Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A45—HAND OR TRAVELLING ARTICLES
  • A45D—HAIRDRESSING OR SHAVING EQUIPMENT; EQUIPMENT FOR COSMETICS OR COSMETIC TREATMENTS, e.g. FOR MANICURING OR PEDICURING
  • A45D8/00—Hair-holding devices; Accessories therefor
  • A45D8/36—Hair straps; Hair rings

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a hair tie and a method for manufacturing a hair tie.
• Hair ties are now widely used to hold hair in place.
• Such hair ties have traditionally been manufactured by wrapping a string-like core material made of synthetic or natural rubber in nylon or polyester fabric, forming it into a ring shape, and then adhesively securing both ends of the core material.
• synthetic rubber and nylon polyester are synthetic resins
• the adhesive is often made of synthetic resins such as synthetic polyvinyl acetate and epoxy resin. Because synthetic resins are derived from petroleum, when conventional hair ties are discarded, they are not biodegradable and cannot be broken down by bacteria or fungi and returned to nature. As a result, discarded hair ties have traditionally been a source of environmental pollution. This is likely to continue to be a problem as environmental awareness grows.
• Patent Document 1 Japanese Patent No. 3560602
• Patent Document 2 Utility Model Registration No. 3061177
• the invention described in Patent Document 1 is a method for manufacturing a ring-shaped or string-shaped elastic band by joining the end faces of one or more rubber-cored strings, which have a rubber core covered by an elastic fiber yarn cover.
• the method includes the steps of: applying a solidifying agent, which is mixed with water and has the effect of solidifying the rubber-cored string, water, and an expander such as sodium bicarbonate or yeast powder, directly to the end face of the rubber-cored raw string, including the end face of the rubber core, solidifying the end face of the rubber core and the end face of the elastic cover together and forming a porous solidified portion through the action of the expander; cutting the solidified portion of the raw string flat to obtain the rubber-cored string; and butting the cut end faces of the rubber-cored string together with a water-insoluble adhesive, allowing the adhesive to penetrate into the pores exposed in the cut end faces and bonding the end faces together, thereby connecting the rubber-cored string.
• a solidifying agent which is mixed with water and has
• This invention aims to improve the tensile strength of the adhesive joint, but does not meet the above-mentioned requirements for biodegradability or discomfort at the joint site when worn.
• the invention described in Patent Document 2 is a far-infrared emitting ceramic inner wrapping in which porous ceramic particles with high far-infrared emissivity are enclosed in an accessory such as a bracelet, hair band, or waist belt, at least a portion of which is formed into a bag-shaped belt, and which similarly does not meet the above-mentioned demands.
• the problem that this invention aims to solve is to provide a hair tie that is highly biodegradable and recyclable in nature, preventing environmental pollution even when discarded, and that will not break even when subjected to a large tensile force during use, as well as a method for manufacturing such a hair tie.
• the invention described in claim 1 is a hair tie characterized in that it is manufactured by heat-treating a base material made by weft-knitting with covering yarn to cause it to shrink.
• the hair ties produced using this manufacturing method are not formed by joining both ends of a string-like hair tie base material with adhesive as in conventional methods, but rather the entire base material is formed as a single unit through weft knitting.As a result, even if a large tensile force is applied in the longitudinal direction depending on the usage conditions, the hair ties do not have a joint like in conventional methods, and therefore the situation where they break at the joint can be avoided.
• the invention described in claim 2 is a hair tie characterized in that the covering yarn is composed of a core yarn that is biodegradable and stretchable, and a sheath yarn that is biodegradable and covers the core yarn. Therefore, the core yarn and sheath yarn used in the production are both made of biodegradable materials, and the entire base material is integrally formed by weft knitting using the covering yarn made of the core yarn and sheath yarn, so even if it is discarded, it exhibits good biodegradability and environmental pollution can be avoided.
• the invention of claim 3 is a hair elastic characterized in that the core thread is made of natural rubber or biodegradable polyurethane, and the sheath thread is made of cotton or rayon. Therefore, since the core yarn and sheath yarn that make up the covering yarn are both made of biodegradable materials, they exhibit good biodegradability even when discarded, and environmental pollution can be avoided. Furthermore, since the natural rubber core thread is covered with a cotton or rayon sheath thread, the core thread does not come into direct contact with the user's skin or scalp, and even if the user has a rubber allergy, the user can use the brush without developing a rubber allergy.
• the invention described in claim 4 is a hair tie characterized in that the weft knitting is a flat knitting using a plain stitch stitch, and curling portions that turn toward the back side are formed on both ends of the width of the base material.
• “Plain knitting” is a flat knitting method that is highly stretchable in the horizontal direction, so in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 9, it is possible to provide a hair tie with higher stretchability.
• the invention described in claim 5 is a hair tie that is created by turning the base material over so that the curling portion is positioned on the inner side.
• the covering yarn is composed of a core yarn that is biodegradable and stretchable, and a biodegradable sheath yarn that covers the core yarn
• the weft knitting is flat knitting or circular knitting
• the base material is an elongated base material that is produced by cutting the elongated base material in the width direction and subjecting the cut base material to the heat treatment, thereby producing a hair tie. Therefore, a hair tie can be made by cutting the elongated substrate along the width direction and then heat treating the cut substrate.
• the invention of claim 7 is a hair tie characterized in that the core thread is made of natural rubber or biodegradable polyurethane, and the sheath thread is made of cotton or rayon. Therefore, since the core yarn and sheath yarn that make up the covering yarn are both made of biodegradable materials, they exhibit good biodegradability even when discarded, and environmental pollution can be avoided. Furthermore, since the natural rubber core thread is covered with a cotton or rayon sheath thread, the core thread does not come into direct contact with the user's skin or scalp, and even if the user has a rubber allergy, the user can use the brush without developing a rubber allergy.
• the invention of claim 8 is a hair tie made by plain stitch knitting, characterized in that curling portions that turn toward the back side are formed on both ends of the width direction of the cut base material.
• "Plain knitting” is a flat knitting method that is highly stretchable in the horizontal direction, and in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 14, it is possible to provide a hair tie with higher stretchability.
• a base material produced by plain knitting has a characteristic of plain knitting, in which both widthwise edge portions of the base material curl up toward the back surface, a phenomenon known as "curling." Therefore, this curling section appropriately prevents fraying of the threads at both ends of the base material, and by rolling both widthwise ends of the base material inward, the side edges can be processed at the same time to form a hair tie, and by applying a heat treatment, the finished hair tie can be quickly obtained.
• the invention described in claim 9 is a hair tie characterized in that it is created by turning the base material over so that the curling portion is positioned on the inner side. Therefore, it is possible to create a hair tie by turning the substrate that has been shrunk by the heat treatment over and positioning the curling portion that was located on the outside of the substrate on the inside.
• the invention described in claim 10 is a hair tie characterized by being colored with a dye derived from natural sources. Therefore, even when coloring hair ties, the dyes used are naturally derived, and unlike general synthetic (chemical) dyes, the dyes themselves have natural reducing properties, making it possible to provide hair ties that are gentle on the human body and the environment, even when colored.
• the invention described in claim 11 is a method for manufacturing a hair tie, comprising a base material creation step of creating a base material by weft knitting using covering yarn, and a heat treatment step of heat treating the base material to shrink it.
• Hair ties made using this manufacturing method are not made by joining both ends of a string-like hair tie base material with adhesive as in conventional methods; rather, the entire base material is formed as a single unit through weft knitting. Therefore, even if a large tensile force is applied in the longitudinal direction during use, the lack of a joint as in conventional methods prevents breakage at the joint.
• hair tie with greater tensile strength than conventional hair ties, making it possible to withstand heavy use. Also, because there are no adhesive joints, even when worn on the hand, the hard, solidified joints do not come into contact with the skin as with conventional hair ties, providing a comfortable fit. Furthermore, since hair ties can be manufactured simply by subjecting the base material made by weft knitting to a heat treatment to shrink the base material, the conventional bonding process is unnecessary, making it possible to easily and quickly produce hair ties. As a result, hair ties can be easily produced using only the base material production process and heat treatment process.
• the invention described in claim 12 is a method for manufacturing a hair tie, characterized in that the covering yarn is made by covering a core yarn that is both biodegradable and stretchable with a sheath yarn that is also biodegradable.
• the core yarn and sheath yarn that make up the covering yarn used in this manufacturing method are both made of biodegradable materials, and the entire base material is integrally formed by weft knitting, so even if it is discarded, it exhibits good biodegradability and environmental pollution can be avoided. Furthermore, by using a covering thread having a core made of a stretchy material, the necessary stretchability and strength for the hair tie can be obtained.
• the invention described in claim 13 is a method for manufacturing a hair tie, characterized in that the core yarn is made of natural rubber or biodegradable polyurethane, and the sheath yarn is made of cotton or rayon, and is produced by flat knitting. Since the core thread made of natural rubber is covered with a sheath thread made of cotton or rayon, the core thread does not come into direct contact with the skin or scalp of the user, and a hair tie can be provided that can be used without causing an allergic reaction even if the user has a rubber allergy.
• the invention described in claim 14 is a method for manufacturing a hair tie, characterized in that the flat knitting is plain knitting, and curling occurs at the edges of the substrate during the substrate preparation process.
• “Plain knitting” is a flat knitting method that is highly stretchable in the horizontal direction, so in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 2, it is possible to provide a hair tie with even greater stretchability. Furthermore, a characteristic of plain knitting is that a base material produced by plain knitting has both widthwise edge portions of the base material curling up toward the back surface, a phenomenon known as "curling.” Therefore, by utilizing this curling phenomenon, it is possible to appropriately suppress the fraying of the threads that occurs at both ends of the base material, and by rolling both widthwise ends of the base material inward, it is possible to simultaneously process the side edges as a hair tie, and after going through a heat treatment process, it is possible to quickly obtain the finished hair tie.
• the invention described in claim 15 is a method for manufacturing a hair tie, characterized in that the base material created by the pre-heating treatment process is turned over so that the curling portion is positioned on the inner side. Therefore, by turning the substrate created in the pre-heating process over and positioning the curling portion on the inner side, it is possible to easily create a finished hair tie.
• the invention described in claim 16 is a method for manufacturing a hair tie, characterized in that the base material is created to a size that will result in a finished product with the diameter and height dimensions, assuming the diameter and height dimensions of the finished product, after thermal shrinkage through a heat treatment process.
• thermo shrinkage of fibers Although the exact molecular explanation for this "thermal shrinkage of fibers" has not yet been established, it is believed that it is often caused by the release of residual strain within the fibers. It is generally understood that this is related not only to dimensional changes in the fibers themselves, but also to changes in fiber morphology. Therefore, by using a flat knitting machine, it is possible to create a base material that will undergo thermal shrinkage during the heat treatment process simply by inputting the diameter and width dimensions of the finished product, and then quickly and easily manufacture a hair tie through the heat treatment process.
• the invention described in claim 17 is a method for manufacturing a hair tie, wherein the hair tie is produced by flat knitting or circular knitting, the core yarn is made of natural rubber or biodegradable polyurethane, the sheath yarn is made of cotton or rayon, and the base material is an elongated base material, and further comprises a step of cutting the base material to a predetermined width along the width direction to produce a plurality of cut base materials, and a heat treatment step of heat-treating the cut base materials to shrink them.
• the substrate to be created is an elongated substrate, and in the cutting process, the elongated substrate is cut in the width direction to create cut substrates, and in the heating process, the cut substrates are subjected to a heating treatment to create hair ties.
• the invention described in claim 18 is a method for manufacturing a hair tie, characterized in that the flat knitting is a jersey knit, and after cutting in the cutting process, curling occurs at the widthwise ends of the cut base material.
• "Plain knitting” is a flat knitting method that is highly stretchable in the horizontal direction, and therefore, in addition to the invention of claim 5, it is possible to provide a hair tie with even greater stretchability. Furthermore, when the fabric is knitted using jersey knitting during the heat treatment process, the ends will curl up along the width of the base material, causing both edge portions to curl toward the backside.
• the invention described in claim 19 is a method for manufacturing a hair tie, further comprising a coloring step of coloring the hair tie with a dye derived from natural sources. Therefore, even when coloring hair ties, the dyes used are naturally derived, and unlike general synthetic (chemical) dyes, the dyes themselves have natural reducing properties, making it possible to provide hair ties that are gentle on the human body and the environment, even when colored.
• the present invention provides a hair tie that will not break even when subjected to a large tensile strength during use, and is highly biodegradable and naturally recyclable, even when discarded, thereby preventing environmental pollution.
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a hair tie according to the present invention.
• 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a process for producing a covering yarn in a method for producing a hair tie according to the present invention.
• 1A and 1B are diagrams showing the knitting structure of plain knitting as a weft knitting, which is an example of weft knitting used in the manufacturing method of a hair tie according to the present invention, where (a) is a conceptual diagram showing the knitting structure of the front side of the knitted fabric, and (b) is a conceptual diagram showing the knitting structure of the back side of the knitted fabric.
• FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a flat knitting machine used to manufacture a hair tie according to the present invention.
• FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a base material produced by a flat knitting machine in a method for manufacturing a hair tie according to the present invention.
• FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the state in which the shape of the base material manufactured by the hair tie manufacturing method according to the present invention has been adjusted. This is an oblique view showing the state in which the hair tie of the present invention has been created by adjusting the shape of the base material produced by the hair tie manufacturing method of the present invention, subjecting it to heat treatment to cause thermal shrinkage, and turning it over.
• FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the method for manufacturing a hair tie according to the present invention.
• FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a base material according to another embodiment produced by a flat knitting machine in the method for manufacturing a hair tie according to the present invention.
• the hair tie 100 is manufactured by shrinking a base material made by weft knitting with covering yarn 10 through heat treatment.
• the covering yarn 10 is composed of a core yarn 11 that is biodegradable and stretchable, and a biodegradable sheath yarn 12 that covers the core yarn 11.
• the core yarn 11 is made of natural rubber
• the sheath yarn 12 is made of cotton or rayon.
• the "weft knitting” is a weft knitting by plain stitch knitting, and curling portions 25, 25 that turn up toward the back surface side are formed on both ends of the base material 18 in the width direction.
• the base material 18 is then turned over so that the curling portions 25, 25 are positioned on the inner side.
• Such a hair tie 100 is manufactured by the following manufacturing method.
• the method for manufacturing a hair tie according to this embodiment includes a step S1 in which a core yarn that is both biodegradable and stretchable is covered with a biodegradable sheath yarn to create a covering yarn, a base material creation step S2 in which a base material is created using a weft knitting machine using the covering yarn, and a heat treatment step S3 in which the base material is heat-treated to shrink it.
• the hair tie according to the present embodiment is formed by knitting, unlike conventional methods. Each step will be explained below.
• the covered yarn 10 is a composite textured yarn formed by twisting a sheath yarn 12 clockwise and counterclockwise around a core yarn 11 to cover it.
• the core yarn 11 is made of natural rubber.
• a core yarn roll 11a wound in a roll shape is set horizontally so as to be rotatable on a horizontally arranged rotation shaft 14, and the core yarn 11 is pulled out via a pre-draft roller 13 by a drive device (not shown).
• the sheath yarn 12 is made of cotton or rayon, and the sheath yarn roll 12a wound in a roll shape is set vertically on a hollow spindle 16 having a rotation axis 15 that is arranged perpendicular to the rotation axis 14 of the core yarn 11, and is arranged so that the core yarn 11 passes continuously through the inside of the hollow spindle 16 while being inserted therethrough, and the hollow spindle 16 is configured to rotate in synchronization with the rotation axis 14 of the core yarn roll 11a.
• organic cotton is used as the cotton material for the sheath yarn 12.
• Organic cotton refers to cotton produced through organic cultivation, which meets the global standards set by the government and is certified as organic cotton. Therefore, the health and environmental burdens caused by the use of chemical products are minimized.
• Twisting means "twisting different types of yarn together," and in this embodiment, a core yarn 11 made of natural rubber is continuously twisted with a sheath yarn 12 made of cotton or rayon, and the sheath yarn 12 is wound around the core yarn 11 to cover the core yarn 11, thereby forming a covering yarn 10.
• the covering yarn 10 is stored as a covering yarn roll 10a.
• the covering yarn 10 prepared in the covering yarn preparation step S1 is used by a computer-controlled flat knitting machine to prepare a base material for producing the final product, the hair tie 100.
• the base material 13 from which the hair tie 100 is made is knitted by a computer-controlled flat knitting machine.
• a "WHOLEGARMENT (registered trademark) flat knitting machine SWG041” manufactured by Shima Seiki is used.
• SWG041 manufactured by Shima Seiki
• a flat knitting machine is basically configured to knit a single knitting yarn in a reciprocating motion. Compared to circular knitting machines, which are also capable of weft knitting and are described in other embodiments, it is possible to knit knitted structures with extremely complex structures. Flat knitting machines can knit knit products that require complex knitting structures, as well as highly fashionable sweaters. Therefore, the substrate 18 in this embodiment can be made using a flat knitting machine.
• “Weft knitting” is a knitting method in which stitches of yarn are knitted back and forth in the horizontal direction, resulting in high stretchability in the left-right direction.
• horizontal stitches (called “courses” or “loops") are formed by a single weft yarn 17, and are formed along the width and width directions of the fabric to be produced, forming one "course” (or “loop") at a time.
• the knitted fabric is formed by creating stitches in the horizontal direction and connecting the completed course in the vertical direction.
• the vertical stitches are called “wales.”
• the knitted fabric according to this embodiment is a “plain knit” fabric, with the same stitches continuing horizontally.
• a "WHOLEGARMENT (registered trademark) flat knitting machine SWG041 (manufactured by Shima Seiki Mfg. Co., Ltd.)" 19 shown in Figure 4 is used.
• the flat knitting machine 19 is equipped with a knitting section 20 in which a large number of knitting needles are arranged in a horizontal direction and which engage and knit a supplied knitting yarn, a yarn carrier section 21 which appropriately arranges the knitting yarn along the length of the device, a drive section and a control section (not shown), a touch panel type operation section 23 consisting of a 10.4-inch liquid crystal display, and a yarn stand section 22.
• the flat knitting machine 19 is also equipped with CAD software for creating design drawings when using the flat knitting machine 19 to produce knitted products.
• This CAD software is installed separately on a dedicated computer, and design condition data such as the diameter and length of the base material to be created, the yarn to be used, color, knitting speed, front stitch, back stitch, and coarseness of the stitch can be set in advance on the CAD software as appropriate.
• the appropriate knitting speed varies depending on the material.
• the sheath yarn that constitutes the covering yarn used in the base material of this embodiment may be organic cotton or rayon, but when rayon is used, it is possible to set the knitting speed faster than when organic cotton is used.
• the coarseness of the stitches can be set finer with organic cotton than with rayon. Other than this, there are no other differences in the substrate design stage depending on the yarn material.
• the conditions for the coarseness of the stitches and the knitting speed are important points in producing the substrate according to this embodiment.
• the size condition values when producing the substrate of this embodiment can be set to appropriate values based on the size of the circular hair tie (for example, as shown in Figure 7) that is planned to be produced.
• hair ties have a diameter of about 5 cm, so the number of needles required to make a hair tie of this size is set. In this embodiment, the diameter is set to 80 knitting needles, and the height of the hair tie body is set to 134 dots.
• the basic operating control conditions for the flat knitting machine 19 can be set by inputting the design data via USB memory or a network. Subsequent operation modifications can be made by modifying the data as appropriate using the touch panel operation unit 23, and then knitting of the base material is carried out.
• the yarn carrier section 21 is composed of a self-propelled carrier driven by an appropriate drive device, and is configured to appropriately supply knitting yarn made of covering yarn 10 stretched by the yarn holding section 22 to the knitting needles.
• the base material 18 when knitting is performed by the flat knitting machine 19 using the covering yarn 10, the base material 18 is produced in accordance with the above-mentioned design condition data and is discharged from the discharge hole 24 provided on the front surface of the flat knitting machine 19.
• the fabricated substrate 18 is formed as a slightly twisted, flat rectangular fabric material.
• Fig. 5 shows a case where two substrates 18 are fabricated.
• the base material 18 has a rectangular planar shape, with two pieces of fabric material that are continuous on both sides at both longitudinal ends, and are continuous at both diametric ends and overlap in the thickness direction.
• the surface shown in the drawing is the back side 26.
• the reason for the twist in the longitudinal direction is that curled portions 25, 25 are formed at both ends of the substrate 18 in the width direction due to the "curling phenomenon.” [About the curling phenomenon]
• Curling is a phenomenon that commonly occurs in "jersey knitting.”
• the reason for this phenomenon is academically understood to be due to the loops that form the jersey knitting. That is, in jersey knitting, curling occurs in the left-right direction (in this embodiment, the width direction of the base material 18) that is perpendicular to the knitting direction of the fabric knitted by jersey knitting.
• the cause of this curling is said to be due to the mechanical characteristics resulting from the "loop structure" unique to jersey knitting, and although a clear academic explanation has not yet been established, the occurrence of this phenomenon is empirically understood in the industry.
• the back side 26 of the base material 18, which is a knitted fabric, is exposed to the outside, and curling portions 25 are formed on the back side 26 along the length at both widthwise ends, and the main body of the base material 18 is twisted along the length due to the curling up stress of the curling portions 25.
• the width of the base material 18 is about 2 to 3 cm, and the length is about 8 to 10 cm.
• the base material 13 serving as a precursor to the hair tie is subjected to a heat treatment.
• the heat treatment is carried out using a known steam iron, and heating and pressurizing using the iron body's ironing surface in combination with heating and pressurizing using steam is suitably used.
• This heat treatment causes the substrate 18 to shrink due to heat.
• the reason for this thermal shrinkage phenomenon is academically understood to be due to a change in the knitted fiber form itself, i.e., the release of internal residual strain in the fiber, or a change in the supermolecular structure of the fiber.
• the base material 18 discharged from the flat knitting machine 19 is transferred onto a working table.
• the back side 26 of the base material 18 is exposed to the outside, and the curled portion 25 is also exposed to the outside.
• the curled portions 25, 25 of the base material 18 in the state shown in FIG. 5 are manually stretched in the width direction to unfold the entire base material 18, and the base material 18 is formed into a belt-like shape of a predetermined width.
• the base material 18 is checked for holes or frayed knitting yarns due to imperfections in the knitting work.
• the substrate 18 is expanded radially into an oval shape and placed upright on a workbench, and steam is supplied to the substrate 18 from above using a steam iron.
• the steam temperature is set to approximately 120 to 143°C. It is also possible to subject the substrate 18 to a heat treatment as is, without expanding the substrate 18 radially into an oval shape and placing it upright on a workbench, and then perform adjustments such as shaping the substrate.
• This heat treatment causes the base material 18 to thermally shrink, and the curled portions 25, 25 also curl more inward in the width direction of the belt-shaped base material 18, to the point where they come into contact with each other.
• the heat-shrunk substrate 18 is stretched in the radial direction to adjust its shape, and then the front and back of the substrate 18 are turned over in the radial direction. In this state, the front and back of the substrate 18 are turned over, so the curling portions 25, 25 are positioned on the inside, and the front side of the substrate 18 appears on the outside.
• This inversion process completes the base material 18 into hair tie 100. As shown in Figure 7, when the hair tie is completed, it has a diameter of about 5 to 6 cm when flat and in a nearly circular shape, and can be stretched to fit through the user's hand and worn by wrapping it around the wrist.
• the base material 18 is made using plain knitting on a flat knitting machine 19, and during the making process, a curling phenomenon occurs, forming curled portions 25, 25 at both ends of the width of the base material 18. Then, in the heat treatment step S3, the entire substrate 18 is heated and shrunk, so that the curling portions 25, 25 also come into contact with each other in the width direction. In this state, by manually turning the substrate 18 over, the front side 27 of the substrate 18 is positioned on the outside and the curling portions 25, 25 are positioned on the inside, so that the hair tie 100 is created without any need for sewing work, etc., as is done with conventional hair tie products.
• hair ties can be made quickly and easily, overcoming the problem of the adhesive bonding area hardening and coming into contact with the skin when worn, and providing a comfortable fit for the user.
• the hair tie 100 thus created has covering yarns 10 formed from a core yarn 11 made of natural rubber and a sheath yarn 12 made of rayon or organic cotton, making it highly biodegradable. Even when discarded after use, it is completely biodegraded and returned to the soil, making it environmentally friendly. In this respect, it is far more environmentally friendly than conventional hair ties made from synthetic rubber or nylon polyester materials and using adhesives made from synthetic resins such as synthetic polyvinyl acetate and epoxy resin.
• the core thread 11 is made of natural rubber, but this is not limited to this and it may be made of biodegradable polyurethane. Even when a core thread made of biodegradable polyurethane is used, it is possible to ensure a certain degree of good natural recyclability.
• the core yarn by using natural rubber or biodegradable polyurethane for the core yarn, it is possible to ensure the elasticity of the entire covering yarn, achieving the same elasticity as conventional hair ties. Furthermore, since the core yarn is covered by twisting the sheath yarn, it is possible to ensure a certain level of strength and also prevent the knitting yarn from fraying when the product is completed.
• biodegradable polyurethane When biodegradable polyurethane is used for the core thread, it can ensure great elasticity, and like natural rubber, when pulled from its normal shape, it can stretch 5 to 8 times. It can also have the property of slowly returning to its original shape after being stretched. Furthermore, it is more resistant to ultraviolet rays and heat than natural rubber, and is stronger than natural rubber.
• the core thread 11 made of natural rubber is covered with the sheath thread 12 made of organic cotton or rayon, so that even if a user with a rubber allergy wears the gauze, the onset of a rubber allergy can be prevented.
• organic cotton or rayon is used for the sheath yarn
• natural materials such as hemp, flax, linen, ramie, sheep's wool, bamboo, goat hair, mohair, camel hair, alpaca hair, rabbit hair, and protein-derived threads (spider, bagworm, silk) may also be used.
• Example Product 1 For Example Product 1, Example Product 2, and Comparative Example 1 (trade name "NADOA"), data was obtained both in the case of not being subjected to the jungle test and in the case of having been subjected to the jungle test.
• the "tensile strength” and “elongation” were measured in accordance with "JIS L 1096 Method A.”
• the grip width was set to 50 mm and the pulling speed was set to 200 mm/min.
• the "hydrolysis promotion treatment (jungle test)” was carried out under conditions of a temperature of 70°C and a humidity of 95%. That is, tests 1 to 10 were conducted by leaving the hair tie 100 under these conditions for one week, and measuring the "tensile strength” and "elongation” before and after leaving it.
• the "jungle test” is a test method in which a sample is left in an artificially conditioned space with high temperature and humidity to simulate aging. In this case, a one-week jungle test is said to replicate normal usage conditions for approximately one year.
• the above test revealed the following facts.
• Tensile strength ⁇ Product 1: Trade name “Meriya” (Tests 1 and 2)>
• the present embodiment 1 is a hair tie 100 according to the present embodiment, in which organic cotton is used for the sheath thread.
• the "tensile strength” was 205.0 N when not subjected to the jungle test (Test 1) and 189.0 N after the jungle test (Test 2), indicating that there was almost no change in tensile strength before and after the jungle test.
• Product 2 is a hair tie 100 according to the present embodiment, in which rayon is used for the sheath yarn. As shown in Table 1, the "tensile strength" was 122.0 N when not subjected to the jungle test (Test 3) and 116.5 N after the jungle test (Test 4), which shows that there was almost no change in tensile strength before and after the jungle test.
• Comparative Products 1 to 5 (Tests 5 to 10)> All of the comparative products 1 to 5 are hair ties currently on the market and correspond to the conventional products listed in the "Background Art” section of this patent specification. That is, they are "hair ties made of a string-like core material made of synthetic or natural rubber, wrapped in a nylon or polyester cloth material in a circular shape, with both ends glued and fixed in place.”
• Comparative product 1 (trade name “NADOA”) (Tests 5 and 6)
• the tensile strength before the jungle test was 99.0 N, which was much lower than that of Example Product 1 and Example Product 2.
• the tensile strength was 87.5 N, which was significantly lower than that of Example Products 1 and 2.
• Comparative product 2 (trade name “Annieu”) (Test 7) Comparative product 2 has a core made of natural rubber and is covered with organic cotton. As shown in Table 1, the "tensile strength” after the jungle test (Test 7) was 58.5 N, which is significantly lower than the tensile strength values of Example 1 and Example 2.
• Comparative product 3 (ring hair tie) (Test 8) Comparative product 3 has a core made of natural rubber and is surrounded by a polyester coating. As shown in Table 1, the tensile strength of the untreated product (Test 8) was 50.5 N, which is significantly lower than the tensile strength of product 1 and product 2.
• Comparative product 4 (ring hair tie) (Test 9) Comparative product 4 has a core made of synthetic rubber and is covered with polyester. After the jungle test, the tensile strength was 61.0 N, which is significantly lower than the tensile strength values of Examples 1 and 2.
• Comparative product 5 (ring hair tie) (Test 10) Comparative product 5 has a core made of natural rubber and is covered with nylon. After the jungle test (Test 10), the resistance was 99.5N, which is much lower than that of Example 1 and lower than that of Example 2.
• a substrate 30 of another form can be produced by similar plain knitting using basically the same steps as in the above embodiment, using the same flat knitting machine 19. Unlike the substrate 18 in the above embodiment, the substrate 30 is formed in a generally elongated rectangular shape with long flat dimensions overall.
• the substrate 30 is composed of a substrate body 31 and an end portion 32 formed at one longitudinal end portion of the substrate body 31.
• the substrate body 31 is knitted flat by flat knitting using a flat knitting machine 19, and has a rectangular shape in plan view.
• this base material 30 can be created by appropriately setting the "number of knitting needles" and the "height dimension (length dimension) of the knitted product” at the design stage using CAD software for product design, and in the case of this embodiment, the set value of the "height dimension" is a larger value than in the case of the above-described embodiment.
• the covering yarn production step S1, the substrate production step S2, and the heat treatment step S4a are the same as those in the above embodiment, but a cutting step S3a is required before the heat treatment step S4a.
• the substrate body 31 is cut to an appropriate width dimension along the width direction by an appropriate means to create a cut substrate having a shape similar to that of the substrate 18 in the above embodiment, and then the cut substrate is manually stretched into a ring shape using the same method as that of the substrate 18 in the above embodiment, and in this state is subjected to a heat treatment using a steam iron in the same manner as above to shrink it, creating the hair tie 100 shown in Figure 5.
• curled portions are formed at both widthwise ends of the cut base material when the base material body 31 is cut widthwise. These curled portions are used to process the ends, and after heat treatment, the hair tie is turned over to create the hair tie, just like in the previous embodiment.
• the substrate 18 is produced individually, but in the method for manufacturing a hair tie according to the present embodiment, a substrate 30 of a predetermined length can be produced, so that a large number of cut substrates can be produced in the cutting step S3a, which is advantageous when mass-producing hair ties.
• the base material 30 according to this embodiment can be produced not only by a flat knitting machine but also by a circular knitting machine. Circular knitting machines are used to produce, for example, socks, gloves, knitted ties, T-shirts, polo shirts, etc. On the other hand, as described above, flat knitting machines can knit knit products that require complex knitting structures, highly fashionable sweaters, etc.
• circular knitting machines are machines that perform "circular knitting” within the concept of "weft knitting,” and compared to flat knitting machines, they are unable to knit items with complex knitting structures or small stitches.
• flat knitting machines knit using a single knitting yarn in a reciprocating motion
• circular knitting machines are designed to knit around 100 knitting yarns using a rotary motion, making them more advantageous than flat knitting machines in terms of production volume.
• a coloring process using a natural dye can be performed to color the hair tie 100 produced by the heating processes S3 and S4a in an appropriate color.
• This coloring process may be configured to color the core yarn and sheath yarn before the heating processes S3 and S4a, or the coloring process may be performed at any stage in the manufacturing process.
• “Dyes of natural origin” refers to dyes extracted from various animals or plants that exist in nature, such as carotenoids (yellow to orange) extracted from carrots and gardenia, flavonoids (yellow to brown, red to blue, red to purple) extracted from scutellaria, bayberry, red cabbage, and safflower, quinones (purple, red) extracted from purple root, madder, and cochineal, polyphenols (brown to black) extracted from Chinese gallnut and areca nut, and indole (purple to blue) extracted from indigo and shellfish purple.
• the hair tie 100 of this embodiment is colored with such a dye, unlike general synthetic (chemical) dyes, the dye itself has natural reducibility and does not hinder the complete natural reducibility of the hair tie 100 of this embodiment.Even when colored, it is possible to provide a sustainable hair tie that is friendly to the human body and the environment and has 100% natural reducibility.
• the covering yarn production process and the type of flat knitting machine described in the above embodiment are merely examples and are not limited to the present embodiment. Appropriate modifications are possible within the scope of the invention according to the claims.
• this invention relates to a method for manufacturing a hair tie and to a hair tie, it has broad industrial applicability.

Landscapes

• Yarns And Mechanical Finishing Of Yarns Or Ropes (AREA)
• Knitting Of Fabric (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=96990303

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Citations (6)

• 2024
  • 2024-03-05 JP JP2024527461A patent/JPWO2025186887A1/ja active Pending
  • 2024-03-05 WO PCT/JP2024/008168 patent/WO2025186887A1/ja active Pending

Patent Citations (6)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events