JPH09224785A - Bed mat - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a comfortable using touch with air permeability and water vapor permeability by making the fabric form to include fibers composed of a thermoplastic polymer whose melting point is lower than those of any other fiber and further by coating the fabric surfaces of part of the component fibers with silicon-based resin. SOLUTION: This bed mat is a fabric form whose inside material composing of this bed mat consists of two or more kinds of fibers. This contains the fibers C composed of a thermoplastic polymer R1 whose melting point is lower than those of any other fiber. These contact points among the fibers C with each other and between the fibers C and any other fiber are partially bonded. As a thermo-plastic polymer R1, such thermoplastic polymers as polyester, copolymerized polyester and the like can be listed. The fibers C are made by using the bicomponent fibers with the thermoplastic polymer R1 at the surface side and such thermoplastic polymer whose melting point is higher than that of R1, that is being conjugated at the core side. The fibers coated with silicon based resin are what the surfaces of the bicomponent fibers C are coated with silicone-based resin.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bed mat for medical use, bedding, etc., which has excellent dryness and flexibility when washed with water.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, resin foam such as polyurethane has been mainly used as a matting material for bed mats. However, the resin foam has environmental problems, such as the use of chlorofluorocarbon or its substitute gas at the time of foaming and the generation of toxic gas at the time of combustion. In addition, it has low air permeability and moisture permeability, and it easily gets damp, and when it is exposed to a solution such as water or urine, it has low water permeability, so it accumulates on the mat and is difficult to dry.
It could be uncomfortable.

A cushion material (fiber stuffing material) is used as a matting material for solving these problems.
2155, Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-18183, Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-33478, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-140185. These cushion materials use a low-melting point fiber as a heat-adhesive fiber, or use a high-melting point thermoplastic resin as a core part and a low-melting point thermoplastic resin as a sheath part. Although some results have been obtained by using, it is desired to improve further.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a bed mat which is excellent in quick-drying property and flexibility and has breathability and moisture permeability and a comfortable feeling of use.

[0005]

The bed mat of the present invention has the following constitution in order to solve the above problems.
That is, the matting material forming the bed mat is a fiber molded body composed of two or more kinds of fibers, and the fiber molded body contains a fiber C made of a thermoplastic polymer R1 having a lower melting point than other fibers. , Some of the contact points between the fibers C and between the fibers C and other fibers are adhered to each other, and at least some of the constituent fibers are provided with a silicone resin on the fiber surface,
A bed mat provided with the above-mentioned mat intermediate material and mat cover, or the above-mentioned mat intermediate material, mat midside material and mat cover.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, a bed mat of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings and with reference to embodiments.

Generally, a bed mat is composed of a mat middle material and a mat cover, or a mat middle material, a mat inner side material and a mat cover. Among them, the quality of the bed mat depends largely on the mat material. The bed mat of the present invention is a fiber molded product in which the mat intermediate material constituting the bed mat is composed of two or more kinds of fibers, and includes a fiber C made of a thermoplastic polymer R1 having a lower melting point than other fibers. , The fibers C are bonded to each other and some of the contact points between the fibers C and other fibers are bonded.

As the thermoplastic polymer R1, for example, in the case of polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene propylene copolymer, ethylene butene copolymer,
At least one selected from polyolefins such as ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers or olefin copolymers, polyesters such as polyhexamethylene terephthalate, polyhexamethylene butylene terephthalate, polyhexamethylene terephthalate isophthalate or thermoplastic polymers such as copolyesters. Mention may be made of types of polymers.

Since the melting point of these thermoplastic polymers R1 is heat-bonded by heat treatment in the production of fiber moldings,
In order to obtain sufficient thermal adhesiveness between fibers and to avoid performing heat treatment at a high temperature more than necessary, it is preferable that the component is lower than other fibers by 20 ° C or more and 80 to 170 ° C.

Further, the fiber C is a thermoplastic polymer having a melting point of 20 ° C. or more higher than that of R1 with the thermoplastic polymer R1 on the surface side in order to avoid pulverization due to compression or rubbing action during use of the fiber molding. A composite fiber in which R2 is composited on the core side is preferable, and in order to obtain sufficient thermal adhesiveness between the fibers and to obtain compressibility, compression recovery property and softness of the fiber molded body, R1 /
A composite fiber (hereinafter referred to as composite fiber C) having a weight ratio represented by R2 in the range of 20/80 to 60/40 is preferable.

The thermoplastic polymer R2 is not particularly limited, but for example, terephthalic acid, 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid or their ester is a main dicarboxylic acid component, and ethylene glycol or tetramethylene glycol is a main glycol component. Examples include linear polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, and polyethylene 2,6-naphthalate. Of these, polyethylene terephthalate (ordinary polyester) is preferred.

When the composite fiber C is of nylon type,
For example, it is also possible to use the one in which the thermoplastic polymer R2 is nylon 6 and the thermoplastic polymer R1 is a copolymer having nylon 6 and nylon 6 copolymerized to lower the melting point.

Further, in addition to the polymer components other than R1 and R2, pigments such as titanium oxide and carbon black, the composite fiber C may further include conventionally known antioxidants, anti-coloring agents, and light resistance. Agents, antistatic agents, etc. can be added by complexing or mixing unless the original function is lost. Such composite fibers can be manufactured by composite spinning.

As the fiber C, a short fiber having a fineness of 1 to 30 denier and a fiber length of 10 to 100 mm is preferably used. When it is thinner than 1 denier, the amount of the thermoplastic polymer R1 as the low melting point component becomes relatively small at the contact point between fibers, and the morphological stability due to heat adhesion may be deteriorated. When it exceeds 30 denier, the contact points between other fibers having a high melting point and the fiber C and the contact points between the fibers C are relatively decreased, and it becomes difficult to obtain a homogeneous fiber molded product due to uneven thermal bonding. is there. The fiber length is 1
If the length is shorter than 0 mm, the entanglement between the fibers may be deteriorated, and it may be difficult to maintain the shape when the fiber molded body is made thin. If the length is longer than 100 mm, the fibers are entangled too much to open the fiber.
The blending property may be deteriorated, and it may be difficult to obtain a fiber molded product having a uniform density.

The crimp of the fiber C may be appropriately selected depending on the intended use of the fiber molded product. In order to improve the bulkiness, softness and recovery property against compression, the number of crimps is 3 to 10 peaks / 2.
It is preferably 5 mm and the crimping degree is in the range of 5 to 30%.

Further, the fiber molded article is one in which a silicone resin is applied to the surface of at least a part of the constituent fibers.

The fiber A to which the silicon-based resin is applied may be the above-mentioned composite fiber C to which the silicon-based resin is applied, but generally the surface of the fiber is applied with the silicon-based resin. Since the adhesiveness due to heat is low, the preferred fiber constitution is fiber A to which silicon resin is applied and fiber C to which silicon resin is not applied or fiber A and silicon resin to which silicon resin is applied. It is a combination of fibers C that are not applied and fibers B that are not provided with a silicone resin.

The fibers A and B are not particularly limited as long as they are higher than the melting point of the thermoplastic polymer R1 by 20 ° C. or more. In addition to polyester, for example, polyamides such as 6-nylon, 66-nylon, 610-nylon, 109-nylon, 11-nylon, and 12-nylon can be mentioned. Among them, polyester has compression characteristics (compression recovery). It is a preferable material from the viewpoints of comprehensiveness such as heat resistance), excellent heat-adhesive morphological fixability, low toxicity of combustion gas, and recyclability.

As the fibers A and other fibers B, short fibers having a fineness of 2 to 30 denier and a fiber length of 10 to 100 mm are preferably used. When it is thinner than 2 denier, the bulk of the fiber may be low, the resistance to compression may be low in spite of the density of the fiber molding, and the compression recovery property may be low. If it is thicker than 30 denier, the tactile feel may become coarse and hard. Further, if the fiber length is shorter than 10 mm, the entanglement property between the fibers may be deteriorated, and it may be difficult to maintain the shape when the fiber molded body is made thin. In some cases, it may be difficult to obtain a fiber molded product having a uniform density.

The crimps of the fibers A and the other fibers B may be appropriately selected depending on the intended use of the fiber molding, and the number of crimps is 3 to 3 in order to improve the bulkiness, softness, and recoverability to compression. It is preferable that 10 peaks / 25 mm and the crimping degree are in the range of 5 to 30%.

From the viewpoint of quick-drying by washing with water, which is one of the objects of the present invention, it is preferable that the mat-middle fiber molding of the bed mat has a water content of 350% or less which will be described later. If it exceeds 350%, the handleability of the bed mat will be poor at the time of washing with water, and at the same time, the drying speed will be slow and the drainage will be poor, and the washing cost will be high, which is not preferable. In order to reduce the water content to 350% or less, at least 15% by weight, more preferably 30% by weight or more, of the fiber A to which the silicon-based resin is added is included in the constituent fibers of the fiber molded body.

As a method of applying the silicone resin to the surface of the fibers, a mixture of the fibers C and other fibers is heat-treated, and the fibers C and other fibers and the fibers C and other fibers are fused to form a fiber molded body. After that, add silicone resin,
It can be heat-treated and fixed, or a silicon-based resin is applied during the production of the fiber A, and the heat-treated and fixed fiber A is used as a fiber molded body structure, between the fibers C and between the fibers C and other fibers. It is also possible to fuse the spaces to form a fiber molded body. The latter is a more preferable method because it reduces the processing cost.

The amount of the silicone resin applied is, for example, about 0.1 to 2% owf of a silicone resin containing dimethylpolysiloxane as a main component from the viewpoints of water drainage due to water wetting, quick drying after washing with water, and cost. Is preferred.

The fiber molding of the present invention comprises the above-mentioned fiber C
0-60 wt% and fiber A or fiber A and other fiber B
It is preferable to set the total of 80 to 40% by weight. When the content of the fiber C is less than 20% by weight, the thermal bonding points between the fibers C and between the fibers C and the other fibers B may be decreased, and the shape stability may be deteriorated. The soft feeling of the body may be deteriorated and the feel may be coarse and hard.

When the fibers constituting the fiber molding include the fibers A to which the above-mentioned silicone resin is added, the effect of enhancing the compression elasticity and the compression recovery when the bed mat is used can be expected.

The fiber molded article of the present invention is a fiber molded article in which the mat-middle fiber molded article of the bed mat is composed of two or more kinds of fibers, and has a bending amount of 5 to 5 measured by the characteristic evaluation method described later. It is preferably 20 cm. If it is less than 5 cm, the fiber molded body has poor flexibility, and when the fiber mat is used as a bed mat intermediate material, it may be difficult to follow the deformation of the bed, which may impair the appearance or function of the mat such as floating or wrinkling.
When it exceeds cm, the handling property when moving the bed mat for washing may be deteriorated.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the fiber arrangement of the fiber molding of the present invention. In order to obtain a fiber molded body having a bending amount in the range of 5 to 20 cm, for example, most of the constituent fibers of the fiber molded body have a unidirectional cross section (bdef) where the fiber molded body is present.
It is obtained by arranging the fiber axis directions substantially parallel to each other, and arranging them in random directions within the cross section (bdef). When such a fiber molded body is cut and molded so that a large number of fibers arranged substantially parallel to the thickness direction when used as a bed mat intermediate material, that is, the direction in which it receives a compression action, and used, for example, ab line If the direction of is the long direction of the middle material of the bed mat, the bed mat also undergoes similar deformation when the bed is changed from the sleeping position to the sitting position, that is, a fiber molded product having good flexibility can be obtained.

Further, most of the constituent fibers are arranged with their fiber axis directions substantially parallel to the cross section (bdef) in the thickness direction of the fiber molded body, and within the cross section (bde) in the thickness direction of the fiber molded body.
By arranging them in a random direction in f), the fiber molding has high durability even after being washed and used, and has high moisture permeability and water permeability even though it has good flexibility, and is highly comfortable to use. The body is obtained, and the number of fibers arranged in parallel to the direction in which the body is subjected to the compression action is increased, resulting in a structure that enhances the compression recovery property and the repulsive force.

Here, although there are many cross sections in the thickness direction, such as a surface having an angle along line ae in FIG. 1 and a cross section having an angle along line ab, a cross section in the thickness direction in which fibers are arranged substantially in parallel ( bdef) is only the surface of the angle along the line be, and the fibers are arranged substantially parallel to the surface of this angle. Therefore, when the fiber molded body is stretched or distorted, it is comparatively more than the surface of other angles. It is an angled surface that is easy to peel off.

As the structure of the fiber molded body for enhancing the flexibility of the fiber molded body, one having the above-mentioned fiber arrangement is preferable, but in addition, the fibers to be used are mixed and opened, and the card is further mixed and opened to make a web. After forming a laminated web with a cotton molding machine, fold the web in a wave shape and fix it with a low melting point fiber in the used fiber so that the wave height direction is the thickness of the intended use of the bed mat Can also be obtained by

Next, an example of a preferable method for producing the fiber molded body used in the bed mat of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a mold of an apparatus used in an example of the method for producing a fiber molded body used in the bed mat of the present invention.

The fiber A and the fiber C or the fiber A, and the other fibers B and C are sufficiently mixed and opened by a cotton feeding machine, a cotton mixing machine, and a fiber opening machine used in a usual spinning process. The air-permeable mold having a shape suitable for the above is blown with a gas such as an air flow from a cotton feeding fan to be filled.

For blowing and filling, a mold having a proper air permeability is used. For example, JIS L
1079-1966 As measured by a Frazier-type air permeability tester, air permeability is 5 to 200 cc / cm.
A range of ² · sec is preferable.

As such a mold, for example, dies 1 and 2 using a punching metal plate shown in FIG. 2 can be used. The fiber mixture 4 blown from the blowing port 3 into the air-permeable mold is in a state of being randomly arranged in the length, width, and thickness directions.

Next, the filled fiber mixture is compressed by the upper mold 2 to an appropriate density. Density is 0.025 ~
It is preferably 0.055 g / cm ³ . When the density is less than 0.025 g / cm ³ , the fiber molded product is too soft and the shape stability is deteriorated, and it may be difficult to cut and mold it into a desired shape. If it exceeds 0.055 g / cm ³ , the soft feeling of the fiber molded product may deteriorate. The compression treatment also has an effect of increasing the intended flexibility by arranging the fiber molded body of the present invention in a direction substantially parallel to the thickness direction cross section (bdef) of the fiber molded body using the fiber axis direction.

The compressed filler is heat-treated to bond the fibers C to each other and a part of the contact points between the fibers C and the fibers A or other fibers B to fix the shape. Heat treatment temperature is fiber C
R1 may be at a temperature at which it melt-bonds, and generally,
80-200 degreeC is preferable. Furthermore, in the present invention, at a temperature lower than the melting point of the thermoplastic polymer R1 of the composite fiber C, two in two directions perpendicular to the compression direction after the blow filling or one in one of the two directions is 5 to 5. It is also preferable that the fiber compact of the present invention is obtained by finishing secondary compression treatment once or more in the range of 80%. The fiber molded product of the present invention has excellent compression elasticity, flexibility, moisture permeability, and water permeability, and therefore, the constituent fibers are formed on the surface in the direction in which it is subjected to a compression action in, for example, the sitting position or the sleeping position of the intended use. Many of the fiber axis directions are arranged in parallel.
For that purpose, the direction of the secondary compression treatment at the time of manufacturing the fiber molded body is the direction in which it is used, for example, the direction in which it is subjected to a compression action in the sitting or sleeping position, that is, the thickness direction of the application. In this case, the secondary compression treatment has an effect of previously removing unnecessary bonding points melt-bonded at R1 of the fiber A to improve soft feeling and compression recovery when using the fiber molded body.

[0038]

Next, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples and comparative examples. The measuring methods of various characteristics described in the present invention are as follows.

(1) Moisture content Two rectangular fiber molded body test pieces having a thickness of 7 cm, a width of 80 cm and a length of 50 cm were prepared, and first, in a natural state (20 ° C. × 6).
The weight (Wo) after standing for 24 hours at 5% RH is measured. After that, the sample was dipped in a water tank for 30 minutes, and the weight (W) was measured after 3 minutes in a state where it was taken out so that the width direction was the vertical direction, and the water content was calculated by the following formula and expressed as an average of two times.

Moisture content (%) = [(W−Wo) / W] × 100 (2) Deflection amount Three rectangular fiber molded body test pieces having a thickness of 5 cm, a width of 10 cm, and a length of 50 cm were prepared, and were placed horizontally. Place it on the table, slide the test piece, leave it for 30 minutes from the edge of the table, and leave it for 1 minute. Then, measure the difference in height between the upper surface of the table and the lower surface of the tip of the test piece (deflection amount mm) on a scale. It was read and expressed as an average value of three times.

(3) Fineness The fineness was measured according to the method of JIS L1015-7-51A.

(4) Average fiber length (cut length) JIS L1015A method (staple diagram method)
It measured according to.

(5) Number of crimps and degree of crimp The number of crimps and the degree of crimp are JIS L1015-7-12-
1 and the method of JIS L1015-7-12-2.

(6) Packing density Test piece (vertical: 20 cm, horizontal: 20 cm, thickness: 20
cm) was allowed to stand in an atmosphere of 20 ° C. × 65% RH for 24 hours, and the weight (w) was measured and determined by the following equation. Density (g / cm ³ ) = w / 8000 Example 1 Polyethylene terephthalate polyester copolymerized with 40 mol% of isophthalic acid as a thermoplastic polymer R1 with an intrinsic viscosity of 0.55, and as a thermoplastic polymer R2 ordinary polyethylene Using terephthalate with an intrinsic viscosity of 0.65, spinning temperature 285 ° C., take-up speed 1350 m / min,
A core-sheath composite fiber having a weight ratio R1 / R2 of 50/50 and R1 as a sheath and R2 as a core was spun.

Then, the undrawn yarn is drawn at a draw ratio of 3.0 times,
Stretching was performed at a stretching bath temperature of 80 ° C., and mechanical crimping was applied with a crimper. Further, after drying with a heat setter at 70 ° C., a finishing oil agent was applied and cut into a cut length of 51 mm to obtain a composite short fiber C having a fineness of 4.5 denier and a surface layer melting point of about 110 ° C.

Separately from this, polyethylene terephthalate having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.65 was used, spinning was carried out under asymmetric cooling immediately below the spinneret, stretched and mechanically crimped, and then commercially available dimethylpolysiloxane was used as a main component. The silicone resin liquid was uniformly applied with a sprayer, heat-treated and fixed to obtain a silicone resin-added fiber A. The obtained fiber A is hollow with a cut length of 64 mm and a fineness of about 8 denier (hollow ratio 3
1%) Round cross section, number of crimps 4.3 peaks / 25mm, crimp 2
At 3.7%, the amount of silicone resin deposited was about 0.7% per fiber weight (owf).

As the fiber B to which the silicone resin is not applied, a hollow section with a cut length of 64 mm and a fineness of about 8 denier (hollow rate 31%) without spraying the silicone resin liquid at the time of producing the fiber A, and the number of crimps A short fiber having 4.7 threads / 25 mm and a crimping degree of 25.8% was produced.

30% by weight of the obtained fiber A and 3% of the fiber B were obtained.
0% by weight and 40% by weight of fiber C were mixed and further mixed and opened with a roller card to obtain a fiber mixture. This fiber mixture was blown together with an air stream into a lower mold 1 having inner surface width × length × depth 100 × 100 mm 100 cm, which was punched on each surface as shown in FIG. 1, and then punched on each surface. The fiber mixture 4 blown by the upper mold 2 having been subjected to was compressed to a target density of 50 cm in depth and fixed. The fiber mixture 4 compressed and fixed in the mold is steamed with a heat setter normally used for setting spun yarn.
Heat setting was performed at 0 ° C. for 30 minutes to obtain a fiber molded body that was heat-bonded at the contact points between the composite fibers C and the fibers A and B and the contact points between the composite fibers C. The water content of the obtained fiber molding is 175%.
And showed good quick drying property.

The direction in which the fiber molding is compressed by the upper mold,
That is, the depth direction was sliced to a thickness of 7 cm as the upper surface or the lower surface of the bed mat middle material, adhered and cut into a bed mat middle material of length × width × thickness 192 × 84 × 7 cm. The amount of flexure of the mat material was 6.1 cm.

Further, a polyester matte cloth was used as the inner side fabric of the bed mat, and a polyester double-sided circular knit fabric was used as the cover to form a bed mat. This bed mat is attached to a medical gadget, that is, a bed that can be easily changed from a sleeping position to a sitting position by raising the head or lowering the legs by electric operation. As a result of investigating the followability of the bed mat with respect to the change, a good followability was shown. As a result of actually sleeping test with the bed mat attached to the bed,
It was breathable, breathable, and comfortable to sleep in. It also showed good drainability after washing with water, quick drying, and flexibility.

Example 2 A large press was carried out in the direction in which the quadrangular prism fiber molded body obtained in Example 1 was previously compressed by an upper die, that is, in one of two planes perpendicular to the depth direction. A bed mat was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 50% compression was performed 5 times. The water content of the obtained bed mat is 171.
%, The amount of flexure was 18.4 cm, and all had good quality as bed mats.

Comparative Example 1 A bed mat was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 60% by weight of fiber B and 40% by weight of composite fiber C were used without using fiber A in example 1.

The water content of the obtained bed mat is 402.
%, The amount of flexure was 4.7 cm, and the bed mat was slightly inferior in quick-drying property and flexibility.

[0054]

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a bed mat which is excellent in quick-drying property and flexibility when washed with water, has high breathability and moisture permeability, and is comfortable to use.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a block-shaped fiber molding used in a matting material of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an example of an apparatus for producing a fiber molded body used for the matting material of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Lower mold 2: Upper mold 3: Gas inlet 4: Fiber mixture

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A fiber molding comprising a mat intermediate material constituting a bed mat, which comprises two or more kinds of fibers, the fiber molding comprising a thermoplastic polymer R1 having a lower melting point than other fibers. The above-mentioned mat containing C, in which the fibers C and some of the contact points between the fibers C and other fibers are adhered, and at least some of the constituent fibers are provided with a silicone resin on the fiber surface. A bed mat characterized by being provided with a middle material and a mat cover, or the above-mentioned mat middle material, a mat inner side material and a mat cover. 2. The bed mat according to claim 1, wherein the middle mat member has a water content of 350% or less measured by the method described in the text. 3. The bed mat according to claim 1, wherein the melting point of the thermoplastic polymer R1 is 20 ° C. or more lower than the melting points of the other fibers and 80 to 170 ° C. 4. A thermoplastic polymer R in which the fiber C has the thermoplastic polymer R1 on the surface side and has a melting point higher than that of R1 by 20 ° C. or more.
2 is a composite fiber that is compounded on the core side and has a weight ratio represented by R1 / R2 in the range of 20/80 to 60/40, and contains 20 to 60% by weight of the composite fiber. The bed mat according to claim 1, wherein the bed mat is a bed mat. 5. A fiber molded body in which most of the constituent fibers of the fiber molded body are arranged such that the fiber axis direction is substantially parallel to one cross-sectional direction (bdef) of the fiber molded body, and are arranged in a radam direction within the cross section. The bed mat according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the fiber molded body has a bending amount of 5 to 20 cm measured by the method described in the text. 6. A silicon-based resin containing dimethylpolysiloxane as a main component.
The bed mat according to any one of to 5. 7. The amount of silicone resin adhered is 0.1 to 2%.
It is owf, The bed mat in any one of Claims 1-6 characterized by the above-mentioned. 8. The bed mat according to claim 1, wherein the constituent fibers have a fineness of 2 to 30 denier. 9. The bed mat according to claim 1, wherein the constituent fibers are all polyester.