JP2005341988A - Sewing method and apparatus, and sewn body - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sewing method suppressing meandering of a sewing line and reducing the change of the structure of fabric material in a thermoplastic fabric material flexible in the thickness direction. <P>SOLUTION: The method of sewing the fabric material 100 consisting of the thermoplastic fiber comprises: a sewing hole forming process of melting the fibers of the fabric material 100 to form a sewing hole 110 extending through in the direction of the thickness of the fabric material 100; and a sewing process of inserting a sewing needle 19 into the sewing hole 110 and entangling a yarn to the fabric material 100. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for sewing a thermoplastic cloth material, and to a sewn thermoplastic cloth material, that is, a sewn body.

In recent years, as vehicle weight reduction is promoted, a thick three-dimensional knitted fabric material, so-called 3D net, formed by knitting thermoplastic resin fibers may be used as a substitute for a urethane pad in a vehicle seat. The 3D net is a knitted fabric having a three-dimensional structure including a mesh layer constituting both sides of the net and a pile layer composed of a plurality of piles coupled to both mesh layers (for example, see Patent Documents 1 to 4). Such a 3D net is stretched around the seat frame, so that it fits a seated person's hip or the like while providing cushioning properties by elasticity and expansion / contraction performance.
By the way, the 3D net is cut into a predetermined shape and appropriately stitched before being stretched on the frame. However, the 3D net is an aggregate of fibers, and the pile layer is particularly flexible. Therefore, when sewing is performed while pressing the cloth material as in the prior art, the sewn line, particularly the sewn line tends to meander in the net thickness direction. If the sewing line meanders, wrinkles and pulling may occur and the appearance may deteriorate, or the cushion performance and the like may partially change. Also, fraying easily occurs in the terminal. Therefore, a method is disclosed in which a fiber material to be cut or sewn is appropriately added with a resin material suitable for welding and integrated by welding for more reliable terminal processing and stitching (for example, patents). See references 1 and 3.)

JP 2001-137574 A JP 2002-339206 A JP 2000-262357 A

  However, in the part where the fibers of the net are integrated by welding as described above, the original structure of the 3D net may be lost, and the cushioning performance and deformation performance may be lower than in other parts. For example, in a design in which a stitched area exists on the seating surface, such as when a three-dimensional shape is given to a seat cushion or a seat back, a desired seating feeling may not be obtained if the cushioned feeling or fit feeling of the stitched area decreases. is there.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for sewing a thermoplastic cloth material that is flexible in the thickness direction while suppressing the meandering of the sewing line and reducing the change in the structure of the cloth material.

As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the first invention of the present invention is a method of sewing a cloth material composed of thermoplastic fibers, the fiber of the cloth material being melted, and the thickness of the cloth material There is provided a sewing method comprising: a sewing hole forming step for forming a sewing hole penetrating in a direction; and a sewing step for inserting a sewing needle into the sewing hole to entangle a thread around the cloth material.
According to the present invention, since the thermoplastic fiber is melted in the sewing hole forming step to form the sewing hole, it is difficult to apply a compressive load on the cloth material when forming the sewing hole, and a sewing needle is inserted into the sewing hole. As a result, the thread is passed through the cloth material, so that it is difficult to apply a compressive load to the cloth material even when the sewing needle is inserted into the cloth material. Therefore, the thread can be passed in a state where the compressive deformation of the cloth material is suppressed, and the meandering of the sewing line that can be placed in the thickness direction can be satisfactorily suppressed. In addition, since the melted portion is only the sewing hole, it is possible to satisfactorily sew with less structural change of the cloth material.
In the present specification, the “thermoplastic cloth material” means a sheet-like fiber assembly such as a woven fabric, a knitted fabric, and a non-woven fabric, the main component of which is a thermoplastic fiber. Further, the thermoplastic cloth material is hereinafter simply referred to as “cloth material”.
Further, according to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, in the sewing hole forming step, the sewing hole is formed by inserting a heating needle heated to a temperature equal to or higher than a melting point of the cloth material into the cloth material. A sewing method is provided.
In this method, the inner diameter and straightness can be secured by the heating needle to form the sewing hole, and the meandering of the sewing line is suppressed well.
Further, in the third invention, in the second invention, the cloth material is intermittently conveyed by a predetermined length, and the sewing needle and the heating needle are synchronously inserted into the cloth material, and a sewing hole forming step and a sewing step are performed. A sewing method for continuously performing sewing is provided.
In this method, it is easy to perform the sewing hole forming process and the sewing process by stabilizing the deformation state of the cloth material, and it is easy to sew by inserting the sewing needle into the sewing hole with a smaller compression load. is there. Moreover, efficiency is good.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sewing apparatus for a thermoplastic cloth material, wherein a heating needle capable of maintaining a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of the thermoplastic cloth material, and a heating needle capable of reciprocating in the axial direction. A sewing means comprising: a sewing hole forming means provided with one driving means; a sewing needle having a hole capable of holding a sewing thread; and a second driving means capable of reciprocating the sewing needle in the axial direction; and thermoplasticity Holding means capable of holding the cloth material perpendicularly to the reciprocating motion of the heating needle and the sewing needle, and capable of moving the cloth material intermittently by a predetermined length in the direction from the heating needle to the sewing needle; A sewing device is provided.
According to this sewing apparatus, the sewing needle can be formed by reciprocating the heating needle having a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of the thermoplastic cloth material of the sewing hole forming means to pierce the cloth material and pierce the cloth material. it can. Next, the cloth material can be moved in the direction of the sewing needle by the holding means, and the sewing hole can be arranged at a position corresponding to the sewing needle of the sewing means. Then, the sewing needle can be reciprocated by the second driving means, inserted into and removed from the sewing hole, and the sewing thread can be entangled with the cloth material. Therefore, according to this sewing apparatus, a sewing hole can be formed in a thermoplastic cloth material by melting in advance, and then a sewing needle can be inserted into the sewing hole for sewing. The thermoplastic cloth material can be sewn while suppressing the meandering of the sewing line.
A fifth invention of the present invention provides the sewing apparatus according to the fourth invention, wherein the second driving means of the sewing means is also used as the first driving means of the sewing hole forming means.
According to this sewing apparatus, the second driving means that causes the reciprocating motion is also used as the first driving means that similarly causes the reciprocating motion, and a simple structure can be achieved without providing another driving means.
According to a sixth invention of the present invention, in the fourth or fifth invention, the sewing needle of the sewing means and the heating needle of the melting means are provided in parallel to each other, and the distance between the sewing needle and the heating needle is A sewing device is provided which is formed to be adjustable.
According to this sewing device, by adjusting the distance between the sewing needle and the heating needle, that is, the interval in accordance with the interval between the stitches, it is possible to easily sew with a stitch having a desired fineness.
The seventh invention of the present invention is composed of a thermoplastic cloth material, a base part in which the aggregated state of the thermoplastic fibers is maintained, and a circumference that penetrates in the thickness direction at the base part and the thermoplastic fibers are fused and integrated. There is provided a sewing body including a sewing portion formed by a plurality of sewing holes provided with a surface and a sewing thread that passes through the sewing hole and is continuously provided between the sewing holes adjacent to each other along the base surface.
In this sewn body, the aggregated state of the thermoplastic fibers is maintained in the sewn part other than the sewn hole, and the change in the structure is small. Further, the position of the sewing line is substantially determined by the sewing hole, and the meandering is suppressed. Therefore, in this sewn body, the cushioning property, flexibility, etc. of the thermoplastic cloth material are well maintained even in the sewn portion.

In the present invention, in a thermoplastic cloth material that is flexible in the thickness direction, a method for sewing by suppressing meandering of the sewing line and reducing the change in the structure of the cloth material is provided. By providing a sewing device that sews a thermoplastic cloth material while suppressing the meandering of the sewing line and reducing the change in the structure of the cloth material, It is possible to manufacture a sewn body with reduced or the like.
Further, in the present invention, by providing a sewn body of a thermoplastic cloth material in which the change in the structure at the sewn portion is small and the meandering of the sewn line is reduced, processing by sewing such as sewing and sewing is performed. However, the properties of the cloth material can be obtained satisfactorily as a whole, and a sewn body with reduced joint distortion at the sewn portion can be obtained.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a sewing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The sewing device 1 is a so-called sewing machine and includes a base 3 and an arm 5. The base 3 is formed in a flat plate shape. The arm 5 extends upward from the upper surface on the right side of the base 3 in FIG. 1, extends to the left side in FIG. 1 parallel to the upper surface of the base 3, and has a tip extending downward so as to be close to the upper surface on the left side in FIG. I have. The base 3 and the arm 5 are provided with a sewing means 10, a sewing hole forming means 30, and a holding means 50.

The sewing means 10 is a means capable of sewing a known cloth material. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper thread 61 and the thermoplastic cloth material 100 fed out from above the thermoplastic cloth material 100 are used. This is a known means for sewing using a lower thread 62 fed out from below. The arm 5 is provided with known upper thread supply means capable of supplying the upper thread 61 with a predetermined thread tension. As shown in FIG. 1, a balance 14 and an upper thread adjuster 15 are provided from the upper left side of the arm 5 toward the tip, and on the surface facing the base 3, as shown in FIGS. 17 and a sewing needle 19 are provided. The sewing needle receiver 17 is a cylindrical member that extends from the lower surface of the tip of the arm 5 toward the base 3 side. The sewing needle 19 is a needle having a threading hole 20 at a pointed tip, and the other end is inserted into the sewing needle receiver 17 and is detachably fixed by a fixing tool (not shown).
Driving means is connected to the sewing needle receiver 17. The drive means starts with the sewing needle 19 from the uppermost position (see FIG. 3) positioned above the thermoplastic cloth material 100 where the tip of the sewing needle 19 is sewn in a state where the sewing needle 19 is attached to the sewing needle receiver 17. The sewing needle receiver 17 is reciprocated to the lowermost position (below shown in FIG. 2) where the tip of the sewing needle is inserted into the sewing needle hole 3a formed in the base 3.

The sewing means 10 includes a lower thread supply means 12 in the base 3. The lower thread supply means 12 has a known configuration including an outer hook, an inner hook, a bobbin case, a bobbin around which the lower thread 62 is wound, an outer hook driving means, and the like. The bobbin case of the lower thread supply means 12 can be attached / detached by opening the openable / closable cover 7 provided on the base 3 shown in FIG.
The upper thread supply means and the lower thread supply means 12 of the sewing means 10 are configured to operate in cooperation by a known configuration including, for example, a timing belt. In the present embodiment, the sewing machine operates so that the upper thread 61 and the lower thread 62 are entangled through the main sewing, that is, the thermoplastic cloth material 100.

The sewing hole forming means 30 is positioned in front of the sewing needle 19 in the conveying direction by the holding means 50 described later. That is, in FIG. 1, it is disposed in front of the sewing needle 19 and on the right side of the sewing needle 19 in FIGS. The sewing hole forming means 30 of the present embodiment has a heating needle receiver 34 and a heating needle 32 on the surface facing the base 3 at the tip of the arm 5. The heating needle receiver 34 is a cylindrical member that extends from the lower surface of the tip of the arm 5 toward the base 3 side.
The heating needle 32 is a needle having a sharp tip, and the opposite end is inserted into the heating needle receiver 34 and is fixed by a fixing tool (not shown). The heating needle 32 is preferably formed to have an outer diameter larger than that of the sewing needle 19 as shown in FIGS. The heating needle 32 is connected to a known configuration including a heating means (not shown) such as a heating wire and a temperature control means, and the heating needle 32 itself is formed so as to be able to maintain a predetermined temperature.

  The heating needle receiver 34 is connected to driving means (not shown). The driving means to which the heating needle receiver 34 is connected is heated from the uppermost position (see FIG. 3) where the tip of the heating needle 32 fixed to the heating needle receiver 34 is positioned above the thermoplastic cloth material 100 to be sewn. The heating needle receiver 34 is reciprocated to the lowest position (below shown in FIG. 2) where the tip of the needle 32 is inserted into the heating needle hole 3b formed in the base 3. In this embodiment, the driving means for driving the sewing needle receiver 17 of the sewing means 10 is shared.

The holding means 50 is means for holding the thermoplastic cloth material 100 to be sewn and transporting it in a predetermined direction. The holding means 50 can have a known configuration, and includes a pressing member 52 and a feeding means having a feeding claw 54.
The pressing member 52 includes a rod portion extending toward the base 3 from a surface facing the base 3 of the arm 5 and a flat plate portion integrated with the lower end of the rod portion. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the flat plate-like portion is a portion pressed against the cloth material, and is formed by warping both ends in the transport direction by the feeding means, and is opened at the end on the front side in the transport direction. It has a rectangular cutout. The presser members 52 are provided on both sides of the sewing needle 19 in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. Further, preferably, as in the present embodiment, it is also provided on both sides of the heating needle 32 in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. Although not shown, the pressing member 52 can be switched between an open state held at a position separated from the base 3 and a pressing state biased toward the base 3 side.

  The feeding means includes a feeding claw 54 and a driving means for driving the feeding claw 54 (not shown). The feed claw 54 has an upper surface formed in a concavo-convex surface, and a through hole through which the upper surface can project is formed in the upper surface of the base 3. The uneven surface of the feeding claw 54 is provided on the upper surface of the base 3 at a position facing the pressing portion of the pressing member 52. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the presser member 52 is formed so as to face mutually parallel rectangular portions on both sides of the notch portion of the presser portion. The driving means of the feed claw 54 projects the feed claw 54 from the upper surface of the base 3 and moves it in a predetermined direction, in this embodiment, from the front side to the back side in FIG. 1, and from right to left in FIG. At the same time, it returns to the original position at a height that does not protrude from the upper surface of the base 3. Thereby, the thermoplastic cloth material 100 can be moved only when the feed claw 54 protrudes from the base 3, and is sent intermittently. This driving means is interlocked with the driving means of the sewing means 10 and moves the feed claw 54 in a protruding state at a position where the sewing needle 19 is not inserted into the thermoplastic cloth material 100. In addition, the drive means of the feed means may be provided so as to be able to be driven in the reverse direction for reverse stitching as well as the known drive means.

The main sewing apparatus 1 further includes a guide member 71 and a guide fixing member 9 shown in FIG. The guide member 71 is a member that makes surface contact with the thickness surface of the end portion of the thermoplastic cloth material 100 during sewing and suppresses deformation and displacement of the thermoplastic cloth material 100, and can have various shapes. In this embodiment, it is formed of an elongated member having an L-shaped cross section made of iron. The guide member 71 is formed so as to be able to come into surface contact with the end of the thermoplastic cloth material 100 on a surface extending vertically from the base 3 when installed on the base 3.
In the present embodiment, the guide fixing member 9 is formed of a band-shaped magnet, and is formed in a rectangular shape along the conveying direction on the upper surface of the base 3 and at a position away from the track of the sewing needle 19 of the sewing means 10. Is provided.

Next, a method of using the sewing device 1 to sew the thermoplastic cloth material 100 and obtain a sewn body will be described.
Here, the thermoplastic cloth material 100 is a sheet-like fiber assembly such as a knitted fabric, a woven fabric, and a non-woven fabric, the main component of which is a thermoplastic fiber. Preferably, all the fibers are made of thermoplastic fibers. It is a fiber assembly. The main sewing method is suitable for a thermoplastic cloth material having a thickness, and is particularly suitable for a thermoplastic cloth material that easily deforms in the thickness direction, that is, is easily compressed. A typical example of such a thermoplastic cloth material is a knitted fabric having a three-dimensional structure. The three-dimensional knitted fabric that is flexible in the thickness direction can be a multilayer structure including a layer in which fibers extend long in the thickness direction. For example, a three-layer structure including a pile layer in which a pile-like fiber mainly extends in the thickness direction in the middle and a mesh layer tightly knitted by fibers mainly extending in the plane direction such as a honeycomb shape or a lattice shape on both sides There is.

  In addition, the thermoplastic resin which comprises a thermoplastic fiber is not specifically limited. For example, polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate and polybutylene terephthalate, polyolefins such as polypropylene, polyamides, polyacrylonitrile, and copolymers containing these can be used, and one kind or a mixture of two or more kinds can also be used.

  In the sewing method according to the present invention, a sewing line is simply added to the thermoplastic cloth material 100 for the purpose of design or the like, or the thermoplastic cloth material 100 and another cloth material, a sheet, or the like are overlapped for sewing. It can be applied to the case where two or more layers of the thermoplastic cloth material 100 are overlapped and sewn. Although the sewing apparatus 1 can be used in any of these methods, a description will be given below by taking as an example a so-called stitching in which the thermoplastic cloth material 100 made of two three-dimensional knitted fabrics is overlapped and sewn. .

  First, the upper cloth material 101 and the lower cloth material 103 are overlapped (hereinafter, the upper cloth material 101 and the lower cloth material 103 are referred to as a thermoplastic cloth material 100). Next, the thermoplastic cloth material 100 is placed on the base 3 of the sewing apparatus 1 so that the portion to be sewn is positioned in front of the sewing hole forming means 30 and the sewing means 10 in the conveying direction by the feeding means. Thereafter, the presser member 52 is switched from the open state to the presser state, and the thermoplastic cloth material 100 is held at a predetermined position.

  Here, when the ends of the upper cloth material 101 and the lower cloth material 103 are matched, it is preferable to use a guide member 71 of the thermoplastic cloth material 100 as shown in FIG. The guide member 71 is fixed at a position in surface contact with the thickness surface of the end of the thermoplastic cloth material 100. In the present embodiment, the guide member 71 can be fixed by a magnetic force by installing the guide member 71 on the guide fixing member 9.

  Next, the feeding means of the holding means 50 is driven to move the thermoplastic cloth material 100 intermittently by a predetermined length, and the driving means that is also used as the sewing means 10 and the sewing hole forming means 30 is driven. Then, the sewing needle 19 and the heating needle 32 are reciprocated. Thereby, formation and sewing of the sewing hole 110 are continuously performed. Hereinafter, the sewing hole forming process and the sewing process will be described with reference to FIGS.

The sewing hole forming step is a step of forming the sewing hole 110 penetrating the thermoplastic cloth material 100 by the sewing hole forming means 30. The heating needle 32 is heated in advance to a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of the thermoplastic cloth material 100 to be sewn. With respect to the thermoplastic cloth material 100 held by the holding means 50, the heating needle receiver 34 provided with the heating needle 32 is moved downward from the uppermost position (see FIG. 3) not contacting the thermoplastic cloth material 100 by the driving means. Let The heating needle 32 penetrates into the thermoplastic cloth material 100 while melting the fibers of the thermoplastic cloth material 100 that comes into contact with the retained heat. Thereby, the heating needle 32 can penetrate | invade in the state which has no compression load to the thermoplastic cloth material 100, or is small. In particular, in this embodiment, since the tip is sharp, it smoothly enters with a smaller load. The heating needle 32 is lowered down to a position penetrating the thermoplastic cloth material 100 as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, since the heating needle 32 is driven by the driving means of the sewing means 10, it is lowered to the lowest position. Thereby, only the cylindrical peripheral surface which contacts the heating needle 32 melts. Then, it is pulled up to the uppermost position shown in FIG. When the heating needle 32 is pulled up, the melted portion is cooled and solidified. Thereby, the sewing hole 110 formed only by the fiber whose peripheral surface was melted can be formed.
The sewing hole 110 formed in this manner allows the thermoplastic cloth material 100 to have a predetermined length by the feeding means while the heating needle 32 (and the sewing needle 19) is located above and does not contact the thermoplastic cloth material 100. Only by conveying, it can be sent to the sewing means 10. In the present embodiment, since the length between the heating needle 32 and the sewing needle 19 is equal to the one-time conveying length by the feeding means, the sewing hole 110 can be sewn as shown in FIG. Move to just below 19.

  In the sewing step, the sewing needle 19 is inserted into the sewing hole 110 formed in the thermoplastic cloth material 100, the thread is passed through, and the thermoplastic cloth material 100 is entangled with the thread and is sewn. In the sewing step, the thermoplastic cloth material 100 is held by the holding means 50 so that the sewing hole 110 is positioned immediately below the sewing needle 19. The upper thread 61 is previously passed from a predetermined portion of the sewing means 10 to the threading hole 20 of the sewing needle 19. The sewing needle receiver 17 provided with the sewing needle 19 is moved downward from the uppermost position (see FIG. 3) not contacting the thermoplastic cloth material 100 by the driving means. Since the sewing needle 19 passes through the sewing hole 110, there is no or little load to compress the thermoplastic fabric material 100 in the downward direction, that is, in the thickness direction. The sewing needle 19 descends in the sewing hole 110 with the upper thread 61, moves to the lower side of the thermoplastic cloth material 100 as shown in FIG. 2, and further lowers to the lowest position below. Thereafter, the sewing needle 19 starts to be raised, and the upper thread 61 is entangled with the lower thread supply means 12 below the base 3 and entangled with the lower thread 62. Due to this entanglement, the lower thread 62 is pulled up to the inside of the sewing hole 110 by raising the sewing needle 19. Thereby, one seam can be formed in the thermoplastic cloth material 100. When the sewing needle 19 is moved to the uppermost position, the thermoplastic cloth material 100 is conveyed by a predetermined length by the feeding means.

  In the sewing apparatus 1, the sewing forming process and the sewing process proceed simultaneously by the heating needle 32 and the sewing needle 19 that reciprocate by the same driving means. Therefore, the sewing part 120 is formed in the thermoplastic cloth material 100 by repeating the feeding of the thermoplastic cloth material 100 by the feeding means and the reciprocating motion of each needle of the sewing hole forming means 30 and the sewing means 10. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the heating needle 32 and the sewing needle 19 are provided at an interval corresponding to one pitch of the seam, and immediately after the sewing hole 110 is formed, the sewing process is started. Although it is sent, there may be two or more pitches between the heating needle 32 and the sewing needle 19.

  In the form in which the guide member 71 is used, the guide member 71 always contacts the thickness surface of the end of the thermoplastic cloth material 100 during the conveyance by the feeding means and the reciprocating motion of the sewing hole forming means 30 and the sewing means 10. . Thereby, the shift | offset | difference of the upper side cloth material 101 and the lower side cloth material 103, and the deformation | transformation of the upper side cloth material 101 and / or the lower side cloth material 103 in a thickness direction can be suppressed.

  In this sewing method, in the sewing hole forming step, the heating needle 32 penetrates into the thermoplastic cloth material 100 while melting the fibers of the thermoplastic cloth material 100, so that it is difficult to apply a compressive load to the thermoplastic cloth material 100. In particular, in the present embodiment, the thermoplastic cloth material 100 is stably held by the pressing member 52 even in the region where the heating needle 32 enters, and the heating needle 32 is held in a state where deformation in the thermoplastic cloth material 100 is further suppressed. Can be pierced. For this reason, it is possible to form the sewing hole 110 having a high linearity by extending at an angle perpendicular to or close to both surfaces of the thermoplastic cloth material 100. In particular, in the method using the guide member 71, even when a compression load is applied to the thermoplastic cloth material 100 due to the penetration of the heating needle 32 or the sewing needle 19 into the thermoplastic cloth material 100, deformation in the thickness direction is satisfactorily suppressed. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to satisfactorily form the sewing holes 110 extending perpendicularly and linearly to both surfaces of the thermoplastic cloth material 100.

  Further, in this sewing device, the presser state similar to that in the sewing hole forming process is maintained in the sewing process, so that the sewing needle 19 can be reciprocated well along the sewing hole 110, and the linearity is good. Sewing lines can be formed. Further, also in the sewing process, the compression load applied to the thermoplastic cloth material 100 by the sewing needle 19 is satisfactorily reduced, and the sewing can be performed with a stable thread tension without the seam becoming too tight.

Further, in the sewn body obtained in this manner, the entire sewing portion 120 holds the fiber assembly state of the thermoplastic cloth material 100 itself well, and the fibers are melted only at the sewing holes 110. For this reason, the properties of the thermoplastic cloth material 100 are well maintained in the sewing portion 120. In particular, in the sewn body of the thermoplastic fabric material 100 that is thick and flexible, the sewn portion 120 also retains flexibility, resilience, cushioning properties, and the like. As described above, in the sewn body of the thermoplastic cloth material according to the present invention, the change in the structure at the sewn portion is small, and the meandering of the sewing line is reduced. Therefore, a process (sewing body) utilizing the properties of the thermoplastic cloth material 100 can be obtained by performing various sewing processes on the flexible thick thermoplastic cloth material 100. In addition, since these sewing bodies have good linearity of the sewing line, even in the case of a three-dimensional knitted fabric, the tension and restoring force, cushioning properties, fit properties, etc. at the sewing portion 120 and its periphery are more stable. ing. Therefore, it can be easily applied to various products such as seat cushions for vehicles, seat backs, beds, sofas, and the like. In addition, the sewing thread, that is, the upper thread 61 and the lower thread 62 in such a sewing body are continuous between the adjacent sewing holes 110 while being entangled with each other in the thickness direction of the thermoplastic cloth material, as in the prior art. can do. Therefore, the sewn portion 120 of the sewn body can exhibit the same strength as the conventional one.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.
In the form using the heating needle 32 as the sewing hole forming means, the heating needle 32 may have an outer diameter equal to or smaller than the sewing needle 19. For example, in a material in which a sewing hole 110 having a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the heating needle 32 is easily formed by melting thermoplastic fibers, the heating needle 32 is preferably equal to or smaller than the outer diameter of the sewing needle 19. Moreover, the heating needle 32 may be provided so that the distance between the heating needle 32 and the sewing needle 19 can be adjusted. An example of the form provided with the sewing hole formation means which can adjust the position of the heating needle 32 in the sewing apparatus 1 is shown in FIG. The heating needle receiver 36 of the sewing hole forming means shown in FIG. 5 includes a plurality of cylinders 37. Each of the plurality of cylinders 37 includes a fixing tool that removably fixes the heating needle 32. By inserting the heating needle 32 into the cylinder 37 at a position where the distance from the sewing needle 19 is an integral multiple of the length of the seam according to the length of the seam, a sewing hole is arranged immediately below the sewing needle 19. Can be.

Further, the sewing hole forming means is not limited to the heating needle. For example, the melted portion of the fiber may be formed in a cylindrical shape by irradiating a laser beam or the like adjusted to a predetermined diameter in the thickness direction of the cloth material.
In addition, it is preferable that the sewing hole forming step and the sewing step are performed continuously, which is efficient and allows the sewing line to be straightened more preferably. However, the sewing hole forming step and the sewing step may be performed separately. .
In the above-described embodiment, the conveyance direction is one direction. However, for example, in a sewing method in which the thermoplastic cloth material 100 is conveyed in a desired direction within a plane by a desired distance as in a known embroidery sewing machine. Of course, the method can be applied. In this case, the conveyance by the feeding means is not performed until the sewing hole forming process and the sewing process at the predetermined part are finished, so that the sewing can be performed with good linearity of the sewing line.

1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a sewing apparatus according to the present invention. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows a mode that a thermoplastic cloth material is sewn in the sewing apparatus of FIG. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows a mode that sewing advanced further than FIG. FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view illustrating a state in which sewing is performed using a guide member in the sewing apparatus of FIG. 1. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows another embodiment of the sewing apparatus which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sewing device 3 Base 3a Sewing needle hole 3b Heating needle hole 5 Arm 7 Cover 9 Guide fixing member 10 Sewing means 12 Lower thread supply means 14 Balance 15 Upper thread adjuster 17 Sewing needle holder 19 Sewing needle 20 Threading hole 30 Sewing hole Forming means 32, 36 Heating needle holder 34 Heating needle 37 Cylinder 50 Holding means 52 Pressing member 54 Feeding claw 61 Upper thread 62 Lower thread 71 Guide member 100 Thermoplastic cloth material 101 Upper cloth material 103 Lower cloth material 110 Sewing hole 120 Sewing Part

Claims (7)

A method of sewing a fabric material composed of thermoplastic fibers,
A sewing hole forming step of melting the fibers of the cloth material and forming a sewing hole penetrating in the thickness direction of the cloth material;
A sewing method comprising: a sewing step of inserting a sewing needle into the sewing hole to entangle a thread with the cloth material.   The sewing method according to claim 1, wherein in the sewing hole forming step, the sewing hole is formed by inserting a heating needle heated to a temperature equal to or higher than a melting point of the cloth material into the cloth material.   The cloth material is conveyed intermittently by a predetermined length, and a sewing needle and a heating needle are synchronously inserted into the cloth material, and a sewing hole forming process and a sewing process are continuously performed. Sewing method. A sewing apparatus for thermoplastic cloth material,
A sewing hole forming means comprising a heating needle capable of maintaining a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of the thermoplastic cloth material, and a first driving means capable of reciprocating the heating needle in the axial direction;
Sewing means comprising: a sewing needle having a hole capable of holding a sewing thread; and second driving means capable of reciprocating the sewing needle in the axial direction;
Holding means capable of holding the thermoplastic cloth material perpendicular to the reciprocating movement of the heating needle and the sewing needle, and intermittently moving the cloth material by a predetermined length in a direction from the heating needle to the sewing needle; A sewing device provided.   The sewing device according to claim 4, wherein the second driving means of the sewing means is also used as the first driving means of the sewing hole forming means.   The sewing device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the sewing needle of the sewing means and the heating needle of the melting means are provided in parallel to each other, and the distance between the sewing needle and the heating needle is adjustable. . Consists of thermoplastic cloth material,
A base portion in which the aggregated state of the thermoplastic fibers is maintained, a plurality of sewing holes having a peripheral surface penetrating in the thickness direction at the base portion and the thermoplastic fibers being fused and integrated, and passing through the sewing holes, and A sewing body comprising a sewing portion formed by a sewing thread that is continuously provided between sewing holes adjacent to each other along a base surface.

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