Cooling garment

Abstract

To provide a cooling garment which keeps a cooling effect for a relatively long period of time, gives a relatively less discomfort to a back side of a wearer even when worn like an ordinary garment, and allows the wearer to take a relatively easy posture even when leaning against a wall or a backrest of a chair.SOLUTION: Since two frozen PET bottles 43 are housed in a flat bag 35, a surface area to be a heat transfer surface as a PET bottle container becomes large. In addition, since shoulders 43a and 43a of the two PET bottles 43 and 43 face from the downside to a point where water (W) falls as water droplets (D), a wearer's body is efficiently cooled so as to obtain a comfortable cooling effect from just after wearing the cooling garment. Since two cold insulators are present, a quantitative effect is expected, and the cooling effect lasts for a relatively long time. Furthermore, since a back bone side naturally enters into a recessed portion between the two PET bottles 43 and 43 when worn, there is relatively little discomfort on a back side, and even when leaning against a wall or a backrest of a chair, the wearer can easily take a relatively comfortable posture.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a cooling garment suitable for use at a work site in a high-temperature environment or the like.

Background Art

[0002] In order to reduce the burden on workers during work in a high-temperature environment such as in summer, a cooling garment described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. In this cooling garment, a frozen plastic bottle is accommodated in an accommodation portion provided on the back side of the garment body. Further, a tube is laid on the inner surface of the garment body in an exposed state, and both ends of this tube are connected to and communicate with the accommodation portion. Then, by utilizing the operation of a pump, the water cooled by the plastic bottle in the accommodation portion flows into the tube, circulates along the inner surface of the garment body in the tube, and then returns to the accommodation portion to be cooled again. The body of the person wearing the cooling garment is cooled by the water circulating in the tube.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Recently, record-breaking heatwaves have continued. In the conventional type of cooling garment that stores one plastic bottle in the accommodation portion, the cooling effect often disappears during outdoor work. Even though the plastic bottle can be easily replaced, depending on the work content, there are situations where the work cannot be interrupted. In addition, when wearing such a cooling garment, it feels as if a plastic bottle is constantly hitting the spine, which may cause discomfort to some people. Furthermore, even when trying to lean against a wall or the backrest of a chair to assume a comfortable posture, the back side will hit the wall or the like through the bulging part along the outer shape of the plastic bottle on the backside, making it prone to instability.

[0005] The present invention has been made by paying attention to the above-mentioned conventional problems, and aims to provide a novel and useful cooling garment that has a relatively long-lasting cooling effect, feels relatively less uncomfortable on the back side even when worn like ordinary clothing, and is relatively easy to assume a comfortable posture even when leaning against a wall or the backrest of a chair.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and includes a clothing body, a pocket provided at the backside of the clothing body, a storage portion provided in the pocket and capable of freely accommodating a plastic bottle filled with a liquid that can be frozen and serves as a cold storage body, a flow path exposed on the inner surface side of the clothing body and having both ends connected to the storage portion by tubes, and a pump attached to the tube. By the operation of the pump, a cooling fluid circulation path is configured in which the cooling fluid flowing into the storage portion from one end side of the tube is cooled by the cold storage body and then returned to the other end side of the tube and circulates through the flow path. In the cooling garment, the storage portion is formed in a flat bag shape with a flexible material, one end side of the tube is connected to the storage portion on its upper side, the other end side of the tube is connected to the storage portion on its lower side, and the storage portion is characterized in that two plastic bottles can be accommodated in a standing parallel state.

[0007] Preferably, one end side of the tube is connected to the storage portion at or near the middle in the left-right direction. More preferably, the connection position of one end side of the tube is set above the adjacent shoulders of the two plastic bottles accommodated in parallel. Preferably, when two plastic bottles are accommodated in the accommodation portion, a play gap is left in the accommodation portion to such an extent that the standing posture can be maintained.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] The cooling clothing of the present invention has a cooling effect that lasts relatively long. Further, it looks like ordinary clothing and has relatively little discomfort on the back side even when worn, and it is relatively easy to take a comfortable posture even when leaning against a wall or the backrest of a chair.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 11

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] The cooling clothing according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in Fig. 1, the cooling garment is a vest-type cooling vest 1, and its garment body 3 is made of a synthetic fiber fabric such as nylon or polyester. The back part 5, the left and right front parts 7 and 9 are connected via the shoulders and are made of a breathable mesh fabric. The underarm parts between the left front part 7 and the back part 5 and between the right front part 9 and the back part 5 are respectively connected by belts 11, and the left front part 7 and the right front part 9 are also connected by a similar belt.

[0011] As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, for the back part 5, the pocket cloth parts 13a and 13b are overlapped from the outer side and sewn together with the back part 5 to form a cooling pocket 15. The pocket cloth part 13b is cut in an arc shape upward to form a flap-shaped lid part 15b of the cooling pocket 15, and the base end side is continuously provided with respect to the remaining pocket body 15a. The flap-shaped lid part 15b is opened and closed by a fastener 17 provided at the respective edges on the side of the pocket body 15a. Also, the pocket cloth part 13c is overlapped from the outer side and sewn to the pocket cloth part 13b to form a pump pocket 19, which is opened and closed by a fastener 21.

[0012] At the upper end inside the cooling pocket 15, one end sides of short belts 23a are sewn at intervals in the left-right direction. A concave part and a convex part of a snap button 23b are attached to the middle side and the other end side of each belt 23a. By this concave-convex engagement, a ring part is formed to become a suspension tool 23. Also, insertion-type guide parts 25, 25,... are attached to the inner surface side of the garment body 3. The inner surface side and the cooling pocket 15 communicate via an insertion hole 27, and the pump pocket 19 communicates via insertion holes 29 and 31. Further, the cooling pocket 15 has not only the above-described flap-shaped lid part 15b but also an opening at the shoulder of the garment body 3 upward to form a cable outlet.

[0013] The side of the clothing body 3 is configured as described above, and a cooling fluid circulation mechanism using the tube 33 as a cooling part is incorporated. The tube 33 is made of plastic and is flexible. It is sequentially inserted into the insertion-type guide parts 25, 25,... and is in a state of meandering along the inner surface side, and the inner surface side is covered by the tube 33 that is exposed over the entire surface. When wearing the clothing body 3 as an outer layer, this meandering part comes into contact with the upper garment of the wearer.

[0014] Both ends of this tube 33 are passed through the insertion holes 27 and enter the cooling pocket 15. The cooling pocket 15 contains a vertically long rectangular flat bag body 35 made of a flexible waterproof material made of plastic, and the accommodation part is constituted by this flat bag body 35. As shown in FIG. 3, the flat bag body 35 is made into a bag by sealing the three side edges on the left, right, and lower sides of the bag surface part 35a and the bag surface part 35b. One bag surface part 35a of the flat bag body 35 is accommodated in a state of being overlapped on the pocket body 15a side. When the bag surface part 35a and the bag surface part 35b are overlapped and flattened, their opening edges are also aligned. However, the opening edge of the bag surface part 35a is simply convex upward from both the left and right ends toward the center, while the opening edge of the bag surface part 35b is convex upward from both the left and right ends toward the center, and on the contrary, the central part is concave upward and recessed. At the central part, the opening edges are not deliberately aligned.

[0015] Also, on the opening edge side of the bag surface part 35a, the lower long side edge of the horizontally long rectangular strip-shaped bag surface part 35d is sealed and continuously provided parallel to the lower edge of the flat bag body 35 to form a flap piece. Two horizontally long oval insertion holes 35e, 35e are formed in this bag surface part 35d at intervals in the left-right direction. The length dimension of this bag surface part 35d is shorter than that of the bag surface part 35a and does not protrude from the bag surface part 35a.

[0016] As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the bag mouth 35c of the flat bag body 35 is closed by a plastic stopper 37. On the opening edge side of the bag surface portion 35b of the other party, a rod 37a is fixed parallel to the straight lower edge, and a perforated piece 37b is continuously provided parallel to the axial direction on the outer peripheral surface of this rod 37a. On the other hand, as a separate body, there is an elongated clip 37c. A groove 37d for fitting the rod 37a is formed in this clip 37c. Further, a perforated piece 37e is continuously provided parallel to the axial direction on the outer peripheral surface on the side opposite to the open side of the groove 37d. The length dimensions of this rod 37a and the clip 37c are substantially the same as the dimensions in the width direction of the bag surface portions 35a and 35b, and the rod 37a straddles the left and right seal portions of the flat bag body 35.

[0017] If the rod 37a is passed through the groove 37d of the clip 37c, the groove 37d will elastically expand, so that the rod 37a and the clip 37c will be in an elastic contact state. Close the bag opening 35c, fold it back in the direction of wrapping the rod 37a, and pass it through together with the bag surface portions 35a and 35b that wrap the rod 37a in the groove 37d of the clip 37c. Then, the bag surface portions 35a and 35b will be clamped and adhered at the folded part, so that the bag opening 35c will be closed and the flat bag body 35 will be in a closed state. Since the length dimension of the clip 37c is such that the groove 37d completely wraps the rod 37a, the bag opening 35c will be completely closed. In addition, a zipper 38 is provided on the flat bag body 35 above the rod 37a. When temporarily closed with this zipper 38, the bag surface portions 35a and 35b on the bag opening 35c side are pre-overlapped, and the opening edges constituting the bag opening 35c are neatly aligned. On the other hand, if the rod 37a of the stopper 37 is removed and the boundary between the convex portion and the concave portion of the opening edge of the bag surface portion 35b is pinched with a finger and pulled forward, the zipper 38 can be easily opened.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 7, one end side of the tube 33 that has entered the cooling pocket 15 is connected to the flat bag body 35 at the middle in the left-right direction at its upper part. The other end side of the tube 33 is further passed through the insertion hole 29 and pulled out to the pump pocket 19. Then, after the pump 39 is installed, it is returned through the insertion hole 29 into the cooling pocket 15 and connected to the flat bag body 35 near one corner at its lower part. On the side of the flat bag body 35, a relatively rigid tubular tube connection part 33a stands up in an inverted L shape, and a tube 33 is externally fitted and connected to this tube connection part 33a in a liquid-tight manner. The cable 39a of the pump 39 is passed through the insertion hole 31, enters the inside of the cooling pocket 15, and is drawn out from the cable outlet. The drawn-out cable 39a is detachably connected to a portable controller. The controller is housed in a pocket provided around the left front body. By manually operating the operation part provided on this controller, the operation / stop of the pump 39 is controlled.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 7, the cold storage body is composed of a pet bottle 43 filled with a liquid (L) that can be frozen, usually a beverage, and the capacity is assumed to be 500 mL to 600 mL. Two of these pet bottles 43 are housed in a standing state in parallel. At the time of this housing, the bag surface parts 35a and 35b on the lower edge side of the flat bag body 35 open in the front-rear direction to form a bottom surface-like shape. Pet bottles 43, 43 of the assumed maximum capacity can be freely inserted into and removed from the flat bag body 35, and in the housed state, they are temporarily closed with a zipper 38, and further, the bag mouth 35c of the flat bag body 35 can be completely closed by a stopper 37. Also, when housed, the size of the flat bag body 35 is adjusted so that it does not stick tightly to the inner surface of the flat bag body 35 and a play gap is left.

[0020] One end side of the tube 33 that has entered the cooling pocket 15 is connected to the flat bag body 35 above the shoulders 43a adjacent to each other in the left-right direction between the two parallel pet bottles 43, 43. In addition, due to the shape characteristics of the flat bag body 35, if the two PET bottles 43, 43 are of the same size, they will be naturally and evenly accommodated on the left and right. However, even if their sizes are different, as long as they are within the above-mentioned accommodable range, even if they shift to one side on the left or right, the deviation is slight. Above the shoulders 43a and 43a adjacent to each other in the left-right direction of the two parallel PET bottles 43, 43, one end side of the tube 33 that has entered the cooling pocket 15 will still be in a state of being connected to the flat bag body 35.

[0021] In the cooling pocket 15, the insertion holes 35e, 35e are respectively inserted into the pair of ring portions of the suspension tool 23, so that the flat bag body 35 is suspended on the cooling pocket 15 side and accommodated. Although the upper side of the flat bag body 35 is a space, it will not bend or fold due to this suspension. Therefore, even if the flat bag body 35 is moved in the cooling pocket 15 during the wearing of the cooling vest 1, the positional relationship between the tube connection portion 33a on one end side of the tube 33 and the accommodated PET bottles 43, 43 will also be maintained in the above-mentioned relationship.

[0022] When wearing the cooling vest 1, as shown in FIG. 3, with the liquids (L) enclosed in the two PET bottles 43 frozen, they are accommodated in the flat bag body 35 in a standing posture. Also, water (W) as the cooling fluid is put into the flat bag body 35. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, first temporarily close it with the zipper 38, and then, as shown in FIG. 5, fold it so that the rod 37a is hidden. As shown in FIG. 6, pass the rod 37a through the bag surface portions 35a, 35b that wrap the rod 37a in the groove 37d of the clip 37c to close the bag mouth 35c. If the perforated pieces 37b and 27e of the flat bag body 35 are used as gripping portions, the flat bag body 35 can be easily lifted even when the PET bottles 43, 43 are accommodated. Therefore, the accommodation and removal of the flat bag body 35 into and from the cooling pocket 15 will not be hindered even if it becomes slightly heavier due to the accommodation of the two PET bottles 43, 43.

[0023] When the pump 39 is operated, the water (W) flowing into the flat bag body 35 from one end side of the tube 33 becomes water droplets (D), contacts the outer surface of the plastic bottle 43 in which the liquid (L) is enclosed in a frozen state, drips down while sliding, and is cooled in the process, and then is stored in a pool of water (W). Further, a cooling fluid circulation path is configured in which the water (W) returns from the pool to the other end side of the tube 33 and circulates. Therefore, when the cooling vest 1 is worn, the body is cooled by the water (W) circulating in the tube 33. Since the water (W) flows out from the lower part of the flat bag body 35, it is sufficient that the water (W) fills the entire tube 33 and the water level exceeds the tube connection part 33a at the lower part of the flat bag body 35 is always maintained.

[0024] As a feature of the present invention, two plastic bottles 43, 43 are used as cold storage bodies at the same time, and the surface area serving as the heat transfer surface of the plastic bottle as a container is larger than when one plastic bottle is used. Moreover, since the shoulders 43a, 43a of the two plastic bottles 43, 43 face downward from below at the point where the water (W) falls as water droplets (D), as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, it is efficiently cooled and a comfortable cooling effect can be obtained immediately after wearing. In addition, since there are two cold storage bodies, a quantitative effect is also expected, and the cooling effect lasts relatively long. Furthermore, when worn as the cooling vest 1, the backbone side naturally enters the concave portion between the two plastic bottles 43, 43, so there is relatively little discomfort on the back side, and even when leaning against a wall or the backrest of a chair, it is relatively easy to take a comfortable posture.

[0025] A play gap is left around the plastic bottles 43, 43 to facilitate the entry and exit from the flat bag body 35. As a result, the water droplets (D) can also enter between the inner surface of the flat bag body 35 and the plastic bottle 43. Also, a pool of water (W) that occupies a certain amount of space is formed at the lower part of the flat bag body 35 in this gap. Since the tube connection part 33a at the lower part of the flat bag body 35 is connected to the flat bag body 35 in this pool, the amount of water (W) entering the flat bag body 35 can be suppressed without mixing air bubbles into the tube 33.

[0026] The cooling vest 101 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. The cooling vest 101 includes a clothing body 3, cooling pockets 15, and a pump pocket 19, which are similar to those of the cooling vest 1 according to the first embodiment. However, the flow path is not a tube 33, but is configured using two overlapping synthetic resin sheets 103, 103. The two synthetic resin sheets 103, 103 are linearly heat-sealed and joined. Two seal lines 105, 105 extend substantially parallel to each other, and an elongated space is formed between the two seal lines 105, 105. This space serves as the flow path 107. The flow path 107 extends in a continuous, meandering manner.

[0027] Since the two overlapping synthetic resin sheets 103, 103 form the cooling lining 109, they are overlapped on the inner surface side of the clothing body 3, which serves as the outer fabric, and attached with snap buttons 111. Tube connection parts are integrally formed on both end portions 107a, 107a of the flow path 107 on the side opposite to the outer fabric. One end of a tube is connected to one of the tube connection parts, and the other end of this tube enters the cooling pocket 15 through the insertion hole 113. The same applies to the tube connected to the other tube connection part. In this way, these tubes are connected to the flat bag body 35 in the same manner as the tube 33 used in the cooling vest 1.

[0028] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and design changes and the like within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention are also included in the invention. For example, the way the tube 33 is routed and the routing density, and the way the continuous extension of the flow path 107 are arranged may be optimized according to the body size of the clothing body 3 and the like. Also, the closing means only needs to achieve the expected closing function and is not limited to the stopper 37.

[0029] Also, as shown in FIG. 11, a flat bag body 115 of the type described in Patent Document 1 may be used. This flat bag body 115 is made of the same material as the flat bag body 35, but a large circular hole is formed in one of the bag surfaces, which serves as the main opening of the flat bag body 115. An opening is also formed in the bag cloth portion on the outer surface side of the cooling pocket 15, and the edges of the respective holes are aligned and the base 117 is attached and integrated. A lid body 121 is connected to the base 117 via a string 119. PET bottles 43 will be inserted into and removed from the base 117 one by one. By inserting insertion holes 115a, 115a into a pair of ring portions of the suspension tool 23 in the cooling pocket 15, the flat bag body 115 is accommodated in a state of being suspended on the cooling pocket 15 side.

Explanation of Signs

[0030] 1… Cooling vest 3… Clothing body 5… Back part 7… Left front part 9… Right front part 11… Belt 13a, 13b, 13c… Bag cloth part 15… Cooling pocket 15a… Pocket body 15b… Flap-shaped lid part 17… Fastener 19… Pump pocket 21… Fastener 23… Suspension tool 23a… Belt 23b… Snap button 25… Insertion guide part 27, 29, 31… Insertion holes 33… Tube 33a… Tube connection part 35… Flat bag body 35a, 35b… Bag surfaces 35c… Bag opening 35d… Bag surface 35e… Insertion hole 37… Stopper 37a… Rod 37b… Pierced piece 37c… Clip 37d… Groove 37e… Pierced piece 38… Zipper 39… Pump 39a… Cable 43… PET bottle 43a… Shoulder part 101… Cooling vest 103… Synthetic resin sheet 105… Seal wire 107… Flow path 107a…(end of the flow path) 109…cooling lining 111…snap button 113…insertion hole 115…flat bag body 115a…insertion hole 117…base 119…string 121…lid L…freezable liquid W…water D…water droplet

Claims

1. A cooling garment, comprising: a clothing body; a pocket provided at the back of the clothing body; a receiving portion provided in the pocket and configured to removably accommodate a plastic bottle filled with a liquid that can be frozen and serves as a heat-insulating body; a flow path exposed on the inner surface side of the clothing body and having both ends connected to the receiving portion by tubes; and a pump attached to the tube. When the pump operates, a cooling fluid circulation path is formed in which the cooling fluid flowing into the receiving portion from one end side of the tube is cooled by the heat-insulating body and then returned to the other end side of the tube and circulates through the flow path. The receiving portion is formed in a flat bag shape with a flexible material. One end side of the tube is connected to the upper side of the receiving portion, and the other end side of the tube is connected to the lower side of the receiving portion. The cooling garment is characterized in that the receiving portion can accommodate two plastic bottles standing side by side in a parallel state.

2. The cooling garment according to Claim 1, characterized in that one end side of the tube is connected to the receiving portion at or near the middle in the left-right direction.

3. The cooling garment according to Claim 2, characterized in that the connection position of one end side of the tube is set above the adjacent shoulders of the two plastic bottles accommodated side by side.

4. The cooling garment according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that when two plastic bottles are accommodated in the receiving portion, a play gap is left in the receiving portion to such an extent that the standing posture can be maintained.

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