JP2002336071A - Seat material for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seat material for vehicles which has excellent compression restorability and air permeability and has good cushion properties. SOLUTION: This seat material for vehicles is constituted by using a stereoknitted fabric which is knitted from a front knitted fabric and a rear knitted fabric as well as connecting yarn for connecting both front and rear knitted fabrics. Polytrimethylene terephthalate fibers are used for a portion or the whole of the connecting yarn of the stereoknitted fabric. In addition, the connecting yarn adopts the structure in which two pieces of the connecting yarn of wale strings of at least a portion of the connecting yarn diagonally connect the knitted stitches of the adjacent wale strings apart from the knitted stitches facing each other of the front and rear knitted fabrics in the directions reverse from each other. The angle (θ) formed by intersection of two pieces of the connecting yarn ranges from 15 to 150 deg..

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle seat material using a three-dimensional knitted fabric.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a three-dimensional knitted fabric is suitable as a breathable cushion material because of its unique structure, and has been devised to be used as a vehicle seat material, and has been put to practical use. However, since conventionally used polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) fibers have a large settling, when a three-dimensional knitted fabric using these fibers is used as a cushion material, for example, as a sheet material for automobiles However, if the driver sits for a long time, the seat remains distorted even after the driver gets off due to the settling of the fibers, so that a vehicle seat material having sufficient compression recovery and good cushioning properties is obtained. I couldn't.

[0003] As a vehicle seat, for example, the actual fair 7
JP-A-53600 discloses a structure in which three-dimensional knits are laminated, and JP-A-2000-325174 discloses a structure in which a three-dimensional knitted sheet is formed into a one-piece structure as a seat, but is used for a three-dimensional knit. No mention is made of the difference in compression recovery of the sheet depending on the type of material. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-89959 discloses an example in which connecting yarns of a three-dimensional knitted fabric constitute a connecting layer of a truss structure in which a connecting yarn crosses and moves obliquely between front and back knitted fabrics. No mention is made of the crossover angle.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle seat material which is excellent in compression recovery and breathability and has good cushioning properties.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present inventor has found that a three-dimensional knitted fabric as a vehicle seat material can maintain sufficient compressive recovery even after a long-time load without impairing the air permeability. As a result of intensive studies on the material and the structure of the three-dimensional knitted fabric, a polytrimethylene terephthalate fiber was used as the fiber material used for the three-dimensional knitted fabric, and the crossover angle at which the connecting yarn constituting the three-dimensional knitted fabric intersects obliquely has a specific range. It has been found that the above objects can be achieved by the provisions of the present invention, and the present invention has been achieved.

That is, the present invention is configured using a three-dimensional knitted fabric knitted from a front knitted fabric, a back knitted fabric, and a connecting yarn for connecting the front and back knitted fabric, and a part or all of the connecting yarn of the three-dimensional knitted fabric is used. Polytrimethylene terephthalate fiber is used,
In addition, at least a part of the connection yarns has a structure in which two connection yarns of an adjacent wale line are diagonally connected to stitches of adjacent wale lines separated from opposing stitches of the front and back knitted fabrics in directions opposite to each other. And an angle (θ) at which the two connecting yarns intersect is in the range of 15 to 150 degrees.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail. In the present invention, the polytrimethylene terephthalate fiber refers to a polyester fiber having a trimethylene terephthalate unit as a main repeating unit, and the trimethylene terephthalate unit contains about 50 mol% or more, preferably 70 mol% or more.
It contains at least mol%, more preferably at least 80 mol%, even more preferably at least 90 mol%. Therefore,
The total amount of the other acid component and / or glycol component as the third component is about 50 mol% or less, preferably 30 mol% or less, more preferably 20 mol% or less, and still more preferably 10 mol% or less. Polytrimethylene terephthalate.

[0008] Polytrimethylene terephthalate is synthesized by combining terephthalic acid or a functional derivative thereof with trimethylene glycol or a functional derivative thereof in the presence of a catalyst under appropriate reaction conditions. In this synthesis process, an appropriate one or two or more third components may be added to form a copolymerized polyester, or
Polytrimethylene terephthalate, polyester or nylon other than polytrimethylene terephthalate such as polybutylene terephthalate, and polytrimethylene terephthalate may be blended or composite-spun (sheath core, side-by-side, etc.).

Regarding composite spinning, Japanese Patent Publication No. 43-191
08, JP-A-11-189923 and JP-A-2
000-239927, JP-A-2000-2569
No. 18, etc., the first component is polytrimethylene terephthalate, the second component is polytrimethylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate,
There is a type in which polyester or nylon such as polybutylene terephthalate is composite-spun into a side-by-side type or an eccentric sea core type in which the polyesters and nylons are arranged in parallel or eccentrically.

In particular, a combination of polytrimethylene terephthalate and copolymerized polytrimethylene terephthalate or a combination of two kinds of polytrimethylene terephthalate having different intrinsic viscosities is preferable.
As exemplified in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9927, there is a case where two types of polytrimethylene terephthalate having different intrinsic viscosities are used, and a composite spun into a side-by-side type in which a joining surface shape is curved so that a low viscosity side wraps around a high viscosity side. It has both high stretchability and bulkiness, and is particularly preferable.

As the third component to be added, aliphatic dicarboxylic acids (oxalic acid, adipic acid, etc.), alicyclic dicarboxylic acids (cyclohexane dicarboxylic acid, etc.), aromatic dicarboxylic acids (isophthalic acid, sodium sulfoisophthalic acid, etc.) ), Aliphatic glycols (ethylene glycol, 1,2
-Propylene glycol, tetramethylene glycol, etc.), alicyclic glycols (cyclohexane dimethanol, etc.), aliphatic glycols containing aromatics (1,4-bis (β-hydroxyethoxy) benzene, etc.), polyether glycols (polyethylene glycol) , Polypropylene glycol and the like), aliphatic oxycarboxylic acids (ω-oxycaproic acid and the like), aromatic oxycarboxylic acids (p-oxybenzoic acid and the like) and the like.

Compounds having one or more ester-forming functional groups (such as benzoic acid or glycerin)
Can be used as long as the polymer is substantially linear. Further, matting agents such as titanium dioxide, stabilizers such as phosphoric acid, ultraviolet absorbers such as hydroxybenzophenone derivatives, crystallization nucleating agents such as talc, lubricating agents such as Aerosil, antioxidants such as hindered phenol derivatives, A flame retardant, an antistatic agent, a pigment, a fluorescent brightener, an infrared absorber, an antifoaming agent, and the like may be contained.

The cross-sectional shape of the polytrimethylene terephthalate fiber is polygonal, such as round, triangular, L-shaped, T-shaped, Y-shaped, W-shaped, eight-leaf, flat, dog-bone, multi-leaf, or hollow. It may be a mold or an irregular shape. The three-dimensional knitted fabric used in the present invention is a knitted fabric having a structure as illustrated in FIG. 1, in which a front knitted fabric 2 and a back knitted fabric 3 are connected by connecting yarns 4.

In the present invention, by using polytrimethylene terephthalate fiber for part or all of the connecting yarn, excellent compression recovery and good cushioning properties can be obtained. The fibers other than the polytrimethylene terephthalate fibers forming the connecting yarn are not particularly limited as long as the object of the present invention can be achieved, and natural fibers,
Any fiber such as a synthetic fiber may be used. For example,
Cotton, cupra fiber, rayon fiber, purified cellulose fiber, polyester fiber, polyamide fiber, polyaramid fiber, etc. can be used, and the form may be filament or staple, raw yarn, mixed fiber, Any form such as a blended yarn or a false twist yarn may be used.
Also, the cross section of the single fiber can be arbitrarily selected.

The proportion of the polytrimethylene terephthalate fiber in the connecting yarn of the three-dimensional knitted fabric is preferably 20% by weight or more, more preferably 50% by weight or more of the total fibers constituting the three-dimensionally knitted material. When the proportion of the polytrimethylene terephthalate fiber is in this range, excellent compression recovery can be obtained. In the present invention, the fiber used as the connecting yarn may be a monofilament yarn, a multifilament yarn, a spun yarn, a crimped yarn, or a composite yarn thereof, and the fineness is not particularly limited. However, it is effective to use a monofilament yarn of 20 dtex to 3000 dtex. These may be appropriately selected according to the place of use, use, and the like.

For example, when used in a child seat or the like, the fineness of the connecting yarn is preferably a monofilament of about 20 to 200 dtex, more preferably about 20 to 150 dtex. When used as a skin material of an existing sheet, the fineness of the connecting yarn is from 100 decitex to 1000
It is preferable to use a monofilament of about decitex, more preferably a monofilament of about 200 to 500 decitex.

When the three-dimensional knitted fabric is used alone for an automobile seat, it is preferable to use a monofilament having a fineness of about 500 to 3000 decitex, and more preferably about 750 to 1500 decitex.
When the fineness of the connecting yarn is in the above range, the cushioning property, which is an important feature of the three-dimensional knitted fabric, can be sufficiently obtained, and it is advantageous in terms of cost and weight of the sheet.

Further, in the three-dimensional knitted fabric used in the present invention, at least a part of the connecting yarns of two adjacent yarn rows in the adjacent wale row are separated from the opposing stitches of the front and back knitted fabric in the adjacent wale row stitch. Are connected diagonally in opposite directions, and the angle at which the two connecting yarns intersect
(θ) ranges from 15 degrees to 150 degrees. Here, the crossing angle refers to an angle generated when two connecting yarns of an adjacent wale row diagonally connect the stitches of the adjacent wale rows apart from the opposing stitches on the front and back sides in opposite directions. . However, in practice, the two connecting yarns may intersect in a curved state with respect to each other. For convenience, the two connecting yarns of the adjacent wale row are separated from the opposing stitches of the front and back knitted fabric. Assuming that the stitches of the adjacent wales are connected diagonally in the opposite directions as straight lines,
The crossing angle is obtained.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a cross section of a course row in a three-dimensional knitted fabric. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a section taken along line aa ′ (course row) in FIG. 2. In FIG. 3, the crossing angle (∠
Where AEB) is θ, θ = 180−2 × {tan ⁻¹ (t / k)}, where t is the thickness (mm) of the three-dimensional knitted fabric, and k is the maximum distance (mm) between adjacent wale rows. Represent.

When the crossing angle is 15 degrees to 150 degrees,
Even when sitting on the seat, the three-dimensional knitted fabric does not fall down,
The effect of crossing at least two yarns is sufficiently exhibited, and the gap between adjacent wale rows does not become excessively empty, so that the cushioning property is extremely good. In the three-dimensional knitted fabric used in the present invention, the fiber material used for the front knitted fabric and the back knitted fabric is not particularly limited, and may be any fiber such as a natural fiber and a synthetic fiber. For example, cotton, cupra fiber, rayon fiber,
Purified cellulose fiber, polyester fiber, polyamide fiber, polyaramid fiber, etc. can be used, and the form of the fiber may be filament or staple, and any of raw yarn, mixed fiber, mixed yarn, false twisted yarn, etc. May be used. The fineness and the cross section of the single fiber may be appropriately selected, and are not particularly limited.

The three-dimensional knitted fabric used in the present invention can be knitted by a double Raschel machine, a double circular knitting machine or the like having two rows of needles. The front and back knitted fabric may be a knitted fabric having a plurality of openings, such as a mesh knitted fabric or a margiette knitted fabric, to further improve air permeability and water permeability. Further, the front and back knitted fabrics may have the same knitting structure or different structures. The knitting density and thickness of the three-dimensional knit are not particularly limited, but when the apparent density of the three-dimensional knit is d, d
= Is preferably in the range of 0.02~0.30 (g / cm ^3), more preferably within a range of ^{d = 0.05~0.20 (g / cm 3} ). When the apparent density d is within the above range, the compression recovery property is excellent, the cushioning property is good, and it is advantageous in terms of cost and weight reduction of the sheet.

The thickness of the three-dimensional knitted fabric may be appropriately selected according to the purpose. In consideration of cushioning, cushioning, and air permeability, the thickness of the three-dimensional knitted fabric is, for example, 2 to 20 mm in consideration of lightness and bulkiness. Degree is preferred, more preferably 3 to 1
It is about 5 mm. The three-dimensional knitted material may be cut into a desired size as necessary, or the cut knitted fabric piece may be used in a desired shape by sewing or thermoforming.

The vehicle sheet material of the present invention may be used by stacking one or more three-dimensional knitted fabrics, or may be partially used in a portion where compressive stress is concentrated.
It can also be used as a skin material of an existing vehicle seat that does not use a conventional three-dimensional knit.

[0024]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to only examples. In addition, the measuring method, the evaluation method, etc. are as follows. (1) Compression recovery rate The compression recovery rate is measured at room temperature according to the method for measuring residual compression strain of JIS-K-6400.

However, if the thickness is less than 25 mm,
By stacking a plurality of three-dimensional knitted test pieces, the total thickness is
Measure after making it about mm. The compression ratio is 50% compression of the total thickness of the three-dimensional knitted test piece. Further, the normal temperature indicates a range of 23 ± 5 ° C. The compression recovery rate is calculated by the following equation and rounded to one decimal place according to JIS-Z-8401. The median of the five test results is determined.

Compression recovery rate (%) = (t ₁ / t ₀ ) × 100 where t ₀ is the thickness (mm) of the initial test piece, and t ₁ is the thickness (mm) of the test piece after the test. Represents (2) Thickness The thickness was measured with a caliper to the nearest 0.1 mm.

(3) Cushioning property of sheet material The three-dimensional knitted fabric is cut in accordance with the shape of the seat surface, and superimposed on a normal seat of a commercial passenger car, Corolla (manufactured by Toyota Motor Corporation) (see FIG. 4). ), And the cushioning property was sensory evaluated. Further, the three-dimensional knitted body alone was mounted on a seat frame (as shown in FIG. 5), and the cushioning property of the three-dimensional knitted body at room temperature was sensory evaluated.

○: good cushioning property, Δ: normal, ×: poor cushioning property [Production Example] (Production of polytrimethylene terephthalate monofilament) Polytrimethylene terephthalate having ηsp / c = 0.8 was spun at a spinning temperature of 270 ° C. After being discharged from the mouth and quenched in a cooling bath at 25 ° C., stretched 4 times while passing through a bath at 50 ° C. at a yarn speed of 12.4 m / min. An 880 dtex drawn monofilament yarn was obtained.

The strength of the obtained drawn monofilament yarn,
The elongation was 2.8 cN / dtex and 45%, respectively. [Example 1] 9 gauge with 6 reeds, 14 mm between pots
880 dt obtained above as a connecting yarn from two reeds (L3, L4) located in the middle using a double Raschel machine of
ex polytrimethylene terephthalate monofilament yarn, and two reeds (L1, L
From 1), 1670 dtex / 192f is used as the surface knitting yarn.
The polyethylene terephthalate multifilament yarn of 1670 dtex / 192f was used as a back knitting yarn from two reeds (L5, L6) located on the back of the knitting machine. Supply in array and type 1
At 0 course / 2.5 cm, a three-dimensional knitted fabric with a front and back mesh having a knitting structure shown in Table 1 was obtained.

After the three-dimensional knitted fabric was scoured at 70 ° C., it was set at 180 ° C. and heat-set to obtain a three-dimensional knitted fabric having the properties shown in Table 3.

[0031]

[Table 1]

The obtained three-dimensional knitted fabric has a structure in which two connecting yarns of an adjacent wale row of connecting yarns are diagonally connected in opposite directions to stitches of adjacent wale rows remote from the opposing stitches on the front and back sides. The angle (θ) at which the two yarns crossed was 43.2 degrees, and the compression recovery rate was very good. In addition, when the cushioning property was evaluated by holding the sample after measuring the compression recovery rate with the palm, it was very good. Furthermore, when the sample after the measurement of the compression recovery rate was applied to a commercially available automobile seat and the cushioning property was evaluated, it was very good.

Table 3 summarizes the measurement results. Example 2 A three-dimensional knitted fabric having the properties shown in Table 3 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the knitting structure was changed to the structure shown in Table 2.

[0034]

[Table 2]

The obtained three-dimensional knitted fabric had a crossing angle (θ) of the connecting yarn of 38.5 degrees and had good compression recovery. In addition, when the cushioning property was evaluated by holding the sample after measuring the compression recovery rate with the palm, it was very good. Furthermore, when the sample after the measurement of the compression recovery rate was applied to a commercially available automobile seat and the cushioning property was evaluated, it was very good.

Table 3 summarizes the measurement results. [Comparative Example 1] In Example 1, the distance between the pots was set to 18 mm,
Further, a three-dimensional knitted fabric having the properties shown in Table 3 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the width was reduced as much as possible during the tentering heat setting.

The obtained three-dimensional knitted fabric had an intersecting angle (θ) of the connecting yarn of 12.9 degrees, and the compression recovery was worse than that obtained in Example 1. When the cushioning property was evaluated by holding the sample after the compression recovery rate measurement with the palm, the connecting yarns fell down, and the cushioning property was poor. Furthermore, when the sample after the measurement of the compression recovery rate was applied to a commercially available automobile seat and the cushioning property was evaluated, it was worse than that obtained in Example 1.

Table 3 summarizes the measurement results. [Comparative Example 2] A three-dimensional knitted fabric having the properties shown in Table 3 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the gauge of the knitting machine was changed to 3 gauges and the gap between the kettles was set to 4 mm. In the obtained three-dimensional knitted fabric, the crossing angle (θ) of the connecting yarn is 158.8 degrees,
Although the compression recovery property was good, the cushion property was evaluated by holding the sample after the compression recovery rate measurement with the palm, and the cushion property was not inherent to the three-dimensional knitted fabric, and was considerably worse than that obtained in Example 1. there were.

Furthermore, when the sample after the measurement of the compression recovery rate was applied to a commercially available automobile seat and the cushioning property was evaluated, it was still worse than that obtained in Example 1. Table 3 summarizes the measurement results. [Comparative Example 3] In Example 1, 880d was used as the connecting yarn.
A three-dimensional knitted fabric having the properties shown in Table 3 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a polyethylene terephthalate monofilament yarn of tex was used.

In the obtained three-dimensional knitted fabric, the crossing angle (θ) of the connecting yarn was 43.6 degrees, but the compression recovery property was as shown in Example 1.
It was worse than the one obtained in. When the cushioning property was evaluated by holding the sample after the compression recovery rate measurement with the palm, the cushioning property was inferior to that obtained in Example 1 and was comparable to that of the conventional product. Furthermore, when the sample after the measurement of the compression recovery rate was applied to a commercially available automobile seat and the cushioning property was evaluated, the cushioning property was also inferior to that obtained in Example 1 and was comparable to that of the conventional product.

Table 3 summarizes the measurement results.

[0042]

[Table 3]

[0043]

According to the vehicle seat material of the present invention, by using a specific three-dimensional knitted fabric, the cushioning property of the three-dimensional knitted fabric can be maximized. As a result, the compression recovery property is excellent, and the cushioning property is excellent. Has air permeability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of a three-dimensional knitted fabric used for a vehicle seat material of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a cross section of a course row in an example of a three-dimensional knitted fabric used for a vehicle seat member of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a section taken along aa ′ (course row) in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a cross section of a side surface of an example in which the vehicle seat material of the present invention is applied to an automobile seat (used in a state of being bonded to a conventional seat).

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a cross section of a side surface of an example (in which a three-dimensional knitted fabric is used alone) in which the vehicle seat material of the present invention is applied to an automobile seat.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Three-dimensional knitted fabric 2 ... Front knitted fabric of three-dimensional knitted fabric 3 ... Back knitted fabric of three-dimensional knitted fabric 4 ... Connecting thread of three-dimensional knitted fabric 5 ... Conventional sheet 6 ... Sheet frame

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A three-dimensional knitted fabric knitted from a front knitted fabric, a back knitted fabric, and a connecting yarn for connecting the front and back knitted fabric, and a part or all of the connecting yarn of the three-dimensional knitted fabric is polytrimethylene terephthalate. The fibers are used, and at least a part of the connecting yarns, two connecting yarns of an adjacent wale row are arranged so that stitches of adjacent wale rows apart from opposing stitches of the front and back knitted fabrics are in opposite directions to each other. A vehicle seat member having an obliquely connected structure, wherein an angle (θ) at which two connecting yarns intersect is in a range of 15 degrees to 150 degrees.