Cooling vest

Abstract

To provide a cooling vest which has a relatively simple structure, does not cause unnatural swelling when worn, and can be easily put on and taken off even when going out to a garden.SOLUTION: A raised storage section 23 is filled with a phase change material 25, and grooves 27 between the storage sections 23, 23 act as joints, allowing it to be folded in both directions. The storage sections 23 are arranged to match the uneven shape of a human body, so the raised storage sections 23 can be made to touch the human body side and fit well. Even a shoulder part 9 curves in a U-shape when its own weight is applied and fits. Therefore, the upper surface of each of the storage sections 23, 23, ... comes into contact with the human body side over a wide area without waste. The grooves 27 are open at the edges, so they serve as an escape route for air. In summer, the heat generates a lot of sweat, and as this sweat evaporates, it becomes stuffy, but by letting the air escape through these escape routes, it becomes less stuffy.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cooling vest, and more particularly to a cooling vest using a phase change material. [Background technology]

[0002] The cooling garment disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used as a measure against the heat when working in a high-temperature environment. This cooling garment uses a fan to forcibly create a flow of air that is drawn in from the outside between the garment body and the body side, circulates between them, and then escapes to the outside. This air promotes the evaporation of sweat from the body, thereby actively cooling the body side. The air escapes to the outside through the open edges of the garment body, such as the sleeves and collar. There is also a cooling garment described in Patent Document 2, in which cooling tubes are woven into the garment and run through it. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2022-79747 [Patent Document 2] JP 2018-135610 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the cooling garment of Patent Document 1, air is forcibly taken in between the garment body and the body side, so when applied to outerwear, the back side where the fan is attached inevitably bulges unnaturally large. Recently, it has come to be used not only for work but also for daily use, and in that case, appearance has become an important factor when considering purchasing. For example, many people think that it looks bad to wear such cooling garment as an outerwear and have a bulging back when riding a motorcycle. In addition, some people find it troublesome to have to carry the bulky cooling garment after getting off the motorcycle. Furthermore, work such as weeding in a garden is often done at home, including by the elderly, and in the recent heatwaves of summer, the risk of heatstroke is high, but few people are willing to go out of their way to wear long-sleeved clothing with a fan or battery attached just to go out to the garden.

[0005] In addition, the cooling suit of Patent Document 2 requires a cooling unit to pass water, which is a cooling medium, through the cooling tubes, making it inconvenient to move around while wearing it. If the cooling unit were to be worn on the back, it would become part of the suit and movement would not be restricted, but then the back would inevitably bulge unnaturally larger than with the cooling suit of Patent Document 1. Furthermore, when working at home, including for the elderly, clothing equipped with a cooling unit is unlikely to be something that can be easily put on.

[0006] The present invention has been made in response to the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a cooling vest that has a relatively simple structure, does not bulge unnaturally when worn, and is easy to put on and take off, so that it can be easily put on even when going out to the garden. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention is a cooling vest characterized in that a flat film and a textured film are bonded to a vest-shaped light-shielding outer fabric consisting of a back body and left and right front body parts connected at the shoulders, and a cooling lining made of a phase-change material that absorbs heat and changes from a solid phase to a liquid phase is enclosed in the concave surface of the textured film and the storage section surrounded by the flat film, is integrated by overlapping the flat film side, and the gaps between the storage sections can be folded.

[0008] Preferably, in the portion of the cooling lining where it is overlapped and joined to the rear body part of the light-shielding outer fabric, the concave stripe surface of the concave-convex film extends continuously in the up-and-down direction so as to be capable of mountain folding. Preferably, in the portion of the cooling lining where it is overlapped and joined to the rear body part of the light-shielding outer fabric, the concave stripe surface of the concave-convex film extends continuously in the left-right direction so as to be capable of mountain folding. Preferably, where the cooling lining is overlapped and joined to the shoulder portion of the light-shielding outer fabric, the concave surfaces of the textured film are arranged in parallel extending from the neck side to the arm side, and each is folded in a valley to form a U-shape curve overall. Preferably, the rear body and the left and right front body pieces are detachably connected by a belt at the underarm portions. Preferably, a heat insulating sheet is interposed between the light blocking outer material and the cooling inner material. Effect of the Invention

[0009] The cooling vest of the present invention has a relatively simple structure, does not bulge unnaturally when worn, is easy to put on and take off, and is easy to handle. Moreover, for a simple type, it exhibits sufficient cooling function. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a front view of a cooling vest according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a rear view of the cooling vest in FIG. 1 in a developed state. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a front view of the cooling vest of FIG. 1 in a developed state. [Figure 4]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional image of the cooling vest in FIG. 1. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional image of the curved shoulder portion of the cooling vest in FIG. 1. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional image of the cooling vest of FIG. 1 in a folded state. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] A cooling vest 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the cooling vest 1 is made up of a back body 5, left and right front body pieces 7, 7, and shoulder parts 9, 9, all made of a light-shielding outer fabric 3. The back body 5, left and right front body pieces 7, 7, and shoulder parts 9, 9 are each made up of a single piece of light-shielding outer fabric 3. The edges of the shoulder parts 9, 9 and the back body 5, and the edges of the left and right front body pieces 7, 7 and the shoulder parts 9, 9 are overlapped and connected like a single sheet by thermocompression. The material of the light-shielding outer fabric 3 is a black film of TPU (polyurethane thermoplastic elastomer).

[0012] A heat insulating sheet 11 with an aluminum surface is superimposed on the inner side of the light blocking outer fabric 3 of the back body 5, the left and right front body pieces 7, 7, and the shoulder parts 9, 9. This heat insulating sheet 11 is made by vapor-depositing aluminum onto a polyethylene base sheet, and is sewn and covered so that the aluminum surface is exposed. The contour of the heat insulating sheet 11 is similar to but slightly smaller than the contours of the back body 5, the left and right front body pieces 7, 7, and the shoulder parts 9, 9, and is positioned inward from the edges of the back body 5, the left and right front body pieces 7, 7, and the shoulder parts 9, 9 by a certain width.

[0013] The cooling lining 13 is divided into sections to fit the contours of the back body 5, the left and right front body sections 7, 7, and the shoulder parts 9, 9. The cooling lining 13A has both left and right sides and lower edges aligned to fit the back body 5, the cooling lining 13B has both left and right sides and lower edges aligned to fit the front body 7, and the cooling lining 13C has both left and right sides aligned to fit the shoulder parts 9, and is layered on the inner surface of the light-shielding outer fabric 3 with gaps between each cooling lining 13, 13, 13 so that they do not overlap.

[0014] As shown in Fig. 4, the cooling lining 13 is composed of a flat film 15 and a textured film 17, both made of a plastic film made of synthetic resin such as polyethylene. The convex portions 19 of the textured film 17 are connected in a ridge-like shape, and the depth of the concave bottom surfaces 21a of the concave portions 21 is uniform. The convex portions 19 are connected in a ring shape to form the edge of the textured film 17, and also extend in the left-right and front-rear directions within the film plane, and even in partially oblique directions. The extension pattern of the convex portions 19 can be freely designed, and the shape of the concave side surface 21b of the concave portions 21 is determined according to this extension pattern. The flat film 15 and the uneven film 17 have the same outline, their edges are aligned, the convex portion 19 is joined to the flat film 15 in a state where it is superimposed thereon, and the concave portion 21 is sealed with the flat film 15 as the top surface, forming a box-shaped storage portion 23.

[0015] A phase change material 25 is enclosed in the housing 23. This phase change material 25 is a so-called PCM (Phase Change Material) that absorbs heat and changes from a solid phase to a liquid phase. In the present invention, this phase change material 25 is used as a cooling medium that cools the body by absorbing heat from the body side as latent heat of fusion. The solidification temperature of the phase change material 25 is adjusted to about 26° C. so that it quickly returns from a molten state to a solidified state, for example in about 10 minutes, when placed in a cooler box or an insulated bag containing ice packs.

[0016] The phase change material 25 contains, for example, paraffin or aliphatic hydrocarbon (or fatty saturated hydrocarbon). The phase change material 25 contains, for example, tetradecane (C 14 H 30 ), hexadecane (C 16 H 34 ), and octadecane (C 18 H 38 The phase change material 25 includes at least one of tetradecane (C 14 H 30 ), hexadecane (C 16 H 34 ), and octadecane (C 18 H 38 ) may be included.

[0017] The cooling lining 13 is constructed as described above, and is manufactured in the above-described form by simultaneously forming the storage section 23 by overlapping the flat film 15 and the textured film 17 and thermocompression bonding and then sealing the phase change material 25 in the storage section 23. At the time of sealing, the phase change material 25 is in a solid state, making it possible to seal it at the same time as molding.

[0018] The cooling linings 13A, 13B, and 13C are each integrated by being thermally welded to the inner surface of the back body 5, the left and right front body parts 7, 7, and the shoulder parts 9, 9, which are made of a light-shielding outer fabric 3, with the flat film 15 side overlapping. Since the heat insulating sheet 11 is laminated and interposed, the flat film 15 is joined to the light blocking outer material 3 on the edge side and to the heat insulating sheet 11 on the inside.

[0019] As shown in Fig. 3, the convex portion 19 is inverted to form a concave portion 27 when viewed from the exposed surface side of the cooling lining 13, and the storage portion 23 is relatively raised. The storage portion 23 is mainly rectangular, but may be triangular or pentagonal on the edge side, as it may be aligned with the contour of the back body 5 or the like.

[0020] On the back body 5 side, the grooves 27 are arranged symmetrically, with groove 27a extending vertically to the top and bottom edges at the center, and grooves 27b, 27b extending vertically to the top and bottom edges on the left and right outside of groove 27a. In addition, grooves 27c, 27c, ..., 27d, 27d, ... are also arranged to extend horizontally and intersect with these. Grooves 27c, 27c, ... are connected to groove 27e that reaches the left and right edges and forms the edges, but grooves 27d, 27d, ... are sandwiched between the large storage sections 23a, 23a and between storage sections 23b, 23b.

[0021] The large storage compartments 23a, 23a are formed with circular through-holes 29, 29. The through-holes 29 penetrate the storage compartments 23a on the cooling lining 13 side, and further penetrate the flat film 15, heat insulating sheet 11, and light-shielding outer fabric 3 constituting the back body 5, and thus literally penetrate the cooling vest 1. The hole surface of this through hole 29 is joined by heat welding, with the hole edge on the side of the uneven film 17 and the hole edge on the side of the flat film 15 being brought together, making the storage section 23a leakproof, and the phase change material 25 is sealed in a state surrounding the through hole 29.

[0022] The left and right front body panels 7 and 7 are constructed to be symmetrical. On the front body 7 side, the groove 27 is arranged with a groove 27f extending downward from a step located near the center of the upper edge in the left-right direction to the upper and lower edges. In addition, grooves 27g, 27g, ... are also arranged to extend in the left-right direction intersecting with the groove 27f. Through holes 29, 29, 29 are formed in the three storage sections 23c, 23d, 23e, respectively.

[0023] The shoulder portions 9, 9 are also configured to be symmetrical. In the shoulder portion 9, the recessed portions 27h, 27h, . . . are arranged in parallel in a straight line from the neck side to the arm side, and the rectangular storage portions 23f, 23f, .

[0024] A belt 31 is passed through the underarm areas between the left and right front body panels 7, 7 and the back body panel 5. The belts 31a are connected to each other with an adjustment buckle 33 so that the length can be adjusted. The left front body panel 7 and the right front body panel 7 are also connected by the belt 31 and with a one-touch buckle 34. This connection allows the cooling vest 1 to be in the form of a vest.

[0025] When the cooling vest 1 is worn in this state, the cooling lining 13 comes into contact with the body side and envelops it. The raised storage portion 23 contains a phase change material 25, and when the phase change material 25 is in a solid state, the storage portion 23 becomes rigid. However, the grooves 27 that form the gaps between the storage sections 23 act as joints, allowing for mountain and valley folds, and the storage sections 23 are arranged to match the uneven shape of the body side, so the raised storage sections 23 can be brought into contact with the body side to fit well. As shown in Figure 5, even the shoulder parts 9 bend in a U-shape when their own weight is applied to fit. Therefore, a wide area of ​​the upper surface of each of the storage sections 23, 23, . . . comes into contact with the body without waste.

[0026] In this state, the phase change material 25 enclosed in the housing portion 23 absorbs heat from the body side through the uneven film 17, cools down, and melts itself. At the shoulder parts 9, the cooling vest 1 is naturally pressed against the body due to its own weight, but as shown in Figure 5, the housing portions 23f, 23f, ... are arranged in parallel, curved in a U-shape, and this pressed state is utilized to efficiently cool the body.

[0027] Also, the grooves 27 form gaps between the body side, but because the edges of the grooves 27 are open, the grooves 27 serve as escape routes for air. The grooves 27 extend in all directions, up and down, left and right, and are connected at their intersections, and the storage sections 23 and the grooves 27 are arranged in a well-balanced manner over the entire surface of each of the cooling linings 13A, 13B, and 13C, so that the air escape route prevents air from becoming trapped inside each of the cooling linings 13A, 13B, and 13C that come into contact with the body side when the cooling vest 1 is worn. In the summer, the heat causes a lot of sweat, and as this sweat evaporates, the garment becomes stuffy, but by allowing the air to escape through this escape route, it becomes less stuffy.

[0028] In this way, the cooling of the body through contact with the phase change member 25 and the escape of evaporated sweat are carried out in parallel, so that an efficient and sufficient cooling effect can be obtained. In addition, the cooling vest 1 does not bulge unnaturally when worn, and even if a jacket or a hoodie is worn over the cooling vest 1 while riding a motorcycle, it does not look unnatural. Furthermore, it is easy to put on and take off, and the light-shielding outer layer 3 protects against direct sunlight, so it can be easily worn outside even when doing work such as weeding in a garden.

[0029] In addition, by folding the groove portion 27 side as shown in Figure 6, the cooling vest 1 can be folded compactly. Therefore, when putting it in the refrigerator or carrying it around, it is possible to prepare a cooler box or ice pack with ice packs and take them out as needed, or to keep spare ones in the cooler and use them alternately.

[0030] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and the invention also includes design changes within the scope of the present invention without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the arrangement pattern of the storage sections 23 can be designed appropriately according to the size and contour of the vest. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1...Cooling vest 3...Light-blocking outer fabric 5...Back 7...Front body 9...Shoulder area 11...Insulation sheet 13...Cooling lining 15...Flat film 17...Concave-convex film 19...Convex part 21...Concave part 21a...Concave bottom surface 21b... concave side surface 23... storage portion 25... phase change member 27 ... groove portion 29 ... through hole 31 ... belt 33…Adjustment buckle 34…One-touch buckle

Claims

1. The back and front panels are joined at the shoulders to create a vest-like, light-shielding outer fabric. This cooling vest is characterized in that a cooling lining is formed by joining a flat film and a textured film, and a phase change material that absorbs heat and changes from a solid phase to a liquid phase is enclosed in a storage section surrounded by the concave surface of the textured film and the flat film, and is integrated by overlapping the flat film side, and the gaps between the storage sections are foldable.

2. The cooling vest according to claim 1, In the cooling vest, the cooling lining is characterized in that, at a portion where it is overlapped and joined to the rear part of the light-shielding outer fabric, the concave surface of the concave-convex film extends continuously in the up-down direction so as to be mountain-foldable.

3. The cooling vest according to claim 1 or 2, In the cooling vest, the cooling lining is characterized in that the concave surface of the concave-convex film extends continuously in the left-right direction so as to be mountain-foldable at a portion where the cooling lining is overlapped and joined to the back body part of the light-shielding outer fabric.

4. The cooling vest according to claim 3, This cooling vest is characterized in that the cooling lining has a plurality of parallel concave surfaces of the concave-convex film extending from the neck side to the arm side at the portion where it is overlapped and joined to the shoulder portion of the light-shielding outer fabric, and each is folded in a valley to be curved into a U-shape as a whole.

5. The cooling vest according to claim 4, This cooling vest is characterized in that the rear body and the left and right front body parts are detachably connected at the armpit areas with belts.

6. The cooling vest according to claim 5, This cooling vest is characterized in that a heat insulating sheet is inserted between the light blocking outer layer and the cooling lining.

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