JP7570635B2 - Air Blower Chair - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a chair with an indirect air blowing function.

As a chair that can adjust temperature by blowing air to the back, Patent Document 1 discloses a driver's seat that is made up of a three-dimensional skin, cushioning material, and a seat frame, with an air outlet formed in the seat frame. The seat frame is composed of a seat frame that is a rectangular hollow frame with an internal air passage, and a backrest frame that is also a rectangular hollow frame with an internal air passage, and an air pipe with an open tip extends from the air passage to the hollow frame, with the tip of the air pipe facing the back side of the three-dimensional skin as an air outlet. There is also a temperature-adjustable chair that can be heated by a heater and cooled by blowing air from the air vent, as in Patent Document 2.

JP 2003-250660 A Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 60-115052

The driver's seat in Patent Document 1 is for an automobile, and has an air outlet formed facing the three-dimensional surface, with the effect of efficiently blowing air onto the seated person. Chairs equipped with cooling mechanisms like this have existed in the past, but they blew cool air directly towards the seated person. This type of direct blowing is highly effective at cooling the seated person, but the seated person may feel uncomfortable being blown with cool air directly, and so there was a demand for a ventilation chair that allows the seated person to sit comfortably in a natural state.

The present invention aims to provide a chair that is not connected to an air conditioning unit and directly blows cool or warm air from the back of the chair onto the occupant, but rather uses indirect ventilation that circulates the air in the room and blows it around the occupant, providing a refreshing feeling to the occupant by blowing air that circulates the air in the back of the chair.

The chair of the present invention has a seat and a back portion, and has an indirect air-blowing mechanism that can blow air both inside the back portion and outside the back portion, and the air-blowing mechanism is characterized in that it has a drive unit that takes in indoor air and blows it to a main air duct, a pair of main air ducts that are arranged left and right in the vertical direction from the drive unit within the back portion, and an air-blowing mechanism for blowing air outside the back portion that has an opening in the main air duct that opens forward, and an air-blowing mechanism for blowing air inside the back portion that has a plurality of auxiliary air ducts that extend inwardly to the left and right of the main air duct, and blows air to the back portion from the tip openings of the auxiliary air ducts.

In addition, it is preferable that the upper pipe portion of the main air duct and the auxiliary air duct are arranged between a low-air-permeability layer arranged at the rear base portion within the rear portion and a high-air-permeability layer arranged inside the outer skin material of the rear portion.

It also has an electric heating mechanism arranged in the seat and the backrest of the back part, and the main air duct of the air blowing mechanism has a middle tube part arranged in the box-shaped back base and an upper tube part exposed from the back base, and it is preferable that the exposed position of the main air duct from the back base is located above the electric heating mechanism of the back part.

It is also preferable that the air supply position is located on the front side of the storage section located below the seat.

The invention described in claim 1 provides a ventilation mechanism that both blows air around the seated person and blows air inside the back of the chair, eliminating the blockage of air inside the back caused by the air inside the back, providing a refreshing feeling. In addition, by providing air outside the back from the main air duct to blow air around the seated person, the air from the air inside the back slowly seeps out from the surface of the back in the form of a mist, as if pulled by the air outside the back on both sides. By providing indirect ventilation in this way, it is possible to provide a chair equipped with an indirect ventilation mechanism that provides a more refreshing feeling than direct ventilation that blows cool air onto the seated person.

According to the invention described in claim 2, by disposing a ventilation mechanism between the low-air-permeability layer on the base side of the back seat and the high-air-permeability layer on the outer skin side, air is blown inside the back seat and the discomfort felt by the ventilation mechanism on the back of the seated person can be eliminated. In addition, the low-air-permeability layer on the base side of the back seat prevents the air blown inside the back seat from leaking out to the rear side of the back seat, and instead seeps out to the front side (front face) of the back seat.

According to the invention described in claim 3, an electric heating mechanism is provided under the back of the seat to warm the lower half of the seated person's body and make the seat more comfortable. However, by positioning the main air duct where this electric heating mechanism is located inside the box-shaped base of the back, the main air duct is not heated by the electric heating mechanism, and uncomfortable hot air is not generated, making it possible to realize an air blowing mechanism that provides a refreshing feeling.

According to the invention described in claim 4, by locating the air supply position below the seat, outside air from an air conditioner or other air conditioner can be supplied in the summer, and outside air from a foot heater or the like can be supplied in the winter. By supplying air at the same temperature as the outside air, it is possible to blow air without causing discomfort to the seated person.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a schematic diagram of the air conditioning system for a chair according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the chair shown in FIG. 1 . 3 is an explanatory side view taken along line Z-Z in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view illustrating the vicinity of an upper pipe portion, showing blowing air by the auxiliary blower pipe.

The following describes an embodiment of a chair according to the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following form, and various modifications and additions are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention. Note that in the following description, the front-back and up-down directions are used merely for the convenience of explaining the embodiment, and do not limit the installation or usage posture of the chair of the present invention.

As shown in Figure 1, the chair of this embodiment has a seat 1 and a back 2 for supporting a seated person, legs 4, 4 that support the seat 1 from below, and armrests 5, 5 that are formed continuously from the legs 4, 4 upward. The chair has casters 41, 41 on the undersides of the legs 4, 4, which allow it to be easily moved to a desired location. A reclining mechanism that connects the back 2 to the seat 1 may be provided, allowing the relative angle between the back 2 and the seat 1 to be freely adjusted.

The chair of this embodiment is not fixed to a specific position like a driver's seat in a car, but is an indoor chair that can be moved to a specific location in a room. Also, it is not connected to an air conditioning system and directly blows cold or warm air from the back part 2 to the seated person, but circulates the air in the room and blows indirect air around the seated person, and blows air inside the back part 2 to circulate the air, providing a refreshing feeling to the seated person who is in contact with the back part 2. In this explanation, direct air blowing means that the air outlet is directed toward the seated person and air is blown directly onto the seated person. In contrast, indirect air blowing in this embodiment means that the opening direction of the main air blowing duct and the opening direction of the auxiliary air blowing duct are not directed toward the seated person (especially the trunk part), so that the air is not blown directly onto the seated person, but is blown around the seated person to provide a refreshing feeling to the seated person.

The seat 1 has a rectangular shape in plan view with rounded edges as shown in Fig. 2, and has a seat surface that slants downward and rearward from the front end that bulges upward as shown in Fig. 3, supporting the buttocks and thighs of the seated person from below. The seat 1 is made of a box-shaped seat base 11 made of a wooden material, a seat cushion material 12 made of a urethane material or cotton material that covers the seat base 11, and a seat covering material 13 made of a leather material that covers the surface of the seat cushion material 12.

The seat 1 also has armrests 5, 5 on both sides, which can support the forearms and elbows of a seated person. The armrests 5 are made of an arm frame (not shown) made of a wood material, a cushioning material (not shown) made of a urethane material, cotton material, or the like, and an outer skin material made of a leather material.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the back portion 2 is generally rectangular with rounded corners, and its width is wider than the shoulder width of a seated person. The back portion 2 is made up of a lumbar support portion 25 that rises upward and slightly backward from the lower seat surface 1, a back support portion 26 that is continuous upward from the lumbar support portion 25 and convex forward, a shoulder support portion 27 that is continuous upward from the back support portion 26 and has a concave shape toward the rear, and a head support portion 28 that is continuous upward from the shoulder support portion 27 and curves forward convexly to the same extent as the back support portion 26, forming the upper edge of the back portion 2.

The waist rest 25 indicates the position where the waist of the seated person touches, and has a vertical length that is approximately two-fifths of the vertical length of the backrest 2. The back rest 26 indicates the position where the wearer's back touches, and the shoulder rest 27 indicates the position where the armpits of the wearer's shoulders and back touch the recesses. The back rest 26 and the shoulder rest 27 have approximately the same vertical length. The head rest 28 is the position where the wearer's head touches, with the curved front side where the wearer's neck touches, and when the wearer tilts their head back, the head rests naturally on the curved upper side of the head rest 28.

The rear section 2 has a vertically long rear base 30 that supports the load, with an inner cushion material 31 arranged on the rear side of the rear base 30, an outer cushion material 32 arranged on the rear side of the inner cushion material 31, and an outer skin material 33 arranged on the rear side of the outer cushion material 32. The inner cushion material 31 is arranged on the front side of the rear base 30, and outer cushion materials 32, 32 are arranged in a double layer in front of the inner cushion material 31. A ventilation mechanism 60 (described below) is arranged in front of the double outer cushion materials 32, 32, a ventilated cushion material 34 is arranged in front of the ventilation mechanism 60, and the outer skin material 33 is arranged in front of the ventilated cushion material 34.

The back part 2 is made up of a strip-shaped inner cushion material 31 and an outer cushion material 32 that span from the bottom of the back base 30 and are folded back at the top edge of the back base 30, so that the inner cushion material 31 and the outer cushion material 32 are arranged on the front and rear sides. Therefore, the inner cushion material 31 and the outer cushion material 32 are also arranged on the top side of the back base 30.

The rear base 30 is a wooden box-shaped frame that is placed inside the rear section 2. Specifically, rectangular pieces of wood are placed on both sides, and wooden boards are placed on the front and rear sides of both pieces of wood, creating a box-shaped frame with a hollow space inside.

The inner cushion material 31 is a non-breathable cushion with a thickness of about 1 cm, and is made of a material with no or very low breathability in which hard urethane fibers are densely arranged, forming a low-breathability layer. The outer cushion material 32 is made of a soft urethane material with a thickness of just under 2 cm. The soft urethane material used for the outer cushion material 32 is made of soft urethane fibers, and has low breathability, forming a middle breathability layer.

The breathable cushion material 34 is a highly breathable cushion made of cotton material with a thickness of about 2 cm. The cotton material has high breathability and cushioning properties, forming a highly breathable layer.

The outer cover material 33 covers the entire surface of the back portion 2 and is made of a highly breathable mesh material with multiple ventilation holes formed in a lattice pattern.

Next, the blower mechanism 60 of the air-blowing chair will be described. The blower mechanism 60 is composed of a drive unit 61, which is a circulator that takes in outside air and generates wind, a power supply unit 62, a main air duct 63 having an outlet, and an auxiliary air duct 64. The outside air taken in by the drive unit 61 can be blown out from the outlet through the main air duct 63 and the auxiliary air duct 64 by the power of the power supply unit 62. The drive unit 61 and the power supply unit 62 are housed and attached in a box-shaped wooden frame-shaped storage unit 42 located between the legs 4, 4 on both sides and below the seat 1. The drive unit 61 is not shown in detail, but it is composed of a blower fan and a control means. The blower fan is a rotary type consisting of a diagonal flow-shaped impeller, and the power supply unit 62 is a small power supply means such as a mobile battery, but it may also be one that receives power from an external power source. The front surface of the storage section 42 is located below the front end of the seat 1 and has an air intake port 67 (air intake position) that takes in outside air using a blower fan with a mesh material as its outer skin.

By using the air blowing mechanism 60 that takes in outside air from the air intake 67 and blows it out, air at the same natural temperature as the air inside the room (outside air) can be blown out, realizing a refreshing feeling through indirect air blowing rather than direct cooling. Also, in winter, when the room is heated by a separate device or when a heater is placed at the feet, it is possible to blow in outside air that has a heating effect and blow out warm air at the same temperature as the outside air, realizing a refreshing feeling through indirect air blowing.

The main air duct 63 blows outside air from the drive unit 61, and branches from the drive unit 61, passing through both sides of the inside of the box-shaped back base 30 from the rear of the seat 1, bending forward from the inside of the back base 30 at the position of the waist support 25, and being exposed in the back part 2 at the exposed position 30a, and is formed along the vertical direction of the back part 2. The main air duct 63 is located in front of the inner cushion material 31 and the double outer cushion material 32, 32 on the front side of the back base 30, and is located between the ventilation cushion material 34. In addition, the main air ducts 63 are arranged in pairs on the left and right sides of the back part 2, but it is preferable to arrange them at the left and right ends of the back part 2. The air blown from the opening 65 of the main air duct 63 is located further outward than the shoulder position of the seated person so that the air blown does not hit directly.

The main blower duct 63 has a lower tube section 63a that is connected to the drive section 61 and reaches inside the rear base section 30 of the rear section 2, a middle tube section 63b that is located inside the rear base section 30, and an upper tube section 63c that is exposed from the exposure hole 30a (exposed position) of the rear base section 30 and is located between the outer cushion material 32 and the ventilation cushion material 34. The main blower duct 63 is formed from a soft polyvinyl chloride pipe or rubber hose with an inside diameter (inner diameter) of 19 mm.

The rear external air blowing in this embodiment will be explained. As shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, the upper pipe section 63c of the main air blowing pipe has multiple openings 65, 65 facing forward, which serve as the first air blowing outlet. The multiple openings 65, 65 are appropriately opened across the back rest section 26, shoulder rest section 27, and head rest section 28, and in this embodiment, 11 openings are opened at equal intervals on each side. The lowest opening 65 is located at the most protruding part of the back rest section 26, and the highest opening 65 is located at the most protruding part of the head rest section 28.

The opening 65 of the upper tube section 63c faces forward, but is slightly shifted inward from directly ahead, specifically tilted 5 degrees inward. The outside air blown through the upper tube section 63c by this opening 65 is blown toward the seated person through the ventilation cushion material 34 and the outer skin material 33. The opening 65 is located outward to the left and right of the seated person, and is slightly shifted inward so that the air is blown in a direction that crosses in front of the seated person (arrow A in Figure 2). The openings 65, 65 have a diameter of 8 mm, which is smaller than the inner diameter of the main air blowing duct 63. The amount of outside air blown from the opening 65 is set to a level that can be felt by placing a hand on the outer skin material 33 of the back section 2.

Next, the rear airflow in this embodiment will be described. A plurality of auxiliary airflow pipes 64, 64 are connected from the inside of each of the upper pipes 63c, 63c on the left and right sides toward the other upper pipe 63c, 63c, and the open end of the auxiliary airflow pipe 64 serves as a second outlet. The base end of the auxiliary airflow pipe 64 is connected to the main airflow pipe 63, and its inner diameter is smaller than that of the main airflow pipe 63 but is the same as the opening area of the opening 65, so that the rear airflow volume is the same as the rear airflow volume or is reduced by pressure loss. The auxiliary airflow pipe 64 is also made of the same material as the main airflow pipe 63, such as a soft polyvinyl chloride pipe or rubber hose.

The auxiliary air duct 64 is formed in a straight line along the left-right direction from the upper pipe portion 63c toward the other main air duct 63. The auxiliary air ducts 64, 64 facing each other on the left and right are opposed to each other in the left-right direction with their tips (second air outlets) slightly shifted in the up-down direction. The outside air blown out from the auxiliary air ducts 64, 64 is blown in the left-right direction between the outer cushion material 32 and the ventilation cushion material 34, respectively, to circulate the air in the back part 2 (arrow line B in Figure 4). The air blown by the auxiliary air ducts 64, 64 prevents the heat of the seated person from being trapped in the back part 2 and lowers the surface temperature of the outer skin material 33 that is caused by the heat being trapped. In other words, when you place your hand on the outer skin material 33, you always feel a refreshing sensation of no heat being trapped.

The auxiliary air ducts 64, 64 are arranged at equal intervals in the longitudinal direction of the upper tube portion 63c, the intervals between them are wider than the intervals between the openings 65, 65, and they are formed symmetrically. The lowest auxiliary air duct 64 is attached above the lowest opening 65, the highest auxiliary air duct 64 is attached directly below the highest opening 65, and the auxiliary air duct 64 is attached to the most recessed part of the shoulder rest portion 27 so as to line up with the opening 65.

Six auxiliary air ducts 64 are arranged vertically, and the auxiliary air duct 64 located at the most recessed part of the shoulder rest 27 is longer than the other five auxiliary air ducts 64, 64 and reaches near the center. The auxiliary air ducts 64, 64 located at the most recessed part of the shoulder rest 27 are arranged long because they are located under the armpits of the seated person, and improve the air flow in the center part of the armpit where the lymph nodes of the seated person are located, so that when the hand is placed against the outer cover material 33, it is always refreshing and not hot.

By achieving both the above-mentioned external and internal rear air blowing, a seated person can feel even more refreshed. That is, the air blown inside the rear section 2 by the internal rear air blowing is made to seep out like mist from a wide range of the outer skin material 33 in response to the action of the outside air blown out from the left and right openings 65, 65 by the external rear air blowing and the blowing of the outside air. The applicant conducted a subjective experiment with three people, comparing no air blowing, only external rear air blowing, only internal rear air blowing, and both external and internal rear air blowing, and found that the combination of external and internal rear air blowing provided the most refreshing feeling.

The auxiliary air ducts 64, 64 ventilate the space between the outer cushion material 32 and the breathable cushion material 34. The rear side of the auxiliary air ducts 64, 64 is the inner cushion material 31, which is a low-breathability layer, and the outer cushion materials 32, 32, which are medium-breathability layers, so that the outside air circulated to the rear side is not discharged, but is ventilated to the outside through the mesh material (outer skin material 33) via the breathable cushion material 34, which is a high-breathability layer on the front side. In this way, the outside air blown out from the auxiliary air ducts 64, 64 ventilates inside the back part 2, and then naturally flows toward the front side of the back part 2 (the seated person side) rather than the back side of the back part 2.

The outer cushion material 32 on the side having the air blowing mechanism 60 (front side) has a double cushion material compared to the rear side, and a ventilated cushion material 34 is arranged in front of the air blowing mechanism 60. This results in a back section 2 with the air blowing mechanism 60 arranged inside, but part of the air blowing mechanism is embedded in the outer cushion material 32, and the presence of the ventilated cushion material 34 on the front side ensures that even if a seated person places their back against the back section 2, they will not feel uncomfortable due to the air blowing mechanism 60 touching them.

The electric heating mechanism 70 will be described. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the electric heating mechanism 70 has a seat electric heating section 71 that heats the seat section 1 and a back electric heating section 72 that heats the back section 2, and generates heat by sharing a power source with the air blowing mechanism 60, warming the seat and back below the area to which air is blown by the air blowing mechanism 60.

The seat electric heating section 71 is shaped to extend from the front of the back surface 2 to the most expanded part of the seat 1, and is located under the seat covering material 13. The seat electric heating section 71 is made of a flexible planar heater and is attached between the seat covering material 13 and the seat cushion material 12. It is formed so that it deforms in response to the deformation of the seat covering material 13 caused by sitting on it, and does not interfere with the cushioning performance of the seat cushion material 12.

The rear electric heating section 72 extends from the lumbar support section 25 of the rear section 2 to a part of the back support section 26, and its upper end is located below the exposed position 30a where the upper tube section 63c is exposed from the rear base section 30. The rear electric heating section 72 is made of a flexible planar heater and is attached between the outer cover material 33 and the breathable cushion material 34. It is formed so as to deform in response to the deformation of the outer cover material 33 caused by sitting on it and not to interfere with the cushioning performance of the inner cushion material 31 and the outer cushion materials 32, 32.

By having the electric heating mechanism 70, the seat surface and the lumbar support portion 25 of the back surface of the wearer can be heated, and the lower body of the seated person can be warmed to make the chair comfortable. In addition, in the range where the electric heating mechanism 70 is arranged, the middle tube portion 63b of the main air duct 63 is arranged inside the back base portion 30, thereby preventing the heat of the electric heating mechanism 70 from affecting the outside air inside the main air duct 63 and heating the outside air blown by the main air duct 63.

1...seat, 2...back, 26...backrest, 30...back base, 31...inner cushioning material (low-breathability layer), 34...breathable cushioning material (high-breathability layer), 42...storage section, 60...ventilation mechanism, 61...drive section, 62...power supply section, 63...main air duct, 63b...middle tube section, 63c...upper tube section, 64...auxiliary air duct, 65...opening, 70...electric heating mechanism.

Claims (4)

A chair having a seat and a back portion, and an indirect air-blowing mechanism that blows air inside the back portion and outside the back portion,
the blowing mechanism includes a drive unit that takes in indoor air and blows it to a main blowing duct, a pair of main blowing ducts arranged vertically from the drive unit to the left and right in the rear portion, and a rear portion external blowing mechanism having an opening that opens forward into the main blowing duct;
said main air duct has a plurality of auxiliary air ducts extending inwardly to the left and right, and a back portion internal air blowing mechanism which blows air to the back portion from the tip openings of said auxiliary air ducts. The air-blowing chair according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper pipe portion of the main air duct and the auxiliary air duct are arranged between a low-ventilation layer arranged at the base of the back surface inside the back surface and a high-ventilation layer arranged inside the outer skin material of the back surface. The seat has an electric heating mechanism disposed in the seat portion and the backrest portion of the back portion,
The main blower duct of the blower mechanism has a middle pipe portion disposed within a box-shaped rear base portion and an upper pipe portion exposed from the rear base portion,
3. The air-blowing chair according to claim 2, wherein the exposed position of the main air duct from the rear base portion is located above an electric heating mechanism in the rear portion. 4. The air-blowing chair according to claim 1, wherein the air supply position is located on the front side of the storage section located below the seat.

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