JPH0425581Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention is a flexible duct used for air conditioning equipment in buildings, especially a sound-absorbing and flexible duct mainly made of an amorphous material with excellent sound absorption and heat insulation properties. This is a technology related to flexible ducts and heat retention/flexible ducts.

[Prior Art] As shown in Fig. 6, a conventional flexible duct has a cylindrical body 1a, for example, a cylindrical body or a square cylinder, and its cross section is made of an amorphous material such as a sound absorbing material or a heat insulating material, such as glass wool. It is made up of a composite of a layered body 6a and two types of flexible materials sandwiching and restraining both sides thereof, such as a resin film 4a on the outer surface and a glass fiber cloth (woven fabric or non-woven fabric) 5a on the inner surface. Although it is possible to form a cylindrical body with a constant thickness even though it is an amorphous material because it is suppressed from both sides, the shape will collapse and deform even if a slight external force is applied during transportation or construction. Even when the axis is bent due to the conduit, the desired flexibility cannot be maintained. For this purpose, a metal wire 2a as shown in FIG. 7 is spirally wound in the axial direction of the cylinder to cover the entire length to both ends, thereby maintaining the cross-sectional shape of the duct. At the same time, the duct has been provided with flexibility so that the duct can be used at a desired bending angle. Conventional techniques related to this include, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51-37214, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-122480
Publications such as Japanese Utility Model Application No. 17413/1986 can be found.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] As mentioned above, the metal wire 2a has the effect of reinforcing the unstable shape of the duct and, in particular, stabilizing its cross-sectional shape. It has become difficult to change the cross-sectional shape in accordance with the diameter of the mating member. When the spiral duct 8 is inserted into the socket 7a of the cylindrical body 1a as shown in FIG. Since there is a joint band 9, if the connecting band 10 is fitted over the end member where the two are overlapped, the elasticity of the connecting band 10 will tighten and the protrusion 9 and the inner surface of the socket 7a will come into close contact with each other. There is no risk of air leakage.

However, when using the irregularly shaped pipe 11 that is frequently used in air conditioning piping work as shown in Fig. 9, the socket 7a of the flexible duct is tightly specified.
Even if the fitting part is tightened from above with the connection band 10,
The gap between the two ducts cannot be easily filled, and there is a risk that this will cause air leakage or that the fit may come loose. For this reason, as shown in Fig. 10, the irregularly shaped pipe 1
In some cases, a short pipe _8A of a spiral duct is fitted separately into the socket 12 of the spiral duct to prevent it from coming off by the action of the protrusion _9A , as shown in Fig. 11 _.
A specially designed irregularly shaped tube _11A is prepared in which a separate protrusion 13 (string extension) is purposely protruded from the end of the tube.
Such special maneuvers and considerations are a nuisance and should be avoided, especially since they can lead to trouble later if the procedure is neglected.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has the following features:
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a flexible duct with a reinforced inner surface that is less likely to separate from the mating part without imposing any particular restrictions on the mating member, and also has less risk of air leakage. be.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The flexible duct according to the present invention has a cylindrical appearance, and its cross section is a composite of a layered amorphous material and a flexible substance that restrains both sides of the layered material. The layered body is reinforced by spirally winding a metal wire over almost the entire length in the axial direction of the cylinder, and a metal wire is provided in place of the metal wire only near both end faces of the cylinder. The above problem was solved by separately winding the spring wires in the circumferential direction.

[Operation/Example] Figures 1A and 1B show an example of the operation of the present invention.
This will be explained based on FIG.

FIG. 1A is a front view showing the metal wire 2 in the axial direction, which is a requirement for the flexible duct of the present invention, and the metal springs 3 in the circumferential direction, which are used in place of the metal wire 2 only at both ends of the duct. FIG. 2B is a side view. Of these, the metal wire 2 maintains a constant outline as a spiral skeleton within the range disposed over the axial length, as in the conventional technology, and provides strength to resist external forces, and is also used on piping. It exhibits the flexibility to withstand bending and twisting and maintain the desired cross section.

Next, since the metal spring 3 is wound around the end surface of the cylinder 1 in a circumferential direction, it serves to maintain the cross section in this range and improve the strength against external pressure.
The centripetal force is always directed toward the axis.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view (with some parts removed) showing a state in which the metal wire 2 and spring 3 shown in FIG. 1 are arranged in the axial direction and the circumferential direction of the cylinder 1, respectively.

In the figure, the outer circumferential surface of the cylinder 1 is formed of a flexible material (resin film) 4, and the inner circumferential surface is formed of a flexible material (glass fiber cloth, which is woven or nonwoven fabric) 5. The layered body 6 is made of sound absorbing glass wool, which is an amorphous material. In practical terms, it is preferable to arrange the metal wire 2 and the spring 3 immediately in contact with the inner surface of the glass fiber cloth 5 as shown in the figure.

Since the biasing force of the spring 3 is directly transferred to the socket 7 at the end of the cylinder, the socket 7 is compressively deformed when pressure is applied in the axial direction, and restores in the opposite direction when the pressure is released. It is possible to provide a new function to do this. Therefore, even in the case shown in Fig. 3, if the insertion port 12 of the irregularly shaped tube 11 is inserted into the socket 7 of the cylinder body 1, and the connection band 10 made of elastic material is fitted and tightened from above the overlapping part, the socket will be closed. The action of compressing the cross section of the duct's cylindrical body 1 until the inner surface of the opening 7 tightly contacts the outer surface of the insertion port 12 occurs.

To further describe the embodiment, FIG.
B and C show various cross-sectional shapes of the cylindrical body 1 of the flexible duct of the present application.

In addition, FIGS. 5A to 5E show various embodiments of the metal spring 3 as developed views laid out on a flat surface, and other embodiments may be used as long as the elastic metal wire is regularly bent. Needless to say, the same effect occurs.

[Effects of the invention] As described above, the invention of the present application maintains the cross-sectional shape in any part of the axial direction of the cylinder and has flexibility, yet can be inserted into the socket at the end. The insertion port of the mating member can be compressed until it is firmly attached. Therefore, it will not fall off from this joint, and no air will leak. There is no need for special consideration regarding the insertion port of the mating member,
There will be no problems later due to procedural errors.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1A and B are a front view A and a side view showing an embodiment of the invention of the present invention, in which metal wires and spring wires are wound inside a layered body, and Figure 2 is a front cross-sectional view (partially peeled off) showing the embodiment of the present invention. , Fig. 3 is a front sectional view showing the usage state of the embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 4 A, B, and C are side views showing different embodiments of the cylinder body, and Figs. 5 A to E are respectively different views of the spring. FIG. 6 is a front cross-sectional view (partially peeled off) showing the prior art, and FIG. 7 is a developed view showing the embodiment.
B is a front view A and a side view B showing a metal wire of the prior art, and FIGS. 8 to 11 are front sectional views illustrating problems of the prior art. 1... Cylindrical body, 2... Metal wire (axial direction), 3...
Spring (circumferential direction), 4...Resin film, 5...Glass fiber cloth, 6...Glass wool, 7...Socket,
8,8A...Spiral duct, 9,9A...Protrusion (goby), 10...Connection band, 11,11A
...Irregular tube, 12, 12A... Insertion, 13... Protrusion (insertion/string extension of odd-shaped tube).

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] It has a cylindrical appearance, and its cross section is composed of a composite of a layered amorphous material and a flexible material that restrains both sides of the layered body, and inside the layered body, there is a tube extending over almost the entire length in the axial direction of the cylinder. A flexible duct reinforced by spirally winding a metal wire around the cylindrical body, characterized in that a metal spring wire is separately wound in the circumferential direction in place of the metal wire only near both end faces of the cylindrical body. flexible duct.