JPH05278237A - Method for printing on sheet-form material by laser beam - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently produce air bags by a method wherein in the production of vehicle air bags, a process of applying marks or numbers to air bags, which has so for been conducted in a separate process in a prior art, is included in a cutting process by conducting cutting and printing in the same process by a laser beam. CONSTITUTION:When a sheet-form material, such as a cloth, is to be cut to an air bag cloth or the like by a power-variable laser cutter, a heat-sensitive dye is applied to the sheet-form material, and the material is appropriately irradiated with a laser beam. In this manner, a process of printing characters or marks on the sheet-form material is simultaneous with the cutting process.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for printing a sheet-like material which can cut and print a sheet-like material such as an airbag cloth in a vehicle airbag device by the same system using a laser beam. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An air bag system is used when a vehicle collides.
It is a safety device that protects the occupant by inflating the bag instantaneously as an aid to the seat belt when the impact is more than a predetermined value, usually an inflator which is a gas generator, a bag which is inflated by the gas of the inflator, and the inflator. And an air bag case that encloses the bag in a substantially airtight manner together with the bag. In this airbag device, the gas ejected from the inflator fills the airbag case and the airbag to generate internal pressure, and the internal pressure causes the bag to be instantly deployed.

On the other hand, the airbag is formed for a driver's seat or a passenger's seat by cutting a rubber woven nylon cloth or the like into a predetermined shape and assembling it by sewing. As a method of cutting the above-mentioned airbag, a method using a mold such as a Thomson blade, a method using a band saw or an ultrasonic wave has been generally used, but a method using a laser beam has been partially performed in recent years.

[0004]

By the way, the airbag is provided with a mark for sewing, a model number, a serial number or the like as required. As a means for providing these marks or the like, a stamp method, silk printing, or handwriting with magic ink or the like is usually used. However, even if the marking can be performed uniformly by such means, in any case However, since it requires an independent process, it cannot be said to be very efficient in terms of manufacturing an airbag, and in particular, handwriting has a drawback that it may lack accuracy.

The present invention copes with the actual situation as described above, and in particular, by finding a new printing system using a laser beam, the sewing marking and the like can be performed in the same step as the cutting to make the airbag more efficient. It is intended to be manufactured.

[0006]

However, the features of the printing method of the present invention which meet the above-mentioned object are that a light source for emitting a laser beam, a driving device for moving the light source, the light source and the driving device. Using a laser cutting device equipped with a control device for controlling the sheet-like material such as a cloth for an air bag coated with a heat-sensitive dye, by appropriately irradiating the laser beam of the device, the characters and letters It is to print a mark etc.

[0007]

According to the above method of the present invention, it is possible to perform printing in the same step as cutting with a laser beam by using the same heat generation effect of the same laser beam. It is possible to improve the efficiency of airbag production by incorporating the markings and numbers that have been used in the cutting process. In addition, the above cutting and printing,
Since the position and shape of the laser device can be input in advance to the control device, drafts are not necessary at all, and the application of the heat-sensitive dye can be limited to the minimum necessary area. ..

[0008]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below based on experimental examples. Using a commercially available laser cutting and cutting device equipped with a light source for emitting a laser beam, a driving device for moving the light source, and a control device for controlling the light source and the driving device, to a cloth for an air bag coated with a heat-sensitive dye Was sequentially printed and cut in the same process. The air bag cloth is coated with a heat-sensitive dye at a predetermined position in advance, and by the same laser cutting device used for cutting, a laser beam much weaker than that at the time of cutting is formed into letters, symbols or pictorial shapes. Irradiation was performed and the site was selectively heated to develop color. The cutting of the airbag fabric is preferably performed after this printing, but is not limited to this. The data of the experiment based on the method of the present invention are shown below.

<Experimental Example> Nylon 66 (840d) for fabric airbag, plain weave. Heat-sensitive dye A heat-sensitive agent containing a compound represented by the following chemical formula 1, or a leuco dye and an acidic substance.

[0010]

[Chemical 1]

Coating method Spray coating on cloth wet 18.3 g / m ² (solid content 35%) Laser cutting device Lectra Systems Type E 26 150 W output variable carbon dioxide laser (made by Lectra, France) Cutting output 150 W, printing output 10 W As described above, according to the method of the present invention, it is possible to perform printing by the same step as cutting with a laser beam by utilizing the heat generation effect of the same laser beam, and thus, the number which is conventionally performed in a separate step. It is possible to improve the efficiency of airbag production by tying attachments and the like to the above cutting step.

The method for cutting the print of the air bag by the laser according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the same effect can be obtained even when the method is applied to a seat skin of a vehicle or other sheet materials such as general clothes. It is clear that this is the case.

[0013]

As described above, according to the method for cutting / printing a sheet material of the present invention, the sheet material such as the cloth is heat-sensitive when the airbag cloth is cut by the laser cutting device with variable output. By applying a dye and appropriately irradiating with the laser beam, a character or a mark is printed on the sheet-like material together with the cutting step.When such a printing method is used for manufacturing an airbag, cutting with a laser beam is performed. It is possible to print using the heat generation effect of the same laser beam in the process.
Marking and numbering, which were conventionally performed in separate processes, are combined with the cutting process to improve the efficiency of airbag manufacturing, and the remarkable effects of achieving cost reduction and mass production of airbags are achieved. Is.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical display location B41M 5/26 8305-2H B41M 5/26 V (72) Inventor Hidehito Sogi Miyoshi-cho, Nishikamo-gun, Aichi prefecture Daikachi Uchikage No. 3 Ikuyama, Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. Automotive Parts Technology Center

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An air bag coated with a thermosensitive dye using a laser cutting device comprising a light source for emitting a laser beam, a drive device for moving the light source, and a control device for controlling the light source and the drive device. A method for printing a sheet-like material with a laser beam, comprising printing characters or marks on the sheet-like material by appropriately irradiating the sheet-like material such as cloth with a laser beam from the above-mentioned device.