[Column] History and Now of Thermos-Visit the Zojirushi "Mahobin Memorial Hall" in Tenma, Osaka-Home Appliance Watch

There is a "Mahobin Memorial Hall" in the head office of Zojirushi Mahobin Co., Ltd. in Tenma, Osaka.

In May 2008, as Zojirushi celebrated its 90th anniversary, the first floor of the head office was intended to introduce the evolution of thermos, which is the company's main business, and to show the future direction of thermos. It was installed in. It can be said that the feature is that the exhibition contents allow you to touch not only the history of the company but also the history of the thermos itself.

In addition, the Mahobin Memorial Hall holds special exhibitions from time to time, and until August 31st, you can trace the history of water bottles while looking at actual products under the title of "Suito Exhibition".

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Vacuum Flask Museum. Let's introduce the Vacuum Flask Museum while tracing the history of thermos bottles and the history of water bottles seen in the special exhibition "Suito Exhibition".

The Mahobin Memorial Hall is located on the first floor of the Zojirushi Mahobin headquarters in Tenma, Osaka. Just one year has passed since it was opened.

It is possible to use Minamimorimachi Station, Osaka Tenmangu Station, and Tenmanbashi Station, but all are within a 10-minute walk.

Opening hours are from 10 am to 4 pm on weekdays (breaks from noon to 1 pm on the way). Advance reservation is required for the tour. "I would like you to see the exhibition contents for about an hour while receiving explanations, rather than just observing the contents. Therefore, we decided to make a reservation in advance. During the past year, we applied for a tour from companies and schools. "I received it," said Shigemitsu Awazu, the company's public relations group in charge of operating the Vacuum Flask Museum.

The guideline is about 10 people at a time, and the system is to apply by phone at least one week in advance.

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When you enter the entrance of the Vacuum Flask Museum, you can first see a video picture book entitled "Until the Thermos is Born". Here, you can learn about how human beings have devised heat and cold insulation since ancient times, as well as the mechanism and history of thermos bottles. It also introduces in an easy-to-understand manner that lacquered bowls have a heat insulating effect.

The thermos uses a vacuum structure to block heat conduction, convection, and radiation. The basic principle is to keep warm by this.

After listening to this explanation, looking back, there is a replica of the "Dewar bottle" that was the prototype of the thermos bottle. With the cooperation of the museum in the UK, the dimensions etc. are accurately reproduced. "I was able to restore almost the same thing as the actual Dewar bottle," Awazu said.

In 1892 (Meiji 25), British James Dewar developed the world's first vacuum-based experimental flask. The purpose of the development was to store liquid oxygen, and silver or copper plating was applied to the inside of the double glass bottle using a vacuum heat dissipation blocking structure to minimize the loss due to heat radiation.

The principle of vacuum was already established in the middle of the 17th century, but in the 1880s German physicist AF Weinholt invented the principle of a container that evacuates the interior between multiple walls. Based on this, it is said that the Dewar bottle was developed.

In 1904, German Reinfort Burger came up with the idea that the vacuum bottle developed by Dewar could be used as a household item by covering it with a protective metal case, and began product development. It can be said that this is the first commercialization of thermos bottles.

At this time, he solicited a name and decided on "Thermos". It has the meaning of "hot" in Greek. Mr. Burger established Thermos in Berlin, Germany, and in 1907 established local subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, and it is said that thermos bottles spread all over the world at once.

At that time, it was also useful for mountaineers and explorers, which proved its high heat retention performance. In an advertisement published in the newspaper by Thermos in 1909, names such as Dr. Cook and Peary of the Arctic exploration, Shackleton of the Arctic exploration, the Wright brothers who made the first flight of humankind, and Zeppelin of the airship development were used. Written as a person.

Thermos were imported into Japan in 1908. The advertisement at that time used the catchphrase "Amazing invention of a cold and warm bottle", and introduced the function of Thermos thermos that can keep the temperature of cold water and hot water for a long time. There is.

In 1910, Mr. Kijuro Ito of Itoki (Ito Ki Shoten at that time) found a thermos bottle that was experimentally lined up in a gun shop and promoted it extensively. In 1911, it became widely recognized by the promotion of thermos bottles that appointed a famous prostitute and the name of "heat insulation and cold insulation 24-hour guarantee vacuum bottle".

By the way, although it is the name of a thermos bottle, the name and the time of naming are not clear. "The term magic bottle, in which boiling water never cools, may have become a thermos bottle," Awazu said.

In the literature describing that time, there is a theory that Mr. Zennosuke Ito is the godfather, and Dr. Isao Ijima, who was a zoologist and a member of the Imperial Academy, is the godfather.

The first thermos bottle was produced in Japan in 1912.

The inventor was Mr. Teijiro Yagi, a light bulb expert who worked for Japanese light bulbs. Vacuum technology was required for the production of light bulbs, and it was developed by making use of that technology. Mr. Yagi founded Yagi Magical Instrument Mfg. Co., Ltd. with the development of the first thermos bottle in Japan. Starting with that, at peak times, more than 40 thermos makers will enter an era of forestation.

In fact, there are many thermos makers in Osaka. In addition to major manufacturers such as Zojirushi and Tiger Thermos, manufacturers of major parts such as medium bottles are also concentrated in Osaka, and companies in the Osaka area still occupy most of the nationwide share. In the background, Osaka at that time was also the center of the Japanese glass industry, and those companies started the thermos business as a new business by making use of their own vacuum technology.

In the Taisho era, with the outbreak of the First World War, the demand for thermos bottles expanded dramatically. In addition, because water is unsanitary, demand for thermos bottles is increasing as a daily necessities in Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East, where water is boiled to keep warm and cold. The industrial structure was that 90% of domestic production was exported.

The thermos was originally spread in Europe, but the spread of the thermos culture from Europe to Southeast Asia due to the colonization of the United Kingdom seems to have greatly affected the spread in this region. It can also be said that the fact that Osaka was a base for trade in Southeast Asia also promoted exports.

In fact, the fact that many domestic thermos manufacturers and brands have animal names is due to the fact that they were an export-oriented industry in the past. Even overseas, it can be said that the aim was to make it possible to tell at a glance which manufacturer, and to impress the impression of a tough animal on the product as it is. In addition to elephants (Zojirushi) and tigers (Tigers), there were rabbits, peacocks, dogs, stars, etc.

At this time, the wide-mouthed type, which has a large capacity and is easy to use as an ice storage container, became popular overseas, and in China, copper-plated ones appeared because those with a dark inner surface were preferred. In Japan, pale colors are preferred, so silver-plated ones were popular.

With the entry into the Second World War, the production of thermos was suspended, but with the end of the war in 1945, the thermos industry was revived.

In 1923, "Pot Pelican", the first tabletop thermos after the war, appeared from Zojirushi. Due to its cute shape, it has become a popular product for many years, and in 1958, by using soda glass, a new type of glass that does not spill even when tilted was developed, and the use of carrying a thermos bottle expanded at once. It will be. In 1963, an automatic bottle making machine was developed and succeeded in mass production of thermos bottles. This will greatly contribute to quality stabilization, mass production, and cost reduction.

"Until then, skilled craftsmen worked in groups of nine and could only make 500 1.8L medium bottles a day. It became possible to mass-produce incomparably, and the quality was uneven. It also led to the elimination of. "

Since then, thermos technology has also been used for thermos (jars) that keep rice warm, cold storage containers for selling ice cream, and lunch boxes.

The evolution of the usability of thermos bottles began at the same time. In 1963, an auto flap mechanism that automatically opens and closes the lid by simply tilting it was adopted, and in 1968, a rotary table was attached to the bottom to supply hot water in all directions of 360 degrees. Furthermore, in 1972, a mechanism called an air type was adopted, in which hot water could be poured by pushing the lever or the center of the lid.

Initially, the air type was preceded by the lever method installed in the National Thermos, but TV commercials with the catchphrase "just push" of Zojirushi became widely known, and eventually the push type became the mainstream.

In both air types, the air in the pipe is sent to the middle bottle, and the air pressure pushes down the hot water, and the hot water comes out of the spout. Improvements in the air type are also important issues for each company, and by adopting a small diameter bellows (pipe), it can be pushed with one finger, hot water always comes out in the same direction without being disturbed, and a shatterproof principle is adopted. Ingenuity was devised such as preventing the outflow of water from splashing and displaying the remaining amount using Pascal's principle.

Air-type thermos bottles were released from six major thermos manufacturers in 1973, and in just two years after their release, they accounted for half of the shipment ratio.

In terms of usability, the adoption of the trunk joint method also had a great impact. Originally, when the outer bottle was made thicker, there was a problem that the diameter could not be reduced at once because the difference between the body diameter and the diameter was large, but this was solved by the body joint technology. By making it a thick bottle, we succeeded in developing a tabletop thermos that is short and can be reached while sitting.

By the way, thermos once had a unique design.

It has a floral pattern. Readers who have experienced the 1965's must remember that there was almost always a tabletop thermos with a floral pattern in the house. It is no exaggeration to say that this design caused the first thermos boom.

Using steel plate printing technology that prints directly on thick metal, it expresses vivid colors and the texture of petals. I added color to the living room.

The flower pattern preceded by the National Thermos, which was developing the Everest-branded thermos.

When the pot with a floral pattern was released in 1967, Zojirushi and Tiger followed it. A thermos with a floral design spread all at once.

According to the literature at that time, the National Thermos said, "Just as women of the right age want to wear Houmongi, they will want a floral pattern. The thermos industry has reached the right age in terms of design and color. It can be said that it is a thing. " On the other hand, Zojirushi was expressed as "flower pattern" instead of "flower pattern".

In 1978, the stainless steel era will come.

In a portable thermos bottle, it is important that it does not break. In particular, it was important to develop a thermos bottle that would not break from the viewpoint of preventing accidents in which hot water would break and flow out when a child handled it roughly.

Zojirushi developed the stainless steel thermos in 1981. In addition to the features that it does not crack, rust, and can be washed completely, the vacuum part is thinly finished to make it smaller and lighter. We have commercialized thermos bottles with all-stainless steel inside and body, and have developed products for leisure use, personal use, office use, and other usage scenarios. The large-capacity stainless steel portable thermos bottle developed for outdoor family use was also adopted in the coffee service sold in the train of the Tokaido Shinkansen due to its high durability.

"Since the adoption of stainless steel, a number of development goals have been set. By improving the processing accuracy of parts and developing assembly welding jigs, we can reduce the gaps in the vacuum layer, thin plate processing technology, and welding technology. By improving the heat conduction and increasing the diameter, a lighter and easier-to-use portable thermos bottle has been developed "(Mr. Awazu).

Comparing the thermos bottle for children released in 1994 and the stainless steel thermos bottle for children released in 2003, the outer volume is 1,160cc, but it is 970cc. The weight has also been reduced from 430g to 330g, while the capacity is almost the same as 610ml and 600ml. This is because the vacuum layer thickness has been significantly reduced from 3.55 mm to 1.15 mm with the adoption of stainless steel.

Currently, the number of stainless steel thermos bottles has reached 9.78 million units annually in Japan (2008 results, according to a survey by the Stainless Steel Thermos Council).

The Mahobin Memorial Museum holds 1,300 products and has a permanent exhibition of Zojirushi's 90-year history.

We classify them into five genres: thermos bottles & pots, jars & rice cookers, electric cookers, environmental / health equipment, and idea products. "Living Dream Theater" that broadcasts such things, "Vacuum Mysterious Experience Corner" where you can experience the mechanism of vacuum visually and audibly, Zojirushi's efforts for the future, new contribution to space development, sports, industry, etc. There is also an exhibition corner for "Zojirushi Mahobin Future Progressive Form" that introduces various technologies.

On the other hand, as a special exhibition, the "Suito Exhibition", which is held until August 31, is held for the purpose of exhibiting a number of water bottles that Zojirushi has released so far and verifying the evolution process. It is something that has been done. You can touch the evolution by looking at the water bottles classified by age and material.

For this Suito exhibition, we will use the central exhibition space of the Vacuum Flask Museum. "Portable thermos bottles from the 1945's", "Glass thermos bottles and plastic bottles", "Stainless steel thermos bottles", "Disney pattern water bottles", "Good Design Award winning water bottles", "Various Exhibitions classified into corners such as "Nakagata no Suito" are being held.

At "Portable Thermos from the 1945's", a water bottle with brass or aluminum on the body is exhibited. "The water bottles at that time were manufactured as a tool to realize a life of enjoying outdoor meals with hot drinks for the whole family."

"Glass-made thermos and plastic bottles" has a metal body, but exhibits a fun thermos with a handle.

It was a popular water bottle since 1963, and it was characterized by heat retention, but because the material was glass and it had a structure of a vacuum double bottle, if it was dropped carelessly, it would make a flashy sound and crack. There was a problem.

On the other hand, the plastic bottle, which was newly released in 1965, was released with the catch phrase "Zojirushi heat insulation water bottle", and by inserting a heat insulating material of rigid polyurethane foam between the polypropylene inner container and the body. Achieves heat retention. The feature of "not breaking" became popular, and it is said that the company's products alone sold 1 million units a year. However, compared to the thermos-structured water bottle, the heat retention was lower.

In the "Stainless Steel Mahobin" corner, a thermos made of stainless steel is exhibited. In addition to solving the problem of "breaking", which was a weak point of glass thermos until then, it also solved the "heat retention effect", which is a weak point of plastic bottles. The "Tough Boy" released by Zojirushi turned over the concept of the product as a portable thermos bottle.

In addition, the cylindrical "Tough Slim" released in 1985, the large-capacity "Tough Road" released in 1986, the "Tough Boy NAVI" released in 1989, and the colorization became popular with women, 1999. The "Tough Super Slim", which has achieved the ultimate in both lightness and thinness, is also on display.

The recent usage of water bottles is "my bottle". Conventional water bottles were supposed to be drunk by multiple people as if they had a spare cup on the inner lid, but recently, the mainstream usage is to use one water bottle for each person, making it slimmer. Fashionable designs and things that can show their individuality are attracting attention. In 2003, Zojirushi released a tough mug designed for this purpose. It has evolved into a proposal that you can produce your own cafe time anytime, anywhere.

If you visit the Suito Exhibition, you can get a design of the original design specially made by the Vacuum Flask Museum. This pattern can be used as a dress-up design with the stainless steel mug "SM-BA35" used as my bottle. This seems to be one of the unique proposals for my bottle.

The Mahobin Memorial Hall will hold the "8 Designers and Zojirushi Exhibition" as the first planned exhibition from November last year to March this year. Introduced a product created in collaboration with a designer and Zojirushi. This Suito exhibition is the second project. The memorial hall will continue to hold special exhibitions while selecting themes.