, then if the inclination angle of inclined surface 9 with respect to the cross section at the ring-shaped apex R3 is ε and the inclination angle of inclined surface 11 is ζ, then ε < ζ.

The ring-shaped apexes R4 and R5 are sandwiched between a slope 11 and a concave surface 12 on the neck NK side, and a slope 13 and a concave surface 12 on the bottom BM side, forming mountain portions. For example, if we take the ring-shaped apex R4 as an example and express this in terms of angles, the inclination angle of the slope 11 relative to the cross section at the ring-shaped apex R4 as η and the inclination angle of the concave surface 12 as θ, then η < θ, and η is the acuter angle.

The concave surface 12 is a curved surface that is gently recessed inwardly in a drum-like shape on the peripheral side between the ring-shaped apex R4 and the ring-shaped apex R5 toward the axis C of the body MB. The length of the concave surface 12 in the direction of the axis C is desirably a length that allows a user to grasp the concave surface 12 diagonally between the thumb and other fingers when gripping it. The drum-like shape of the concave surface 12 makes it easy to grip and is a shape that easily induces deformation centered on the U-shaped grooves 10, 14.

Furthermore, the inclined surfaces 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, and 17 are not linear inclined surfaces, but are curved in a convex or concave direction to form a specified angle at each ring-shaped apex or ring-shaped valley. In addition, the inclined surfaces 7 and 17 are different in length because they are connected to the neck portion NK and the bottom portion BM, respectively.

The bottom BM below the ring-shaped top R8 is the part that served as the air inlet when the blow molded container 2 was blown. After the blow molded container 2 was filled with cleaning liquid, the bottom BM was folded inside the blow molded container 2, leaving a weld mark 18 where the air inlet was welded. The ring-shaped top R8 functions as a leg that supports the blow molded container 2.

A pointed spear portion 32 protrudes from the inside of the ceiling surface 33 of the cap 3. When the cleaner 1 is shipped, the cap 3 is loosely screwed onto the male thread 6, and the spear portion 32 does not penetrate the top surface 5. When opening the blow molded container 2, the cap 3 is screwed tightly onto the male thread 6, causing the spear portion 32 to penetrate the top surface 5 (see Figures 2B and 2C) and open the container. The cleaning liquid inside the blow molded container 2 can be removed to the outside through a through hole 34 provided in the cap 3.

Next, we will explain how to use the cleaner 1. Figure 2 shows how to take out the cleaning liquid from the cleaner 1. Figure 2A shows the state in which the cleaner 1 is opened with the cap 3 and the concave curved surface 12 of the cleaner 1 is held between the thumb and other fingers and compressed, Figure 2B shows the cross-sectional state when compressed, and Figure 2C shows the cross-sectional state when released.

When the concave surface 12 is compressed (arrow P in the figure), the concave surface 12 penetrates into the inside of the blow molded container 2, and the slopes 11 and 13 are pulled down and toppled with the U-shaped grooves 10 and 14 as the center of rotation. At this time, since the concave surface 12 is drum-shaped, the compression force is directly transmitted to the slopes 11 and 13. The compression force is absorbed by the deformation of the U-shaped grooves 10 and 14, and the transmission of the force to the slopes 9 and 17 is weakened, and the reaction force from the slopes 9 and 17 is also weakened. Therefore, the blow molded container 2 can be deformed by a compression force smaller than that which would deform the entire blow molded container 2, and the cleaning liquid inside can be removed. When the compression is released, the blow molded container 2 returns to its original shape due to its own elasticity. At this time, air is taken into the inside of the blow molded container 2 through the through hole 34. It is assumed that the blow molded container 2 will be used with the cap 3 facing downward, and the cleaning liquid can be removed by compressing the blow molded container 2 again.

The compression force for compressing the blow molded container 2 can be adjusted by adjusting the size of the slopes 11 and 13 that continue to the concave curved surface 12. The longer the lengths of the slopes 11 and 13 are, the more difficult it becomes for the slopes 11 and 13 to collapse around the U-shaped grooves 10 and 14 as the center of rotation.

Figure 3 shows, in order from Figure 3A to Figure 3D, how the washer 1 is disposed of after use. In Figure 3A, first the inclined surface 11 is bent so as to be inverted around the ring-shaped apex R4 as the center of rotation. As described above, the angular relationship between the concave curved surface 12 and the inclined surface 11 is η<θ so that deformation can be maintained, but because the length of the inclined surface 11 is set to be short, it tends to return to its original shape with even a small impact. For this reason, the η<θ structure at the ring-shaped apex R4 is not very effective.

In FIG. 3B, the inclined surface 9 is bent so as to be inverted around the ring-shaped top R3 and the ring-shaped valley S1 as the center of rotation. The angular relationship between inclined surface 11 and inclined surface 9 is η<θ, and the angular relationship between inclined surface 9 and inclined surface 8 is γ<δ. In this angular relationship, the relationship γ<δ means that the length of inclined surface 9 is set to be longer than that of inclined surface 11, so it will not return to its original state even with a slight impact. For this reason, inclined surface 11 is also fixed by the inverted bending of inclined surface 9. The angular relationship η<θ has little contribution to this type of fixation.

In FIG. 3C, the inclined surface 7 is bent so as to be inverted around the ring-shaped top R1 as the center of rotation. At the ring-shaped top R1, the angle relationship is α<β, and the inverted state of the inclined surface 7 will not return to its original state. This allows the volume of the washer 1 to be reduced after use, and makes disposal easy.

In the above embodiment, the angular relationship η<θ at the ring-shaped apex R4 and the angular relationship ε<ζ at the ring-shaped apex R3 are less effective in maintaining the shape during volume reduction than the angular relationship α<β at the ring-shaped apex R1 and the angular relationship γ<δ at the ring-shaped valley S1, so the angular relationships η≧θ and ε≧ζ may also be used. The same applies to the ring-shaped apexes R5 and R6.

In the above embodiment, a bellows may be added between the neck and body, or between the body and bottom, with the length of the ring-shaped top shortening the further away from the cross-section H, as shown in Patent Document 2. In addition, the lengths of the ring-shaped tops and ring-shaped valleys above and below the concave surface are the same, but this may be changed. In this case, the tops and bottoms of the concave surface may be inclined.

The correspondence between the constituent elements in the claims and the embodiments will now be explained. The first ring-shaped apex corresponds to ring-shaped apexes R4 and R5. The first slope corresponds to slopes 11 and 13. The U-shaped groove corresponds to U-shaped grooves 10 and 14. The second ring-shaped apex corresponds to second ring-shaped apexes R3 and R6. The second slope corresponds to slopes 9 and 15. The ring-shaped valley corresponds to ring-shaped valleys S1 and S2. The third slope corresponds to slopes 8 and 16. The third ring-shaped apex corresponds to ring-shaped apexes R2 and R7. The fourth slope corresponds to slopes 7 and 17.

1 Cleaning device 2 Blow molded container 3 Cap 5 Top surface 6 Male thread 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17 Slope 10, 14 U-shaped groove 12 Concave curved surface 18 Welding trace 30 Female thread 31 Inside Surrounding surface 32 Spear portion 33 Ceiling surface 34 Through hole BM Bottom portion MB Body portion NK Neck portion R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8 Ring-shaped top portion S1, S2 Ring-shaped valley portion H Cross section C Axis

Claims (2)

a cylindrical body between the neck and the bottom, the body being bellows-shaped with a circumferential side surface curved toward the axis line in a drum-like concave shape, and a first ring-shaped apex, a first inclined surface, a U- shaped groove, a second ring-shaped apex, a second inclined surface, a ring-shaped valley, a third inclined surface, a third ring-shaped apex, and a fourth inclined surface, which are arranged in succession from the curved side,
the dimensions of the first ring- shaped apex, the second ring- shaped apex, and the third ring- shaped apex are gradually reduced in this order, the first slope and the second slope are inclined in the same direction, the slope of the third slope is more acute than the slope of the second slope with respect to a cross section sandwiching the ring-shaped valley, and the slope of the fourth slope is more acute than the slope of the third slope with respect to a cross section sandwiching the third ring- shaped apex,
The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the first inclined surface is shorter than the second inclined surface.
2. The cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the neck has a closed top surface and a male screw thread on its outer periphery, the cleaner further comprises a cap which screws onto the neck, and a spear portion is provided on the inside of the ceiling surface of the cap to break through the closed state of the top surface.