JPS628192B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a seat cushion and an apparatus for manufacturing the same. Conventionally, foamed urethane sheets have generally been used as the filling material for seat cushions. The problem with such seat cushions using foamed urethane sheets is that they feel like they are bottoming out when worn.
The cushion has drawbacks such as a feeling of pressure due to its strong elasticity and the ease of movement of the cushion because it does not fit well with the chair and the body. The purpose of the present invention is to solve these problems and provide a novel sheet cushion product that fundamentally does not use foamed urethane sheets and is inexpensive and good, as well as an apparatus that can easily manufacture the product. be. The purpose is to stack polyester fibers with fiber lengths of 40 mm or less in a nearly three-dimensionally randomly oriented fiber aggregate that is compressed in a direction approximately perpendicular to the thickness direction of the sheet cushion. A seat shoe, characterized in that it uses an inner material having a fabric weight different from that of the center part and the peripheral part of the seat cushion in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the seat cushion. This is achieved by making the fibers into a sheet cushion, and in addition, in a device that spreads the fibers, mixes them with air, and inserts them into the side of the sheet cushion by wind pressure, ventilation is used as a member to control the thickness of the sheet cushion. The protective material is provided in pairs on the surface in the direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the sheet cushion, with the sheet cushion in between, or only on one side of the sheet cushion, and at least one This can be achieved by providing a sheet cushion manufacturing apparatus characterized in that a member for controlling the thickness of the sheet cushion has a convex surface on the sheet cushion side. . The present invention will be explained in more detail below. The seat cushion of the present invention uses fibers instead of foamed urethane as the filling material, but the fibers used must be at least mainly composed of polyester-based synthetic fibers. This is because sheet cushions have extremely harsh wearing conditions compared to futons, and unless the fibers themselves have good resistance to fatigue, they cannot be of any practical value. Natural fibers such as noodles, wool, and kapoku are also considered, but they cannot be used because they have very poor resistance to fading and cannot withstand washing. Also,
Synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, acrylic, and polyamide fibers also have problems in resistance to sagging and cannot be used. Further, it is important that the length of the polyester fiber is up to 40 mm. In other words, by using a card machine to open the fibers into a sheet, which is then cut or folded into the size of the cushion and placed inside the lining, it is possible to use a fiber from 40 mm to 90 mm. Since the process is long and requires a lot of manpower, the processing fee is high, and the cost is significantly higher than the current foamed urethane filling products, making it difficult to adopt. In the end, by opening the fibers, mixing them with air, and putting them all at once into the side fabric using compressed air, the product can be completed in one step, streamlining and simplifying the process, and solving the cost problem at the same time. However, in order to apply this method, the fiber length must be short, and according to the findings of the present inventors, if the fiber length is longer than 40 mm, the fibers will become entangled, resulting in unevenness on the product. It cannot be used because it can Furthermore, a material in which the fibers are arranged in two dimensions, such as one spun by a card machine, is undesirable because it has a structure that resists sagging only by the shrinkage force applied to the fiber. On the other hand, by orienting the fibers in three-dimensional directions and also using force in the axial direction of the single fiber (twisting, buckling), it is possible to obtain a material with good resistance to fatigue. Table 1 shows examples of the difference in sag resistance when single fibers are used two-dimensionally and when two-dimensionally arranged sheets are bent into a wave shape and the single fibers are oriented three-dimensionally. It can be confirmed that by orienting the single fibers in three-dimensional directions, an extremely good anti-sagging effect can be achieved.

[Table] In the present invention, a fiber aggregate is one in which fibers are randomly oriented in a three-dimensional direction and aggregated to a size of about 10 to 60 mm, and the aggregate is placed in the seat cushion side fabric. At this time, the sheet cushions are compressed by wind pressure in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the sheet cushions and are sequentially laminated to form a sheet-like form. Furthermore, in order to improve the resistance to sagging, the inner material composed of the fiber aggregate should be prepared in the manner described above.
It is necessary to have different area weights in different parts; in other words, since the area weight per sheet is limited, the area weights should be concentrated in areas where more load is applied, and reduced in other areas. That is essential. The most effective way to achieve this is to reduce the central part of the seat cushion and increase the peripheral part. The ratio of increase is 5% in the peripheral area compared to the central area.
A ~20% increase is sufficient. Such processing is generally not possible with conventionally used urethane foam sheets. The seat cushion referred to in the present invention refers to a seat cushion that is worn by placing it on a chair, etc., and is intended to be used by placing it on an office chair, a reception chair, a school chair, a dining table chair, etc. This is the intended use. Therefore, the sheet cushion referred to in the present invention has a considerable thickness, a fluffy bulge, and a soft texture, such as back cushions, floor cushions, pillows, etc. used in reception sets, etc., which are general fillings. Unlike those that require a high density, they are thin and have a planar shape with a generally high density filling material. Maximum size is 50cm
The size is up to 50 cm, and some have complex shapes that match the shape of the chair. The thickness is from 20 mm to a maximum of about 60 mm (measured under a load of 0.4 g/cm ² ). Here, in the sheet cushion of the present invention, the fibers of the filling material are arranged three-dimensionally and compressed and laminated in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction, so there is little connection between the layers, and especially when the thickness is Thin and dense 20mm ~
For items with a thickness of about 35 mm, external forces (wearing, washing) may cause the fiber layer to shift and cause punctures, so it is important to consider measures such as applying partial closures to the side fabric. Next, an apparatus for manufacturing the seat cushion of the present invention will be explained. It is necessary to sufficiently spread the fibers, but the card machine method is not preferable because the spun material becomes a web. It is best to use a method that involves beating to open the fibers. After opening, the fibers are blown into the side fabric using wind pressure. The wind pressure is preferably generated by a fan. As mentioned above, seat cushions have little product value if they are in the form of pillows or backrest cushions, so they must be packed with high density by controlling the thickness. For this purpose, a thickness control plate made of a breathable material is attached at least on a surface perpendicular to the thickness direction of the seat cushion. It seems best to use a wire mesh on at least one side of the control plate. If the thickness control plate does not use any air permeable material such as mesh, the air blown into the side fabric cannot pass through, so the fiber aggregate is compressed and becomes lump-like without being laminated. Seat cushions are difficult to manufacture. Preferably both sides are breathable.
As a matter of fact, even just one side is effective. Furthermore, it is necessary that the thickness control plate has protrusions partially protruding from it so that the surface on the seat cushion side has a convex shape. This is to partially differentiate the fabric weight of the seat cushion, and it is best to install it approximately in the center of the cushion. The convex shape may be attached to both sides, but it is sufficiently effective even if it is attached only to one side. Further, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an example of a sheet cushion product obtained according to the present invention, in which a large number of fiber aggregates 3 are compressed by wind pressure in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet cushion thickness direction 10 and are laminated. Material 2
, and is covered with side material 1. In order to improve resistance to settling and shape stability, the thickness of the central portion is thinner than that of the peripheral edges. FIG. 2 is a side view of an example of the seat cushion manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. The opened fiber is fan 4
The air is blown into the side fabric 6 through the air outlet 5. The opened fibers are in the form of a lump, but when they pass through the fan 4 and the blowout port 5, they become stronger. The thickness of the side fabric 6 is controlled by a control plate 7, and at least one of the upper and lower plates has a mesh that allows air to pass through. Furthermore, a protrusion 8 is attached to either side for partially changing the thickness of the cushion. The fiber aggregate blown out from the blowout port 5 is compressed by wind pressure in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction and stacked to form the filling material 9. The control plate 7 may be configured to vibrate repeatedly in the thickness direction of the seat cushion when the fibers are introduced into the sidewall of the seat cushion. This is effective in allowing the fiber mass to be evenly inserted into the side fabric. According to the present invention as described above, various problems of conventional seat cushions using foamed urethane sheets can be solved, namely, there is no feeling of bottoming out, and since a fiber aggregate is used, there is no feeling of pressure. To provide a novel seat cushion product that is inexpensive and has a good fit, has a good fit with the chair and the body, and has a device that can easily manufacture the product. Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically explained using Examples. Example Raw polyester fibers with a thickness of 7 denier and a cut length of 35 mm are opened using an opening machine with a garnet wire wrapped around a cylinder, and then made into a sheet shoe by the apparatus of the present invention as schematically shown in Fig. 2. I created Shion. The side area size is horseshoe-shaped and the long side is 40cm.
The short side is 30cm. The weight of the filling is 200g, and the center part has a diameter of 15cm compared to the peripheral part.
It is 10mm thinner. The machine set thickness of the periphery is 50mm. In order to bind the side fabric and filling, I partially stapled it in four locations. On the other hand, for comparison, urethane foam 18g/
A sheet cushion was created by inserting a 40 mm thick sheet into a similar side fabric. The results of a performance comparison test between the two are shown in Table 2. Although it is natural that the product is thicker immediately after being made, the product of the present invention is also thicker even after being worn, and there is no problem with washing. Also, we were able to obtain good results regarding the fit with the chair and the feeling of wearing it.

【table】

【table】 [Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an example of a seat cushion according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of an example of a seat cushion manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention. 1: Side material, 2: Filling material, 3: Fiber aggregate, 4: Fan, 5: Air outlet, 6: Side material, 7: Control board,
8: Protrusion, 9: Inner material, 10: Seat cushion thickness direction.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A fiber aggregate formed by randomly orienting polyester fibers having a fiber length of 40 mm or less in an approximately three-dimensional manner is compressed in a direction approximately perpendicular to the thickness direction of the sheet cushion. The sheet cushion is characterized by using an inner material which is laminated and is configured such that the fabric weight of the central part and the peripheral part of the cushion differ in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the sheet cushion. seat cushion. 2. The sheet cushion according to claim 1, having a thickness of 20 to 60 mm. 3. In a device that spreads fibers, mixes them with air, and inserts them into the side fabric of a sheet cushion by wind pressure, a breathable material is added in the thickness direction of the sheet cushion as a member for controlling the thickness of the sheet cushion. A pair of seat cushions may be provided on a plane in a direction perpendicular to the seat cushion, or a pair of seat cushions may be provided on one side of the seat cushion, and at least one of the seat cushions may be provided with a seat cushion for controlling the thickness of the seat cushion. 1. An apparatus for manufacturing a seat cushion, characterized in that the surface of the member on the seat cushion side is configured to have a convex shape. 4. The seat cushion according to claim 3, wherein the thickness controlling member repeatedly vibrates in the thickness direction of the seat cushion when the fibers are introduced into the sidewall of the seat cushion. Manufacturing equipment. 5. The sheet cushion manufacturing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the breathable material is a wire mesh.