JP7263815B2 - Skin material - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a skin material using a woven fabric in which side emitting optical fibers are woven and whose surface can emit light. More particularly, the present invention relates to a skin material capable of eliminating unevenness in brightness near the ends of optical fibers when light is emitted.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, it has been considered to use a woven fabric in which a side emitting type optical fiber is woven as an interior material for a passenger compartment. For example, an optical fiber woven fabric in which optical fibers and ordinary yarns are woven as warp or weft, and a light source that irradiates light on at least one end of the optical fiber, and the light from the light source is made to enter the optical fiber, Optical fiber illuminators are known that can emit light from the entire woven fabric by allowing light to leak from the surface and are used as illuminators for automobile interior parts, decorations, clothing, and display devices (for example, patent Reference 1).

However, there is a problem that the vicinity of the end opposite to the end of the optical fiber connected to the light source tends to be brighter than other parts. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the core layer 38 is exposed at the end surface 35 of the optical fiber 3, the light 8 guided from the light source 7 leaks from the end surface 35, and the vicinity of the end portion 37 is illuminated by the leaked light. Because.
An optical fiber rod light-emitting display disclosed in Patent Document 2 can be given as an example in which light leakage from an end face of an optical fiber is being studied. In Patent Document 2, a reflector made of a highly reflective material or a cap that matches the diameter of the rod is fixedly attached to one or both end faces of an optical fiber rod having a diameter of about 10 to 20 mm, or a reflective coating or metal deposition is applied. etc., the loss of light (light leakage) from the end face is reduced.

JP 2010-267573 A JP 2003-150084 A

However, in the optical fiber rod light-emitting display body shown in Patent Document 2, as shown in FIG. The vicinity of the optical fiber end portion 37 becomes brighter than in the case where it is set, and it becomes more difficult to cause the entire optical fiber 3 to emit light uniformly. Moreover, when a large number of thin optical fibers having a diameter of 3 mm or less such as woven fabric are used, it is difficult to fix the caps individually. In addition, it is difficult to form a coating film on the end surface of the optical fiber by coating or metal deposition because the surface area of the end surface is small.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a skin material that can eliminate unevenness in brightness near the ends of optical fibers when light is emitted.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 1 is woven using a side emitting optical fiber for at least one of the warp and the weft, and the end face of the incident end that is one end of the optical fiber In the skin material comprising a woven fabric that allows light to enter from the side of the optical fiber and emit light from the side surface of the optical fiber, the other end of the optical fiber has a light absorbing coating on the end surface of the other end and the side surface that is connected to the end surface. The gist is that it is covered with a membrane.
The gist of the invention according to claim 2 is that in claim 1, the one end of the woven fabric has the other end of the optical fiber and is coated with the light-absorbing coating film.
The gist of the invention according to claim 3 is that in claim 1 or 2, the light-absorbing coating film is a cured product of a water-based paint having a viscosity of 0.5 to 20 Pa·s.
The invention according to claim 4 is the optical fiber according to claim 3, wherein the optical fiber is made of resin using acrylic resin for the core layer and fluorine resin for the surface layer, and the paint is screen printing paint or acrylic paint. There is a gist.

The present invention is woven using a side-light-emitting optical fiber for at least one of the warp and the weft, and light is emitted from the side surface of the optical fiber by allowing light to enter from the end face of the incident end, which is the end on one side of the optical fiber. In the skin material comprising a woven fabric, the other end of the optical fiber is coated with a light-absorbing coating film on the end surface of the other end and on the side surface connected to the end surface, so that the other end of the optical fiber It is possible to prevent the light in the optical fiber from leaking from the end of the (hereinafter referred to as the coated end) and its surroundings or reflecting it into the optical fiber, and preventing only a part of the woven fabric from becoming bright due to light leakage. can. In addition, by forming a light-absorbing coating film not only on the end face of the other end but also on the side surface of the connecting side, the surface area of contact between the optical fiber and the light-absorbing coating film is increased, thereby increasing the adhesion (wetting) of the optical fiber surface. It is possible to prevent the light-absorbing coating film from peeling off from the end face of the coated edge even if the coating is poor. In addition, light slightly reflected by the light-absorbing coating film in contact with the end face of the optical fiber is absorbed by the light-absorbing coating film covering the side surface of the coated end, and light leakage from the vicinity of the coated end can also be prevented.

When the one end of the woven fabric includes the other end of the optical fiber and is coated with the light-absorbing coating, the one end of the woven fabric including the optical fiber is woven by the light-absorbing coating. The threads can be solidified together to prevent one end from fraying. In addition, it is possible to prevent a change in brightness during light emission due to fraying around the end portion. In addition, even if the adhesion between the light-absorbing coating and the optical fiber is low, by coating the entire one end, the contact surface area can be increased and the adhesion can be improved. It is possible to prevent the light-absorbing coating film from peeling off from the part.
When the light-absorbing coating film is a cured product of a water-based paint with a viscosity of 0.5 to 20 Pa·s, the viscosity causes the coating to drip from the end surface of the coated end until the coating is cured at the coated end of the optical fiber. A light-absorbing coating film can be reliably formed on the end face of the optical fiber by allowing it to stay without dropping.
The optical fiber is made of a resin having a core layer made of acrylic resin and a surface layer made of fluororesin. When the paint is a screen printing paint or a water-based acrylic paint, the wettability of the surface layer of the optical fiber to the paint is poor. Even so, the viscosity of the coating allows the coating to stay on the end face of the coated end of the optical fiber without dripping down, and the light-absorbing coating film can be reliably formed on the coated end including the end face of the optical fiber. In addition, it is possible to prevent deterioration of translucency due to penetration of the coating material into the interior of the optical fiber.

It is a model perspective view of this skin material. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view enlarging one end of the woven fabric in FIG. 1; 1 is a schematic perspective view of a coated end of an optical fiber coated with a light absorbing coating; FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view in FIG. 3; It is a schematic diagram which shows a state when light is made to enter in FIG. It is an image of the one end part of the woven fabric when this skin material is made to emit light. FIG. 10 is an image of one end of a woven fabric when a skin material without a light absorbing coating is illuminated. FIG. be. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state when light is made incident on an optical fiber; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state when light is incident on an optical fiber provided with a reflective coating;

The material presented herein is intended to be illustrative and illustrative of the embodiments of the invention and is believed to be the most effective and readily comprehensible description of the principles and conceptual features of the invention. It is stated for the purpose of providing what it seems. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention beyond those necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, and the description in conjunction with the drawings will illustrate some aspects of the invention. It will be clear to those skilled in the art how it is actually implemented.
The skin material (1) according to the present embodiment is woven using a side-light-emitting optical fiber (3) for at least one of the warp and the weft, and the incident end (31) which is one end of the optical fiber (3) ) to emit light from the side surface (33) of the optical fiber (3) (see FIGS. 1 and 2), and the other end (34) of the optical fiber (3). The end face (35) and the side face (35) contiguous with said end face (34) are covered with a light absorbing coating (4) (see Figures 3 and 4).

The woven fabric (2) is a fabric woven from constituent yarns (warp or weft), and its weave structure is not particularly limited. Specifically, for example, various weave structures such as plain weave, twill weave, and satin weave can be employed.
At least one of the warp and the weft of the woven fabric (2) uses a side emitting optical fiber (3). In the side emission type optical fiber (3), light incident from one end face is emitted from the other end face and part or all of the side surface (peripheral surface).
The optical fiber (3) has a core-sheath structure (multilayer structure) consisting of a core (core layer) and a sheath (cladding layer), and the core layer (38) and the clad layer (39) have different refractive indices. Various optical fibers (3) can be used. Moreover, you may provide the coating layer which covers a clad layer (39).

The material of the optical fiber (3) is, for the core layer, resin having excellent transparency such as acrylic resin such as polymethyl methacrylate, polyethyl methacrylate, polyethyl acrylate, polycarbonate resin, polystyrene resin, and polyolefin resin. can be adopted. Furthermore, for the cladding layer, a resin having excellent transparency such as vinylidene fluoride resin, vinylidene fluoride tetrafluoroethylene copolymer resin, polychlorotrifluoroethylene resin, trifluoroisopropyl methacrylate resin, etc. may be adopted. can be done.

Although the diameter of the optical fiber (3) is not particularly limited, it is preferably 0.25 to 3 mm, more preferably 0.1 to 1 mm, from the viewpoint of weaving and versatility.
The optical fiber (3) is used for at least one of the warp and the weft that constitute the woven fabric (2), and in particular, it can be used for the weft. Moreover, it is sufficient that the optical fiber (3) is used for at least a part of each thread.
When the optical fiber (3) is used as the warp, the ratio of the optical fiber as the warp is preferably 10% or more and 90% or less, more preferably 20%, when the total number of warps is 100%. % or more and 80% or less, more preferably 30% or more and 70% or less.
Further, when the optical fiber (3) is used as the weft, the ratio of the optical fiber as the weft is preferably 10% or more and 90% or less, more preferably, when the total number of wefts is 100%. is 20% or more and 80% or less, more preferably 30% or more and 70% or less.

The incident end (31), which is one end of the optical fiber (3), usually extends from the end (22) of the woven fabric (2) and is connected to an arbitrary light source (7). Light (8) emitted from 7) can be incident on the core layer (38) of the end face (32) (see Figures 1, 2 and 5).
The other end (34) of the optical fiber (3) has an end surface (35) of the other end (34) and a side surface (36) connected to the end surface (35) having a light absorbing coating (4). ) is covered by The range of the side surface (36) of the other end (34) (hereinafter abbreviated as the coated end) is appropriately determined depending on the adhesion of the light-absorbing coating film (4) to the end surface (35) and side surface (36) of the optical fiber. It is set, but can usually be at least 5.0 mm (preferably 3.0 mm, particularly preferably 1.0 mm) from the position of articulation with the end face (35). Moreover, it is preferable that the distance is less than 10 mm (more preferably less than 5 mm) from the joint position with the end face (35). This is because, when the skin material (1) is used as an interior material, it can be hidden by a mounting frame or the like of the interior material by setting the thickness to be less than 10 mm.
The light absorbing coating (4) covering the coated end (34) absorbs the light (8) that propagates through the optical fiber (3) and leaks out of the optical fiber (3) from the end surface (35) of the coated end (34). As a result, the light is prevented from leaking out of the light-absorbing coating (4) or being reflected back into the optical fiber (3) (see FIG. 5). In addition, the light-absorbing coating film (4) covers the side surface (36) in addition to the entire end surface (35), thereby increasing the surface area in contact with the optical fiber (3) and increasing the force required for peeling. to make it difficult to peel off from the end face (35).
The viscosity of the paint used for forming the light-absorbing coating film (4) can be 0.5 to 20 Pa·s (preferably 1 to 10 Pa·s). By setting the viscosity in such a range, the viscosity of the coating allows the coated end (34) to stay without dripping from the end surface (35), and the coated end (34) is reliably adhered to the light-absorbing coating (4). can be covered with Moreover, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the translucency of the optical fiber (3) due to penetration of the paint deep inside the optical fiber (3).
A specific example of the paint is a water-based paint having a viscosity of 0.5 to 20 Pa·s (preferably 1 to 10 Pa·s). This is because the adhesiveness to the end face (35) is high, and since it is not necessary to deal with a volatilizing solvent, the forming process is facilitated. Examples of water-based paints include, but are not limited to, acrylic paints, acrylic urethane paints, and urethane paints. Screen printing inks and offset inks having viscosities in the above ranges may also be used. Furthermore, a hot-melt adhesive containing a light-absorbing pigment may be melted and applied. When a hot-melt adhesive is used, it can also serve as fixing to the substrate on which the skin material is provided. The pigment or the like used in the paint may be of any type as long as it can absorb the light (8) emitted from the light source (7).
The thickness of the light-absorbing coating film (4) is appropriately selected according to the light-absorbing property of the coating film (4), but is usually 0.03 mm or more.

The method of forming the light-absorbing coating film (4) is not particularly limited. For example, it may be immersed in a paint-impregnated sponge or the like to form an adhesion.
One end (21) of the fabric (2) may also comprise the other end (34) of the optical fiber (3) and be coated with a light absorbing coating (4). A light absorbing coating (4) on one end (21) can cover the coated end (34) of the optical fiber (3) as a whole.
In this case, one end (21) of the woven fabric (2) can be integrally formed by printing, coating, dipping, or the like with paint. In addition, when the paint is printed or the like, the woven fabric (2) is covered with a masking material so that the one end (21) is exposed, thereby preventing the paint from adhering to areas other than the one end (21). can be done.

The type of constituent yarn other than the optical fiber (3) constituting the woven fabric (2) (hereinafter also referred to as "other constituent yarn") is not particularly limited, but it may be plant-based or animal-based natural fibers, regenerated fibers such as rayon. , semi-synthetic fibers such as acetate, synthetic fibers made of synthetic resin, and the like can be used as materials.
Examples of resins constituting synthetic fibers include polyamide resins such as nylon 6 and nylon 66, polyester resins such as polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, and polytrimethylene terephthalate, polyolefin resins such as high-density polyethylene and polypropylene, Examples include polyacrylic resins.
In addition, in other constituent yarns constituting the woven fabric (2), the same yarn may be used as the warp and the weft, or different yarns may be used. Further, the other constituent yarns used for the warp yarns may be of only one kind, or two or more kinds thereof may be used in combination. Similarly, the other constituent yarns used for the weft may be of one type alone, or two or more types may be used in combination.

This skin material (1) is used for automobile interior parts (for example, dashboards, instrument panels, door trims, roof trims, floor trims, luggage trims, trunk trims, rear side trims, rear parcel shelves, package trays, pillar garnishes, switch base, quarter panel, armrest, seat, etc.).
Moreover, the skin material (1) can be used as a lighting fixture. The illuminator is provided with a portion that emits light, and can perform illumination or illumination with the emitted light. Such lighting fixtures can be suitably used as interior parts for automobiles, railway vehicles, and the like. Specific examples include a storage device containing operation parts such as an inside handle, an assist grip, and a power window switch and equipped with lighting, and lighting fixtures such as courtesy lamps, vanity lamps, map lamps, and performance lamps. .

The type of the light source (7) is not particularly limited as long as light can be incident on one end side of the optical fiber (3), and for example, an LED or the like can be adopted.
Also, the number of light sources (7) is not particularly limited, and may be one or more.
It should be noted that the reference numerals in parentheses for each configuration described in the above embodiment indicate the corresponding relationship with the specific configuration described in the examples described later.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described by way of examples with reference to the drawings.
The skin material 1 of the present invention is a skin material provided on the surface of automobile dashboards, door trims, door ornaments, etc. As shown in FIGS. It comprises a cloth 2 and a light absorbing coating 4 formed to cover one end of the woven cloth 2. - 特許庁
In the skin material 1, the incident end 31 of the optical fiber 3 extending from the woven fabric 2 is connected to the light source 7, which is an LED light source.

The woven fabric 2 is formed by warp yarns (not shown) of polyester filaments and weft yarns. The weft yarns are composed of side emitting optical fibers 3 and polyester filaments (not shown), which are arranged in parallel at regular intervals.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the optical fiber 3 is a side emission type optical fiber using acrylic resin for the core layer 38 and fluorine resin for the clad layer 39 which is the surface layer. An incident end 31 , which is one end of the optical fiber 3 , extends from the end 22 of the woven fabric 2 and is connected to the light source 7 . The end portion 34, which is the other end portion of the optical fiber 3, consists of an end face 35 and a side face 36 connected to the end face 35, and is covered with the light absorbing coating film 4 integrally with the one end portion 21 of the woven fabric 2. there is The side surface 36 has a range of about 5 mm from the position where it connects with the end surface 35 .
The light-absorbing coating film 4 was formed by applying a black water-based acrylic paint having a viscosity of about 5 Pa·s to one end portion 21 of the woven fabric 2 by brush painting, and then air-drying the coating film.

As shown in FIG. 5, such a skin material 1 allows light from a light source 7 to enter the end surface of the incident end portion 31 of the optical fiber 3, whereby the incident light 8 is transmitted through the core layer 38 of the optical fiber 3, In addition, part of the light can leak from the side surface 33 and cause the entire surface of the upholstery material 1 to emit light. Also, the light 8 reaching the end face 35 of the covered end 34 is absorbed by the light absorbing coating film 4 covering the end face 35 .
With the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 6, the brightness of the covered end 34 does not change significantly compared to the surroundings, and the appearance is excellent. Further, even if the one end portion 21 of the woven cloth 2 was massaged with a finger, the constituent yarns were hardened by the light-absorbing coating film 4 and could not be loosened.

As a comparative example, when a skin material using a woven fabric on which the light-absorbing coating film 4 is not formed is connected to the light source 7 under the same conditions to emit light, the end surface 35 of the end portion 37 is changed as shown in FIGS. It was found that the light 8 leaked from the woven fabric and the leaked light 8 was scattered by one end of the woven fabric, making the one end of the woven fabric brighter than the surroundings in a range of about 20 mm from the end. Further, when one end portion 21 of the woven cloth 2 was massaged with a finger, the constituent yarns were loosened and further unevenness in light emission occurred.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described examples, and may be variously modified examples within the scope of the present invention according to the purpose and application. In the embodiment, an example of using polyester filaments as constituent yarns (other constituent yarns) of the woven fabric 2 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this example, and other materials can be used. Also, the light-absorbing coating film 4 integrally coats the one end 21 of the woven cloth 2 and the covered end 34 of the optical fiber 3, but the invention is not limited to this, and only the covered end 34 may be covered.

The foregoing description is for illustrative purposes only and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. While the present invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, it is understood that the words used in describing and illustrating the invention are words of description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Changes may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention in its form, as detailed herein. Although reference has been made herein to specific structures, materials and embodiments in describing the invention, it is not intended that the invention be limited to the disclosure herein, but rather the invention as set forth in the appended claims. It covers all functionally equivalent structures, methods and uses within its scope.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments detailed above, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can emit light uniformly from the surface of a woven fabric that serves as a skin, and can be used in the technical fields of skin materials and lighting devices used for various purposes. In particular, it is useful in technical fields such as skin materials for vehicle interior materials such as dashboards, door trims, and roof trims.

1; skin material, 2; woven fabric, 21; one end, 22; end, 3; optical fiber, 31; incident end, 33; , 36; coated edge side, 38; core layer, 39; clad layer, 4; light absorbing coating, 7;

Claims (4)

At least one of the warp and the weft is woven using a side-light-emitting optical fiber and using a constituent yarn other than the optical fiber. In a skin material comprising a woven fabric that emits light from the side of
The other end of the optical fiber is covered with a light-absorbing coating film on the end surface of the other end and on the side surface connected to the end surface,
One end of the woven fabric is provided with the other end of the optical fiber, and the optical fiber and the constituent yarns other than the optical fiber constituting the one end of the woven fabric are integrally solidified. A skin material characterized by being covered with a coating film. The side surface of the other end of the optical fiber is covered with the light-absorbing coating film from a position where it is connected to the end face,
2. The skin material according to claim 1 , wherein the range covered with said light absorbing coating film is 5 mm or more and less than 10 mm from the connection position with said end face on said end face and said side face . The skin material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the light-absorbing coating film is a cured product of a water-based paint having a viscosity of 0.5 to 20 Pa·s. The optical fiber is made of a resin using an acrylic resin for the core layer and a fluororesin for the surface layer,
The skin material according to claim 3, wherein the paint is screen printing paint or acrylic paint.

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