JPH09314573A - Manufacture of skin-integrated foamed article and head rest - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce proportion defective and also to enable production at a low cost by preventing foamed resin from being infiltrated into the opening part of a skin body. SOLUTION: A platelike member 1 is arranged on a top force 61 and also a nearly bag-shaped skin body 5 is arranged on a bottom force 60. Expansion molding is performed so that in the case of closing the top force and the bottom force, the peripheral edge part of the platelike member 1 is covered with the opening peripheral edge part 50 of the skin body 5 and the opening peripheral edge part 50 is pressed in contact with the peripheral edge part of the plate-like member 1 by expansion pressure of a foamed resin.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing a foamed product integrated with a skin, such as a headrest, a seat, and an armrest of an automobile, in which a bag-shaped skin is placed in a molding die and a foaming resin is injected into the skin for foaming. And a headrest manufactured by the manufacturing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A typical automobile headrest is formed of a foamed molded article having a core material inside and a skin covered on the surface. As a method of manufacturing this headrest, a method of forming a foamed molded body and then coating a separately formed skin body is generally used. However, since the number of man-hours required for coating is large and there is a problem that deformation occurs at the time of coating, in recent years a bag-shaped skin body is placed in a molding die, and foam resin is foamed inside the skin body to cover the skin. The method of forming as a skin-integrated foam product integrated with the body is becoming mainstream.

In this latter manufacturing method, a bag-shaped skin formed in advance by sewing or the like is first placed in a molding die. At this time, a core material having stays for reinforcement and attachment to the seat is put inside the skin. Then, the foamed resin is injected into the epidermis through an opening provided in the epidermis to perform foam molding. The foamed resin foams and its volume increases, and the pressure causes the epidermis to press against the mold surface to shape it into a predetermined shape, and the foamed resin is filled in the epidermis to form a skin-integrated foamed product. Therefore, according to this manufacturing method, it is possible to say that this is an excellent manufacturing method because the number of steps is small and high shape accuracy can be obtained.

By the way, in the above manufacturing method, it is necessary to hide the opening of the skin body into which the foamed resin is injected so as not to be conspicuous. It is also necessary to take measures to prevent the foamed resin from leaking through the opening of the skin. Therefore, for example, there is a method of disposing a locking plate inside the opening of the skin and fixing a pair of ends of the facing skin on both sides of the opening to the locking plate with clips.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-97810 discloses that
Foam molding is performed in a state where the pair of ends of the skin located on both sides of the opening are superposed, and the foamed resin enters between the ends of the superposed portion to join the pair of ends and to form the opening. A hiding method is disclosed. Further, as a method of easily closing the opening, as shown in FIG.
It has been practiced to provide a pair of folded-back end portions 101 and 102 that are bent inward and face each other and abut each other. In this way, the folded-back end portions 101, 1 due to the foaming pressure.
02 are pressed so as to be close to each other and are pressed against each other, and the opening 1
The opening 100 can be closed while preventing resin leakage from 00. In addition, the foamed resin has a pair of folded back end portions 10.
It is necessary to make the lengths of the folded-back end portions 101 and 102 sufficiently long so that the folded-back end portions 101 and 102 can be prevented from entering and exposing.

[0006]

Among the methods of closing the opening of the bag-shaped skin, the method of using the locking plate and the clip is as follows.
Before the foaming of the foamed resin, the end portions of the epidermis on both sides of the opening must be fixed to the locking plate, resulting in low productivity. Further, the number of parts such as the locking plate and the clip is increased, and the man-hours in terms of production management are great. Further, in order to perform the work efficiently, it is preferable to inject the foamed resin after fixing the end portion of the skin body to the locking plate in advance. However, in this case, the locking plate needs an injection hole for the foamed resin, and a cap for closing the injection hole is required, but the presence of this cap is not preferable in terms of design.

On the other hand, according to the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-97810, the inconveniences of the above method can be avoided. However, it is difficult to control the overlap margin between the end portions to be constant because the state of the end portion of the epidermis on the inner peripheral side in the overlapping portion is indefinite. Therefore, in order to prevent the foamed resin from seeping out from the polymerized portion to the surface side of the skin body, it is necessary to set a large overlap margin in the polymerized portion.
Therefore, the area of the polymerized portion becomes large as compared with the amount of the foamed resin penetrating between the polymerized portions, and as a result, there are many portions that are not joined to the polymerized portion, and there is a problem that the portion is rolled and the appearance is deteriorated. . For this reason, it is necessary to bond the polymerized portion with an adhesive or the like after molding, resulting in a large number of steps.

Further, in the method of closing the opening by bringing the folded-back end portions into contact with each other, when the length of the folded-back end portions is short, the foamed resin that has entered between the pair of folded-back end portions is exposed on the surface of the skin body. It was difficult to stably produce good products. Therefore, if the length of the folded end is made sufficiently long,
As shown in FIG. 13, the tip of one of the folded end portions 101 may be fixed in a state of being in contact with the skin body 103. In such a case, there is a problem that the sealed space 300 is formed, the filling of the foamed resin in that portion is hindered, and the appearance and touch are impaired.

Further, in the foam product with integral skin obtained by the method of closing the opening by abutting the folded-back end portions with each other, there is a problem that the foamed molded product is exposed when the opening is opened and the appearance is not good. Also, in the headrest of a car,
The back surface of the seat, which faces the upper part of the seat back, is an area where the outer skin is not necessary.However, when the above manufacturing method is used, the back surface must be covered with the outer skin, resulting in waste of the outer skin material. ing. And a through hole for inserting the stay is required on the back surface of the skin, and it is necessary to devise a seal for preventing resin leakage from the through hole.
The number of man-hours and the number of parts are large.

Further, on the back surface of the headrest, the injection resin is injected by inserting an injection nozzle from a slit provided in a portion where the end portions of the skins are overlapped with each other. There is also the problem that it becomes extremely complicated and the mold cost is high. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reliably prevent the infiltration of the foamed resin into the opening of the epidermis to reduce the defect rate and to enable the manufacturing at low cost. And

[0011]

A feature of the method for manufacturing a foam product with integrated skin according to claim 1 for solving the above-mentioned problems is that a plate-shaped member is arranged in an upper mold of a foam molding mold including an upper mold and a lower mold. With a substantially bag-shaped epidermis placed in the lower mold, at least a part of the peripheral portion of the surface of the plate-shaped member facing the lower mold when the upper mold and the lower mold are closed after injecting the foamed resin into the epidermis The peripheral edge of the opening of the skin is covered, and the peripheral edge of the opening of the skin is pressed against at least a part of the peripheral edge of the plate-like member by the foaming pressure of the foamed resin to form the plate-like member and The purpose is to form a foamed product that is integrally bonded to the skin.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a foamed product with integrated skin, which is characterized in that at least a part of a peripheral edge of a surface of the plate-like member facing the lower mold is engaged with an opening peripheral edge of the epidermis. It has a concave portion or a convex portion. Claim 3
The feature of the method for producing a skin-integrated foamed article according to the present invention is that at least a part of the peripheral portion of the surface of the plate-shaped member facing the lower mold in the above-mentioned manufacturing method has a projection, and the opening peripheral portion of the skin body has a protrusion. It is configured to be pressed against the plate-shaped member on the outside of the strip.

The headrest according to claim 4 manufactured by the above manufacturing method is characterized in that it has a substantially bag-shaped skin, and a support member that is composed of at least a stay and a plate-shaped member and that the plate-shaped member closes the opening of the skin. , A foam body integrally bonded to the skin and the support member by being foam-molded between the skin and the plate member, and an opening peripheral edge portion of the skin is a plate on the back surface side facing the foam body of the plate member. It is in close contact with the member.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the manufacturing method of the present invention, first, a plate-shaped member is arranged in the upper mold, and a substantially bag-shaped skin body is arranged in the lower mold. Then, a predetermined amount of foamed resin is injected into the epidermis in the mold open state, and the upper mold and the lower mold are closed. At this time, the opening peripheral edge of the skin body is configured to cover at least a part of the peripheral edge of the surface of the plate-shaped member facing the lower mold.

Therefore, when the foamed resin foams and expands in this state, the skin body is pressed against the mold surfaces of the lower mold and the upper mold to be shaped into a mold surface shape, and the peripheral edge portion of the opening of the skin body is a plate. It is pressed against at least a part of the peripheral portion of the strip-shaped member. Therefore, at that portion, the skin and the plate-shaped member are in close contact with each other, and resin leakage between the skin and the plate-shaped member is prevented. Here, it is desirable that at least a part of the peripheral portion of the surface of the plate-shaped member facing the lower mold has a concave portion or a convex portion with which the peripheral edge portion of the opening of the epidermis engages. With this configuration,
The contact area between the peripheral edge of the opening of the skin and the plate-shaped member increases. Further, since the surface extending in the direction intersecting the direction in which the foaming pressure is applied increases, the portion of the skin body pressed by the plate-like member by the foaming pressure increases, and the resin leaks between the skin and the plate-like member. Can be prevented more reliably.

Further, at least a part of the peripheral edge of the surface of the plate-shaped member facing the lower die has a ridge, and the opening peripheral edge of the skin body is pressed against the plate-shaped member outside the ridge. It is also preferable to configure. In this way, the expanding resin foam changes its flow direction by the ridges, and the foaming resin reaches the peripheral edge portion of the opening of the skin body after passing over the ridges. Therefore, the pressure of the foamed resin that has reached the opening peripheral edge of the epidermis is applied to the epidermis in most of the direction that presses the open peripheral edge of the epidermis against the plate-like member. It is further difficult for the foamed resin to infiltrate into the resin, and it is possible to more reliably prevent resin leakage from between the skin and the plate member.

The plate-like member may be made of a hard material such as resin, ceramics or wood, or a sheet material such as soft resin, rubber, leather or cloth, or a film material. Since the plate member is held on the mold surface of the upper mold, even with such a sheet material or film material, the upper mold generates a drag force against the pressure of the foamed resin,
The peripheral edge portion of the opening of the epidermis can be reliably pressed against the plate member.

The material of the skin is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to select a material that is easily stretched because the skin is deformed and pressed against the plate member during foaming.
Further, in the headrest of the present invention, the peripheral edge portion of the opening of the epidermis is in close contact with the plate-like member on the back surface side facing the foam of the plate-like member, and the plate-like member closes the opening of the epidermis. Therefore, the skin material is not required for the plate-shaped member, and the cost can be reduced. Further, since there is no resin leakage between the plate-shaped member and the skin, it has a high appearance quality.

Further, in the headrest of the present invention, the support member is composed of at least a stay and a plate member.
Therefore, by preliminarily integrating the plate-shaped member and the stay, it is possible to eliminate a gap in advance at the boundary portion thereof, and there is no problem that resin leaks from the stay portion during foam molding. In addition to the stay and the plate-shaped member, the support member may integrally have a core material. With this configuration, the shape of the foam can be retained by the core material. If the volume of the core material is increased, the amount of urethane foam resin used for forming the foam can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced. Further, if the core material is hollow, weight reduction can be achieved.

[0020]

The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to examples. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a headrest of this embodiment. This headrest is made of polypropylene resin plate 1
A hollow polypropylene core member 2, a metal stay 3, a polyurethane foam 4, and a polyvinyl chloride skin 5 covering the foam 4.

The resin plate 1 and the core material 2 are integrally molded from polypropylene with the stay 3 placed in a mold, and the resin plate 1, the core material 2 and the stay 3 are integrally bonded together without a gap. That is, the resin plate 1, the core member 2, and the stay 3 form a support member according to the fourth aspect. The outer skin 5 has a bag shape, and the opening peripheral edge portion 50 is on the back surface side of the resin plate 1 facing the foamed body 4 and the resin plate 1 is formed.
And is integrated with the foam 4.

The method of manufacturing this headrest will be described below. First, the resin plate 1, the core material 2 and the stay 3 are integrally molded. Next, as shown in FIG. 2, a lower mold 60 and an upper mold 61.
A mold made of is prepared, and in a mold open state in which the upper mold 61 is swung, the resin plate 1 is placed along the mold surface of the upper mold 61, and the stay 3 is held and arranged in the upper mold 61. On the other hand, the bag-shaped skin body 5 sewn in advance is arranged on the mold surfaces of the pair of lower molds 60 that can be separated into the left and right. At this time, the opening peripheral edge portion 50 of the epidermis 5 protrudes from the die surface of the lower die 60.

Next, a predetermined amount of the foamed resin 40 is injected into the skin body 5 placed in the lower mold 60, and the upper mold 6 as shown in FIG.
1 is rocked and clamped with the lower mold 60. At this time, the opening peripheral edge portion 50 of the skin body 5 contacts the resin plate 1 and engages with the peripheral edge portion of the resin plate 1. When the foamed resin 40 foams and expands, the skin body 5 is pressed against the mold surfaces of the lower mold 60 and the upper mold 61 by the pressure of the foamed resin 40 and shaped into a mold surface shape. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, since the opening peripheral edge portion 50 of the skin body 5 is pressed against the resin plate 1 by the foaming pressure of the foam resin 40, the foam resin 40 enters between the skin body 5 and the resin plate 1. Is prevented and resin leakage is prevented.

As for the engagement shape of the resin plate 1 and the skin 5, it is particularly preferable in design that the surface of the resin plate 1 and the surface of the skin 5 are on the same plane as shown in FIG. The relationship between the dimensions a, b and c in FIG.
If b <c, a sealing effect especially against resin leakage is exhibited. Practically, it is appropriate that the b dimension is about 5 mm.

After the foaming is completed, the lower mold 60 is separated, and the upper mold 61 is swung upward to open the mold.
The resin plate 1, the core member 2, and the stay 3 held by the upper mold 61
The headrest composed of the foam body 4 integrated with the skin body 5 is removed from the mold. In this headrest, the skin 5 is exposed on the front surface, but the resin plate 1 is exposed on the back surface. However, when the headrest is mounted on the upper part of the seat back of the seat, the resin plate 1 on the back surface faces the upper part of the seat back and becomes difficult to be seen from the outside. Therefore, the designability is hardly impaired by the resin plate 1.

In this embodiment, since the inexpensive resin plate 1 is used, the skin body is less wasteful and less expensive than the conventional headrest having a structure in which the entire surface is covered with the skin body. Further, since the mold structure is simple and the resin leakage countermeasure is almost unnecessary, the man-hour and the defective rate can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost can be greatly reduced. In this embodiment, the supporting member having the resin plate 1, the core material 2 and the stay 3 is used, but the stay 3 is projected into the foam body 4 as shown in FIG. Other than the above, the supporting member may be the same as that of the first embodiment. In this case, the shape of the foam body 4 can be maintained by the protruding portion 30 of the stay 3 into the foam body 4, and the structure of the supporting member is simpler than that in the above-described first embodiment, and thus the cost is lower. Can be

(Embodiment 2) In this embodiment, the resin plate 1 is used.
The same as Example 1 except that the structure is different. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the convex bead 10 is formed on the peripheral edge of the resin plate 1, and the skin 5 is configured such that the opening peripheral edge 50 engages with the convex bead 10.

In this embodiment, the opening peripheral edge portion 50 of the skin 5 is pressed against the convex bead 10 by the pressure of the foamed resin 40, so that the contact area between the skin 5 and the resin plate 1 increases. Further, since the contact surface between the skin body 5 and the resin plate 1 is not limited to one direction but a plurality of directions, more surfaces extend in the direction intersecting the pressure direction of the foamed resin. Therefore, as compared with the first embodiment, it is possible to further prevent the foamed resin from entering between the skin body 5 and the resin plate 1,
Resin leakage is further prevented.

As the shape of the resin plate 1 having the same effect as that of the present embodiment, there are a shape having an uneven bead 11 as shown in FIG. 7 and a shape having a concave groove 12 as shown in FIG. can do. (Embodiment 3) This embodiment is also the same as Embodiment 1 except that the structure of the resin plate 1 is different.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the ridge 13 is formed on the peripheral edge of the resin plate 1, and the outer peripheral edge portion 50 of the skin 5 is outside the ridge 13 and the peripheral edge portion on the back surface side of the resin plate 1. Configured to engage. In this embodiment,
The position of the ridge 13 is taken into consideration so that the foamed resin 40 first contacts the inner peripheral surface of the ridge 13 while expanding. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the foamed resin 40 rides over the ridges 13 and then presses the opening peripheral edge portion 50 of the skin body 5 against the peripheral edge portion of the resin plate 1, and as shown in FIG. It adheres closely to the peripheral edge of the plate 1. That is, most of the pressure direction of the foamed resin 40 is the direction in which the opening peripheral edge portion 50 of the skin 5 is pressed against the resin plate 1, so that the foamed resin between the skin 5 and the resin plate 1 is different from that in the first embodiment. Can be further prevented, and resin leakage can be further prevented.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 11, it is also preferable that the protruding direction of the protrusion 13 is inclined with respect to the back surface of the resin plate 1. With this configuration, the flow of the foamed resin 40 can be easily guided in a predetermined direction, and the swing direction of the end face of the opening peripheral edge portion 50 of the skin body 5 pressed by the pressure of the foamed resin 40 and the outer circumference of the ridge 13 can be facilitated. Since the extending direction of the surface is substantially the same, the distance between the end surface of the opening peripheral edge portion 50 and the protrusion 13 can be always kept small, and the foamed resin between the end surface of the opening peripheral edge portion 30 and the protrusion 13 can be maintained. Infiltration of 40 is further suppressed, and resin leakage is further prevented.

[0032]

That is, according to the method for producing a foam with integral skin of the present invention, it is possible to reliably prevent the foamed resin from entering the opening of the skin and reduce the defective rate due to resin leakage. Further, since the die structure is simplified, the die cost can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost can be significantly reduced in combination with the reduction of the man-hour for resin leakage.

Further, according to the headrest of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the cost while keeping the appearance quality high.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a headrest according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a resin plate and a skin body are arranged in a mold for manufacturing a headrest according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which foamed resin is injected into a mold for manufacturing the headrest of one embodiment of the present invention and the mold is clamped.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of a headrest according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of another example of the headrest of the first embodiment, showing the headrest.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a relationship between a resin plate and a skin body in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing another aspect of the relationship between the resin plate and the skin body in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing another mode of the relationship between the resin plate and the skin body in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing another mode of the relationship between the resin plate and the skin body in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential part of a headrest according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing another aspect of the relationship between the resin plate and the skin body in the example of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a conventional skin-integrated foam product.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a conventional foam product with integrated skin.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Resin plate (plate-shaped member) 2: Core material
3: stay 4: foam 5: skin 5
0: Opening edge

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A foam molding die comprising an upper die and a lower die, wherein a plate-like member is placed on the upper die and a substantially bag-like outer skin is placed on the lower die, and a foamed resin is injected into the outer skin. When the upper die and the lower die are closed, at least a part of the peripheral edge of the surface of the plate-shaped member facing the lower die is covered with the opening peripheral edge of the skin, and the foaming pressure of the foamed resin is applied. A foamed product integrally foamed with the plate-shaped member and the skin is formed by foam molding so that the peripheral edge of the opening of the skin is pressed against at least a part of the peripheral of the plate-shaped member. A method for producing a foam product integrated with an epidermis, which comprises forming. 2. A concave or convex portion with which the peripheral edge portion of the opening of the skin engages is provided in at least a part of the peripheral edge portion of the surface of the plate-shaped member facing the lower mold. A method for producing the above-described foam product integrated with a skin. 3. A plate-shaped member is provided with a ridge on at least a part of a peripheral portion of a surface of the plate-shaped member facing the lower mold, and the peripheral edge portion of the opening of the skin is outside the ridge. The method for producing a skin-integrated foamed article according to claim 1, characterized in that the foamed article is constructed so as to be pressed into contact with. 4. A substantially bag-shaped skin, a support member that is composed of at least a stay and a plate-like member, and the plate-like member closes an opening of the skin, and foam molding is performed between the skin and the plate-like member. The outer peripheral portion of the opening of the skin is in close contact with the plate-shaped member on the back surface side of the plate-shaped member facing the foam by means of the foam. A headrest that is characterized by that.