JPH0446132B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a cushion body used for vehicle seats, furniture, bedding, etc.

[Conventional technology]

In cushion bodies used in seats for vehicles such as automobiles, both sides of the seat, known as the banks, are hardened in order to support the lateral loads that are applied to the occupants when driving around curves and improve holdability. things are being done.

When it is desired to make the side portions of the sheet hard in this way, in the case of a conventional cushion body made of synthetic resin foam, for example, wires are buried in the side portions or hard chip foam is buried in the side portions. Alternatively, this area may be reinforced by injecting a hard urethane foam stock solution into the side area.

On the other hand, in the case of a cushion body using fibers,
For example, changing the thickness of the fibers between the hard and soft layers.
Measures are being considered, such as changing the density by changing the amount of fiber added to the hard and soft layers.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, with the above-mentioned means, when the above-mentioned buried object is provided in a part to be hardened, the number of man-hours increases, which is disadvantageous in terms of cost. Furthermore, it is difficult to vary the hardness of three or more types in one cushion body. There were also problems such as the hardness could only be changed discontinuously and the number of places where the hardness could be changed was limited.

[Means for solving problems]

In this invention, when manufacturing a cushion body that has thinner and denser parts, a cotton sheet of a certain thickness, in which polyester fibers are intertwined three-dimensionally, is impregnated with an excessive amount of urethane binder liquid. After that, excess binder liquid is removed and the area where the wall thickness is to be thinned is compressed more strongly in the thickness direction than other areas, thereby reducing the thickness of the cotton in this area and increasing the density of the fibers. It is characterized in that the binder is cured while the fibers are bonded to each other with the binder in a state higher than that of the other parts.

〔Example〕

In this example, the fiber used is a polyester-based crimped synthetic fiber (for example, Teijin, registered trademark HIBUL, 6 denier, hollow conjugate type). This fiber aggregate (polyester cotton) is made into a sheet-like cotton having approximately the same thickness over its entire length. After or before cutting this sheet-like cotton of a certain thickness into a predetermined length, a urethane prepolymer (Mitsui Nisso Urethane. NCO synthesized from MN3050 and T-80) is
%=5±0.2%)/triclene solution (prepolymer concentration 45 wt%).

Next, the above sheet-shaped polyester cotton is desoluted by centrifugal force until a predetermined amount of binder liquid is impregnated with the binder liquid.

After setting the above cotton 3 in the lower mold 1 as shown in FIG. 1, the upper mold 2 as shown in FIG. 2 is closed. For example, molds 1 and 2 have inner diameter
It is a simple type made of punched metal with many 1.5mm holes drilled at a 3mm pitch.

The cotton 3 is compressed to some extent by the lower mold 1 and the upper mold 2, but at this time, the parts 3a and 3 where the hardness is to be increased are compressed.
The lower mold 1 and the upper mold 2 are made in such a shape that b is particularly compressed. For example, in the automobile seat 5 shown in FIG. 3, in parts such as the side parts 6 and 7 that are desired to be made harder than other parts, the cotton is compressed more strongly in the thickness direction than in other parts. Increasing fiber density and binder content. In this case, the area 3 with increased density
The thicknesses of a and 3b decrease. However, by layering several layers of cotton 3, the dense areas 3a and 3b
The thickness may not be reduced.

Through the above steps, a proper amount of urethane prepolymer has been adhered to the polyester cotton, which has been set in molds 1 and 2. Water vapor at 90 to 130°C, which is equal to or higher than the NCO equivalent, is blown into the polyester cotton for 4 minutes to harden the binder, and then the mold is removed. By doing this, a cushion body was obtained.

In the above-mentioned cushion body, the surfaces of polyester fibers are coated with a urethane binder, and the intertwined portions of the fibers are bonded with the binder. Furthermore, both side parts 6, 7 of the cushion body
Since the fiber density is high and the intertwining points of the fibers are sufficiently bonded with the binder, the thickness is reduced compared to other parts, but the hardness is high. Since both side portions 6 and 7 are made hard in this way, it exhibits good cushioning properties as an automobile seat.

According to the above embodiment, in order to obtain a portion of different hardness, it is only necessary to press a predetermined position of the cotton with part of the molds 1 and 2, and it is possible to easily create a portion of different hardness at any location. .

The cushion body illustrated in Fig. 4 is used for the backrest of a seat, and in the same manner as described above, by compressing the cotton in areas 8 and 9 where stiffness is desired, the thickness is reduced and increasing density. This variation in hardness improves cushioning properties.

By similar means, the backrest cushion body shown in FIG. 5 has corner portions 10 and 11 having increased hardness. By making the corner portions 10 and 11 hard, it is possible to prevent wrinkles from forming when covering the outside of the cushion body with outer fabric or the like (during covering).

Further, the cushion body for the seat shown in FIG. 6 has its hardness continuously changed in the front-rear direction so that the front part 13 is harder than the rear part 14.

As typified by the above examples, the portion to be made hard, that is, the portion to be made thinner, is appropriately set as necessary. Furthermore, the cushion body of the present invention can of course be used for purposes other than automobile seats.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a hard and thin portion in a part of the cushion body through a simple process without using an embedded member as in conventional products, and it is possible to provide excellent overall performance. A lightweight, breathable cushion body can be provided at low cost.

Furthermore, since the same fibers and binder can be used for the hard and soft parts, the material is easy to handle and the cost of the material is low.

Moreover, since the hardness can be gradually changed according to the amount of compression, it is easy to manufacture cushion bodies with different hardnesses where the hardness changes continuously, even if there are many parts where the hardness changes. I can handle it.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views showing the mold and cotton used in an embodiment of the present invention in order of process, Figure 3 is a perspective view of a cushion body showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 4 6 to 6 are perspective views, partially in section, of cushion bodies showing other embodiments of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 When manufacturing a cushion body that has partially thin wall thickness and high density parts, after impregnating a sheet of cotton of a certain thickness with polyester fibers three-dimensionally intertwined with an excessive amount of urethane binder liquid. In addition to removing excess binder liquid, the area where the wall thickness is to be thinned is compressed more strongly in the thickness direction than other areas, thereby reducing the thickness of the cotton in this area and making the fiber density higher than in other areas. A method for manufacturing a cushion body, characterized in that the binder is cured in an elevated state and the fibers are bonded to each other with the binder.