JP6975669B2 - Cushioning material - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cushioning material used to protect an article from impacts during storage and transportation.

In a car body assembly factory, it is necessary to handle parts that have been completed to some extent (for example, rear spoiler, grille, door mirrors, etc.) carefully so as not to damage the parts when storing or transporting them in the factory. In addition, optical parts and mirror-finished products also need to be handled with caution. For the storage and transportation of such articles, for example, a parts box in which a cushioning material having a cushioning property is lined up is widely used. Further, a similar cushioning material may be attached to a table or a shelf for placing or measuring such an article. Furthermore, the article itself may be handled by directly wrapping it in the cushioning material.

As such a cushioning material, a foamed sheet such as polyurethane or a flocked sheet obtained by flocking cut fiber of polyamide fiber is often used. Further, although the use is different, as a cushioning material for protecting air-transported goods, a three-dimensional knitted fabric composed of a knitted fabric having two layers on the front and back and a connecting yarn (see Patent Document 1) has been proposed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-21721

However, the conventional cushioning material made of foamed sheet or flocked sheet is set to be relatively thin (for example, about 1 mm) from the viewpoint of narrowing the storage space of the parts box if it is too bulky. Therefore, in a heavy article, the impact resistance may be insufficient and the article may be dented. Further, in order to improve the impact resistance, a product in which a conventional cushioning material and a highly elastic sheet are laminated has been proposed, but it takes time and effort to laminate them. Moreover, since these cushioning materials are usually made of a synthetic resin material and have a relatively high frictional resistance on the surface where the cushioning material itself and the article are in contact with each other, the end surface of the cushioning material itself, the fluff end surface of the flocked sheet, or the breakage. If wrinkled or the like is formed, the surface of the article may be scratched or the paint of the article may be peeled off due to the wrinkled portion or the like. Since the cushioning material for protecting air-transported goods is intended to absorb the impact when the packed goods fall to the ground and does not come into direct contact with the goods themselves, the frictional resistance on the surface is not examined at all. Not.

For this reason, there is a strong demand for the development of a cushioning material having excellent impact resistance (cushioning property), which is less likely to cause frictional resistance with the article, and which has excellent surface smoothness, but such a material is still available. Not realized.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cushioning material which is excellent in impact resistance and surface smoothness, has a simple structure, and is relatively inexpensive.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a cushioning material for protecting an article, and is a front surface layer composed of a front thread, a back surface layer composed of a back thread, and the front surface layer and the back surface layer. It is composed of a double-sided circular knitted fabric having an intermediate layer composed of intermediate threads that integrally connect with and has a friction coefficient of at least 0.26 or less on the surface of the surface layer, and an overall thickness of 0.8 mm. As described above, the first gist is a cushioning material having a compression work amount in the thickness direction of 0.3 or more.

Further, in the present invention, in particular, the cushioning material in which the surface yarn is a raw silk without twist is the second gist, and the cushioning material in which the intermediate yarn is a multifilament yarn is the third gist. do.

Further, in the present invention, among them, in particular, the intermediate yarn has a cushioning material which is a crimped yarn as a fourth gist, and the total fineness of the front yarn and the back yarn is 10 to 200 dtex, respectively. The fifth gist is a cushioning material having a total fineness of 40 to 280 dtex of the intermediate yarn.

That is, the cushioning material of the present invention is a double-sided circular knitted fabric having a front surface layer, a back surface layer, and an intermediate layer, so that the total thickness and the amount of compression work in the thickness direction become a specific value or more. In addition to enhancing the cushioning property, the friction coefficient on the surface of the surface layer is set to a specific value or less to make the surface layer extremely smooth.

According to this configuration, excellent cushioning and surface smoothness are provided, so that articles that are required to maintain a beautiful appearance can be protected from external impact, and the cushioning material itself. It does not cause scratches or the like. Since this cushioning material can be easily obtained by using a general double-sided circular knitting machine as long as the type of yarn used and the knitting conditions are adjusted, it can be manufactured at low cost without any trouble. It has the advantage of.

Among the cushioning materials of the present invention, those in which the surface yarn is a raw silk without twist are particularly excellent in surface smoothness and are suitable.

Further, among them, in particular, in the case where the intermediate yarn is a multifilament yarn and the intermediate yarn is a crimped yarn, the intermediate layer composed of the intermediate yarn has a particularly cushioning property. It is excellent and suitable.

Among them, those having a total fineness of 10 to 200 dtex for each of the front yarn and the back yarn and a total fineness of 40 to 280 dtex for the intermediate yarn are the smoothness of the surface layer surface and the intermediate. The cushioning property of the layer has an appropriate balance and is suitable.

(A) is a schematic explanatory view showing the structure of the cushioning material of the present invention, and (b) is a schematic explanatory view showing a state in which the cushioning material is impacted. It is a schematic explanatory drawing which shows one use form of the cushioning material of this invention.

Next, a mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The cushioning material of the present invention is made of a double-sided circular knitted fabric, and as shown in FIG. ), The back surface layer 4 composed of the back thread 3, and the intermediate layer 6 composed of the intermediate thread 5 that integrally connects the front surface layer 2 and the back surface layer 4.

In the double-sided circular knitted fabric, each layer of the front surface layer 2, the back surface layer 4, and the intermediate layer 6 has high elasticity due to the stitches arranged continuously, and the intermediate thread 5 of the intermediate layer 6 is a surface layer. Since it is closely lined up between 2 and the back surface layer 4, it has a strong and chewy structure in the thickness direction of the knitted fabric.

Therefore, for example, as shown by an arrow in FIG. 1 (b), the intermediate yarn 5 in the knitted fabric is elastically deformed even when a strong impact is received from one side (the surface side in this figure) of the double-sided circular knitted fabric. As a result, the above-mentioned impact is effectively absorbed, and a high cushioning performance that has never been seen in the past is exhibited. Further, excellent surface smoothness can be achieved by finely knitting using a slippery yarn as the surface yarn 1 constituting the surface layer 2.

In order to obtain such excellent cushioning performance and surface smoothness, the cushioning material of the present invention has a friction coefficient of at least 0.26 or less on the surface of the surface layer 2 and an overall thickness of 0.8 mm or more. It is necessary that the amount of compression work in the thickness direction is 0.3 or more. That is, when the coefficient of friction exceeds 0.26, the frictional resistance between the surface of the cushioning material and the article to be cushioned becomes large, scratches or the like occur on the surface of the article, or the coating of the article is peeled off. There is a risk of friction. Further, if the total thickness is less than 0.8 mm and the amount of compression work in the thickness direction is less than 0.3, the cushioning property is poor and the desired cushioning effect cannot be obtained.

In the present invention, the above-mentioned "friction coefficient" refers to a value (MIU) measured using a surface / friction coefficient measuring tester (KES-FB4, manufactured by Kato Tech Co., Ltd.) based on the KES texture system. The smaller this value is, the higher the smoothness is and the lower the frictional resistance is.

Further, in the present invention, the above-mentioned "overall thickness" refers to the dimension in the thickness direction measured in a state where the double-sided circular knitted fabric is placed flat on a horizontal plane and no load is applied. The larger the thickness dimension, the higher the cushioning property. In the present invention, it is preferable that the thickness is 1 to 3 mm, particularly in terms of cushioning property and handleability.

Further, in the present invention, the above-mentioned "compression work amount in the thickness direction" refers to a value measured using a compression tester (KES-G5, manufactured by Kato Tech Co., Ltd.) based on the KES texture system. It can be said that the larger this value is, the easier it is to compress and the higher the cushioning property.

Further, the cushioning material of the present invention preferably has a degree of compression (T ₀ −T _m ) of 0.3 or more. _{The above "degree of compression" is the following low compression thickness (T 0} ) and high compression thickness (T _m ) measured using a compression tester (KES-G5, manufactured by Kato Tech Co., Ltd.) based on the KES texture system. From the value, _{it is a value obtained as the difference (T 0} −T _m ), and it can be seen that the larger this value is, the larger the degree of compression is, and the larger the compression force is.
T ₀ : Fabric thickness (mm) under pressure 49 Pa (0.5 gf / cm ²⁾
T _m : Fabric thickness (mm) under maximum pressure of 4.9 kPa (50 gf / cm ²⁾

As such a double-sided circular knitting fabric used for the cushioning material of the present invention, for example, a general double-sided circular knitting machine is used, and the front yarn 1 for the front surface layer 2 and the back yarn 3 for the back surface layer 4 are used. It can be obtained by knitting the intermediate yarn 5 for the intermediate layer 6 from a plurality of yarn feeders arranged in the weft direction while simultaneously supplying the intermediate yarns 5 in an appropriate arrangement.

Hereinafter, each thread constituting the double-sided circular knitted fabric serving as the cushioning material of the present invention will be described.

First, the fibers used for the surface yarn 1 (see FIG. 1) for the surface layer 2 are not particularly limited, and the fibers are not particularly limited, and polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene and their polymers, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, and polytetra. Polyesters such as methylene terephthalate and their copolymers, polyamides such as 6 nylon, 12 nylon and 66 nylon and their copolymers, synthetic fibers such as acrylic, vinylon, polyurethane and polylactic acid fibers, and semi-synthetic fibers such as acetate. , Recycled fibers such as viscose rayon, natural fibers such as cotton, linen, silk and wool, and various other fibers can be used. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more. In that case, it may be used as a mixed fiber yarn or a blended yarn. Among them, it is preferable to use polyamide fiber or polyester fiber from the viewpoint of chemical resistance, abrasion resistance and the like. Further, the fiber may be a single component fiber or a composite fiber composed of two or more kinds of components. When the composite fiber is used, for example, a split fiber yarn composed of a polyamide component and a polyester component can be preferably used.

The surface yarn 1 may be a monofilament made of the fibers or a multifilament, but in order to obtain excellent surface smoothness, a smooth yarn is preferable, and a raw silk without twisting is used. It is preferably a sweet twisted yarn having a twist number of 500 T / m or less. Of these, it is best to use raw silk.

Further, the thickness of the surface yarn 1 is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of cushioning property, the total fineness thereof is preferably 10 to 200 dtex, and particularly preferably 50 to 120 dtex. be.

On the other hand, the fibers used for the back thread 3 (see FIG. 1) for the back surface layer 4 are not particularly limited as in the front thread 1, and various fibers described in the description of the front thread 1 may be used. Can be done. Then, for the same reason as in the case of the front yarn 1, it is preferable to use a polyamide fiber or a polyester fiber.

The back thread 3 may also be a monofilament or a multifilament, but as will be described later, a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is provided on the back surface side of the cushioning material, that is, on the back surface layer 4 side to provide the cushioning material. Since it is often used by being attached to the inside of a parts box, a shelf surface, or the like, it is preferable that the back surface layer 4 has a large surface area so that the bonding strength between the back surface layer 4 and the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is sufficiently exhibited. Therefore, in that case, it is better to use a multifilament as the back thread 3 rather than a monofilament. For the same purpose, twisted yarn is preferable to untwisted raw silk, and it is preferable to use crimped yarn such as false twisted yarn having a twist number of about 500 to 2000 T / m, for example. ..

Further, the thickness of the back thread 3 is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of cushioning property, the total fineness thereof is preferably 10 to 200 dtex, and particularly preferably 50 to 120 dtex. be.

Further, the fibers used for the intermediate yarn 5 (see FIG. 1) for the intermediate layer 6 are not particularly limited as in the case of the front yarn 1 and the back, and various fibers described in the description of the front yarn 1 can be used. Can be used. Then, for the same reason as in the case of the front yarn 1, it is preferable to use a polyamide fiber or a polyester fiber.

The intermediate yarn 5 may be monofilament or multifilament, but it is preferable to use multifilament rather than monofilament in consideration of cushioning property, compressive force and the like in the intermediate layer 6. Then, in order to impart bulkiness, twisted yarn is preferable to untwisted raw silk, and for example, a crimped yarn such as a false twisted yarn having a twist number of about 500 to 3000 T / m may be used. Suitable.

Further, the thickness of the intermediate yarn 5 is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of cushioning property, the total fineness thereof is preferably 30 to 500 dtex, and more preferably 40 to 280 dtex. The thickness of the intermediate yarn 5 is preferably set to be equal to or slightly thicker than the thickness of the front yarn 1 and the back yarn 3 in order to increase the flexibility of the entire knitted fabric.

The knitting conditions for knitting a double-sided circular knitted fabric using the front yarn 1, the back yarn 3, and the intermediate yarn 5 are not particularly limited, and are appropriately adjusted according to the thickness and type of the yarn. Generally, it is preferable that the final knitting density of the double-sided circular knitted fabric is 20 to 40 courses / 2.54 cm and 30 to 60 wells / 2.54 cm. That is, if the knitting density becomes too dense, the overall texture becomes hard, and when this is used for internal sticking of a parts box or the like, it may be difficult to follow the sticking surface. Further, if the knitting density becomes too sparse, the cushioning property may be lowered and the impact resistance may be impaired.

Since the cushioning material of the present invention thus obtained has excellent impact resistance and surface smoothness, it can be used as an inner cover for parts boxes, drawers, storage boxes, etc. for accommodating various articles that should not be damaged. It can be used or used as a covering material for the mounting surface of a shelf or a table on which these articles are placed.

In this way, when the cushioning material of the present invention is used as an inner coating or a covering material, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, an adhesive layer 11 is provided on the back surface side of the cushioning material 10 of the present invention, and the adhesive layer 11 is provided. Is preferably provided on the market in a state of being coated with the release paper 12. According to this embodiment, as shown by the chain line in the figure, the cushioning material of the present invention can be easily attached by simply peeling off the release paper 12 and pressing the exposed adhesive layer 11 against the target surface. ..

Of course, the cushioning material 10 of the present invention may be provided to the market as it is without attaching the adhesive layer 11 or the release paper 12 as described above. The cushioning material 10 can be freely used by directly wrapping and protecting the article or placing it on a surface in contact with the article such as a table or a shelf board.

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

[Examples 1 to 4]
Examples 1, 2 and 4 used a 30-inch × 26-gauge double-sided circular knitting machine, and Example 3 used a 30-inch × 22-gauge double-sided circular knitting machine. Then, in each circular knitting machine, No. Of the yarn feeders 1 to 10, No. Intermediate yarns are supplied from the two yarn feeders 1 and 6, and No. 1 and 6 are supplied. The back yarn is supplied from the four yarn supply ports of 2, 4, 7, and 9, and No. Four types of double-sided circular knitted fabrics (Examples 1 to 4) were formed by supplying front yarns from the four yarn feeders 3, 5, 8 and 10. Details of the front yarn, back yarn, and intermediate yarn are as shown in Table 1 below. In the table, "T" is an abbreviation for dtex and "f" is an abbreviation for filament.

[Comparative Example 1]
A urethane foam sheet having a thickness of 0.22 mm, which is a conventional cushioning material, was prepared.

[Comparative Example 2]
A nylon fiber blanket having a thickness of 0.81 mm, which is a conventional cushioning material, was prepared.

Then, with respect to these Examples 1 to 4 products and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 products, the following items were measured and evaluated by the following procedure. The results are shown in Table 2 below.

[Thickness]
The thickness (mm) of the dough was measured according to JIS-L-1018-1998-6.5.

[Coefficient of friction]
As mentioned above.

[Compression work (WC)]
As mentioned above.

[Low compression thickness (T ₀ )]
As mentioned above.

[High compression thickness (T _m )]
As mentioned above.

[Degree of compression]
As mentioned above.

[Fold wear (times)]
According to the JIS L1096 A-3 method (crease method), the fabric was creases, fixed to the test stand of the universal wear tester, and repeatedly rubbed with the paper equipped on the tester, and there were holes in the creases. The number of rubbing up to that point was counted. It can be seen that the larger the number of times, the better the friction resistance.

[Plane wear (times)]
According to the JIS L1096 A-1 method (planar method), the fabric is spread flat and fixed to the test stand of the universal wear tester, and repeatedly rubbed with the paper equipped on the tester until the fabric has holes. I counted the number of rubbing. It can be seen that the larger the number of times, the better the friction resistance.

From the above results, it can be seen that all of the examples have a large degree of compression, excellent cushioning properties, a small coefficient of friction, and excellent surface smoothness. On the other hand, none of the comparative example products have both of these performances, and it can be seen that there is a problem with either of them.

Further, in the above-mentioned Examples 1 to 4, the thread used was a polyester fiber or a split fiber of polyester and polyamide, but in the above-mentioned Examples 1 and 2, the material of the fiber was changed to polyamide. As for other conditions, when the double-sided circular knitted fabric was obtained in the same manner as in the above Examples 1 and 2, it was possible to obtain the same excellent cushioning property and surface smoothness as those in the above Examples 1 and 2. all right.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be widely used as an excellent cushioning material having both high cushioning properties and surface smoothness.

1 Front thread 2 Front layer 3 Back thread 4 Back surface layer 5 Intermediate thread 6 Intermediate layer

Claims (4)

It is a cushioning material for directly contacting the article and protecting the article, and integrally connects the front surface layer composed of the front thread, the back surface layer composed of the back thread, and the front surface layer and the back surface layer. Consists of a double-sided circular knitted fabric with an intermediate layer composed of intermediate yarns
The above intermediate yarn is a multifilament yarn,
The knitting density of the double-sided circular knitted fabric is 20 to 40 courses / 2.54 cm and 30 to 60 wells / 2.54 cm.
At least on the surface of the surface layer, the friction coefficient obtained as a value (MIU) measured using a surface / friction coefficient measuring tester (KES-FB4, manufactured by Kato Tech Co., Ltd.) based on the KES texture system is 0.26 or less. can be,
A cushioning material having an overall thickness of 0.8 mm or more and a compression work amount in the thickness direction of 0.3 or more. The cushioning material according to claim 1, wherein the front yarn is raw silk without twisting. The cushioning material according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the intermediate yarn is a crimped yarn. The cushioning material according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the total fineness of the front yarn and the back yarn is 10 to 200 dtex, respectively, and the total fineness of the intermediate yarn is 40 to 280 dtex.

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