Patent Application
20100293715
The present invention relates to temperature-controlled air circulation type bedding around which an air flow passage which allows the blowoff air from a temperature control unit to be introduced and circulated therethrough is provided so as to perform cooling or warming of the inside.
Conventionally, in order to obtain comfortable sleeping, people have performed a control by using bedding which is thick and has high heat insulation performance or by using bedding which is thin and has high moisture absorbency according to seasons or surrounding temperature or humidity. Moreover, on high-temperature and high-humidity sultry nights in summer, an air-conditioner has been operated to control the atmospheric air of the room itself to secure comfortable sleeping.) Additionally, when a person has a nap in an automobile, in a truck or a passenger car, comfortable sleeping has been secured by cooling by a car air-conditioner with an engine being brought into an idling state.
In the above conventional methods, year-round adjustment of the bedding is complicated, power consumption becomes large in the air conditioning of the whole room by the operation of an air-conditioner, and an idling operation is needed for cooling in an automobile. These also have a great influence on global warming accompanying not only power consumption but discharge of much carbon dioxide gas. For this reason, although the idling stop of the automobile has recently been greatly requested as an available measure for the reduction of carbon dioxide gas, practically, visible accomplishments do not appear, but a great environmental problem is caused.
Meanwhile, as shown in
Additionally, Patent Citation 2 shown in
However, the space (78) where a human being lies in the sleeping bag (53) described in Patent Citation 1 is formed by a frame (55) provided inside an insulated sheet (54). Since energy saving has been achieved by forming the space where the human being enters as small as possible to a required minimum, this sleep is greatly different from a sleep in Japanese-style bedding, and is different in terms of feeling or deep sleep effect. Additionally, since the configuration described in Patent Citation 2 is a mat, i.e., matting, this is also different from sleeping in Japanese-style bedding similarly to the above. Additionally, the configurations shown in these Patent Citations 1 and 2 merely deliver and circulate the air which has exchanged heat to the blower, and do not have a temperature control function, so that control to an environmental atmosphere according to the liking of an individual could not be made, and it was difficult to secure comfort.
The invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances, and the object of the invention is to provide temperature-controlled air circulation type bedding which introduces the blowoff air generated by a temperature control unit into an air flow passage provided around a bedding body so as to cool or warm the body of a person in the bedding, controls the blowoff air temperature to form a comfortable sleeping environment irrespective of external atmosphere temperature, suppresses discharge of carbon dioxide gas, etc. with a compact configuration, and has low power consumption.
In order to solve the above problems, the temperature-controlled air circulation type bedding of the invention includes a temperature control unit which controls the blowoff air temperature by a cooling or heating action, and a bedding body which is provided with a circumferential air flow passage which allows the blowoff air from the temperature control unit to be introduced and circulated therethrough, and cools or warms the inside thereof. The temperature of the air which circulates through the bedding is detected so that the temperature of the blowoff air is controlled by the temperature control unit.
According to the invention, the blowoff air temperature to the air flow passage to the periphery of the bedding is controlled to cool or warm the body of a person in the bedding from the periphery, so that a comfortable sleeping environment can be formed irrespective of an external atmosphere temperature, and bedding which is compact and has low electric power consumption can be obtained.
One embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Temperature-controlled air circulation type bedding (1) shown in the schematic perspective view of
As shown in
A compressor (9) which compresses and discharges refrigerant which forms part of a refrigeration cycle (8), a condenser (10) which receives, radiates, and condenses the discharged high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant, and a radiation fan (11) which cools high-temperature components, such as the compressor (9) and the condenser (10), are located on a bottom plate (5a), which is a rigid body which forms a bottom portion of the outer plate (5), thereby forming a machine chamber (7).
As shown in
The compressor (9) which is a heavy load in the machine chamber (7) is biased toward one side in a width direction on the bottom plate (5a), and is fixed via vibration-absorbing cushion bodies (15). The rectangular parallelepiped-shaped condenser (10) in which a meandered refrigerant pipe is fitted into a number of fins, and the depth dimension which is made small is erected along a suction opening (5b) in which the front face of the condenser having a large area is formed on the front face of the outer plate (5), and a filter (16) is provided between the suction opening (5b) and the condenser (10) so as to shield from dust, etc.
The radiation fan (11) including an axial flow fan is arranged on the back face of the condenser (10). When a cooling operation is performed, the compressor (9) and the radiation fan (11) are synchronously driven, and ambient air is sucked into the inside from the suction opening (5b) to cool the condenser (10) which has a high temperature, and the air which has performed heat exchange is radiated to the outside of the unit from an exhaust port formed in the bottom face of the outer plate (5). At this time, since the compressor (9) is positioned at a side portion in the machine chamber (7), and the compressor hardly receives a cooling action directly by the radiation fan (11), a drop in evaporation temperature caused by supercooling is prevented. Further, the depth dimension of the machine chamber (7) is shortened by arranging the compressor (9) and the radiation fan (11) so as not to overlap each other in the depth direction by a biased distance.
An upper space from the heat-insulating partition wall (6a) is used as a temperature control chamber (17) which generates cooled air or warmed air as a heat-insulating space in which a whole peripheral wall including atop face is formed by the heat-insulating wall (6), such as styrene foam. The evaporator (13) which is a portion of the refrigeration cycle (8) and which receives the refrigerant from the condenser (10) to evaporate the refrigerant during the cooling operation, thereby lowering the temperature of the refrigerant to generate cool air is arranged in an erected state substantially in the central portion of the space.
Similarly to the condenser (10), the evaporator (13) also assumes a rectangular parallelepiped shaped in which the depth dimension is made small from a meandered refrigerant pipe and a number of fins fitted into the refrigerant pipe. At the back of the evaporator, the blower fan (18) including a sirocco fan which has a diameter narrower than the width dimension of the evaporator (13), and a casing (19) are erected abreast of the evaporator (13) at a flat surface portion of the heat-insulating partition wall (6a).
The top face of the heat-insulating partition wall (6a) on which the evaporator (13) is placed forms a gutter portion (20) which is inclined downward toward one side; and receives melting water of the frost adhering to the evaporator (13) the temperature of which has become a low temperature, and the water collected in the gutter portion (20) is drained to the outside via the inside of the lower machine chamber (7).
A return air trunk (21), which is connected to a return duct (4a) of the coupling duct (4) with a bedding body (3) that is an object to be temperature-controlled which is arranged on the bottom face of the vehicle body so as to face the heat-insulating side wall (6b) and which sucks cool air into the temperature control chamber (17), is opened to an upper wall portion which is positioned slightly ahead of the erected position of the evaporator (13) in the heat-insulating side wall (6b) which forms one side wall of the temperature control chamber (17), and a blowoff air trunk (22) is opened from the casing (19) of the blower fan (18) so that the cool air is introduced into an intake port (25) as cool air for the bedding body (3) via a blowoff duct (4b) which leads to the blowoff air trunk (22). In addition, the tip of the return duct (4a) is connected to a return port (26) of the bedding body (3).
At this time, the return air trunk (21) and the blowoff air trunk (22) are opened while being shifted to positions where their axial centers in the vertical height direction and the depth direction of the heat-insulating side wall (6b) of the temperature control chamber (17) are made not to coincide with each other, the two openings (21) and (22) are disposed apart from each other, and the depth dimension as the temperature control unit (2) is made small.
The bedding body (3) has a so-called sleeping bag-like appearance, has an outer surface formed from a heat-insulating body and an inner surface formed from a flexible raw material which allows the passage of moisture, such as sweat, but does not allow the passage of air, and is adapted such that an air flow passage (27) which introduces and circulates the blowoff air from the temperature control unit (2) is provided between the outer surface and the inner surface to cool or warm the inside by a cooling or a warming operation.
Accordingly, if the heat insulation performance of the outer surface of the bedding body (3) is improved, heat leakage decreases. As a result, internal temperature fluctuations can be made small, and cooling or warming effects can be more efficiently obtained. Additionally, a coldness storage material, etc. may be disposed at a suitable portion of the bedding body (3) so as to suppress the range of temperature fluctuations, and the shape of the bedding body is also not limited to the sleeping bag shape, but may be only a lying mat or a sitting mat, or may be an integral configuration of the lying mat and the sitting mat, so long as the bedding body has an air flow passage through at least a portion of which air circulates.
The air flow passage (27) shown in
The blowoff duct (4b) and return duct (4a) of the coupling duct (4) are formed from a bellows-like tubular body so that the length dimension thereof can be adjusted, extends so as to incline toward the lower front side from one side of the temperature control chamber (17) of the temperature control unit (2), and is coupled with the intake port (25) and return port (26) which are provided at a longitudinal one end of the bedding body (3) installed at the bottom face of the vehicle body.
As shown in
The temperature sensor (30) is disposed in a horizontal state, and is adapted such that the return air from above the return port (26) is vertically blown against the temperature sensor (30), more exact temperature detection is allowed, and breakage is prevented by a flexible structure even if stepped on, by increasing the area of contact of the return air with a sensor part.
The temperature sensor (30) detects the air temperature which has flowed through the air flow passage (27) of the bedding body (3) and has reached the return port (26), and controls the operation of the compressor (9) in the temperature control unit (2) so as to supply the air cooled or warmed to a user's desired temperature into the air flow passage (27), and exactly detects the air temperature which flows through the air flow passage (27), thereby controlling the inside of a sleeping space in an always comfortable temperature state, even if there are various load fluctuations, such as heat leakage from the outer surface of the bedding body (3) caused by the ambient air and the heat generation load caused by the users body temperature.
The temperature sensor (30) is locked to a plate-like sensor fixture (31). The sensor fixture (31) has one end rotatably supported at the end of the cylindrical body (28), and is adapted to hold its horizontal state by always pushing a locking portion of the temperature sensor (31) against the bottom face of the return port (26) by a spring (32). As the position or spacing from the temperature control unit (2) are changed depending on the installation condition of the bedding body (3) that is a flexible member, for example, as shown in
In addition, the position where the temperature sensor (30) is installed is not limited to the above place. For example, as shown in
An upper portion of the heat-insulating wall (6) of the top face of the temperature control chamber (17) is used as a housing portion (33) for electrical components, such as a board, and a control panel (34) is arranged at the front face of the temperature control chamber so as to control the operation of the temperature control unit (2).
For example, when a cooling operation is performed, the temperature control can be made by a high-capability and high-efficiency cooling operation by performing such circulation that temperature-controlled cool air is generated by controlling flow passages by the four-way valve (14) of the refrigeration cycle (8) in the temperature control unit (2) so that the refrigerant from the compressor (9) is discharged to the condenser (10) and is evaporated in the evaporator (13), and this cool air is sent to the air flow passage (27) via the blowoff duct (4b) and the intake port (25) of the bedding body (3) from the blowoff air trunk (22) by the blower fan (18), cools the inside of the bedding body (3), and returns to the evaporator (13) in the temperature control chamber (17) via the return duct (4a) from the return port (26). Further, in case of a warming operation, the temperature of air is made high by switching the evaporator (13) to the condensation side by the four-way valve (14), and circulation air is warmed by heat exchange so as to be blown off toward the bedding body (3).
The bedding body (3) can obtain the temperature control effects for both cooling and warming by the employment of the four-way valve (14). However, when only the cooling action is used, a refrigeration cycle from which the four-way valve (14) is removed may be employed, and a stirring refrigerator may be used as a refrigerating machine.
By the above configuration, temperature controlled cool air or warm air is supplied to the bedding body (3) on the basis of the user's setting by the control panel (34) of the temperature control unit (2). Thus, an always comfortable sleeping space can be provided even under a variety of used environment conditions. If the installation space of the bedding body (3) is in an automobile, the cooling or warming capability of the whole cabin is not required, but it is sufficient if only the bedding body (3) is cooled or warmed. Therefore, the power consumption becomes minimum and economical, and the effect that the amount of emission of carbon dioxide gas can also be greatly suppressed by stopping idling is exhibited.
In addition, as shown in
Through such control, the operation of the compressor (9′) according to a temperature load is allowed. Further, by almost eliminating temperature fluctuations within the bedding body (3), a more comfortable sleeping environment can be obtained, and cooling or warming can be rapidly performed by a high-capability operation at the time of initial operation. Additionally, the intermittent operation of the compressor (9′) can be reduced, harsh noises during sleep can be suppressed, and consumed electric power can be reduced as operational loss decreases.
Additionally, as can be understood from
In case of a warming operation, although not particularly shown, contrary to the above, the OFF temperature of the temperature sensor (30) may be made constant, and the ON temperature may be made high along a dial plate position. If the control is made as described above, the operation of the bedding body (3) with low temperature fluctuation can be performed by the temperature control unit (2).
If the controller of the temperature control unit (2) adopts a remote control method by radio using an infrared ray, and is set in a suitable place around the bedding body (3), the user can control operation easily in a state where the user enters the bedding body (3) and lies down, and the operation may be controlled by a voice using a microphone.
Moreover, if sleep detecting sensors through the measurement of brain waves, and pulse waves or cardiac beats which have waveforms according to pressure changes in the blood extruded from the heart, and electrocardiographic measurement are used, and the control is performed such that a little strong cooling is made at the onset of sleeping and the temperature is rather raised after the onset of sleep, while the sleeping state of a person in the bedding is detected, a finer temperature atmosphere can be formed, and not only comfortable sleep but rising time can be controlled.
The following configuration may be adopted instead of the refrigeration cycle of the temperature control unit (2) in the above embodiment. That is, as shown in
In this configuration, the temperature control unit (2) is simpler, there is no driving part in which the compressor is not used, silencing can be achieved, weight saving can be achieved, and a unit which is strong against vibration can be obtained.
Additionally, as shown in
In addition, although the temperature-controlled air circulation type bedding (1) including the temperature control unit (2) and bedding body (3) to be used in vehicles, such as a truck, has been described in the above respective embodiments, the invention is not limited to the vehicle-mounted bedding, and can also be utilized not only for individuals at home but for hospitals, and can also be widely spread and used for outdoors. As long as a case where these objects are used in the open air is taken into consideration, not only an alternator but a battery may be used as a power source.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-278523 | Oct 2007 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2008/069057 | 10/21/2008 | WO | 00 | 7/9/2010 |
