JP2001032158A - Fiber-made cushion material and cushion - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a cushion material which has improved permanent set resistance, reduces hysteresis loss, ensures hardness (resiliency) and reduces friction between fibers, by thermally treating a combination of lubricity-imparted high melting point fibers with binder fibers to melt the binder fibers, thereby binding the fibers to each other. SOLUTION: This cushion material is obtained by combining at least one kind of high melting point fibers treated with a lubricant, preferably a silicone resin, to impart lubricity, with at least one kind of binder fibers, and then thermally treating the combination to melt the binder fibers, thus binding the fibers to each other. Further, high melting point twisted fibers consisting mainly of polyethylene terephthalate and having a fiber diameter of 1 to 50 denier may preferably be added. The cushion material preferably comprises 20 to 60 wt.% of the high melting point fibers treated with the lubricant, 10 to 30 wt.% of the binder fibers, and the remainder of the high melting point fibers to which the lubricity is not imparted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fiber cushion material and a cushion using the fiber cushion material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A typical nonwoven fabric made of a fiber cushion material which has been conventionally used for interior parts for automobiles is a nonwoven fabric manufactured by a card random method. The nonwoven fabric is obtained by opening and mixing several kinds of fibers to form a fiber aggregate by entanglement. The fibers are uniformly mixed in the nonwoven fabric, and by blending the low-melting-point fibers, the fibers can be bonded to each other to provide moldability, and thereby it is possible to obtain a necessary repulsion ( JP-A-3-346192, etc.).

Further, in order to satisfy the softness as a necessary design property, a fiber coated with a lubricity-imparting coating is blended into the interior material for automobiles, and a fiber cushion material having no inter-fiber fusion portion is used. (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
No. 220783).

[0004] However, these fiber cushioning materials are inferior in the required settling resistance as durability, and are improved by increasing the density as a method of improving the durability, but are not preferable because they increase the weight. Also, the energy loss (hysteresis loss rate) generated when the cushion body is compressed and then released is high, which adversely affects the riding comfort and the like. This is because when released after compression, it does not recover to the initial thickness due to friction between the fibers, and the energy lost at that time is large,
It is considered that the setting resistance is also adversely affected. Further, a cushion material having no inter-fiber fusion portion has a problem in that it is difficult to obtain a necessary hardness (repulsive force).

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to improve the settling resistance, reduce the hysteresis loss, secure the hardness (repulsive force), and reduce the friction between fibers. It is to provide a cushion material and a cushion.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fiber cushion material comprising at least one kind of high melting point fiber having lubricated surface and at least one kind of binder fiber. Is characterized by being melted by heat treatment and joining fibers.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fiber cushion material according to the first aspect, wherein the lubricant component for imparting lubricity to the surface of the high melting point fiber is a silicone resin-based lubricant. Features.

[0008] The fiber cushion material according to claim 3 is the fiber cushion material according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a high melting point fiber which is a crimped fiber mainly composed of polyethylene terephthalate having a fiber diameter of 1 to 50 denier. It is characterized by including.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the fiber cushioning material according to the third aspect, wherein the high melting point fiber having lubricating properties is 20 to 60% by weight, the binder fiber is 10 to 30% by weight, and the remainder is provided. Characterized by comprising a high melting point fiber having no lubricating property.

The fiber cushioning material according to claim 5 is the fiber cushioning material according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the binder fiber has a fiber diameter of 1 to 20 denier,
It is a core-sheath type composite fiber comprising a core component mainly composed of polyethylene terephthalate and a low-melting-point elastic polyester sheath component having a melting point of 200 ° C. or lower containing polyethylene terephthalate as a main copolymer component.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fiber cushion material according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the density is 0.01 to 0.04 g / cm ^3. .

The cushion according to claim 7 is the cushion according to claim 1
6. The fiber cushion material according to any one of the above items 6 is used for an automobile seat surface.

[0013] The cushion according to the eighth aspect is the cushion according to the first aspect.
6. The fiber cushion material according to any one of the above items 6 is used for a back portion of an automobile seat.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The fiber cushion material of the present invention comprises:
At least one kind of high melting point fiber having lubricity imparted to the fiber surface, and at least one kind of binder fiber, wherein the binder fiber is melted by heat treatment and bonded between fibers.

In order to improve the settling resistance of the fiber cushion material, it is necessary to enhance the ability to recover to the initial thickness when the load is released, but friction between fibers is one of the factors that hinders such recovery. ing. Therefore, in the present invention, at least one fiber having lubricating properties is blended. By blending such lubricated fibers, friction between the fibers is reduced, the hysteresis loss during compression and release is improved, and the riding comfort is also improved.

Further, the cushioning material for automobiles has many required performances such as occupant protection and comfort, and therefore, a complicated shape must be formed. For this reason, in the present invention, it is necessary to mix at least one kind of binder fiber, and such a binder fiber has a function of melting at a low melting point and joining the fibers to obtain a desired shape.

Further, by bonding the binder fibers to each other, the fibers are connected in a mesh form, forming a spring and generating a repulsive force, so that the required hardness of the cushion body can be secured.

In the fiber cushion material, the lubricant component for imparting lubricity to the surface of the high-melting fiber is preferably a silicone resin-based lubricant. A silicone resin-based lubricant as a lubricant is excellent in various physical properties such as heat resistance, and can maintain lubricity for a long time. Further, in addition to a silicon-based resin, a molybdenum-based compound or the like can be used.

In the present invention, in addition to the high melting point fiber having lubricating properties on the fiber surface and the binder fiber having no lubricating property, it is a crimped fiber mainly composed of polyethylene terephthalate having a fiber diameter of 1 to 50 denier. It is preferable to contain a high melting point fiber.

It is desirable that the high melting point fiber is polyethylene terephthalate or a polyester fiber having a component equivalent thereto, at a low cost. Nylon fibers are not preferred because of increased raw material costs, and polypropylene fibers are not preferred because they have low abrasion resistance and low shape retention ability. The fiber diameter needs to be 1 to 50 denier. Fine fibers of less than 1 denier are not preferred because they are expensive and do not provide the necessary repulsion. As a method for producing a nonwoven fabric, a card random method is generally used. In this method, fibers are fed to a rotating roller provided with key-like projections, and the fibers are wound and entangled with each other. However, a fiber having a denier of more than 50 deniers is not preferable because it becomes difficult to wind around a roller, and it becomes difficult to produce a nonwoven fabric.

Further, the fiber shape needs to be a crimped fiber.
When the fiber is crimped, the spring characteristics increase for each fiber, and the resilience during compression is greater than that of the fiber that is not crimped. Becomes easier.

The above-mentioned binder fiber has a fiber diameter of 1 to 20 denier and comprises a core component mainly composed of polyethylene terephthalate and a low-melting point elastic polyester sheath component having a melting point of 200 ° C. or lower containing polyethylene terephthalate as a main copolymer component. It is preferably a sheath type composite fiber.

The copolyester used for the sheath portion of the binder fiber having a core-sheath type structure includes an acid component such as terephthalic acid and isophthalic acid and a diol component such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol and diethylene glycol, or a lactone. And copolyesters.

As the polyester used for the core portion, polyethylene terephthalate or a polyester fiber having a component equivalent thereto is inexpensive and desirable.

The melting point of the binder fiber is 200 ° C.
Must be: If the temperature exceeds 200 ° C., the heating temperature setting during molding approaches the melting point of the high melting point fiber having lubricating properties on the fiber surface and other high melting point fibers having no lubricating property, and only the binder fibers are melted. Then, it becomes difficult to join the fibers, and the high-melting-point fibers are partially melted, so that it becomes difficult to obtain a desired shape. More preferably, the temperature is about 160 ° C. to 180 ° C. from the viewpoint of securing more effective set resistance. The fiber diameter of the binder fiber is preferably 1 to 20 denier, and the binder fiber of less than 1 denier is expensive,
In addition, it is difficult to form a uniform fiber aggregate during the production of nonwoven fabric, while if it exceeds 20 denier, the number of binder fibers in the cushioning material decreases, the number of bonding points between fibers decreases, and the necessary repulsion is secured. It is not preferable because it cannot be done.

Preferably, the fiber cushion material is
The lubricating high-melting fiber is composed of 20 to 60% by weight, the binder fiber is composed of 10 to 30% by weight, and the remainder is composed of the non-lubricating high-melting fiber.

In order to improve the settling resistance and the hysteresis loss, it is necessary to include fibers provided with lubricity due to friction between fibers.
If it is less than 20% by weight, the effect of reducing friction between fibers is small, and satisfactory performance in terms of improvement in anti-settling property and improvement in hysteresis loss cannot be obtained. Although the effect of reducing friction is increased, the reciprocal effect is reduced as the opposite effect, which is not preferable.

As described above, the binder fiber has the function of imparting moldability and ensuring repulsion. If the binder fiber content is 10 to 30% by weight, if it is less than 10% by weight, the necessary function of bonding between fibers cannot be exerted. Since it is larger than the fiber, if it exceeds 30% by weight, resilience can be ensured, but it is not preferable because the set resistance is reduced.

The balance is made of high melting point fibers having no lubricating properties. As described above, an increase in the blending amount of the binder fiber is effective in securing repulsion, but may also cause a decrease in settling resistance, and thus prevent a decrease in repulsion due to the incorporation of a fiber having lubricity, In order to suppress a decrease in settling resistance due to an increase in binder fiber, it is necessary to incorporate a high melting point fiber that does not impart lubricity.

Further, the fiber cushion material preferably has a density of 0.01 to 0.04 g / cm ³ when actually used after molding.

The fiber cushioning material of the present invention can be used as a cushion by being used for a seat portion of an automobile seat or a back portion of an automobile seat. As a material for automobiles, it is desirable to be lightweight, but in order to satisfy the required performance as a cushioning material for a seat, a density of 0.01% is required.
g / cm ³ or more, preferably 0.04 g / cm ³
If it exceeds cm ³ , the heat treatment at the time of molding becomes insufficient, and the binder fibers are not sufficiently melted, so that the effects of reducing the hysteresis loss and improving the settling resistance cannot be satisfied.

[0032]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the following examples and comparative examples.

EXAMPLE 1 The blending of fibers was carried out by adding 30% by weight of a 2-denier conjugate fiber having a lubricating property (trade name: 38Y), and a 6-denier hollow conjugate fiber as a high-melting fiber having no lubricating property (commercially available). Name: H38F) 60% by weight, 2 denier binder fiber (trade name: 7080)
A polyester short-fiber nonwoven fabric having an area density of 1000 g / m ² and a weight of 10% by weight was produced using a card cloth layer. Next, this nonwoven fabric was heat-treated in a thermostat at 215 ° C., and pressed at 60 ° C. to be molded. After pressing, a cushion material (1) having a thickness of 50 mm and a density of 0.02 g / cm ³ was obtained.

[0033]

Example 2 The blending of fibers was carried out by adding 50% by weight of a lubricated 2-denier conjugate fiber (trade name: 38Y) and 6-denier hollow conjugate fiber as a non-lubricating high melting point fiber (commercially available) Name: H38F) 30% by weight, 2 denier binder fiber (trade name: 7080)
A cushion material (2) was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the amount was 20% by weight.

[0034]

Example 3 The blending of fibers was carried out by using 30% by weight of a 2-denier conjugate fiber having a lubricity (trade name: 38Y) and a 13-denier hollow conjugate fiber as a high-melting-point fiber having no lubricity. Trade name: H38F) 60% by weight, 2 denier binder fiber (trade name: 708)
0) A cushion material (3) was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the amount was 10% by weight.

[0035]

Example 4 The blending of fibers was carried out by using 30% by weight of a 2-denier conjugate fiber (trade name: 38Y) with lubricity, and a 30-denier hollow conjugate fiber 50 as a non-lubricating high melting point fiber. A cushioning material (4) was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that 20% by weight of a 2% by weight binder fiber (trade name: 7080) was used.

[0036]

Example 5 The blending of fibers was carried out by adding 30% by weight of a lubricating 6 denier conjugate fiber (trade name: H38Y) and a 6 denier hollow conjugate fiber having no lubricating high melting point fiber (trade name). : H38F) was 50% by weight, and 2 denier binder fiber (trade name: 7080) was 20% by weight in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain a cushion material (5).

[0037]

Example 6 The blending of fibers was carried out using 30% by weight of a 2-denier conjugate fiber having a lubricating property (trade name: 38Y), and a 6-denier hollow conjugate fiber as a high-melting-point fiber having no lubricating property. Trade name: H38F) 60% by weight, 2 denier binder fiber (trade name: 7080)
Cushion material (6) in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the sample surface density was 1500 [g / m ² ] and the density after the press treatment was 0.03 [g / cm ³ ].
I got

[0038]

Comparative Example 1 First, one example of a conventional nonwoven fabric is shown as Comparative Example 1. The blending of the fibers is performed by mixing 80% by weight of a 6-denier hollow conjugate fiber (trade name: H38F) as a non-lubricating high-melting fiber without blending a fiber having lubricating properties, and a 2 denier binder fiber ( Product name: 708
0) A cushion material (7) was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the amount was 20% by weight.

[0039]

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2 The fiber was blended with 80% by weight of a lubricating 2-denier conjugate fiber (trade name: H38Y), and 15 denier solid regular fiber 10 as a non-lubricating high melting point fiber. A cushioning material (8) was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the content was 2% by weight and 10% by weight of 2 denier binder fiber (trade name: 7080).

[0040]

[Comparative Example 3] The blending of fibers was carried out by using 30% by weight of a lubricating 2-denier conjugate fiber (trade name: H38Y) and a 6-denier hollow conjugate fiber as a non-lubricating high-melting fiber ( Trade name: H38F) 20% by weight, 2 denier binder fiber (trade name: 7080)
A cushion material (9) was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the weight was 50% by weight.

(Test Example) The cushion materials obtained in the above Examples 1 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 were subjected to JIS.
The characteristics were measured in accordance with the measuring methods of the compression residual strain test and the hardness test specified in K6401. From the result of the hardness test, a hysteresis loss rate was calculated. Tables 1 and 2 show the test results. Here, based on Comparative Example 1 which is a conventional technique, it was judged that any of those having a compression set of 30% or more, a hysteresis loss of 50% or more, and a repulsion of 10 kgf or less had no effect.

[0042]

[Table 1]

[0043]

[Table 2]

From Tables 1 and 2, it was confirmed that the cushion materials produced in the examples were excellent in both the settling resistance and the hysteresis loss rate. In the comparative example, a satisfactory effect could not be obtained.

[0045]

According to the cushioning material of the present invention, the friction between fibers is reduced, it is easy to return to the initial thickness upon release after a compressive load, the compression set can be reduced, and excellent set resistance is obtained. As a result, the hysteresis loss is improved and the ride comfort is improved.

Further, moldability can be imparted, the degree of freedom of the product shape is increased, an appropriate repulsion force is generated, and a required shape as a cushion body can be secured.

Further, the lubricating property can be maintained for a long period of time, the anti-shattering property is excellent, the cost increase can be suppressed by reducing the density, and the weight and the recyclability of the automobile can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a compression set test method.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a hardness test method.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) D06M 15/643 D06M 15/643 (72) Inventor Mangeo Nagata 1-2-2 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Kanebo Gosen Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Noboru Bananabe 4-1 Kanebocho, Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture Inside Kanebo Gosen Co., Ltd. (72) Hiroshi Onoe 4-1 Kanebocho, Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture Kanebo Go (72) Inventor Satoshi Nagashima 2 Takaracho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Jin Ito 2 Takaracho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term in Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. 3B096 AA04 AD04 BA01 4L033 AA07 AB02 AC15 CA59 4L047 AA21 AA27 AA28 AA29 AB02 AB07 AB10 BA05 BA09 BB09 CB01 CB10 CC07 CC09 EA04 EA10

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A method comprising: at least one kind of high-melting fiber having lubricity imparted to the fiber surface; and at least one kind of binder fiber, wherein the binder fiber is melted by heat treatment to join the fibers. Characterized by cushioning material made of fiber. 2. The fiber cushion material according to claim 1, wherein the lubricant component for imparting lubricity to the surface of the high-melting fiber is a silicone resin-based lubricant. 3. The fiber cushion material according to claim 1, further comprising a high melting point fiber which is a crimped fiber mainly composed of polyethylene terephthalate having a fiber diameter of 1 to 50 denier. 4. A high melting point fiber having lubricating properties of 20 to 6
The fiber cushioning material according to claim 3, wherein 0% by weight, 10 to 30% by weight of the binder fiber, and the remainder are made of a high melting point fiber having no lubricating property. 5. A binder fiber having a fiber diameter of 1 to 20 denier and comprising a core component mainly composed of polyethylene terephthalate and a low-melting point elastic polyester sheath component having a melting point of 200 ° C. or lower containing polyethylene terephthalate as a main copolymerization component. The fiber cushion material according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which is a core-sheath type composite fiber. 6. The fiber cushion material according to claim 1, wherein the density is 0.01 to 0.04 g / cm ³ . 7. A cushion, wherein the cushion material made of fiber according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is used for an automobile seat surface. 8. A cushion comprising the fiber cushion material according to claim 1 used for a back portion of an automobile seat.