JPH08308704A - Cold accumulating pillow - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a cold accumulating pillow which has soft touch and is cozy to use by scattering hermetic containers packed with cold accumulating agents which are housed in a pillow body of a hermetic state and have a relatively high m.p. into cold accumulating agents having a relatively low m.p. CONSTITUTION: A tubular body made of soft polyvinyl chloride is continuously molded by an extrusion molding method. On the other hand, spherical containers 31 made of high-density polyethylene having a diameter of 2cm are molded by a blow molding method. The high melting cold accumulating agents 3 having the m.p. of 0 deg.C are packed into these containers simultaneously with the molding. The sealing part 21 of the tubular body having the required length is thereafter sealed by thermal fusing and the spherical containers 31 are charged therein. The low melting cold accumulating agents 4 having the m.p. of -25 deg.C are then injected by an injecting machine into the tubular body and an injection port is sealed by thermal fusing, by which the cold accumulating pillow 1 is obtd. The high melting cold accumulating agents freeze and the low melting cold accumulating agents are gelatinized without freezing when the pillow is rested for about 12 hours in a household refrigerator set at -25 deg.C. The pillow which is not as hard as to afford uncomfortable feel to the head from the beginning of use and offers the excellent feel of use is thus obtd.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cold storage pillow which is soft and has a pleasant feel from the start of use without being entirely frozen even when cooled. The cold storage pillow of the present invention can be frozen in a freezer of a home refrigerator, and can be easily used not only for commercial use in hospitals and the like but also in general households.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a cold storage pillow in which a cold storage agent is contained in a pillow body made of vinyl chloride resin has been used for heat generation or for sleeping. For example, in a general household, this pillow is put in a refrigerator for a required time, and after the internal cold storage agent is frozen, it is taken out and used. Therefore, usually, the pillow is considerably hard at the beginning of use, and until the considerable amount of the cold storage agent is melted and becomes liquid after a while, it is necessary to endure with a hard feeling.

In order to solve the above problem, the pillow body is divided into two parts in the thickness direction, one is filled with a cold storage agent having a high melting point and the other is filled with a cold storage agent having a low melting point. Is proposed. If this pillow is cooled in a temperature range in which the cold storage agent having a high melting point is frozen and the cold storage agent having a low melting point is not frozen, and then the non-freezing side is used as a table, the feeling of use is considerably improved. However, the back half is a completely solid state, and the feel is still not good enough.

Moreover, since the high-melting-point regenerator and the low-melting-point regenerator have to be injected respectively, two injectors must be prepared, or one in which one of the regenerator is injected is used as an intermediate product. There is no choice but to carry out the process of stocking once, injecting the other after washing the injection machine and the like. As described above, the two-divided type pillow has an unsatisfactory usability, has problems in storage and management of intermediate products, and requires further improvement in equipment and operation.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, for example, by using a synthetic resin or the like filled with a high-melting-point regenerator, for example, a spherical or ellipsoidal sealed container, Even if the high melting point cold storage agent freezes and the container becomes hard, the low melting point cold storage agent is not frozen. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cool storage pillow that does not lose flexibility of the entire pillow, has a soft feel even when used immediately after cooling, and is comfortable to use.

[0006]

A cool storage pillow according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a pillow main body in a closed state, a sealed container filled in the pillow main body with a cool storage agent having a relatively high melting point, and a relative container. And a regenerator having a low melting point, and the sealed container is scattered in the regenerator having a relatively low melting point.

The cold storage pillow of the second aspect of the invention is a pillow main body in a sealed state, a sealed container filled in the pillow main body with a cool storage agent having a relatively high melting point, and a relatively low melting point. A cool storage agent, and the sealed container is scattered in the cool storage agent having a relatively low melting point, at the ambient temperature during cooling, the cool storage agent having a relatively high melting point is frozen, and The cold storage agent having a relatively low melting point is characterized by not freezing. In this cold storage pillow, at least at the start of use, the cold storage agent having a relatively high melting point is frozen, and the cold storage agent having a relatively low melting point is not frozen.

As the above-mentioned "cooling agent having a relatively high melting point" (hereinafter referred to as "high melting point cooling agent") and the "cooling agent having a relatively low melting point" (hereinafter referred to as low melting point cold storage agent), melting Water having a large latent heat is used as a main agent, and a cryogenic agent, a gelling agent and, if necessary, a nucleating agent and the like are appropriately blended therein, and those normally used as a cold storage agent of this type can be used without particular limitation. it can.

Examples of the freezing agents include metal salts and ammonium salts of inorganic acids such as sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, ammonium chloride, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate and ammonium nitrate, as well as monoalcohols such as methyl alcohol and ethyl alcohol. Examples thereof include polyhydric alcohols such as alcohol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and glycerin. These cryogens may be added to water in a required amount according to the desired melting points of the high-melting point cold storage agent and the low-melting point cold storage agent.

Examples of the above gelling agent include super absorbent polymers made water-insoluble by cross-linking hydrophilic polymers such as carboxymethyl cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, sodium polyacrylate and polyacrylamide, starch, gelatin, guar gum and the like. Natural polysaccharides and the like can be used. The gelling agent may be used in an amount of about 1 to 5 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of water, whereby the entire cool storage agent becomes a stable gel-like substance having an appropriate viscosity.

The nucleating agent serves as an ice crystal nucleus for freezing the cold storage agent, and includes silver iodide, methaaldehyde, α
-Inorganic or organic compounds such as phenazine, steroids etc. can be used. In addition to this as a nucleating agent, bacteria having a certain activity as a nucleating agent, marine phytoplankton,
Microbes such as moss can also be used. These nucleating agents are
With respect to 100 parts by weight of water, about 0.001 to 0.003 parts by weight of the above-mentioned inorganic or organic compound and about 10 ^{−6 to} 0.1 parts by weight of bacteria or the like may be added.

The above-mentioned "sealed container" can be formed of synthetic resin, and may be any one that does not affect water or other regenerator components and is not attacked by regenerator components, such as polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene. Various synthetic resins such as polyamide can be used. The shape is not particularly limited, but if it is a shape having corners such as a pyramid or a rectangular parallelepiped, it may impair the feel during use, and therefore, as in the fourth invention, a sphere or an ellipsoid is used. preferable.

Further, considering that the thickness of a cold storage pillow of this type is usually about 35 to 40 mm, its size is
If it is a sphere, its diameter is; if it is an ellipsoid, its major axis is
As in the fourth aspect of the invention, it is preferably about 5 to 30 mm. If the diameter or the major axis is less than 5 mm, there is no major problem in the feel during use and the function as a cool storage agent, but it is not only difficult to mold the container itself, but also the required quantity of cool storage agent is accurately filled therein. It's not easy either. If the diameter or major axis exceeds 30 mm, when a person puts his or her head on the cold storage pillow, the container is relatively strongly pressed against the head, which may be considerably uncomfortable for some people. This diameter or major axis is preferably about 15 to 25 mm, and if it is in this range, molding is easy, and
You can get a pillow that feels good when you use it.

The above-mentioned "pillow body" has such mechanical strength that it is not easily deformed or broken even when a person puts his head on it, has an excellent resistance to embrittlement at low temperatures, and is easy to mold and heat seal. If so, the material is not particularly limited, but a soft vinyl chloride resin is usually used. In addition, since this person places a person's head directly on the body, it must have a good feel, and the surface is often quilted or the like. The thickness of this pillow body is as described above, and the vertical and horizontal dimensions may be, for example, about 300 to 350 × 150 to 200 mm, but it is frozen in a refrigerator for adults, children, etc., or a general household. In this case, the size may be set in consideration of the size of the required space.

In the cold storage pillow of the present invention, after the two types of cold storage agents are stored in the main body as described above, the high melting point cold storage agent is frozen,
The low-melting point regenerator is cooled in a temperature range where it does not freeze, and is taken out from a freezer or the like and used when necessary. If this cooling temperature is set to a limit temperature at which the low-melting-point regenerator does not freeze, the cold-retaining function is enhanced, but cooling requires a lot of energy and time. If the high-melting-point regenerator is set to the freezing limit temperature, energy and time are not required, but the cold insulation function deteriorates. Furthermore, when a nucleating agent is used, the cold storage agent freezes at its melting point or a temperature slightly lower than it, so that the cooling temperature is preferably the lower limit of the temperature just above the melting point of the low melting point cold storage agent, If you do not use a nucleating agent,
The limit temperature at which the supercooled state is maintained, for example, the melting point is 10 ° C.
The lower limit may be set to a temperature slightly lower than the lower limit.

In the present invention, the setting of the cooling temperature may be performed as described above, but especially when the refrigerator of the domestic refrigerator is used for cooling, the lower limit of the cooling temperature is about -30 ° C., The melting points of the high-melting-point cold storage agent and the low-melting-point cold storage agent are preferably as in the third aspect of the invention, and if the nucleating agent is not used in such a melting range, pay particular attention to the temperature setting of the freezer. Even if it does not exist, the high-melting-point cold storage agent is surely frozen, the low-melting-point cold storage agent is not frozen at all, and it is possible to obtain a cold storage pillow having a normally required cold-retaining function and an excellent usability. When a nucleating agent is used, a cold storage pillow having similarly excellent performance can be obtained by cooling the melting point of the low melting point cold storage agent at a temperature higher by, for example, about 1 to 2 ° C. The cool storage pillow of the present invention can be easily cooled and used by a household refrigerator without using any special device or operation.

The volume ratio of the low melting point cold storage agent to the high melting point cold storage agent is preferably in the range of 1: 1 to 2.5 as in the fifth invention. Normally, in this type of pillow, the same amount of the cold storage agent as the inner volume of the pillow is filled, so that the total amount of the high melting point cold storage agent and the low melting point cold storage agent is substantially equal to the pillow inner volume. In such a state, the volume ratio of the high melting point regenerator is low.
On the other hand, if it is less than 1, the pillow temperature gradually rises and the cooling effect does not last long after the high melting point regenerator starts melting. If it exceeds 2.5, the cooling effect is excellent. However, it becomes a cold storage pillow that is not good to use.

The cold storage pillow of the present invention can be manufactured as follows. By extrusion molding, a long tubular body of the required cross-sectional shape that will form the pillow body is continuously molded, and one end of this tubular body of the required length is heat-sealed and sealed to form the pillow body. To do. On the other hand, a sphere or the like is molded by blow molding, and after the sphere or the like is held in the mold, a high melting point regenerator is filled therein, and the filling port is heat-sealed to seal. After that, the sphere etc. in which this high melting point cold storage agent is sealed,
The required amount is put into the pillow main body, then the low melting point regenerator is injected into the pillow main body by the injection machine, and the open end is sealed by heat fusion to make a closed state. It can be used by allowing it to stand in an appropriate freezer to cool.

[0019]

[Function] As the regenerator, one that freezes in a short time, requires less energy for freezing, and has a long effective cold storage time is preferable. In practice, water having a large latent heat of fusion is used as a main agent, and a cryogen and a gel are used. It is often used that contains agents and the like. When these cold storage agents are supercooled, it takes a long time to freeze and a large amount of energy is required. Therefore, a nucleating agent is often blended so as to quickly freeze near the melting point. Also in the present invention, the composition of the high-melting-point cold storage agent and the low-melting-point cold storage agent can be appropriately adjusted according to their functions to obtain a cool storage pillow which is excellent in feeling of use and has a long cold storage time.

Further, since it is used by a person as a cold storage pillow, and considering the cooling and freezing in a household refrigerator, it is not necessary to have a composition that freezes at such a low temperature. Any cold storage agent that freezes quickly in the vicinity and that can be kept cool for a long time by using latent heat of fusion when used is not necessary, and the freezing point depression by the cryogen is not so necessary. The composition is preferably frozen. On the other hand, the low melting point cold storage agent does not freeze from the viewpoint of cooling effect because it has a relatively low melting point cold storage agent composition and cannot be expected to retain cold due to latent heat of fusion, because the low melting point cold storage agent impairs the feeling of use. It is preferable to cool to as low a temperature as possible within the range, but it is not necessary to make the temperature too low as described above, and −2
The lower limit may be about 5 ° C.

[0021]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to examples. Example Using a soft vinyl chloride resin, by an extrusion method,
A tubular body (resin layer thickness: 0.35 mm) having a required cross-sectional shape was continuously molded, and the surface was quilted to prepare a material for the pillow body. On the other hand, using high density polyethylene,
By blow molding method, diameter 2 cm, wall thickness 0.5 μm
Of the high melting point cold storage agent (melting point: 0, which is obtained by molding 30 parts by weight of sodium polyacrylate as a nucleating agent in 100 parts by weight of water therein while the spheres are molded.
(° C.) was filled so that substantially no voids remained inside.

Further, to 100 parts by weight of water, 30 parts by weight of sodium chloride as a freezing agent and 3 parts by weight of carboxymethyl cellulose as a gelling agent were added to prepare a low melting point cold storage agent (melting point; -25 ° C.), After that, a pillow body material of a predetermined length was cut out from the tubular body, one end was heat-sealed and sealed, and a bag-shaped material was attached to the injection machine, and first, the high-melting-point regenerator was filled. The sphere was charged, and then the low-melting-point regenerator was injected with leaving as little space as possible inside. After that, the inlet is heat-sealed and sealed, and the internal dimensions are width 320 × length 180 × thickness 37.
mm (however, the width and the length are the dimensions including the portion near the end portion where the thickness is small to the seal portion.) The thickness is the thickness of the flat plate portion. I got a cool storage pillow.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a part of a vertical cross section of the cold storage pillow obtained as described above. 1 is a cold storage pillow, 2 is a pillow main body, 21 is a sealing portion formed by heat-sealing end portions, Reference numeral 31 is a synthetic resin container, 3 is a high-melting-point regenerator filled therein,
Reference numeral 4 is a low melting point cold storage agent injected into the pillow body. In the cold storage pillow of the present invention, when cooled, as shown in FIG. 1, the spheres in which the frozen high melting point cold storage agent is enclosed are not frozen but scattered in the liquid (or gel) low melting point cold storage agent. The pillow is in a state in which the pillow is not stiff enough to make the head feel uncomfortable from the beginning of use, and has an excellent feeling of use.

This cold storage pillow is placed in a freezer of a normal household refrigerator and cooled at a set temperature of -25 ° C. for 12 hours to freeze the high melting point cold storage agent in the sphere and to transform the low melting point cold storage agent into a gel. I used it as a cold storage pillow. When this pillow was actually used, the feeling of contact of the ball with the head was not so strong as to cause discomfort from the beginning of use, but rather it was a pleasant feeling that moderately stimulated the head. Further, after the temperature of the gel-like low-melting point regenerator has risen to a certain degree, cooling due to melting of the frozen high-melting point regenerator in the sphere starts to act, and it is sufficient for a long period of 10 hours from the start of use. A cooling effect was obtained.

[0025]

The cold storage pillow of the first aspect of the present invention has a simple structure in which a closed container filled with a high melting point cold storage agent and a low melting point cold storage agent are housed in the pillow body, and is easy to manufacture, and Second
The cold-storage pillow of the invention is a liquid or gel low-melting-point cold storage agent that has not been frozen and is filled with a frozen high-melting-point cold storage agent, preferably spheres having a small shape and size specified in the fourth invention. It has a structure that makes it flexible and has an excellent feeling of use from the start of use, and because the cold storage agent in the sphere is frozen, the excellent cooling effect, including its latent heat of fusion, is maintained for a long time. It is stable and can be obtained.

Furthermore, by using the cold storage agent having the melting point specified in the third aspect of the present invention, a cool storage pillow having excellent performance can be obtained by cooling at a temperature of at least about -25 ° C., and even in a household refrigerator. Can be cooled sufficiently. Further, by setting the volume ratio of the high melting point cold storage agent and the low melting point cold storage agent specified in the fifth invention, the frozen high melting point cold storage agent does not feel uncomfortable when the frozen sphere or the like hits the head. A cool storage pillow having a sufficient cooling effect can be obtained by the latent heat of fusion of the agent.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view schematically showing a part of the cross section of a cold storage pillow of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1; Cold storage pillow, 2; Pillow body, 21; Seal part, 3; High melting point cold storage agent, 31; Synthetic resin container, 4; Low melting point cold storage agent.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A pillow main body in a closed state, a hermetically sealed container filled with a cool storage agent having a relatively high melting point and a cool storage agent having a relatively low melting point, which is housed in the pillow main body. A cool storage pillow, wherein the sealed container is scattered in the cool storage agent having a relatively low melting point. 2. A pillow body in a hermetically sealed state, a sealed container which is housed in the pillow body and is filled with a cool storage agent having a relatively high melting point, and a cool storage agent having a relatively low melting point. The sealed container is scattered in the cool storage agent having a relatively low melting point, and the cool storage agent having a relatively high melting point is frozen and the cool storage agent having a relatively low melting point is frozen at an environmental temperature during cooling. Is a cold storage pillow characterized by not being frozen. 3. The regenerator having a relatively high melting point has a melting point of 0 to −5 ° C. and the regenerator having a relatively low melting point has a melting point of −20 to −30 ° C. at 1 atmospheric pressure. Item 1
Or the cold storage pillow described in 2. 4. The sealed container is a sphere or an ellipsoid,
The cold storage pillow according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the diameter is 5 to 30 mm when the diameter is spherical or the shape is ellipsoid. 5. The volume ratio of the cool storage agent having a relatively low melting point to the cool storage agent having a relatively high melting point is 1: 1 to 2.5. Cold storage pillow.