JPH0874159A - Cushioning material and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a cushioning material excellent in moisture and air permeabilities and resistance to permanent set in fatigue by mixing a relatively high-melting cotton material comprising thermoplastic synthetic fibers with a low-melting cotton material and urethane foam chips and thermally forming and integrating the materials. CONSTITUTION: This method for producing a cushioning material is to mix urethane chips prepared by tearing or crushing a urethane foam with a relatively high-melting cotton material comprising polyethylene-based synthetic fibers and a low-melting cotton material at (6-9) ratio to urethane chips of (1-4) ratio, preferably 2:5:3 ratio of the urethane chips: relatively high-melting cotton material: low-melting cotton material, then thermally forming the mixture, fusing the low-melting cotton material as a binder and integrating the materials.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to bedding such as mats and pillows, other cushioning materials (hereinafter simply referred to as cushioning materials), and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a cushioning material, urethane foam has been mainly used, but recently, a polyester fiber has been used as a material, and a relatively high melting point fiber and a low melting point fiber are mixed to make a low cushioning material. There is provided a polyester hard cotton which is molded and integrated with a melting point fiber as a binder to be solidified.

[0003]

By the way, as the preferable properties of the cushioning material, it is desired that the cushioning material has appropriate impact resilience, excellent breathability, moisture permeability, and sag resistance. Although the cushioning material is low in price and excellent in fatigue resistance, it has a problem in moisture permeability and air permeability. On the other hand, polyester hard cotton exhibits excellent physical properties in terms of moisture permeability, air permeability, and the like, which are difficult points of urethane, but has problems of sag resistance and impact resilience (cushioning property) as compared with urethane. As described above, urethane foam and polyester hard cotton have their respective advantages and disadvantages, and it is desired to develop a cushioning material that can solve these problems all at once.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to
It is an object of the present invention to provide a low-cost cushioning material excellent in moisture permeability, air permeability, and sag resistance, and a method for manufacturing the same, by complementing the respective advantages and disadvantages of urethane foam and hard cotton.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, an intermediate physical property between hard cotton and urethane foam is intended to compensate for the length of the two. Consisting of a mixture of a relatively high-melting-point cotton material consisting of, a relatively low-melting-point cotton material, and urethane chips obtained by tearing or crushing urethane foam, and by integrally molding the heat-melted low-melting-point cotton material as a binder. The desired cushion material is obtained.
As a method for manufacturing such a cushion material, a relatively high melting point cotton material and a relatively low melting point cotton material made of a thermoplastic synthetic fiber material and a urethane chip obtained by tearing or crushing urethane foam are uniformly mixed, A method in which the melting point cotton material is heated and melted to form a binder between the high melting point cotton material and the urethane chips and the whole is molded and solidified can be adopted.

Various mixing ratios of urethane chips, high-melting-point cotton materials, and low-melting-point cotton materials can be considered depending on the physical properties of the cushioning material to be obtained. However, an intermediate physical property between hard cotton and urethane foam is obtained and desired. In order to obtain the quality of urethane chips 1 to 4
On the other hand, it is desirable to use cotton materials 6 to 9. In terms of cost, urethane chips are the cheapest,
High-melting-point cotton material and low-melting-point cotton material become higher in price in that order, so it is desirable to use the low-melting-point material as much as possible within the range where the desired binder function is obtained. Therefore, as a compounding example, it is practical to mix urethane chips, a high melting point cotton material, and a low melting point cotton material at a ratio of about 2: 5: 3.

Various synthetic fiber materials such as polyester, acrylic, nylon, polypropylene, etc. can be considered as the thermoplastic synthetic fiber material as the cotton material, but the physical properties such as strength, durability and water absorption and the production amount are also considered. Considering comprehensively, the polyester fiber is practical. Therefore, in the optimum embodiment of the present invention, polyester fiber is adopted as the thermoplastic synthetic fiber material.

As the low-melting-point cotton material, a low-melting-point cotton material having a melting point of 110 ° C. to 150 ° C. is preferable in terms of workability, and by heating with warm air or the like to melt,
It functions as a binder for urethane chips and high melting point cotton materials. As the urethane chips, scraps of polyurethane foam or the like may be used, and those having an appropriate size by tearing or crushing may be used.

Further, as a method of integrally molding the high melting point cotton material and the urethane chip using the low melting point cotton material as a binder, a mixture of the three is uniformly blown with warm air to melt the low melting point cotton material, After compression molding to an appropriate thickness, cooling and hardening, pressure molding in the mold, cutting the molded product once flat plate, putting it in the mold and reheating, molding and cooling Etc., various methods can be adopted. Further, it is also possible to use fibers subjected to antibacterial and deodorant processing as synthetic fibers constituting the high-melting-point cotton material, and the added value as a cushioning material can be increased.

[0010]

As described above, in the present invention, a mixture of a relatively high melting point cotton material made of a thermoplastic synthetic fiber material, a relatively low melting point cotton material, and a urethane chip,
Since the cushion material is obtained by integrally molding the melted low-melting-point cotton material as a binder, intermediate properties between conventional hard cotton and urethane foam can be obtained.

That is, when the polyester fiber is used as the synthetic fiber material, the polyester hard cotton exhibits good moisture permeability and breathability, and the urethane foam can have good sag resistance and cushioning property. You can
It is possible to provide a highly practical cushioning material by compensating for the disadvantages of the cushioning material made only of hard cotton and urethane foam with their respective advantages.

In addition, since the urethane chips are mixed as compared with the case of using only the hard cotton, it is possible to provide a low cost cushion material. In particular, as the urethane chips, those obtained by tearing or crushing scraps of polyurethane foam can be used, and the cost can be further reduced in this respect as well.

As a manufacturing method, the high-melting-point cotton material, the low-melting-point cotton material, and the urethane chips are uniformly mixed, and the low-melting-point cotton material is heated and melted to function as a binder. It's easy.

[0014]

EXAMPLE An example of the cushion material according to the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a cushioning material according to the present invention. In this embodiment, polyester cotton is used as a cotton material made of a thermoplastic synthetic fiber material. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a polyester cotton as a high-melting-point cotton material, and is made of, for example, 15 denier × 64 m / m polyester fiber. Further, 2 is a polyester cotton as a low-melting-point cotton material, which is composed of, for example, 4 denier × 51 m / m of polyester fiber, and the state shown in the drawing shows a state in which it functions as a binder after being melted. 3 is a urethane chip obtained by tearing polyurethane foam.

The state shown in the figure shows the state after molding.
A cushion material made of a mixture of a high-melting-point cotton material 1, a low-melting-point cotton material 2, and a urethane chip 3 obtained by tearing or crushing urethane foam, and the low-melting-point cotton material 2 melted by warm air as a binder. It is a thing.

As a molding procedure, the high melting point cotton material 1, the low melting point cotton material 2 and the urethane chip 3 are uniformly mixed,
It can be easily obtained by heating and melting the low-melting-point cotton material 2 with warm air to form a binder of the high-melting-point cotton material and the urethane chips and molding and solidifying the whole.

The mixing ratio (weight) of urethane chips, high melting point polyester cotton and low melting point polyester cotton is 2: 5:
The ratio was 3. Of course, the mixing ratio is not limited to this, and the mixing ratio of the urethane chips and the cotton material made of high-melting point polyester cotton and low-melting point polyester cotton may be set to the cotton materials 6 to 9 for the urethane chips 1 to 4.
In this case, it is considered that the high-melting point polyester cotton is mixed in a ratio of 3 to 7 and the low-melting point polyester cotton is in a ratio of 2 to 3 with respect to 1 to 4 of the urethane chips.

In any case, the low-melting point polyester cotton is more expensive than the high-melting point polyester cotton, so it is desirable to use a small mixing ratio such that the binder function can be achieved. Further, it goes without saying that various mixing ratios are changed according to the physical properties of the cushioning material to be obtained, and the compression degree, pressurization degree, etc. are also adjusted as appropriate.

Next, the molded article, polyurethane foam, and polyester hard cotton based on the present embodiment are JIS
Table 1 shows the results of the compression residual strain test based on K6401.

[0020]

[Table 1]

As is clear from the test results, the hard cotton has the highest strain rate, the polyurethane foam has the lowest strain rate, and the cushion material of this example exhibits intermediate properties. Therefore, although it does not have the same sag resistance as polyurethane foam, the sag resistance is further improved as compared with hard cotton.

With regard to breathability and moisture permeability, hard cotton is usually better than polyurethane foam, and at the same density, all show good results of about 3 to 4 times. For example, the result is about 2 to 3 times better than that of polyurethane foam, and the intermediate performance between hard cotton and polyurethane foam is exhibited.

Therefore, while improving the moisture permeability and breathability, which are the drawbacks of the urethane foam alone, it has been possible to improve the settling resistance, which is the drawback of hard cotton. Overall, mats, pillows, etc. The best products for bedding and other cushioning materials were obtained.

[0024]

As is clear from the above description,
The cushion material according to the present invention exhibits intermediate physical properties between hard cotton and urethane foam, and has good moisture permeability, air permeability,
It is possible to provide a cushioning material having high practicality by providing sag resistance and compensating the disadvantages of the cushioning material composed only of hard cotton and urethane foam with their respective advantages. In addition, compared with the case of using only hard cotton, since urethane chips are mixed, the cost can be reduced, and since waste material of urethane foam can be used, there is an advantage that the cost can be further reduced. ing.

Further, the mixing ratio (weight) of the urethane chips and the cotton material is 6 to 5 for the urethane chips 1 to 4.
If it is 9, it is possible to mold a cushioning material of a desired quality. Especially, if the mixing ratio (weight) of urethane chips, high melting point cotton material and low melting point cotton material is 2: 5: 3, it is relatively high. Since the amount of costly low-melting-point cotton material used can be suppressed, cost reduction can be achieved also in this respect. Further, if the thermoplastic synthetic fiber material to be used, especially the high-melting-point cotton material is subjected to antibacterial and deodorant processing, the added value can be further increased.

The cushion material manufacturing method according to the present invention is a simple method in which urethane chips, high-melting-point cotton material and low-melting-point cotton material are uniformly mixed to melt the low-melting-point material, and the whole is molded and solidified. The cushioning material having the desired physical properties can be obtained, and the production is extremely easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a cushion material according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 High melting point cotton material 2 Low melting point cotton material 3 Urethane tip

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A low-melting cotton that is heat-melted and is made of a mixture of a relatively high-melting cotton material made of a thermoplastic synthetic fiber material, a relatively low-melting cotton material, and a urethane chip obtained by tearing or crushing urethane foam. Cushion material that is molded and integrated using the material as a binder. 2. The mixing ratio of the urethane chip and the cotton material of the high melting point cotton material and the low melting point cotton material is the urethane chip 1 to
The cushion material according to claim 1, wherein the cotton material is 6 to 9 in contrast to 4. 3. The cushioning material according to claim 1, wherein the mixing ratio of the urethane chips, the high melting point cotton material and the low melting point cotton material is 2: 5: 3. 4. The cushion material according to claim 1, wherein polyester fiber is used as the thermoplastic synthetic fiber material. 5. A relatively high melting point cotton material made of a thermoplastic synthetic fiber material, a relatively low melting point cotton material, and urethane chips obtained by tearing or crushing urethane foam are uniformly mixed, and the low melting point cotton material is heated and melted. Then, a method of manufacturing a cushion material, which comprises forming a solidified whole by forming a binder of a high melting point cotton material and a urethane chip. 6. The mixing ratio of the urethane chip and the cotton material of the high melting point cotton material and the low melting point cotton material is set to the urethane chip 1 to
The method for producing a cushioning material according to claim 5, wherein the cotton material is 6 to 9 in contrast to No. 4. 7. The method for producing a cushioning material according to claim 5, wherein the mixing ratio of the urethane chip, the high melting point cotton material and the low melting point cotton material is 2: 5: 3. 8. The method for producing a cushioning material according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein polyester fiber is used as the thermoplastic synthetic fiber material.