Ultrasonic mist toy

Abstract

To provide an ultrasonic mist toy that can give a different impression than a conventional one.SOLUTION: An ultrasonic mist toy includes: a mist generation device 30 that generates mist by the atomizing effect of ultrasonic waves; a tank 37 for storing water to be supplied to the mist generation device 30; and a discharge conduit 20 for discharging the mist generated by the mist generation device 30 to the outside. The discharge conduit 20 includes a discharge port 21 which discharges the mist in the horizontal direction. The toy can execute a performance as if smoke is produced in the horizontal direction by discharging the mist from the discharge port 21 to the outside in the horizontal direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a toy utilizing the action of ultrasonic atomization.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, ultrasonic atomization devices used for the purpose of humidifying indoor air are known. Also, as such ultrasonic atomization devices, those that blow out mist by ultrasonically vibrating an ultrasonic diaphragm are known.

[0003] For example, the ultrasonic atomization device described in Patent Document 1 closes a window formed in the ceiling of a liquid tank with an ultrasonic diaphragm. A large number of fine through-holes are formed in the ultrasonic diaphragm in the thickness direction thereof. When the ultrasonic diaphragm with the upper surface exposed to the atmosphere and the lower surface in contact with the liquid is ultrasonically vibrated, mist blows out upward from the through-holes of the ultrasonic diaphragm.

[0004] Also, Patent Document 2 discloses a toy using such an ultrasonic diaphragm. Specifically, a configuration is disclosed in which an ultrasonic atomizer is disposed inside the casing of a steam locomotive toy, and the atomized particles atomized by the ultrasonic atomizer are discharged from an opening (chimney) of the casing.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] However, since the toy described in Patent Document 2 above has a configuration similar to a humidifier, there is a problem that it lacks in趣味性. ​Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic mist toy that can give a different impression than conventional toys. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a mist generator that generates mist by the atomizing effect of ultrasound, a tank for storing water supplied to the mist generator, and a discharge pipeline for discharging the mist generated by the mist generator to the outside. The discharge pipeline is equipped with an outlet for discharging mist horizontally, and by discharging mist horizontally to the outside from the outlet, it creates the effect of smoke coming out horizontally. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] As described above, the present invention features a discharge pipe equipped with an outlet that discharges mist horizontally, and the mist discharged horizontally from the outlet toward the outside creates the effect of smoke being emitted horizontally. In other words, instead of discharging mist upward as in the conventional method, the mist is discharged horizontally, thus creating a different impression from the conventional method. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] (a) A perspective view of the ultrasonic mist toy seen from the front, and (b) A perspective view of the ultrasonic mist toy seen from the rear. [Figure 2] This is a perspective view of the ultrasonic mist toy with the cap removed. [Figure 3] (a) Perspective view of the ultrasonic mist toy with the body cover removed, (b) Side view illustrating the internal structure of the ultrasonic mist toy. [Figure 4] This is an exploded view of the tank and mist generator. [Figure 5] (a) Cross-sectional view of the discharge pipeline, (b) Cross-sectional view along line AA, (c) Cross-sectional view along line BB. [Figure 6]This is a magnified view of a portion of the area near the discharge pipe illustrating how water droplets are discharged, and is (a) an oblique view and (b) a side cross-sectional view. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the figures. In the following description, the vertical direction refers to the vertical direction when the toy 10 is placed on the ground. The front-to-back direction refers to the front-to-back direction as seen in the direction of travel of the toy 10. The toy 10 according to this embodiment is in the form of a car and, as shown in Figure 1, comprises a body cover 11, a chassis 15, and wheels 38.

[0011] The body cover 11 is mounted so as to cover the top surface of the chassis 15. As shown in Figure 2, an opening 11a is formed in the top surface of the body cover 11. This top surface opening 11a communicates with the water inlet 17a of the water inlet pipe 17, which will be described later. In other words, this top surface opening 11a is located vertically above the tank 37, which will be described later, and is directly connected to the tank 37. A cap 12 that closes the top surface opening 11a is also detachably attached to the top surface of the body cover 11. As shown in Figure 2, by removing this cap 12, the water inlet 17a is exposed facing upwards, allowing water to be poured in. Also, as shown in Figure 1, by attaching the cap 12, the water inlet 17a is closed by the cap 12, preventing water poured into the tank 37 from leaking out of the water inlet 17a.

[0012] The wheels 38 are rotatably mounted on the chassis 15. In this embodiment, four wheels 38 are mounted, one in the front, one in the back, and one in the left and one in the right. When the toy 10 is pushed forward, these wheels 38 rotate, allowing it to move forward.

[0013] The chassis 15 is the structural frame of the vehicle. As shown in Figure 3, a tank member 16, a mist generator 30, a discharge pipe 20, and a battery 29 are arranged on the upper surface of the chassis 15. The tank member 16, mist generator 30, and battery 29 are completely covered by a body cover 11 attached to the upper surface of the chassis 15. At least the tip of the discharge pipe 20 is exposed to the outside of the body cover 11.

[0014] The tank component 16 is a component that makes up the tank 37 for storing water supplied to the mist generator 30. As shown in Figure 4, the tank component 16 comprises a storage section 18 that makes up the tank 37 and a flange section 19 connected to the rear of the storage section 18.

[0015] The storage section 18 is approximately rectangular in shape and forms a hollow section 18b for storing water. This hollow section 18b has a flat bottom surface 18c and is surrounded by walls on its front surface 18e and both sides 18d. There is no wall at the rear surface opposite the front surface 18e, and it is an opening 18a. The top surface of the hollow section 18b is formed with a slight incline following the shape of the body cover 11 and forms the ceiling surface of the tank 37. The volume of this hollow section 18b (the size of the space partitioned by the bottom surface 18c, front surface 18e, both sides 18d, opening 18a, and top surface) is the volume of the tank 37. A water inlet pipe 17 protrudes upward from the ceiling surface of the tank 37. The upper end of this water inlet pipe 17 is the water inlet 17a.

[0016] Furthermore, the opening 18a formed on the rear surface of the hollow section 18b opens vertically and is continuous with the bottom surface 18c without any step. Therefore, if water is poured into the hollow section 18b without blocking this opening 18a, all the water will flow out. However, this opening 18a is blocked by the vibrating plate 31, which will be described later, so the water poured into the tank 37 does not flow out of the opening 18a.

[0017] The flange portion 19 is formed in a circular shape so as to surround the opening 18a. This flange portion 19 is formed to be flush with the opening 18a. Further, the outer peripheral edge of this flange portion 19 protrudes rearward to form a peripheral wall portion 19a. Thereby, a disk-shaped accommodation space is formed inside the peripheral wall portion 19a. This accommodation space is for accommodating the diaphragm 31 described later. When the diaphragm 31 is accommodated in this accommodation space, the opening 18a is blocked by the diaphragm 31. That is, the rear wall surface of the tank 37 is constituted by the diaphragm 31.

[0018] The mist generating device 30 generates mist by the atomizing effect of ultrasonic waves. The on / off operation of this mist generating device 30 can be switched by operating a switch (not shown) arranged on the back side of the chassis 15. The mist generating device 30 of the present embodiment includes a diaphragm 31, a diaphragm cover 32, a water supply sponge 33, a spring 34, and a lid portion 35 as shown in FIG. 4.

[0019] The diaphragm 31 is a piezoelectric element that is widely and generally circulated, and is a coin-shaped member that can generate mist by ultrasonic vibration. The diaphragm 31 has fine holes formed in the central portion, and intermittently vibrates to eject mist from the holes. This diaphragm 31 is arranged so as to block the opening 18a in a vertically standing state. This diaphragm 31 takes in water from the surface facing the tank 37 and ejects mist from the opposite surface (the surface facing the discharge pipe 20). Although the wiring is omitted in the drawings, this diaphragm 31 is electrically connected to the battery 29 and operates with the battery 29 as a power source.

[0020] The diaphragm cover 32 is a ring-shaped member attached around the diaphragm 31. A circular slit 32a is formed on the inner surface of the diaphragm cover 32 into which the diaphragm 31 is inserted. This diaphragm cover 32 is for preventing water leakage and is made of a soft material such as rubber or synthetic resin. By attaching this diaphragm cover 32 to the diaphragm 31, the gap between the tank member 16 and the diaphragm 31 can be filled when the diaphragm 31 forms the wall surface of the tank 37. In other words, the outer shape of this diaphragm cover 32 is formed to be sized to be press-fitted into the interior of the peripheral wall portion 19a, and by fitting the diaphragm cover 32 into the peripheral wall portion 19a, water leakage from the opening 18a can be prevented.

[0021] The water supply sponge 33 is a water-absorbing core that guides water from the tank 37 to the vibrating plate 31. This water supply sponge 33 is inserted into the tank 37 and positioned so that its rear end is in contact with the vibrating plate 31.

[0022] The spring 34 is a biasing member that presses the water supply sponge 33 against the diaphragm 31. The spring 34 is positioned between the inner wall of the tank 37 and the water supply sponge 33 and biases the water supply sponge 33 backward. In other words, the rear end of the water supply sponge 33 is pressed against the diaphragm 31 by the spring 34.

[0023] The lid portion 35 is a component attached to the flange portion 19 so as to cover the diaphragm 31. By attaching this lid portion 35 to the flange portion 19, the diaphragm 31 is sandwiched between the lid portion 35 and the flange portion 19, and the diaphragm 31 is held at the rear of the tank 37. Specifically, the diaphragm 31 with the diaphragm cover 32 attached is fitted inside the peripheral wall portion 19a, and the lid portion 35 is attached so as to cover the flange portion 19, thereby fixing the mist generator 30 to the rear of the tank member 16. A circular hole 35a is formed in the center of the lid portion 35, exposing the rear surface of the diaphragm 31.

[0024] When the mist generator 30 is activated, the water in the tank 37 passes through the fine holes in the vibrating plate 31 and is ejected backward as mist. The mist passes through the circular hole 35a in the lid 35 and is discharged to the outside through the discharge pipe 20, which will be described later.

[0025] The discharge pipe 20 is a pipe for discharging the mist generated by the mist generator 30 to the outside. This discharge pipe 20 is located downstream (rear) of the mist generator 30, along the direction (front-to-back direction) in which the mist is blown out by the mist generator 30. This discharge pipe 20 is equipped with an outlet 21 that discharges the mist horizontally (rear). The discharge pipe 20 in this embodiment is formed to resemble a car's muffler, and the mist discharged horizontally to the outside from the outlet 21 can create the effect of smoke coming out of a car's muffler.

[0026] By the way, when mist is passed through such a discharge pipe 20, as shown in Figure 6, water droplets 40 originating from the mist adhere to the discharge pipe 20, and the accumulation of water droplets 40 near the discharge port 21 can prevent the mist from being discharged cleanly. In this embodiment, the following shape is adopted in order to quickly discharge the water droplets 40 inside the discharge pipe 20 to the outside.

[0027] First, as shown in Figure 5, the discharge pipe 20 has a gradient 25 such that the side towards the outlet 21 is lower, that is, the downstream section 20b is lower than the upstream section 20a. This allows water droplets 40 inside the discharge pipe 20 to flow quickly towards the outlet 21.

[0028] Furthermore, while the cross-section of the upstream section 20a of the discharge pipeline 20 is circular, the cross-section of the downstream section 20b (discharge port 21) is an inverted, roughly D-shape. That is, the upper part 22 of the discharge port 21 is formed in an arch shape, and the lower part 23 is formed flat. By adopting this shape, the cross-sectional area of ​​the discharge port 21 is increased, preventing the outlet from narrowing.

[0029] Furthermore, a notch 23a is formed in the flat lower part 23 described above for allowing water droplets 40 to fall. By providing the notch 23a, the water droplets 40 can be easily discharged to the outside, and by providing the notch 23a on a flat surface, the amount of discharge can be increased.

[0030] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 1(b), the discharge port 21 (and notch 23a) is formed in a position that protrudes rearward from the chassis 15. Therefore, water droplets 40 that fall from the discharge port 21 (and notch 23a) do not hit the toy 10, and the toy 10 does not get wet from the water droplets 40.

[0031] With this toy 10, activating the mist generator 30 can create the effect of smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe. Furthermore, if the toy 10 is pushed while mist is being emitted, the toy 10 will move forward (in the opposite direction to the mist emission), giving the fresh impression that a real car is driving along emitting smoke.

[0032] As described above, the toy 10 according to this embodiment has an outlet 21 in the discharge pipe 20 that discharges mist horizontally, and the mist discharged horizontally from the outlet 21 toward the outside creates the effect of smoke coming out horizontally. In other words, instead of discharging mist upward as in the conventional method, the mist is discharged horizontally, which gives a different impression than the conventional method.

[0033] Furthermore, the mist generator 30 is equipped with a vibrating plate 31 that generates mist by ultrasonic vibration. The vibrating plate 31 is positioned vertically and forms part of the wall of the tank 37. With this configuration, there is no need to provide piping from the tank 37 to the mist generator 30, which reduces the number of parts and allows for miniaturization.

[0034] In contrast, when the diaphragm 31 is used as a humidifier as in the conventional method, there was no need to discharge mist horizontally or to position the diaphragm 31 vertically. In this respect, the toy 10 according to this embodiment has a different configuration from the conventional, which can give the user a fresh impression.

[0035] Furthermore, in conventional humidifiers, it was difficult to construct the walls of the tank 37 with the vibrating plate 31. That is, since humidifiers require the tank 37 to have as large a capacity as possible, constructing the walls of the tank 37 with the vibrating plate 31 would increase the water pressure on the vibrating plate 31, making water leakage more likely. Also, the idea of ​​arranging the vibrating plate 31 vertically did not exist in the first place, so the idea of ​​constructing the walls of the tank 37 with the vibrating plate 31 did not exist. In this respect, in a toy 10 like this embodiment, there is no need to make the tank 37 capacity so large, so it is possible to construct the walls of the tank 37 with the vibrating plate 31 and achieve miniaturization.

[0036] In the embodiments described above, the toy 10 was described as being manually pushed to move, but it is not limited to this. For example, it can also be used with toys that have a power source to rotate the wheels 38, such as pull-back toys or wind-up toys. It may also be driven by a motor. In this case, the motor may start rotating at the same time as the switch that operates the mist generator 30 is turned on.

[0037] Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment uses a toy 10 in the form of a car (a toy that drives) as an example, the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to various toys that emit smoke horizontally. For example, it can be applied to toys that emit smoke from a gun, or toys that emit smoke from the mouth of a monster. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0038] 10 toys 11 Body cover 11a Top hole 12 caps 15 Chassis 16 Tank components 17 Water injection pipe 17a Water inlet 18 Storage section 18a opening 18b Hollow part 18c bottom 18d Side view 18e front 19 Flange section 19a Peripheral wall 20 Discharge pipe 20a Upstream section 20b downstream 21 Outlet 22 Top 23 Lower 23a Notch 25 gradient 29 Batteries 30 Mist Generator 31 Vibration plate 32. Diaphragm Cover 32a Slit 33 Water-absorbing sponge 34 Spring 35 Lid 35a Circular hole 37 tanks 38 wheels 40 water drops

Claims

1. A mist generator that produces mist using the atomizing effect of ultrasound, A tank for storing water to be supplied to the mist generator, A discharge pipeline for discharging the mist generated by the mist generator to the outside, Equipped with, The aforementioned discharge pipeline is equipped with an outlet for discharging mist horizontally. By discharging mist horizontally outwards from the aforementioned outlet, an effect is created that makes it appear as if smoke is coming out horizontally. A notch is formed at the bottom of the aforementioned outlet for allowing water droplets to fall. Ultrasonic mist toy.

2. The outlet is formed with a flat lower portion, and the notch is formed in this flat lower portion. The ultrasonic mist toy according to claim 1.

3. A mist generator that produces mist using the atomizing effect of ultrasound, A tank for storing water to be supplied to the mist generator, A discharge pipeline for discharging the mist generated by the mist generator to the outside, An ultrasonic mist toy equipped with, The aforementioned discharge pipeline is equipped with an outlet for discharging mist horizontally. By discharging mist horizontally outwards from the aforementioned outlet, an effect is created that makes it appear as if smoke is coming out horizontally. The aforementioned outlet is formed in a position that protrudes horizontally from the toy body, and is designed so that water droplets falling from the outlet do not hit the ultrasonic mist toy. Ultrasonic mist toy.

4. A mist generator that produces mist using the atomizing effect of ultrasound, A tank for storing water to be supplied to the mist generator, A discharge pipeline for discharging the mist generated by the mist generator to the outside, Equipped with, The aforementioned discharge pipeline is equipped with an outlet for discharging mist horizontally. By discharging mist horizontally outwards from the aforementioned outlet, an effect is created that makes it appear as if smoke is coming out horizontally. The aforementioned discharge pipeline has a slope such that the outlet side is lower. Ultrasonic mist toy.

5. The aforementioned ultrasonic mist toy is in the form of a car, The aforementioned exhaust pipe is formed to resemble a car's muffler. The ultrasonic mist toy according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. Equipped with wheels, It is possible to travel in the opposite direction to the mist discharge direction. The ultrasonic mist toy according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

7. The mist generating device includes a vibrating plate that generates mist by ultrasonic vibration, The diaphragm is positioned in a vertical orientation. The diaphragm constitutes the wall surface of the tank. The ultrasonic mist toy according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

8. The tank comprises tank members that constitute the aforementioned tank, The aforementioned tank member has a hollow section for storing water. The hollow portion has a vertical opening, The opening is continuous with the bottom surface of the hollow section without any step difference. The mist generating device includes a vibrating plate that generates mist by ultrasonic vibration, The opening is covered with the diaphragm. The ultrasonic mist toy according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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