JP3656984B2 - Hose for vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner hose incorporating a conductor.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as this type of hose, there is a suction hose for a vacuum cleaner in which a strip made of synthetic resin is spirally wound to form a flexible hose, and a conductor is accommodated in a cavity formed in the strip. It is known as Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-21973.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the hose, since the cavity for housing the conductor is formed by bending the end of the strip, the hose manufacturing process is complicated and the cavity is not sufficiently large. There is no space in which the body can move freely, and movement in the hose radial direction is restricted when the hose is bent. As a result, there is a possibility that the conductor may break due to stress. In addition, from this, it is necessary to use a conductor having a certain thickness that can withstand the stress, leading to an increase in the cost of the hose.
[0004]
In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a hose for a vacuum cleaner in which a conductor constituting an electric circuit for a remote switch, a power brush drive or the like is built in a space in which the conductor can freely move within the hose. With the goal.
[0005]
Moreover, it aims at providing the hose for vacuum cleaners which does not fracture | rupture even if it uses a cheap thin wire as said conductor.
[0006]
At the same time, the above vacuum cleaner hose is provided without using vinyl chloride resin (PVC), which tends to be restricted in use because its waste combustion products generate toxic gas in recent global environmental problems. For the purpose.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention uses the following configuration as means.
(1) A hose in which a helix wall made of a soft synthetic resin is attached to a hose reinforcement made of a hard synthetic resin and retained, and a conductor is inserted into the helix reinforcement. A vacuum cleaner hose characterized in that a space is formed around the conductor inside and the conductor is movable in the space .
(2) The vacuum cleaner hose according to (1), wherein the conductor is a bare stranded copper wire.
(3) The hose wall is formed of a thermoplastic elastomer excluding vinyl chloride, and the helical reinforcing body is formed of a hard synthetic resin compatible with the thermoplastic elastomer. hose.
(4) The hose for a vacuum cleaner according to the above (1), wherein at least two spiral reinforcing bodies are attached to the hose wall.
(5) The vacuum cleaner hose according to (1) above, wherein a plurality of conductors are incorporated in one spiral reinforcing body.
(6) The hose for an electric vacuum cleaner according to (4), wherein the four spiral reinforcing bodies are attached to the hose wall.
(7) The hose for a vacuum cleaner according to (6) above, wherein no conductor is incorporated in one of the four spiral reinforcing bodies.
[0008]
【Example】
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.
1 shows the overall appearance of the vacuum cleaner, FIG. 2 shows the entire shape of the tube wall of the hose of the present invention in section, and FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the tube wall. It is.
[0009]
A flexible hose 1 according to the present invention is formed by attaching two spiral reinforcing bodies 3a and 3b made of a hard synthetic resin to the outer peripheral surface of a hose wall 2 made of a soft synthetic resin at a double pitch, One end of the flexible hose 1 is connected to an air inlet provided in the vacuum cleaner main body 10 of the electric vacuum cleaner via a connection pipe 11, and the other end of the flexible hose 1 is connected to the hand operation unit 12. An extension pipe 13 and then a floor nozzle 14 are continuously connected to the operation unit 12 to constitute a vacuum cleaner.
[0010]
The hose wall 2 is made of a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) excluding vinyl chloride, such as olefinic TPE, styrene TPE, urethane TPE, hydrogenated styrene butadiene rubber (HSBR) or an extruded melt tape made of a mixed material thereof. The resulting strip is spirally wound and its side edges are joined together by fusion.
[0011]
The spiral reinforcement 3 is formed by extrusion molding of a hard synthetic resin that is compatible with TPE or the like forming the hose wall 2 and can be heat-sealed, for example, a polypropylene resin such as polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE). The hose wall 2 is spirally wound around and fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the hose wall 2. It is preferable to select a hard synthetic resin that forms the helical reinforcement 3 having a high hardness.
[0012]
A conductor 4 made of a bare stranded copper wire (for example, 10 twisted copper wires having a diameter of 0.12 mm) is inserted in the spiral reinforcing body 3 with play. A moving space 5 is formed around 4 and the spiral reinforcing body 3. The conductor 4 is inserted in advance in the center of the extrusion head when the hard synthetic resin forming the spiral reinforcing body 3 is extruded from the extrusion head, and the conductor 4 is internally inserted when the hard synthetic resin is poured out from the extrusion head. It is loosely inserted by carrying out with a gap without contacting the conductor. FIG. 5 shows an extrusion molding machine head 100 in which the conductor 4 is loosely inserted into the spiral reinforcement body 3, and the head 100 has a passage 101 for extruding a hard resin to be the spiral reinforcement body 3. A guide holder 110 is provided on the outlet side. A thin tubular guide 111 that guides the conductor 4 is inserted through the center of the guide holder 11, and a tip 111 a of the guide 111 slightly protrudes from the outlet of the passage 101, thereby being inserted into the guide 111. Thus, the conductor 4 led out of the head 100 is loosely inserted into the space 5 of the spiral reinforcement 3 when the hard resin is extruded.
[0013]
FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the strip forming the hose wall 2, and this strip T is formed by extruding a soft resin into a tube-like shape 6 and in the molten state immediately thereafter, from the vertical direction. This is pressed and flattened and brought into close contact with each other, and is then spirally wound and formed on the hose wall 2. According to this strip T, there is an advantage that the width and thickness of the strip can be arbitrarily adjusted by using only one extrusion die by using the extrusion cross head.
[0014]
In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example, A spiral reinforcement body may be attached to the internal peripheral surface of a hose wall, and may be wound even if it is 1 or 3 or more. In FIG. 6, four spiral reinforcement bodies 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d are attached to the hose wall 2 in parallel. The conductor 4 is incorporated in each of the spiral reinforcement bodies 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d. However, in this example, the conductor 4 is built in the spiral reinforcing bodies 3a, 3b, 3c, and the conductor is not built in the remaining one spiral reinforcing body 3d. Thereby, two circuits of a power control circuit and a power brush circuit can be formed. The spiral reinforcing body 3d can be attached to the contact portion A of the strip T forming the hose wall 2 to improve the formability of the hose. When the spiral reinforcing body attached to the contact portion A of the strip T incorporates a conductor, the conductor may move inward during hose molding and be exposed from the contact portion A to the inside of the hose. Because there is.
[0015]
In addition, the conductor 4 is preferably a bare stranded copper wire, but it may be an insulation-coated one or a single wire, and as shown in FIG. The conductors 4a and 4b may be incorporated in parallel.
[0016]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, there is room for the electric conductor to move relatively freely inside the spiral reinforcement body, and the tensile force or compressive force acting on the bent portion of the hose does not reach the electric conductor, so there is a risk of breakage. Few. Therefore, even thinner conductors can be used without any problem, which can contribute to cost reduction of the hose.
[0017]
Furthermore, since a hose incorporating a conductor as described above can be configured only by a combination of a soft synthetic resin and a hard synthetic resin, it can be easily made by general-purpose extrusion without requiring complicated production equipment and production processes. In addition to being formed, there is an advantage that it is possible to provide a vacuum cleaner hose that meets the demand for PVC removal.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall external view of a vacuum cleaner.
FIG. 2 is a front view showing a cross section of a part of the tube wall of the hose of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of a tube wall of a hose.
FIG. 4 is a view showing another embodiment of the strip.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a head of a hard resin extrusion molding machine for molding a reinforcing body.
6 is a partially enlarged sectional view of a tube wall of a hose showing another embodiment. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged sectional view of a tube wall of a hose showing another embodiment.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Flexible hose 2 Hose wall 3 Spiral reinforcement body 4 Conductor 5 Moving space 6 Extruded tube T Strip

Claims (7)

A hose formed by attaching a helical reinforcement made of a hard synthetic resin to a hose wall made of a soft synthetic resin and retaining the shape , and inserting a conductor into the inside of the helical reinforcement, A vacuum cleaner hose characterized in that a space is formed around a conductor, and the conductor is movable in the space . The hose for a vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the conductor is a bare stranded copper wire. The hose for an electric vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein the hose wall is formed of a thermoplastic elastomer excluding vinyl chloride, and the helical reinforcement is formed of a hard synthetic resin compatible with the thermoplastic elastomer. The hose for a vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein at least two spiral reinforcing bodies are attached to the hose wall. The hose for a vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of conductors are built in one spiral reinforcing body. The vacuum cleaner hose according to claim 4, wherein four spiral reinforcing bodies are attached to the hose wall. The hose for a vacuum cleaner according to claim 6, wherein a conductor is not incorporated in one of the four spiral reinforcement bodies.

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