JPH05168580A - Flexible intermediate wall for floor surface cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a flexible intermediate wall which keeps repeated bending from breakage thereof the divide a washing water tank of a floor surface washer into two chambers, a pure liquid chamber and a sewage chamber. CONSTITUTION:A flexible intermediate wall 7 which divides the inside of a washing water tank 5 carried on a machine body 1 into two chambers, a pure liquid chamber 5a and a sewage chamber 5b is composed by using a soft elastomer composition which comprises a polyurethane resin produced by subjecting a prepolymer having an active isocyanate group at the terminal obtained by a reaction of a polyoxypolypropylene polyol having the number of functional groups of 2.3-4.0 with a polyisocyanate compound to react with a polyole oligomer obtained by ring-opening polymerization of beta-methyl-delta-valerolactone as crosslinking agent.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention supplies clean water or detergent liquid (hereinafter simply referred to as "clean liquid") to a cleaning brush rotated by a motor to clean the floor surface, and blows away the dirty water after cleaning. It is used in the technical field of floor cleaning machines configured to suck up and collect it with a squeegee by the suction force of the above. Specifically, the inside of the cleaning water tank mounted on the machine is The present invention relates to a structure of a flexible intermediate wall which is partitioned into two chambers, a clean liquid chamber for storing the collected water and a waste water chamber for storing the collected waste water.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional floor cleaning machine (scrubber) has both a clean liquid tank for containing clean liquid and a waste water tank for containing dirty water, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-18966. Both tanks cannot be built too large due to space limitations, so when cleaning a large floor area such as a supermarket or factory, it is necessary to do so during the cleaning process. It was very inconvenient because it was necessary to replenish the clean liquid and drain the sewage.

Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-242213.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-242214 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-242214, a cleaning water tank mounted inside the machine body is partitioned into two chambers by a flexible intermediate wall, and one chamber contains clean liquid. By making the liquid chamber and the other chamber a sewage chamber for storing sewage, one tank was used in combination with two chambers to substantially double the volumes of the cleansed chamber and the sewage chamber. A floor washer was developed.

According to the floor washing machine described above, since the flexible intermediate wall relatively increases or decreases the volumes of the clean liquid chamber and the waste water chamber in accordance with the amounts of the clean liquid and the waste water, the entire tank or the machine body is Even if it does not increase in size, the volume of the cleansing chamber and the wastewater chamber is substantially increased,
Although it has the characteristic that the cleaning time can be lengthened, since the flexible intermediate wall that requires this flexible movement was configured using rubber or canvas cloth in the conventional floor cleaning machine, the wall surface is thick, Also, it is made hard and lacks flexibility,
As a result, there is a problem that smoothness (bulging) relative to the clean liquid chamber and the dirty water chamber lacks smoothness, and furthermore, it is exposed to water or liquid during repeated use, causing hardening and aging, There was a risk of cracks or cracks in the bent part, and there was a risk of breaking and water leakage after long-term use.

Therefore, it has been considered to use a sheet made of urethane elastomer as the flexible intermediate wall. A general urethane elastomer has a prepolymer having an active isocyanate group at a terminal, which is obtained by a reaction of a polyol oligomer and a polyisocyanate compound, as a main component, a low molecular weight polyol and / or a polyamine as a cross-linking agent, and if necessary. It is a mixture of fillers, pigments, plasticizers, catalysts, anti-aging agents, etc., and has excellent properties such as weather resistance, abrasion resistance, and adhesiveness. It is widely used in various fields as a waterproof material, floor material, casting material, filling material, sealing material, or synthetic leather because it is easy to obtain.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, this urethane elastomer is H
Since a hardness of less than s hardness (JIS K6301) of 60 cannot be obtained, it cannot be used as it is for a flexible intermediate wall of a floor cleaning machine that requires flexible movement.

In the case of producing a flexible urethane elastomer having flexibility, an active isocyanate group is added to the terminal obtained by reacting a polyol oligomer having a large molecular weight with tolylene diisocyanate (hereinafter referred to as TDI) as a polyisocyanate compound. Although the prepolymer has a main component, the soft urethane elastomer containing the prepolymer as a main component has weak mechanical properties, and only brittle ones can be obtained. Therefore, the flexible intermediate wall of the floor washing machine described above is obtained. Could not be used for.

Further, it is known that a soft composition is obtained by formulating a large amount of a plasticizer in the composition.
Since such a method has the drawback that the mechanical properties, durability, and heat resistance of the composition are significantly impaired and bleeding due to the plasticizer is likely to occur, this is also a drawback of the flexible intermediate wall of the floor washing machine described above. Could not be used for.

Therefore, the technical problem of the present invention is to solve the above drawbacks and to have excellent flexibility and durability.
A flexible intermediate wall for a floor washer designed so that it can flexibly move in and out relative to the clean liquid chamber and the dirty water chamber smoothly and is not easily broken even if it is repeatedly used. Is to provide.

[0010]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Means taken in the present invention for solving the above technical problems are as follows. A flexible middle wall divides the center of the wash water tank mounted on the machine into two rooms, one room is used as a clean room for supplying clean water or detergent solution to the cleaning brush, and the other room is sucked up by a squeegee. In a floor cleaning machine that is a sewage chamber that stores sewage after cleaning,

The above flexible intermediate wall is provided with functional groups of 2.3 to
The prepolymer having an active isocyanate group at the end obtained from the reaction of the polyoxypolypropylene polyol of 4.0 and the polyisocyanate compound has β-methyl-
A soft elastomer composition comprising a polyurethane resin obtained by reacting a polyol oligomer obtained by ring-opening polymerization of δ-valerolactone as a crosslinking agent.

[0012]

The above means operates as follows. In the above means, when the operation is started, the flexible intermediate wall swells toward the waste water chamber side by the clean liquid contained in the clean liquid chamber to substantially increase the volume of the clean liquid chamber. The amount of clean liquid stored in the chamber can be increased accordingly, and when the amount of collected wastewater increases due to the progress of cleaning operation, the flexible intermediate wall gradually expands toward the clean liquid chamber side To increase the volume of the chamber,
This enables the volumes of the clean and dirty water chambers to be substantially increased without increasing the size of the entire tank, and it is possible to alternate between the clean and clean water chambers by the relative increase and decrease of the clean and clean water. As a material of the flexible flexible intermediate wall which is swelled by switching to, especially, a low hardness of Hs hardness of 60 to 3 composed of the special polyurethane resin as described above and a tensile elongation of 400% or more. Since it uses a soft elastomer composition with excellent durability, it exhibits excellent flexibility over the entire flexible intermediate wall and is durable enough to withstand repeated bending. It is possible to provide a flexible intermediate wall that is highly flexible. As described above, the technical problems described above can be solved by the above means, and the problems of the conventional technology can be solved.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the flexible intermediate wall for a floor cleaning machine according to the present invention described above will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of a floor cleaning machine equipped with the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the floor case without an upper case. 1 is a machine body of a floor cleaning machine, 1a is a steering wheel for driving, 2 is a driving wheel for traveling, 3 is a front wheel, 4 is a motor 4M
A cleaning brush 5 rotated by means of a cleaning water tank mounted in a case on the machine body 1.

Inside the washing water tank 5, a mounting frame 6 having a substantially rectangular window frame is attached to the central portion thereof.
In addition, by attaching a flexible intermediate wall 7 which is entirely formed in a substantially trapezoidal bag shape (bucket shape) to the attachment frame 6,
It is divided into two rooms, a clean liquid chamber 5a containing the clean liquid CW and a dirty water chamber 5b containing the dirty water DW, and the clean liquid CW is supplied to the cleaning brush 4 through the water supply hose 8a. The water supply pump 8 is attached, and the suction force of the blower 9a acts through the suction pipe 9 in the waste water chamber 5b, and the waste water DW after cleaning passes through the squeegee 10 and the vacuum hose 11 in response to the suction action. It is designed to be sucked from the surface and collected. Reference numeral 9c in the drawing denotes an opening / closing valve of the suction pipe 9 provided with a float 9b. Although not shown, a drain valve for draining the waste water DW is provided in the waste water chamber 5b.

The present invention is characterized by the fact that the flexible intermediate wall 7 is provided with excellent flexibility and durability in the floor cleaning machine having the above-mentioned structure. ,
The specific contents of the composition forming the flexible intermediate wall 7 will be described below.

The present invention has been earnestly studied in view of the above point, and as a result, a specific polyol oligomer was added to a prepolymer having an active isocyanate group at the end obtained from the reaction of a specific polyol oligomer and a polyisocyanate compound. Urethane resin reacted as a crosslinking agent is H
The present invention was found to be an elastomer composition having an s hardness of 60 to 3 which is unprecedentedly low and a tensile elongation rate of 400% or more and having excellent durability.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the soft elastomer composition used in the present invention has a functional group number of 2.3-.
The prepolymer having an active isocyanate group at the end obtained from the reaction of the polyoxypolypropylene polyol of 4.0 and the polyisocyanate compound has β-methyl-
It is composed of a polyurethane resin obtained by reacting a polyol oligomer obtained by ring-opening polymerization of δ-valerolactone as a crosslinking agent, and has an Hs hardness of less than 60 and a tensile elongation of 4
It has a feature of excellent displacement durability of 00% or more.

The polyoxypolypropylene polyol used in the present invention needs to have a functional group number of 2.3 to 4.0. When the number of functional groups is less than 2.3, an uncured composition is likely to be formed, and when the number of functional groups is more than 4.0, the liquid viscosity of the prepolymer becomes remarkably high or gelling is not preferable.

As the polyoxypolypropylene polyol, an active hydrogen-containing compound is subjected to ring-opening addition polymerization of 1,2-propylene oxide to obtain an average molecular weight of 1,000 to
8,000, preferably 2,000 to 5,000 known compounds can be used. Average molecular weight is 100
When it is less than 0, the hardness of the obtained urethane resin becomes high, which is not preferable. On the other hand, if the average molecular weight exceeds 8,000, the degree of unsaturation becomes high, and the reaction with the polyisocyanate compound is hindered, which is not preferable. This polyoxypolypropylene polyol constitutes the soft segment of the elastomer composition, and the higher the molecular weight, the lower the composition hardness. Here, as the active hydrogen-containing compound, for example, a polyhydric alcohol having 2 to 4 functional groups such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, glycerin, trimethylolpropane, hexanetriol, and pentaerythritol can be used. It is also possible to use a mixture of two or more of these.

The polyisocyanate compound used in the present invention is an organic compound having two or more isocyanate groups in one molecule, which has a reactive isocyanate group for the active hydrogen-containing functional group of the polyol. Be done. As an example of the polyisocyanate compound, general aromatic, aliphatic and alicyclic compounds can be used. For example, tolylene diisocyanate (TDI), hexamethylene diisocyanate (HD
I), diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI),
There are liquid modified MDI, xylylene diisocyanate, cyclohexyl diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate and the like, and TDI and MDI are particularly preferable. These polyisocyanate compounds may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Furthermore, the prepolymer having an active isocyanate group at the terminal used in the present invention is obtained by reacting a polyoxy polypropylene polyol less than the theoretical amount with a polyisocyanate compound by a known technique, and leaving the residual amount of the active isocyanate group at the terminal. It is preferable to have 2 to 15% by weight, preferably 2 to 9% by weight. When the residual amount of the active isocyanate group exceeds 15% by weight, the hardness of the obtained elastomer composition increases and the elongation decreases, which is not preferable, and when it is 2% by weight, the viscosity of the prepolymer increases. There is a problem in the production of the elastomer composition.

Furthermore, it is essential that the crosslinking agent used in the present invention is a polyol oligomer obtained by ring-opening polymerization of β-methyl-δ-valerolactone. The polyol oligomer is a diol such as ethylene glycol or propylene glycol, or an alkylene oxide adduct such as ethylene oxide or propylene oxide, or a diol having a hydroxyl group at the end obtained by addition polymerization of tetrahydrofuran or the like as an initiator. Valerolactone-based polyester polyol, which is a compound obtained by ring-opening addition polymerization of methyl-δ-valerolactone, and has an average molecular weight of 500 to 4,000, preferably 700.
˜2,500. If the average molecular weight exceeds 4,000, the reaction activity becomes low, which is not preferable as a crosslinking agent, and if the average molecular weight is less than 500, the hardness of the elastomer composition becomes high, which is not preferable.

In the present invention, the reaction ratio of the prepolymer having an active isocyanate group at the terminal and the valerolactone-based polyol oligomer cross-linking agent is not particularly limited, but is usually the isocyanate of the prepolymer with respect to the hydroxyl group (OH) of the polyol. The equivalent ratio of the group (NCO), that is, NCO / OH is 0.75 to 1.3, preferably 0.85
Is about 1.05. If this equivalent ratio exceeds 1.3, the hardness of the elastomer composition obtained will be unfavorably high, and if it is 0.75 terminal, a sufficient composition cannot be obtained. The smaller the equivalence ratio, the lower the hardness of the obtained elastomer composition, but at the same time, the viscosity of the composition also becomes stronger, and in particular, the influence of the surface viscosity of the composition increases.

Thus, the prepolymer having an active isocyanate group and the valerolactone-based polyol oligomer cross-linking agent used as raw materials are mixed at room temperature or in a heated state, respectively. When the additives are mixed, they may be mixed with the crosslinking agent in advance, or may be added when the main components are mixed.

After thoroughly mixing the above-mentioned components, degassing is performed in a vacuum, and the mixture is poured into a mold at room temperature to 80 ° C. to room temperature to 120 ° C.
Let the urethanization reaction occur at 10 ° C. for 10 to 300 minutes. Thereafter, the flexible intermediate wall 7 made of urethane resin is obtained by taking it out of the mold.

The flexible intermediate wall 7 thus obtained
Has an Hs hardness of 60 to 3 and a tensile elongation of 400 to 1,3.
It is an elastomer with a low hardness of 00% and excellent deformation followability. In addition, this test method was performed based on JIS K6301.

In FIG. 3, reference numerals 6b and 6c denote two front and back holders which are entirely formed in a rectangular window frame shape like the support frame 6, and the flexible intermediate wall 7 described above is The outer edge 7a is clamped from the front and back sides by these two holders 6b and 6c, and the two holders 6b and 6c which are clamped by using a large number of bolts 6d are fixed to the support frame 6 side. By doing so, the cleaning water tank 5 is mounted inside, and the inside of the cleaning water tank 5 is divided into two chambers, a clean liquid chamber 5a and a dirty water chamber 5b. In the figure, 6a and 6a are mounting angle portions formed at both left and right ends of the support frame 6, and the support frame 6 has fixed angle portions 5T and 5T provided at the front and rear sides of the wash water tank 5, respectively. Made of a mechanism that is fixed by installing.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the width of the above-mentioned two holders 6b and 6c is wide and narrow as shown, so that the flexible intermediate wall 7 is prevented from being damaged by bending. is doing.

That is, according to the floor cleaning machine having the above-mentioned structure, the clean liquid chamber 5a is supplied and supplied with fresh liquid CW to the clean liquid chamber 5a, and the waste water DW is collected and discharged from the dirty water chamber 5b. The flexible intermediate wall 7 which repeats relative swelling with respect to the waste water chamber 5b is provided on the front side holder 6b as shown in the drawing.
When the width of the bulge is made wider than the width of the holder 6c on the back side, and when it bulges toward the clean fluid chamber 5a side, reference numeral 7S in FIG.
The portion indicated by is a bent portion, and when it bulges toward the dirty water chamber 5b side, the portion indicated by reference numeral 7T in FIG. 3 is also a bent portion, and the bending points are different from each other.
In combination with the fact that a special soft elastomer composition is used as the flexible intermediate wall 7, the flexible intermediate wall 7 has a flexible intermediate wall 7 as compared with a conventional floor cleaning machine which repeats bending to both sides at the same point. It has become possible to extend the life by 5 to 7 times.

[0030]

As described above, according to the flexible intermediate wall for a floor cleaner according to the present invention, the inside of the wash water tank can be divided into two chambers, a clean liquid chamber and a dirty water chamber. It exhibits excellent flexibility and durability without hardening or aging even after repeated use, and without causing deformation such as elongation, and does not cause cracks or cracks for a long period of time. It has the advantage that it can be used stably over a long period of time and has a long life, and its effect is very high.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of a floor washer having a flexible intermediate wall according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a floor cleaning machine according to the present invention with the upper case removed.

FIG. 3 is a plan sectional view showing a configuration of a mounting portion of a flexible intermediate wall according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Body of floor cleaning machine 4 Cleaning brush 5 Cleaning water tank 5a Clean liquid chamber 5b Sewage chamber CW Clean liquid DW Sewage 6 Support frame 7 Flexible intermediate wall 8 Water supply pump 9a Blower 10 Squeegee

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A washing water tank mounted on a machine body is divided into two chambers by a flexible intermediate wall, and one of the chambers serves as a fresh water chamber for supplying fresh water or detergent liquid to a cleaning brush, and the other chamber. In a floor cleaning machine which is a sewage chamber containing squeegee-sucked sewage that has been sucked up by a squeegee, the flexible intermediate wall is provided with polyoxypolypropylenepolyol having a functional group of 2.3 to 4.0 and poly A soft elastomer composed of a polyurethane resin obtained by reacting a prepolymer having an active isocyanate group at a terminal obtained by a reaction with an isocyanate compound with a polyol oligomer obtained by ring-opening polymerization of β-methyl-δ-valerolactone as a crosslinking agent. A flexible intermediate wall for a floor cleaning machine, which is characterized in that it is constituted by using a composition.