JPH02597B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a flexible corrugated hose in which a circumferential wall of the hose is made of a flexible material and has a corrugated cross-sectional shape along the hose axis.

This type of hose is relatively easy to expand and contract, and is used, for example, in a vacuum cleaner, such as a dust suction hose used between the vacuum cleaner body equipped with a vacuum suction fan and a suction pipe equipped with a suction device. , which is constructed to be easily bent.

In addition, with this type of hose, in the case of the above-mentioned vacuum cleaner, a conducting wire is attached as a hard wire so that the fan of the vacuum cleaner body can be driven or stopped by a switch provided at the hand of the suction pipe. Alternatively, a structure is adopted in which a reinforcing metal wire is attached as a hard wire.

In order to attach hard wire materials such as the above-mentioned conducting wires and metal wires, conventionally, for example,
As shown in Publication No. 16977 and Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 1989-89858, the inner surface of the hose corresponding to the top of the mountain on the peripheral wall, or the bottom of the valley on the peripheral wall, etc., in short, the concave portion formed due to the waveform To make effective use of this, hard wires were inserted into these recesses in close contact with the inner or outer circumferential surface of the hose.

However, with the addition of hard wires, there are disadvantages in that the hose becomes extremely difficult to bend and the amount of expansion and contraction is extremely reduced.Also, when a somewhat large force is applied for bending or expansion and contraction, the hard wires They had the disadvantage that they could break unexpectedly, or conversely, the hard wire could dig into the hose surrounding wall and damage the hose.

In view of the above points, the present invention focuses on the characteristics of a corrugated hose whose cross-sectional shape is a continuous V-shape,
The purpose of this invention is to provide a highly durable flexible corrugated hose with a hard wire attached, which allows the hose to bend and expand/contract well while suppressing tearing of the hard wire and damage to the hose caused by the hard wire. shall be.

A characteristic configuration of the present invention for achieving the above object is that the cross-sectional shape of the peripheral wall in the direction along the hose axis is configured to have a continuous V-shape with alternating peaks and valleys. In addition, the peripheral wall is made of a flexible material having enough flexibility to allow the opening angle of the V-shape to change so that the hose can be expanded and contracted while maintaining the V-shape. Furthermore, a hard wire is embedded in the peripheral wall portion between the top of the mountain and the bottom of the valley, and by adopting such a configuration, the following functions and effects can be obtained. .

That is, when we considered the case where the hose bends or expands and contracts, we obtained the following results.

(A) When the hose stretches As shown in Figure 1 A, when the hose 1 is stretched from its natural state in the direction along the axis L, the diameter of the top T of the peak 2a of the peripheral wall 2 is reduced. On the other hand, the diameter of the bottom U of the valley 2b of the peripheral wall 2 is enlarged, and the diameter change is small in the intermediate portion between the top T of the peak 2a and the bottom U of the valley 2b, and the diameter is at a predetermined position. There is almost no change in diameter.

(B) When the hose shrinks As shown in Figure 1B, when the hose 1 is compressed in the direction along the axis L of the hose 1 from its natural state, the top T of the peak 2a of the peripheral wall 2 is in an expanded state. On the other hand, the bottom U of the valley 2b of the peripheral wall 2 is in a reduced diameter state, and the top T of the peak 2a is
There is little change in diameter at the intermediate portion between U and the bottom U of the valley, and there is almost no change in diameter at a predetermined position.

(C) When the hose bends As shown in Figure 1C, the same phenomenon as in (A) above is observed on the curved side of the peripheral wall 2, while on the other hand, on the side opposite to the curved side of the peripheral wall 2. , the same phenomenon as in (B) above is observed, and as a whole, the tops T of the peaks 2a of the peripheral wall 2 and the bottoms U of the valleys 2b
Each diameter change is large, whereas the diameter change is small in the middle portion, and there is almost no diameter change at a predetermined position.

As described above, in a corrugated hose whose cross-sectional shape is a continuous V-shape, the diameter changes at the tops T of the peaks 2a of the peripheral wall 2 and the bottoms U of the valleys 2b of the peripheral wall 2 during expansion, contraction, and bending. It is clear that although the diameter is large, there is little change in diameter in the intermediate portion of the peripheral wall 2 between the top T of the peak 2a and the bottom U of the valley 2b, and there is almost no change in diameter at a predetermined position in the intermediate portion. Also, as a result, the conventional
As mentioned above, the ridges 2a of the peripheral wall 2 with large diameter changes
Since the hard wire is attached to the top T of the hose 1 and the bottom U of the valley 2b, large stress is frequently applied to the hard wire as the hose 1 expands, contracts and bends, making it easy to break. It is clear that when hard wires are used that are hard to break, the hard wires make it difficult to bend or stretch, and the hoses are also damaged by the hard wires.

Based on the above consideration, in the present invention, the hard wire rod is buried between the top of the mountain and the bottom of the valley of the peripheral wall, so even if the hose is bent or expanded/contracted, the diameter of the hard wire rod will change due to the bending, expansion and contraction of the hose. This makes it possible to prevent the hard wire from breaking and damage to the hose while allowing the hose to bend and expand/contract well, thereby improving the durability of the hose.

In particular, since it is a corrugated hose with a continuous V-shaped cross-sectional shape, even when the hose is pulled in the direction along the axis, the diameter changes only at the tops of the crests of the surrounding wall and the tops of the valleys of the surrounding wall. occurs, and there is almost no change in diameter between the top of the mountain and the bottom of the valley, so a large force is applied to the hard wire embedded in the middle part of the hose peripheral wall between the top of the mountain and the bottom of the valley. This prevents damage to the hose caused by the hard wire and dramatically improves the durability of the hose.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on illustrative drawings.

A hose port 7 at one end of a flexible corrugated hose 1 is connected to a vacuum cleaner main body 6 equipped with a fan 3 for vacuum suction, a dust collecting section 4, and a switch section 5, and a hose port 7 at one end of a flexible corrugated hose 1 is connected to the main body 6, which is equipped with a fan 3 for vacuum suction, a dust collection section 4, and a switch section 5. A suction pipe 10 made of hard synthetic resin and having a rigid structure is connected to a suction tool 9 equipped with an electric motor 8, and the suction pipe 10 has a
A hose port 11 at the other end of the hose 1 is connected to constitute a vacuum cleaner. 12 in the figure is a power cord.

A hand switch portion 13 for operating the diaphragm is attached to the hose port 11 on the other end side of the hose 1, and
An electric wire 14 made of twisted copper wires is buried in the hose 1, and the electric wire 14 connects the electric motor 8 and the power cord 12, as well as the fan 3 and the hand switch section 13. In particular, the fan 3 can be driven or stopped by the hand switch section 13 as well. 15 in the figure is an outlet.

The hose 1 is made of a flexible synthetic resin material by spirally winding a band-like body having a V-shaped cross section and welding its both side edges to each other, so that the hose 1 has a cross-sectional shape along the hose axis L so as to be bendable and expandable. is structured into a waveform.

The electric wire 14 is inserted into the peripheral wall 2 of the hose 1 through a fourth
As clearly shown in the figure, between the top T of the peak 2a and the bottom U of the valley 2b, more precisely, the inside protruding end _U1 of the hose corresponding to the top T of the peak 2a and the bottom U of the valley 2b. The electric motor 14 is embedded in a position corresponding to 1/2 between the two, and is attached to the peripheral wall 2 without being displaced in the radial direction regardless of bending or expansion/contraction of the hose 1.

In the above embodiment, the electric wire 14 is buried in the peripheral wall 2, but in the present invention, for example, a reinforcing wire such as a piano wire is buried in the peripheral wall 2 alone or together with the electric wire 14. It can also be applied to electric wires 14 and reinforcing wires, which are collectively referred to as hard wires 14.

The flexible hose of the present invention is applicable not only to vacuum cleaners as described above, but also to various devices such as a vacuum suction device that takes out a large stack of papers, rugs, etc. one by one by vacuum suction and transports them to a desired location. It can also be applied to

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the flexible corrugated hose according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a principle diagram explaining the state of change from the natural state, where A shows the stretched state, B shows the contracted state, and H indicate the bending state, and the second
The figure is a side view of the vacuum cleaner, FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the main part, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part of FIG. 3. 2... Peripheral wall, 2a... Mountain, 2b... Valley, 14...
...Hard wire, electric wire, L...Hose axis, T...Top of mountain, U...Bottom of valley.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. The cross-sectional shape of the peripheral wall 2 in the direction along the hose axis L is configured to have a continuous V-shape with alternating peaks 2a and valleys 2b, and the peripheral wall 2 is made of a flexible material having enough flexibility to allow the opening angle of the V-shape to change so that the hose can be expanded and contracted while maintaining the V-shape; In a portion of the peripheral wall 2 between the top T of the mountain 2a and the bottom U of the valley 2b,
A flexible corrugated hose in which a hard wire 14 is embedded. 2. The flexible corrugated hose according to claim 1, wherein the hard wire is an electric wire 14.