JP2010261143A - Method for producing fabric - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To electrically connect an electrifying means to an electrically conductive wires in a good connection state. <P>SOLUTION: This method for producing a fabric includes the first process for forming a part of the fabric 10 with electrically conductive wires 20, forming the different other parts of the fabric 10 with other wires more burnable or meltable than the electrically conductive wires 20, and melting or burning the other wires with a heating means to remove the other wires to expose the connection portions 22 of the electrically conductive wires 20, and the second process for electrically connecting the exposed connection portions 22 to the current-carrying means 18. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a cloth material having a conductive wire and an energization means.

As this type of fabric material, the woven fabrics described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are known. For example, the fabric of Patent Document 1 has a conductive wire that can be energized and an energization means that can supply power to the conductive wire. The conductive wire is composed of conductive fibers such as stainless fibers and carbon fibers and a layer of nonconductive fibers (insulating layer such as cotton and polyester) covering the conductive fibers.
After weaving the woven fabric using the conductive wire material for the warp and the weft yarn, the energizing means is electrically connected to the connected portion of the conductive wire material. The intersecting portion between the warp and the weft has a function as a capacitor by interposing an insulating layer between the conductive fibers.
The fabric of Patent Document 1 can be used as a skin material for a vehicle seat, for example. And the presence or absence of the passenger | crew on a sheet | seat can be detected by making the textile fabric as a skin material into an energized state and measuring the electrostatic capacitance of a crossing part (capacitor).

By the way, in the technique of patent document 1, the conductive wire is coat | covered with the insulating layer. For this reason, it is necessary to remove the insulating layer from the connected portion of the conductive wire before the connection work of the energization means, which sometimes takes time to connect the energization means.
Therefore, Patent Document 2 discloses a fabric that can be used as a heater. This fabric is composed of a non-conductive yarn (another wire such as an insulating fiber) and a conductive yarn (conductive wire) as main components. This conductive yarn is a conductive wire that can generate heat when energized, and is made of, for example, a metal, an alloy, a conductive plastic lead or carbon fiber.
Then, after weaving a woven fabric using a conductive wire for a part of the warp or weft, an energizing means is electrically connected to the connected portion of the conductive wire. At this time, the conductive wire and the energizing means can be directly connected by thermally welding or sticking the energizing means to the fabric.

JP 2006-234716 A JP 2007-227384 A

However, even in the technique of Patent Document 2, the non-conductive yarn, which is the main structure of the woven fabric, interferes with the contact between the conductive wire and the current-carrying means, resulting in an increase in connection resistance between the two (deterioration of connectivity). was there.
The present invention has been devised in view of the above points, and a problem to be solved by the present invention is to electrically connect the energizing means and the conductive wire with better connectivity.

As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the first invention is a method for manufacturing a cloth material, comprising a conductive wire that can be energized and an energization means that can supply power to the conductive wire.
And in this invention, while comprising a part of cloth material with a conductive wire, the other part of the cloth material different from a part is comprised with the other wire which is easier to burn or fuse | melt than a conductive wire. The current-carrying means is electrically connected to the conductive wire. In this type of configuration, it is desirable to connect the current-carrying means and the current-carrying means with good connectivity without being disturbed by other wires as much as possible.

Therefore, in the present invention, the conductive wire and the energizing means are electrically connected by the following two steps.
1st process: The to-be-connected part of an electrically-conductive wire is exposed by fuse | melting or burning and removing another wire with a heating means.
Second step: Electrically connecting means (strip-shaped or linear current-carrying means) is electrically connected to the exposed connected portion.
According to the present invention, it is possible to electrically connect the conductive wire and the energizing means by removing the other wire in advance without being disturbed by the other wire as much as possible.

The manufacturing method of the cloth material of the second invention is the manufacturing method of the cloth material of the first invention, wherein the above-mentioned cloth material has a plurality of conductive wire materials (first conductive wire material that needs to be energized, second that does not require energization. Conductive wire).
Therefore, in the present invention, in the first step, the connected portion of the first conductive wire is exposed and the connected portion of the second conductive wire is burned or melted by the heating means and removed.
According to the present invention, only the connected portion of the first conductive wire can be exposed by a relatively simple operation.

A method for manufacturing a cloth material according to a third invention is a method for manufacturing a cloth material according to the first invention, wherein in the first step described above, the other wire is melted or burned in a spot shape by the heating means and removed. The exposed portion of the conductive wire is exposed (while maintaining the outer shape of the cloth as much as possible).
And in a 2nd process, the above-mentioned electricity supply means is attached to a cloth material, electrically connecting with the exposed to-be-connected part. At this time, since the outer shape of the cloth material is maintained as much as possible, the energizing means can be attached to the cloth material relatively easily.

A method for manufacturing a cloth material according to a fourth aspect is the method for manufacturing a cloth material according to the third aspect, wherein the above-mentioned cloth material has a plurality of conductive wire materials (first conductive wire material, second conductive wire material).
Therefore, in the present invention, in the first step described above, the connected portion of the first conductive wire is exposed in a spot shape, and the connected portion of the second conductive wire is maintained in an unexposed state.
According to the present invention, only the connected portion of the first conductive wire can be exposed by a simpler operation.

The method for manufacturing a cloth material according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the method for manufacturing a cloth material according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention. It was decided to be attached to the cloth material (electrically connected to the part).
In the present invention, by attaching the energizing means to the cloth material, the relative positional relationship between the energizing means and the conductive wire is suitably maintained, and the connection stability between the two is improved.

The cloth material manufacturing method according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the cloth material manufacturing method according to any one of the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, wherein the energizing means is a conductive wire capable of being energized and a support having elasticity. Have
In the second step of the present invention, the support is sewn and attached to the cloth material using a sewing machine. At this time, the conductive wire is electrically connected to the connected portion of the conductive wire by using the conductive wire for at least one of the upper thread or the lower thread of the sewing machine.
In the present invention, the support body is sewn and attached to the cloth material by sewing work (simple work) by the sewing machine, and at the same time, the connected portion of the conductive wire and the conductive wire can be electrically connected. At this time, the conductive wire as a sewing thread is pressed against the conductive wire by the elastic force of the support, whereby the energizing means is electrically connected to the connected portion of the conductive wire with good connectivity.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the conductive wire and the energizing means can be electrically connected with better connectivity. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the energizing means can be connected to the conductive wire that needs to be energized by a relatively simple operation. According to the third invention, the mounting stability of the energizing means is improved. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the energization means can be connected to the conductive wire that needs to be energized by a simpler operation. Further, according to the fifth invention, the connection stability between the conductive wire and the energizing means is improved. According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the conductive wire and the energizing means can be electrically connected with good connectivity by a simpler operation.

It is a perspective view of a vehicle seat. It is a partially transparent front view of a skin material back surface. (A)-(c) is a schematic front view of the cloth material which shows a manufacturing process. (A) And (b) is a front view of the cloth material which shows another manufacturing process. (A) is a front view of a cloth material, (b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a cloth material. (A) is a front view of the cloth material of another example, (b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the cloth material of another example. (A) And (b) is a schematic front view of the cloth material which shows the manufacturing process which concerns on 2nd embodiment. (A) And (b) is a front view of the cloth material which shows another manufacturing process which concerns on 2nd embodiment. (A) is a front view of the cloth material which concerns on 2nd embodiment, (b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a cloth material. (A) is a front view of the cloth material of another example which concerns on 2nd embodiment, (b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the cloth material of another example. (A) is a front view of the cloth material which concerns on 3rd embodiment, (b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a cloth material. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the electricity supply means and conductive wire which concern on 3rd embodiment. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the frequency | count of sewing and resistance value.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In each figure, a code | symbol may be attached | subjected only to one part conductive wire for convenience.
Also, in each figure, a reference symbol F is attached to the front of the vehicle seat, a reference symbol B to the rear of the vehicle seat, a reference symbol L to the side of the vehicle seat, a reference symbol UP to the upper side of the vehicle seat, and a reference symbol DW to the lower side of the vehicle seat. I will do it.

<First embodiment>
A vehicle seat 2 in FIG. 1 includes a seat cushion 4, a seat back 6, and a headrest 8. Each of these members has a cushion material (4P, 6P, 8P, not shown) that forms the outer shape of the seat, and a skin material (4S, 6S, 8S) that covers the cushion material. Each skin material is typically constituted by sewing a plurality of skin pieces into a bag shape.
And in this embodiment, the skin material 4S by the side of the seat cushion 4 is comprised by the cloth material 10 (detailed later mentioned) provided with the electrically conductive wire 20 (refer FIG. 2). And this cloth material 10 functions as an electrode or a heater of a capacitance type sensor by electrically connecting the energizing means 18 to the conductive wire 20. At this time, the conductive wire 20 and the energizing means 18 are connected. It is desirable to connect well.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the conductive wire 20 and the energizing means 18 are electrically connected with good connectivity through each process described below.

[Production method of cloth material]
In this embodiment, after producing the skin piece 4SP from the cloth material 10 (pre-process), the energizing means 18 and the conductive wire 20 are electrically connected by the following two processes (see FIGS. 2 and 3). .
First step: The other wire material is melted or burned by the heating means, and the other wire material (cloth piece 10e described later) is removed from the cloth material 10 while leaving the connected portion 22 of the conductive wire material 20.
2nd process: The electricity supply means 18 is electrically connected to the to-be-connected part 22 (plural or one) of the exposed conductive wire 20. FIG.

[pre-process]
In the pre-process, the fabric material 10 is produced using the conductive wire 20 and another wire. The fabric material 10 may be any of a woven fabric, a knitted fabric, a non-woven fabric, and a braid (braid) (a detailed method for producing the fabric material 10 will be described later).
As will be described later, when the cloth material 10 is used as the skin material 4S, the pad material 14 or the back base cloth 16 can be appropriately used. Each configuration will be described below.

(Other wire)
The other wire is a wire that is easier to burn or melt than the conductive wire 20 described later, and can be used as the main configuration of the cloth material 10.
The other wire desirably has a melting point lower than that of the conductive wire 20 described later, or a wire having a limiting oxygen index (LOI) of less than 26.
Here, the limiting oxygen index (LOI) is an index (O ₂ %) of the oxygen concentration obtained from the minimum oxygen amount necessary for the wire such as the insulating fiber to continue to burn. The limiting oxygen index (LOI) can be measured according to “JIS K 7201 Oxygen Index Combustion Test Method for Polymer Materials” and “JIS L 1091 (1999) 8.5E-2 Method (Oxygen Index Method Test)”. .

Examples of the other wire (material) include plant-based and animal-based natural fibers, chemical fibers made of a thermoplastic resin or a thermosetting resin, and blended fibers thereof. These fibers are insulating fibers having a specific resistance exceeding 10 ⁸ Ω · cm. Insulating fiber wires (wire materials such as spun yarn, filament, drawn yarn or stretchable yarn (false twisted yarn or buckled yarn)) can be used as the structure of the cloth material 10.
Common natural fibers often have a LOI of less than 26. For example, the LOI of cotton is 18-20, and the LOI of wool is 24-25. And in natural fiber, since cotton, hemp, or wool is excellent in a texture, it is preferable to use it as a structure of the cloth material 10.

Further, general chemical fibers often have a lower melting point than conductive fibers. Examples of the chemical fibers having an LOI of less than 26 include polyester (LOI: 18-20) and nylon (LOI: 20-22).
In the case of chemical fibers, polyester fibers and polyethylene fibers (for example, polyethylene terephthalate filaments) are excellent in durability, light resistance, and strength.

(Conductive wire)
The conductive wire 20 is a conductive wire that can be energized, and typically has a specific resistance of 10 ⁰ to 10 ^-12 Ω · cm. “Specific resistance (volume resistivity)” is a physical property value used for comparing what kind of material is difficult to conduct electricity, and can be measured, for example, according to “JIS K-7194”. . By attaching the conductive wire material 20 to the cloth material 10, the cloth material 10 itself can be used as an electrode or a heater of a capacitive sensor.
Examples of the conductive wire 20 include metal wires (for example, conductive yarns such as metals and alloys), carbon fiber filaments, and plated wires (described later). Further, another wire can be twisted (covered) with the conductive wire 20.
Here, the carbon fibers are polyacrylonitrile-based carbon fibers (PAN-based carbon fibers) and pitch-based carbon fibers. Among these, carbon fibers (carbonized fibers, graphitized fibers, graphite fibers) having a firing temperature of 1000 ° C. or higher have good electrical conductivity, and can be suitably used as the conductive wire 20 of the present embodiment.

Examples of the metal wire material include gold, silver, copper, brass, platinum, iron, steel, zinc, tin, nickel, stainless steel, aluminum, and tungsten. Among these, stainless steel metal wires are excellent in corrosion resistance and strength, and thus can be suitably used as the conductive wire material 20 of the present embodiment.
Here, the steel type is not particularly limited, but SUSNo.304, SUSNo. 316 and SUSNo. 316L can be exemplified. SUSNo. 304 is highly versatile. 316 and SUSNo. Since 316L contains molybdenum, it has excellent corrosion resistance.

Here, the wire diameter of the metal wire is not particularly limited, but considering the strength and flexibility, it is preferable to use a metal wire of φ10 to 150 μm. In addition, it becomes the electrically conductive wire 20 which is excellent in a softness | flexibility, so that a wire diameter is small.
As the conductive wire 20, a covering yarn obtained by covering a core wire of another wire with a metal wire (sheath yarn) in the S or Z twist direction can be used. That is, a thin metal wire (conducting yarn or the like) is excellent in flexibility, but if the tensile strength is not sufficient, for example, a polyester filament is used as the core yarn and the sheath yarn is covered in the S and Z twist directions. Thus, tensile strength can be reinforced.

Moreover, it is preferable that the conductive wire 20 has a metal wire (core part) and the sheath part of a resin layer. That is, a thin metal wire (such as conductive yarn) has a large surface area and is greatly affected by rust. Therefore, it is preferable that resin coating is performed. Coating with a resin is preferable from the viewpoint of ease of coating, durability, and ease of removal at the connecting portion.
The resin is not particularly limited, such as urethane, acrylic, silicone, and polyester, but polyurethane is preferable from the viewpoint of durability. The thickness of the coating (resin layer) can be selected according to the polymer type, durability, and application, and can be set to about 0.05 to 500 μm, for example.
The coating method is not particularly limited, but a method of attaching a polymer through a metal wire in a polymer dispersion and applying heat to fix the polymer is preferable. Further, after the polymer powder or polymer melt is adhered to the metal wire, it can be fixed by heating or the like, if necessary. These resin coatings on the metal wires can also be removed by being melted or burned by the heating means (described later) of the present embodiment to expose the connected portions 22 of the conductive wire 20.

The conductive wire 20 of the present embodiment is a wire having a higher melting point than other wires, or a wire having a limiting oxygen index (LOI) of 26 or more.
Conductive yarns such as metals and alloys typically have a higher melting point than natural fibers or synthetic fibers. In addition, the LOI of conductive yarns such as metals and alloys is typically 26 or more (for example, the LOI of stainless steel fibers is 49.6).
Carbon fibers (PAN-based carbon fibers and pitch-based carbon fibers) are non-melting and have a LOI of 60.0 or more.

The plated wire has a non-conductive or conductive wire (core portion) and a plated portion of metal or alloy. By forming the plated portion, the nonconductive wire can be made conductive. Moreover, the durability can be improved by forming a plating part in a conductive wire.
As non-conductive wire (core part), para-aramid fiber (LOI: 29), meta-aramid PBO fiber (LOI: 68), polyacrylate fiber (LOI: 28), PPS fiber (LOI: 34), PEEK Examples thereof include fibers (LOI: 33), polyimide fibers (LOI: 36), glass fibers, alumina fibers, silicon carbide fibers, and poron fibers.

The plated portion can be formed on the whole or a part of the core surface. The method for forming the plating part (electroless plating, electroplating, etc.) can be appropriately selected according to the material of the core part.
As metals used for the plating process, tin (Sn), nickel (Ni), gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), platinum (Pt), zinc ( Examples include Zn), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), and palladium (Pd). Examples of the alloy used for the plating process include Ni—Sn, Cu—Ni, Cu—Sn, Cu—Sn, Cu—Zn, and Fe—Ni.

(Production of fabric material)
In the present embodiment, a part of the cloth material 10 is constituted by the conductive wire material 20, and the other part of the cloth material 10 is constituted by another wire material (see FIG. 3).
Here, the fabric material 10 may be a woven fabric, a knitted fabric, a non-woven fabric, or a braid (braid). For example, the fabric as the fabric material 10 may be a fabric of any configuration such as a plain fabric, an oblique fabric, or a satin fabric. The knitted fabric as the fabric material 10 may be a knitted fabric of any configuration such as warp knitting, circular knitting, or flat knitting. The nonwoven fabric as the fabric material 10 may be a nonwoven fabric produced by any web forming technique or any web bonding technique.

And when producing the textile fabric as the cloth material 10, while forming a part or all of the weft (warp) with the conductive wire 20, the remaining weft and warp can be comprised with another wire.
For example, the conductive wire 20 (weft) can be driven for each of a plurality or a single other wire (weft). Moreover, the conductive wire 20 (warp) can also be arrange | positioned for every other or single other wire (warp).
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned case, it is preferable to arrange more conductive wires 20 on the back surface side of the cloth material 10 than on the front surface side (sitting side). For example, by using a satin fabric, most of the conductive wire 20 (weft) can be disposed on the back surface of the fabric material 10. Thus, as a configuration in which the conductive wire 20 is not exposed to the surface (sitting) side of the cloth material 10 as much as possible, the durability of the conductive wire 20 against friction and wear can be improved.

Moreover, when producing the knitted fabric as the fabric material 10, it is not limited to a warp knitting or a horizontal knitting, The conductive wire 20 is used for a part of constituent yarn, and another wire is used for another constituent yarn.
And in braid (cloth material produced only with warp), the conductive wire 20 can be used for a part of the warp.

  Moreover, the fabric material 10 of this embodiment is producible by sticking the conductive wire 20 on the back surface of a woven fabric, a knitted fabric, or a nonwoven fabric. The attaching method is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include stitch bond (sewing) such as embroidery and sewing, chemical bond using an adhesive, and thermal bond using a low melting point polymer.

And when using the cloth material 10 as the skin material 4S, it is preferable to arrange | position the several conductive wire 20 in parallel (refer FIG. 2). For example, when the fabric material 10 has a heater function, the interval dimension (W1) between the conductive wire materials 20 can be set to 1 mm to 60 mm.
When the cloth material 10 is provided with a sensor (electrode) function, it is desirable to set the interval dimension (W1) between the conductive wire materials 20 within a range of 60 mm. If the spacing dimension (W1) between the conductive wires 20 exceeds 60 mm, the sensor function of the cloth material 10 may deteriorate (capacitance will decrease) and may not function as an electrode. Preferably, the cloth material 10 has a more suitable sensor function (capacitance) by setting the upper limit value of the interval dimension (W1) of the conductive wire 20 to 30 mm.

(Manufacture of skin pieces)
The skin material 4S is typically composed of a plurality of skin pieces. In this embodiment, the cloth material 10 is used for the skin piece 4SP which makes the seating side of the skin material 4S.
When the fabric material 10 is used for the skin material 4S, the back surface of the fabric material 10 is backed (resin layer is formed), the pad material 14 or the back base fabric 16 is disposed in consideration of seating properties. It is preferable to install (see FIG. 2).
This type of pad material 14 is a porous member having flexibility. For example, a urethane pad having a high air content or a slab urethane foam made of a flexible urethane foam can be used. The back base fabric 16 can be composed of, for example, a woven or knitted fabric or a non-woven fabric (other wire).
The cloth material 10, the pad material 14, and the back base cloth 16 are preferably laminated in this order and integrated by the joining means, and then cut into a predetermined shape (forms the skin piece 4SP). Examples of the joining means include methods such as laminating (welding), sewing, and adhesion.

[First step]
In the first step, the connected portion 22 of the conductive wire 20 is exposed by removing the other wire by melting or burning it using a heating means (not shown) described later (see FIG. 3).
At this time, it is desirable to burn (melt) another wire without burning (melting) or breaking the conductive wire 20 as much as possible by appropriately setting the temperature and output of the heating means.

(Heating means)
Examples of the heating means include a heating device (such as a punch mechanism or a scissor mechanism) that can physically contact the cloth material 10 and an optical heating means such as a laser. Among these, the laser can accurately control the temperature (output), and can be suitably used as the heating means of this embodiment.
Here, the type of laser is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include CO ₂ laser, YAG laser, excimer laser, UV laser, semiconductor laser, fiber laser, LD laser, and LD pumped solid laser. Among these, a CO ₂ laser that has high absorption in organic substances (other wires) is preferable.

Further, the laser can be irradiated from any of the front and back surfaces of the cloth material 10. When irradiating a laser from the surface side of the cloth material 10 (the cloth material side as the front material), it is desirable to irradiate the laser while sensing the position of the conductive wire 20. In particular, it is preferable to irradiate the laser from the back surface side (pad material 14 or the back base fabric 16 side) of the cloth material 10 and fix the front surface side to the fixed surface, so that the laser can be easily focused on the cloth material 10.
Moreover, an inert gas can also be sprayed on the cloth material 10 with laser irradiation. By performing the first step in the presence of an inert gas (such as nitrogen or helium), combustion (melting) of the conductive wire 20 can be suitably prevented or reduced.

Then, by appropriately adjusting the set temperature of the heating means or the like, it is possible to burn (melt) only another wire while leaving the conductive wire 20 or to burn (melt) the conductive wire 20 (described later). See Variation).
For example, a Mitsubishi carbon dioxide laser processing machine (model: 2512H2, transmitter model name: 25SRP, laser rated output: 1000 W) is used as the heating means. At this time, by setting the irradiation conditions of the laser processing machine to an output of 15 W or more and less than 25 W (frequency: 200 Hz, processing speed: 1500 mm / min), it is possible to burn (melt) other wires while leaving the conductive wire 20 as much as possible. it can. Moreover, the conductive wire 20 can be burned (melted) or cut by setting the irradiation condition to an output of 25 W (frequency 200 Hz, processing speed 500 mm / min) or more.

In this embodiment, only the other wire is melted (burned) by the heating means to form a pair of cuts on both sides of the cloth material 10 (skin piece 4SP) (see FIG. 3).
At this time, the other wire is cut by the heating means, but the conductive wire 20 remains as it is without being cut. Then, the side part (connected part 22) of the conductive wire 20 can be exposed by peeling off the cloth piece 10e from the cloth material main body 10b.
In addition, when the cloth material 10 has the pad material 14 and the back base fabric 16, these pad material 14 and the back base fabric 16 can be cut | disconnected simultaneously with a heating means.

[Second step]
In the second step, the energizing means 18 is attached to the exposed connected portion 22 of the conductive wire 20 (see FIGS. 2, 5, and 6). By supplying electric power to the conductive wire 20 by the energization means 18, the cloth material 10 can function as an electrode or a heater of the sensor.
Here, the energizing means 18 is a member that electrically connects the conductive wire 20 and the power source, and is a belt-like energizing means 18 (first energizing means 18f, second energizing means 18s described later, or third energizing means 18t). Or the linear electricity supply means 18 can be illustrated.

For example, the first energizing means 18f includes a belt-like support 19a, a plating layer 19b, and a conductive wire 19c (see FIG. 5).
The support 19a of the present embodiment has a strip shape that is long in the wiring direction of the conductive wire 19c (for example, a strip that is long in the front-rear direction of the sheet), and can be formed of a fabric.
The plated layer 19b is a layer having a metal or alloy having electrical conductivity, and is provided on the support 19a (to-be-plated body). The plated layer 19b may be formed on the entire support 19a, or may be formed only on one surface of the support 19a (the surface facing the conductive wire).
The conductive wire 19c can be exemplified by a conductive yarn such as metal or alloy, or a plated wire. The conducting wire 19c may be arranged linearly on the support 19a, but can also be arranged in a wave shape by, for example, periodically swinging.

Note that the conductive wire 19 c preferably has a lower specific resistance than the conductive wire 20. By making the electrical resistance of the conducting wire 19c lower than that of the conductive wire 20, heat generation of the energizing means 18 during energization can be prevented or reduced.
Here, the specific resistance of the conductive wire 19 c can be set as appropriate by the specific resistance of the conductive wire 20. Typically, by setting the specific resistance of the conducting wire 19c to 1.4 to 15 × 10 ⁻⁸ Ω · m, heat generation of the energizing means 18 during energization can be prevented or reduced.

(Disposition of energizing means)
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, the first energizing means 18 f is disposed at both ends of the cloth material 10 and then electrically connected to the connected portion 22 in parallel. At this time, the plated layer 19b and the conductive wire 19c are attached in contact with the connected portion 22 (overlock sewing). Then, by sewing (attaching) the support 19a to the side of the cloth material 10, the relative positional relationship between the first energizing means 18f and the conductive wire 20 is suitably maintained, and the electrical connection between the two is stabilized. Improves.
Then, the terminals of the power cable 9 a are connected to the first energizing means 18 f to form an electric circuit of the plurality of conductive wires 20 on the cloth material 10. In this embodiment, by forming a parallel circuit of the plurality of conductive wires 20 by the pair of first energization means 18f, the plurality of conductive wires 20 can be energized (heated) at a relatively low voltage.

(Another example)
In another example, a second energizing means 18s having a belt-like support 19a (cloth) and a plated layer 19b is used (see FIG. 6). And after arrange | positioning the 2nd electricity supply means 18s at the both ends of the cloth material 10, respectively, it connects with the to-be-connected part 22 in parallel. At this time, the plated layer 19b is attached in contact with the connected portion 22 (locked). Then, by sewing (attaching) the support 19a to the side of the cloth material 10, the relative positional relationship between the second energizing means 18s and the connected portion 22 is suitably maintained, and the electrical connection between them is achieved. Stability is improved.
In this another example, the plating layer 19b and the conductive wire 20 are electrically connected with a wider contact area, and the contact resistance between the conductive wire 20 and the energizing means 18 can be reduced.

[Modification]
By the way, in the vehicle seat 2, there is a demand to energize the conductive wire 20 at the contact portion (for example, the waist and shoulders) with the occupant while leaving the other portions in a non-energized state. For example, referring to FIG. 4, the skin piece 5SP (cloth material 10) includes a conductive wire material (first conductive wire material 20f) of the contact portion and a conductive wire material (second conductive wire material 20s) other than the contact portion. is there.
Therefore, in this modification, only the connected portion 22 of the first conductive wire 20f is exposed by removing the connected portion 22 of the second conductive wire 20s by burning or melting it with the heating means in the first step. The configuration.
In the second step, the first conductive wire 20f can be energized while the second conductive wire 20s cannot be energized by electrically connecting the energizing means 18 only to the first conductive wire 20f. Can do.
In this modification, the power consumption of the cloth material 10 (heater or sensor) can be suppressed as much as possible by energizing only the necessary conductive wire (first conductive wire 20f).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the conductive wire 20 and the energizing means 18 can be electrically connected by the first step and the second step (simple connection work) without being disturbed by other wires as much as possible. . Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the conductive wire 20 and the energizing means 18 can be electrically connected with better connectivity.
Moreover, the cloth material 10 functions as an electrode or a heater of a capacitance type sensor when the conductive wire 20 is energized, and can be suitably used as the skin material 4S of the vehicle seat 2.
In the present embodiment, the second conductive wire 20s that does not need to be energized can be removed relatively easily while leaving the first conductive wire 20f that needs to be energized. For this reason, the cloth material 10 of this embodiment can function as a heater or a sensor while suppressing power consumption as much as possible.

<Second Embodiment>
Since the cloth material 10 of the present embodiment has substantially the same basic configuration as the cloth material of the first embodiment, common structures and the like are denoted by corresponding reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted.
[First step]
In this embodiment, the other wire is melted or burned in a spot shape by the heating means to expose the connected portion 22 from the hole 30 (closed through hole) (see FIG. 7). When the cloth material 10 includes the pad material 14 and the back base cloth 16, a hole 30 that penetrates the pad material 14 and the back base cloth 16 can be formed.

In the first step, all wires other than the conductive wire 20 can be melted or burned. For example, even when the conductive wire 20 is covered or the conductive wire 20 having a coating layer, the covering yarn or the coating layer can be melted (burned) and removed at the same step (the connected portion 22 can be more suitably exposed. ).
Moreover, since the both ends of the to-be-connected part 22 are supported by the cloth material 10, the to-be-connected part 22 does not bend or bend (it is a structure which is hard to cross-link with the other to-be-connected part 22).

[Second step]
In the second step, the conductive wire 19c (linear energization means 18) is electrically connected to the connected portion 22 exposed from the hole 30.
For example, referring to FIG. 9, the conductive wire 19 c is arranged on the cloth material 10 so as to cross the hole 30, and then fixed to the connected portion 22 by the fixing means 40. The fixing means 40 can be exemplified by a conductive thread or a ring member.
Then, the conductive wire 19c is sewn (attached) on the cloth material 10. At this time, in this embodiment, since the other wire (outer shape of the cloth material 10) is maintained as much as possible, the conducting wire 19c can be attached to the cloth material 10 relatively easily.

(Another example)
In another example, the connected portion 22 is exposed from both ends of the cloth material 10 (see FIG. 10).
At this time, another wire is melted or burned in a spot shape by the heating means, and the connected portion 22 is exposed from the groove portion 32 (open through hole). And after arrange | positioning the conducting wire 19c in the cloth material 10 so that the groove part 32 may be crossed, it fixes to the to-be-connected part 22 by the fixing means 40. FIG.
Then, the conductive wire 19c is sewn (attached) on the cloth material 10. At this time, also in this example, since the other wire (outer shape of the cloth material 10) is maintained as much as possible, the conducting wire 19c can be attached to the cloth material 10 relatively easily.
Moreover, in this other example, the conducting wire 19c can be attached to the side of the cloth material 10 by over stitching. In this way, fraying at the end of the cloth material 10 can be prevented or reduced at the same time.

[Modification]
In the vehicle seat 2, as described above, there is a demand to energize the conductive wire 20 in the contact portion with the occupant while leaving the other portions in a non-energized state.
Therefore, in the skin piece 5SP of the present modification, referring to FIG. 8, the connected portion 22 of the first conductive wire 20f is exposed in a spot shape, and the connected portion of the second conductive wire 20s is not exposed. It was set as the structure maintained by.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the first conductive wire 20f is exposed and the second conductive wire 20s is not exposed by a simpler operation (for example, repetition of laser irradiation and non-irradiation). be able to.

<Third embodiment>
Since the cloth material 10 of the present embodiment has substantially the same basic configuration as the cloth material of the first embodiment and the like, common structures and the like are denoted by corresponding reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted.
In the present embodiment, third energizing means 18t (hereinafter simply referred to as energizing means 18t) having a support 19a and a conductive wire 19c is used (see FIGS. 11 and 12).
And in this embodiment, the support body 19a is sewn and attached to the to-be-connected part 22 using a sewing machine (industrial sewing machine or household sewing machine) (sewing line SEW). At this time, the conductive wire 19c is used as a sewing thread, whereby the conductive wire 20 and the conductive wire 19c are electrically connected.

(Support)
The support 19a of the present embodiment is a belt-like member having elasticity. In sewing, the support 19a is sewn and fixed to the cloth material 10 so that the connecting portion does not apply excessive force to the conductive wire 20. Moreover, since the conducting wire 19c is pressed against the conductive wire 20 by the elasticity of the support body 19a as will be described later, the contact stability of both members is improved.
And it is preferable that the support body 19a has a predetermined | prescribed compression characteristic (compression residual distortion, hardness). For example, in the present embodiment, the hardness of the support 19a can be set to 75 to 2000N, preferably 100N or more, and more preferably 200N or more.
The compressive residual strain of the support 19a can be set to 1 to 9% (relatively low value), preferably 7% or less, and more preferably 5% or less. Thus, by using the support body 19a having a low compressive residual strain, the contact pressure between the conductive wire 20 and the conductive wire 19c can be suitably increased.
Here, the hardness of the support 19a can be measured in accordance with “JIS K 6400 6.”. The compressive residual strain can be measured according to “JIS K 6400 7.”.

The material and thickness of the support 19a are not particularly limited. Examples of the support 19a (material) include foamable resins such as rubber (natural rubber and synthetic rubber), elastomer, and slab urethane, bulky nonwoven fabric, and bulky woven or knitted fabric. Among them, slab urethane and natural rubber foam have appropriate compression characteristics and are easy to sew on the cloth material 10.
For example, slab urethane (type: EMM, thickness: 5.0 mm), slab urethane (type: EL68H, thickness: 4.3 mm), natural rubber foam (thickness 5.0-10.0 mm) is used as the support 19a. be able to.

(Conductor)
It is preferable that the conducting wire 19c of this embodiment has the flexibility which can be used as a sewing thread. For example, as the conducting wire 19c (material), gold, silver, copper, brass, platinum, iron, steel, zinc, tin, nickel, stainless steel, aluminum, and tungsten can be exemplified. Especially, since the copper conducting wire 19c (copper wire) is easy to manufacture and inexpensive, it can be suitably used as the conducting wire 19c of this embodiment.
Moreover, the plating layer of the said material can be formed in the conducting wire 19c. By forming the plating layer on the conductive wire 19c, the contact resistance with the conductive wire 20 can be reduced, and the corrosion resistance of the conductive wire 19c can be improved. The material of the plating layer is not particularly limited, but a relatively inexpensive tin or silver plating layer can be preferably used.
Also, a wire formed by forming a plating layer on the surface of another wire can be used as the conductive wire 19c of this embodiment.

Although the thickness of the conducting wire 19c is not particularly limited, it is preferably, for example, φ0.01 mm to φ2.0 mm. Moreover, as the conducting wire 19c (sewing yarn) of the present embodiment, a single conducting wire 19c (single yarn) or a twisted yarn obtained by twisting a plurality of conducting wires 19c can be used. For example, when a general sewing needle (sewing needle) is used, a twisted yarn in which 7 to 22 conductors 19c (φ0.05 mm) are twisted can be used as the sewing thread.
Here, the number of twists of the conductive wire 19c (twisted yarn) is not particularly limited, but is preferably 30 to 200 times / m. When the number of twists is less than 30 turns / m, the conductive wire 19c may be disassembled during sewing or the like (twisted yarns may be broken due to friction between adjacent conductive wires 19c), which may require time for sewing work. If the number of twists is more than 200 times / m, the contact area with the conductive wire 20 tends to be extremely reduced. And by setting the number of twists of the conducting wire 19c (twisted yarn) to 50 to 150 times / m (pitch: 7 to 10 mm), the contact area with the conductive wire 20 is suitably secured and the conducting wire 19c is disassembled during sewing. Can be prevented or reduced.

(Sewing method of conducting wire)
The sewing method (stitch type) of the conducting wire 19c is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include main sewing, single ring sewing, hand sewing, double ring sewing, edge decoration sewing, and flat sewing. In particular, the main stitch is a stitch type suitable for the conductive wire 19c (a wire material having relatively high rigidity).
Here, two kinds of sewing thread (upper thread and lower thread) are used in the main sewing. The upper thread is a thread that is attached to the sewing needle, and the lower thread is a thread that passes through the loop of the upper thread. By using the conductive wire 19c for at least one of the upper thread and the lower thread, the sewing line SEW by the main sewing can be formed (see FIG. 11).
Moreover, it is also possible to use the conductive wire 19c for one of the upper thread and the lower thread and to use another wire 21 for the other one different from the one (see FIG. 12). At this time, the conducting wire 19c is preferably used as a bobbin thread because it has a low elongation and high rigidity as compared with a general sewing thread (polyester or cotton). Other wire 21 (material and thickness) is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to use nylon or polyester (thickness of about 8 # or 20 #) having excellent strength and durability.
Various industrial sewing machines can be used as the sewing machine. For example, as a sewing machine that can be sewn, a 1-needle lockstitch machine and a 2-needle lockstitch machine can be exemplified.

(Arrangement of sewing lines)
The form of the sewing line SEW (number, sewing pitch, sewing thread interval, sewing part width, sewing shape) is not particularly limited (see FIGS. 11 and 12).
Although the number of the sewing lines SEW may be single, it is preferable to form a plurality of sewing lines SEW on the support 19a from the viewpoint of reducing the resistance value of the conductive wire 20 (see FIG. 13).
The sewing pitch of a typical sewing line SEW is around 2.0 mm. The sewing thread interval (gap interval between the sewing lines) is about 4 mm, and the width of the sewing portion (arrangement width of the plurality of sewing lines as a whole) is about 20 mm. In the present embodiment, the energizing means 18t can be made compact by narrowing the width of the sewing portion by adjusting the sewing thread interval or the like (by a relatively simple operation).
Further, the sewing shape (upward view) of the sewing line SEW can take various shapes such as a linear shape and a meandering shape. In particular, by making the sewing line SEW linear, a plurality of sewing lines SEW can be formed compactly on the support 19a.

(Disposition of energizing means)
With reference to FIG.11 and FIG.12, the center part (sewing part) of the support body 19a is arrange | positioned facing the to-be-connected part 22. FIG. And the support body 19a side part is sewed to the terminal part of the skin piece 4SP (cloth material 10) (sewing line sew).
Next, using the sewing thread (21, 19c), the center portion (sewing portion) of the support 19a is attached to the connected portion 22 by main sewing (sewing line SEW). And in this embodiment, while using the conducting wire 19c for the lower thread (the thread facing the connected portion 22) and using the other wire 21 for the upper thread, the conductive wire 20 and the conducting wire 19c are directly connected. Can be contacted. At this time, it is preferable to make the tension of the lower thread higher than that of the upper thread. This prevents the lower thread from being pulled by the upper thread as much as possible. For this reason, the contact area with the conductive wire 20 can be increased by arranging the lower thread (conductive wire 19c) linearly in a side view.
In the present embodiment, a plurality of sewing lines SEW (straight) are compactly formed on the support body 19a. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the conductive wire 19c is pressed against the conductive wire 20 by the elasticity of the support 19a, and the contact between the conductive wire 20 and the conductive wire 19c is improved. Thereby, the connection stability of the to-be-connected part 22 and the electricity supply means 18t can be improved.

Here, in this embodiment, a pair of energization means 18t is each arrange | positioned at the two terminal parts which arrange | position the skin piece 4SP (cloth material 10) facing each other (refer FIG. 2). At this time, in this embodiment, the conducting wire 19c can be disposed outside the end portion (suture line) of the skin piece 4SP (see FIGS. 11 and 12). By doing so, it is possible to eliminate a sense of incongruity for the occupant, and it is possible to put the conductive wire 20 between the two end portions (relatively wide range) into a conducting state.
Further, since the energizing means 18t is disposed at the end of the skin piece 4SP (cloth material 10), the mechanical load of the seat due to the seating operation of the occupant is less likely to be applied to the energizing means 18t (the durability of the energizing means 18t is improved). To do).

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the lower thread (conductor 19c) pulled out from the support 19a can be directly connected to the ECU and the power source 9 (see FIG. 2).
That is, in general, the sewing thread is cut in the immediate vicinity of the sewing end point. However, in this embodiment, the lower thread (conductive wire 19c) is pulled out from the support 19a by a certain length after the sewing is completed (see FIG. 11). ). Then, by converging and bundling a plurality of drawn lower threads (conducting wire 19c), it can be inserted and connected to the connector of the ECU or the power source 9 (the arrangement work of the energizing means 18t can be performed relatively easily). .

Hereinafter, although this embodiment is described based on an example, the present invention is not limited to the example.
[Example 1]
As the conductive wire of Example 1, carbon fiber (Torayca (registered trademark) T300-1K-50A) core yarn, nylon 6 lower yarn winding yarn (22 dtex-7 filament), and fused yarn An upper thread winding yarn (110 dtex-10 filament, manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc., “Elder (registered trademark)”) was used.
Then, the covering yarn (lower yarn winding yarn) and the fusion yarn (upper yarn winding yarn) were set to a twist number of 400 T / m, and the core yarn was subjected to SZ twist double covering. Wire was used.

In addition, as yarns constituting the fabric material, warp yarns of dyed (ivory) polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (167 dtex / 2-48 filament) and yarns of yarn dyed (ivory) PET (84 dtex / The first weft of 2-36 filaments) and the second weft of false twisted yarn (470 dtex-96 filament) of pre-dyed (ivory) PET were used.
Then, after warping the warp yarns, the first weft yarn and the second weft yarn (weft yarn) were alternately driven (representing the pattern) by the jacquard loom, and the conductive wire material was driven at a cycle of 38 weft yarns.
At this time, the conductive wire material was driven every 8 warp yarns, and the conductive wire material was arranged on the surface of the cloth material at a rate of 1 for every 8 warp yarns. At this time, in consideration of the pattern of the cloth material, a conductive wire on the front side was disposed between the floating patterns of the warp yarns (for the concave portion).

Next, after performing a known finishing process (raising and shaving) on the cloth material, a cloth material of Example 1 was obtained by applying a backing agent to the back surface and drying. As a backing agent, an acrylic polymer synthesized from butyl acrylate and acrylonitrile and a flame retardant as a main component were used. The amount of backing agent applied was 45 g / m ² and the drying temperature was 150 ° C. × 1 min. The finishing density of the cloth material was warp / weft = 141/98 / 2.54 cm. The distance dimension (W1) between the conductive wires was 10 mm.
And after placing the back base fabric of urethane sheet pad material (thickness 5mm) and half tricot (18dtex nylon 6) on the back side of the fabric material, integrated by frame lamination (cloth material corresponding to the skin piece) Produced).

(Connection example 1)
In this connection example, the conductive wire and the energizing means are electrically connected based on the first embodiment (modified example).
As a heating means, a Mitsubishi carbon dioxide laser processing machine (model: 2512H2, transmitter model name: 25SRP, laser rated output: 1000 W) was used.
And the cloth material of Example 1 was irradiated with the laser, and the piece of a predetermined dimension was cut out for the seat seat surface main (refer Fig.3 (a)). The laser irradiation conditions at this time were a speed of 500 mm / min, an output of 30 W, a duty of 7.7%, and a frequency of 200 Hz.
Next, the cloth piece (back side) was irradiated with a laser to form a pair of cuts on both sides (see FIG. 3C). The laser irradiation conditions were a speed of 1500 mm / min, an output of 20 W, a duty of 7.7%, and a frequency of 200 Hz. At this time, the PET yarn (other wire material of the cloth material) as the insulating fiber was melted and cut by the heating means, but the carbon fiber (conductive wire material) remained as it was without being cut.

  Furthermore, with reference to FIG.4 (b), the non-energized conductive wire (2nd conductive wire 20s) was selectively produced. That is, while tracing the same position where the pair of cuts described above were formed, only the specific conductive wire 20 was selectively irradiated with a laser to obtain a second conductive wire 20s. The laser irradiation conditions at this time were a speed of 500 mm / min, an output of 30 W, a duty of 7.7%, and a frequency of 200 Hz.

And the side part (to-be-connected part) of the conductive wire was exposed by peeling off the cloth piece from the cloth material piece main body.
After the nonwoven fabric (support) is sewn from the back surface of the cloth material, a conductive wire is placed on the connected portion of the conductive wire on the nonwoven fabric, and the connected portion and the conductive wire are brought into close contact with each other by sewing (first) The second energizing means and the connected part were electrically connected).

(Connection example 2)
In this connection example, the conductive wire and the energizing means are electrically connected based on the second embodiment.
As a heating means, a Mitsubishi carbon dioxide laser processing machine (model: 505GT, transmitter model name: 5003D, laser rated output: 0.2 kW, with galvano head) was used. The laser irradiation conditions were an output of 5.9 W, a frequency of 200 Hz, and a pulse width of 12 μsec.
And the cloth material of Example 1 was irradiated with the laser, and the piece of a predetermined dimension was cut out for the seat seat surface main (refer FIG. 2).
Then, while sensing the position of the conductive wire, the PET (other wire) was melted or burned in a spot shape with a laser to expose the carbon fiber (connected portion) from the hole (closed through hole) ( (See FIG. 7). The diameter dimension of the hole was set to a width dimension in the wiring direction of the conductive wire: 20 mm, and a length dimension: 4 mm. In the hole portion, the PET yarn (other wire) as the insulating fiber was melted and removed by the heating means, but the carbon fiber (conductive wire) remained as it was without being cut.
And the conducting wire (linear energization means) was arrange | positioned on the to-be-connected part exposed from the hole, and both were connected by sewing.

[Example 2]
As the conductive wire of Example 2, a core yarn of stainless steel (SUS304) fiber (12 μm diameter, 100 filaments) and a sheath yarn of false-dyed (ivory) PET false twisted yarn (167 dtex / 2-48 filament) were used. . As the stainless steel fiber, “Naslon (registered trademark)” manufactured by Nippon Electric Cable Co., Ltd. was used.
The sheath wire was set to 200 T / m and covered with the core yarn to obtain a conductive wire of Example 2.

In addition, as yarns constituting the fabric material, warp yarns of yarn-dyed (ivory) PET (167 dtex / 2-48 filament) and yarns of yarn-dyed (ivory) PET (84 dtex / 2-36 filament) ) And a second weft of pre-dyed (ivory) PET false twisted yarn (470 dtex-96 filament).
Then, after warping the warp yarn, the first weft yarn and the second weft yarn (weft yarn) were alternately driven (representing the pattern) with a jacquard loom, and the conductive wire material was driven at a cycle of 19 weft yarns.
And the cloth material of Example 2 was produced by the same method as Example 1.

(Connection example 3)
In this connection example, the conductive wire and the energizing means are electrically connected based on the first embodiment. A Mitsubishi carbon dioxide laser processing machine (type: 2512H2) was used as the laser.
And the cloth material of Example 2 was irradiated with the laser, and the piece of the predetermined dimension was cut out for sheet seat surface main. The laser irradiation conditions at this time were a speed of 500 mm / min, an output of 30 W, a duty of 7.7%, and a frequency of 200 Hz.
Then, the cloth piece (back side) was irradiated with laser to form a cut only on one side of the cloth piece. The laser irradiation conditions were a speed of 1500 mm / min, an output of 15 W, a duty of 7.7%, and a frequency of 200 Hz. At this time, the PET yarn (other wire material of the cloth material), which is an insulating fiber, was melted and cut by the heating means, but the stainless fiber (conductive wire material) remained as it was without being cut.

  Next, the energizing means and the connected part were electrically connected. In this connection example, a PET fabric (surface resistance value: 0.05Ω / sq) plated with copper and nickel on the entire surface by electroless plating was used as the second energizing means (see FIG. 6). And the cloth material side and the to-be-connected part were sewn together, and the to-be-connected part and the 2nd electricity supply means were electrically connected.

[Example 3]
The cloth material of Example 2 was used as the cloth material of this example.
Then, a urethane sheet pad material (thickness 5 mm) and a half tricot (18 dtex nylon 6) backing base fabric were disposed on the back surface of the cloth material, and then integrated by frame lamination. And by the same method as the connection example 3, a pair of cut | interruptions were formed so that the width | variety of a weft direction might be 100 mm, and the side part (connected part) of the conductive wire was exposed from the cloth material.

As the energizing means of the present embodiment, a third energizing means (support, conductive wire) was used. A tin-plated copper wire was used as the conducting wire, and a urethane sheet (“HR-90” manufactured by Inoac, thickness: 5 mm, compression residual strain: 3%, hardness: 441 N) was used as the support.
As the sewing machine, a two-needle lockstitch sewing machine (Mitsubishi “LU2-4430”) was used. Then, only one sewing thread was passed through the sewing machine, and the side portion of the support was sewn and joined to one end of the cloth material (sewing line sew in FIG. 11). At this time, # 8 polyester sewing thread was used as the sewing thread (upper thread and lower thread). And the center part of the support body was arranged facing the to-be-connected part, and the to-be-connected part (conductive wire material) was arrange | positioned under the support body.
Next, the center portion of the support was attached to the connected portion by main sewing (sewing line SEW in FIG. 11). At this time, a lead wire was used for the lower thread (the thread facing the connected portion), and a # 8 polyester sewing thread (another wire) was used for the upper thread. Then, the support was sewn four times while gradually shifting the sewing position so that the seams did not overlap (four sewing lines SEW were formed).

[Example 4]
Covering covered with PET false twisted yarn (330 dtex-72 filament) as a core yarn and a stainless steel fiber (SUS316, 50 μm diameter) as a sheath yarn, one each for S twist and Z twist as the conductive wire of this example. Yarn was used.
The stainless fiber was coated with a 3 μm thick urethane coating. A cloth material of Example 4 was prepared in the same manner by replacing the conductive wire of Example 2 with the covering yarn of this example.
In accordance with connection example 3, the other wires were removed while leaving the stainless steel fiber according to connection example 3, and the energizing means and the connected portion were electrically connected.

[Connection resistance measurement test]
An LCR meter (ZM2353) was used as a measuring instrument for the connection resistance of the conductive wire.
Then, the resistance value (n = 10) of each conductive wire on the opposite side of the conductive wire sewn on one end of the cloth material according to Example 3 was measured.

[Results and discussion]
In the cloth material of Example 1, the conductive wire material (carbon fiber) hardly appeared on the surface of the surface material, and the good design and texture of the cloth material itself were maintained. In Example 1, in both connection example 1 and connection example 2 described above, the connected portion of the conductive wire material could be suitably exposed.
In the cloth materials of Examples 2 and 4, the conductive wire material (stainless fiber) did not appear on the surface of the surface material, and good design was maintained. Also in Examples 2 and 4, in the connection example 3 described above, the connected portion of the conductive wire material could be suitably exposed. In connection example 3, the relative positional relationship between the energizing means and the connected portion was maintained well, and the cloth material could function as an electrode of the capacitive sensor.
From this, it was found that according to Examples 1, 2, and 4, the conductive wire and the current-carrying means can be electrically connected with good connectivity without adversely affecting the sheet characteristics.

  In Example 3, it was found that the measured resistance value decreased as the number of sewing operations (sewing line) increased (see FIG. 13). That is, it means that the connection resistance between the conductive wire and the conductive wire is reduced. And by setting the number of times of sewing (sewing line) to 2 or more, the connection resistance between the conductive wire and the conductive wire could be effectively reduced.

The fabric of the present embodiment is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can take various other embodiments.
(1) In this embodiment, the example which uses the cloth material 10 for the skin piece 4SP etc. was demonstrated. The cloth material of this embodiment is used as a skin material (for example, 4S, 6S, 8S) of various configurations of a vehicle seat such as a top plate main portion, a top plate side portion, a hook portion, a back portion, and a headrest. Can do. Further, in addition to the vehicle seat, it can be used as a skin material 4S of various configurations of the vehicle such as a ceiling portion, a door portion, and a handle. Furthermore, the fabric material 10 can be used as a skin material for furniture and home appliance sheets.
In the present embodiment, the cloth material 10 is used on the seating side of the skin material 4S. Unlike this, a cloth material may be used as the back base fabric.

(2) Moreover, in this embodiment, the conductive wire 20 was arrange | positioned with respect to the cloth material 10 at the wave form. This conductive wire can be arranged on the cloth material in various states such as a straight line shape or a zigzag shape.
(3) Moreover, in this embodiment, the example which arrange | positions the some conductive wire 20 in parallel with respect to the cloth material 10 in the sheet | seat width direction was demonstrated. The arrangement relationship of the plurality of conductive wires is not particularly limited, and may be arranged in parallel in the front-rear direction of the seat, for example. In this case, a pair of energizing means is arranged in front of and behind the seat.
(4) Moreover, although this embodiment demonstrated the example which provides a to-be-connected part in the both ends of a conductive wire, it is not the meaning which limits the position of a to-be-connected part.
(5) In connection example 1, the laser was irradiated twice to separate the first conductive wire and the second conductive wire, but this does not limit the laser irradiation conditions (speed, output, etc.). For example, by changing the laser irradiation conditions (speed, output, etc.) for each part of the cloth material, the first conductive wire and the second conductive wire can be separated by one laser irradiation.

2 Vehicle Seat 4 Seat Cushion 6 Seat Back 8 Headrest 10 Cloth Material 18 Conducting Means 20 Conductive Wire Material 20f First Conductive Wire Material 20s Second Conductive Wire Material 22 Connected Portion 30 Hole 32 Groove 40 Fixing Means

Claims (6)

In a method for manufacturing a cloth material, comprising a conductive wire that can be energized, and an energization means that can supply power to the conductive wire.
While configuring a part of the cloth material with the conductive wire material, configuring the other part of the cloth material different from the part with another wire material that is easier to burn or melt than the conductive wire material,
A first step of exposing the connected portion of the conductive wire by melting or removing the other wire by a heating means; and
A method for manufacturing a cloth material, comprising a second step of electrically connecting the energizing means to the exposed connected portion. The cloth material has a first conductive wire that needs to be energized and a second conductive wire that does not need to be energized,
The cloth according to claim 1, wherein, in the first step, the connected portion of the first conductive wire is exposed and the connected portion of the second conductive wire is burned or melted by the heating means. A method of manufacturing the material.   The method for manufacturing a cloth material according to claim 1, wherein in the first step, the connected portion of the conductive wire is exposed by melting or burning the other wire in a spot shape by the heating means. The cloth material has a first conductive wire that needs to be energized and a second conductive wire that does not need to be energized,
The cloth material according to claim 3, wherein in the first step, the connected portion of the first conductive wire is exposed in a spot shape, and the connected portion of the second conductive wire is maintained in an unexposed state. Production method. The manufacturing method of the cloth material in any one of Claims 1-4 which attaches the said strip | belt-shaped said electricity supply means to the said cloth material in the said 2nd process. The energizing means has a conducting wire that can be energized, and a support having elasticity.
In the second step, when the support is sewn and attached to the cloth material using a sewing machine, the conductive wire is used for at least one of the upper thread or the lower thread of the sewing machine, and the connected portion of the conductive wire material The method for manufacturing a cloth material according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the conductive wire is electrically connected to the wire.

Images