WO1999043238A1 - Ventilated bedding and ventilated clothes - Google Patents

Abstract

An air temperature distribution around a human body is such that an air temperature is higher than a natural air temperature in the vicinity of a body surface and gradually decreases in inverse proportion to a distance from the body surface to approach an ambient air temperature, because the air in the vicinity of the human body surface is heated by a body temperature. A temperature gradient near the body surface can be increased by ventilating the ambient air with a temperature lower than a body temperature to a portion in the vicinity of the body surface to force an air temperature very close to the body surface down to the natural ambient temperature. The larger a temperature gradient, the more active a heat flow. Air ventilating passages are provided in a quilt, a futon, a pillow or clothes, which are worn or used while sleeping to ventilate through these air passages an ambient air lower in temperature than the body. This provides an increased temperature gradient near the body surface and, as a result, a higher radiation effect. Even in hot summer, the ambient temperature lower than the body temperature gives us a cool feeling.

Description

 Description Air-flow bedding and air-flow clothing

 TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an air-flowing bedding for ensuring comfortable sleep at night when a high-temperature bed is difficult and an air-flowing garment that can be comfortably used even in a high-temperature environment. Background art

 Air conditioners are the most widely used means of relieving the heat on hot summer evenings. This is very effective in reducing heat because it directly cools the air in the room.

 However, although air conditioners are expensive equipment and the household penetration rate has increased, it has not yet spread widely to each room of one household. Also, since air conditioners consume large amounts of power, the spread of air conditioners increases the power consumption of society as a whole, and at present, air conditioners rely on fossil fuels for a large proportion of power generation. Even if each room becomes cooler due to its widespread use, there is a problem that, from a large perspective, it can lead to global warming. In addition, since air conditioners cool the room air itself, there is a problem that health may be impaired due to excessive cooling.

 Thus, the widespread use of bedding, which consumes less power and allows easy and comfortable sleep, even on hot summer nights, may help to alleviate some of these problems. In addition, not only during sleep but also during the hot season, if the use of cooling means that consumes less power and can be spent comfortably by means other than the air conditioner becomes widespread, the above-mentioned problems will be solved. This leads to some solution.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an air-flowing bedding and an air-flowing garment that consume less power and have a simple structure during a hot season during the day or during sleep. The purpose is to: Disclosure of the invention

 The air-flowing bedding according to the first invention is used in a state of being in contact with a body during sleep, a bedding portion having an air flow passage therein, and supplying air to the flow passage of the bedding portion. Wherein the air supplied from the air supply unit absorbs heat radiated from the human body during a period from flowing into the flow passage in the bedding unit to being discharged. I do.

 The air-flowing bedding according to the second invention is provided with an upper cloth, a lower cloth, and an air flow path between the upper cloth and the lower cloth, which are arranged at appropriate intervals between the upper cloth and the lower cloth. A comforter comprising a plurality of spacers, and an air supply unit for supplying air to the flow passage of the comforter.

 The air-flow bedding according to the third invention has a pillow portion used as a pillow or placed on a pillow, and an air supply portion that supplies air to the pillow portion. A lower plate provided with a plurality of grooves; and an upper cloth provided on the lower plate so as to cover the grooves, wherein the grooves covered with the upper cloth are used as air flow paths, and The air supplied from the supply unit is circulated.

 An air-flow bedding according to a fourth aspect of the present invention has a mattress portion used as a mattress or placed on a mattress, and an air supply unit for supplying air to the mattress portion. An upper cloth on which a person sleeps, a mat provided with spacers for supporting the body weight of the person via the upper cloth when the person sleeps, and a mat provided with a constant interval; The air flow path formed by the air supply section is characterized in that the air supplied from the air supply section flows through the flow path of the mattress section.

 A warm air bedding according to a fifth aspect of the present invention has a mattress or a mattress placed on or on a mattress, and a hot air supply unit for supplying warm air to the mattress, The mattress section includes: an upper cloth on which a person sleeps; a mat provided with spacers for supporting the weight of the person via the upper cloth when the person sleeps; It is characterized by comprising a flow passage of the hot air formed by the spacer and flowing hot air supplied from the hot air supply section through the flow passage of the mattress section.

The air-flow type bedding according to the sixth invention comprises a plurality of load supports for supporting a load of a person lying thereon. A sheet provided between the sleeper and the mat means, the sheet means being provided between the sleeper and the mat means, and forming a flow path through which the air flows together with the adjacent load supporting part, the mat means being provided between the sleeper and the mat means; A member, provided integrally with the mat means, and extending widely outside the mat means, wherein the matte means is formed by knocking a part extending widely outside under existing bedding. Fixing means for fixing to the upper part of the existing bedding, air blowing means for sending out air, and air guiding means for guiding the air sent from the air blowing means to the flow path, after flowing through the flow path The air is discharged to the outside.

 An air circulating garment according to a seventh aspect of the present invention comprises a first and a second cloth, and an air flow path between the first and the second cloths, which is disposed at an appropriate interval between the first and the second cloths. It is characterized by having a garment section comprising a plurality of spacers to be formed, and air suction means for sucking air and sending out the sucked air to the above-mentioned flow passage of the garment section. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

 FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of an air-cooled futon 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

 FIG. 2 is a view showing the futon part 10, wherein (a) is a plan view, (b) is a cross-sectional view of (a) taken along the line X-X, and (c) is a part of (b). It is the figure which expanded.

 FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the cooling action of the air-cooled futon 1 of the present embodiment.

 FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the air-cooled pillow 40 of the second embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the pillow portion.

 FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing the preliminary experiment 1.

 FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the results of Preliminary Experiment 1.

 FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing the preliminary experiment 2.

 FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the results of Preliminary Experiment 2.

 FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing the preliminary experiment 3.

 FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the results of Preliminary Experiment 3.

Figure 12 shows the actual airflow of propeller fan used in Preliminary Experiment 4. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing static pressure characteristics.

 FIG. 13 is a diagram schematically showing the preliminary experiment 5.

 FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an air-cooled pillow of the third embodiment.

 FIG. 15 is a graph showing an experimental result of examining how the temperature between the head and the pillow changes when air is not flown through the air-cooled pillow of the third embodiment. FIG. 16 is a graph showing the result of observing the temperature reached after a certain time when air is flowed through the air-cooled pillow of the third embodiment.

 FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a modification of the third embodiment.

 FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a futon portion of the air-cooled futon of the fourth embodiment.

 FIG. 19 is a schematic perspective view of the spacer.

 FIG. 20 is a schematic plan view showing a jig for arranging the spacer.

 FIG. 21 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a use mode in which an air-flow bedding is used as a comforter and another futon is used in combination.

 FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the air-flow type bedding of the fifth embodiment.

 FIG. 23 is a schematic plan view of the warm-air bedding of the sixth embodiment.

 FIG. 24 is a plan view showing a state where the main body of the air-flowing bedding of the seventh embodiment is expanded.

 FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the air-flow bedding shown in FIG. 24 is attached to a mattress portion of a bed.

 FIG. 26 is an enlarged perspective view of the air cushion portion of the air mat.

 FIG. 27 is a front view and a rear view of the air circulating garment of the eighth embodiment.

 FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a person wears the air-flow-type garment illustrated in FIG. 27. FIG. 29 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the fan portion of the airflow-type garment shown in FIG. FIG. 30 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of an air circulating material used for a clothing portion according to the eighth embodiment.

Figure 31 is a table showing the results of an experiment in which the temperature near the body surface when a person felt comfortable was examined. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the invention according to the present application will be described with reference to the drawings.

 [First embodiment]

 FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of an air-cooled futon 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the air-cooled futon 1 includes a futon part 10, a fan 8, and a hose 9 connecting these. The futon part 10 is used in a manner that, like a normal comforter, the person hangs on the bed when a person sleeps. The fan 8 sends air inside the room, which is the same as the room temperature, to the futon 10 through the hose 9 in principle.

 2A and 2B are diagrams showing the futon part 10, wherein FIG. 2A is a plan view, FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line χ— の ′ of FIG. FIG. As shown in FIG. 2 (b), the futon part 10 has a three-layer structure including an upper cloth 11, a lower cloth 12, and an air-cooled sheet 13 therebetween. The upper cloth 11 and the lower cloth 12 are made of general cloth having good air permeability. However, when used for summer, it is desirable to select a material that is sufficiently thin so that it does not become too hot when you sleep with the futon section 10 and that you feel comfortable when you touch the skin. .

 The air-cooling sheet 13 is composed of upper and lower two films 17a and 17b, and a large number of column-shaped air columns 18 provided at predetermined intervals therebetween. In FIG. 2A, the air columns 18 are shown only in the vicinity of x-x. However, in actuality, the air columns 18 are provided on the entire air-cooling sheet 13. The films 17a and 17b and the air column 18 are made of polyethylene, vinyl chloride, or the like, and the air column 18 is filled with air. As shown in Fig. 2 (c), the structure of this air-cooled sheet 13 is a cushion that is used as a cushioning material to cushion external shocks when transporting broken objects or precision instrument products. It is similar to. This prevents the upper and lower films 17a and 17b from contacting each other due to the elasticity が of the air column 18 even if a certain amount of pressure is applied in the vertical direction in FIG. 2 (b). Can be. However, the arrangement density of the air columns 18 is considerably smaller than that of a general air cushion for the reasons described below. The thickness of the upper and lower two films constituting the air-cooling sheet 13 is, for example, about 0.03 mm.

The air cooling sheet 13 is provided with a large number of ventilation holes 16 at appropriate intervals. Air cooling Although the material of the sheet 13 does not allow air to pass through, the ventilation hole 16 ensures air permeability when a person is sleeping with the futon 10 lying on top. As described above, the space between the upper and lower two films 17 a and 17 b of the air-cooling sheet 13 and the air column 18 is a flow passage 15. As described above, the density of the air columns 18 is considerably smaller than that of the air cushion used as a mild material, but this is added to the fan 8 to ensure a sufficient cooling effect. This is to reduce the load. The area around the ventilation hole 16 is made of the same material as the air cooling sheet 13, and the upper and lower films 17 a and 17 b are closed, or the upper and lower films 17 a and 17 b are fused. Therefore, the air flowing through the flow passage 15 does not leak from this portion. Although not shown in FIG. 2, an exhaust hole is provided in an appropriate place of the air cooling sheet 13, and the air sent from the fan 8 is finally discharged to the outside from the exhaust hole. Is done.

 The upper cloth 11 and the lower cloth 12 are originally rectangular cloths, and their edges are sewn to each other to form a bag, and a part thereof can be opened and closed with a fastener. The air cooling sheet 13 inside can be easily attached / detached or replaced from this fastener part as needed. The route through which the air is circulated can be arbitrarily adjusted depending on the position where the ventilation hole 16 is provided and where the upper and lower films constituting the air cooling sheet 13 are fused. Then, the air sent from the fan 8 to the futon section 10 through the hose 9 is discharged after being uniformly distributed in the flow passage 15. Alternatively, a separate hose-shaped flow passage may be provided in the futon portion 10 to allow air to flow therethrough.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the cooling action of the air-cooled futon 1 of the present embodiment. (A) shows the distribution of the ambient temperature when a person is in a room with an original room temperature of 30 ° C (the room temperature in a midsummer sleepy night is almost the same). FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing whether or not the temperature is set by an isothermal curve (broken line). The body temperature of person A, a constant-temperature animal, is almost constant, and assuming that this temperature is 36 ° C, assuming that there is no large convection in the room air, the temperature of each part of the room is (a) As shown in Fig. 4, the area near person A is the highest, and approaches 30 ° C while gradually decreasing as the distance from the person increases. On the other hand, (b) is a diagram schematically showing, by an isothermal curve, a temperature distribution when a person is present in the room whose original room temperature is 20. As can be seen by comparing (a) and (b) in FIG. 3, the interval between the isothermal curves in (b) is closer than in (a). In other words, in the case of (b), the temperature gradient is larger than in the case of (a). The magnitude of this temperature gradient affects the amount of heat released, which in turn has a significant effect on how people perceive temperature. In other words, people feel more hot and cold as the temperature gradient is larger. Therefore, in this embodiment, instead of lowering the temperature of the entire room, the temperature gradient in the immediate vicinity of the person is forcibly increased, whereby the person can feel cool and secure a comfortable sleep. Plan.

 FIG. 3 (c) shows the temperature distribution when a constant temperature 30 C air layer is provided in the vicinity of person A in a room with a room temperature of 30 ° C. In this case, the room temperature is 30 C as in (a), but since the isothermal curve at 30 ° C is located very close to the body surface of Person A, the room temperature between Person A and the air layer at 30 ° C is high. Looking only at the interval, the temperature gradient is similar to that in Fig. 3 (b). Thus, if the iso-sound curve at 30 ° C can be arranged very close to the body surface of person A, person A can feel the same coolness as in Fig. 3 (b).

 In this embodiment, focusing on this point, instead of lowering the temperature of the entire air in the room, an air layer having a temperature substantially equal to the room temperature is arranged in the vicinity of the human body, that is, in bedding or clothes in contact with the body. This forcibly increases the temperature gradient near the body surface, so that a natural coolness can be felt. Moreover, since this air is the room air itself, no special cooling device is required.

 [Second embodiment]

 FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the air-cooled pillow 40 of the second embodiment. Figure

As shown in FIG. 4, the air pillow according to the present embodiment includes a pillow portion 41, a fan 42, and a hose 43 connecting these.

As shown in FIG. 5, the pillow portion 41 of the air-cooled pillow 40 of the present embodiment has an air-cooled sheet 45 provided between the upper cloth 43 and the lower cloth 44, as in the first embodiment. It has a layered structure. Similarly to the air-cooling sheet 13 of the first embodiment, the air-cooling sheet 45 is composed of upper and lower finolems 45 a and 45 b and an air column 48, and air is sealed inside the air column 48. Have been. An air flow passage 46 is formed in the space between the upper and lower films 45 a and 45 b and the air column 48. Unlike quilts for pillows, Since a large load is applied to put a person's head on it, the air column 48 should be given elasticity and strength so that it will not be crushed even if a person's head is placed.

 Here, how much air is required to flow through the air-cooled pillow 40 of the present embodiment is roughly estimated in comparison with a general water pillow. First, assuming that the room temperature is 25, the capacity of the water pillow is 2 liters (2000 cc), the temperature of the water to be put in the water pillow is 15, and it is assumed that the temperature of the water pillow reaches 30 ° C in three hours. I do. It is further assumed that 70% of the rise in the temperature of the water in the water pillow is due to heat from the human head.

 When 2000 cc of water rises from 15 to 30 ° C, the amount of heat absorbed during that time is about 30 Kc a 1. If 70% of this heat is from the human head, this means that about 21 Kca 1 of heat was absorbed from the human head, and on average, about 7 Kc a 1 per hour This means that the heat has been absorbed.

 Next, it is assumed that an endothermic effect equivalent to that of the water pillow is realized by the air-cooled pillow 40 of the present embodiment. First, the temperature of the air supplied to the pillow is 25 ° C, the same as room temperature, and this air absorbs the heat from the head so that it becomes 28. The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one liter of air by 1 ° C is about 0.3 c a 1, and the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one liter of air by 3 ^ is about 1 c a 1. Therefore, the amount of air required to absorb 7 Kc a 1 of heat per hour is about 7 kilolitre, which translates into about 2 liters of air per second.

Here, assuming that the cross section of the flow passage 46 of this embodiment has a width of 25 Omm and a height of 5 mm as shown in FIG. 5, this cross sectional area is 12.5 cm ² (the air column 48 is Exclude it). The required air velocity from now on

2000 (cm ³ / sec) ÷ 12.5 (cm ² ) = 160 (cm / sec). That is, the flow velocity of the air flowing into the flow passage 45 is about 1.6 m per second. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a fan having such a blowing capacity as the fan 42. However, a fan having such a performance is easily available, and such a fan has less vibration. However, sufficient quietness can be secured.

By the way, in the case of a water pillow, the ability to cool the head gradually decreases as the temperature of the water rises. Also, when the water temperature rises to near body temperature, replace the water inside, It takes time and effort. On the other hand, in the case of the air-cooled pillow of the present embodiment, since the air at room temperature is always flowed, the cooling capacity is kept constant, and there is no need to replace water like a water pillow. Therefore, when applied to patients who need to cool their heads in hospitals, etc., besides the use of healthy people to comfortably sleep at night, the burden on caregivers is greatly reduced.

 Further, in the air-cooled pillow of the present embodiment, air outlets are provided at various places of the upper film 4δa constituting the flow passage so that the air flow released from the air flow pillow directly hits the human head. You can also. In this way, the air around the head is replaced by air that is drier from the outlet, which makes it easier for the sweat to evaporate, and the heat of vaporization required during the evaporation absorbs the heat of the head. The cooling effect is more enhanced. If an air-cooled pillow that hits the head with the released air in this way reduces the amount of air required to secure the same cooling capacity as an air-cooled pillow with only a simple passage, it can be done with a low-cost fan There are advantages.

 In the above description, the fan and the hose are provided separately from the futon and the pillow. However, the hose may be omitted and the fan may be provided integrally with the futon and the pillow.

 Next, the contents, results, and discussion of some preliminary experiments performed in the process of developing each air-flow bedding described below are described.

 [Preliminary experiment 1]

 In Preliminary Experiment 1, an experiment was performed using a commercially available water pillow (manufactured by Dunlop Home Products Co., Ltd.) in order to confirm what kind of cooling characteristics i a normal water pillow has. In this experiment, as shown in Fig. 6, in a room at room temperature of 22 ° C, water pillow 110 was filled with 180 cc of water at 15 ° C, and the subject actually put his head on the pillow (indicated by A). ) Was placed, and a temperature sensor 111 was placed between the water pillow 110 and the head A, and how the temperature between the head A and the water pillow 110 changed was observed.

Figure 7 is a graph showing this observation result, where the vertical axis is temperature (° C) and the horizontal axis is time (minutes). The measured values of the temperature at each observation point are shown below the horizontal axis. As can be seen from Fig. 7, the temperature gradually decreased after reaching a minimum at about 15 minutes after the start of the experiment, eventually rose to room temperature, and reached about 31 ° C four hours after the start of the experiment. Has reached. When the temperature between the head and the water pillow rises to this level, almost no water pillow It will no longer work and the water inside will need to be replaced.

 By the way, in the case of a common water pillow, it feels very cold at first because ice is put inside. With ice, the time that the right temperature lasts is slightly longer. However, conversely, for example, when the temperature reaches about 25 ° C, the user tends to be less likely to feel the cold because the initial temperature was very cold, even though the cooling effect is still actually provided. Therefore, it is necessary to frequently change the water used when sleeping on hot summer nights, which is considered to be one of the drawbacks of water pillows.

 [Preliminary experiment 2]

 Next, a preliminary experiment was performed to change the distance between the two aluminum plates and to determine the pressure difference required to flow a certain amount of air between them.

 First, as shown in Fig. 8 (a), two anoremy plates 120 and 121 having a length of 500 min and a width of 250 mm are placed in parallel and stacked. The left and right sides of the figure are open, and the front and rear sides are closed by separate plates 122 and 123 to prevent air leakage. The distance d between the two aluminum plates 120 and 121 can be changed in parallel. The fan sends air from the left inlet and exhausts air from the right outlet in Fig. 8. The fan is operated so that the amount of air to be blown is always constant at a rate of 1 liter per second. At this time, while changing d, how much the pressure on the left side was higher than that on the right side was measured using a micro differential pressure gauge. Actually, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), the fan 124 and the inlet on the left side were connected by a flow passage 125, and a small differential pressure gauge 126 was inserted into the flow passage 125 for measurement.

Figure 9 is a graph plotting this result. 9, the horizontal axis is the two aluminum plates 1 20, 12 1 interval (1 [mm], the vertical axis is the pressure difference between the inlet side and the outlet side with a single-position of [mmH ₂ O] The unit of pressure [mmH ₂ O] used here has a relationship with 1 a tm (atmospheric pressure) of 1 mmH ₂ 〇 = 9.672 X 10 " ⁵ atm (atmospheric pressure).

Since the air volume is constant, the smaller the distance d between the two aluminum plates 120 and 121, the higher the air flow velocity. The greater the velocity, the greater the resistance of the flowing air to friction with the inner wall. Therefore, the pressure difference increases as d decreases, The pressure difference decreases as the distance d increases. Generally, it is said that the pressure difference is proportional to the square of the flow velocity, but the graph in Fig. 9 generally confirms this. However, since the effect of the friction of the air on the wall surface increases as the distance d decreases, this relationship actually deviates from this relationship and the pressure difference tends to increase. From FIG. 9, it can be seen that when d is 5 mm, the pressure difference between the inlet and the outlet is about 0.4 mm H ₂ 〇.

 [Preliminary experiment 3]

 Next, we conducted an experiment to examine the effect of removing air from a heat source when the air was flowed to a place where the heat source was present. In actual air-cooled pillows, the heat source is the human head, which is higher in temperature than room temperature.However, the heat exchange effect can be considered equally using a heat source lower than room temperature. Therefore, here, we use water that is easy to experiment (lower than room temperature) as a heat source, and measure the degree of cooling of the air at the outlet to indirectly examine the heat removal effect.

 FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing the configuration of an experimental device for examining the heat removal effect, wherein FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 10B is a plan view. Here, water and ice are put in an aluminum container 130, and this is used as a heat source. This aluminum container 130 and the plastic plate 131 under it are spaced apart by a distance d (d is variable), and between the aluminum container 130 and the plastic plate 13 1 at a rate of 1 liter per second. The air was shed. The dimensions of the aluminum container 130 and the plastic plate 131 were 500 mm in width and 250 mm in height, as in Preliminary Experiment 2. At room temperature of 20 ° C, place a thermometer 133 on the left side of the air inlet and a thermometer 134 on the right side of the air outlet to measure the temperature. I asked.

 FIG. 11 is a graph showing the results of an experiment performed with the apparatus shown in FIG. 10. The horizontal axis represents the distance d [mm] between the aluminum container 130 and the plastic plate 131, and the vertical axis represents the entrance. The temperature difference between the temperature at the outlet and the temperature at the outlet [° C]. Initially, it was expected that the smaller the d, the greater the temperature difference, but in practice, as shown in Figure 11, the larger the d, the greater the temperature difference tended to be. However, the change in the temperature difference is extremely small, and it can be considered that the temperature difference is almost constant between 8 ^ and 9 ° C within the range of d.

[Preliminary experiment 4] Next, investigate the characteristics of the fan used. Fig. 12 shows the air flow versus static pressure characteristics of a commercially available propeller fan (manufactured by Oriental Motor Co., Ltd.). Of the various propeller fans shown in the figure, Use the model number MD 925 AM. The rated voltage of this propeller fan is 12 [V], the rated current is 0.15 [A], and the power consumption during the rated operation is 12 [V] X 0.15 [A] = 1.8 [W].

Based on the characteristic curve of MD 925 AM shown in Fig. 12, when the static pressure is set to 0.4 mmH ₂ O, it is possible to secure a maximum air flow of 1 [m ³ Zm in] 16.6 [1 / sec]. I understand.

Based on the results of the preliminary experiments shown in Fig. 9, Fig. 11 and Fig. 12, if MD 925AM is used as a fan, the distribution is about 16 times larger than the dimensions of 25 Omm X 5 mm and 500 mm in length. Air can be sent to a futon with a channel at a static pressure of 0.4 mmH ₂ 〇.

 [Preliminary experiment 5]

 Next, we describe a preliminary experiment conducted to determine how much water vapor can pass through a high-density cotton cloth. High-density cotton cloth is used for the outer material of down jackets and duvets, for example, and is a cotton cloth that uses a large number of yarns, about 300 yarns per cm. Therefore, the leakage of air through this cotton cloth is much smaller than that of ordinary cotton cloth.

 Figure 13 shows the state of this experiment and the results. As shown in FIG. 13 (a), water was placed in a vessel 140 having a size of 210 mm × 110 mm and a depth of 18 mm, and the amount of water evaporated under various conditions was examined. The room temperature was 31 ° C, the humidity was 33%, and the elapsed time was 15 hours.

Figure 13 (b) shows the result. In (1), nothing was put on the container, and the water loss was 92 cc. (2) is a case where a normal cloth, which is not a high-density cotton cloth, is put on the container, that is, only one piece of cotton cloth having a normal density is used for the cloth, and the amount of water reduced is 36 cc. . (3) is the case where a high-density cotton cloth is placed on the container, and another high-density cotton cloth is placed about 5 mm above the container, and no air is flowed between them. It was cc. (4) In the same manner as in (3), two high-density cotton cloths were stretched, and air was flowed at a rate of 0.5 liters per second between them. The water loss was 64 cc.

 The following can be seen from the results. First, the amount of water loss is almost the same in the case of high-density cotton cloth as in ordinary cotton cloth, and therefore, the ease with which water molecules can pass through the cotton cloth does not depend on the type of cotton cloth. Good. Even if two high-density cotton cloths are used, it is almost the same as one. Furthermore, flowing air between two high-density cotton cloths greatly increases the amount of water loss. This is because water molecules that pass through the first high-density cotton cloth and enter between the two high-density cotton cloths are constantly carried away by the air flowing therethrough. It is thought that the vapor pressure of the water in the space between the two drops, which causes further vaporization of the water.

 [Third embodiment]

 Next, a third embodiment will be described. First, the air-cooled pillow of the third embodiment and an experiment performed using the air-cooled pillow will be described. FIGS. 14A and 14B are views showing an air-cooled pillow 150 of the third embodiment, wherein FIG. 14A is a plan view and FIG. 14B is a pillow part 15 cut along a plane indicated by x-- in FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view in which a part of FIG. 1 is enlarged, and FIG.

 When using the air-cooled pillow 150, put the pillow part 15 1 on the normal pillow 15 2 and put the head Α on top of this, as in a general water pillow. In consideration of this point, the dimensions of the pillow part 151 are, for example, 500 mm in length and 25 Omm in width. A fan 154 is connected to the pillow section 15 1 of the air-cooled pillow 150 through an air passage 153. The pillow part 15 1 has a width of 3 mm and a height of 5 mm between the upper and lower two thin rubber sheets 15 5 and 15 6 as shown in Fig. 14 (b). Rubber spacers 157 extending linearly in the left-right direction of a) are arranged at appropriate intervals. With this spacer 157, a space of about 5 mm is formed between the upper and lower sheets 155, 156. The thickness of the upper and lower sheets 15 5 and 15 6 is about 0:! ~ 0.2 mm. Air supplied from the fan 154 is passed through a space formed between the upper and lower sheets 1555, 156 by the spacer 157. This air is exhausted to the outside from an outlet 158 provided on the right side of the pillow part 151 shown in FIG. 14 (a).

Figure 15 shows the head with no air flowing through the air-cooled pillow 150 shown in Figure 14. 9 is a graph showing the results of an experiment examining how the temperature between A and the pillow part 151 changes. The room temperature in this case was 22 ° C. As can be seen from Fig. 15, the measured temperature rises rapidly with time, and after 30 minutes from the start of the measurement, it is almost the same as body temperature.

 Next, an experiment was conducted to examine how the temperature changes when air is flown through the air-cooled pillow 150. In this case, since the air continues to flow through the pillow part 151, the temperature between the head Α and the pillow part 151 reaches a certain temperature of about 15 to 20 minutes. This temperature varies depending on the ambient room temperature, but once the temperature reaches this temperature, the temperature between the head A and the pillow part 151 hardly changes thereafter.

 FIG. 16 is a graph showing the result of an experiment for obtaining the constant temperature. In this experiment, air was flowed at a rate of 1 liter per second through the air-cooled pillow 150 shown in FIG. As mentioned above, the temperature between the head A and the pillow part 15 1 reaches a certain temperature in about 15 to 20 minutes, but with some margin, put the head on the pillow part 15 1 and blow air. The temperature was measured 30 minutes after the start of the test. As can be seen from Fig. 16, the temperature finally reached increases as the room temperature increases. However, at any room temperature, this constant temperature is much lower than human body temperature. For this reason, when the air is started to be blown from bedtime, the head feels like the head gradually cools down with time, and the comfortable state is maintained. Also, once the temperature reaches a certain level, the temperature usually does not rise, so there is no need to change the water every few hours like a normal water pillow. Next, with respect to the air-cooled pillow 150 of the third embodiment, the power consumption of the fan 154 required for blowing air to obtain a sufficient cooling effect is evaluated. For this purpose, first, for the air-cooled pillow 150 shown in Fig. 14 (a), the air passage 153 when the fan 154 is operated so that air flows at a rate of 1 liter per second. The pressure was measured. As a result, in comparison with the air-cooled pillow 150 in Fig. 14, the measurement result obtained was that the inside of the air passage 153 was higher than the surrounding pressure (1 atm) by about 0.024 atm. Was done.

The power consumption of the fan is derived based on the measurement result of the pressure difference. Considering air as an ideal gas, the following equation holds for the adiabatic change.

Here, Ding. Is the initial absolute temperature, P. Is the initial state pressure, T is the final state absolute temperature, and P is the final state pressure. Also, gamma is the specific heat ratio (c _p zc _v) Ru der. For dry air at 20 ° C., γ = 403.

 Assuming that 1 liter of air at 20 ° C (absolute temperature 293 [K]) is adiabatically compressed from 1 atmosphere to 1.002 4 atmospheres, the temperature T in the final state is

Π.0024 Y-1 403

 Τ = 293.0 [Κ] ·

 V 1.0 above

 = 293. 20 182

The temperature rise at this time is 0.220 182 [Κ]. Assuming that the specific heat of air is 0.865 [J / Κ1], the work performed in this process is

 0.20182 [K] X 0.865 [J / K] = 0.1746 [J]

Becomes Therefore, the power required to perform this adiabatic compression process in 1 second is about 0.18 [W].

 The specific heat at constant volume at 20 ° C in the air was determined as follows. The molar constant specific heat of air in the standard state (0.C, 1 a tm) is 20.786 [J / mo 1 · K], where 1 mole of air occupies 22.4 liters. At 20 ° C and 1 atm, 1 mole of air is, according to Boyle-Charles law,

 22.4 X (293/273) = 24.04 [1]

Occupy. Therefore, the specific heat per liter of air at 20 ° C and 1 atm is 20.786 [J / m o 1 · Κ] ÷ 24.04 [1 / m ο 1]

 = 0. 865 [J / Κ · 1]

Becomes However, it was assumed here that the specific heat of air hardly depends on the temperature. By the way, since the efficiency of the fan motor is not 100%, the power consumption required to actually secure the power of 0 · 18 [W] is larger than this. Assuming a fan motor efficiency of 30% as a realistic value, the power consumption is about 0.55 [W].

 FIG. 17 is a diagram showing three modified examples of the third embodiment. The air-cooled pillow 160 in Fig. 17 (a) is a thick plate-like rubber 161, with many elongated holes 162 provided in parallel to the direction perpendicular to the figure. A large number of holes 162 serve as air passages. For this reason, the air absorbs the heat of the head in the process of flowing through the hole 162, and the same effect as the air-cooled pillow 150 shown in FIG. 14 is obtained.

 The air-cooled pillow 1 63 shown in Fig. 17 (b) has a large number of parallel grooves 1 65 on the upper surface of the lower plate 1 64 made of thick plate-like rubber. A high-density cotton cloth 166 is covered as a cloth, the upper part of the groove 165 is closed, and the part of the groove is used as an air passage. As described above, high-density cotton cloth 166 is used for outer materials such as down jackets and duvets.As a large number of yarns of about 300 per cm are used, air Relatively hard to leak. Such high-density cotton cloth 166 is available at regular clothing stores. Also in this case, the point that the head is efficiently cooled by the air flowing through the groove 165 is the same as in the case of FIGS. 14 and 17 (a). In addition, the use of high-density cotton cloth 166 allows sweat evaporating from the body surface to pass through the high-density cotton cloth, where it comes into contact with the air flowing through the groove and is immediately carried out to the outside. Suitability is also obtained.

The use of a high-density cotton cloth as the upper cloth has the advantage that the pressure in the flow passage can be increased to some extent because the air is less likely to leak. Basically, the air-cooled pillow of the present embodiment is to minimize the power consumption of the fan by increasing the cross-sectional area of the flow passage as much as possible, thereby reducing the resistance of the flowing air as much as possible. Design philosophy. Therefore, if the cross-sectional area of the flow passage can be made sufficiently large and the pressure in the flow passage can be kept sufficiently low, it is not always necessary to use a high-density cotton cloth as the upper cloth. It is also possible to use. In any case, whether to use high-density cotton cloth or ordinary cotton cloth is determined by the relationship with the pressure inside the flow passage. This is the same for the other embodiments. The air-cooled pillow 167 in FIG. 17 (c) has a configuration in which a fan 168 is integrally provided inside the pillow, and the fan 168 directly blows the air sucked from the suction hole 169 to the upper cloth with which the head comes in contact. Thereby, a higher cooling effect can be obtained.

 [Fourth embodiment]

 Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. FIG. 18 shows a futon portion 170 of the air-cooled futon of the fourth embodiment, where (a) is a plan view and (b) is an enlarged sectional view. The air-cooled futon has, in addition to the above-mentioned futon part 170, a force S having a fan for blowing air to this futon part and a hose for sending air from the fan to the futon part 170. These are omitted. As shown in FIG. 3, the air-cooled futon of this embodiment also increases the temperature gradient by lowering the temperature of the portion close to the body, thereby cooling the body.

 The dimensions of the futon part 170 are, for example, 180 Omm long and 120 Omm wide. As shown in Fig. 18 (a), an air passage is provided from the top to the bottom on the right side, and holes are provided in some places, from which air flows laterally through the entire futon part 170 It is like that.

 As shown in Fig. 18 (b), the futon portion 170 of this air-cooled futon has a first cloth (upper cloth) 171, a second cloth (lower cloth) 172, and a number of cloths between them. It consists of 1 73 The space between the upper cloth and the lower cloth supported by the spacer 173 serves as an air passage. As will be described later, the fan is operated so that air flows at a rate of, for example, 5 liters per second in the flow passage.

 As the upper and lower cloths 171 and 172, it is desirable to use the high-density cotton cloth described above. However, it is possible to use not only cotton but also silk and chemical fibers. By using the high-density cotton cloth described above as the upper and lower cloths 171, 172, the amount of air leaking from the cloth to the outside while flowing between the upper and lower cloths can be reduced. On the other hand, as can be seen from the results of the preliminary experiment 5 described above, since the upper cloths 171 and 172 are made of cotton cloth, a small amount of water vapor generated from the body surface due to sweating when the human is in a normal state Can pass through enough.

Each spacer 173 is made of a cylindrical sponge. The spacer 173 of this embodiment is made of sponge, and has a bottom surface diameter of 3 mm and a length of 5 mm. Upper and lower cloth 1 The upper and lower bottom surfaces of 71 and 172 and each of the spacers 173 are bonded by a method described later. In the present embodiment, the spacers 173 are arranged in a staggered pattern at intervals of 2 Omm, for example.

 The formation of the spacer 173 and the bonding to the upper and lower cloths 171 and 172 are performed as follows. First, prepare a 5mm-thick plate-shaped sponge of appropriate size (width), and apply an appropriate amount of adhesive to both sides. As the adhesive, for example, Alonmelt 110 P80HH manufactured by Toa Gosei Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. is used. Next, the plate-shaped sponge to which the adhesive has been applied is heated, and the applied adhesive is solidified to form a strong adhesive film on both surfaces of the sponge.

 Next, this sponge is punched out with an appropriate mold, and as shown in FIG. 19, a number of cylindrical sponge-made sponge 173 having a diameter of 3 mm are formed. The adhesives 173a and 173b are firmly applied to both upper and lower bottom surfaces of the spacer 43.

 Next, a jig 174 as shown in FIG. 20 is prepared. This jig 174 has a thickness of about 4 mm, and a large number of through holes 174 a having a diameter of about 3.1 mm are provided in a staggered manner at appropriate intervals. The spacer 173 described above is inserted into each of the holes. Then, a piece of cloth 17 1 is put on this and heated with an iron or the like. Due to this heating, the adhesive applied to the bottom of the ironed side of each spacer is temporarily melted, and when it solidifies, each spacer 173 and cloth 17 1 glue. Next, place the jig 1 74 and the cloth 1 71 on which the bonding has been completed upside down so that the cloth 1 71 is on the bottom, remove the jig 1 74, and place another cloth 1 72 on this Put it on, heat it with an iron as before, and bond the cloth 172 and each spacer 173 together. Thereby, the futon portion 170 of the air-cooled futon is obtained. As described above, by using the jig 174, a large number of spacers 173 can be easily and collectively adhered to the upper and lower cloths 171, 172. As described above, the futon portion 170 of the air-cooled futon shown in FIG. 18 can be manufactured by a simple process.

As described above, since the size of the futon part 170 of the present embodiment is 1800 mm in length and 120 Omm in width, the resistance of the air to be blown is 0.33 times that of the pillow of the third embodiment. presume. The amount of air to be blown shall be 5 liters per second. In this way, the pressure required to obtain the same cooling effect as in the third embodiment is 0. 0 0 2 4 [atmospheric pressure] X 0.33 X 5 = 0.04 [atmospheric pressure]

 Becomes In addition, the power consumption of the fan for blowing 5 liters of air per second is

In terms of books,

 0. 0 0 4 [atmospheric pressure] X 5 [1] = 1.5 · [W]

 Becomes Again, assuming that the fan motor efficiency is 30%, the power consumption is about 4.7 [W], which can reduce power consumption.

 The most common mode of use of the fourth embodiment is to use it as a comforter in order to take a comfortable sleep on a sultry night in a hot summer. However, other useful applications are also conceivable. For example, bedridden elderly people and people with limited mobility, especially those with disabilities in the lower body, can use it as a medical bedding that can easily control the temperature while sleeping. FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view for explaining this.

 In FIG. 21 (a), a normal futon 175 is further placed on the futon 170 of the fourth embodiment. Further, in FIG. 21 (b), a blanket 176 is covered under the futon degree 170 in addition to the normal futon 175. The futon 175 or the blanket 176 may be separate from the futon 170, or may be integrated with the futon 170.

 In the example of FIG. 21, the heat retention effect during sleeping is ensured by the futon 175 or the blanket 176. If the temperature inside the futon becomes too high, the futon having a futon degree of 170 according to the present embodiment provided below the futon 1 75 or between the futon 1 75 and the blanket 176 is provided. The temperature is reduced by flowing air through the road. Use in this manner is possible not only in summer, but also in other seasons. The temperature inside the futon can be adjusted by appropriately changing the amount of air flowing through the flow passage of the futon section 170, and the amount of air flowing can be changed by the number of revolutions of the fan. Even a bedridden elderly person or a person with a disability can easily adjust the temperature with a controller at hand, for example.

In the past, those who could not put their own futon on or turn over themselves had to be given a nurse or attendant and had to take care of the futon, which was a heavy burden on nurses. Therefore, if the futon section 170 of the present embodiment is used in a manner as described above for a person with a physical disability, especially in a hospital or the like, the burden on nurses is greatly reduced. Is reduced.

 Electric blankets and the like have been used to control temperature at the patient's hand, but there has been the problem of low-temperature burns, especially when used by elderly people with dull sensations. Another problem was that it was not easy to get the comfort of sleeping on a normal futon because of the method of increasing the temperature by passing current through the heater. On the other hand, when the futon part 170 of the present embodiment is used in the mode shown in FIG. 21, since the room air is merely flowed to lower the temperature, the comfort is the same as a normal futon. Is obtained.

 The temperature controller is generally one that rotates a rotary knob or the like at hand. In the case of a handicapped person, for example, a voice control system may be used. The temperature and humidity of the air discharged from the 170 flow passage can be detected and automatically controlled to maintain the optimum temperature.

 [Fifth embodiment]

 Next, a fifth embodiment will be described. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an air-flow bedding of a fifth embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a mattress, (a) is a side view of the mattress 220, (b) is a schematic plan view of a rubber mat, ( c) is a partially enlarged view of (a), and (d) is a schematic plan view of a state where a person is actually sleeping.

As shown in FIG. 22 (a), the mattress 220 of the present embodiment is mainly composed of a rubber mat 222 provided with a number of protrusions 221, and the above-mentioned high mat covered thereon as an upper cloth. It consists of dense cotton cloth 2 2 3. The projection serves as a spacer, and its dimension is, for example, about 10 to 15 mm. The high-density cotton cloth 223 is placed on the tip of the projection 221 and is further adhered to the rubber mat 222 so as to prevent air from leaking to the head and foot sides. . As shown in FIG. 22 (b), the projections 222 are formed in a straight line extending in the lateral direction of the mattress 220, and a groove is formed between the projections, and this portion serves as an air flow passage. Become. Therefore, as shown in Figure 22 (d), if a fan 2 24 and a hose 2 25 are provided on one side of the mattress 220 and an air exhaust hole is provided on the opposite side, air will It flows laterally, that is, from top to bottom in Figure 22 (d). The amount of air sent from the fan 224 can be changed by the controller 226 at hand, and thereby the temperature can be adjusted. The spacing between the projections is, for example, 1 O mm.Use rubber mat with enough strength that the tips of the projections bend appropriately when a force of about 100 g per cm ² is applied from above. Is desirable. When such rubber mat 222 is used, even when a person sleeps on the mattress 220, the air passage is not clogged and the comfort is good. Further, instead of placing the upper cloth 22 3 directly on the rubber mat 22 2, a fine mesh-shaped spacer (not shown) may be provided between them. If such a spacer is provided between the rubber mat 222 and the upper cloth 222, it is possible to prevent traces of the rubber mat from being formed on the body of a sleeping person.

 On hot summer nights when it is hard to sleep, if you sleep and the mattress becomes warm and uncomfortable, you will have to turn over each time, which may further increase sleepiness. In such a case, when using the mattress of the present embodiment, for example, when lying on the back, the temperature of the surface of the back is kept constant at almost room temperature or slightly higher temperature, and the stiffness is also sleeping. Because the weight of the person increases the adhesion between the person and the mattress, heat is effectively radiated from the back surface. This ensures that even if you sleep for a long time in the same position, that part of the futon will not warm up and stay comfortable. Thus, the air-cooled mattress of the present embodiment is considered to be very useful especially for those who are physically disabled and have difficulty turning over.

 In Fig. 22 (d), the fan 2 24 is provided separately from the mattress 220, and both are connected by the hose 2 25.However, the fan is provided integrally with the mattress. Can also be. Further, the air-cooled pillow of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 14 or the air-cooled pillow shown as a modification thereof in FIG. 17 is used as the pillow, and a part of the air supplied from the fan 222 is cooled by the air-cooled pillow. It can also be supplied on a pillow. As a result, not only the cooling effect of the mattress but also the cooling effect of the pillow can be obtained.

 In FIG. 22, the projections 221 are linear, but this is merely an example. For example, the projections may be provided not in a straight line but in a form that forms a waveform when viewed from above, or may be provided in a point shape. In particular, when the shape is corrugated, the direction in which the tip of the projection bends is varied, so that the strength of the projection when a person sleeps is not biased to a specific direction, and there is an advantage that appropriate strength can be obtained in all directions.

[Sixth embodiment] Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The hot-air bedding of the present embodiment is different from the embodiments described so far, and is a bedding intended to be used particularly in a cold winter season.

 FIG. 23 is a schematic plan view showing a hot-air bedding of the sixth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 23, the warm air-type bedding of this embodiment has a heater 237 provided between the fan 23 and the mattress 230, and the heater 2 Warm the air sent from 36 to mattress 230. The temperature can be adjusted by changing the air volume of the fan 23 and the temperature of the heater 237 by the controller 236. However, other parts are almost the same as the air-flow type bedding of the fifth embodiment. That is, the mattress 230 is composed of a rubber mat provided with a number of protrusions serving as spacers, and the above-mentioned high-density cotton cloth covered thereon as an upper cloth. The high-density cotton cloth is disposed on the rubber mat, that is, on the tip of the protrusion, and is further adhered to the head side and the foot side of the rubber mat so that air does not leak. The projection is a straight line extending in the lateral direction of the mattress. A groove is formed between the projections, and this portion serves as an air passage.

 Therefore, the same bedding can be used for air-cooled bedding in summer and hot-air bedding in winter, which is efficient. However, warm air-type bedding requires less airflow than air-cooled bedding. If warm air is allowed to escape from the exhaust hole as it is, hot air will be wasted, so a zipper is provided at the exhaust hole and closing it will make it difficult for air to escape from the exhaust hole. It is desirable to take some ingenuity. In this case, if necessary, a small exhaust hole may be provided in the rubber mat to allow air to escape. However, this exhaust hole shall be sufficiently smaller than that used for air-cooled bedding so that air is not exhausted.

During the cold winter season, when entering the futon, the futon may feel cool and uncomfortable, but in such a case, it is effective to use the warm-air bedding of this embodiment. For example, if the switch of the warm-air type bedding of the present embodiment is inserted only for a certain period of time before entering the futon, the entire futon can be warmed up when sleeping so that the user can sleep comfortably. Of course, if the temperature is very cold, the switch may be turned on overnight, or the switch may be turned off automatically after a certain period of time. Also, fans and The heater may be operated intermittently, thereby controlling the temperature. Furthermore, in the cold winter months, the air is often dry. In such a case, heating the air with a heater 237 may further dry the air, which may be unfavorable for health. In such a case, humidifying means is provided for the fan 234 and the heater 237 to forcibly humidify the air sent to the mattress 230, thereby ensuring more comfortable sleep. In the above description, indoor air was flowed through the flow passage with a fan in principle, but in the case of air-cooled bedding, means for cooling the air is provided separately, and the air cooled by the cooling means is cooled. As described above, according to the air-flow type bedding of the present invention, instead of cooling the entire room, By increasing the temperature gradient in a small area, it is possible to obtain sufficient cooling and comfort. For this reason, power consumption is low, and even if this air-flow type bedding becomes widespread, the power consumption of society as a whole can be reduced. For this reason, if replaced by the currently used hair conditioner, the consumption of fossil fuels will be reduced, which will also help prevent global warming.

 In addition, when the air-flow type bedding of the present invention is applied to a pillow or a futon, even a person with a physical disability can easily adjust the temperature, thereby greatly reducing the burden of nursing at a hospital or the like. Furthermore, in the case of the warm-air bedding of the present invention, it is possible to sleep comfortably by warming the futon during a cold season such as winter.

 [Seventh embodiment]

 Next, a seventh embodiment will be described. FIG. 24 is a plan view showing a state in which the main body portion of the air-flow bedding of the seventh embodiment is expanded, and FIG. 25 is a plan view of the air-flow bedding shown in FIG. FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the air mat is mounted.

 The air-flowing bedding of the seventh embodiment is characterized in that a large number of air cushions are formed in an air mat, air is circulated as a flow path between adjacent air cushions, and the body of a sleeping person is cooled. It is characterized by.

As shown in Fig. 26, the air mat 350 is filled with air at high pressure. There are also a number of other ear cushions. This air cushion 355 serves as a load supporting portion. The air mat 350 and the air cushion formed thereon can be made, for example, of high density polyethylene. The space between the air cushions serves as an air flow path, through which air flows. The air mat 350 can be manufactured inexpensively and easily by the same manufacturing method as the air cap (trade name) used for the packaging material.

 A pump (not shown) is used to fill the air cushion 355 with air. This pump is connected to one air cushion of the air mat 350 through a silicone rubber tube. As shown in Fig. 26, the air cushions are connected to each other, so that all the air cushions are filled with air by one filling operation, and the internal pressure of each air cushion is uniform. You.

 In FIG. 26, only the air cushion 355 is shown, and the outer cloth covering the air cushion is omitted. For this reason, although the flow path is open upward, the outer cloth covers the entire air mat 350 during actual use, so that the adjacent air cushions 35 Thus, a closed space is formed at the end, and this part becomes a channel. If the cross-sectional area of the flow path is increased and the pressure of the air supplied from the fan is sufficiently reduced, the amount of air passing through the outer cloth and escaping to the upper side of the flow path is small, and most of the air is It can be made to flow in the flow path.

 As shown in FIG. 26, each air cushion 355 is communicated with each other by a horizontal communication portion 331 and a vertical communication portion 332. Therefore, even if one of the air cushions is stepped on with a foot, the stepped air cushion is easily crushed, and the applied pressure is widely distributed to the surrounding air cushions. Thus, the air cushion 355 does not burst easily.

However, it is not always necessary to connect all the air cushions 355. For example, the air mat 331 may be divided into a plurality of areas, and only the air cushion in each of the divided areas may be connected. As described above, when the air is divided into a plurality of areas, the air in one area does not escape to the other area, so that the air cushion 355 sinks less. Therefore, considering the comfort when sleeping, It is desirable to experimentally determine how much air cushions can communicate and, if split, how many.

 Of the entire air mat 350, the area of the portion where the ear cushion 365 is formed is about one-third to one-fourth of the entire area, and the remaining part is a flow path. Assuming that a person of considerable weight lies on this, assuming that the air mat 350 is loaded with 45 g per square centimeter, the gravity 3.55 will have 14.5 g Load is applied. Considering that the flow path between the air cushion and the air cushion is not obstructed even when such a load is applied, the pressure required to fill the air cushion 355 with air is calculated as 1.15 It is around atmospheric pressure. This level of pressure can be achieved satisfactorily by pumps used in aquariums for aquarium fish, for example, or small pumps of similar performance. Therefore, the price of the pump can be kept low.

 If high-density polyethylene with a thickness of, for example, about 30 microns is used as the material of the Air Mat 350, when applied at a pressure of 1.2 atm, about 0.001 l per square centimeter per hour cc of air leaks out. From this calculation, the pressure in the air cushion drops to about 1.15 atm. For this reason, it is necessary to fill the air into the air cushion by using the above-mentioned pump in order to use the air-flow type bedding. However, the time required for this filling operation is only about several tens of seconds, and this alone can maintain the necessary pressure for almost one bedtime (about 8 hours), so there is no practical inconvenience. If a slightly thicker polyethylene is used as the material of the air mat 350, the decrease in the atmospheric pressure can be further suppressed.

 Since the pressure of the air filled into the emulsion 3.55 affects the comfort of the bed, the pressure can also be adjusted by adjusting the filling time appropriately to achieve a comfortable sleep. At a slightly higher cost, coating the surface of the polyethylene with Saran reduces air leakage by a factor of about 1000. Therefore, applying such a Saran coating eliminates the need for a pumping operation over a long period of time.

There are many coarse gaps between the air mat 350 and the outer cloth that covers it. A hollow mesh member (not shown) may be inserted. By providing such a spacer, the load of a person lying thereon can be appropriately dispersed without lowering the cooling effect, so that the body does not sink excessively, and the air mat 350 The feeling of the individual air cushions 355 formed on the body can be reduced.

 Although illustration is omitted in FIGS. 24 and 25, a fan pot, a controller, a hose, a pump, and the like are actually provided separately.

 The mattress 300 shown in Fig. 25 is for a general bed, and the air-flowing bedding of the present embodiment is mounted on this mattress 300 together with such a general mattress. Can be used. As shown in FIG. 24, the air mat 350 of the present embodiment has a horizontal cloth 351 extending widely in the horizontal direction (left-right direction) and a horizontal cloth 351 extending widely in the vertical direction (up-down direction). A warp cloth 35 2 is provided. The horizontal cloth 35 1 and the vertical cloth 35 52 are attached to the lower part of the air mat 350 integrally with the air mat 350. The air mat 350 can be made of polyethylene, but the horizontal cloth 350 and the vertical cloth 350 can be made of the same polyethylene as the air mat 350, or other materials. You may.

 The weft cloth 35 1 has a sufficient length on the left and right, and when it is actually used, this portion of the mattress 30 5 (shown by a dashed line in FIG. 24) is used as shown in FIG. 25. Tuck down below. The same applies to the warp cloth 352, which is squeezed under the pine traces 205 from above and below. In this way, the air mat 350 is firmly fixed on the mattress 350 with almost no displacement.

The air mat 350 is covered with an outer cloth 356, and a part of the outer cloth 356 forms a duct for flowing the air sent from the pump in a vertical direction beside the mattress. You. In addition, the air mat 350 has no special air outlet, and the end of the flow channel opposite to the side where the duct is provided necessarily functions as the outlet. . Since it is sufficient for the outer cloth 350 to cover the upper part of the air mat 350 and form a flow path, in this embodiment, a magic tape is attached to the outer edges of the air mat 350 and the outer cloth 350. The outer cloth 356 is fixed on the format 350 by attaching both pieces of magic tape. As described above, the air mat 350 has a number of hair cushions 35 formed therein, and these are connected to each other by the horizontal communication portion 331 and the vertical communication portion 332. The air cushion 355 has a different length (the lateral length of the mattress 305) depending on the location, and as shown in FIG. 24, the air cushion 355 b formed on the side portion. The length is shorter than the air cushion 355 a formed in the center.

 As shown in FIG. 24, the width of the region in which the shadows 355 are formed is somewhat wider than the width of a general mattress 305. This is because when the horizontal cloth 35 1 and the vertical cloth 35 52 are tucked and fixed to the mattress 30 05, the air cushions 35 5 This is to make a right angle bend along the edge of the end, and extend downward to some extent to the side surface of the mattress 305. In this way, even if there is a slight difference in the width of the mattress to which the air mat 350 is to be attached, the difference can be absorbed by this portion, and the mattress can be applied to a wider range of mattresses. Also, since the length of each air cushion 355 b formed on the side is shortened, when bent at right angles along the edge of mattress 305, the edge of mattress 305 The air mat 350 can be bent at the part of the horizontal communication part closest to the wing, making it easy to bend.

 Furthermore, the width of the area in which the hair cushion 355 is formed is made wider than the width of a general mattress so that when the air mat 355 is attached, the hair cushion 355 b extends to the side of the mattress 305. Because it extends, when the air flowing through the flow path flows out from the opposite end of the duct 357, the air blows downward. Since the outlet faces downward, the futon or blanket hung on the outlet does not block the outlet, so it is not necessary to take special measures for the shape of the outlet.

Further, the air mat 350 of the present embodiment is different from a usual mattress, and most of the air is a gas. As is well known, gas has a much higher heat insulation effect than solids. For this reason, when the air mat 350 is used as a mattress in cold winter, etc., it feels warmer than when using a normal mattress due to its heat insulating effect. At this time, since the outlet faces downward, the warmed air is difficult to escape, and the heat retention effect is further enhanced. Further, the principle of the cooling action of the present invention can be applied not only to bedding but also to other things. In particular, objects that keep the body in contact for a relatively long time, such as chairs, sofas, and car seats, adhere to the body when used, so the basic principle of the present invention, that is, around the part in contact with the body The principle of flowing air at approximately the same temperature as that of the air and increasing the temperature gradient near the body to make people feel cooler works effectively and the effect is enhanced.

 As described above, according to the seventh embodiment, the flow path is formed between the load supporting portions, and the air in the room is constantly flown through the flow path, so that the body of the person sleeping on this The principle of increasing the temperature gradient in the vicinity allows people who are sleeping easily to feel cool, so the overall structure is very simple, and a sufficient cooling effect is obtained, so it can be used in hot summer Comfortable sleep can be secured even at night. Also, by keeping the pressure of the air sent from the blowing means low, the power consumption of the motor of the blowing means is small and the operating cost can be kept very low. Further, the load supporting portion is made of an air cushion filled with air, so that it is comfortable to sleep on the air cushion, and since the air has excellent heat insulation properties, it can be sleep on the air in winter or the like. In this case, it is difficult to cool once it has warmed up, and it is efficient.

 Further, as the fixing means, the mat is provided integrally with the mat means and so as to extend widely outside the mat means. The use of the means for fixing the means on the top of the existing bedding, in addition to the above-described effects, requires no extra space and reduces the cost as compared with the case where the frame-shaped fixing means is used. The feeling when sitting on a mattress with a fixed surface is natural, and it is less likely to slip and the structure is simpler.

[Eighth Embodiment]

Next, an eighth embodiment will be described. FIG. 27 is a front view and a rear view of the air-cooled garment of the eighth embodiment, FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a state in which a person wears the air-cooled garment shown in FIG. 27, and FIG. FIG. 27 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the fan portion of the air-cooled garment shown in 27. As shown in FIGS. 27 to 29, the air-cooled garment of the present embodiment mainly includes It consists of a clothing section 401 and a fan 402 for inhaling air.

 As described later, the material used for the clothing portion 401 is a material in which a spacer is formed between two pieces of cloth at a substantially constant interval. This space is used as a flow passage for air, and the air sent from the fan 402 is circulated throughout. The air that has flowed through the clothing section 401 is exhausted from exhaust ports 403 provided at the neck and under the armpits. The air absorbs the heat generated from the body surface in the process of flowing through the clothing section 401 and cools the wearer. Furthermore, when air is blown out from the outlets 400 provided on the neck and armpits where active sweating is performed, the evaporation of the sweat in that part is promoted, and a higher cooling effect is obtained by the heat of vaporization. Can be

 As the fan 402, for example, a sirocco fan can be used. As shown in Fig. 29, the sirocco fan has a thickness of about 20 mm and radially sends out the air taken in from the axial direction of the blade toward the outer periphery of the blade. By using such a sirocco fan, air can be efficiently distributed to the entire clothing section 401. In the present embodiment, the sirocco fan 402 is provided at the lower part of the back of the clothing section 401 as shown in FIG. 28, and the air outlets are provided on the side and upper surfaces. The power supply of the sirocco fan may be supplied from the battery 404 attached to the wearer, or supplied from a commercial power supply when working in almost constant places such as desk work. May be received.

 FIGS. 30A and 30B show the materials used for the clothing section 401, wherein FIG. 30A is a plan view and FIG. 30B is a cross-sectional view. As shown in Fig. 30, the material of the clothing section 401 is composed of a first cloth (upper cloth) 411, a second cloth (lower cloth) 412, and a number of cloths between them. Pisa 4 1 3 The presence of the spacers 4 13 forms an air flow passage between the upper cloth 4 11 and the lower cloth 4 12 as described above. As described above, since the air sent from the fan 402 flows between the upper cloth 411 and the lower cloth 412, this material is hereinafter referred to as “air circulating material”. The same material and manufacturing method as those of the futon portion 100 in the fourth embodiment can be applied to the air circulating material.

Here, as the upper cloth 411 or the lower cloth 412, a density cotton cloth used as a surface material of a down jacket or the like is used. The high-density cotton cloth is the same as that used in some of the above-described embodiments, and the number of yarns per centimeter is about 300, The yarn is woven at a very high density compared to ordinary cotton cloth. The air-cooled garment of the present embodiment absorbs the heat generated from the body surface into the circulating air, so it is necessary to prevent the air from leaking from the cloth during the circulating. Since the density of the high-density cotton cloth is high, the amount of air leaking from the space between the yarns to the outside is very small, and most of the air is exhausted from the outlet through the entire stroke of the air flow passage. For this reason, high-density cotton cloth is very desirable as the air-cooled garment of the present embodiment.

 In addition, since high-density cotton cloth is purely cotton cloth, there is an advantage that if it becomes dirty, it can be easily washed with a household washing machine. Note that such high-density cotton cloth can be easily obtained from general clothing stores. However, not only cotton cloth such as high-density cotton cloth but also cloth made of silk or chemical fiber can be used as the upper cloth or lower cloth.

 Many spacers 4 13 provided between the upper cloth 4 11 and the lower cloth 4 12 are made of cylindrical sponge. The spacer 413 of the present embodiment has a bottom surface diameter of 3 mm and a length of 5 mm, and is obtained from a plate-like sponge as described above. The upper and lower cloths 4 11 and 4 12 and the upper and lower bottom surfaces of the spacers 4 13 are adhered by an adhesive. In the present embodiment, the spacers 4 13 are arranged in a staggered pattern at intervals of 20 mm as shown in FIG. 30 (a). However, this is merely an example, and the application of the air-cooled garment is not limited. It is desirable to find the optimum spacing and pattern for each of the upper and lower cloths, depending on the characteristics of the cloth used.

 As described in Preliminary Experiment 5 (see FIG. 13), a high-density cotton cloth was used as the upper cloth 4 11 and the lower cloth 4 12, and a space was formed between them by a spacer 4 13. By circulating air through this space, even if sweat is released from the body of the wearer and the lower cloth 4 11 absorbs it, moisture is easily carried out to the outside by the circulating air. Therefore, the wearing person can spend comfortably.

By the way, the following experiment was conducted to find out at what temperature people actually feel comfortable. Fifteen subjects were asked to wear underwear and normal work clothes, and temperature sensors were attached to the chest and back between the underwear and work clothes to perform simple tasks. Then, the room temperature was gradually changed, and when the temperature reached the temperature that the subject felt most comfortable, they were asked to self-report. Figure 31 shows that The results are shown in a table. On average, the temperature at which comfort was felt was about 31.5 ° C. Since the temperature sensor was attached to the part relatively close to the body surface, the obtained temperature was considerably affected by the subject's body temperature, and was considerably higher than room temperature.

 Thus, it can be seen that when the temperature near the body surface is about 30 ° C to 32, the person feels almost comfortable. As can be seen from Fig. 3 (b), this temperature near the body surface is reached when the room temperature is about 20 ° C. When the air-cooled garment of the present embodiment is worn, even when the room temperature is about 30 ° C., as shown in FIG. 3 (c), the vicinity of the body surface is substantially the same as FIG. 3 (b). A temperature gradient results.

 As described above, the temperature gradient has the greatest effect on the comfort of the subject, and the air-cooled garment of the present embodiment is worn to allow air to flow through the garment, and the part of the body relatively close to the body surface is By setting the temperature lower than the body temperature, a large temperature gradient can be realized in the vicinity of the body surface. Due to this large temperature gradient, the heat emanating from the human body surface is easily radiated to the side of the cool air-cooled garment and is quickly absorbed by the air flowing through the passage of the air-cooled garment.

 The air flowing through the air-cooled clothes is heated by the wearer's body temperature in the process of flowing through the inside, and the temperature gradually rises. When the temperature of the air increases, the cooling effect decreases because the temperature gradient near the body surface decreases. However, if the air is circulated and exhausted before the air is warmed by increasing the air flow, the rise in temperature will be reduced and the cooling effect will be maintained. By utilizing this fact, the cooling effect can be controlled by changing the number of revolutions of the fan.

Furthermore, if the air is gradually heated in the course of air circulation, the temperature of the air will be lower near the fan and higher as it approaches the outlet, and the temperature may become uneven depending on the location of the air-cooled clothing. As a method of suppressing such temperature unevenness, the number of rotations when the fan is on is set higher than usual to intentionally increase the air flow, and the fan is repeatedly turned on and off. You may. In this way, when the fan is on, the air circulates at high speed before being warmed up and is discharged, so that a high cooling effect is obtained uniformly throughout the air-cooled garment, while on the other hand when the fan is off the garment is Warm evenly throughout the clothes. Therefore, the fan can be turned on and off. By returning, the temperature converges to a constant value as a whole. The adjustment can be made by appropriately changing the ratio of the time to turn the fan on and the time to turn it off.

 In addition, since the air-cooled clothing of this embodiment uses high-density cotton cloth, even if the wearer performs light work and sweats, the sweat is easily absorbed by the high-density cotton cloth that is closer to the skin. Or through it and into between two high density cotton cloths. This moisture is easily carried out to the outside by the air flowing through the flow passage, which encourages the worker to further sweat, and the body is cooled by absorbing the heat of vaporization caused by the sweat. Therefore, the worker feels cooler and can spend more comfortably.

 The above embodiment can be variously modified within the technical scope of the invention. For example, in the air-cooled garment of the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 27, the type without the arm portion was used. However, this is only an example, and the type having the arm portion or only the arm portion is used. Needless to say, those which can be removed are also included in the scope of the present invention. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the fan 402 is provided at the lower part of the back. However, the position of the fan is not limited to this, and the fan can be provided at an appropriate position according to the application. Further, the air taken in by the fan 402 does not necessarily have to be distributed throughout the air-cooled garment, and depending on the application, for example, the flow passage may be limited to only the chest and the back.

 As described above, in the above embodiment, noting that the magnitude of the temperature gradient in the vicinity of the surface of the human body is closely related to coolness, rather than cooling the entire room, the surface of the human body Cooling and comfort can be obtained simply by making the temperature near the room equal to room temperature. In addition, power consumption is extremely low compared to air conditioners, etc., so even if this air-cooled garment spreads widely, the power consumption of society as a whole can be reduced, resulting in the current consumption of fossil fuels. And reduce global warming. Industrial applicability

As described above, the present invention is based on the principle that the heat of the body is absorbed by circulating the surrounding air near the surface of the body and forcibly increasing the temperature gradient near the body surface. It can be applied to bedding for ensuring comfortable sleep at night when it is difficult to sleep at high temperatures, and to clothing that can be comfortably used even in a high-temperature environment.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A bedding unit having an air passage therein for use in contact with a body during sleep;

 An air supply unit that supplies air to the flow passage of the bedding unit,

 Wherein air supplied from the air supply unit absorbs heat radiated from a human body during a period from the time when the air flows into the flow passage in the bedding unit to the time when the air is exhausted. Bedding.

 2. The air-flow bedding according to claim 1, wherein the bedding portion is used as a comforter.

 3. The air-flow bedding according to claim 1, wherein the bedding portion is used as a pillow.

 4. a comforter comprising an upper cloth, a lower cloth, and a plurality of spacers arranged at appropriate intervals between the upper cloth and the lower cloth to form an air flow passage between the upper cloth and the lower cloth; An air supply unit for supplying air to the flow passage of the comforter unit;

 An air-flow bedding characterized by having:

 5. The air circulating bedding according to claim 4, wherein at least one of the upper cloth and the lower cloth constituting the comforter portion is made of a high-density cotton cloth.

 6. The above-mentioned comforter uses a normal comforter on, above, below, or both above and below, to secure the heat retaining effect with the normal comforter, and to increase the temperature by flowing air through the comforter. The air-flow bedding according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the bedding is prevented from being excessive.

 7. The air circulating bedding according to claim 4, 5 or 6, wherein the air supply section is provided integrally with the comforter section.

 8. A pillow portion used as a pillow or placed on a pillow, and an air supply portion for supplying air to the pillow portion,

The pillow portion includes a lower plate provided with a plurality of grooves, and an upper cloth covered on the lower plate so as to cover the grooves. As a flow passage An air-flow type bedding characterized in that air supplied from the air supply unit is circulated.

 9. As a mattress, or a mattress portion used by being placed on the mattress, and an air supply unit for supplying air to the mattress portion,

 The mattress section includes: a top cloth on which a person sleeps; a mat provided with spacers for supporting the weight of the person via the top cloth when the person sleeps; and a mat provided with the top cloth and the top cloth. Consists of an air flow passage formed by the spacer,

 The air supplied from the air supply unit is caused to flow through the flow passage of the mattress unit.

 10. The air circulating bedding according to claim 9, wherein the mat is made of rubber, and the upper cloth is a high-density cotton cloth.

 11. A mattress unit to be used as a mattress or placed on a mattress, and a hot air supply unit for supplying warm air to the mattress unit,

 The mattress section includes: a top cloth on which a person sleeps; a mat provided with spacers for supporting the weight of the person via the top cloth when the person sleeps; and a mat provided with the top cloth and the top cloth. The hot air flow passage formed by the spacer,

 A hot-air bedding characterized in that hot air supplied from the hot-air supply unit is passed through a flow passage of the mattress unit.

 12. The warm-air bedding according to claim 11, wherein the mat is made of rubber, and the upper cloth is a high-density cotton cloth.

 1 3. A mat means formed with a plurality of load supporting portions for supporting a load of a person lying thereon,

 A sheet member provided between a sleeper and the mat means, covering an upper portion of the mat means, and forming a flow path through which air flows with the adjacent load supporting portion; and integrally with the mat means, And fixing means which is provided so as to extend widely outside the mat means, and which squeezes a portion which extends widely outside under the existing bedding, thereby fixing the mat means on the top of the existing bedding. When,

 Blower means for sending air;

Air guiding means for guiding the air sent from the blowing means to the flow path, An air-flow type bedding, characterized in that the air after flowing through the flow path is discharged to the outside.

 14. The air circulating bedding according to claim 13, wherein the air sent by the blowing means is room temperature air.

 15. The air circulating bedding according to claim 13, wherein the air sent by the blowing means is warm air.

 16. The air-flow type bedding according to claim 13, 14, or 15, wherein the load supporting portion is an air cushion filled with air.

 17. The air circulating bedding according to claim 16, wherein all or a part of each of the air cushions communicates with each other.

 18. A mesh-like spacer having a plurality of holes is provided between the mat member and the sheet member. 7. The air-flow bedding according to 7.

19. A garment unit comprising a first and a second cloth, and a plurality of spacers disposed at appropriate intervals between the cloths to form an air flow passage between the first and the second cloth. When,

 Air inhalation means for inhaling air and sending out the inhaled air to the flow passage of the clothes section;

 An air-flow-type garment comprising:

 20. The clothes according to claim 19, wherein the first and second cloths are made of a high-density cotton cloth.

 21. The air circulating garment according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the garment section has an outlet through which air after flowing through the flow passage is blown, at least in a neck portion and an armpit portion.

 22. As a seat means, or having a seat part used by being placed on the seat means, and an air supply part for supplying air to the seat part,

The seat portion includes a mat provided with a top cloth on which a person sits, a spacer for supporting the weight of the person via the top cloth when the person sits is provided at regular intervals, and the top cloth; The air flow path formed by the spacer,

 The air supplied from the air supply unit is circulated through the flow passage of the seat unit.

 23. The air circulating seat according to claim 22, wherein said seat means is any one of a chair, a sofa, and a vehicle seat.