JPH09121984A - Cushion material - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a composite cushion material made from conventional materials, which exerts a high shock absorbing performance for a long time over a wide range. SOLUTION: Closed cell plastic materials 1 are joined with one another, in which air is encapsulated to form a hollow member, and this is used as a core so that an intended cushion material is provided. One favorable example of the closed cell plastic material is a thermoplastic polymer which can be bonded by thermal fusion. The material is previously fabricated into any shape such as cylindrical, undulate, angle-projected, or honeycombed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to protection from wall surfaces and floor surfaces of human bodies, buildings, roadbeds, etc. in various sports facilities.
Prevention of vibration and freezing of structures such as quays, protection when moving human bodies such as automobiles and exercise equipment, protection from shock during transportation of goods,
Also, the present invention relates to a cushion material used for imparting elasticity to a bed, sofa, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as cushion materials, rubber, foam, fibers, sheets and the like have been used as a single body or a laminated body or a composite body. Looking at sports safety fences, which are the most typical application fields of cushion materials, as described below, in the conventional technology, when a cushioning range is large, a cushion material exhibiting a high degree of shock absorption is obtained. Is extremely difficult.

That is, rubber, polyurethane foam, and polyethylene foam are typical cushioning materials used in sports safety defense fences, but all of them have a small contact area, such as a baseball, and a degree of impact. Can not be applied to both the one with a large area and the one with a large contact area and a small impact degree like a baseball player. Various devices and proposals have been made to satisfy both requirements.

Proposal of a laminated body or the like in various thickness ratios of the above-mentioned materials, including chemical composition changes, polymer polymerization degree changes, thickness and foaming degree adjustment, and surface covering materials. However, none of them easily provides a cushioning material having a wide range of shock absorbing performance that is stable for a long period of time.

[0005]

The object of the present invention is to combine the use of existing materials without the need for shock absorbers with new chemical compositions, devising new chemical elements, and difficult construction know-how. The purpose is to provide a cushioning material that exhibits a high level of shock absorption over a wide range for a long time.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a cushioning material comprising (1) a hollow body formed by joining closed-cell plastic materials to each other to seal air, as a core material. (2) A cushioning material that uses as a core material a hollow body formed by joining a composite of a closed-cell plastic material and another cushioning material to each other to seal air.

(3) The cushion material according to (1) or (2), wherein the closed-cell plastic material is a thermoplastic polymer which can be joined by heat fusion. (4) The closed cell plastic material is tubular, corrugated,
The cushion material according to any one of (1) to (3), which is processed into one of a chevron projection shape and a honeycomb shape.

(5) The cushioning material according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein a tape-like closed-cell plastic material is meandered and a hollow body is formed by joining the contact portions to each other to seal air. (6) The cushion material according to (4) and (5), which is formed by compositely joining closed-cell plastic materials having different processing shapes.

(7) The closed-cell plastic materials to be joined to each other are different in at least one of thickness, foaming ratio, and material (1) to
The cushioning material according to (6). And so on. The greatest feature of the present invention is that the air layer formed by the closed-cell plastic material that is flexible, has air-tightness, and does not burst is responsible for absorption of a large impact range, and the closed-cell plastic material itself is limited. With a complex structure that absorbs a narrow range of absorption, a cushioning material that can exhibit diverse and complex shock absorption performance with repeatability over a long period of time without the need for difficult construction know-how It is in a completely new technical idea of being able to provide.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in more detail.
In the present invention, as the closed cell plastic material,
Preferably, a thermoplastic polymer that can be joined by heat fusion is used, and examples thereof include polyethylene foam, polypropylene foam, and EVA foam. This is because it is possible to omit the use of an adhesive agent that causes deterioration after joining and facilitate the joining process.

As a method for obtaining the cushion material according to the present invention, for example, a closed-cell plastic material is preliminarily processed into a cylindrical shape, a corrugated shape, a chevron-shaped projection shape, or a honeycomb shape, and these are sealed in an air layer. There is a method of joining so as to form. FIG. 1 (A), FIG.
(B) and FIG. 1 (C) are examples of using a closed-cell plastic material that has been previously processed into a tubular shape. FIG. 1 (A)
1B is a bird's-eye view schematic diagram of a cylindrically processed product arranged horizontally, and FIG. 1B is a bird's-eye view schematic diagram of a cylindrically processed product arranged vertically. C)
[Fig. 4] is a bird's-eye view schematic diagram of a honeycomb-shaped arrangement that is processed into a tubular shape.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show an example in which a closed-cell plastic material is processed in advance into a corrugated plate shape. FIG. 2 (A) is a bird's-eye view schematic diagram of the corrugated sheet placed horizontally, and FIG. 2 (B) is a bird's-eye view schematic diagram of the corrugated sheet placed vertically. FIG. 2C is a schematic bird's-eye view of the tape which is meandering and arranged vertically.
(D) is a bird's-eye view schematic diagram of a tape-shaped tape that is arranged in a honeycomb shape.

3 (A) and 3 (B) show an example in which a closed-cell plastic material is preliminarily processed into a chevron projection shape. FIG. 3 (A) is a bird's-eye view schematic view of what is processed into a chevron-shaped projection and is placed horizontally, and FIG. 3 (B) is a side view schematic view of what is shown in FIG. 3 (A). Although the patterns shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 are very basic patterns,
In addition to these, various shapes are used.

FIG. 4A shows an example in which a closed-cell plastic material is processed in advance into a rectangular tube shape. FIG. 4B shows an example in which a closed-cell plastic material is processed in advance into a circular cylindrical shape having a long joint surface.
The modes shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B are examples in which the joint surface is lengthened to increase the joint strength and the buckling impact property is adjusted.

FIG. 5 (A) is a schematic view of what is obtained by processing a closed-cell plastic material into a tubular shape in advance into a double-column-shaped multi-stage stacking type. FIG. 5B is a schematic view of a multi-stage stacking type obtained by processing the closed-cell plastic material into various tubular shapes in advance. FIG. 5 (C) is a schematic view of the one obtained by processing the closed-cell plastic material in advance into various tubular shapes and disposing it horizontally. FIG. 5D is a schematic view of a brick block-shaped multi-stage stacking type obtained by processing a closed-cell plastic material in advance into a hexagonal-shaped tubular shape.

FIG. 6 (A) is a schematic view of an air bubble in which foamed beads are enclosed in which a closed-cell plastic material previously processed into a cylindrical shape is joined. FIG. 6 (B)
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a structure in which closed-cell plastic materials that have been processed into a tubular shape in advance are joined and a room-temperature-curable foam is sprayed inside or outside the air layer. According to the method described in detail above, the present invention provides a hollow body in which closed-cell plastic materials are bonded to each other to seal air. In the present invention, such a hollow body is used as the core material of the cushion material.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show an example of actually using the cushion material according to the present invention. FIG. 7 (A) is a schematic side cross-sectional view for explaining an embodiment in the vertical surface where the cushion material of the present invention is mounted on the safety protection wall surface. Then, FIG. 7B is a schematic side sectional view for explaining an embodiment in a plane for mounting the cushioning material of the present invention on the sofa / bedding. In these figures, 5 is a surface covering material for covering the cushion core material, and 6
Is the back wall surface covered by the cushion core material, and 7 is the cushion core material.

In the present invention, the closed-cell plastic material is preliminarily processed into a tubular shape, a corrugated shape, or a mountain-shaped projection shape, or a flexible tape-shaped closed-cell plastic material is made to meander. A cylindrical material, a corrugated material, a chevron-shaped material, and a meandering tape material are typically joined together, but it is needless to say that those processed into mutually different shapes may be joined together.

Further, in the present invention, the closed-cell plastic materials to be bonded to each other may be different in at least one of the thickness, the expansion ratio and the material, whereby the cushioning performance in the thickness direction portion is achieved. It is possible to provide a cushioning material that is suitable for many applications, since it can be greatly changed. Furthermore, in the present invention, the outer surface of the hollow body formed by sealing the air by joining the closed-cell plastic materials to each other has a smooth surface, and the closed-cell plastic material is generally vulnerable to abrasion and the like. In order to protect the hollow body, it is preferable to cover the front surface, the back surface, and the side surface of the hollow body by joining a conventionally used material such as a seed and a board. Typically, a flexible sheet material, a hard plate / wall material, or the like is used.

Further, in the present invention, in order to prevent buckling and destruction of the air layer due to a large impact change and to exert a partial cushioning repulsion, as shown in FIG. FIG. 6 (B) shows a foamable material, for example, a room temperature curable foamable silicone, into which a foamed bead of a degree not filled therein can be encapsulated or a foam having a buffer absorbability can be easily obtained by spraying or the like. As described above, it is preferable to insert and fix an appropriate amount in a gap inside or outside the hollow core material.

Since the cushioning material according to the present invention has various advantages as described above, it can be conveniently applied to various articles. For example, walls / pillars for protection and protection of the human body in sports facilities / welfare facilities, lightweight building materials for heat insulation / sound insulation / vibration of partition walls / floor surfaces / bases of buildings, heat insulation / sound insulation materials for temporary housing such as tents, articles Buffer packaging materials for protection, hulls,
Wave shock absorbers for quay walls, vibration / freezing prevention materials for transportation lines such as railroad tracks, protection and safety equipment for transportation facilities / vehicles, daily life items such as playground equipment / exercise equipment, bedclothes such as beds, sofas, etc. Furniture.

[0022]

EXAMPLES The cushioning material according to the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these. Example 1 First, a 2 mm thick Toray Pef (Toray Pef) (30 times expanded polyethylene foam sheet) manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc. was rolled, and a joint portion was heat-sealed to form a pipe having an outer diameter of 40 mm and a length of 1 m. 1
As shown in the bird's-eye view schematic view of (B), 25 pipes are arranged so that the outer edges of the pipes are in contact with each other, and 24 contact points on the outer side are vertically spliced by heat fusion bonding, and the length is 1 m, the width is 1 m, and the thickness is 40 mm. A cylindrical polyethylene foam hollow body core material having a vertical size was prepared.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7 (A), a 2 mm-thick cloth reinforced rubber sheet for a rubber facility, which is a commercially available sports facility, is used as a surface covering material, and the upper and lower cuts of a cylindrical polyethylene foam are cut into the air in the pipe. Was joined to the core material of the hollow cylindrical polyethylene foam body with a synthetic rubber adhesive so that the surface irregularities due to the vertical splicing of the cylindrical polyethylene foam could be flattened to form one unit of a safety defense fence. This back side was joined to the wall of the baseball field outfield by the straight-line general construction method, and this unit was laterally attached until the required length of the outfield fence was obtained, to make a safety defense outfield fence.

As a result, this safety defense outfield fence is
It had an excellent effect of absorbing the impact of a baseball player's outfield defense against a collision with an outfield fence. Moreover, this safety and defense outfield fence was able to sufficiently withstand the impact of the ball, and at the same time, the bound state of the cushion ball should be satisfied. In particular, it was lighter in weight than the conventional one made of rubber, and the amount of adhesive used was small, so that the construction could be performed easily.

Example 2 As shown in the schematic bird's-eye view of FIG. 1B, the width is 1 m and the thickness is 2 mm.
30 times foamed polyethylene foam sheet is used as a pair of two corrugated sheets having a curved outer edge height of 20 mm, and heat-bonded to each other so that the mountain lines are in contact with each other.
A polyethylene foam hollow body core material having a horizontal length of 1 m and a thickness of 40 mm and arranged vertically was obtained.

Using this polyethylene foam hollow core, a safety protection outfield fence was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1. This safety defense outfield fence had an excellent effect in absorbing a shock when a baseball player defensively hits the outfield fence. Moreover, this safety and defense outfield fence was able to sufficiently withstand the impact of the ball, and at the same time, the bound state of the cushion ball should be satisfied.

A hollow core material having a curved sheet, in other words, a corrugated sheet as a starting material, has the following excellent characteristics and is preferable. (1) The length of the fence in the width direction can be easily adjusted by adjusting the length of the sheet. (2) The size and shape of the hollow portion of the hollow core material can be easily adjusted by the method of curving the corrugated shape.

(3) The joining strength can be easily adjusted by the degree of linearization of the mountain line portion to be heat-sealed. (4) The number of curved sheets can be increased to easily make multiple stages. (5) A cushioning material such as foam beads can be easily enclosed in the air layer of the hollow core material.

Example 3 A 2 mm thick Toray Pef (10 times expanded polypropylene foam sheet) manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc. was pre-rolled into a cylinder having an outer diameter of 35 mm and a length of 30 mm, and the edges were heat-sealed. Then, as shown in FIG. 1 (B), this was made into a honeycomb shape,
A polystyrene foam bead of 20 times the amount equivalent to 2/3 of the volume of the hollow portion is enclosed in a honeycomb-shaped air layer as shown in FIG. 6 (A) so that the side layer of the automobile can absorb and absorb the air layer. Sealed in.

A side wall of a vehicle, which is supposed to be a collision accident against a side door of an automobile, is broken by polypropylene foam,
It was remarkably reduced by the three-stage shock absorption of the air layer and expanded polystyrene beads. Example 4 In order for a human body such as a sofa, a chair, and a bed to be in contact with the human body comfortably for a long time, the human body's depression and repulsion are wide,
Moreover, a cushioning material that is subtly exhibited is necessary.

Therefore, the left side of the schematic diagram of FIG. 5 (C) is set to the lower side, and the upper surface, which is in wide contact with the human body, allows human bodies having various body shapes and sensations to contact each other comfortably for a long time. The size of the air layer, the shape, the material, and the thickness of the outer skin that encloses the air layer are arranged so that As an example, a 2 mm thick Toray Pef (6 times expanded polypropylene foam) made by Toray Industries, Inc. is used as the outer skin that forms a hollow body in the portion that is strongly pressed. Molded in the shape of a protrusion, a 1 mm thick "Tole Pef" (20 times expanded polyethylene foam sheet) with a sliced surface on the outside in the part that does not require compression has a cylindrical shape with an outer diameter of 15 mm "Tole Pef" with 1mm thickness (13 times foamed E
5 on the outer surface of VA copolymer polyethylene foam sheet
mm-thick Bridgestone Corporation "Everlite" (open-cell polyether-based polyurethane foam / FD soft type) bonded sheet is processed into a tubular shape, and characteristics such as crossing the tubular axis are required. The first layer on the human body side was manufactured by arranging so as to match the portion to be defined as, and joining the side surfaces by heat fusion or the like.

Furthermore, a 2 mm thick "torepef" (13
Double-foam EVA copolymerized polyethylene foam / sheet)
An outer diameter, a long side of 60 mm, and a short side of 25 mm, which were processed into an elliptical cylinder, were heat-fused so as to intersect the cylindrical axis on the outer side of the long side and made into a flat surface to form a second layer. The third layer is 3 mm thick "Tole Pef" (30 times foamed polyethylene foam.
(Sheet) is rolled and the joint is heat-sealed to make a pipe with an outer diameter of 20 mm, and the fourth layer is a 4 mm thick "torepef"
(25 times expanded polyethylene foam sheet) is rolled and the joint is heat-sealed to make a pipe with an outer diameter of 40 mm. Then, the third layer and the fourth layer were manufactured.

Next, the first layer to the fourth layer are laminated, and the portion where the gap between the layers is large and the surface of the first layer on the human body side lacks in smoothness is separated from the first layer and the second layer. A pipe with an outer diameter of 5 mm was made between 1 mm thick "Tole Pef" (13 times expanded EVA copolymerized polyethylene foam), and the length was cut appropriately to fit the size of the gap.
An adhesive was used for joining with the polyurethane foam, and the other joining was performed by heat fusion to form a cushion for the sofa.

As a result, the shock absorption when seated is soft, there is no discomfort when used for more than 1 hour, and the cushioning material has an internal joint that appropriately crosses the cylindrical shaft to provide breathability and a comfortable feeling. Was obtained. For reference, Fig. 8
Table 2 shows the results of model comparison of the magnitude of the load on various cushioning materials and the change in thickness of various cushioning materials by adding and removing repulsive SS curves. The thickness of each cushion material was the same. In FIG. 8, A is a cylindrical polyethylene foam hollow body core material vertically arranged in Example 1, B is a polyethylene closed-cell body, C is a polyurethane open-cell body,
D is a polystyrene closed cell. It can be seen that it is extremely excellent in that it has a cushioning performance to withstand repeated load addition / removal in a large range of A without breaking.

[0035]

According to the present invention, for those having a large impact range, the air layer of the hollow body formed by joining the closed-cell plastic materials to each other to seal air is absorbed, while the impact range is increased. A cushioning material that withstands various impacts has been provided by a completely new technical idea of absorbing a small impact with a closed-cell plastic material. Further, it is possible to easily provide a cushioning material that meets a wide variety of quality specifications.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 (A) is a schematic bird's-eye view of a hollow body core material obtained by horizontally arranging a tubular product, and FIG. 1 (B) is a hollow body core obtained by vertically arranging a tubular product. Bird's eye schematic view of the material,
(C) is a bird's-eye view schematic diagram of a hollow core material formed by arranging a cylindrical product in a honeycomb configuration.

FIG. 2A is a schematic bird's-eye view of a hollow body core material in which corrugated plates are arranged horizontally, and FIG. 2B is a bird's-eye view schematic diagram of a hollow body core material in which corrugated plates are arranged vertically. () Is a bird's-eye view schematic view of the meandering tapes arranged vertically, and (D) is a bird's-eye view schematic view of the meandering tapes arranged in a honeycomb shape.

FIG. 3A is a schematic bird's-eye view of a hollow core material obtained by laterally arranging a product processed into a chevron shape, and FIG. 3B is a schematic side view of what is shown in FIG.

FIG. 4A is an example of a hollow core material according to the present invention, which is processed into a rectangular tube shape, and FIG. 4B is a circular tube shape with a long joint surface. It is a figure which shows the example of the hollow core material concerning this invention used.

FIG. 5 (A) is a schematic view of a hollow core material according to the present invention in which foamed beads are enclosed in an air layer of a joined product processed into a tubular shape, and FIG. 5 (B) is processed into various tubular shapes. A schematic diagram of a hollow core material according to the present invention, which is a multi-stage stacked type,
(C) is a schematic view of a hollow core material according to the present invention, which has been processed into various tubular shapes and arranged horizontally, and (D) is a brick block-shaped multi-stage stacking type that has been processed into a hexagonal tubular shape. It is a schematic diagram of the hollow core material according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 (A) is a schematic view of a hollow core material according to the present invention in which foamed beads are enclosed in an air layer of a product processed into a tubular shape, and FIG. 6 (B) is a product processed into a tubular shape. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a hollow core material according to the present invention in which a room temperature curable foam is sprayed inside or outside the air layer of the above.

FIG. 7 (A) is a schematic side sectional view illustrating an embodiment in which a cushion material of the present invention is mounted on a safety protection wall surface in an elevation, and FIG. 7 (B) is a plane surface on which the cushion material of the present invention is mounted on a sofa bedding. It is a side surface schematic diagram explaining an embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing an additive / repulsive SS curve with respect to changes in the magnitude of load on various cushion materials and the thickness of various cushion materials.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Closed-cell plastic material 2 Joint part of closed-cell plastic material 3 Foamed beads 4 Room temperature curable foam 5 Surface covering material covering cushion core material 6 Back wall surface covered by cushion core material 7 Cushion core material A Vertically arranged tubular shape Polyethylene foam hollow core B Polystyrene closed cell C Polyurethane open cell D Polystyrene closed cell

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location B32B 27/00 B32B 27/00 J 101 101 B68G 5/02 B68G 5/02 11/04 11/04 D04H 1/02 D04H 1/02 (72) Inventor Minoru Sawano 1-20-10 Igusa, Suginami-ku, Tokyo

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A cushion material comprising a hollow body formed by joining closed-cell plastic materials to each other and sealing air therein, as a core material. 2. A cushioning material comprising a hollow body formed by joining a composite of a closed-cell plastic material and another cushioning material to each other to seal air, as a core material. 3. The cushion material according to claim 1, wherein the closed-cell plastic material is made of a thermoplastic polymer which can be joined by heat fusion. 4. The closed cell plastic material is tubular in advance,
The cushion material according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is processed into any of a corrugated shape, a chevron projection shape, and a honeycomb shape. 5. The cushioning material according to claim 1, wherein a hollow body is used in which a tape-shaped closed-cell plastic material is meandered and the contact portions are joined to each other to seal air. 6. The cushioning material according to claim 4, wherein the closed-cell plastic materials having different processed shapes are joined together in a composite manner. 7. The closed-cell plastic material to be joined to each other is different in at least one of thickness, foaming ratio, and material, according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The cushion material described. 8. The cushioning material according to claim 1, wherein the closed cell plastic material is a closed cell plastic material to which another foamable material is fixed. 9. The cushioning material according to claim 8, wherein the other foamable material is room temperature-curable foamable silicone. 10. A cushion according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein another cushioning material is enclosed in an air layer of a hollow body which is air-tight so as not to fill the volume of the air layer. Material. 11. The cushion material according to claim 1, wherein a hollow body formed by hermetically sealing air is vertically or horizontally connected and used as a core material. 12. The cushion material according to claim 11, wherein a hollow body formed by hermetically sealing air is longitudinally or laterally spliced and stacked and used as a core material. 13. A hollow body formed by joining closed-cell plastic materials to each other to hermetically seal air is used as a core material, and a flexible sheet-like material is provided around the core material.
The cushion material according to any one of 1. 14. A hollow body obtained by bonding closed-cell plastic materials to each other to seal air is used as a core material, and a hard material is bonded to one surface of the hollow material and a surface covering material for protecting the core material is bonded to the other surface thereof. The cushion material according to any one of claims 1 to 12, which is formed by: 15. A building material comprising the cushion material according to any one of claims 1 to 14. 16. A material selected from walls, pillars and floors of sports facilities, which uses the cushioning material according to any one of claims 1 to 14. 17. A protective safety device using the cushion material according to claim 1. Description: 18. Furniture comprising the cushion material according to any one of claims 1 to 14. 19. A cushioning packaging material comprising the cushion material according to any one of claims 1 to 14. 20. A wave absorber comprising the cushion material according to any one of claims 1 to 14.