WO1993025122A1

WO1993025122A1 - Upholstery

Info

Publication number: WO1993025122A1
Application number: PCT/GB1993/001221
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stephen Anthony Rawlings
Original assignee: Stephen Anthony Rawlings
Priority date: 1992-06-10
Filing date: 1993-06-09
Publication date: 1993-12-23
Also published as: GB9311872D0; CA2137465A1; GB9212267D0; GB2267867A

Abstract

The embossed fabric dress-covering (3) to the foamed-plastics body (5) of an aircraft-passenger seat-cover, is flame welded to an intermediate layer (4) of foamed-plastics material wich is itself flame welded to the foam body (5). A partially-stretched knitted-cotton scrim (7) for backing the cover is flame welded to a further intermediate foam-layer (6) which is flame welded to the back of the foam body (5). The sheet (4) is nipped down in a heated embossing press to compress the slab (5) tightly onto the sheet (6) and fuse it with the sheets (4, 6) within embossing lines (2). As an alternative, the body is a laminate (15) of layers (18, 19) which are compressed down tightly and fused together with the upper intermediate sheet (14) onto the lower intermediate sheet (16) within embossing lines (12).

Description

Upholstery

This invention relates to upholstery and methods of its manufacture.

The invention is especially, but not exclusively, concerned with upholstery for aircraft-passenger seating, and methods of manufacturing such upholstery.

Aircraft-passenger seats are generally upholstered using seat-covers that are removable for cleaning. The seat- covers, which are made from wool, wool-based or man-made fabrics, are required to conform to strict regulations governing, in particular structure and flammability, and are required to maintain conformity with these regulations following cleaning. Known forms of seat- covers and other upholstery tend to be adversely affected in this respect by dry cleaning operations, and it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide upholstery which can be dry cleaned without breakdown of the upholstery structure.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided upholstery wherein a fabric dress-covering of a body of foamed-plastics material is welded to an intermediate layer of foamed-plastics material which is itself welded to the foam body.

The use of the layer of foamed-plastics material intermediate the dress-covering and the foamed-plastics body enables a good weld to be achieved to both items that is adequate to resist dela ination, and thereby maintain the structure of the upholstery under dry cleaning. A fabric backing of the foamed-plastics body may be secured to the body via a further intermediate layer of foamed-plastics material, the backing being welded to this further intermediate layer which is itself welded to the body, so that both the dress-covering and the backing are welded to opposite faces of the body via respective intermediate layers of foamed-plastics material. The backing is preferably a knitted fabric and may be welded to the foam body in a partially-stretched condition.

The foamed-plastics body, which may be graphite- impregnated or -loaded to provide it with a flame- retardant characteristic, may be of unitary form or may be a laminate.

The upholstery may be embossed, and to this end, the layer intermediate the dress-covering and the foam body may be compressed down into the foam body and fused with it, within the embossing. Where backing to the foam body includes a layer of foamed-plastics material, the layer intermediate the dress-covering and the foam body may be compressed down with the foam body tightly onto this layer of the backing and fused with it. According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing upholstery wherein a fabric dress-covering of a body of foamed-plastics material is welded to an intermediate layer of foamed- plastics material which is itself, subsequently or otherwise, welded to a front surface of the foam body.

A fabric backing of the foam body may be welded to a further intermediate layer of foamed-plastics material which is itself, subsequently or otherwise, welded to a back surface of the foam body.

The welding steps in the method of the invention may be carried out by flame welding, and where the foam body is a foamed-plastics laminate, may be carried out prior to bonding of the layers of the laminate together.

The upholstery may be embossed by compressing the dress- covering and the intermediate layer welded to it, down into the foam body and applying heat to fuse the layer and body together where they are compressed upon one another in this way.

The invention is especially applicable to the provision of aircraft-passenger seat-covers, and seat-covers of this nature and methods of manufacturing them, all in accordance with the present invention, will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows the general form of part of the first seat-cover;

Figure 2 shows to an enlarged scale, a cross-section on the line II-II of the seat-cover of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross-section of a laminate that is formed at an intermediate stage in the manufacture of the seat- cover of Figures 1 and 2; and

Figure 4 is a cross-section corresponding to that of Figure 2 illustrating an alternative construction of seat-cover.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the removable, padded seat- cover has an outer, fabric face l and is sculptured with embossing lines 2 for styling and decorative purposes. The face 1 is provided by a dress-covering 3 that is composed of both wool and man-made fibre and is treated to be flame retardant. The surface contouring of the dress-covering 3 resulting from the lines 2 embossed into the face 1 gives the cover an enhanced appearance of fullness or body.

As illustrated by Figure 2, the external dress-covering 3 is surface-welded directly to a thin sheet 4 of close- cell polyether or polyurethane foam. The sheet 4, which for example has a thickness of 1 mm, faces a slab 5 of semi-reticulated graphite-impregnated polyether or polyurethane foam. The slab 5 is backed by a thin sheet 6 of the same foam, and may be of the same thickness, as the sheet 4. The sheet 6 is itself backed by a stretched scrim 7 of knitted fabric of flame-proof polyester or flame-retardant, probanised cotton, that is surface- welded to the sheet 6.

The foam slab 5 has a thickness of, for example, between 8 mm and 20 mm, and may have as few as five, or as many as one hundred cells per inch (25.4 mm); ten cells per inch may be used, for example, for the highest class of seating and, say, thirty to sixty per inch for lower classes. A multiplicity of small holes 8, each having a diameter of some 1.6 mm, extend through the thickness of the slab 5. The puncture holes 8 are evenly distributed across the slab 5 and increase its air-permeability for passenger comfort as well as affording a more-open structure for entry and evaporation of dry-cleaning fluids.

The slab 5 is compressed down to a minimum thickness wherever the face 1 is indented along the embossing lines 2, as illustrated in Figure 2. More particularly, the sheet 4 as faced by the dress-fabric covering 3, is nipped down along the lines 2, the slab 5 as compressed tightly onto the sheet 6 being fused with the sheets 4 and 6 there to retain the indented configuration. The seat-cover is readily dry-cleaned, the weld-bonding of the sheets 4 and 6 with the dress-covering 3 and the knitted scrim 7 respectively, and the weld-bonding of the compressed slab 5 along the lines 2, being such as effectively to obviate delamination. The bulk of the seat-cover is for the most part provided by the open-cell and punctured structure of the slab 5 and this reduces significantly the tendency for cleaning fluid to be retained in the cover.

The fact that the scrim 7 is knitted, is also important since the knitted structure enables the scrim 7 to stretch and recover its former condition with the sheet 6, in particular during manufacture of the seat-cover. Although woven fabric could be used for the scrim 7, and will stretch, it will not recover in the same way as knitted, so that if it were used, the backing to the cover would be undesirably untidy and snagged, and would tend to crinkle to an extent that would ultimately be reflected in the fabric of the dress-covering 3 across the face 1.

The scrim 7 is welded to the sheet 6 in a slightly stretched form. The consequent slight openness of the knitted fabric facilitates attachment of the cover to the body of the seat by fibre hook-and-eye bonding. In this respect, elements having upstanding hooked fibres and such as sold under the Registered Trade Mark VELCRO, are secured to the seat. When the seat-cover is fitted, the hooked fibres on the seat engage with the opened-knit scrim 7 to establish a strong, but selectively-breakable bond holding the cover in place on the seat.

Manufacture of the seat-cover is carried out by first bonding the fabric of the dress-covering 3 to the sheet 4, and the knitted scrim 7 to the sheet 6. The bonding is carried out in both instances by exposing the relevant surfaces of the sheets 4 and 6 to a naked flame. The flame causes the surfaces of polyether or polyurethane foam to melt slightly so that they become tacky. The fabric covering 3 and the tacky surface of the sheet 4 are brought into contact with one another under roller pressure so that as the surface hardens a firm bond is formed. Similarly, a firm bond is established between the scrim 7 and the sheet 6 by bringing the slightly- stretched scrim 7 into contact with the tacky surface of the sheet 6 and holding the two together under roller pressure until the foam hardens.

The two sheets 4 and 6 are now applied as facing and backing, respectively, to the slab 5 after the slab 5 has been punctured with the holes 8 using an appropriately- spiked roller. The application of the sheets 4 and 6 to the slab 5 is carried out using the flame-welding technique referred to above in which the free, bonding surfaces of the sheets 4 and 6 are exposed to a flame and when tacky are brought into contact under roller pressure with the respective slab-surfaces to effect a firm bond. The resulting laminate, illustrated in Figure 3, is now cut to the shape appropriate to form the seat-cover, and entered into a heated press to consolidate the bonding and emboss the outer face 1 with the lines 2.

The laminate is submitted within the press to a temperature within the range of 100 to 250 degrees Celsius and pressure within the range of 100 to 300 kg/cm² where the embossing is to take place on the outer face 1 of the seat-cover; preferably, the temperature lies within the range of 110 to 225 degrees Celsius and the pressure is greater than some 210 kg/cm². The embossing pressure is maintained on the laminate for a period within the range of 30 seconds to 2 minutes to ensure that firm weld-bonds are formed by fusing the material of the slab 5 with the foam of the sheets 4 and 6 where the slab 5 is compressed down onto the flat sheet 6 under the sheet 4.

The use of welds rather than glue for bonding the various layers of the laminate together and in the embossing process, is of especial advantage in enhancing resistance of the seat-cover to delamination on dry cleaning, and in reducing its flammability.

Rather than using a single, unitary slab 5 of polyether or polyurethane foam, two (or possibly more) sheets of the foam may be bonded one upon the other using a cross- linking agent, to make up the slab thickness. The use of a plural-layer, laminated slab of this nature has been found to facilitate the sculpturing of the seat-cover, in that the embossed lines tend to be more pronounced.

A construction of seat-cover similar to that of Figure 2 but modified to incorporate a laminated body-slab in place of the unitary slab 5 of Figure 2, will now be described with reference to Figure 4.

Referring to Figure 4, the seat-cover in this case has embossing lines 12 and an external dress-covering 13. The dress-covering 13 is surface-welded directly to a thin foam sheet 14 that forms an intermediate layer between the dress-covering 13 and a foam laminate 15. The laminate 15 is backed by a thin foam sheet 16 that forms an intermediate layer between the laminate 15 and a stretched scrim 17 of knitted probanised cotton fabric that is surface-welded to the sheet 16. The sheets 14 and 16 are essentially the same as the sheets 4 and 6 of Figure 2, and are surface welded to the laminate 15.

The laminate 15 involves two thin sheets 18 and 19 of graphite-loaded polyurethane foam that are adhered together face to face in a bond 20. The two sheets 18 and 19 are bonded together in this respect only after the thin sheet 14 with the dress-covering 13 welded to it, has been welded to the sheet 18 and the sheet 16 with the scrim 17 welded to it, has been welded to the sheet 19. The bond 20 between the sheets 18 and 19 may be effected using a cross-linked polyurethane bonding agent.

Embossing is carried out as with the seat-cover of Figure 2. This compresses the sheets 14, 18 and 19 tightly down onto the sheet 16 within the lines 12, fusing them one to the other and into the bond 20 for deep definition of each line 12.

Although the invention has been described in the context of an aircraft-passenger seat-cover, the invention is applicable to seat-covers for other forms of transportation, as well as to upholstery generally.

Claims

Claims :

1. Upholstery wherein a fabric dress-covering of a body of foamed-plastics material is welded to an intermediate layer of foamed-plastics material which is itself welded to the foam body.

2. Upholstery according to Claim 1 wherein a fabric backing of the foamed-plastics body is secured to the foam body via a further intermediate layer of foamed- plastics material, the backing being welded to this further intermediate layer which is itself welded to the foam body.

3. Upholstery according to Claim 2 wherein the backing is a knitted fabric.

4. Upholstery according to Claim 3 wherein the knitted fabric welded to the foam body is in a partially- stretched condition.

5. Upholstery according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein the foam body is graphite-impregnated or -loaded to have a flame-retardant characteristic.

6. Upholstery according to any one of Claims 1 to 5 wherein the foam body is a foamed-plastics laminate.

7. Upholstery according to any one of Claims l to 6 having an embossed face, wherein the layer intermediate the dress-covering and the foam body is compressed down into the foam body and fused with it, within the embossing.

8. Upholstery according to Claim 7 wherein backing to the foam body includes a layer of foamed-plastics material, and the layer intermediate the dress-covering and the foam body is compressed down with the foam body tightly onto the foamed-plastics layer of the backing and fused with it.

9. Upholstery according to any one of Claims 1 to 8 in the form of a seat-cover.

10. A method of manufacturing upholstery wherein a fabric dress-covering to a body of foamed-plastics material is welded to an intermediate layer of foamed- plastics material which is itself, subsequently or otherwise, welded to a front surface of the foam body.

11. A method according to Claim 10 wherein a fabric backing to the foam body is welded to a further intermediate layer of foamed-plastics material which is itself, subsequently or otherwise, welded to a back surface of the foam body.

12. A method according to Claim 10 or Claim 11 wherein the welding steps are carried out by flame welding.

13. A method according to any one of Claims 10 to 12 wherein the foam body is a foamed-plastics laminate, and the steps of welding are carried out prior to bonding of the layers of the laminate together.

14. A method according to any one of Claims 10 to 13 including the step of embossing the upholstery by compressing the dress-covering and the intermediate layer welded to it, down into the foam body and applying heat to fuse the layer and body together where they are compressed upon one another in this way.

15. A method according to any one of Claims 10 to 14 included in the manufacture of a seat-cover.

16. Upholstery manufactured according to any one of Claims 10 to 15.