JPH0959607A - Regenerator - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) 【Abstract】 PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: It is possible to use comfortably without feeling too cold even if it is brought into direct contact with the skin, and it is not necessary to wrap it with a cloth. Avoid condensation on the surface of the bag. Even if the same regenerator material is used, the cooling effect lasts longer than the conventional regenerator using a bag made of a plastic sheet. A bag 1 is made up of a cloth-like material 2 having a layer containing air, and a cold storage material 3 is housed in the bag 1. As the cloth-like material 2, for example, a cloth 2a lined with a waterproof layer 2b (preferably brushed) or at least a part made of a foam material such as polyurethane foam can be used. The problem can be solved by the heat insulating effect of the layer containing air.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a regenerator that contains a regenerator that functions as a coolant similar to ice or the like when cooled.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional regenerator of this type, a regenerator containing a regenerator in a bag made of a plastic sheet has been widely used.

Further, as the regenerator material contained in the bag, water containing a thickener, a freezing point depressant, and a gelling agent has been used.

[0004]

However, the regenerator in which the regenerator material is contained in the bag made of the conventional plastic sheet is placed in contact with the skin for the purpose of cooling each part of the human body such as an ice bag or an ice pillow. However, there are the following drawbacks.

(A) When it comes into direct contact with the skin, it feels too cold, so it is necessary to prepare a separate cloth and wrap it with the cloth before use. (B) Dew condensation occurs on the surface of the bag, and it feels uncomfortable (even if wrapped with a cloth, a relatively large space is created between the cloth and the bag, so dew condensation still occurs and the cloth gets wet) . (C) The surface temperature is low at first, but the temperature rises within a relatively short time, and the cooling effect is lost.

Further, the conventional cold storage material prepared by adding a thickening agent, a freezing point depressant, and a gelling agent to water has the following drawbacks. Table 1 is a table in which the characteristics of the conventional regenerator material are summarized in the table. In Table 1 (the same applies to Table 2 shown later), "flexibility", "flexibility", and "shape restoration" The terms indicate the characteristics when the regenerator material is housed in a bag, of which "flexibility" means flexibility when cooled, and "flexibility" means whether or not it can be bent when cooled. “Shape repairability” indicates whether or not the shape can be restored to its original shape in a cooled state when the original shape is cooled by a deformed shape. Further, in each table, “◯” means good, “Δ” means good, and “x” means bad.

[0007]

[Table 1] This will be described in more detail. Among the conventional cold storage materials, the cold storage material (a) in which a thickener is added to water and the cold storage material (c) in which a gelling agent is added to water are liquid or gel at room temperature. However, when it is cooled, it becomes a lump like a piece of ice and hardens and solidifies, and there is a problem that it is uncomfortable for the user when it is used in contact with the body as an ice sac or ice pillow, for example. . There was also a problem that it would be dangerous if dropped. Further, since these regenerator materials cannot be bent when cooled and solidified, there is also a problem that after they are cooled, they cannot be bent and housed in a narrow space such as a cooler. It was

Further, when the cold accumulating material (a) obtained by adding a thickening material to water is cooled in a deformed shape from its original shape, it cannot be returned to its original shape in a cooled state. (For example, even though the shape suitable for use as an ice pillow is the original shape, if it is cooled and solidifies in a deformed shape, it is suitable for use as an ice pillow in the cooled state. There is also the problem that it cannot be restored to its original shape.

Further, the conventional cold accumulating materials (b) and (d) whose freezing point is lowered by adding a freezing point depressant to water in addition to the thickening agent or gelling agent do not solidify even when cooled. Since it remains liquid, it can bend while maintaining flexibility, but since it does not absorb heat due to latent heat,
There is a problem that the cold storage property is significantly deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is that it does not feel too cold even if it is brought into direct contact with the skin and can be used comfortably,
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a regenerator that does not require the use of a cloth separately wrapped around it.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a regenerator which can prevent dew condensation on the surface of the bag.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a regenerator having a longer cooling effect than the conventional regenerator using a bag made of a plastic sheet, even if the same regenerator material is used. .

Another object of the present invention is to provide a regenerator material which can satisfy both flexibility and / or flexibility and regenerator ability.

Further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.

[0015]

The regenerator according to the present invention comprises:
A bag constituted by a cloth-like object having a layer containing air,
The regenerator material is contained in the bag. The cloth-like material is composed of, for example, a cloth and a waterproof layer made of plastic or the like provided on the back side of the cloth, or at least a part of the layers is made of a material made of a foam material.

[0016] In one embodiment of the present invention, the regenerator material contains water-absorbent resin powder that has absorbed water, or microcapsules containing water. If necessary, in addition to the water-absorbent resin powder having absorbed water or the microcapsules containing water, rubber or / and a thermoplastic elastomer powder may be contained. If necessary, hydrophobic powder may be added to the water-absorbent resin powder that has absorbed water or microcapsules that contain water. Further, if necessary, in addition to the water-absorbent resin powder having absorbed water or the microcapsules containing water, a powder of rubber or / and a thermoplastic elastomer and a hydrophobic powder are contained.

In the present invention, the water-absorbent resin powder that has absorbed water fulfills a cold storage function by containing water, and at the same time, by being powdery, it has flexibility in the cold storage material,
It is possible to provide flexibility and shape repairability.

As the water absorbent resin in the present invention, for example, polyacrylic acid type, isobutylene / maleic acid type,
PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) / polyacrylic acid type,
An extremely wide range of PVA-based, starch-based, cellulose-based, or polyacrylamide-based water-absorbent resins can be used. The water absorption amount of the water absorbent resin in the present invention is preferably about 5 to 1000 times, and particularly preferably about 10 to 20 times that of the water absorbent resin. If this amount of water absorption is small, the cold storage property will deteriorate, and if it is too large, the particles of the water absorbent resin will stick to each other and harden, resulting in deterioration of flexibility, flexibility and shape repairability. The particle diameter of the water absorbent resin in the present invention is preferably about several tens of μ to several hundreds of μ.

The microcapsules containing water according to the present invention have the same function as the powder of the water-absorbent resin that has absorbed water, but the material forming the capsule shell is polystyrene resin or styrene elastomer. A wide range of materials such as cellulose acetate, polyvinyl chloride and polyester can be used.

In the present invention, the powder of rubber and thermoplastic elastomer imparts flexibility to the regenerator material due to its rubber elasticity. The rubber or thermoplastic elastomer in the present invention may be any one as long as it has appropriate flexibility and rubber elasticity and does not block, and an extremely wide range can be used. Further, two or more kinds of these rubbers or thermoplastic elastomers may be used in combination. The particle diameter of the rubber or the thermoplastic elastomer in the present invention is preferably about several tens μ to several hundreds μ.

Further, in the present invention, the hydrophobic powder has a function of preventing particles or microcapsules of the water absorbent resin from sticking to each other and solidifying. However, when microcapsules are used without using the water-absorbent resin powder, and when the shells of the microcapsules are made of plastic or the like, the surface of these shells is treated with water like the surface of the particles of the water-absorbent resin. Since there is no such substance, they do not stick to each other, and it is not necessary to mix such hydrophobic powders. However, even when microcapsules are used, it is preferable to mix such a hydrophobic powder when the shell is made of an elastomer or the like that causes blocking. As the hydrophobic powder in the present invention, a very wide range can be used, for example, hydrophobic plastics such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride and polypropylene, and powders of silica, talc, calcium carbonate, clay and the like can be used. The particle size of the hydrophobic powder in the present invention is preferably about several tens of μm to several tens of μ.

By adding a surfactant to the cold storage material as described above, affinity is generated between different particles, and particles of the same kind among the particles constituting the cold storage material adhere to each other. It is possible to further improve the flexibility, bendability and shape-recoverability of the cold storage material by preventing various kinds of particles from being solidified and keeping them in a uniformly dispersed state. The same effect can be obtained by adding a lubricant such as lubricating oil.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below based on Examples.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the regenerator according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the bag 1 is formed by heat-sealing a cloth-like material 2 formed by bonding a waterproof layer 2b made of a soft plastic such as polyethylene to the back surface (inner surface side) of a raised cloth 2a. Has been done. In this bag 1, the regenerator materials 3 having the compositions as shown in the following composition examples 1 to 4 were prepared and sealed.

Composition Example 1 (1) Powder of water-absorbent resin consisting of copolymer of acrylic acid and PVA that absorbed 10 times its own weight: 60% by weight (2) Powder of styrene elastomer: 37% by weight (3 ) Silica fine powder (hydrophobic powder) ... 3% by weight [Composition example 2] (1) Powder of water-absorbent resin composed of a copolymer of acrylic acid and PVA that has absorbed 10 times its own weight ... 75% by weight (2) Styrene Elastomer powder: 25% by weight (3) Silica fine powder (hydrophobic powder): 5% by weight [Composition example 3] (1) Water-absorbent resin composed of a copolymer of acrylic acid and PVA that has absorbed 10 times its own weight of water 85% by weight (2) Styrene-based elastomer powder 12% by weight (3) Silica fine powder (hydrophobic powder) 3% by weight [Composition example 4] (1) Acrylic acid that absorbs water 10 times its own weight Copolymerization of PVA Powder of water absorbent resin consisting of 97% by weight (2) Silica fine powder (hydrophobic powder) 3% by weight The particle size of the fine silica powder in each of the above composition examples is about several tens of μm to several μm. .

In this regenerator, the surface side of the cloth-like material 2 constituting the bag 1 is formed by the cloth 2a. Since this cloth 2a forms a layer containing air and exhibits a heat insulating effect, it directly contacts the skin. It does not feel too cold when touched and can be used comfortably. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately prepare a cloth and wrap it with the cloth, unlike the conventional regenerator.

Further, because of the heat insulating effect, the difference between the outside air and the surface temperature can be reduced, so that dew condensation can be prevented from occurring on the surface of the bag 1.

Due to the heat insulating effect, even if the same regenerator material is used, the cooling effect lasts longer than the conventional regenerator using a bag made of a plastic sheet (for example, the surface temperature is 0 ° C.). You can keep the cooling effect for a long time while keeping it near).

When the cloth 2a is raised as in this embodiment, the cloth 2a forms a heat insulating layer containing a larger amount of air, so that the heat insulating effect is further increased and a better result is obtained.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the cloth 2a is lined with the waterproof layer 2b made of soft plastic, there is no risk of water inside leaking out to the cloth 2a side, and the water inside the waterproof layer 2b does not leak out. Since it does not enter, it is possible to wash the bag 1 when it becomes dirty. Further, the bag 1 can be sewn easily and at low cost by heat sealing as described above.

In this regenerator, even if the conventional regenerator material is accommodated, the above-mentioned excellent effect can be obtained, but by accommodating the regenerator material 3 as in the adjustment example,
Further excellent effects as described below can be obtained.

Table 2 is a table in which the flexibility, bendability, cold storage properties and shape restoration properties of the cold storage device of FIG. 1 containing the cold storage materials 3 of the above composition examples 1 to 4 are summarized.

[0033]

[Table 2] This will be described in more detail. In Composition Example 1, in addition to the water absorbent resin powder, a thermoplastic elastomer powder and a hydrophobic powder are contained, and the ratio of the water absorbent resin powder is relatively reduced. ing. The regenerator material of Composition Example 1 maintains a powder state as a whole even after cooling, and since the powder of the thermoplastic elastomer exhibits rubber elasticity, it is rich in flexibility and elasticity even after cooling. Therefore, for example, when brought into contact with the body as an ice sac or ice pillow, the user feels more comfortable. Further, as described above, since the powder state is maintained as a whole after cooling, the flexibility and shape retention are also good. Furthermore, in the case of this composition example, since the ratio of the powder of the water absorbent resin is relatively small, the cold storage property is relatively lowered,
Since the water-absorbent resin absorbs a large amount of heat due to the latent heat of the absorbed water, it is still possible to obtain a cold storage property that can withstand sufficient use.

Similar to Composition Example 1, Composition Example 2 also contains a powder of a thermoplastic elastomer and a hydrophobic powder in addition to the powder of a water-absorbent resin. The ratio of the powder of the thermoplastic resin is slightly increased, while the ratio of the powder of the thermoplastic elastomer is slightly decreased.
Thereby, the cold storage property is improved as compared with the composition example 1, and all of the flexibility, the flexibility, the cold storage property and the shape restoration property are good.

Similar to Composition Example 1, Composition Example 3 contains a powder of a thermoplastic elastomer and a hydrophobic powder in addition to the powder of a water absorbent resin. While the proportion is increased, the proportion of the thermoplastic elastomer powder is further reduced. Therefore, the cold storage property is further improved as compared with Composition Example 2, while the flexibility is slightly deteriorated (however, it still shows sufficient flexibility).

Composition Example 4 contains no rubber powder or thermoplastic elastomer powder, contains only the water-absorbent resin powder and the hydrophobic powder, and has a very large proportion of the water-absorbent resin powder. There is something. Since the ratio of the powder of the water absorbent resin is very large, it shows a high degree of cold storage.
Further, since it does not contain rubber powder or thermoplastic elastomer powder, it is poor in flexibility. However, since the powder state is maintained as a whole even after cooling, a certain degree of flexibility and shape-recovering property can be obtained.

In the above-mentioned Preparation Examples 1 to 4, the water-absorbent resin that absorbed water was used, but the same action and effect can be obtained by using microcapsules containing water instead of the water-absorbed resin that absorbed water. it can.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the bag 1 has a cloth-like material 4 formed by bonding a waterproof layer 4b made of non-foamed soft plastic to the back side (inner side) of a sheet-shaped material 4a made of a foamed material such as urethane foam. It is configured by sewing with heat sealing or the like. A regenerator material 3 is sealed in the bag 1.

Also in this embodiment, since the sheet-like material 4a of the cloth-like material 4 constituting the bag 1 forms a layer containing air and exhibits a heat insulating effect, it may feel too cold even if it is brought into direct contact with the skin. It can be used comfortably, and there is no need to prepare a separate cloth and wrap it with the cloth like the conventional regenerator. Further, due to the heat insulating effect, dew condensation does not occur on the surface of the bag 1, and even if the same regenerator material is used, the cooling effect is longer than that of the regenerator using the bag 1 made of a conventional plastic sheet. continue.

If a foam material having closed cells and having a waterproof property is used, it is not necessary to line the sheet material 4a with the waterproof layer 4b. Further, in this case, the sheet-like material 4a made of the foamed material of the closed cells may be provided not on the front surface side but on the back surface side, and another layer may be provided on the front surface side. Further, if a sheet material in which only the front surface side is foamed and the back surface side is non-foamed is used, it is necessary to line this sheet material with the waterproof layer 4b even if the front surface side is foamed with open cells. There is no.

[0041]

As described above, the regenerator material of the present invention is (a)
It does not feel too cold even if it comes in direct contact with the skin, it can be used comfortably, there is no need to prepare a separate cloth and wrap it with that cloth, (b) Prevent condensation on the surface of the bag (C) Even if the same regenerator material is used, the cooling effect lasts longer than the conventional regenerator using a bag made of a plastic sheet. (D) Absorbed water-absorbent resin or By using the cold storage material containing the microcapsules containing water, excellent effects such as satisfying both flexibility and / or flexibility and cold storage performance can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 bag 2 cloth-like material 2a cloth 2b waterproof layer 3 cool storage material 4 cloth-like material 4a sheet-like material made of foam material 4b waterproof layer

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A regenerator having a bag formed of a cloth-like material having a layer containing air and a regenerator material accommodated in the bag. 2. The regenerator according to claim 1, wherein the cloth-like material includes a cloth and a waterproof layer provided on a back surface side of the cloth. 3. The regenerator according to claim 2, wherein the cloth is raised. 4. The regenerator according to claim 2, wherein the waterproof layer is made of plastic. 5. The regenerator according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the layer of the cloth-like material is made of a foam material. 6. The regenerator according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein the regenerator material contains water-absorbent resin powder that has absorbed water. 7. The regenerator according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein the regenerator material contains water-absorbent resin powder that has absorbed water and rubber or / and a thermoplastic elastomer powder. 8. The regenerator material comprises a water-absorbent resin powder that has absorbed water, and a hydrophobic powder.
Or the regenerator described in 5. 9. The regenerator material contains water absorbent resin powder that has absorbed water, rubber or / and thermoplastic elastomer powder, and hydrophobic powder.
Or the regenerator described in 5. 10. The regenerator according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein the regenerator material comprises microcapsules containing water. 11. The regenerator material comprises microcapsules containing water, and rubber or / and thermoplastic elastomer powders.
The regenerator described. 12. The regenerator material comprises microcapsules containing water and a hydrophobic powder.
Regenerator according to 3, 4, or 5. 13. The regenerator material comprises microcapsules containing water, rubber or / and thermoplastic elastomer powder, and hydrophobic powder.
Regenerator according to 3, 4, or 5.