JPH0649760A - Method for forming steric form by heat-welding of lap and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a cushioning material having a steric form by using a lap made of a high-melting fiber and a low-melting fiber or a high-melting fiber coated with a low-melting substance, pressing the lap between male and female molds, heat-treating the lap and cooling the product. CONSTITUTION:High-melting fiber and low-melting fiber or high-melting fiber coated with a low-melting fiber substance is blended, opened and laminated to form a lap. The lap is supplied to a forming apparatus having porous male and female molds fixed in divided state on an endless orbit composed of a pair of upper and lower belts interposing separately positioned drums having a prescribed axial distance. The belts are closable or separable while keeping the parallel state and rotatable in independent state. The lap pinched between the male and female molds is pressed, hot air is blasted from a side and the air is sucked to the other side to effect the thermal treatment of the lap and melt the low-melting fiber. After the treatment, chilled air is blasted from a side and sucked to the other side to fix the crossing point of the high-melting fibers and obtain the objective formed product having steric form.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming a three-dimensional shape by heat-bonding a wrap, and particularly to a wrap (cotton-like laminate) prepared by mixing fibers having a high melting point and fibers having a low melting point. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for forming a desired three-dimensional shape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, urethane foam is mainly used as a cushioning material for furniture, automobile seats, bed mats and the like. Since this urethane foam is excellent in moldability, it can be molded in various planar (two-dimensional) or three-dimensional (three-dimensional) by injection molding technology.
Although it can provide various shapes, it uses Freon gas to foam urethane.

[0003]

Recently, however, companies have been required to take a strong responsibility for solving environmental pollution problems. Therefore, it is impossible to continuously use the CFC gas, which is said to cause the destruction of the ozone layer, and the alternative gas is being developed there.

However, the gas replacing the CFC gas is not as convenient as the CFC gas, and has an accompanying demerit. Therefore, there is a high possibility that it will be difficult to use a urethane foam having high moldability as a universal cushioning material as in the past.

Moreover, urethane foam has a drawback that physical properties are apt to change due to components such as human sweat.
Therefore, not only is it difficult to recycle, but the cushioning material has drawbacks that it has a very low moisture absorption / exhaust property for absorbing sweat and moisture, and that it produces a cyanide compound when incinerated.

Therefore, the development of a cushioning material to replace urethane foam has been in the limelight, but a suitable material to meet the demand has not yet been developed. However, the cushioning material is not limited to urethane foam, but there are materials such as rubber, asbestos, and cotton made of natural or synthetic fibers, but if these are not considerably processed, they are suitable for the above-mentioned applications. Difficult to do.

By the way, a fiber having a high melting point and a fiber having a lower melting point, or a fiber having a high melting point coated with a fiber material having a low melting point is well mixed, opened, and laminated, that is, a wrap is formed. Are known.

Although this wrap is used in various fields as a firm material (hard, hard cotton or hard cotton), it has an element that can be used as a cushioning material because it is soft and elastic.

However, the conventional wrap is merely a cotton-like flat plate and is two-dimensional.
It cannot be used as a cushioning material to replace urethane foam.

Therefore, the present invention aims at developing a cushioning material to replace urethane foam, and pays attention to a wrap, and provides a molding method and an apparatus therefor capable of performing desired three-dimensional molding.

[0011]

A method for forming a three-dimensional shape by heat-bonding a wrap according to the present invention comprises a fiber having a high melting point and a fiber having a lower melting point, or a melting point obtained by coating a fiber substance having a low melting point. Highly mixed fibers are opened and mixed, and the laminated product is sandwiched between a porous male mold and female mold shaped according to the shape to be molded, compressed and blown with hot air from one direction, Suction hot air from the other direction, heat the fibers so that the hot air passes through the object sandwiched between the male mold and the female mold, melt the low melting point fibers and attach them to the high melting point fibers After the heating, the melted fibers are cured by allowing cold air to pass through the material sandwiched between the male mold and the female mold, thereby fixing the fiber connection.

Further, according to the present invention, the three-dimensionally forming device by heat-bonding the wrap is provided with a pair of upper and lower endless track bodies wound endlessly so that they can be moved toward and away from each other in parallel and rotatable in the same direction. , A porous male mold and a female mold are respectively divided into a plurality of parts and mounted and fixed on the pair of endless track bodies,
It is characterized in that a hot air outlet and a cold air outlet are provided in a portion where the pair of endless track bodies vertically overlap each other.

The endless track body is vertically divided into two parts, that is, the left end part and the right end part. The left and right endless track parts are independently rotatable, and the distance between the axes of the drums around which the left and right endless track parts are wound is predetermined. And a male mold and a female mold are formed of a rectangular plate-like body having a width substantially equal to the distance between the axial centers, and are provided at corners on diagonal lines of the plate-like body. It is characterized in that the left and right endless track bodies are pivotally connected to each other via a connecting shaft.

Further, according to the present invention, the three-dimensional shape molding apparatus by heat-bonding the wrap is provided by fixing the upper booth on the fixed lower booth at a predetermined distance from each other, and by mounting the upper mold box on the upper booth. A lower booth is fitted into the lower booth so as to be able to approach and separate from each other, and a male mold and a female mold are formed at the bottom of the box, and a hot air outlet and a cold air outlet are provided in the upper box, and It is characterized in that a suction port for sucking hot air and cold air is provided in the lower box.

[0015]

[Function] With the wrap sandwiched between the male mold and the female mold and compressed and shaped, the fibers having a low melting point of hot air are melted and adhered to the fibers having a high melting point, and the cold air cures the adhesion. A cushioning material that maintains a shaped state is easily and easily formed.

[0016]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. In the molding method according to the present invention, it is desired that a fiber having a high melting point and a fiber having a lower melting point are well mixed to open the fiber (to loosen the fiber occasionally), and to form a laminated product (hereinafter referred to as a wrap). It is sandwiched between a porous male mold and a female mold that are shaped like a shape and compressed, and hot air is blown from one direction while hot air is sucked from the other direction, and a wrap sandwiched between the male mold and female mold When the fibers are heated with hot air passing through them, the fibers with a low melting point melt and adhere to the fibers with a high melting point.

Then, cold air is blown directly to the wrap sandwiched between the male mold and the female mold or is passed through the wrap to cool and fix the shape, and then the die is removed. Of.

The fibers having a low melting point are, for example, polypropylene fibers, polyester fibers, or staples (fibers) coated with polypropylene around them. The fiber having a high melting point is, for example, polyester fiber or natural fiber.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a molding apparatus embodying the above-mentioned molding method comprises a belt 2 such as a chain, which is a horizontally rotatable endless track body on a base 1 and a drum 3,
4 is endlessly wound, and a belt 5, which is rotatable in the same horizontal direction above the belt 2, is endlessly wound around the drums 6 and 7. The belts 2 and 5 rotate at a constant speed by adjusting the timing of the drums 3 and 6.

The belt 5 can be raised and lowered while maintaining a parallel state with the belt 2. That is, a screw shaft 9 is rotatably provided around a pair of guide struts 8 and 8 erected on the base 1, and is screwed onto the screw shaft 9 to be guided up and down by the guide struts 8 and 8. The bracket 10 is connected to the frame 11 that supports the drums 6 and 7 of the belt 5, and each screw shaft 9 is connected to the screw shaft 13 via the gear box 12 at the upper part thereof, and the screw shaft 13 is further connected to the upper frame 11a.
It is connected via a gear box 16 to a screw shaft 15 which is rotated by a geared motor 14 fixed to.

As shown in FIG. 3, male dies 17 and female dies 18 are attached to the upper surfaces of the belts 2 and 5, respectively. The male mold 17 and the female mold 18 are divided in the longitudinal direction, and when they reach the vicinity of the drums 3, 4, 6 and 7, they can individually swing as the belts 2 and 5 move. The male mold 17 and the female mold 18 are two upper and lower perforated plates 17a and 18a, respectively, and a side plate 1 for closing both sides thereof.
It is composed of a plurality of blocks formed by 7b, 18b and side plates 17c, 18c closing the front and back.

In the portion where the male shape 17 and the female shape 18 overlap each other, an interlocking mechanism is provided at the lower end of each mold so that the adjacent molds of both molds do not bend downward or upward in cooperation with each other. Each hook plate 19 is attached in the width direction.

Furthermore, the planes of the male die 17 and the female die 18 are
Through holes 20 and 21 having a predetermined diameter are formed at a predetermined pitch. Therefore, the through holes 20 and 21 are formed in the male die 17 and the female die 18, respectively.
The pitch is different in and so that they do not overlap each other. The through holes 20 and 21 are formed for passing hot air or cold air.

The booth 2 is provided above and below the portion where the male die 17 and the female die 18 move in an overlapping manner.
2, 23 are provided. Booth 22 is frame 11
The inside is divided into two parts, one of which is formed as a hot air outlet 22a and the other of which is formed as a cold air outlet 22b, and is supported by the frame 11.

The booth 23 is supported by the base 1, the inside of which is divided into two parts, one of which is the hot air outlet 22.
hot air suction port 23a corresponding to a, the other is cold air jet port 22
It is formed as a cold air outlet 23b similar to b and is supported by the base 1.

The hot air outlet 22a is a gun type burner 2
The blower 2 uses the air heated by using No. 4 (see Fig. 1) as a heat source
5 (see FIG. 1) to blow air to the female mold 18. The hot air suction port 23a is a means for sucking hot air with the blower 26 (see FIG. 1) and sending it to the hot air jet port 22a to cyclically use it. Cold air jets 22b, 23
Reference numeral b is a means for blowing air at room temperature or air cooled to room temperature or lower with a blower 27 (see FIG. 1).

The operation of the above embodiment will now be described. In FIG. 1, when the belts 2 and 5 are started and the wrap 30 is inserted between them, the wrap 30 is sandwiched between the male die 17 and the female die 18. It moves in the direction of arrow A while being compressed. Further, the hot air from the hot air outlet 22a is set to a temperature below a temperature sufficient to melt the fibers having a low melting point.

When the wrap 30 reaches the lower part of the booth 22a, the wrap 30 is heated by the hot air blown from the blower 25, the low melting point fiber is melted and adheres to the high melting point fiber, and then reaches the lower part of the booth 22b. And blower 2
The melted fibers are hardened by the cold air blown out from Nos. 6 and 27 to fix the adhesion to the fibers having a high melting point.

Thus, the wrap 30 fed from the belts 2, 5 in the direction of the arrow B is compressed to a desired density, continuously molded into a predetermined shape (see FIG. 3), and automatically demolded. The compression density is selected by the geared motor 1 described above.
By the operation of 4, the frame 11 is moved up and down to move the belt 2,
The distance D between the five may be adjusted to a desired length. Therefore, since the compression density can be freely adjusted, it is possible to easily obtain a cushion material suitable for various uses.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a modification of the above embodiment. In this example, the belt 2 is wound around the drums 3 and 4 on one side of the base 1 in the width direction so as to be rotatable. The drum 3 having the belt 2a arranged on the other side and separated from the drums 3 and 4 at a constant distance D while being arranged.
They are wound around a and 4a and are rotatably arranged. That is, the distance D between the axes of the drums 3, 3a and 4, 4a is determined.

Further, the belt 5 is wound around the drums 6 and 7 so as to be rotatable on one side in the width direction of the frame 11, and the belt 5a is wound around the drums 6a and 7a on the other side. Place it so that it can move.
That is, the belts 5 and 5a are separated from each other on the left and right sides of the frame 11 by a predetermined distance D and are in phase with each other.

The male die 17 and the female die 18 are rectangular plate-like members having a width dimension corresponding to the predetermined distance D, and have connecting shafts at their corners on the diagonal side. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a female shaft 18 is provided with a connecting shaft 18a,
The connecting shaft 18a is pivotally connected to the belt 5 so as to be rotatable. Further, a connecting shaft 18b is provided on the female die 18 at a position symmetrical with respect to the connecting shaft 18a, and the connecting shaft 18b is connected to the belt 5a.
Is pivotally connected to. In the same way, male 1
Make up 7.

Then, when the belts 2, 2a, 5, 5a are rotated at a constant speed, the male mold 17 and the female mold 18 are moved to the drums 3, 3a,
When rotating 4,4a, 6,6a, 7,7a, as shown in FIG. 4, they move so as to move up and down while maintaining parallel to each other. Therefore, the wrap 30 has a male mold 17 and a female mold 18.
It is taken into the mold as it is compressed from above and below.
Thus, the moldability of the wrap 30 is improved, unlike the male mold 17 and the female mold 18 which rotate the drums 4 and 7 and draw the wrap 30 into the mold so as to narrow the wrap 30 in the above embodiment.

The device in the above embodiment is suitable for a cushion material having a relatively simple three-dimensional shape, but in order to obtain a cushion material having a complicated shape, the cushion material shown in FIGS. A device as shown can be used.

That is, the upper booth 40 and the lower booth 41, which are fixed at a predetermined distance from each other, are provided with the upper mold box 42 and the lower mold box 43, respectively, and the bottom parts 42a and 4b.
3a face each other, and lift cylinders 42a, 4 respectively
3a is fitted so as to be able to move up and down via rods 42b and 43b that engage with 3a in a stretchable manner.

At the bottom portion 42a of the upper die box 42, a three-dimensional male die 44, which is a cushion material to be manufactured, is divided into upper and lower parts.
On the upper bottom portion 43a of the lower mold box 43, a three-dimensional female mold 45, which is divided into upper and lower parts of the cushion material to be manufactured, is formed. And the upper booth 40 and the lower booth 41
Rolling rollers 46 and 47 are provided between the rollers so as to rotate freely.

Through holes 48 and 49 are formed in the bottom portions 42a and 43a of the upper mold box 42 and the lower mold box 43 with different pitches and diameters. A hot air outlet 50 and a cold air outlet 51 are provided in the upper mold box 42, and hot air and cold air suction ports 52 are provided in the lower mold box 43.

Therefore, in order to manufacture the cushioning material using the above-mentioned apparatus, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper mold box 42 and the lower mold box 43 are retracted into the upper booth 40 and the lower booth 41, respectively, and the space between them is reduced. Space.

Then, the wrap 60 is inserted from the take-in rollers 46 and 47 to cover the upper part of the lower mold box 43, and as shown in FIG. 7, the upper mold box 42 and the lower mold box 43 are pressed against each other with a desired pressure. As described above, when the distance between the two is determined and hot air is jetted from the hot air outlet 50 for a certain period of time, the hot air melts the low melting point fibers of the wrap 60 through the through holes 48 and bonds them to the high melting point fibers. In addition, hot air or cold air sucked from the suction port 52 is discharged to the outside,
Reuse as a source of hot air.

After the hot air is blown out, the cold air is blown out from the cold air blowout port 51 for a certain period of time so that the cold air passes through the holes 4
8 penetrates into the wrap 60 and the melted fibers are hardened to fix the connection between the low melting point fiber and the high melting point fiber. After that, the upper mold box 42 or the lower mold box 43 is moved to release the molded cushion material 60a from the booth 40,
Pull out from 41 to the side.

Thus, according to the apparatus of the present invention, a cushion material having a three-dimensional shape can be simply and quickly produced from a cotton-like wrap, and the application thereof is various as a furniture, a cushion material for automobile seats, or a bed mat. It extends to.

[0042]

According to the present invention described above, since a cushion material having a desired three-dimensional shape can be formed by using a wrap, it can be widely used as a cushion material replacing urethane foam, and the material is fiber. It is easy to recycle, and it is possible to provide an ideal cushioning material that absorbs and exhausts moisture such as sweat and moisture, and there is no fear of environmental pollution because it does not use CFCs. This has the effect that costs can be omitted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing another example of the present invention.

5 is a partial plan view of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional front view showing still another example of the present invention.

7 is an explanatory view of the operation of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2, 5 ... Belt (endless track body) 3, 3a, 4, 4a, 6, 6a, 7, 7a ... Drum 9, 13, 15 ... Screw shaft 11 ... Frame 12, 16 ... Gear box 17, 44 ... Male type 18, 45 ... Female type 20, 21, 48, 49 ... Through hole 22a, 50 ... Hot air jet 23a, 23b, 51 ... Cold air jet 30, 60 ... Wrap 40, 41 ... Booth 42, 43 ... Box

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method in which a fiber having a high melting point and a fiber having a lower melting point, or a fiber having a lower melting point coated with a high melting point is well mixed to be opened, and a laminate is formed. It is sandwiched between a porous male and female mold shaped like a shape and compressed, and hot air is blown from one direction,
Suction hot air from the other direction, heat the fibers so that the hot air passes through the object sandwiched between the male mold and the female mold, and melt the fibers with a low melting point to melt the fibers with a high melting point. Characterized in that the fiber connection is fixed by curing the melted fiber by allowing cold air to pass through the material sandwiched between the male mold and the female mold after being adhered to A method for forming a three-dimensional shape by heat-bonding a wrap. 2. A pair of upper and lower endless track bodies wound endlessly are provided in parallel so as to be able to approach and separate from each other and rotatable in the same direction, and the pair of endless track bodies have a porous male type and female type, respectively. Molding into a three-dimensional shape by thermal bonding of a wrap, characterized in that the lap is divided into a plurality of parts and placed and fixed, and a hot air jet port and a cold air jet port are provided at a portion where the pair of endless track bodies vertically overlap each other. apparatus. 3. The endless track body is vertically divided into two parts, that is, the left end part and the right end part. The left end part and the right end part are separately wound, and the distance between the axes of the drums around which the left and right endless parts are wound is predetermined. The male mold and the female mold are arranged at a distance from each other, and each of the male mold and the female mold is formed of a rectangular plate-shaped body having a width substantially equal to the distance between the axes, and is provided at a corner portion on a diagonal line of the plate-shaped body. The three-dimensional forming device for heat-bonding a wrap according to claim 2, wherein the left and right endless track bodies are rotatably and pivotally connected to each other via a connecting shaft. 4. An upper booth is fixedly provided on a fixed lower booth at a predetermined distance from each other, and an upper mold box is fitted to the upper booth and a lower mold box is fitted to the lower booth so that they can come close to and separate from each other. A male mold and a female mold are formed at the bottom of the box, a hot air outlet and a cold air outlet are provided in the upper box, and a suction port for sucking hot air and cold air is provided in the lower box. A three-dimensional shape forming device by heat-bonding a wrap.