JPH0861780A - Heat storage type heater - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To stabilize heating temperature at a fixed value continuously for a long time. CONSTITUTION: A closed container 10 comprising a metal container 11 and a deformable heating sheet 12 is sealed with polyethylene glycol with an average molecular weight of 500-6,000 and an electric heater 14 is provided closely on the bottom surface of the metal container 11. The polyethylene glycol 13 heated with the electric heater stores heat as latent heat and then, heats a subject through the heating sheet 12. At this point, the energization of the electric heater is controlled with a thermostat 17 to keep the temperature of the polyethylene glycol 13 at about melting point. If so, as the polyethylene glycol itself has a high heat storage action near the melting point, the temperature of the polyethylene glycol 13 is kept almost constant at a value near the melting point through the storage or radiation of heat free from fluctuations in the temperature generated with the electric heater to some extent. The replacement of the electric heater with a self temperature adjusting type heater eliminates the need for the thermostat 17.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat storage type heating device which utilizes latent heat associated with a phase change between a solid phase and a liquid phase of a heat storage material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A water bed has been known as a device for heating a human body. This water bed stores water inside the bed, supports the whole body of the person sleeping on the bed evenly with water pressure, and removes the discomfort caused by the coldness when the person touches the bed. ,
The water inside the bed is heated by an electric heater.

[0003]

By the way, it is a common experience that a change in the bed temperature (heating temperature) by 1 ° C. greatly changes the sleeping comfort. However, in the conventional water bed, the heat generation amount of the electric heater that warms the water inside the bed is adjusted by turning on / off the thermostat. As a result, it is difficult to maintain the bed temperature (heating temperature) at a comfortable temperature, which is a cause of uncomfortable sleep.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a regenerative heating device having a simple structure and capable of suppressing the fluctuation range of the heating temperature to an extremely small value. It is in.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the heat storage type heating device of the present invention heats an object to be heated by a latent heat storage material that stores heat by utilizing latent heat. In the above, an electric heater for heating the latent heat storage material is provided, and an energization control means for controlling energization to the electric heater so as to keep the temperature of the latent heat storage material at around the melting point is provided. 1).

In this case, the electric heater may be a self-temperature control type heater whose self-temperature is controlled around the melting point of the latent heat storage material, whereby the energization control means may be omitted. 2). Further, it is conceivable to use polyethylene glycol as the latent heat storage material (claim 3). Further, at least the heating surface of the closed container containing the latent heat storage material may be deformable by the load of the heating object (claim 4).

[0007]

According to the present invention, by using the latent heat storage material that stores heat by utilizing latent heat, it is possible to stably heat the object to be heated around the melting point as follows. First, when the electric heater heats the latent heat storage material, the latent heat storage material undergoes a phase change from a solid phase to a liquid phase, and a large amount of heat is stored as latent heat. After that, if the stored heat can be radiated appropriately around the melting point, the object to be heated can be heated at a constant temperature.

In this case, in the heat storage type heating device according to the first aspect, the power supply control means controls the power supply to the electric heater so that the temperature of the latent heat storage material is maintained around the melting point. At this time, the heat generation temperature of the electric heater is repeatedly changed up and down with reference to the set temperature by the energization control by the energization control means, but the latent heat storage material heated by the electric heater is high near the melting point. Since it has a heat storage effect, even if the heat generation temperature of the electric heater fluctuates up and down to some extent, the temperature of the latent heat storage material is kept substantially constant at a temperature near the melting point through heat storage or heat dissipation. As a result, it is possible to perform stable heating on the object to be heated with almost no vertical fluctuation in temperature.

On the other hand, in the heat storage type heating device according to the second aspect, by using the self-temperature control type heater as the electric heater, the energization control means required in the heat storage type heating device according to the first aspect is omitted. It can be configured. In addition, the self-temperature control type heater has a significantly smaller vertical fluctuation in the vicinity of the set temperature than the electric heater whose temperature is controlled by the energization control means, so that more stable heating is possible.

When polyethylene glycol is used as the latent heat storage material as in the heat storage type heating device according to claim 3, the human body is heated by changing the average molecular weight in the range of 500 to 6000, for example. Suitable for 30 ℃ ~
The melting point (heating temperature) of the latent heat storage material can be adjusted within the range of 65 ° C.

Further, as in the heat storage type heating device according to the fourth aspect, at least the heating surface of the closed container of the latent heat storage material is made deformable, so that the object to be heated is deformed according to the outer shape and movement of the object. Is possible. As a result, the entire object to be heated can be uniformly supported and supported, and the entire object to be heated can be evenly heated.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a water bed will be described below with reference to FIG. A polyethylene glycol 13 is enclosed as a latent heat storage material in a closed container 10 in which a deformable heating sheet 12 (heating surface) is attached to the upper surface of a metal container 11. In this example, the polyethylene glycol 13 has an average molecular weight of 500 to 6000.
The melting point can be appropriately set within the range of 30 ° C. to 65 ° C., which is suitable for heating the human body, by adjusting the average molecular weight.

A planar electric heater 14 (hereinafter referred to as "planar heater 14") is attached to the lower surface of the bottom surface of the metal container 11 so as to be in close contact therewith, and the periphery of the metal container 11 and the planar heater 14 is thermally insulated. The member 15 is wrapped around the member 15 to prevent heat loss, and these are housed in the outer case 16.
On the other hand, the planar heater 14 is energized via a thermostat 17 which is an energization control means and a power switch 18, and the heat generation temperature of the planar heater 14 is adjusted by turning on / off the thermostat 17.

In the above structure, when the power switch 18 is turned on, the sheet heater 1 is turned on via the thermostat 17.
4, the sheet heater 14 generates heat, and the metal container 1
The polyethylene glycol 13 is heated via 1.
As a result, the polyethylene glycol 13 gradually undergoes a phase change from the solid phase to the liquid phase, and stores heat as latent heat around the melting point. Then, this polyethylene glycol 13
The heat stored in is radiated through the heating sheet 12 to heat the heating target (human body) on the heating sheet 12.

At this time, the thermostat 17 is repeatedly turned on and off depending on the ambient temperature thereof to turn on and off the energization of the sheet heater 14 to change the heating state of the sheet heater 14 as follows. Adjust. After the energization of the sheet heater 14 is started, when the polyethylene glycol 13 in the hermetically sealed container 10 has completely changed to the liquid phase, the thermostat 17 is turned off to turn off the sheet heater 14 to discontinue the sheet heater 14. Suppresses temperature rise near the melting point. After that, the human body on the heating sheet 12 is heated only by the heat radiation of the polyethylene glycol 13.

Thereafter, as the heat radiation of the polyethylene glycol 13 progresses, the polyethylene glycol 13 gradually changes its phase from the liquid phase to the solid phase, but the temperature of the polyethylene glycol 13 is kept constant near the melting point. Then, when the polyethylene glycol 13 in the closed container 10 is partially changed to the solid phase, the thermostat 17 is turned on to restart the energization of the planar heater 14 so that the whole polyethylene glycol 13 is solidified. Prevent and do not give the human body a rough feel. After that, the operation of turning off the thermostat 17 is repeated until all of the polyethylene glycol 13 in the closed container 10 has changed to the liquid phase, and the temperature of the polyethylene glycol 13 is maintained around the melting point.

In this case, the heat generation temperature of the sheet heater 14 is
Since the thermostat 17 is turned on and off, the temperature fluctuates up and down around the set temperature, and the thermostat 17 is not stable at a constant temperature. However, polyethylene glycol 13
Since it has a high heat storage effect near the melting point, the temperature of the polyethylene glycol 13 is almost constant at a temperature near the melting point through heat storage or heat dissipation even if the heat generation temperature of the planar heater 14 fluctuates up and down to some extent. Kept in. As a result, the heat storage type heating device of the first embodiment can perform stable heating at a substantially constant temperature.

Further, in this first embodiment, since polyethylene glycol 13 is used as the latent heat storage material, the melting point can be adjusted by changing the average molecular weight. For example, the average molecular weight is in the range of 500 to 6000. If properly set, the melting point (heating temperature) of the polyethylene glycol 13 can be set within the range of 30 ° C. to 65 ° C. suitable for heating the human body. Moreover, the polyethylene glycol 13 is harmless to the human body and excellent in cost as compared with other latent heat storage materials.

Further, in the first embodiment, the heating sheet 12 serving as the heating surface is deformed by the load of the object to be heated (human body), so that the shape of the object to be heated is curved or slightly. Even if there is unevenness, or even if the heating object moves on the heating sheet 12 during use, the heating sheet 12 and the heating object can be brought into close contact with each other. This makes it possible to support the entire human body evenly, reduce the burden on the waist of the human body, improve the feel and fit of the waterbed, and evenly apply the entire human body. It can be warmed and comfort can be improved.

Although the sheet heater 14 is used as the electric heater in the first embodiment, for example, a sheath heater or the like may be used.
It goes without saying that other electric heaters may be used. Further, the energization control means for controlling the energization of the electric heater is not limited to the thermoresponsive switch such as the thermostat 17, but for example, a phase control circuit for controlling the energization rate (duty ratio) to the electric heater, a PWM A switching circuit such as a circuit may be provided, or a voltage adjusting circuit that adjusts the input voltage to the electric heater may be provided.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The heat storage type heating device according to the second embodiment is the first
By using the self-temperature control type heater 21 in place of the sheet heater 14 (electric heater) of the embodiment, the thermostat 17 as the energization control means is omitted from the structure of the first embodiment.

The self-temperature control type heater 21 used in this second embodiment was developed by the present inventor, and is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-4.
As shown in 2681, carbon powder is dispersed in polyethylene glycol to prepare a thermosensitive electrical resistance composition 22,
This thermosensitive electrical resistance composition 22 is mixed with the electrode 23 and rolled into a sheet, and then covered with a coating layer 24. This self-temperature control type heater 21 has a low electric resistance at a low temperature, and thus the temperature rises due to Joule heat. However, when the temperature exceeds a specific temperature, the electric resistance abruptly increases, so that the current decreases and the temperature rise is suppressed. As a result, the heat generation temperature can be kept constant. This self-temperature control type heater 21 has an average molecular weight of polyethylene glycol of the heat-sensitive electric resistance composition 22 of, for example, 500 to 20,000.
It is also possible to set the exothermic temperature in the range of 5 ° C. to 70 ° C. by changing it in the range of.

In the second embodiment, the basic operation and effect are almost the same as those in the first embodiment, but the temperature fluctuation width of the self-temperature control type heater 21 is a surface condition whose temperature is adjusted by the energization control means. Since it is significantly smaller than the heater 14 (electric heater), the heating temperature of the heating device itself can be more stabilized. Further, as described above, since the heater 21 itself has the function of adjusting the temperature, it is possible to simplify the configuration of the entire apparatus without the need for the energization control means for adjusting the temperature.

In both of the first and second embodiments described above, polyethylene glycol 13 is used as the latent heat storage material, but other than this, for example, calcium chloride, calcium carbonate, calcium nitrate, calcium sulfate, thiol. An inorganic hydrated salt such as sodium sulfate or paraffin may be used as the latent heat storage material.

In addition, in the present invention, the container 11 may be formed of heat-resistant plastic, or may be configured as a heating device for heating an object to be heated other than the human body.
Needless to say, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, such as changing the form of the closed container 10 according to the type of object to be heated.

[0026]

As is apparent from the above description, the heat storage type heating device according to claim 1 of the present invention controls the temperature of the latent heat storage material when heating the object to be heated by the latent heat storage material. By adjusting the heating of the electric heater by the energization control means so as to maintain the temperature around the melting point, the object to be heated can be stably heated at a constant temperature.

Further, in the heat storage type warming device according to the second aspect, by using the self-temperature control type heater as the electric heater, the same as the heat storage type warming device according to the first aspect without providing the energization control means. The effect of can be obtained.
Moreover, the self-temperature control type heater has a much smaller temperature fluctuation range than the electric heater whose temperature is controlled by the energization control means, so that the heating stability is improved. Further, since the energization control means is unnecessary, the structure can be simplified.

Further, when polyethylene glycol is used as the latent heat storage material, the melting point (heating temperature) of the latent heat storage material can be adjusted by adjusting the average molecular weight.
Can be adjusted. When the average molecular weight of polyethylene glycol is 500 to 6000, the melting point of polyethylene glycol can be set in the range of 30 ° C to 65 ° C suitable for heating the human body. Moreover, polyethylene glycol is harmless to the human body and is excellent in cost.

Further, if at least the heating surface of the closed container of the latent heat storage material is made deformable as described in claim 4, the heating surface is deformed according to the outer shape and movement of the object to be heated. It is possible to uniformly support the entire object to be heated and to heat the entire object to be heated evenly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a heat storage type heating device showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a heat storage type heating device showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Airtight container, 11 ... Metal container, 12 ... Heating surface, 13
... polyethylene glycol (latent heat storage material), 14 ... planar heater (electric heater), 15 ... heat insulating member, 16 ... outer case, 17 ... thermostat (energization control means), 18 ... power switch, 21 ... self-temperature control type heater , 22 ... Thermosensitive electrical resistance composition, 23 ... Electrode, 24 ... Coating layer.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A heat storage type heating device in which an object to be heated is heated by a latent heat storage material that stores heat by utilizing latent heat, and an electric heater for heating the latent heat storage material is provided,
A heat storage type heating device comprising an energization control means for controlling energization of an electric heater so as to keep the temperature of the latent heat storage material around a melting point. 2. A heat storage type heating device for heating an object to be heated by a latent heat storage material which stores heat by utilizing latent heat, in which an electric heater for heating the latent heat storage material is provided. A heat storage type heating device characterized by using a self-temperature control type heater in which a heat generation temperature is self-temperature controlled around the melting point of the latent heat storage material. 3. The heat storage type warming device according to claim 1, wherein polyethylene glycol is used as the latent heat storage material. 4. The heat storage device according to claim 1, wherein at least a heating surface of the closed container containing the latent heat storage material is deformable by a load of the heating object. Type heating device.