JPH04217778A - Umbrella dewatering method and device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To remove water in a simple and prompt manner without damaging an umbrella by housing a wet umbrella in a box and blowing air to the cloth of said umbrella at a specified or higher flow rate. CONSTITUTION:When a wet umbrella is inserted in the side of a box 10 as it is still open and a spindle 5 is fixed, an on/off valve 32 is opened while a compressor 27 will start simultaneously so that air may be sprayed from a nozzle. At the same time, a rotary motor starts and rotates nozzles 1 and 2 by a specified number. When the rotary motion is over, dehydration is completed. Then, the on/off valve 32 for the compressor 27 and the nozzles will be closed while the fixture of the spindle 5 will be relieved. Then, a dehydrated umbrella is picked up from the box 10. It is, therefore, possible to dehydrate a wet umbrella in a simple and prompt manner.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for quickly dehydrating a wet umbrella on a rainy or snowy day before arriving at a destination and entering a facility.

0002

[Prior Art] When you bring a wet umbrella into a train, bus, etc. on a rainy day, there is a risk of slipping due to water droplets falling on the floor, the discomfort of getting your clothes and belongings wet, and you can't put it on a net shelf and it gets wet with one hand. Commuting or going out on a rainy day can be uncomfortable due to the instability and inconvenience of holding an umbrella inside the car. Furthermore, facilities such as buildings where many people come and go, such as department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, schools, government offices, movie theaters, etc., often do not have enough umbrella storage facilities. Recently, these facilities have placed plastic bags at the entrances and placed wet umbrellas inside them to prevent water droplets from the umbrellas from getting wet on the facility floors and products.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, with this method, it is difficult to take measures against water droplets that adhere to the outside when a wet umbrella is placed in a plastic bag, or against spillage of accumulated water due to breakage, tilting, or falling of the plastic bag. Environmental problems such as plastic waste generated from used plastic bags,
Considering the problem of wasted resources, this is not an appropriate method.

[0004] In general, methods for dehydrating wet umbrellas include: (1) dehydration by contacting with a water-absorbing material, (2) dehydration by heating, and (2) dehydration in reduced pressure or vacuum. However, method (2) above is not preferable because it requires manual labor, and mechanization would be complicated and costly. In addition, methods (1) and (2) above not only require a large amount of energy to evaporate all the water droplets, but also require a long dehydration time. Therefore, currently no method of mechanically dehydrating wet umbrellas has been adopted.

The purpose of the method and apparatus of the present invention is to dehydrate a wet umbrella without damaging it, with simple operation, and in a short time of several seconds.

[0006] The inventors have developed a method using these plastic bags, and a dehydration method using air blowing, which is considered to be more feasible than the above-mentioned methods (1), (2), and (2). In other words, considering the material and structure of the umbrella, we confirmed that the best way to easily and quickly dehydrate a wet umbrella is to blow air at a certain flow rate or higher onto the umbrella fabric.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the method of the present invention involves blowing air at a flow rate of 15 meters per second or more from a nozzle onto the umbrella cloth with a wet umbrella in an open state. Features. Furthermore, the device of the present invention is composed of a box for storing the umbrella in an open state, a fixing device for fixing the stem of the umbrella, and an air jet nozzle positioned diagonally opposite to the supported umbrella cloth. It is characterized by

Since umbrellas are generally treated with water repellent material such as silicone, the adhering water is often in the form of water droplets, and it is important to blow away these water droplets efficiently. What is important in the method of the present invention is to select the angle of the high-speed air flow relative to the umbrella in a direction that will most efficiently blow away water droplets, and this angle should be approximately 25 degrees with respect to the umbrella cloth.
~50 degrees, and by making the distance as close as possible at any position between the air outlet and the umbrella cloth, it is approximately 5 to 30 cm.

When creating high-speed air flow with a compressor,
The nozzle diameter (round shape) or nozzle width (groove shape) is determined by the air pressure of the compressor used and the distance between the nozzles and the umbrella. For example, when using a compressor that produces compressed air pressure of 7 to 8.5 kgf/cm2, if the diameter of a round nozzle is 1.0 to 3.0 mm, the distance between the nozzle tip and the umbrella cloth should be 5 to 40 cm. Appropriate. The air flow velocity in this case is 20~20 per second when measured with a Pitot tube.
It was 60 meters. Also, if you use a blower or fan, you can increase the air flow rate, so you don't need a very high flow rate of air, but at least 15 per second.
Unless the air flow rate is at least 1 meter, it is not possible to dehydrate the umbrella in a short time. Further, the diameter of the nozzle is determined by the amount of air discharged and its pressure, and there is no upper limit to the air flow rate as long as the umbrella is not damaged. Using heated air, dehumidification, or dry air with a compressor, blower, or fan can make dehydration even more effective.

To dehydrate a wet umbrella with the dewatering device according to the present invention while it is open, while rotating the umbrella around the umbrella's shaft (metal rod or wooden rod), a fixed air discharge nozzle is used to dehydrate the selected fabric. The goal was achieved by blowing air onto the umbrella cloth at a selected location, angle, and distance. Since a high-velocity air stream is used, it doesn't really matter whether the umbrella cloth is perpendicular or horizontal to the ground, and water droplets can be blown away in any desired direction. Alternatively, instead of rotating the umbrella, the mandrel (metal rod or wooden rod) is fixed with a fixture and the air discharge nozzle is rotated in a circle around the center point of the umbrella cloth to blow the water droplets in the desired direction. It is valid. When this umbrella or air discharge nozzle is rotated in a circular motion, water droplets are removed from the center of the cloth (the edge of the umbrella) to the outside in the example, but if a moisture suction port is provided near the center, it is possible to Blow water droplets from the outside to the center of the cloth (stone end),
It can also be removed by suction.

[0011] Also, a method of fixing an umbrella in a dehydrating device and moving an air discharge nozzle from one end of the umbrella to the other end;
There is also a method in which the air discharge nozzle is fixed and the umbrella is moved within the dehydrator, and either method can achieve this purpose.

0012

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 and 2 show the basic method of the present invention. The dewatering method involves rotating the nozzles 1 and 2 relative to the umbrella cloth 3, and the positions and directions of the nozzles 1 and 2 are as shown in FIGS. The length was approximately 10 cm. The nozzle angle is most preferably about 35 to 45 degrees, but even if it is in the range of 25 to 50 degrees, dehydration can be achieved in a sufficiently short time.

Furthermore, in order to more efficiently blow away the water droplets that have been blown away and moved by the nozzle 1 as shown in FIG. 1, by the nozzle 2, it is preferable to provide L as a difference between the nozzle rows as shown in the figure. Further, generally, the curvature of the cloth surface is often different between the portion A near the center of the umbrella cloth and the portion B distant from the center, as shown in FIG. Naturally, the difference θ in the angle between the nozzle 1 with respect to the A part and the nozzle 2 with respect to the B part is required, and the difference R in the distance between the nozzle and the umbrella is also required. In the experimental example, L in Figure 1 was 10 cm and the angle of the nozzle with respect to the umbrella cloth was 45 degrees, and θ in Figure 2 was 30 degrees and R was 15 cm.
A good dehydration effect was obtained. Under these conditions, air is blown at a flow rate of 15 meters per second or more, and the nozzle is
If the spindle is rotated ~3 times, the dewatering time will be very short, 6 to 8 seconds. Further, it is desirable to quickly discharge the water droplets blown from the umbrella from inside the device. This can be solved by using a blower or fan and installing several suction ports in the dehydrator. In addition, new umbrellas have enough water repellent such as silicone remaining, but as they are used, the amount of water repellent decreases, so after the dehydration treatment, a separate water repellent is mixed into the air stream from the same nozzle to remove water. Water can also be treated.

In addition to the circular nozzle, the method of the present invention can also use a continuous nozzle 4 with a groove width of 1.0 mm as shown in FIG. If this continuous nozzle is shaped to match the curvature of the umbrella cloth as shown in Figure 5, it will be easier to equalize the distance E between the umbrella cloth and the nozzle when used in the swirling method, and the discharge air will be blown over the entire surface of the cloth. Since it can be applied, the dehydration effect will be even better. For this continuous nozzle 4, the deviation F between one end and the other end of the nozzle with respect to the center point of the umbrella is appropriately selected as shown in Fig. 4, and the angle θ relative to the cloth is set in the range of 35 to 45 degrees as shown in Fig. 6. If you choose, you will get a good dehydration effect.

7 to 10 show an embodiment of the device according to the invention. In the figure, 10 is a box, which has an opening 11 on the side for storing the umbrella in an open state. This opening may be of an open/close type such as a panel type or a curtain type, but the box may be made large enough to prevent water droplets from scattering from this opening. A slit 13 for guiding the umbrella stem 5 is formed in the front wall 12 of the box 10. A guide plate 14 having a certain width is provided on the outside of the front surface of the slit 13, and a mandrel clamping/conveying tool 15 which can be opened and closed and slides between the guide plates 14 is provided. This mandrel clamping and tightening/conveying tool 15 has a pair of clamping pieces 17, 17 to which an expanding force is applied by a spring 16 and to which rubber 18 is attached on the inside.
It is configured to open while being stopped at the entrance/exit position of the slit 13. Further, an umbrella fixing device 19 is provided at the end of the slit 13 located in the center of the front wall 12. This umbrella fixing device has a pressing member 21 operated by a hydraulic device 20, and presses the mandrel clamping and tightening/carrying tool 15 that has been moved and placed at the umbrella fixing device 19 position. The shaft 5 of the umbrella is fixed in a fixed position. It has a confirmation contact 22 that confirms that the umbrella fixing device 19 has been moved to the position, and the pressing member 21
It has a fixation confirmation contact 23 that confirms that the mandrel clamping and tightening/carrying tool is pressed and fixed.

The movement of the mandrel clamping and tightening/carrying tool 15 is carried out by having a rail 24 in the guide plate 14 as shown in FIG.
A moving tool 2 integrally provided with a mandrel clamping and tightening/carrying tool 15
5 is arranged to move within the rail 24.

Inside the box 10, integrated nozzles 1 and 2 are positioned at the most desirable positions relative to the fixed umbrella cloth 3 of the umbrella, and these nozzles 1 and 2 are rotated by a rotating motor 26. The nozzles 1 and 2 are connected to a compressor 27. In addition, 28 in the figure is a positioning mark marked on the open part 11 to align the base of the umbrella's protrusion, 29 is a through hole through which the umbrella's protrusion 6 passes, 30 is an exhaust fan, and 31 is a drain pipe.

To dehydrate using the apparatus constructed as described above, hold the handle of the umbrella in your hand, align the base of the protrusion 6 with the positioning mark 28, and hold the mandrel clamping and tightening/carrying tool 15 slightly open. The stem 5 of the umbrella is inserted into the holder, and the umbrella is moved laterally along the guide plate 14 as it is. In the dewatering set position, the mandrel clamping and conveying device 15 enters the umbrella fixing device 19.

Next, the mandrel clamping and tightening/carrying tool 15 presses the confirmation contact 22 to operate the hydraulic pump 20 installed in the umbrella fixing device 19, and the mandrel clamping, tightening and transporting tool 15 is pushed to firmly fix the mandrel. And fixed confirmation contact 23
Press to open the on-off valve 32 and open the compressor 2.
7 is actuated to inject air from the nozzle, and when air begins to be discharged, the rotary motor 26 is started and rotated a preset number of times to rotate the nozzle. When the rotation ends, dehydration is completed. The compressor and nozzle on-off valves are then closed, the pressure switch is released, the hydraulic pump of the mandrel fixture is activated, and the fixture device 19 is opened. Thereafter, the umbrella is moved along the rail, and the dehydrated umbrella is taken out from the dewatering device at the position where the mandrel clamping and conveying tool opens.

In this device, by using two sets of nozzles, the dewatering time can be shortened and the umbrella can be prevented from shaking.

[0021] Experimental examples are shown below. Experimental Example 1 Water was sprinkled on an umbrella covered with 100% nylon cloth, and water droplets of various sizes were attached to the umbrella. Pressure open/close type compressor that produces compressed air of 7 to 8.5 kgf/cm2 (air tank capacity 65 liters, discharge air amount 76 liters/min)
A discharge tool having a 2.5 mm diameter nozzle was connected with a pressure-resistant rubber hose, and water droplets on the umbrella were removed (dehydrated). The angle of the air discharge nozzle relative to the umbrella cloth was selected to be 45 degrees. The distance between the cloth and the nozzle was adjusted to 15 cm, and the air flow rate was measured using a pitot tube. Note that the discharge time was 3 to 5 seconds.

[Table 1] Through this experimental example, it was confirmed that the air flow velocity at which water droplets can be removed (dehydrated) from an umbrella is 15 meters per second or more.

Experimental Example 2 A dehydration test was carried out using a 100% nylon bat umbrella covered with water in a dehydration apparatus (compressed air pressure 7 kgf/cm2, nozzle diameter 2.5 mm). In addition, the bat umbrella was rotated by hand around the mandrel in a fixed position. Naturally, the nozzle remains fixed. The number of rotations and the dehydration effect were measured using two different times for one rotation of the umbrella: 4 seconds and 6 seconds. Note that the distance between the nozzle tip and the cloth surface of the umbrella was 10 to 15 cm. Further, the nozzle angle was set to 45 degrees.

[Table 2] According to this experimental example, the dehydrating apparatus according to the present invention was able to dehydrate wet umbrellas in a very short time of 6 to 8 seconds.

Experimental Example 3 The umbrella used was one covered with 100% cotton cloth. The dehydration conditions were the same as in Experimental Example 2. However, the distance between the nozzle tip and the cloth surface of the umbrella was 10 to 20 cm.

[Table 3] According to this experimental example, even a highly curved cotton umbrella could be dehydrated in a very short time of 12 seconds.

[0024]

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the method and device of the present invention, umbrellas can be dehydrated by simple means and in a short time, and by installing the device at the entrance of a building, wet umbrellas can be removed. This has the effect of not bringing it into the building.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the relationship between an umbrella cloth and a nozzle to explain the method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the relationship between the umbrella cloth and the nozzle.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of a nozzle.

4 is a front view showing the relationship between the nozzle and the umbrella cloth shown in FIG. 3. FIG.

5 is a side view showing the relationship between the nozzle and the umbrella cloth also shown in FIG. 3. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the inclination angle of the nozzle with respect to the umbrella cloth.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing the relationship between the guide, the mandrel clamping/conveying tool, and the umbrella fixing device.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing the relationship between the rail, the transfer tool, and the mandrel clamping and tightening/carrying tool.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Nozzle 2 Nozzle 3 Umbrella cloth 4 Continuous nozzle 5 Mandrel 6 stone tip 10 boxes 11 Open part 12 Front wall 13 Slit 14 Guide plate 15 Mandrel clamping and tightening and conveying tool 19 Umbrella fixing device 20 Hydraulic equipment 26 Rotating motor 27 Compressor

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A method for dehydrating a wet umbrella, which comprises opening the wet umbrella and blowing air at a flow rate of 15 meters per second or more from a nozzle onto the umbrella cloth. 2. The method for dehydrating a wet umbrella according to claim 1, wherein the angle of the air flow relative to the plane of the umbrella cloth is tilted. 3. The method for dehydrating a wet umbrella according to claim 1, wherein the air flow has an inclination angle of 25 to 50 degrees. 4. A method for dehydrating a wet umbrella according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the nozzle that generates the air flow and the umbrella cloth is 5 to 30 cm. 5. The method for dehydrating a wet umbrella according to claim 1, wherein the umbrella is fixed and a nozzle is rotated to blow air onto the umbrella cloth. 6. The method for dehydrating a wet umbrella according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle is fixed and the air stream is blown while rotating the umbrella. [Claim 7] Consisting of a box for storing the umbrella in an open state, a fixing device for fixing the stem of the umbrella, and an air jet nozzle positioned diagonally opposite the supported umbrella fabric. A device for dehydrating wet umbrellas. 8. The apparatus for dewatering a wet umbrella according to claim 7, wherein the air jet nozzle is configured to be operated in a rotating manner.