Light transmission design material and ornament with illumination

Abstract

To provide a light transmission design material mainly consisting of a natural fiber board in which gradation of light irradiated from the light transmission design material has coloring naturally changed.SOLUTION: A light transmission design material mainly consists of a tabular natural fiber board 30 where natural fibers presenting color through three primary colors are bound by melted resin. A recess 38 is formed at a rear face of the natural fiber board 30 so that the natural fiber board includes a thin wall part 30a having a small thickness relative to thicknesses of the portions except the recess 38. The thin wall part 30a functions as a light transmission part and has a uniform thickness, and a light transmission ratio gradually-changing component 40 is fixed to the recess 38 in a state that one end thereof contacts with a wall surface forming the recess 38. The light transmission ratio gradually-changing component 40 does not have wavelength selectiveness regarding transmitting light and has a larger thickness, and the light transmission ratio becomes small as going to the one end.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a light-transmitting design material used for the design surface of an article, and to a decorative article with illumination which is an article using the light-transmitting design material.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a molded body having a configuration in which spaces between fibers of plant fibers such as kenaf entangled are bound by a thermoplastic resin has been known. This molded body contains plant fibers mainly for the purpose of weight reduction, and members manufactured using this molded body are often used in a state where the surface is covered with a skin material or a resin surface material and is not visible. However, the interior material for a vehicle described in Patent Document 1 below has a fiber base material layer containing plant fibers and a base material containing a skin material as having translucency, and a film decorated on the back surface of the base material is adhered, and a lighting means is arranged on the back surface side of the film. And the interior material for a vehicle described in Patent Document 1 below can make a design such as a pattern that is not expressed during non-illumination appear by irradiating light from the back surface side.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, when using a natural fiber board in which natural fibers exhibiting some color (color represented by the three primary colors) are bound by a thermoplastic resin as a design material, if the thickness is increased (the basis weight is increased) to ensure rigidity, the natural fibers overlap a lot in the thickness direction, and the light transmittance becomes very low. Therefore, in some cases, a method of providing a recess at a location where light is to be transmitted and reducing the thickness is adopted.

[0005] In addition, in order to enhance the design property, there may be a case where it is desired to add a gradation to the light emitted from the design surface of the natural fiber board. In that case, for example, there is a method of forming a recess whose depth becomes shallower toward the edge, in other words, a method of forming the natural fiber board so that the thickness thereof becomes thicker toward the edge of the light transmitting portion. However, when that method is used, in the gradation portion of the light emitted from the design surface of the design material, there may be a case where a portion where the color tone becomes strong due to the influence of the color of the natural fiber itself appears. Specifically, when woody fibers such as kenaf are used, a reddish color appears in a part of the light gradation.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to make the gradation of the light emitted from a light transmitting design material mainly composed of a natural fiber board into a color tone that changes naturally.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the light transmitting design material disclosed in the present application has the following configuration. (1) A light transmitting design material having a light transmitting portion that transmits light, which is mainly composed of a plate-shaped natural fiber board in which natural fibers exhibiting colors represented by the three primary colors of light are bound by a molten resin, the natural fiber board has a thin portion having a thickness smaller than that of the portion other than the recess by forming a recess on the back surface side, the thin portion is a portion that functions as the light transmitting portion and has a uniform thickness, a light transmittance gradual change member is fixed in the recess in a state where one end is in contact with the wall surface forming the recess, the light transmittance gradual change member has no wavelength selectivity with respect to the transmitted light, and is a light transmitting design material whose thickness increases and light transmittance decreases toward the one end.

[0008] The light-transmitting decorative material disclosed in the present application is capable of applying gradation to the light emitted from the light-transmitting portion. In the light-transmitting decorative material disclosed in the present application, "exhibiting a color represented by the three primary colors of light" means having a single color among the three primary colors of light or a color formed by mixing two or more of them. In other words, it means a color other than white or gray.

[0009] The "natural fiber" in the light-transmitting decorative material disclosed in the present application is premised on having some color. When light is transmitted through a board containing natural fibers having that color and gradation is applied to the light, if the structure is such that the thickness of the fiber board is made different, it will not result in a natural gradation, and in some parts, there is a problem that the color tone becomes stronger under the influence of the color that the natural fibers themselves have. The light-transmitting decorative material disclosed in the present application addresses this problem.

[0010] In the light-transmitting decorative material disclosed in the present application, the light transmittance gradual change member does not have wavelength selectivity with respect to the transmitted light (especially visible light). In other words, it does not absorb or reflect light of a specific wavelength (light of a specific color). That is, the light transmittance gradual change member transmits light of all colors and is assumed to exhibit white or gray colors. In the light-transmitting decorative material disclosed in the present application, due to the light transmittance gradual change member, the light incident on the thin portion has its brightness (light amount) changed in the direction toward the wall surface without changing the color of the light. And since the thickness of the thin portion, which is the light-transmitting portion, is constant, the influence of the color that the natural fibers themselves have on the light transmitted through the thin portion can be made substantially uniform. Therefore, according to the light-transmitting decorative material disclosed in the present application, it is possible to suppress the strong manifestation of the influence of the color that the natural fibers themselves have at specific locations in the light-transmitting portion and make the gradation of the light change naturally. Also, in the light-transmitting decorative material disclosed in the present application, although the thickness of the light-transmitting portion of the natural fiber board is made small, the presence of the light transmittance gradual change member makes it possible to increase the rigidity of the light-transmitting portion.

[0011] In the light-transmitting decorative material having the above configuration, the following various modes are possible.

[0012] (2) The light-transmitting design material according to item (1), wherein the light transmittance creep member is formed from a thermoplastic resin exhibiting a white or gray color.

[0013] In the light-transmitting design material having this configuration, the light transmittance creep member is limited, and since the light transmittance creep member is a resin molded body, sufficient rigidity of the light-transmitting portion can be ensured.

[0014] (3) The light-transmitting design material according to item (2), wherein the light transmittance creep member is heat-welded to the natural fiber board.

[0015] In the light-transmitting design material having this configuration, since an adhesive is not used for adhering the light transmittance creep member to the natural fiber board, the color of the adhesive does not affect the emitted light, and a more reliable natural gradation can be realized.

[0016] (4) The light-transmitting design material according to item (1), wherein the light transmittance creep member is a laminate of fiber layers made of fibers exhibiting a white or gray color, and the number of laminations increases toward the one end.

[0017] For the fiber layer in the light-transmitting design material having this configuration, for example, tissue paper, Japanese paper, etc. can be adopted. In the light-transmitting design material having this configuration, the light transmittance creep member can be formed, for example, by laminating fiber layers of the same size and then cutting obliquely in the thickness direction.

[0018] Also, in order to solve the above problems, the decorative article with lighting disclosed in the present application has the following configuration. (5) A decorative article with lighting comprising the light-transmitting design material according to any one of items (1) to (4) and a lighting device, wherein the light-transmitting design material forms at least a part of the outer contour of the decorative article, and the lighting device is arranged on the back side of the light-transmitting design material and configured to irradiate light toward the light-transmitting portion.

[0019] The decorative article with lighting disclosed in the present application can express a natural fiber feel and a natural gradation while suppressing a decrease in rigidity in the light-transmitting portion of the natural fiber board.

Effects of the Invention

[0020] According to the present invention, the gradation of light emitted from the light-transmitting decorative material mainly composed of a natural fiber board can be made into a naturally changing color tone.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0021]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0022] Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of an interior trim material for a vehicle (a decorative article with lighting) using the light-transmitting decorative material of the present invention. The interior trim material for a vehicle in this embodiment is a door trim 12 that constitutes the inner surface of the passenger compartment (vehicle compartment) in the side door 10 of a vehicle (automobile). The side door 10 is provided on each of the driver's seat side (right side in the vehicle width direction) and the passenger seat side (left side in the vehicle width direction), and is configured to be openable and closable by rotating about a pivot axis that generally extends in the vertical direction on the front side of the vehicle. Any of the door trims 12 of the side door 10 on the driver's seat side and the side door 10 on the driver's seat side are the interior trim materials for a vehicle in this embodiment. In the following description, the door trim 12 of the side door 10 on the driver's seat side will be described as a representative.

[0023] The door trim 12 constitutes the inner part of the side door 10 in the passenger compartment and is attached to the door inner panel from the inner side of the passenger compartment. As shown in Fig. 1, the door trim 12 includes a lower board 14 and an upper board 16. An armrest 18 is formed at the upper end of the lower board 14, and the upper part above the armrest 18 is the upper board 16.

[0024] This upper board 16 has an ornament part 20 that decorates with light. Specifically, the ornament part 20 can perform decoration with a light gradation as shown in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 3, a lighting device 22 is fixed to the outer side (rear side) of the ornament part 20 in the upper board 16 in the upper board 16, and the ornament part 20 can perform decoration with light by transmitting the light of the lighting device 22. That is, this upper board 16 is the light-transmitting decorative material of this embodiment, and the ornament part 20 is a light-transmitting part that transmits light. The lighting device 22 includes a box-shaped housing 22a that opens to the inner side of the passenger compartment and a plurality of LEDs 22b fixed to the inner surface of the housing 22a, and irradiates light toward the passenger compartment.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 3, the upper board 16 is formed by laminating a base material 30, a spunbond layer 32, and a protective film 34. The base material 30 is a plate-shaped natural fiber board in which plant fibers, which are natural fibers, are bound by a molten resin. Examples of the plant fibers include bast plant fibers such as kenaf and wood fibers obtained by defibrating wood and the like. Although plant fibers are exemplified as natural fibers, animal fibers or mineral fibers may also be used. In the base material 30 of the present embodiment, the plant fibers that are natural fibers are kenaf fibers, and those having an average fiber diameter of 80 μm or more and 100 μm or less are used.

[0026] Further, the resin that functions as a binder for binding natural fibers is made of a thermoplastic resin material that is transparent or translucent and has light transmittance. Examples of the thermoplastic resin include polyolefin resins (such as polypropylene and polyethylene), polyester resins (such as aliphatic polyester resins such as polylactic acid and polycaprolactone, and aromatic polyester resins such as polyethylene terephthalate). In the present embodiment, it is polypropylene (PP).

[0027] The base material 30 is formed from mixed fibers in which kenaf fibers and PP fibers are mixed at a predetermined ratio. In the present embodiment, when the total mass of the mixed fibers obtained by mixing them is 100 wt%, the mixed fibers contain, for example, 45 wt% of kenaf fibers and 55 wt% of PP fibers. Then, the mixed fibers are opened and laminated by a carding machine to form a mat shape, and the mat-shaped material is made into a flat pre-board by melting at least a part of the PP fibers that are the binder, for example, by a double belt press device, and finally, it is heated and pressed to be formed into the shape of a predetermined product. In the present embodiment, the above-described spunbond layer 32 and protective film 34 are superposed on the pre-board and heated and pressed to obtain the upper board 16.

[0028] In the present embodiment, the mass per unit area of the base material 30 is 1.5 kg / m 2It has a thickness of about 15 mm. In the base material 30, the portion with this thickness does not transmit light. Therefore, in order to allow light to pass through the portion where the ornament part 20 is formed, a recess 38 is formed on the back side, and the thickness is made into a thin-walled part 30a that is smaller than other parts. This thin-walled part 30a is machined, for example, by NC machining so that the thickness becomes uniform. When this thin-walled part 30a is a fiber board of kenaf fiber as in this embodiment, it is preferably 0.2 mm or more and 0.7 mm or less in order to transmit light.

[0029] That is, when the upper board 16, which is the light-transmitting decorative material of this embodiment, is irradiated with light by the lighting device 22, the fiber pattern of the kenaf fiber emerges on the design surface, expressing a natural fiber feeling. Incidentally, the spunbond layer 32 determines the color of the design surface when it is not irradiated with light by the lighting device. The protective film 34 is for waterproofing and suppressing the smell of kenaf fiber. In this embodiment, it is a three-layer film in which a polyamide (nylon) film 34a is sandwiched between polyethylene films 34b and 34c.

[0030] Next, the ornament part 20 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 2, the ornament part 20 is provided with a gradation so that the light becomes weaker (the light quantity becomes smaller) as it goes backward and downward. For this purpose, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a light transmittance gradual change member 40 is fixed in the recess 38 with a uniform thickness.

[0031] This light transmittance gradual change member 40 has an inclined shape in which the thickness increases toward the rear end 40a and the lower end 40b, and the light transmittance is made to decrease toward the rear end 40a and the lower end 40b. Also, this light transmittance gradual change member 40 does not have wavelength selectivity with respect to the transmitted light. In other words, it does not absorb or reflect light of a specific wavelength (light of a specific color). That is, the light transmittance gradual change member 40 transmits light of all colors and is made to exhibit white or gray color. In other words, it does not exhibit the colors represented by the three primary colors of light, that is, it is a semi-transparent white or gray member. In the present embodiment, the light transmittance gradual change member 40 is formed from semi-transparent polyethylene exhibiting white or gray color. And the light transmittance gradual change member 40 is fixed in a state where the rear end 40a and the lower end 40b are in contact with the wall surfaces 38a, 38b forming the recess 38.

[0032] Here, a case where decoration with light gradation is performed using the light transmission member 60 of the comparative example shown in FIG. 5 will be described. The light transmission member 60 of the comparative example is formed from the same material as the base material 30 of the above-described embodiment, that is, it is formed from a pre-board formed from kenaf fibers and PP fibers described above. Also, although a recess 62 is formed and a light transmission part 60a is formed, the recess 62 has a shape in which the depth becomes shallower toward a part of the edge of the light transmission part 60a (the lower end in FIG. 5). That is, the light transmission part 60a of the light transmission member 60 is configured such that the thickness increases toward the edge (lower end), and thereby the light transmittance decreases toward the edge of the light transmission part 60a.

[0033] However, since kenaf fibers exhibit a color (brown) represented by the three primary colors, the light emitted from the design surface of the light transmissive member 60 will be affected by that color. That is, at the location A1 where the thickness of the light transmissive member 60 is the smallest, the transmitted light exhibits brown, and at the location A2 where the thickness is larger, it changes from brown to dark brown, approaching black with less light being transmitted as it gets closer to the edge. However, it was found that in the middle portion A3 of the thick portion A2, the red color tone is strongly manifested due to the strong influence of the color of the kenaf fibers. That is, when using the light transmissive member 60 of the comparative example, there is a problem that the light emitted from the light transmission part 60a does not form a natural gradation.

[0034] On the other hand, in the upper board 16 which is the light transmissive member of the present embodiment, the light incident on the light transmittance gradual change member 40 has only its brightness (light amount) changed without changing the color of the light, and is emitted toward the thin portion 30a of the base material 30. Since the thin portion 30a has a uniform thickness, the influence of the color of the kenaf fibers themselves on the light transmitted through the thin portion 30a can be made substantially uniform. Therefore, the light emitted from the vehicle interior surface side of the base material 30, and thus the light emitted from the ornament portion 20, can suppress the strong manifestation of the influence of the color of the kenaf fibers only in a part, and can express a natural light gradation. Also, in the present embodiment, although the thickness of the thin portion 30a that functions as the light transmissive portion of the base material 30 is reduced, the presence of the light transmittance gradual change member 40 can increase the rigidity of the thin portion 30a.

[0035] Further, in the present embodiment, the light transmittance gradual change member 40 is formed from a thermoplastic resin. By heating the adhesive surface 40c to soften it once, arranging it in the recess 38 of the base material 30, and then solidifying it again, it is adhered to the base material 30. That is, since no adhesive is used for adhering the base material 30 and the light transmittance gradual change member 40, the color of the adhesive does not affect the emitted light, and a more reliable natural gradation can be realized.

[0036] <Other Embodiments> Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various forms with various changes and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[0037] In the above embodiment, the light transmittance gradual change member 40 was made of a thermoplastic resin (PP), but it is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the light transmittance gradual change member 80 may be formed by laminating a fiber layer 82 made of decolorized fibers such as tissue paper or Japanese paper. This light transmittance gradual change member 80 can be formed, for example, by laminating fiber layers of the same size and then cutting them obliquely in the thickness direction to form a shape in which the thickness increases toward the end.

[0038] In the above embodiment, the natural fiber was kenaf fiber, but it is not limited thereto. The present invention can be adopted when various natural fibers exhibiting colors represented by the three primary colors are used for the natural fiber board that is the main body constituting the light transmission decorative material.

[0039] In the above embodiment, the light transmission decorative material was adopted for the door trim 12 of a vehicle, but it is not limited thereto, and it can also be adopted for other vehicle interior materials such as the ceiling material or instrument panel of the vehicle. Further, it is not limited to vehicles, and can also be adopted for interior materials of other vehicles. Furthermore, it is not limited to interior materials of vehicles, and can also be adopted for interior decoration of buildings, furniture, etc.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0040] 12… Door trim [Decorative article with lighting], 16… Upper board [Light transmission decorative material], 20… Ornamental part [Light transmission part], 22… Lighting device, 30… Base material [Natural fiber board], 30a… Thin part, 38… Recess, 38a… Rear wall surface, 38b… Lower wall surface, 40… Light transmittance gradual change member, 40a… Rear end, 40b… Lower end, 80… Light transmittance gradual change member, 82… Fiber layer

Claims

1. A light-transmitting decorative material having a light-transmitting portion that transmits light, which is mainly composed of a plate-shaped natural fiber board in which natural fibers exhibiting colors represented by the three primary colors are bound by a molten resin, wherein the natural fiber board has a recess formed on the back side, and thus has a thin portion with a thickness smaller than that of portions other than the recess, the thin portion being a portion that functions as the light-transmitting portion and having a uniform thickness, wherein a light transmittance gradual change member is fixed in the recess in a state where one end is in contact with the wall surface forming the recess, the light transmittance gradual change member having no wavelength selectivity with respect to the transmitted light, and being configured such that the thickness increases and the light transmittance decreases toward the one end, the light-transmitting decorative material.

2. The light-transmitting decorative material according to claim 1, wherein the light transmittance gradual change member is formed from a thermoplastic resin exhibiting a white or gray color.

3. The light-transmitting decorative material according to claim 2, wherein the light transmittance gradual change member is heat-welded to the natural fiber board.

4. The light-transmitting decorative material according to claim 1, wherein the light transmittance gradual change member is a laminate of fiber layers made of fibers exhibiting a white or gray color, and the number of laminations increases toward the one end.

5. A decorated article with lighting, comprising the light-transmitting decorative material according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and a lighting device, wherein the light-transmitting decorative material is configured to form at least a part of the outer contour of the decorated article, and the lighting device is arranged on the back side of the light-transmitting decorative material and configured to irradiate light toward the light-transmitting portion, the decorated article with lighting.

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