Cleaning tool

Abstract

To provide a cleaning tool having an improved collection performance while maintaining favorable appearance.SOLUTION: A cleaning tool includes: a long-sized handle; and a wiping body attached to the handle, including a plurality of electret fibers having a thickness of 1500 dt to 1800dt, and having a ratio (density) of the number of electret fibers with respect to an attachment length of the handle being 12.4 to 15.1 / cm. A crimp rate of the electret fibers is 2 to 7%.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a cleaning tool. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a cleaning tool using an electret olefin-based ultrafine fiber nonwoven fabric. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-305049 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Electret fibers (electret fibers) are fibers that are semi-permanently polarized with positive and negative charges, and are used in the wiping body of cleaning tools. Cleaning tools with electret fibers have a semi-permanent charge, so they can collect dust more stably than cleaning tools that use static electricity to collect dust. On the other hand, there is room for improvement in terms of further improving the collection performance.

[0005] The objective of the present invention is to provide a cleaning tool equipped with electret fibers that improve collection performance. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present disclosure relates to With a long handle, attached to the handle; The electret fiber has a thickness of 1500dt to 1800dt. The ratio of the number of the electret fibers to the attachment length of the handle is 12.4 to 15.1 fibers / cm. Wiping body and A cleaning tool comprising:

[0007] According to the cleaning tool according to the present disclosure, collection performance can be improved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a cleaning tool according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 1 illustrates a wiping body according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] 1 illustrates a handle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 1 is a graph showing experimental results for a single electret fiber. [Diagram 5] 13 is a graph showing the experimental results of a cleaning tool equipped with a wiping body provided with electret fibers having different thicknesses and crimp rates. [Figure 6] 13 is a graph showing experimental results of a cleaning tool equipped with a wiping body provided with electret fibers having different densities. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0010] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a cleaning tool 1. The cleaning tool 1 is a handy mop for removing dust adhering to indoor furniture, electrical appliances, etc. The cleaning tool 1 has a long, substantially cylindrical handle 10 and a wiping body 20 for wiping off dust. Cleaning is performed by holding the handle portion 12 of the handle 10 shown in Fig. 1 and applying the wiping body 20 to the object to be cleaned.

[0011] FIG. 2 shows a view in which the wiping body 20 attached to the cleaning tool 1 is removed and developed. The wiping body 20 has a plurality of fiber groups 21 bundling a plurality of electret fibers 22 for wiping dust and a plurality of conductive fibers 23 for removing static electricity, and a bundling thread 24 for connecting the plurality of fiber groups 21 to each other in a direction (second direction) perpendicular to the extension direction (first direction) of the fibers. The conductive fibers 23 can remove static electricity charged to the electret fibers 22 due to friction during cleaning. The part connected by the bundling thread 24 constitutes a root part 20a having a predetermined length L1 in the second direction. The root part 20a with the length L1 is spirally wound along the extension direction of the wiping body attachment part 11 (see FIG. 3) of the handle 10, so that the wiping body 20 is attached to the handle 10. That is, the predetermined length L1 is the attachment length of the handle 10. The attachment length L1 can be appropriately selected according to the size of the cleaning tool 1.

[0012] In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the fiber group 21 is configured by bundling three electret fibers 22 and two conductive fibers 23 and bending them into an approximately U-shape to reduce the length by half. Therefore, the fiber group 21 has substantially six electret fibers 22 and four conductive fibers 23. The fiber group 21 is not limited to this structure, and may be, for example, a fiber group in which six electret fibers are bundled together with the fiber length being half that of this embodiment without bending them into an approximately U-shape. The number of electret fibers 22 in the wiping body 20 is determined by the attachment length L1. Specifically, the number of electret fibers is determined so that the ratio of the number of electret fibers 22 to the attachment length L1 (defined as density in this specification) is 12.4 to 15.1 fibers / cm. In addition, in this embodiment, the length L2 (fiber length) from the part of the electret fibers connected by the binding thread 24 to the tip of the electret fiber 22 is 8 to 10 cm.

[0013] 3 shows the handle 10 alone, i.e., the cleaning tool 1 without the wiping body 20. The handle 10 has a handle portion 12 and a wiping body attachment portion 11 connected to one end of the handle portion 12. The wiping body attachment portion 11 is formed with a spiral groove 11a extending in the extension direction, and further has a hook 11b at the end portion on the handle portion 12 side. The pitch L3 of the spiral groove in this embodiment is 6 to 6.5 mm.

[0014] After one end of the root portion 20a of the wiping body 20 is engaged with the hook 11b, the root portion 20a is wound around the spiral groove 11a and the end portion opposite the handle portion 12 of the wiping body attachment part 11 is fixed to the wiping body attachment part 11 by a nail or the like. The wiping body 20 is attached to the handle 10 in this manner, thereby forming the cleaning tool 1.

[0015] Next, the structure of the electret fiber 22 according to this embodiment will be described below. The raw material of the electret fiber 22 according to this embodiment is polyethylene, polypropylene, polybutene-1, an ethylene-acrylic copolymer, or a combination thereof. These materials are suitable for improving the charge density in the electretization described below.

[0016] The electret fiber 22 according to this embodiment is formed into a flat fiber having a predetermined thickness based on the above-mentioned raw material so that the fiber thickness is 1500 to 1800 decitex (dt). At this time, in order to improve hygiene, an antibacterial agent is mixed with the above-mentioned raw material and then formed, so that the electret fiber is subjected to antibacterial processing. The antibacterial agent used for the antibacterial processing is preferably an organic antibacterial agent or a cationic antibacterial agent. The formed fiber is split into a mesh shape and divided into small pieces as shown in the enlarged part of FIG. 2.

[0017] The electret fiber 22 according to this embodiment is given an electric charge by applying an electric field to the above-mentioned fiber (electretization). Specific methods for electretization include various known methods, such as the thermal electret method, the electroelectret method, the photoelectret method, the radioelectret method, and the mechanoelectret method. In the electret fiber, positive and negative charges are semi-permanently polarized at any point on the surface.

[0018] For example, in a cleaning tool that charges fibers with static electricity and uses the electrostatic force to collect dust, the collection performance decreases when the static electricity is discharged due to adhesion of dust, etc. On the other hand, a cleaning tool using electret fibers has stable collection performance because positive and negative charges are semi-permanently present on the fiber surface and the charge is not lost due to adhesion of dust, etc.

[0019] The electret fiber 22 according to this embodiment is crimped to a predetermined crimp rate. Here, the crimp rate is an index representing the degree of crimping of the fiber, and a specific definition is described in JIS L0208:2006 and the like. In the case of fibers having the same length (length when the fiber is not stretched) and different only in the crimp rate, the mass and surface area of ​​the fiber with a higher crimp rate are larger than those of the fiber with a lower crimp rate. The electret fiber 22 according to this embodiment is crimped to a crimp rate of 2 to 7%. The fiber is crimped by injection pressing or the like. The length L2 is the length of the fiber when it is not stretched.

[0020] The conductive fiber 23 according to this embodiment has a function of suppressing the generation of static electricity, and the surface resistance of the fiber is 1×10 5 Preferably, the fibers are made of carbon or metal material with a thickness of less than Ω.

[0021] Next, the results of an experiment on dust collection performance using electret fibers will be explained, comparing them with conventional products.

[0022] Figure 4 shows the experimental results when 0.1g of single electret fiber was attached to dust. Collection performance was evaluated by changing the crimp rate of three types of electret fiber with different thicknesses. The horizontal axis shows the electret fiber specifications (thickness, crimp rate). The vertical axis shows the relative collection rate, with the collection rate of conventional electret fiber (thickness 2500dt, crimp rate 2%) taken as 100%. The collection rate in this experiment is defined by the following formula (1).

[0023]

number

[0024] The specific collection efficiency was improved by reducing the diameter of the electret fiber from 2500dt. The specific collection efficiency was also improved by increasing the crimp rate. The improvement in the specific collection efficiency by increasing the crimp rate of the 1500dt and 1800dt electret fibers was greater than that of the 2500dt electret fiber.

[0025] FIG. 5 shows the results of an experiment in which dust was wiped off using a cleaning tool with a handle equipped with electret fibers of different thicknesses and shrinkage rates. The horizontal axis is the specification (thickness, shrinkage rate) of the electret fibers. The vertical axis is the relative amount of dust captured, with the amount captured by a conventional product (thickness 2500dt, shrinkage rate 2%) taken as 100%. The amount of dust captured in this experiment is the amount of dust captured by wiping with the cleaning tool after 9g of dust was scattered on the floor surface. The graph also includes a comparison of the aesthetics of each specification with the conventional product. If the appearance of each specification is equivalent to that of the conventional product, the aesthetics are deemed to be favorable. On the other hand, if the nap of the wiping body is inferior to that of the conventional product, and if the volume of the wiping body is too large or too small compared to the conventional product, the aesthetics are deemed to be unfavorable.

[0026] The specific collection amount was improved by narrowing the electret fiber from 2500dt to 1500dt. The specific collection amount was also improved by increasing the crimp rate from 2% to 7% with a thickness of 1500dt. Furthermore, the specific collection amount decreased when the crimp rate was increased from 7% to 11%. The aesthetic appearance of the cleaning tool with a thickness of 1500dt and a crimp rate of 2% was not preferable because the wiping body was prone to falling horizontally when the handle was oriented vertically and the nap was slightly inferior to that of the conventional product. The aesthetic appearance of the cleaning tool with a thickness of 1500dt and a crimp rate of 11% was not preferable because the wiping body was larger in volume than the conventional product. The aesthetic appearance of the cleaning tool with a thickness of 1500dt and a crimp rate of 7% was preferable because the appearance was equivalent to that of the conventional product.

[0027] Figure 6 shows the results of an experiment in which dust was wiped off using a cleaning tool with a handle equipped with electret fibers of 1800dt thickness, 7% crimp rate, and varying densities (number of fibers / cm), which is the ratio of the number of electret fibers to the length of attachment. In this experiment, three sizes of cleaning tools (S, M, L) were used. The horizontal axis shows the specifications of the electret fibers (size, thickness, crimp rate, density). The vertical axis shows the relative amount of dust captured by a cleaning tool equipped with electret fibers of the same density (S: 16.8 fibers / cm, M: 18.1 fibers / cm, L: 18.9 fibers / cm) as the conventional product (thickness 2500dt, crimp rate 2%) in each size, which is different from the relative amount of dust captured in Figure 5. The amount of dust captured in this experiment is defined the same as the amount of dust captured in the experiment in Figure 5.

[0028] Even when the density of each size of electret fiber was reduced, the specific collection amount was generally constant. The aesthetic appearance of the cleaning tool using electret fibers with the same density as the conventional product was not preferable because the wiping body had a larger volume than the conventional product. The aesthetic appearance of the cleaning tool using electret fibers with a lower density than the conventional product was preferable because the appearance was the same as the conventional product.

[0029] [Considerations regarding the thickness of electret fibers] It is believed that by reducing the thickness of the electret fibers, the gaps between the fibers became larger, making it easier for dust to reach the base of the wiping body, which is why the amount of dust captured increased. In addition, it is believed that by increasing the gaps between the fibers, the phenomenon of electret fibers becoming entangled with each other was suppressed, improving the capture rate. On the other hand, it is believed that by reducing the thickness of the fibers, the rigidity of the fibers was weakened, causing the fibers to fall horizontally due to gravity, resulting in an inferior nap feeling compared to conventional products.

[0030] [Considerations on the crimp rate of electret fibers] It is considered that by increasing the crimp rate, the space between the fibers is expanded, the amount of dust captured in the space between the fibers is increased, and the capture rate is improved. On the other hand, it is considered that by increasing the crimp rate, the possibility of fibers becoming entangled increases, and the capture rate is reduced. In the case of the electret fiber having a thickness of 2500dt, the gap between the fibers is small, and therefore the phenomenon of fibers becoming entangled occurs when the crimp rate is increased, and therefore the improvement in the specific capture rate is smaller than that of the electret fibers having thicknesses of 1500dt and 1800dt. In addition, in the cleaning tool made of the electret fiber having a thickness of 1500dt, the specific capture amount decreased when the crimp rate was increased to 11%, so that it is considered that the optimal setting of the crimp rate in this embodiment is between 2 and 7%. On the other hand, the volume of the fiber increases by increasing the crimp rate, so that the volume needs to be adjusted in order to obtain a desirable appearance equivalent to that of the conventional product.

[0031] [Considerations on the density of electret fibers] It is believed that by decreasing the density, the surface area of ​​the electret fiber decreases, decreasing the amount of dust captured, while it is also believed that the gaps between the fibers increase, making it easier for dust to reach the base of the wiping body, increasing the amount of dust captured. In the experimental results shown in Figure 6, it is believed that the specific capture rate was generally constant even when the density was changed, because the effects of both actions offset each other. On the other hand, in cases where the volume was excessively increased by increasing the crimp rate, it is believed that by decreasing the density, the volume could be adjusted, and a desirable appearance equivalent to that of conventional products could be obtained.

[0032] From the above experimental results and considerations, the inventors have found that electret fibers that improve collection performance while maintaining the same favorable appearance as conventional products preferably have a thickness of 1500dt to 1800dt, a crimp rate of 2 to 7%, and a density of 12.4 to 15.1 fibers / cm. The inventors further found that by reducing the thickness of the electret fibers, the improvement in collection efficiency due to the increase in the crimp rate is synergistically exhibited, and that the deterioration of the appearance due to the increase in the crimp rate can be suppressed by adjusting the density.

[0033] The cleaning tool 1 according to this embodiment has the following advantages.

[0034] (1) A long handle 10; It is attached to the handle 10. The fiber has a plurality of electret fibers 22 having a thickness of 1500dt to 1800dt, The ratio (density) of the number of electret fibers 22 to the attachment length L1 of the handle 10 is 12.4 to 15.1 fibers / cm. and a wiping body 20. As a result, it is possible to provide a cleaning tool that has improved collection performance while maintaining a desirable aesthetic appearance. The numerical value of the thickness (including the upper and lower limits of the numerical range) does not need to be a geometrically precise value as long as it allows for a substantially unavoidable error and satisfies the functions required of the cleaning tool. For example, the substantially unavoidable error is ±200dt.

[0035] (2) The electret fibers 22 have a crimp percentage of 2 to 7%. As a result, the collection performance of the cleaning tool 1 can be further improved while preventing deterioration of the aesthetic appearance of the cleaning tool 1.

[0036] (3) The wiping body 20 further includes a plurality of conductive fibers 23. As a result, the plurality of conductive fibers 23 suppresses the generation of static electricity, and can be used to clean electrical appliances.

[0037] (4) The electret fibers 22 are subjected to an antibacterial treatment. As a result, more hygienic cleaning is possible.

[0038] [Note] The cleaning tool according to the present disclosure provides the following aspects.

[0039] [Aspect 1] With a long handle, attached to the handle; The electret fiber has a thickness of 1500dt to 1800dt. The ratio of the number of the electret fibers to the attachment length of the handle is 12.4 to 15.1 fibers / cm. Wiping body and A cleaning tool.

[0040] [Aspect 2] The electret fiber has a crimp rate of 2 to 7%. 2. The cleaning tool of embodiment 1.

[0041] [Aspect 3] The wiping body further includes a plurality of conductive fibers. 3. The cleaning tool according to claim 1 or 2.

[0042] [Aspect 4] The electret fibers are antibacterial. The cleaning tool according to any one of aspects 1 to 3. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 1: Cleaning tools 10: Pattern 11: Wiping body attachment part 11a: Spiral groove 11b: Hook 12: Handle 20: Wiping body 20a: Base part 21: Fiber group 22: Electret fiber 23: Conductive fiber 24: Binding thread L1: Installation length L2: Fiber length L3: Spiral groove pitch

Claims

1. With a long handle, attached to the handle; The present invention has a plurality of electret fibers having a thickness of 1500 dt to 1800 dt, The ratio of the number of the electret fibers to the attachment length of the handle is 12.4 to 15.1 fibers / cm. Wiping body and A cleaning tool.

2. The electret fiber has a crimp rate of 2 to 7%.

2. The cleaning tool of claim 1.

3. The wiping body further includes a plurality of conductive fibers.

3. The cleaning tool according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The electret fibers are antibacterial.

3. The cleaning tool according to claim 1 or 2.

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