JPH09467A - Water discharging means - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enable a user to handle various kinds of water discharging means in the optimum form for the user and to improve the operability of the discharging means, such as shower head by forming at least a handle part of a shape memory resin of a thermal restoration type. CONSTITUTION: The shower head as the water discharging means has the handle part 1 and a water sprinkling head 2 disposed at its front end. A connector 3 to be inserted into a holder in order to fix and hold the shower head is connected to a base end and a hose 4 is inserted form the connector 2 through the handle part 1 to the part of the water sprinkling head 2. In such a case, the handle part 1 is formed of the shape memory polymer utilizing the polyurethane high-polymer material in such a manner that each of users obtains a good suitable shape and form when using the means by handling the handle part 1 with his hand. The shape-memory polymer is glassy and solid at a temp. lower than a certain specific transition region temp. (for example, 55 deg.C) and the turns rubber-like, has flexibility and is freely deformable at the transition region temp. or above.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water spouting tool such as a shower head, and more particularly to a water spouting tool which can be used in the most convenient form for each user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A shower head provided in a bathroom is often used by hanging it on a hanger fixed to a wall or by holding it in a hand. For this reason, the condition of the design is that the shower head has a shape that can be hung on a hanger and that is convenient for grasping with a hand.

Further, when taking a shower, if soap or shampoo is attached, it is slippery even if the shower head is strongly held. For this reason, it is also necessary to make it easy to hold by the hand and to prevent slippage.

To handle such a shower, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-7653, if the surface of the shower head is provided with projections and depressions so that the fingertips can be hung, a grip is provided. Easy to slip and hard to slip.

[0005]

However, there are various kinds of people who use the shower, and the size of the hand is different, for example, from children to adults or the elderly, and the power to grip the handle is also different from person to person. Is. Further, even the shape of the shower head that can be used by a normal person without any hindrance may cause difficulty in use for a physically handicapped person or a person who has various hand diseases. For example, when using a shower, if the hose sways due to the pressure of water supply and the shower head vibrates or shakes, it may be very difficult to handle, and the same applies when it is slippery with soap or shampoo. .

As described above, the number of users is unspecifically varied, while the shower head has one specific shape, it is not possible to obtain a shower head that is easy for all to use. But it is impossible. Therefore,
Even if it is supplied as a product designed with an easy-to-use shower head shape, it can be inferred that it is still used without any inconvenience.

It can be said that the cause of such a problem is that the shower head is optimally designed on the basis of general use conditions. That is, it is inconvenient for users who are out of the standard range because the basic design is to be easy to use for a large number of people with standard usability. Such a problem is not limited to the shower head, and is also applicable to various water discharge tools that are held in the hand.

[0008] The problem to be solved in the present invention is to improve the usability by making it possible to handle various water dischargers in an optimal form for each user.

[0009]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a water spouting tool having a gripping portion which discharges a supply fluid such as water supply or hot water supply and can be gripped and operated by a hand, and at least the gripping portion is of a heat restoration type. It is characterized by being made of shape memory resin.

It is also possible to attach a holder having a shape capable of holding the hand to the grip portion as a separate body, and make this holder made of a heat-recoverable shape memory resin.

In this case, the holder can be provided with an annular operation ring into which the hand can be inserted, and at one end of the holder, a mounting seat that can be inserted into the grip portion can be provided and a peripheral wall of the mounting seat can be provided. It is also possible to make a slit in which a part is cut out, and also to make the mounting seat, and also to use a heat-recoverable shape memory resin.

[0012]

The heat-recoverable shape memory resin becomes flexible like a rubber at a temperature higher than the transition region temperature and becomes hard like a glass at a temperature lower than the transition region temperature. Therefore, in order to optimize the preset basic shape for each user, the gripping part and the holding tool should be heated to the transition region temperature or higher to soften them and then shaped into a predetermined shape. It may be solidified by exposing it to a low temperature.

When the grip portion of the water discharger is made of a heat-recoverable shape memory resin, the grip portion can be used in a shape convenient for the user. Similarly, the holder attached to the grip of the water spouting tool can be set to be most convenient for each user, and the usability can be improved even if the shape of the body of the water spouting tool is uniform.

If a holder is provided with an annular seat and a slit is opened so that the holder can be enlarged and reduced, and this annular seat portion is also made of a heat-recoverable shape memory resin, the outside of the body of the water discharger. Even if the diameter changes, it can be attached to the main body by shaping the annular seat according to this.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the essential part showing an example in which the water discharger of the present invention is applied to a shower head.

In the figure, the shower head is provided with a grip portion 1 for gripping and holding it in a hand and a sprinkling head 2 provided at its tip, and is inserted into a holder (not shown) for fixing and holding the shower head. The connector 3 is connected to the base end, and the hose 4 is inserted from the connector 2 through the grip portion 1 to the water spraying head 2.

The water sprinkling head 2 is provided with water sprinkling plates 2a and 2b at two internal positions, and these water sprinkling plates 2a and 2b are also provided.
A switching valve 2c for switching the flow path from the hose 4 to the b side is provided, and a switching handle 2d is provided on the upper surface. The connector 3 is formed by inserting a hose 4 and penetrating a holding hole 3a capable of fixing the hose 4, and holds the tip of the hose 4 in the sprinkling head 2. And these sprinkling head 2 and connector 3
Is made of synthetic resin, for example, and its shape is kept constant.

The gripping portion 1 is of a size such that it can be used by grasping the circumference of the body with a hand, and its tip and base ends are integrally connected to the sprinkling head 2 and the connector 3, respectively. Further, the lower surface side of the grip portion 1 has an outer shape having gentle unevenness so that the grip portion 1 can be easily gripped when gripped by a hand.

Here, the shape of the gripping portion 1 can be freely changed so that when the gripping portion 1 is used while being held by hand, a shape and form suitable for each user can be obtained.

Such a shape change is performed by using the shape memory polymer using a polyurethane-based polymer material and the grip portion 1
It is possible by making. This shape-memory polymer is one of the heat-recoverable shape-memory resins, and has a property of returning to a memorized (basic shape) by heating like a widely known shape-memory alloy. That is, at a temperature lower than a certain transition region temperature, it becomes hard like glass, while at a temperature above the transition region temperature, it becomes rubber-like and has flexibility, and at this time, it can be freely deformed. .

The maximum operating temperature of the shower is 50 ° C.
Therefore, if the shape memory polymer used for the grip portion 1 has a transition region temperature of 55 ° C. or higher, the grip portion 1 will not be softened at the ambient temperature of use.

In the example of FIG. 1, the gripping portion 1 has a shape almost close to a straight line, with only the upper end of the gripping portion 1 being slightly bent forward. Even if such a shape is used as a standard specification, for example, as shown in FIG.
It can also be used by transforming it into a shape that bends to the front.

Such deformation of the grip portion 1 is, for example, 9
Prepare hot water of about 0 ° C. and pour it over the whole of the grip portion 1, or soak it in hot water to heat it. By this heating, when the temperature exceeds the transition region temperature of the shape memory polymer, the grip portion 1 is softened, and at this time, the grip portion 1 is actually gripped and deformed so as to fit the hand. After this deformation, if the gripper 1 is cooled by immersing it in water or soaking it to lower the transition region temperature, the gripper 1 can be used in an appropriate shape.

Due to the deformation of the grip portion 1 as described above, FIG.
Also, not only the shape of the grip portion 1 shown in FIG. 2 but also the water spraying head 2 side can be changed to a posture in which the side is warped upward, and the usability can be improved as a shape convenient for the user.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an example in which the shape of a holder provided attached to the grip portion of the shower head can be changed.

The shower head of the illustrated example has the simplest structure. A water spray plate 5a is provided at the tip of the main body 5 and a hose 5b connected to the flow path to the water spray plate 5a side is provided at the base end. Be prepared. The main body 5 is made of a synthetic resin like the conventional one, and the body around the waist can be grasped with the hand, and the holder 6 fixed to the distal end side can also be used.

The holder 6 integrally includes a mounting ring 6a which is externally inserted in the body portion of the main body 5, an arm 6b protruding outward from the mounting ring 6a, and an operating ring 6c integrally provided at the tip of the arm 6b. It was formed. Then, except for the attachment ring 6a, the arm 6b and the operation ring 6c are made of a shape memory polymer using a polyurethane polymer material as in the above example.

Also in this example, the shapes of the arm 6b and the operating ring 6c can be arbitrarily changed, and for example, the operating ring can be changed by bending the arm 6b further downward or swinging to the left or right instead of the illustrated example. The position of 6c with respect to the main body 5 can be freely changed. In addition, the operation ring 6
By changing the shape of c itself to a flat oval shape or the like instead of the ring shape similar to the circular shape shown in the figure, the shape of the operation ring 6c suitable for each user can be obtained.

4 to 6 show another example of the holder for the shower head.

In FIG. 4, the holder 7 is an attachment ring 7a which can be fixed by being fitted around the body of the showerhead body 5.
And an arm 7b extending along the longitudinal direction of the main body 1 facing the side opposite to the water spray plate 5a, and made of a shape memory polymer using a polyurethane polymer material as in the previous example. Has been done.

In the example of FIG. 4, the arm 7b of the holder 7 has a shape that widens away toward the base end side of the main body 1. With such a shape, it is possible to insert the hand between the main body 5 and the arm 7b when grasping the circumference of the main body 5 with the hand, and to use the arm 7b on the hand. it can.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, if the lower end side of the arm 7b is gently bent so as to approach the main body 5, the main body 5 and the arm 7b can be grasped as if they are holding their hands, For a person with a large hand, it is more convenient to hold the main body 5 and the arm 7b together in this way.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing another example of the holder 8, which is a slit 8c in which a part of the peripheral wall of the mounting seat 8a is opened.

Since the holder 8 is made of a heat restoration type synthetic resin, even if the outer diameter around the body of the shower head body 1 changes, it can be easily dealt with by changing the inner diameter of the mounting seat 8a including the slit 8c. . That is, since the mounting seat 8a is divided into two forks by the slit 8c, when the outer diameter of the main body 5 of the shower head is large, the inner diameter of the mounting seat 8a is also increased to widen the width of the slit 8c. Thus, it is possible to attach and fix it to the main body 1.

As described above, the free deformation of the holders 6, 7, and 8 and the shape retention in the steady state shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 not only facilitate the handling when used by hand, but also The holders 6, 7, and 8 can be attached without being limited to the specifications of the main body 5. Therefore, although the holders 6, 7 and 8 are apparently supplied as a single specification product, the user can effectively use their deformability and use them as equipment corresponding to various purposes. You can

Although the shower head has been described in the embodiment, a similar structure can be applied to a water spouting device such as a hand sprayer or a hand-held mouth washing device instead.

[0037]

According to the present invention, since the shape of the grip of the water spouting tool and the holder attached to the spouting tool can be arbitrarily changed, it is possible to diversify the personalized specifications of the respective appropriate shapes that differ for each user, and It can be handled more easily. Further, by making the shape easy for the user to use, even if vibration or blurring occurs when water is spouted or it becomes slippery with soap, shampoo, etc., it can be used without dropping the water spouting tool.

Further, if a slit is cut into the annular seat of the holder to make it deformable, even if the outer diameter or shape of the body of the water discharger changes variously, it can be deformed so as to follow it. It can be attached to an existing water spout and can be easily attached to an existing water spout. If the holder can be detached by utilizing the deformation caused by heating, the holder can be easily deformed so as to be easy for each person to use when detached, and the versatility as a simple tool is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a main part of a shower head as an example of a water discharger of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a state in which the grip portion of the shower head of FIG. 1 is bent forward.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an example in which a main body of a shower head is provided with a holder provided with an operation ring.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a shower head including another example of a holder.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view when the holder of FIG. 4 is deformed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a holder in which a mounting ring is provided with a slit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 gripping part 2 sprinkling head 3 connector 4 hose 5 main body 6 retainer 6a mounting ring 6b arm 6c operating ring 7 retainer 7a mounting ring 7b arm 7c slit 8 retainer 8a mounting seat 8b arm 8c slit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A water spouting tool having a gripping part capable of discharging a supply fluid such as hot water supply and hot water supply and being gripped by a hand, wherein at least the gripping part is made of a heat-recoverable shape memory resin. . 2. A water spouting tool having a gripping part that discharges a supply fluid such as hot water supply and hot water supply and can be operated by gripping it with a hand, and a holding tool separate from the gripping part so that a hand can be hooked. A water spouting tool, which is attached as described above, and in which the holder is made of a heat-recoverable shape memory resin. 3. The water spouting tool according to claim 2, wherein the holder is provided with an annular operation ring into which a hand can be inserted. 4. A heat-recoverable shape memory including a mounting seat that can be inserted into the grip portion at one end of the holder and a slit formed by cutting a part of a peripheral wall of the mounting seat. The water discharger according to claim 2, which is made of resin.