JPH06315422A - Waterbed - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a waterbed which allows humidity on the surface of the waterbags to be removed. CONSTITUTION:The plural waterbags 4 are provided in the mattress 3 on the bed frame 2 and they are arranged to be maintained at the specified temperature by operation of heater 19. A heat exchange system 10 using thermoelectric conversion device 11 is equipped in the cabinet 10 of the bed frame 2 and the fin 12 is placed in touch with the heat absorbing face of the thermoelectric conversion device 11. By sending the air flow to this fin 12 from the fan 15, the heat exchange with the air flow is caused and the dry air flow made by cooling is sent to the top of the waterbags 4 via the first air passage 5, for the subsequent discharge to the outside through the second air passage 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water bed, and more particularly to a water bed capable of cooling the upper surface of the bed with cold air.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a fluid enclosed in a water bag of a water bed is heated to a desired temperature by a heater so that a person does not feel cold and cannot sleep when lying down on the water bed. It is designed to be warmed. The temperature of the water bag is constantly detected by the sensor. When the water bag cools, the heater is energized. When the water bag exceeds a certain temperature, the heater is de-energized and naturally cooled. . Thus, the temperature of the water bag is adjusted to the desired temperature.

[0003]

However, the surface of the warmed water bag is apt to have water drops due to indoor humidity, which not only increases sleepiness but also causes mold, which is not preferable.

Therefore, the present invention has a technical problem to provide a water bed capable of removing moisture on the surface of the water bag.

[0005]

[Constitution of the invention]

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above problems, the technical solution provided by the present invention is a bed frame, a water bag arranged in the bed frame, and a heater for heating the water bag. An air passage formed in contact with the water bag; a heat exchange chamber communicating with the air passage; a fan disposed in the heat exchange chamber for sending air in the heat exchange chamber to the air passage; First heat exchange means for performing heat exchange between the thermoelectric conversion element having a heat exchange surface and a second heat exchange surface and the air in the first heat exchange surface and the heat exchange chamber to cool the air in the heat exchange chamber. And a second heat exchange means for radiating the heat of the second heat exchange surface to the outside.

[0007]

In the thermoelectric conversion element, one of the first heat exchange surface and the second heat exchange surface acts as a heat generating surface and the other acts as a heat absorbing surface, depending on the direction of the current to be applied.
When the first heat exchange surface acts as the heat absorption surface, the air in the heat exchange chamber is cooled by the first heat exchange surface. As a result, the humidity of the air in the heat exchange chamber is lowered, and the dried air flow is sent to the ventilation path by the fan, and the water droplets adhering to the surface of the water bag are removed.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 schematically shows the cross section of the water bed of this embodiment. The bed frame 2 of the water bed 1 includes a base frame 2b on which the mattress 3 is placed, a cabinet 2a arranged at one end of the base frame 2b, and a footboard arranged at the other end of the base frame 2b. 2c. The mattress 3 on the base frame 2b is formed of a foam material such as urethane, and a recess 3a in which three water bags 4 are laminated is formed in the central portion. The water bag 4 and the mattress 3 are wrapped with a sheet cover 9. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the water bag 4 has a notch 4a at the head end and the leg end.
4b are formed, and in particular, a plurality of grooves 4c are formed on the upper surface of the water bag 4 located at the uppermost surface.

Further, the mattress 3 is formed with two ventilation passages communicating with the recess 3a.

One is a first air passage 5 formed from the side surface of the end portion on the head side (left side in FIG. 1) of the mattress 3 toward the recess 3a, and the other is the end of the recess 3a on the leg side. The second ventilation passage 6 is formed from the portion (on the right side in FIG. 1) toward the lower surface of the mattress 3 and communicates with the hole 8b formed in the base frame 2b. One end of the first ventilation passage 5 has a cabinet 2
A hole 8a formed in a communicates with a heat exchange chamber 10a of a heat exchange device 10 described later, and the other end is provided with a groove 4 on the water bag 4 via a notch 4a of the water bag 4.
It communicates with c. Therefore, the cold air sent from the heat exchange chamber 10a of the heat exchange device 10 is notched from the first ventilation passage 5 through the notch 4
A, the groove 4c, the notch 4b, and the second air passage 6 are sequentially passed through, and are blown out to the outside air from the hole 8b of the base frame 2b.

Next, the heat exchange device 10 arranged inside the cabinet 2a will be described.

The heat exchange device 10 includes a thermoelectric conversion element 11 having a first heat exchange surface 11a and a second heat exchange surface 11b, and a first heat exchange surface 11a.
The heat absorption side fins 12 and the heat generation side fins 13 disposed on each of the heat exchange surface 11a and the second heat exchange surface 11b, and the motor 1 for sending an air flow to the heat absorption side fins 12 and the heat generation side fins 13.
4 and the fan 15 mainly.

A partition wall 16 having an L-shaped cross section is provided in the cabinet 2a. The partition wall 16 causes the space in the cabinet 2a to generate heat with the heat exchange chamber 10a in which the heat absorbing fins 12 are provided. It is divided into a heat exhaust chamber 10b in which the side fins 13 are arranged. In addition, the thermoelectric conversion element 11
Is a partition wall 1 having an L-shaped cross section arranged in the cabinet 2a
By being embedded in 6, it is disposed in the cabinet 2a. The thermoelectric conversion element 11 has one surface acting as a heat absorbing surface and the other surface acting as a heat generating surface, and the surface acting is reversed depending on the direction of the electric current supplied. However, in the present embodiment, the direction of the electric current is set to one direction, and the first thermoelectric conversion element 11a that contacts the heat absorption side fin 12 functions as a heat absorption surface, and the heat generation side fin 13 functions as the second thermoelectric conversion element 11b as a heat generation surface. It is supposed to do. In addition, since each fin is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, the fins are drawn perpendicularly to the air blowing direction from the fan 15, but in reality, they are arranged so as to be parallel to the air blowing direction. .

An exhaust port 17 is formed in the upper part of the wall surface of the cabinet 2a, and a suction port 18 is formed in the lower end part. The exhaust port 17 and the intake port 18 communicate with the heat exchange chamber 10a and the exhaust heat chamber 10b in the cabinet,
The exhaust port 17 is actually connected to only the heat exhaust chamber 10b by the air blown from the fan 15.

A heater 19 is arranged at the lowermost end of the water bag 4. The heater 19 contacts the water bag 4 and heats the fluid enclosed in the water bag 4 to a desired temperature, and is controlled to be turned on and off by a control device and an operation panel (not shown). .

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described. Normally, the water bag 4 is heated by the heater 19 so as to maintain the temperature designated by the operation panel.

When the switch for instructing the generation of cold air on the operation panel is turned on, the motor 14 and the fan 15 are energized. By the rotation of the fan 15, the suction port 1
The outside air is sucked from 8 and the air flow is sent to both the heat absorption side fins 12 and the heat generation side fins 13 partitioned by the partition plate 16. Further, the thermoelectric conversion element 11 is energized at the same time when the motor 14 and the fan 15 are energized, and the first heat exchange surface 11a
Is cooled, and the second heat exchange surface 11b generates heat. For this reason,
The heat absorption side fins 12 are cooled by the first heat exchange surface 11a and exchange heat with the air flow generated by the fan 15 to cool the air in the heat exchange chamber 10a. At this time, since the moisture in the air is removed by cooling, the air in the heat exchange chamber 10a becomes dry. And
The dried and cooled air flow passes through the hole 8a to the first ventilation passage 5
The air is blown from the first ventilation passage 5 to the cutout 4a, the groove 4c, the cutout 4b, and the second ventilation passage 6 of the water bag 4 in this order, and then blown out to the outside through the hole 8b of the base frame 2b. Then, the dew condensation on the water bag 4 is removed by the dried air flow. On the other hand, the heat-generating fins 13 that have performed heat exchange with the second heat exchange surface 11 b further exchange heat with the air flow sent by the fan 15, and blow out warm air from the exhaust port 17.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the moisture in the air can be removed by cooling the air flow sent to the water bag 4, the air flow to be blown is a dry air flow. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to remove the dew condensation on the surface of the water bag 4 and provide comfortable sleeping comfort. In the past, especially during the rainy season, not only does it cause a lot of dew condensation, which makes sleeping comfort worse,
Although there was a risk of mold, this embodiment can solve such a problem. The heat exchange device 10
Is preferably activated when the user is not using the waterbed in order to prevent fan noise and overcooling.

Next, second to fifth embodiments of the present invention will be described. In the following description, the same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

First, the second embodiment will be described. Second
The basic configuration of the embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, but the arrangement position of the heat exchange device 10 is different from that of the first embodiment.

In the first embodiment, the heat exchange device 10 is arranged in the cabinet 2a, but in the second embodiment, the heat exchange device 10 is arranged on the lower surface of the base frame as shown in FIG. . Then, the cooled airflow sent from the heat exchange device 10 flows to the upper surface of the water bag 4 through the first air passage 5 formed in the mattress 3 and the notch 4a formed in the water bag 4, and Cutout 4
It is exhausted to the outside air through the notch 4b on the side opposite to a and the second ventilation path 6. In the second embodiment, since the heat exchange device 10 can be arranged even if the leading end portion of the bed frame is not of the cabinet type but of the headboard type as shown in the figure, the length of the entire bed in the longitudinal direction can be reduced. Can be shortened.

Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Also in the third embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the heat exchange device 10 is mounted on the lower surface of the base frame 2b.
0 is provided. In particular, in the third embodiment, a plurality of through holes 4d are provided in the central portion of the water bag 4, and the heat exchange device 10 is arranged below the through holes 4d to send dry cold air. In the third embodiment, the cold air generated by the heat exchange device 10 is sent to the upper surface of the water bag 4 through the through holes 4d, passes through the sheet cover 9, and is discharged to the outside air. Also in this case, the dew adhering to the water bag 4 can be similarly removed.

In the fourth embodiment, a tube 21 is connected to the heat exchange device 10 as shown in FIGS.
The tube 21 is branched into the same number of branches 21a as the number of grooves 4c formed in the uppermost water bag 4, and each branch 21a is placed in the groove 4c. Although the end of the branch 21a is closed, the branch 21
A plurality of exhaust holes 21b are formed in a, and the cold air flow blown from the heat exchange device 10 is blown to the upper surface of the water bag 4 through the exhaust holes 21b. In such a configuration, the cold airflow is evenly blown to the upper surface of the water bag 4, so that it is possible to efficiently remove the entire condensation formed on the water bag 4.

In the fifth embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the heat exchange device 10 is provided below the base frame 2b, and cold air is sent to the upper surface of the water bag 4 from here. Similar to the example, but different in that an air guide 22 is provided at the exhaust port of the heat exchange device 10. The air guide 22 extends from the heat exchange device 10 so as to cover a part of the upper surface of the water bag 4, and the heat exchange device 1
The air flow sent from 0 is sent to the upper surface of the water bag 4 along the air guide 22, and when it is discharged from the air guide 22, it passes through the sheet cover 9 and is blown to the outside air. In this case as well, dew condensation can be similarly removed.

[0025]

According to the present invention, dry cold air is sent to the water bag by the thermoelectric conversion element, so that it becomes possible to remove the dew condensation adhering to the water bag, which improves the comfort of sleeping and also the water bag and the mattress. It is possible to prevent mold that tends to stick.

Further, since the surface of the water bag can be cooled by cold air, unpleasant heat can be taken away when the upper surface of the bed is warmed more than necessary due to the sunlight in summer, which is comfortable. You can get sleep.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 schematically shows a vertical cross section of a water bed according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a cross section taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the water bag of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a vertical cross section of a water bed according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a cross section of a water bed according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a water bag according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 schematically shows a cross section of a water bed according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a tube arranged in the heat exchange device of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 9 schematically shows a vertical cross section of a water bed according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a water bag and an air guide according to a fifth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Water Bed 2 Bed Frame 3 Mattress 4 Water Bag 4c Groove (Ventilation Path) 4d Through Hole (Ventilation Path) 10 Heat Exchange Device 10a Heat Exchange Room 11 Thermoelectric Conversion Element 11a First Heat Exchange Surface 11b Second Heat Exchange Surface 12 Heat Absorption Side fins (first heat exchange means) 13 Heat generation side fins (second heat exchange means) 19 Heaters 21 Tubes (vent passages) 22 Air guides (vent passages)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bed frame, a water bag disposed in the bed frame, a heater for heating the water bag, a ventilation path formed in contact with the water bag, and heat communicating with the ventilation path. An exchange chamber, a fan disposed in the heat exchange chamber for sending air in the heat exchange chamber to the ventilation passage, a thermoelectric conversion element having a first heat exchange surface and a second heat exchange surface, and the first heat exchange surface A heat exchange between the air in the heat exchange chamber and the air in the heat exchange chamber to cool the air in the heat exchange chamber;
A water bed comprising heat exchange means and second heat exchange means for radiating the heat of the second heat exchange surface to the outside.