JPH09143848A - Mat for bedding - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mat for bedding excellent in air permeability, cushioning properties, shape retention properties and body washing properties and is recoverable and reusable. SOLUTION: This mat is a sheet like mass composed of a non-elastic polyester staple fiber as a matrix. This staple fiber mass contains elastic conjugated fibers comprising a thermoplastic polyester elastomer having melting point 40 deg.C <= lower than the melting point of polyester composing the staple fiber and a non-elastic polyester. This conjugated filaments contains the former at least exposed on the surface of the fiber and is added and mixed to the staple fiber mass and integrated by the fusion of the thermoplastic elastomer. The structure has the thickness of 3-35mm and the density: 0.01-0.15g/cm<3> and is a sheet like cushion structure [A] or a laminated structure having laminated cloth [B] at least one side of [A].

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a bedding rug. More specifically, the present invention relates to a bedding rug excellent in breathability, cushioning property, shape retention property, and round washability.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, beds have been widely used as bedding along with westernized lifestyle. In addition, the number of patients who are hospitalized for a long time has increased with the aging of the population, and beds are used as bedding in hospitals. Beds are usually sandwiched between sheets and an insole called a bed pad. For this purpose, this bed pad is required to have appropriate cushioning properties, washing properties, breathability, etc., but very few have these properties in a well-balanced manner.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first object of the present invention is to provide a bedding rug of a new structure having appropriate elasticity and breathability as a bedding for bedding, especially for beds. A second object of the present invention is to provide a bedding rug that has excellent shape retention and retains set resistance. Another object of the present invention is to provide a bedding rug which is washable and which is substantially formed of polyester fibers and is thus recoverable and reusable.

[0004]

According to the present invention, the object of the present invention is to use a non-elastic polyester crimped short fiber aggregate as a matrix, wherein the short fiber aggregate contains polyester of short fibers. A thermoplastic polyester elastomer having a melting point lower than the melting point by 40 ° C. or higher and a non-elastic polyester are used. In the former, at least the elastic composite fibers exposed on the fiber surface are dispersed and mixed, and the thermoplastic polyester elastomer is fused. A sheet-like cushion structure in which the short fiber aggregates are integrated, having a thickness of 3 to 25 mm and a density of 0.01 to 0.1.
A sheet-like cushion structure [A] having a weight of 5 g / cm ³ ;
And a fabric [B] at least above or below the structure [A] thereof.

Hereinafter, the bedding rug of the present invention will be described. First, the properties of the sheet-like cushion structure [A] and the manufacturing method thereof will be described. The non-elastic polyester short fibers forming the matrix in the sheet-like cushion structure [A] in the present invention are ordinary polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyhexamethylene terephthalate, polytetramethylene terephthalate, poly-1,4. -Dimethylcyclohexane terephthalate, polypivalolactone or short fibers made of a copolymer ester thereof or a blended body of those fibers,
Alternatively, it is a composite fiber made of two or more of the above polymers. The cross-sectional shape of the short fibers may be circular, flat, irregular or hollow. In particular, short fibers made of polyethylene terephthalate or its copolymer are preferable.

Since the polyester short fibers are fused with the elastic composite fibers to form a matrix that forms the framework of the cushioning material, the polyester short fibers alone are required to be bulky and to exhibit resilience. . The bulkiness alone (JIS L-1097) is preferably 50 cm ³ / g or more under a load of 0.5 g / cm ² , and 20 cm ³ / g or more under a load of 10 g / cm ² , and more preferably It is desirable that they are 60 cm ³ or more and 25 cm ³ / g or more, respectively. When the sublimation property is low, problems such as low elasticity and compression repulsion of the obtained fiber-molded cushion material become remarkable.

The short fibers may have a fineness of 4 denier or more, preferably in the range of 4 to 500 denier, and more preferably in the range of 8 to 200 denier. When the fineness is less than 4 denier, the bulkiness is not exhibited, and the cushioning property and the repulsion force become poor. On the other hand, when it is more than 500 denier, it is difficult to webbing the fiber, and the number of constituents of the obtained cushion structure is too small to be coarse and hard and the cushioning property becomes poor.

On the other hand, the number of crimps of the polyester short fiber is
It is preferable that the number of crimps is 4 to 25 pieces / inch and the crimping degree is 10 to 40%. If the number of crimps or the degree of crimping is too small, it is not preferable because it makes it difficult for the feb to be bulky and makes it difficult to form a web. The resulting cushioning material also has poor resilience and only low durability. On the other hand, if the number of crimps or the degree of crimping is too large, the bulkiness of the web does not increase and only a high-density cushioning material can be obtained. It is not possible to do it. Fiber length of the polyester short fibers is 5 m
m or more, preferably 10 to 100 mm, particularly preferably 15 mm to 90 mm is advantageous.

On the other hand, in the cushion structure [A] of the present invention, the elastic composite fiber for fusing the short fiber aggregate as the matrix has a melting point of 40 ° C. or more lower than the melting point of the non-elastic polyester short fiber as the matrix. At least a part of the thermoplastic elastomer having a low melting point is an elastic composite fiber, especially on the surface of the fiber, and at least a part of the surface thereof is melted by heating to melt the polyester-based short fiber or the elastic composite fiber. Say that. When the difference in melting point is 40 ° C. or less, the processing temperature becomes close to the melting point of the polyester short fibers, and the physical properties and crimping properties of the polyester short fibers are deteriorated, and the cushioning performance is deteriorated, or during molding. Contraction will increase. From this meaning, the melting point of the low-melting thermoplastic elastomer is 40 ° C. higher than the melting point of the polymer constituting the short fiber.
Above all, it is particularly preferable that the temperature is lower than 60 ° C. The melting point of such a thermoplastic elastomer can be, for example, a temperature in the range of 130 to 220 ° C.

In the cushion structure [A] of the present invention, the elastic composite fiber used for forming the flexible heat fixing point which plays an important role is formed of a thermoplastic elastomer and a non-elastic polyester. In this case, the former preferably occupies at least half of the fiber surface. In terms of weight ratio, the former and the latter are combined ratio of 30 / 70-
A range of 70/30 is suitable. The form of the elastic conjugate fiber may be either side-by-side or sheath-core, but the latter is preferred. In this sheath-core type, the inelastic polyester is of course the core, but the core may be concentric or eccentric. In particular, an eccentric type is more preferable because a coiled elastic crimp is developed.

[0011] Thus, the cushion structure [A] of the present invention is repeatedly used for cushioning after heat fusion molding in use, and the amount of compression, that is, the amount of deformation is large (for example, 50% of the thickness) in cushioning applications. It is necessary that the heat fixing point is easily deformed when a deformation stress is applied, and is easily returned to the original position without leaving a strain when the deformation stress is eliminated. The fact that a large amount of deformation is applied to the fiber molded cushion means that the entanglement points of the low melting point polymer of the fibers forming the fiber structure are further changed in angle, stretched or twisted. And so on.
Therefore, this heat-fixing polymer is required to have a property of being largely deformed and recovered, and therefore it is preferable to be composed of a thermoplastic elastomer having a large fracture elongation and a good elongation recovery property. A polyester elastomer is particularly preferable because the matrix fiber to be heat-fixed is a polyester fiber.

As the polyester elastomer, a polyether ester block copolymer obtained by copolymerizing thermoplastic polyester as a hard segment and poly (alkylene oxide) glycol as a soft segment, more specifically, terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, Aromatic dicarboxylic acids such as phthalic acid, naphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylic acid, naphthalene 2,7-dicarboxylic acid, diphenyl-4,4-dicarboxylic acid, diphenoxyethanedicarboxylic acid and sodium 3-sulfoisophthalate, 1 , 4
An alicyclic dicarboxylic acid such as cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid, succinic acid, oxalic acid, adipic acid, sebacic acid, dodecanedioic acid, an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid such as dimer acid, or a dicarboxylic acid selected from these ester-forming derivatives, etc. At least one and an aliphatic diol such as 1,4-butanediol, ethylene glycol, trimethylene glycol, tetramethylene glycol, pentamethylene glycol, hexamethylene glycol, neopentylene glycol, decamethylene glycol, or 1,1
-Cyclohexadimethanol, 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol, at least one diol component selected from alicyclic diols such as tricyclodecane dimethanol, or ester-forming derivatives thereof, and an average molecular weight of about 400 to 5,000. Polyethylene glycol, poly (1,2- and 1,3-propylene oxide) glycol, poly (tetramethylene oxide) glycol, a copolymer of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, a copolymer of ethylene oxide and tetrahydrofuran, etc. It is a terpolymer composed of at least one of poly (alkylene oxide) glycols.

However, from the viewpoints of adhesiveness with polyester short fibers, temperature characteristics, strength, physical properties, etc., a block copolymerized polyether polyester having polybutylene terephthalate as a hard segment and polyoxytetramethylene glycol as a soft segment is used. preferable.
In this case, the polyester portion constituting the hard segment is polybutylene terephthalate in which the main acid component is terephthalic acid and the main diol component is a butylene glycol component. Of course, a part (usually 30 mol% or less) of this acid component may be substituted with another dicarboxylic acid component or an oxycarboxylic acid component, and likewise, a part of the glycol component may be a dioxycarboxylic acid component other than the butylene glycol derivative. It may be replaced with a component. Further, the polyether component constituting the soft segment may be a polyether substituted with a dioxy component other than tetramethylene glycol. It should be noted that various stabilizers, ultraviolet absorbers, thickening and branching agents, matting agents, coloring agents, and various other improving agents may be added to the polymer, if necessary.

On the other hand, in the elastic composite fiber of the present invention, the non-elastic polyester used as the counterpart component of the elastomer is selected from the polyesters constituting the crimped short fibers forming the matrix. Among them, polybutylene is particularly preferable. Terephthalate is more preferably used.

The denier is 2 to 1 because the elastic composite fiber is blended during the production of the fiber-molded cushioning material and is an adhesive component when forming the fiber structure.
It is preferably 00 denier, and particularly preferably 4 to 100 denier. If the denier is small, the number of bonding points is too large, and it is difficult to provide cushioning. On the other hand, if it is too thick, the number of bonding points is too small and the resilience is too low, or it tends to come loose during use. Cut length 38-255 mm, crimp number 4-50
The number of pieces / inch is preferable. If it deviates from this range, it becomes difficult to mix and it becomes difficult to make a web.
In addition, the cushioning performance and compression durability of the molded product are also reduced.

The blending ratio of this low melting point elastic composite fiber is 1
Suitably 0 to 70% by weight. If the proportion of the low melting point composite fiber is less than 10% by weight, the number of adhesion points of the fiber structure will be too small, resulting in too low compression rebound and too low compression durability. On the other hand, the ratio is 70% by weight
If it becomes higher, the number of bonding points of the fiber structure is too large and only a hard cushioning property is obtained, or the low melting point fiber shrinks (generally, the low melting point fiber is Due to the heat-sealing property, it is difficult to heat-fix during production and the shrinkage is high), and it becomes difficult to obtain the shape of a predesigned molded product.

Particularly, as the cushion structure [A] of the present invention, the polyester crimped short fiber aggregate described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-819082 is used as a matrix.
The short fiber aggregate comprises a polyester and a thermoplastic polyester elastomer having a melting point of 40 ° C. or more lower than the melting point of the polyester forming the short fiber, and the former is dispersed and mixed with at least the elastic composite fiber exposed on the fiber surface. At that time, in the cushion structure, (a) flexible heat fixing points formed by heat fusion of the elastic composite fibers to each other in a state where the elastic composite fibers intersect with each other, and (b) the elastic composite fibers. It is preferable that the cushion structure has the flexible heat fixing points formed by heat fusion in a state where the non-elastic polyester short fibers intersect with each other. The specific contents and manufacturing method are described in the above publication.

In the structure of the cushion structure [A], the density at which the cushioning property is exhibited is 0.01 g / cm ^{3 to} 0.15.
The range of g / cm ³ is preferable, and 0.02 g / cm ^{3 to} 0.0
The range of 6 g / cm ³ is more preferable. If the density is lower than this range, the fiber density will be too low and the resilience and compression durability will fall below the practical range. On the other hand, if the density is too high, the fiber density and the density of the bonding points will be too high and will be too hard.

The fiber-formed cushion structure [A] of the present invention can be manufactured by various methods. Next, some of them will be described. That is, the cushion structure of the present invention is formed by mixing polyester short fibers and elastic composite fibers having a low melting point and opening with a card or the like to form a web, and then laminating a web or those webs, and placing the web in a mold having a predetermined shape. It is obtained by packing a fixed amount of web, compression and heat molding. In addition, sandwiching laminated webs, etc. in a conveyer consisting of a flat plate composed of a patching plate or caterpillar type upper and lower punching plates, pressurizing and heating at a temperature higher than the melting point of the elastic composite fiber and lower than the melting point of the polyester staple fiber. During heating or immediately after heating, it is compressed vertically or horizontally to press or heat at least part of the entanglement points between the elastic composite fibers and the polyester short fibers or the entanglement points between the elastic composite fibers. There is a method of obtaining a fiber-formed cushion structure having a predetermined shape while treating and heat-sealing.

The cushion structure [A] of the present invention has a density of 0.01 to 0.15 g / cm ³ , preferably 0.02 to.
It is in the range of 0.06 g / cm ³ , and although it is lightweight, it has suitable compression resilience and compression durability as a cushioning material. Moreover, since it has excellent breathability, it can be used as various cushioning materials. Its thickness is 3 to 35
mm is sufficient, and practically 5 to 25 mm is suitable.

The bedding rug of the present invention is formed by overlaying a cloth [B] on or under the above-mentioned sheet-like cushion structure [A], or both. As the cloth [B], a plain weave design is usually used.
The invention is not limited to this, and may be another organization. Further, as the fibers constituting the cloth [B], for example, 100% polyester fiber, 100% cotton or polyester fiber /
Examples include cotton blends. Especially polyester fiber 100
% Is preferable because it can be recovered and reused as it is.

The above-mentioned cloth [B] is laminated on or under the cushion structure [A], particularly preferably above and below to form a bed rug. When the fabrics are stacked one above the other, they may be bags. The cloth [B] is desirably integrated with the cushion structure [A], and examples of the integration include quilting and welding (for example, high-frequency welder). Particularly, integration by quilting is preferable. In that case, the yarn used for quilting may be polyester short fiber spun yarn, polyester filament yarn, polyester short fiber / cotton spun yarn, or the like. The quilting can be appropriately selected including linear stitches, curved stitches, cross stitches and the like, including the respective stitch intervals. In addition, the bedding rug can be formed by stacking a cloth on the cushion structure [A] to integrate the cloth and attaching a hem (HEM) around the cloth.

[0023]

The bedding rug of the present invention has excellent breathability,
It has moderate elasticity, and also has shape retention and good sagging resistance. Moreover, since it can be formed substantially from polyester fiber, not only is it easy to wash with a circle, but it can also be collected and reused. Therefore, it is suitable for use as, for example, a pad for a bed, can be lightly folded and easily replaced, and can be easily cleaned by washing it even when it is soiled with body fluid or the like. Furthermore, since it has excellent breathability, it does not get stuffy and is excellent in usability. Particularly, 95% by weight or more, particularly 98% by weight or more of the whole can be composed of polyester fibers, and in that case, there is an advantage that recycling can be easily performed.

[0024]

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples. Example 1 (1) Formation of a sheet-like cushion structure; polyethylene terephthalate hollow fiber spiral crimped yarn (12)
de, fiber length 64 mm) and polyethylene terephthalate as core components, and an eccentric elastic composite fiber (9 de, fiber length 51 mm, core component: sheath component = 50:50) having a polyether ester elastomer as a sheath component, the former 70 weight % And the latter 30% by weight were mixed to obtain a web. This web is piled up and subjected to compression dry heat treatment at 200 ° C for 7 minutes to obtain a thickness of 2
A sheet-like cushion structure having a thickness of 0 mm and a density of 0.035 g / cm ³ was obtained.

(2) Formation of bedding rug A plain weave fabric composed of spun yarn of 100% polyester is used as a bag, and the above-mentioned sheet-like cushion structure (thickness 20 mm, width 1000 mm, length 2100 mm) is contained therein.
Was put. Then, quilting was performed using a sewing thread made of 100% polyester spun yarn. The quilting process was carried out by crossing the sheet-shaped structure at an angle of 30 ° and at intervals of 20 cm with respect to the lengthwise direction. The obtained rug had a comfortable feeling suitable for use as a bed pad.

This rug was cut into pieces and then melted to make a trial chip, and a short fiber having the same shape as the 12 de hollow fiber used in the present example was made by a melt spinning method using the tip. There was no problem in the process, and the physical properties of the obtained short fibers were almost the same as those of the 12 de hollow fiber used in the examples.

Example 2 As in Example 1, but with a reduced web thickness,
A sheet-like cushion structure having a thickness of 5 mm and a density of 0.040 g / cm ³ was obtained. This sheet-like cushion structure (thickness 5 mm, width 1000 mm, length 2100 mm) was put in a bag of plain woven fabric composed of polyester 100% filament yarn. Next, this was quilted at 25 cm intervals in the length direction and the width direction using a sewing thread made of 100% polyester filament thread. The obtained rug had appropriate elasticity and breathability as a bed rug and a futon rug. This rug is compact, can be easily washed in a household washing machine, has a fast drying rate, and can be easily wrinkled by washing.
Almost no morphological changes such as shrinkage and fatigue were observed.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A thermoplastic polyester elastomer having a non-elastic polyester crimped short fiber aggregate as a matrix, wherein the short fiber aggregate has a melting point of 40 ° C. or more lower than the melting point of the polyester constituting the short fibers, A sheet-like cushion structure made of non-elastic polyester, in which the elastic composite fibers exposed at least on the fiber surface are dispersed and mixed, and the short fiber aggregates are integrated by fusion bonding of the thermoplastic polyester elastomer. The thickness is 3 to 35 mm and the density is 0.01 to 0.
A sheet-like cushion structure [A] having a weight of 15 g / cm ³ , and a bedding rug, wherein a fabric [B] is laminated at least above or below the structure [A]. 2. The bedding rug according to claim 1, wherein 95% by weight or more of all the constituent fibers is polyester fiber. 3. The bedding rug according to claim 1, wherein the sheet-like cushion structure [A] and the cloth [B] are integrated. 4. The bedding rug according to claim 3, wherein the uniting is performed by quilting.