JP2012125404A - Shock-absorbing structure of protector for baseball or softball - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a shock-absorbing structure of a practical protector for baseball, which exhibits both a low repulsion performance and a high shock-absorbing performance.SOLUTION: A shock-absorbing layer 8 of a shock-absorbing protrusion 4A for impact absorption which is formed on the outer surface of a protector body comprises several shock absorbing members of different types of materials, stacked on one another in the direction of the thickness of the shock-absorbing layer 8. It is provided with a gel-like shock-absorbing member 9 which is formed of a semisolid gel-like material 9a exhibiting deformation characteristics like a highly viscous fluid, as a part of the several shock-absorbing members. Preferably, an elastic shock-absorbing member 10 of foamed resin is arranged adjacent to the gel-like shock-absorbing member 9 on the side of the outer surface of the protector in the direction of the thickness of the shock-absorbing layer.

Description

  The present invention relates to a buffer structure for a baseball or softball protector to be worn by a catcher or a referee such as baseball or softball in order to suppress injury due to an impact on the chest or abdomen.

  This type of protector is mainly intended to reduce the impact caused by a ball or the like. Basically, a plurality of shock-absorbing protrusions for absorbing shocks are formed on the outer surface of the protector body that can cover the chest and abdomen of the body. Yes.

  Conventionally, in order to reduce the rebound when the ball collides with the protector, etc., in order to be able to quickly perform the next pitching operation of the catcher when it fails to catch the ball, Further, it is known that the cushioning convex portion is composed of a cushioning member made of a solid material having low resilience performance (specifically, EVA VN600, rubber sponge, EPE 38-fold foam, etc.) 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-280426

  However, in the above conventional buffer structure in which the cushioning convex portion is formed by a cushioning member made of a solid material having low resilience performance, although the resilience performance can be reduced to some extent, it is still desired to further reduce the resilience performance. As for the shock-absorbing performance required, there is no solid material with low resilience performance that has high shock-absorbing performance, so it is difficult to obtain sufficient shock-absorbing performance as a shock-absorbing structure. There is a problem that satisfactory practicality cannot be obtained as a buffer structure.

  In view of this situation, the main problem of the present invention is to provide a buffer structure for a highly practical baseball or softball protector that combines low resilience performance and high buffer performance by adopting a rational configuration. is there.

The first characteristic configuration of the present invention relates to a buffer structure of a protector for baseball or softball,
A buffer structure for a protector for baseball or softball, in which a plurality of shock absorbing cushioning protrusions are formed on the outer surface side of the protector body capable of covering the chest and abdomen of the body,
The buffer convex portion is configured by arranging a buffer layer having a thickness corresponding to the protruding margin of the buffer convex portion between the interior material and the exterior material of the protector body,
The buffer layer is configured by laminating a plurality of buffer members of different material types in a state aligned in the buffer layer thickness direction,
As a part of the plurality of buffer members, a gel buffer member made of a semi-solid gel material is provided.

  In other words, a semi-solid gel-like material generally has a high viscous fluid deformation characteristic as its deformation characteristic. This high viscous fluid deformation characteristic has a low rebound performance and a high buffer against an impact caused by an object collision. Effectively demonstrates performance.

  Therefore, according to the said structure which comprises the said buffer convex part using the gel-like buffer member which consists of such a semi-solid gel material, it makes the buffer convex part have low resilience performance and high buffer performance. be able to.

  On the other hand, since the gel material is generally heavy, if the entire buffer layer is composed of a gel buffer member made of a semi-solid gel material, low resilience performance and high buffer performance can be obtained, but the weight of the buffer layer (As a result, the total weight of the protector) is increased, which causes a decrease in practicality, but only some of the buffer members to be laminated are gel-like buffers made of a semi-solid gel material. If it is the said structure used as a member, the weight increase of a buffer layer will also be suppressed by selecting the thing (material which is lightweight and can also obtain low resilience performance and high buffer capacity) for another buffer member. be able to.

  For these reasons, according to the above configuration, the protector cushioning structure has both low resilience performance and high cushioning performance, and can be highly practical with no problem in terms of weight.

The second feature configuration of the present invention is a configuration suitable for the implementation of the first feature configuration.
As some of the buffer members, a foamed resin cushioning member made of a foamed resin material is provided,
The gel-like buffer member and the foamed resin buffer member are arranged adjacent to each other in the buffer layer thickness direction.

  In other words, the gel-like cushioning member made of a semi-solid gel-like material maintains an appropriate equipment state that can reliably and stably exhibit low resilience performance and high cushioning performance due to its highly viscous fluid deformation characteristics. Need some kind of support.

  In this regard, according to the above-described configuration, the gel-like cushioning member made of a semi-solid gel-like material is brought into a surface contact state with an appropriate surface pressure by the foamed resin cushioning member adjacent to the gel-like cushioning member in the buffer layer thickness direction. It can be supported elastically and can be maintained in an appropriate equipment state that can reliably and stably exhibit low resilience performance and high buffer performance.

  In addition, by elastically supporting the gel-like buffer member in this way, the highly viscous fluid-like deformation characteristics of the semi-solid gel material can be fully utilized in both the surface direction and the buffer layer thickness direction. The gel buffer member can be supported in a state (in short, a state in which the gel buffer member made of a semi-solid gel material is not restrained).

  Combined with these, according to the above-described configuration, it is possible to more effectively and reliably exhibit low resilience performance and high cushioning performance against impact regardless of the protector's use posture, The buffer structure can be made more practical.

The third characteristic configuration of the present invention is a configuration suitable for the implementation of the second characteristic configuration.
The said gel-like buffer member exists in the point distribute | arranged to the protector outer surface side of the said foamed resin buffer member in the buffer layer thickness direction.

  According to the above configuration, when a ball or the like collides with a shock-absorbing convex portion for absorbing shock, the gel-like cushioning member is caused by the elastic deformation of the foamed resin cushioning member located on the protector inner surface side of the gel-like cushioning member in the buffer layer thickness direction. Can be suppressed in a back-up manner.

  And by suppressing the depression curve deformation of the gel-like buffer member in this way, the highly viscous fluid deformation of the gel-like buffer member made of a semi-solid gel-like material can be prevented from being affected by the collision. It can be diffused in the surface direction.

  In other words, it is possible to effectively disperse the impact in the surface direction of the gel-like cushioning member, and to effectively cause the highly viscous fluid deformation of the gel-like cushioning member for each of the dispersed impact components. In this way, the highly viscous fluid deformation characteristics of the gel-like cushioning member made of a semi-solid gel material are more effectively utilized, and the cushioning structure of the protector has low rebound performance and high cushioning performance. Furthermore, it can be exhibited effectively.

The fourth characteristic configuration of the present invention is a configuration suitable for implementing the first to third characteristic configurations.
The gel buffer member is configured by covering a semi-solid gel material with a sheet material,
The gel-like buffer member and the adjacent member in the buffer layer thickness direction are non-adhered and the gel-like buffer member is arranged.

  In other words, when a gel-like cushioning member made of a semi-solid gel-like material is arranged in the buffer layer as it is without a coating, the gel-like cushioning member and its adjacent members due to the surface adhesiveness unique to the gel-like material As a result, the tendency to constrain the gel-like cushioning member in the surface direction is increased, which limits the highly viscous fluid deformation characteristics of the gel-like cushioning member made of a semi-solid gel material. It will be in a hanging state.

  On the other hand, according to the above configuration, the gel-like cushioning member formed by coating a semi-solid gel-like material with a sheet-like body is brought into a non-adhering state with an adjacent member to the gel-like cushioning member. The gel-like cushioning member can be deformed like a highly viscous fluid in a state that is not constrained or close to the surface direction, thereby further ensuring the low resilience performance and high cushioning performance obtained by the highly viscous fluid-like deformation characteristics. And can be effectively exhibited.

  Furthermore, as described above, the gel-like cushioning member and the adjacent member are non-adhered, and the gel-like cushioning member is unconstrained or deformed in the surface direction in a state close to it in response to an impact (ie, Poisson effect). 4), the impact energy is elastic in the form of repulsive energy as a reaction to the deformation in the surface direction of the gel-like buffer member due to the impact energy being limited by the adjacent member. In addition, it is possible to avoid a part of the impact energy from being accumulated in the adjacent member, and to dissipate a part of the impact energy as frictional heat due to relative movement in the surface direction between the gel-like buffer member and the adjacent member. This also makes it possible to further reduce the resilience performance and further improve the buffer performance.

  The state where the gel-like cushioning member and the adjacent member are non-adhered means that the adjacent member on the protector outer surface side or the adjacent member on the protector inner surface side among the adjacent members on both sides of the gel-like cushioning member in the buffer layer thickness direction. Either one of them is in a state where it is non-adhered to the gel-like buffer member, or both of the adjacent member on the protector outer surface side and the adjacent member on the protector inner surface side are non-adhered to the gel-like buffer member. Also good.

  In addition, the sheet-like body that constitutes the gel-like cushioning member by covering the semi-solid gel-like material is capable of deforming the gel-like material in a highly viscous fluid manner as long as appropriate equipment such as a gel-like cushioning member is possible. It is desirable to make the tolerance as large as possible.

The fifth feature configuration of the present invention is a configuration suitable for the implementation of the second or third feature configuration,
The gel buffer member has a thickness dimension smaller than that of the foamed resin buffer member.

  According to the above configuration, since the gel-like cushioning member is elastically supported by the foamed resin cushioning member as described above because it is a semi-solid gel-like material, the gel-like cushioning member having a large specific gravity is reduced to a small amount as a whole. As described above, the weight of the protector wearer can be further reduced while the weight of the protector wearer is reduced. It can be made more practical.

Front view of baseball or softball protector II-II sectional view of FIG. Sectional view showing deformation state at the time of ball collision Schematic diagram conceptually showing deformation of gel-like cushioning member and foamed resin cushioning member Front view showing another embodiment of a protector for baseball or softball

  FIG. 1 shows a protector 1 for a baseball or softball catcher (an example of a baseball or softball protector). The protector 1 includes a protector main body 2 that can cover the chest and abdomen of the body, and an attachment band 3 as an attaching means for attaching the protector main body 2 to the body in a state where the protector main body 2 is located on the front abdomen of the body. Yes. In addition, a plurality of shock-absorbing buffering protrusions 4 are partitioned and formed on the outer surface side of the protector body 2 so as to be dispersed in the surface direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the protector body 2 has a three-layer structure including an interior material 5 made of leather, a cushion material 6 made of resin, and an exterior material 7 made of leather. The buffer layer 8 has a basic structure and has a thickness corresponding to the protrusion of the buffer protrusion 4 between the interior material 5 and the exterior material 7 (specifically, between the mat-shaped cushion material 6 and the exterior material 7). Is arranged. Reference numeral 11 denotes a sewing portion that integrates the interior material 5, the resin mat-like cushioning material 6, and the exterior material 7 such as leather.

  The buffer layers 8 of the two buffer protrusions 4A (one or a plurality of examples) at the substantially upper and lower central positions among the plurality of buffer protrusions 4 are composed of a plurality of buffer materials of different material types. The members are laminated in a state in which the members are aligned in the buffer layer thickness direction (that is, the protector inner and outer directions).

  In addition, the buffer layer (not shown) of the buffer bumps 4B other than the central buffer bump 4A is configured in a single layer structure or a laminated structure of a buffer member made of a solid resin material typified by urethane foam resin. Has been.

  The buffer layer 8 of the central shock-absorbing convex portion 4A has a high viscous fluid-like deformation characteristic and a low rebound performance so as to obtain a low rebound performance and a high buffer performance while suppressing the weight as a whole. It is comprised from the gel-like buffer member 9 which consists of the semisolid gel-like material 9a in which high buffer performance is expressed, and the foamed resin buffer member 10 which consists of a foamed resin material.

  The gel-like cushioning member 9 and the foamed resin cushioning member 10 are such that the gel-like cushioning member 9 is located on the outer layer side (that is, the protector outer surface side) of the foamed resin cushioning member 10 in the buffer layer thickness direction. 9 and the foamed resin cushioning member 10 are arranged adjacent to each other in the thickness direction of the cushioning layer.

  For this reason, between the interior material 5 and the exterior material 7 of the protector 2, the gel-like cushioning member 9 made of a semi-solid gel-like material 9a is elasticized by the foamed resin cushioning member 10 in a surface contact state with an appropriate surface pressure. The gel-like cushioning member 9 can be held in an appropriate equipment state capable of reliably and stably exhibiting low resilience performance and high cushioning performance regardless of the protector's use posture. The gel buffer member 9 can be supported in a state where the highly viscous fluid-like deformation characteristics of the solid gel material 9a can be fully utilized in both the surface direction and the buffer layer thickness direction.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the ball 12 collides with the shock absorbing central shock-absorbing convex portion 4 </ b> A, the elastic deformation of the foamed resin shock-absorbing member 10 suppresses the depression curve deformation of the gel-like shock-absorbing member 9 in a backup manner. In this state, it is possible to effectively disperse the impact in the surface direction of the gel-like buffer member 9 and to effectively cause the highly viscous fluid deformation of the gel-like buffer member 9 for each of the dispersed impact components. This makes it possible to effectively exhibit a low rebound performance and a high buffering performance against the collision of the ball 12, thereby suppressing the rebound of the ball and effectively reducing the impact transmission to the body.

  The gel-like buffer member 9 is configured by covering a semi-solid gel material 9a with a urethane resin sheet 9b (an example of a sheet-like material). As the gel material 9a, a styrene block copolymer and Examples thereof include compositions based on one or more kinds of butyl rubber blend resins. You may mix | blend the said composition etc. with at least one of a softener, tackifying resin, and antioxidant as needed. In this example, as the semi-solid gel material 9a, a trade name “EXGEL” (registered trademark) manufactured by Kachi Co., Ltd., which is an example of the above-described composition or the like, is employed.

  Each of the mat-shaped cushioning material 6 and the foamed resin cushioning member 10 is made of a foamed urethane resin (an example of a resin material). Of these, the foamed resin cushioning member 10 is made of a so-called low-rebound foamed urethane resin. It is configured.

  Then, when the impact force is applied from the outer surface side of the protector in the thickness direction of the buffer layer, the gel-like buffer member 9 is made adjacent to its adjacent member (specifically, the protector) so as to reduce the repulsive energy of the entire central buffer convex portion 4A. The foamed resin cushioning member 10 on the inner surface side and the outer packaging material 7) on the outer surface side of the protector are arranged in a non-adhesive state, and the interior material 5, the mat-shaped cushioning material 6, and the mat-shaped cushioning material 6. The foamed resin cushioning member 10 is also in an unbonded state.

  Therefore, the deformation form (particularly, the deformation form in the surface direction) of each of the gel-like cushioning member 9 and the foamed resin cushioning member 10 when an impact is applied from the outer surface side of the protector is as shown in FIG. become.

  That is, when an impact P is applied from the outer surface side of the protector, the gel-like buffer member 9 is compressed and deformed in the thickness direction indicated by the arrow Y1 in the figure, and the surface direction indicated by the arrow X1 in the figure (with respect to the thickness direction) by the Poisson effect. Elongation deformation in the (orthogonal direction) occurs.

  On the other hand, the foamed resin cushioning member 10 (adjacent member) adjacent to the gel-like cushioning member 9 is in an unbonded state with the gel-like cushioning member 9, so that the gel-like cushioning member 9 is stretched and deformed in the surface direction. The foamed resin cushioning member 10 is restrained from being stretched and deformed in the surface direction at the same rate as the gel-like cushioning member 9 in the pulled form, and the foamed resin cushioning member 10 has a compressive deformation in the thickness direction indicated by an arrow Y2 in the figure. The independent Poisson effect only causes an independent deformation in the plane direction indicated by the arrow X2 in the figure.

  Therefore, a reaction (in other words, due to impact energy) that the foamed resin cushioning member 10 stretches and deforms in the surface direction at the same rate as the gel-like cushioning member 9 in a form pulled by the deformation deformation in the surface direction of the gel-like cushioning member 9. As a reaction to the deformation of the gel-like cushioning member 9 in the surface direction being restricted by the foamed resin cushioning member 10, it is possible to prevent the impact energy from accumulating in the foamed resin cushioning member 10 in the form of repulsive energy. In addition, a part of the impact energy can be dissipated as frictional heat due to relative movement in the surface direction between the gel-like cushioning member 9 and the foamed resin cushioning member 10, which further reduces the resilience performance. Furthermore, the buffer performance can be further improved.

  Further, the thickness t9 of the gel-like buffer member 9 is configured to be smaller than the thickness dimension t10 of the foamed resin buffer member 10 so that the gel-like buffer member 9 having a large specific gravity is reduced in quantity to reduce the overall weight. Yes.

  In order to obtain low resilience performance and high cushioning performance at a high level while achieving weight reduction, the thickness t9 of the gel-like cushioning member 9 is preferably in the range of 3 to 7 mm, and the thickness dimension t10 of the foamed resin cushioning member 10 is 10 The thickness t6 of the mat-like cushioning material 6 is preferably 3-7 mm, and in this example, the thickness of the gel-like cushioning member 9 and the mat cushioning material 6 is 5 mm, and the foamed resin cushioning member The thickness dimension t10 of 10 is 20 mm.

  The protector 1 configured as described above was subjected to an experiment in which a hard ball was launched by compressed air corresponding to a speed of 120 fps (about 130 km / h) and collided with the shock-absorbing convex portion 4A disposed on the receiving plate portion. Compared with a conventional protector in which the buffer layer 8 of the absorbing buffer convex portion 4A is composed only of a low-resilience solid resin material, the restitution coefficient (= repulsion speed / incidence speed) is reduced by about 30%, As a result, the impact force applied to the receiving plate was almost the same, and low resilience performance and high buffer performance were verified.

[Another embodiment]
In the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the gel-like buffering member 9 is arranged in the buffering convex part 4A over the substantially whole area of the left-right width direction in the up-and-down intermediate position in the protector 1 in which the large-sized buffering convex part 4 is comprised is an example. As shown in FIG. 5, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the gel-like cushioning member 9 is arranged on the buffering convex portion 4 </ b> A at the upper and lower intermediate position and the left and right intermediate position in the protector 1 in which the small buffer convex portion 4 is configured. May be.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the gel-like buffer members 9 are arranged on some of the buffer convex portions 4A is shown as an example, but even if the gel-like buffer members 9 are arranged on all the buffer convex portions 4 Good.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the gel-like cushioning member 9 is disposed on the plurality of adjacent cushioning protrusions 4A has been described as an example, but the gel-like cushioning member 9 may be disposed only on one buffering projection 4. Alternatively, the gel-like cushioning members 9 may be arranged on a plurality of cushioning protrusions 4 spaced apart, such as being arranged every other in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction.

  In the above-described embodiment, the buffer layer 8 is illustrated as an example in which one buffer member made of a solid material and one gel buffer member 9 made of a semi-solid gel material are provided. In addition, one or a plurality of buffer members made of a solid material and one or a plurality of gel buffer members 9 made of a semi-solid gel material may be provided. A plurality of liquid buffer members may be provided.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the gel-like cushioning member 9 is arranged in the outermost layer of the buffer layer 8 is shown as an example, but it may be arranged in the innermost layer or the intermediate layer.

  The interior material 5 and the exterior material 7 are not limited to the leather shown in the above-described embodiment, and may be made of a cloth or the like. In order to obtain low resilience performance and high cushioning performance, it is preferable that the interior material 5 and the exterior material 7 are made of fabric that is more easily deformed than leather, and in particular, the exterior material 7 is made of fabric that is easier to deform than leather. It is preferable to configure.

  The shock absorbing structure of the present invention can be applied not only to a baseball or softball protector but also to a protector for various purposes such as for preventing cardiac shaking.

2 Protector body 4, 4A Buffer convex portion 5 Interior material 6 Buffer material 7 Exterior material, adjacent member 8 Buffer layer 9 Gel-like buffer member 9a Semi-solid gel material 9b Sheet-like body t9 Gel-like cushion member thickness dimension 10 Foamed resin cushioning member, adjacent member t10 Thickness dimension of foamed resin cushioning member

Claims (5)

A buffer structure for a protector for baseball or softball, in which a plurality of shock absorbing cushioning protrusions are formed on the outer surface side of the protector body capable of covering the chest and abdomen of the body,
The buffer convex portion is configured by arranging a buffer layer having a thickness corresponding to the protruding margin of the buffer convex portion between the interior material and the exterior material of the protector body,
The buffer layer is configured by laminating a plurality of buffer members of different material types in a state aligned in the buffer layer thickness direction,
A buffer structure for a protector for baseball or softball, in which a gel buffer member made of a semi-solid gel material is provided as a part of the buffer members. As some of the buffer members, a foamed resin cushioning member made of a foamed resin material is provided,
The buffer structure of the protector for baseballs or softballs of Claim 1 with which the said gel-like buffer member and the said foamed resin buffer member are distribute | arranged in the state adjacent to each other in the buffer layer thickness direction.   The buffer structure of the protector for baseballs or softballs of Claim 2 with which the said gel-like buffer member is distribute | arranged to the protector outer surface side of the said foamed resin buffer member in the buffer layer thickness direction. The gel buffer member is configured by covering a semi-solid gel material with a sheet material,
The baseball or softball according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the gel-like cushioning member is arranged in a state in which the gel-like cushioning member and an adjacent member in the thickness direction of the buffer layer are not bonded. Protector buffer structure.   The buffer structure of the protector for baseballs or softballs of Claim 2 or 3 with which the thickness dimension of the said gel-like buffer member is comprised by the dimension smaller than the thickness dimension of the said foamed resin buffer member.

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