JP2002325859A - Play facilities made of polyurethane foam - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide play equipment made of polyurethane foam which has widely reduced possibility of falling down than conventional ones even jumping down on or stepping on the equipment, large effect for rehabilitation, and is interesting as a play equipment because the equipment gradually recovers an original shape even compressed smaller. SOLUTION: This play equipment is formed of polyurethane foam with 50-160 kg/m<3> of density, the original shape restorable minimum compressed thickness as small as 1/15-1/5, and 5-100 seconds of time to restore original height upon compressing 10 cm thick foam to 1/10 and releasing the compression force.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plaything made of polyurethane foam which can be deformed in the same manner as a general flexible polyurethane foam, but has a low elastic recovery speed from deformation to its original shape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Nursery schools, kindergartens, elementary schools, nursing schools, rehabilitation facilities, and the like have conventionally used hollow rubber playground equipment having a soft touch and playground equipment made of soft polyurethane foam having high rebound resilience.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] When a young child or a child with a disability, such as a nursery school, a kindergarten, an elementary school, or a nursing school, plays in a place equipped with play equipment, it jumps or jumps from a high place to the floor. It may fall on the playground equipment on the floor or step on it. In such a case, if the playground equipment is made of a material having high rebound resilience such as a hollow rubber or a high resilience soft polyurethane foam, it may be jumped or fall down, which is not preferable. .

[0004] In rehabilitation, when performing a bending and stretching exercise of a finger, an exercise of grasping and releasing a soft ball or rod made of a flexible polyurethane foam may be performed. In such a case, when emphasis is placed on grasping, conventional play equipment made of polyurethane foam having high rebound resilience is effective, but by stretching and releasing the finger, stimulation of the nervous system that stretches the finger and muscular stimulation are performed. When emphasis is placed on reinforcement, if a playground equipment made of a polyurethane foam having a high rebound resilience is used, the repulsive force causes the fingers to be stretched, and a sufficient rehabilitation effect may not be obtained.

[0005] The object of the present invention is to use for rehabilitation focusing on stimulating the nervous system to stretch the fingers and strengthening the muscles, even if jumping over or stepping on, has a much lower possibility of falling than before. Another object of the present invention is to provide a playground equipment made of polyurethane foam, which is effective as a playground equipment, since it can be slowly restored to its original shape even if it is compressed and reduced.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a playground equipment made of polyurethane foam, wherein the polyurethane foam has a density of 50 to 160 kg / m ³ and a minimum compressible thickness which can be restored to an original shape. It is 1/15 to 1/5, and the time required for compressing a 10 cm thick foam to 1/10 and returning to the original height when the compression force is released is 5 to 100 seconds. I do.

[0007] By using the polyurethane foam playground equipment having the above structure, even if the player jumps or steps on, the possibility of falling is much smaller than in the past, and it is used for rehabilitation focusing on stretching the fingers. The effect is great, and even if it is compressed and reduced, it slowly recovers to its original shape, so that an interesting playground equipment made of polyurethane foam can be obtained as a playground equipment.

If the density is less than 50 kg / m ^3, it is difficult to produce a polyurethane foam. If the density is more than 160 kg / m ³ , it is possible to reduce the thickness to 1/5 or less of the original thickness even if it is compressed. difficult. Foams with a minimum compressible thickness that is less than 1/15 of the original thickness, which can be restored to the original shape, have low strength and are not suitable for play equipment. Although the force is small, a step remains depending on the size of the playground equipment, and when the player steps on it, the player may fall. In addition, a foam with a thickness of 10 cm is
If the compression time is reduced to 10 and the recovery time to return to the original height when the compression force is released is less than 5 seconds, rebound is large, stepping down may occur, and if it exceeds 100 seconds, it becomes interesting as a playground equipment It will be missing.

[0009] The minimum thickness that can be recovered to the original shape is the minimum thickness that does not recover to the original shape when the foamed polyurethane resin constituting the foam is cut further.

The polyurethane foam constituting the playground equipment of the present invention preferably has a rebound resilience of 0.1 to 10%.

If the rebound resilience exceeds 10% and is too high, the play equipment will have a hard feeling in touch, and a strong grip force will be required for gripping when used for rehabilitation. Polyurethane foam with low rebound resilience is difficult to manufacture.

The polyurethane foam constituting the playground equipment of the present invention has a 25% ILD hardness of 2 to 20 kg / 31.
It is preferably 4 cm ² . If the hardness is too high, a strong grip force is required to grip when used for rehabilitation, which is not preferable.

The polyurethane foam constituting the playground equipment of the present invention preferably has a glass transition point of 0 ° C. or higher.

Since the polyurethane foam has a glass transition point of 0 ° C. or higher, the foam having a thickness of 10 cm is compressed to 1/10, and the recovery time before returning to the original height when the compression force is released is 5 times. A foam of ~ 100 seconds is reliably formed.

It is also preferred that the polyurethane foam constituting the playground equipment of the present invention has two glass transition points, one each at 0 ° C. or higher and at −20 ° C. or lower.

When the polyurethane foam has a temperature of 0 ° C. or more,
By having two glass transition points, one each at 20 ° C or less, a 10 cm thick foam can be compressed 1/10 and recovered to its original height when the compression force is released Foams with a time of 5 to 100 seconds are more reliably formed.

The glass transition point of the polyurethane foam is
Although it can be measured with a known viscoelastic property measuring device, it is usually measured using a viscoelastic spectrometer.

The playground equipment made of polyurethane foam of the present invention comprises:
It is preferable that the surface is painted or printed since the degree of freedom of design as a playground equipment is increased.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The polyurethane foam used in the present invention is produced by using at least a polyol compound, an isocyanate component, a foaming agent, a catalyst, a foam stabilizer or a foam regulator referred to in the technical field of polyurethane foam.

The playground equipment of the present invention is manufactured by a known manufacturing method for manufacturing a polyurethane foam. That is, an isocyanate component and other components, specifically, a polyol component in which components such as a polyol compound, a foaming agent, a catalyst, and a foam stabilizer are mixed at a predetermined ratio are mixed to form a foamed composition. It is manufactured by foaming into a shape.

The minimum compression thickness that can be recovered to the original shape is 1/15 to 1/5 of the original thickness. When a 10 cm thick foam is compressed to 1/10 and the compression force is released, the original height is reduced. The following materials are used as the polyurethane foam raw material for obtaining a polyurethane foam satisfying the characteristic that the recovery time before returning to the above is 5 seconds to 100 seconds.

The polyol compound includes a polyol (a) having an average number of functional groups of 2 to 4 and a hydroxyl value of 30 to 60 mgKOH / g, and an average number of functional groups of 2 to 4 and a hydroxyl value of 200 to 2
It preferably contains 70 mg KOH / g of polyol (b).

By containing the polyol (a) and the polyol (b), a temperature range of −20 ° C. or less is obtained,
A polyurethane foam playground equipment having a glass transition point in each of a temperature range of 0 ° C. or more can be easily obtained, and the recovery time until returning to the original height when the compressive force is released is 5 to 100 seconds. A polyurethane foam satisfying the characteristics is obtained.

The ratio of polyol (a) / polyol (b) is preferably from 30/70 to 80/20 (weight ratio).

When the ratio of polyol (a) / polyol (b) is less than 30/70, that is, when the content of polyol (b) exceeds 70% by weight, the resulting urethane foam has a high hardness at room temperature. When the ratio of polyol (a) / polyol (b) is larger than 80/20, that is, when polyol (a) exceeds 80% by weight, the rebound resilience may increase, Recovery time may be less than 5 seconds.

The above-mentioned polyol (a) preferably contains a polyoxyalkylene polyol, preferably a polyoxypropylene polyol (PPG), and a polyoxyalkylene polyester block copolymer polyol. By using a polyoxyalkylene polyol and a polyoxyalkylene polyester block copolymer polyol in combination, a 10 cm thick foam is compressed to 1/10, and the recovery time to return to the original height when the compression force is released is reduced. Polyurethane foam satisfying the characteristic of 5 seconds to 100 seconds can be easily obtained.

When a polyoxyalkylene polyol and a polyoxyalkylene polyester block copolymer polyol are used in combination, these polyol compounds are
It is preferable that each of the polyols (a) is contained in the range of 30 to 70% by weight.

The polyol (b) is preferably a polyoxyalkylene polyol containing 20 to 70% by weight of oxyethylene units in oxyalkylene units.

By using a polyol containing an oxyethylene unit as the polyol (b), -20
A polyurethane foam having a glass transition point is more easily formed in a temperature range of 0 ° C. or lower and a temperature range of 0 ° C. or higher.

It is particularly preferable to use water as a foaming agent, since it has little effect on the environment and a polyurethane foam having high strength can be obtained. However, HFC-24
Organic low-boiling blowing agents such as 5fa, HFC-365mfc, HFC-134a, cyclopentane, and n-pentane may be used in combination.

As the polyisocyanate component used in the present invention, known polyisocyanates usually used for producing urethane foam can be used.

Specifically, 2,4- or 2,6-tolylene diisocyanate (TDI), diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) [purified MDI (p-MDI),
Crude MDI (c-MDI), modified uretonimine MDI
Etc. exist. ], Phenylene diisocyanate (PD
I), aromatic polyisocyanates such as naphthalene diisocyanate (NDI), araliphatic polyisocyanates such as 1,3- or 1,4-xylylene diisocyanate (XDI), hexamethylene diisocyanate (HD)
I) and other aliphatic polyisocyanates, isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), 4,4'-methylenebis (cyclohexyl isocyanate) (hydrogenated MD
I), an alicyclic polyisocyanate such as hydrogenated XDI,
And carbodiimide-modified, buret-modified, allophanate-modified, dimer, and trimer of these polyisocyanates. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

The foam stabilizer is appropriately selected from known silicone foam stabilizers and used. As the catalyst, a catalyst which strongly promotes the polyurethane formation reaction and a catalyst which strongly promotes the reaction with water from known amine catalysts and metal catalysts are appropriately selected and used in a well-balanced manner.

Of the isocyanate compounds exemplified above, the use of aromatic polyisocyanates is preferred.
The use of DI or MDI is more preferred.

The shape of the playground equipment of the present invention is not limited to a sphere, a rugby ball, a rectangular parallelepiped, a cube, a polyhedron, an animal or a plant.

As the paint for coating the surface of the playground equipment of the present invention, an elastic paint can be used without any limitation, and a polyurethane paint, an elastic acrylic paint and the like are exemplified as suitable paints.

[0037]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments and the like specifically showing the configuration and effects of the present invention will be described below.

(Examples) As a polyol compound, a polyoxyalkylene polyester block copolymer polyol (average number of functional groups: about 3, hydroxyl value: 56 mgKOH /
g) 30 parts by weight, polyoxyalkylene polyol (average number of functional groups: about 3, hydroxyl value 250 mgKOH / g, oxypropylene content in oxyalkylene portion: 100% by weight) 60 parts by weight, polyoxyalkylene polyol (average number of functional groups: about 2, Hydroxyl value 105 mgKOH / g, oxyethylene content in oxyalkylene portion 100% by weight) 10 parts by weight [total of polyol compounds 100 parts by weight], bis (2-dimethylaminoethyl) ether / dipropylene glycol (70% solution) as catalyst (Tosoh Corporation, Toyocat ET) 0.2 parts by weight and tin octylate (Yoshitomi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Stanocto)
0.02 parts by weight, trischloroisopropyl phosphate (Akzo Kashima Co., Ltd.
3 parts by weight of Filol PCF), 1.8 parts by weight of water (ion-exchanged water) as a foaming agent, and 1 part by weight of a foam stabilizer F-242T (manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) were mixed to obtain a polyol component.

As the isocyanate component, Takenate T-80 (2,4-TDI / 2,6-TDI = 80/2)
0 (wt ratio), manufactured by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
The mixture was adjusted to have an H equivalent ratio of 1.0 and mixed and foamed to obtain a spherical polyurethane foam having a diameter of 12 cm.

The resulting polyurethane foam had a density of 45 kg / m ³ , a rebound resilience of 4.0 and a rebound resilience of 2
%, Glass transition temperature was 32 ° C.

When this spherical polyurethane foam is compressed, it can be compressed to 1/10 of its original diameter. When the compressive force is released, it recovers to its original shape in a recovery time of 20 seconds. Deformation was possible.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Keiji Ono 2-1-1, Minamikai, Nishinari-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka (72) Inventor Kazushige Utsumi 1-17-18 Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside the company (72) Inventor Tetsuya Tsuboi 1-17-18 Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A playground equipment made of polyurethane foam, wherein the polyurethane foam has a density of 50 to 160 kg.
/ M ³ , the minimum compression thickness that can be restored to the original shape is 1 of the original thickness
/ 15 to 1/5, a 10 cm thick foam
10. A plaything made of polyurethane foam, which has a recovery time from 5 seconds to 100 seconds until it returns to its original height when it is compressed to 10 and the compression force is released. 2. The plaything made of polyurethane foam according to claim 1, wherein the polyurethane foam has a rebound resilience of 0.1 to 10%. 3. The polyurethane foam playground equipment according to claim 1, wherein the polyurethane foam has two glass transition points, one each at 0 ° C. or higher and at −20 ° C. or lower. . 4. The surface is coated with a coating.
The plaything made of polyurethane foam according to any one of the above.