COOLING DEVICE FOR CLOTHES

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a cooling device for clothes including a housing inside of which is disposed with a Peltier element, a cooling fin formed on one surface of the Peltier element, a heat-dissipating fin formed on an opposite surface from the one surface, and a blast fan for blowing air to the cooling fin and the heat-dissipating fin, and the cooling device is mounted on a piece of clothes to cool down inside thereof.

BACKGROUND ART

Unpleasantly hot days for humans have been recently increasing all through the year. In such a hot day, measures such as frequent hydration and appropriate use of a cooling equipment have been recommended as preventive measures for heat stroke.

However, a worker working outside under the brutal heat, a worker working indoors under a muggy environment, and a person playing recreation or sports or watching these activities cannot cool down themselves by any cooling equipment for a reason that a cooling equipment is not installed or refrigerated air conditioning is not effectively working.

To address this problem, clothes provided with air conditioning function directed to people demanding for relief from the heat have been widespread, and recently, air-conditioning clothes mounted with an air conditioning unit utilizing a Peltier element have also been developed. Examples of this development are disclosed in the Patent Documents 1 and 2.

The Patent Document 1 discloses a heat exchange unit. The heat exchange unit is configured such that a Peltier element is attached to a partition plate partitioning a piece of clothes inside and outside. A clothing inner side of the partition plate is provided with a first heat conducting member to conduct heat on one surface of the Peltier element and a first fan to diffuse the air, which has been exchanged its heat by the first heat conducting member, toward the clothing inner side. A clothing outer side of the partition plate is provided with a second heat conducting member to conduct the heat on the other surface of the Peltier element and a second fan to diffuse the air, which has been exchanged its heat by the second heat conducting member, toward the clothing outer side. This heat exchange unit is attached to a fabric of the clothes piece.

The Patent Document 2 discloses functional clothing. A piece of the operational clothes is configured such that the air is taken into a path from an intake port arranged on a waist of a wearer, the air taken into the path is cooled by the Peltier element, and the cooled air is introduced to a belt-like discharge port to be emitted to a center of a back and a neck of the wearer.

RELATED ART DOCUMENTS

- Patent Document 1: JP2020-097799A
- Patent Document 2: JP2019-070215A

SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Problems to be Solved by the Invention

However, the Patent Documents 1 and 2 have the following problems. In the Patent Document 1, the heat conducting member and the fan are arranged in line on both sides of the clothing inner side and the clothing outer side in a manner that the Peltier element attached to the partition plate is held between the clothing inner side and the clothing outer side. This structure inevitably results in increase in the whole size of the heat exchange unit.

Accordingly, when a person works or moves with wearing a piece of clothes mounted with the heat exchange unit of the Patent Document 1, this heat exchange unit obstructs the person's work or motion, so that the person could be hard to move. In this context, usability of the clothes mounted with this heat exchange unit is poor usability.

Further, in the Patent Document 2, the path for the air cooled by the Peltier element is provided on an outside of a fabric of the clothes piece, and thus, when a person wearing a piece of operational clothes works or moves under the scorching sun on an extremely hot day, the path for the cooled air could be disposed directly to the scorching sun.

Therefore, even if the air taken into the path from the intake port is cooled by the Peltier element, the path for the cooled air is exposed to the direct sunlight under the outside high temperature and warmed up, so that the cooled air could not reach the back or the neck of the wearer.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and has a purpose of providing a cooling device for clothes that is practical for a person wearing the clothes and that can effectively blow cool air.

Means of Solving the Problems

A cooling device for clothes as one aspect of the present invention that has been made for the purpose of solving the above problem is a cooling device for clothes provided with a housing, a Peltier element in the housing, a cooling fin formed on one surface of the Peltier element, a heat-dissipating fin formed on the other surface of the Peltier element, and a blast fan configured to send air to the cooling fin and the heat-dissipating fin, wherein an air intake port opens in the housing to take in any one of outside air taken from an outside of a piece of clothes by the blast fan and the air existing inside a piece of the clothes, a cool-air opening through which cool air having passed through the cooling fin is discharged and a heat dissipation opening through which hot air having passed through the heat-dissipating fin are opening in exact opposite directions in the housing, the cool-air opening includes a flange and the flange is to be attached to inner-outer circumferential surface of an opening portion formed in a piece of the clothes in a detachable manner, and the Peltier element and the cooling fin are arranged in a positional relation of being overlapped with the cool-air opening in a projection from the cool-air opening directed toward the heat dissipation opening.

According to this aspect, the cooling device for clothes can be easily attached to or detached from a piece of the clothes only by attaching or detaching the flange to an opening portion of the clothes piece. Therefore, when a piece of the clothes is to be washed and others, attaching and detaching operation of the cooling device can be easily made, and thus the cooling device is highly practical for users.

Further, the cooling device for clothes is mounted inside the pocket of the clothes piece and the cool-air opening of the cooling device is disposed on the clothing inner side. Accordingly, the cool air occurred by the cooling fin is hardly affected by the thermal influence on the outside-air side where becomes extremely hot under the scorching sun. For example, the cool air can be directly and efficiently sent to body regions wanting for cooling, mainly such as a neck, armpits which perspire a lot, sides, and others while the cool air keeps its low temperature of around 10° C. as one example.

In the above aspect, preferably, the cooling device for clothes includes a reinforcing member to attach the flange to the inner and outer circumferential surfaces.

According to this aspect, even when a wearer of the clothes mounted with the cooling device works with large motion or the like, the cooling device can be restrained from falling off of the pocket by such a large motion.

In the above aspect, preferably, the air intake port is formed on a surface of the housing on the same side with the cool-air opening to take in the air in the piece of clothes.

According to this aspect (the aspect A), when the air to be taken into the air intake port is at a temperature lower than the temperature on the outside-air side (a first usage environment), the air introduced in the air intake port is cooled to be the lower temperature by the cooling fin, and thus the air can easily become cool with enough chilly feeling.

Further, when the wearer of a piece of the clothes mounted with the cooling device for clothes is working in an indoor facility under a severe environment where powdery dust or greasy fumes float or under a humid high-temperature environment, for example (a second usage environment), by taking in the air on the clothing inner side into the air intake port, a bad influence caused by foreign matters other than the air existing in the indoor atmosphere can be restrained from affecting on the cooling device for clothes.

In the above aspect, preferably, the air intake port is formed on a surface of the housing on the same side with the heat dissipation opening to take in the outside air.

According to this aspect (the aspect B), when, for example, a temperature gap between the outside air and the air on the clothing inner side is relatively small such as a couple of degrees (a third usage environment), by taking in the outside air into the air intake port, the resistance accompanied with the air flowing into the air intake port can be kept smaller than the case of introducing the air from the clothing inner side that forms a mostly closed space.

Accordingly, in the cooling device for clothes, the air introduced into the air intake port by the blast fan easily and smoothly flows toward the Peltier element, and thus the cool air can also blow smoothly from the cool-air opening.

In the above aspect, preferably, the cooling device for clothes includes a controller configured to reverse polarity of direct current that is to be supplied to the Peltier element by the controller to switch operations of the above (aspect A) and the above (aspect B).

According to this aspect, while there are various usage environments such as the above-mentioned first to third usage environments in using the cooling device for clothes, the cooling device can flexibly respond to operation of the above aspect A and the operation of the above aspect B according to the existing environment.

Further, the polarity of the direct current at the Peltier element is reversed by operating the controller, and then, an operation of the cooling device housed in the pocket of a piece of the clothes is reversed with respect to the clothing inner side and the outside-air side. Thus, the operation of the above aspect A and the operation of the above aspect B can be easily switched.

In the above aspect, preferably, the housing is inserted in a pocket formed in the piece of clothes, and the pocket is formed with a mesh at least on any one surface of a side of the piece of clothes and a side of the outside air.

According to the above aspect, when the mesh is formed on the surface on the clothing inner side of the pocket, the air (inside air) in the clothes piece can be taken into the air intake port of the cooling device housed in the pocket through the mesh.

Further, when the mesh is formed on the surface on the outside-air side of the pocket, the outside air can be taken into the air intake port of the cooling device housed in the pocket through the mesh.

Further, when the mesh is formed respectively on both surfaces of the clothing inner side and the outside-air side of the pocket, the air to be taken into the air intake port can be both the inside air and the outside air. Accordingly, the cooling device for clothes can be selectively adopted for both cases of the above-mentioned operation of the aspect A and the operation of the aspect B.

Effects of the Invention

Therefore, the cooling device for clothes as one aspect of the present invention can achieve the remarkable effect of providing a practical usability for a wearer and providing efficient supply of cool air to the wearer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a cooling device for clothes in an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a side view when seen from an arrow A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view when seen from an arrow B in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view when seen from an arrow C in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view when seen from an arrow D in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion E in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the cooling device for clothes in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a Peltier element in the cooling device for clothes in the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a first usage example of the cooling device for clothes in the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a second usage example of the cooling device for clothes in the embodiment;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a pocket formed in a piece of clothes to be attached with the cooling device for clothes in the embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along an arrow F-F in FIG. 11, illustrating a case that a flange of a housing is fixed by mounting a reinforcing member on inner and outer circumferential surfaces of the clothes piece;

FIG. 13 is another sectional view taken along the arrow F-F in FIG. 11, illustrating a case that the flange of the housing is fixed to the inner and outer circumferential surfaces of the clothes piece; and

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating a state in which the cooling device for clothes of the embodiment is put in the pocket of the clothes piece and used in the second usage example.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a cooling device for clothes according to the present invention is explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The cooling device for clothes according to the present invention is a device for cooling a heated body of a person who wears a piece of the clothes.

This cooling device for clothes is inserted and attached to a pocket formed in the clothes piece to be used by, for example, a worker working outside under the brutal heat, a worker working indoors under a muggy environment, a person playing recreation or sports, watching, and others under the scorching sun, and a person who wants for cooling. The clothes piece is a working clothes piece for working or other multipurpose outer clothing, vests, and trousers which can be worn for various occasions such as amusement and leisure, events, sports, jogging, and riding bicycles.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a cooling device for clothes according to the embodiment. Side views are respectively shown in FIG. 2 when seen from an arrow A in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 when seen from an arrow B in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 when seen from an arrow C in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 when seen from an arrow D in FIG. 1. An enlarged view of a portion E in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the cooling device for clothes in FIG. 1.

Herein, in the cooling device for clothes 1 according to the present embodiment, a left and right direction in FIG. 1 is defined as a longitudinal direction, an upper and lower direction in FIG. 1 is defined as a transverse direction, and a vertical direction toward a sheet surface of FIG. 1 is defined as a thickness direction. The directions in FIG. 2 and the following figures conform to the directions defined in FIG. 1. In the figures, an electric source for a Peltier element 11 and a blast fan 20 are omitted its illustration.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 7, the cooling device for clothes 1 is provided with the Peltier element 11, a cooling fin 13, a heat-dissipating fin 14, a controller 15, the blast fan 20, a housing 30, and others. The Peltier element 11 (a cooling module 10) is disposed in the housing 30.

The cooling device for clothes 1 includes a power source (not shown) for supplying electric power to the Peltier element 11 and the blast fan 20. In the present embodiment, a power source separately provided from the housing 30 is electrically connectable with the Peltier element 11, the controller 15, and the blast fan 20.

The housing 30 is formed to be of an almost flat plate-like shape by bringing an upper member 30A and a lower member 30B into confronting each other and coupling them with having an inner space. An outer shape of the housing 30 is shaped by an arc-shape on an outer peripheral contour on one side (on an upper side in the upper and lower direction in FIG. 1) in the longitudinal direction L and of a linear shape on an outer peripheral contour on the other side opposite to the one side in the longitudinal direction L (on a lower side in the upper and lower direction in FIG. 1), and these arc-shaped outer peripheral contour and linear-shaped outer peripheral contour are connected by linear outer peripheral contours on both sides in the short-side direction S (the left and right direction in FIG. 1).

As shown in FIG. 7, the blast fan 20 is provided in the housing 30 and arranged close to the outer peripheral edge on the one side in the longitudinal direction L (on a left side in an upper-left and lower-right direction in FIG. 7). The blast fan 20 is a multiblade fan (sirocco fan) as one type of a centrifugal fan in the present embodiment.

The sirocco fan is a blower of an almost cylindrical shape in which a plurality of blades are annularly arranged in a circumferential direction of a central axis of rotation, configured such that air taken along the central axis is made to blow out of spaces between the rotating blades in a radially outer direction. The blast fan may be, for example, a screw fan (an axial-flow fan), a turbofan, and others, other than the sirocco fan.

The housing 30 includes an air intake port 31 formed by opening a part of an upper surface 30Aa of the upper member 30A. The air intake port 31 is opening to take the air into the blast fan 20 and is disposed closer to the outer peripheral edge on the one side in the longitudinal direction L (an upper side in the upper and lower direction in FIG. 1, in FIG. 1).

Further, in the housing 30, a first blower port 42 and a second blower port 45 are arranged in exact opposite directions in the housing 30 (the upper member 30A and the lower member 30B). The first blower port 42 is formed by opening a part of the upper member 30A of the housing 30, and the second blower port 45 is formed by opening a part of the lower member 30B of the housing 30.

In other words, the first blower port 42 is formed to be almost flush with the upper surface 30Aa on a side of the upper surface 30Aa of the upper member 30A which is the same side with the air intake port 31 with respect to the thickness direction T of the housing 30. On the other hand, the second blower port 45 is, as shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 5, formed to be separated away from the lower surface 30Ba with a height difference (steps) on a side of the lower surface 30Ba of the lower member 30B which is on the opposite side from the air intake port 31 with respect to the thickness direction T of the housing 30.

The first blower port 42 includes a first flange 43 formed on its circumference. Further, the second blower port 45 includes a second flange 46 formed on its circumference.

An inner space of the housing 30 is communicated with the air intake port 31, the first blower port 42, and the second blower port 45, and the air flowing in from the air intake port 31 passes through the housing 30 and is allowed to flow out of the first blower port 42 and the second blower port 45.

Next, the Peltier element 11 is explained. FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of the Peltier element in the cooling device for clothes according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the Peltier element 11 is provided in the housing 30 to constitute the cooling module 10 with the cooling fins 13 and the heat-dissipating fins 14 and is disposed close to the outer peripheral edge on the one side in the longitudinal direction L (on a right side in the upper-left and lower-right direction in FIG. 7). Specifically, the cooling module 10 is arranged to be held between the first blower port 42 and the second blower port 45 which are arranged in exact opposite positions from each other as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5.

The Peltier element 11 is one of a plate-like semiconductor thermoelements. When the direct current is supplied to the Peltier element 11, as shown in FIG. 8, in a flat plate portion 12 of the Peltier element 11, one surface 12a absorbs heat (cooling), and at the same time, the other surface 12b liberates heat (heating) by the Peltier effect.

The cooling module 10 is formed with the cooling fins 13 on the one surface 12a and the heat-dissipating fins 14 on the other surface 12b (the opposite surface) on the opposite side of the one surface 12a with the Peltier element 11 held therebetween. The cooling module 10 is electrically connected to the controller 15 which enables reversing the direction of the direct current to be supplied to the Peltier element 11.

In the cooling module 10, when the current is supplied in one direction in the Peltier element 11, fins formed on the one surface 12a side become the cooling fins 13 while fins formed on the other surface 12b side become the heat-dissipating fins 14. Under this circumstance, when the controller 15 is operated to reverse the direction of the direct current to be supplied to the Peltier element 11, the current to be supplied to the Peltier element 11 is directed to the other direction that is opposite from the one direction.

In this case, the fins that have been the cooling fins 13 in the one direction turn to the heat-dissipating fins 14, and the fins that have been the heat-dissipating fins 14 in the one direction turn to the cooling fins 13, and thus when the direction of the direct current is reversed, a cooling surface and a heating surface are switched on the flat plate portion 12 of the Peltier element 11.

The cooling device for clothes 1 is configured such that the air AR, which is to be taken into the housing 30 from the air intake port 31 by the blast fan 20, is fed to the cooling module 10, so that the cool air that has passed through the cooling fins 13 is discharged out of a cool-air opening, and at the same time, the hot air that has passed through the heat-dissipating fins 14 is discharged out of a heat dissipation opening.

At this time, there are a first case (a first usage example) of taking the air AR into the air intake port 31 from an inner side of a piece of clothes 70 (a clothing inner side 70 in in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10) between the clothes piece 70 and a body side of a wearer, and a second case (a second usage example) of taking the air AR from an outer side of the clothes piece 70 (an outside-air side 70out in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10) on an opposite side of the body of the wearer with the clothe piece 70 held therebetween.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the first usage example of the cooling device for clothes according to the embodiment. When the cooling device for clothes 1 is used in the first usage example, the air intake port 31 is formed on the upper surface 30Aa of the upper member 30A on the same side with the cool-air opening (the first blower port 42) with respect to the thickness direction T of the housing 30 so that the air AR is taken from the inner side (the clothing inner side) of the clothes piece 70.

Namely, as shown in FIG. 9, the first blower port 42 constitutes a cool-air opening through which the air AR taken from the air intake port 31 is sent by the blast fan 20, and the cool air CF having passed through the cooling fins 13 is discharged out to the inner side (the clothing inner side 70in) of the clothes piece 70.

On the other hand, the second blower port 45 constitutes a heat dissipation opening through which the air AR taken from the air intake port 31 is sent, and the hot air HF having passed through the heat-dissipating fins 14 is discharged out to the outer side (the outside-air side 70out) of the clothes piece 70.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the second usage example of the cooling device for clothes according to the embodiment. When the cooling device for clothes 1 is used in the second usage example, the air intake port 31 is formed on the upper surface 30Aa of the upper member 30A on the same side with the heat dissipation opening (the first blower port 42) with respect to the thickness direction T of the housing 30 so that the air AR is taken from the outer side (the outside-air side) of the clothes piece 70.

Namely, as shown in FIG. 10, the first blower port 42 constitutes a heat dissipation opening through which the air AR taken from the air intake port 31 is sent by the blast fan 20, and the hot air HF having passed through the heat-dissipating fins 14 is discharged to the outer side (the outside-air side) of the clothes piece 70.

On the other hand, the second blower port 45 constitutes a cool-air opening through which the air AR taken from the air intake port 31 is sent by the blast fan 20, and the cool air CF having passed through the cooling fins 13 is discharged to the inner side (the clothing inner side 70in) of the clothes piece 70.

As mentioned above, when the cooling device for clothes 1 is used in the first usage example, the cool-air opening is constituted by the first blower port 42 and the cool air CF is discharged out of the first blower port 42. Further, when the cooling device for clothes 1 is used in the second usage example, the cool-air opening is constituted by the second blower port 45 and the cool air CF is discharged out of the second blower port 45.

At this time, the first blower port 42 used in the first usage example can spread and send the cool air CF into a space inside the clothes piece 70 when a first cutout 44 is formed around a wall portion surrounding the first blower port 42 in front of the first flange 43 so that the first blower port 42 is in contact with a space in the clothes piece 70 as shown in FIG. 6.

Similarly, the second blower port 46 used in the second usage example can spread and send the cool air CF into the space inside the clothes piece 70 when a second cutout 47 is formed around a wall portion surrounding the second blower port 45 in front of the second flange 46 so that the second blower port 45 is in contact with the space inside the clothes piece 70 as shown in FIG. 6.

Next, the clothes piece 70 mounted with the cooling device for clothes 1 is explained with a case of mounting the cooling device for clothes 1 used in the second usage example for convenience of explanation.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view illustrating a pocket formed in a piece of clothes used for the cooling device according to the embodiment. Sectional views taken along an arrow F-F in FIG. 11 are shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. FIG. 14 is a view illustrating a state in which the cooling device according to the embodiment is put in a pocket of the clothes piece for use in the second usage example.

As shown in FIG. 11 to FIG. 14, the clothes piece 70 is formed with a pocket 71. When the clothes piece 70 is the one put on an upper half of the body such as an outer clothing and a vest, the pocket 71 is disposed mainly on a part corresponding to any one of the neck, the armpits which essentially perspire a lot, the sides, and others in the clothes piece 70.

Further, when the clothes piece 70 is the one put on a lower half of the body such as a trouser, the pocket 71 is disposed mainly on a part corresponding to the groin in the clothes piece 70.

Herein, an arrangement position of the pocket 71 provided in the clothes piece 70 is briefly explained. A human body exposed under a hot atmosphere has the risk of suffering from heat stroke due to the hotness or suffering from large bad influence on autonomic nerves. Therefore, as a prevention measure, it is essential to firstly cool blood in artery which flows into a brain, and thus perspiration functions are required to be promoted to keep thermoregulation to be normal.

In order to effectively cool the blood flowing in the brain, it has been said that cooling the artery in the neck, the armpits, and the groin is favorable.

In cooling the neck, carotid arteries exist in a hairline on a back of the neck and left and right parts of a throat, and thus cooling these parts contacting the artery by the cool air and others leads to cooling of the blood, thereby the cooled blood circulates through the body. The body temperature can be thus lowered.

Further, the armpit is just a part in which a thermometer is held and in which the artery exists. The artery in the armpit extends toward an arm, and thus when the blood in the artery in the armpits and in a soft part close to an inner side of the upper arm is cooled, the thus cooled blood circulates through the body. Thereby, the body temperature can be lowered.

Furthermore, when the armpits are exposed to the cool air, vaporization heat caused by sweat on the armpits lowers the surface temperature of skin, so that refreshing cool feeling can be obtained. In cooling the groin, a position corresponding to one third of an inner space formed by linking a front of a thigh, a waist bone, and a crotch has a thick artery extending to a toe. Especially when the blood in this thick artery is cooled down, the cooled blood circulates through the body. Thus, the body temperature can be lowered.

By this perception, for cooling the artery in the neck and in the armpits, and the artery in the groin as necessary, as shown in FIG. 14, the pockets 71 are provided in portions corresponding to the neck and the armpits and a portion corresponding to the groin.

By the cooling devices for clothes 1 housed in these pockets 71, the cool air CF discharged out of the cool-air opening is sent to the neck, the armpits, and the groin directly or to adjacent portions of these body parts to cool the body of the wearer of the clothes piece 70.

The pocket 71 houses a body of the housing 30 constituting the cooling device for clothes 1 therein. Specifically, when the cooling device for clothes 1 is used in the second usage example, the cooling device for clothes 1 is housed in the pocket 71 in a manner that the air intake port 31 and the first blower port 42 are arranged to face the outside-air side 70out (a left side in FIG. 12), and the second blower port 45 is arranged to face the clothing inner side 70 in (a right side in FIG. 12) in the housing 30 as shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 12.

Herein, when the cooling device for clothes 1 is used in the first usage example, the cooling device for clothes 1 is housed in the pocket 71 in such an arrangement that the air intake port 31 and the first blower port 42 are arranged to face the inner side of the clothes piece 70 (the clothing inner side 70 in in FIG. 9) and the second blower port 45 is arranged to face the outer side of the clothes piece 70 (the outside-air side 70out in FIG. 10) in an opposite direction from the housing 30 shown in FIG. 10.

An inside and an outside of the pocket 71 are each formed with an opening portion 72 formed by opening a part of the clothes piece 70 as shown in FIG. 12. The opening portion 72 is formed large enough to pass each of the first blower port 42 and the second blower port 45 with respect to the housing 30 of the cooling device for clothes 1 inserted in the pocket 71.

An inner-outer circumferential surface 73 as an outer peripheral edge of the opening portion 72 is formed of a highly-rigid portion 77 made of highly rigid material (for example, leather, rubber, resin, and others) as compared to a raw fabric 75 (a cloth or the like) of the clothes piece 70 having some flexibility.

Further, the pocket 71 is formed with a mesh 74 especially in a portion where the air intake port 31 is to be disposed. The mesh 74 is formed each on the outer side (the outside-air side 70out in FIG. 12) of the pocket 71 and the inner side (the clothing inner side 70 in in FIG. 12) of the pocket 71 in the present embodiment as shown in FIG. 12.

Specifically, when the cooling device for clothes 1 is used in the second usage example, as shown in FIG. 12, the outer side (the outside-air side 70out) of the pocket 71 is formed with the mesh 74, and the air AR of the outside air is taken into the air intake port 31 from the outside-air side 70out through the mesh 74.

On the other hand, when the cooling device for clothes 1 is used in the first usage example, the inner side (a right side in FIG. 12 to be referred) of the pocket 71 is formed with the mesh 74, and the air AR in the clothes piece 70 is taken into the air intake port 31 in the pocket 71 from the clothing inner side 70 in through the mesh 74.

In the cooling device for clothes 1 in the second usage example which is housed in the pocket 71, as shown in FIG. 12, the second flange 46 of the second blower port 45 as the cool-air opening is inserted in the opening portion 72 of the clothes piece 70 on the inner side of the pocket 71, and then a reinforcing member 76 is mounted between the inner-outer circumferential surface 73 of the opening portion 72 and the second flange 46.

The reinforcing member 76 is a member, such as a rubber, to restrain relative backlash (clearance) of the inner-outer circumferential surface 73 and the second flange 46, and is joined to the second flange 46 in a detachable manner. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 12, in the pocket 71, the first flange 43 of the first blower port 42 as the heat dissipation opening is inserted in the opening portion 72 of the clothes piece 70 on the outer side of the pocket 71, and then the reinforcing member 76 is mounted between the inner-outer circumferential surface 73 of the opening portion 72 and the second flange 46.

Thus, the cooling device for clothes 1 is joined and attached with the clothes piece 70 in the pocket 71 via the reinforcing member 76.

In the present embodiment, when the cooling device for clothes 1 is to be housed in the pocket 71 in the second usage example, the first flange 43 is inserted in the opening portion 72 of the clothes piece 70 on the outer side of the pocket 71, the reinforcing member 76 is attached between the inner-outer circumferential surface 73 and the first flange 43.

However, as shown in FIG. 13, the first flange 43 of the cooling device 1 housed in the pocket 71 may not be fixed to the outer side of the pocket 71, but the first flange 43 may be in a state being relatively free from the pocket 71.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the second flange 46 may be inserted between the inner-outer circumferential surface 73 of the opening portion 72 and the reinforcing member 76 attached to the inner-outer circumferential surface 73 and held therebetween so that the cooling device for clothes 1 is joined to the second flange 46.

Further, when the cooling device for clothes 1 is housed in the pocket 71 in the first usage example, the first flange 43 of the first blower port 42 as the cool-air opening is inserted in the opening portion 72 of the clothes piece 70 on the inner side of the pocket 71, and then the reinforcing member 76 is attached between the inner-outer circumferential surface 73 of the opening portion 72 and the first flange 43 in the pocket 71.

In this manner, the cooling device for clothes 1 is joined and mounted in the clothes piece 70 in the pocket 71.

Next, operations and effects of the cooling device for clothes 1 according to the present embodiment is explained.

The cooling device for clothes 1 according to the present embodiment is configured such that the housing 30, the Peltier element 11 in the housing 30, the cooling fins 13 formed on the one surface 12a of the flat plate portion 12 of the Peltier element 11, the heat-dissipating fins 14 formed on the other surface 12b on the opposite side from the one surface 12a, and the blast fan 20 for sending air to the cooling fins 13 and the heat-dissipating fins 14 are disposed, and the device 1 is mounted in the clothes piece 70 to cool inside the clothes piece 70. In the device 1, the air intake port 31 for taking in the air AR (the outside air) by the blast fan 20 opens in the housing 30, the cool-air opening (the first blower port 42 in the first usage example, and the second blast port 45 in the second usage example) through which the cool air CF having passed through the cooling fins 13 is discharged and the heat dissipation opening (the second blower port 45 in the first usage example and the first blower port 42 in the second usage example) through which the hot air HF having passed through the heat-dissipating fins 14 are opening in the exact opposite directions with respect to the thickness direction T of the housing 30. The cool-air opening includes the flange (the first flange 43 of the first blower port 42 in the first usage example and the second flange 46 of the second blower port 45 in the second usage example), and the flange (the first flange 43 or the second flange 46) is joined to the inner-outer circumferential surface 73 of the opening portion 72 formed on the clothes piece 70 in a detachable manner.

According to the above feature, the cooling device for clothes 1 can be easily attached to or detached from the pocket 71 of the clothes piece 70 only by attaching or detaching the flange (the first flange 43 or the second flange 46) to the opening portion 72 of the clothes piece 70. Therefore, when the clothes piece 70 is to be washed and others, the cooling device for clothes 1 can be easily attached to or detached from the clothes piece 70, and thus the cooling device for clothes 1 is highly usable for users.

Further, the cooling device for clothes 1 is mounted in the pocket 71 of the clothes piece 70 and the cool-air opening of the cooling device for clothes 1 is disposed on the clothing inner side 70 in of the clothes piece 70, and thus the cool air CF occurred by the cooling fins 13 is hardly affected by thermal influence of the outside-air side 70out at the high temperature under the scorching sun. As one example, the cooling device for clothes 1 can maintain the low temperature of the cool air that has been cooled to about 10° C. and directly and effectively send the cool air to the body regions mainly such as the neck, the armpits which perspires a lot, and the sides, which are to be cooled.

Therefore, the cooling device for clothes 1 according to the present embodiment can achieve the remarkable effect of practical use for a wearer of the clothes piece 70 and effective sending of the cool air CF to the wearer.

Further, the cooling device for clothes 1 according to the present embodiment includes the reinforcing member 76 for attaching the flange (the first flange 43 or the second flange 46) to the inner-outer circumferential surface 73 of the opening portion 72.

Owing to this feature, even when the wearer of the clothes piece 70 mounted with the cooling device for clothes 1 works with a large motion, the cooling device for clothes 1 can be prevented from falling off of the pocket 71 by the large motion of the wearer.

Further, in the cooling device for clothes 1 according to the present embodiment, in the case of the first usage example shown in FIG. 9, the air intake port 31 is formed on the upper surface 30Aa of the upper member 30A of the housing 30 on the same side with the cool-air opening as the first blower port 42 to take in the air AR in the clothes piece 70.

Owing to this feature, when the air AR taken into the air intake port 31 is lower in its temperature than the temperature on the outside-air side 70out (a first usage environment), the air AR introduced into the air intake port 31 is cooled to be lower temperature by the cooling fin 13, and thus the air can easily become the cool air CF with enough chilly feeling.

In other words, when the wearer of the clothes piece 70 on which the cooling device for clothes 1 is mounted is at the outside-air side 70out especially under the scorching sun of mid-summer, the temperature on the clothing inner side 70 in is sometimes lower than the temperature at the outside-air side 70out. The Peltier element 11 has the ability of absorbing the heat during heat exchange, and when the Peltier element 11 is to absorb the heat from the taken air AR by the same heat amount with the absorbed heat amount of the air AR at the high temperature on the outside-air side 70out, the taken air AR can be cooled at the further lower temperature by the heat exchange of the air AR at the low temperature on the clothing inner side 70 in by the Peltier element 11.

Accordingly, when the temperature on the clothing inner side 70 in is lower than the temperature on the outside-air side 70out, by taking the air AR from the clothing inner side 70 in rather than taking the air AR from the outside-air side 70out through the air intake port 31, the cooling device for clothes 1 can send the cool air CF, which has been cooled further, to the lower temperature by the cooling fins 13.

Further, when a wearer of the clothes piece 70 mounted with the cooling device for clothes 1 works under an indoor severe atmosphere such as working in an indoor facility under an atmosphere where powdery dust and greasy fumes float or under a humid and high-temperature atmosphere (the second usage environment), for example, intake of the air AR on the clothing inner side 70 in into the air intake port 31 achieves restraint of a bad influence on the cooling device for clothes 1 due to foreign matters other than the air AR in the indoor atmosphere.

Further, in the cooling device for clothes 1 according to the present embodiment, the air intake port is formed on the upper surface 30Aa of the upper member 30A of the housing 30 on the same side with the heat dissipation opening constituted by the first blower port 42 to take in the outside air (the air AR) in the second usage example, as shown in FIG. 10.

According to this feature, when a temperature difference between the air AR on the outside-air side 70out and the air AR on the clothing inner side 70 in is relatively small such as a certain degrees in Celsius (a third usage environment), intake of the air AR on the outside-air side 70out restrains resistance from occurring in the air AR flowing into the air intake port 31 as compared to the case of introducing the air AR from the clothing inner side 70 in where is an almost closed space.

Accordingly, in the cooling device for clothes 1, the air AR to be introduced in the air intake port 31 by the blast fan 20 can smoothly flow toward the Peltier element 11 (the cooling module 10), and thus the cool air CF can also be sent from the cool-air opening with smooth flow.

Further, the cooling device for clothes 1 according to the present embodiment includes the controller 15 that is configured to reverse the polarity of the direct current to be supplied to the Peltier element 11 to switch the operations of the first usage example or the second usage example.

According to this feature, in use of the cooling device for clothes 1, while there are various usage environments such as the above-mentioned first to third usage environments, the cooling device for clothes 1 can flexibly respond to the first usage example and the second usage example in accordance with the surrounding environment.

Furthermore, after the polarity of the direct current at the Peltier element 11 is reversed by operating the controller 15, only by reversing the orientation of the cooling device for clothes 1 housed in the pocket 71 of the clothes piece 70 from the clothing inner side 70 in to the outside-air side 70out or reversing the orientation from the outside-air side 70out to the clothing inner side 70in, usage conditions of the cooling device for clothes 1 can be easily switched between the first usage example and the second usage example.

Further, in the cooling device for clothes 1 according to the present embodiment, the housing 30 is inserted in the pocket 71 formed in the clothes piece 70, and at least one surface of the clothing inner side 70 in and the outside-air side 70out is formed with the mesh 74.

According to this feature, by forming the mesh 74 on the surface on the clothing inner side 70 in of the pocket 71, the air AR (the inside air) in the clothes piece 70 can be taken into the air intake port 31 of the cooling device for clothes 1, which is housed in the pocket 71, through the mesh 74.

Further, when the mesh 74 is formed on the surface on the outside-air side 70out of the pocket 71, the air AR on the outside-air side 70out can be taken into the air intake port 31 of the cooling device for clothes 1, which is housed in the pocket 71, through the mesh 74.

Further, when the meshes 74 are formed on the both surfaces of the pocket 71 on the clothing inner side 70 in and on the outside-air side 70out, the air AR taken into the air intake port 31 may include both the inside air and the outside air. Thereby, the cooling device for clothes 1 may be used in a case where the first usage example and the second usage example are selectively used.

The present invention has been explained along with the embodiment as above, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and may be applied with any appropriate modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, in the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the pockets 71 are arranged in the clothes piece 70 in positions of the neck, the armpits, and vicinities of the thighs to house the cooling device for clothes 1 in each pocket 71, but the illustration of FIG. 14 is only made in focusing on its visibility.

Accordingly, positions for arranging the cooling devices 1 in the clothes piece may not be the ones exactly illustrated in FIG. 14, and the positions are not limited to the ones in FIG. 14.

Namely, the cooling device for clothes 1 mounted on a pocket is arranged in a position in consideration with movability of an actual wearer of the clothes piece 70 especially focusing on cooling the neck, the armpits where perspire a lot, and the sides, and premising that the device can cool the blood in the artery which passes near these parts and can cool body parts where easily perspire in the body.

Further, in the embodiment, an outer shape of the cooling device for clothes 1 is formed as the ones illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, but the outer shape of the cooling device for clothes 1 is not limited to the embodiment and may be appropriately modified.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

- 1 Cooling device for clothes
- 11 Peltier element
- 12
  a One surface (of the Peltier element)
- 12
  b The other surface (an opposite surface) (of the Peltier element)
- 13 Cooling fin
- 14 Heat-dissipating fin
- 15 Controller
- 20 Blast fan
- 30 Housing
- 30Aa Upper surface (a surface of the housing)
- 31 Air intake port
- 42 First blower port (a cool-air opening in a first usage example and a heat dissipation opening in a second usage example)
- 43 First flange (a flange when the first blower port 42 is the cool-air opening in the first usage example)
- 45 Second blower port (the heat dissipation opening in the first usage example and the cool-air opening in the first usage example)
- 46 Second flange (a flange when the second blower port 45 is the cool-air opening in the second usage example)
- 70 Piece of clothes (clothes piece)
- 70 in Clothes inner side
- 70outq Outside-air side
- 71 Pocket (of the clothes piece)
- 72 Opening portion (of the clothes piece)
- 73 Inner-outer circumferential surface
- 74 Mesh
- 76 Reinforcing member
- AR Air
- HF Hot air
- CF Cool air

COOLING DEVICE FOR CLOTHES

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