Exterior and interior materials

Abstract

To provide a surface material and interior material equipped therewith that can improve appearance with a simple structure. [Solution] The surface body 1 is made of synthetic resin. The surface body 1 comprises a general part 6 and a sewing part 7 that is to be sewn with sewing thread 5. The sewing part 7 has at least a portion of a weak reaction force part 11 in which the reaction force to the sewing thread 5 is set to be weaker than that of the general part 6.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a skin body formed of a synthetic resin and an interior material provided with the same.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in interior materials used for vehicles such as automobiles, there are some that are configured by attaching a skin body to a base material in order to improve the appearance. Further, for the purpose of further improving the appearance, a plurality of skins may be sewn together by primary sewing and stitches (secondary sewing) may be applied to the design surface.

[0003] In recent years, as such an interior material, there is known one configured by attaching a synthetic resin leather (synthetic leather) as a skin body to a base material instead of so-called genuine leather such as animal leather (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] When using synthetic resin leather as the skin body, in order to ensure the appearance, it is desirable to make it look like genuine leather. For example, regarding stitches, they may be formed by actually sewing a thread to the skin body so as to have the same texture and appearance as when applied to genuine leather.

[0006] However, synthetic resin leather requires a certain thickness to ensure cushioning, and it is difficult to make the entire material thin. Therefore, due to its material and thickness, it tends to have a stronger resistance to stitching compared to genuine leather. As a result, even if the same thread and sewing machine used for genuine leather are used, the three-dimensional texture of the thread and the needle hole diameter will differ from genuine leather, potentially causing the stitches to stand out and detracting from the appearance. In this regard, it is conceivable to use different threads and sewing machines than those used for genuine leather as appropriate, but this adjustment would incur significant costs.

[0007] This invention has been made in view of these points, and aims to provide a surface material that can improve appearance with a simple structure, and an interior material equipped therewith. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] An embodiment of the present invention is a surface body formed of a synthetic resin, comprising a general portion and a portion intended for sewing with sewing thread, wherein the portion intended for sewing has at least a portion of a weak reaction force portion in which the reaction force to the sewing thread is set to be weaker than that of the general portion. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, the appearance can be improved with a simple configuration. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] (a) is a front view showing the surface body of the first embodiment of the present invention, and (b) is a cross-sectional view showing the surface body with stitching applied. [Figure 2] This is a cross-sectional view of the same epidermal tissue. [Figure 3] This is a perspective view showing an example of an interior material having the same surface material as described above. [Figure 4] This is a schematic front view showing the deviation in the insertion angle and position of the sewing needle into the epidermal tissue. [Figure 5] This is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a reference example of the epidermal tissue. [Figure 6] This is a perspective view showing the epidermal body of a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] This is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a reference example of the epidermal tissue. [Figure 8] (a) is a front view showing a part of the epidermis according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and (b) is a front view showing a part of the epidermis according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] In Figure 1(a), 1 represents the surface layer. The surface layer 1 is used to cover at least a portion of the surface of the object to be covered. The surface layer 1 is made of synthetic resin, and a synthetic leather is an example of this. The synthetic resin that makes up the surface layer 1 is a material that has a greater reaction force than, for example, genuine leather (natural leather). The surface layer 1 is in the form of a flexible sheet and is formed, for example, by injection molding. The surface layer 1 has a design surface 2 which is the outer surface and an opposing surface 3 which is the back surface that is located on the side of the object to be covered. The outer shape of the surface layer 1 is shown as a rectangle in the figure, but it may be set as appropriate depending on the object to be covered.

[0013] In this embodiment, the surface body 1 is partially sewn with sewing thread 5, as shown in Figure 1(b), in order to enhance its aesthetic appeal. Specifically, the surface body 1 is configured with a general section 6 and a section 7 to be sewn, and the section 7 is sewn with sewing thread 5 to form a sewn section 8.

[0014] As shown in Figure 2, in this embodiment, the sewing thread 5 has an upper thread 5a that is partially located on the design surface 2 and forms the stitch design of the cover portion 8, and a lower thread 5b that is entangled with the upper thread 5a and is not exposed on the design surface 2 side. In the illustrated example, the upper thread 5a is arranged in a wave-like pattern so as to be entangled with the lower thread 5b on the back side of the design surface 2 through a needle hole 9 formed in the sewing area 7, and the lower thread 5b is arranged linearly on the back side of the design surface 2. The needle hole 9 may be formed when the sewing needle penetrates the surface body 1 in the thickness direction at the location of the sewing area 7 during sewing, or it may be formed in advance in the sewing area 7 before sewing.

[0015] The general portion 6 shown in Figure 1(a) is a non-sewn portion, and for example, constitutes the majority of the surface body 1. In the figure, the general portion 6 is shown as having a constant or approximately constant thickness, but it is not limited to this, and the thickness may be set as appropriate according to the surface shape of the object to be covered.

[0016] The sewing area 7 is formed with the design surface 2 side recessed in the thickness direction compared to its surrounding area. The sewing area 7 is formed along a predetermined line. In the figure, an example is shown where the sewing area 7 is formed along a straight line, but it is not limited to this and may be a curve, etc. In the illustrated example, a pair of sewing areas 7 are formed. These sewing areas 7 are in parallel positions, maintaining a constant or approximately constant distance from each other. Note that "parallel" is generally a term defined for the relationship between straight lines, but in this embodiment, it is not limited to straight lines and refers to a state where they are in positions that maintain a constant or approximately constant distance from each other along a predetermined line. In this example, as shown in Figure 3, the stitches made by the upper thread 5a of the sewing thread 5 applied to the sewing area 7 form a so-called double-stitched sewing area 8, showing a design that is parallel to each other.

[0017] As shown in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), at least a part of the planned sewing portion 7 is provided with a reaction force weakening portion 11. The reaction force weakening portion 11 is a portion where the reaction force against the sewing thread 5 is set weaker than that of the general portion 6. The reaction force weakening portion 11 is formed by making at least a part of the planned sewing portion 7 thinner than the general portion 6. In the illustrated example, the reaction force weakening portion 11 is formed on the side of the design surface 2 of the concave portion 13 formed on the opposing surface 3 on the side opposite to the design surface 2. In the present embodiment, the concave portion 13 is formed in a groove shape continuous along a predetermined line along which the planned sewing portion 7 extends.

[0018] The maximum width of the concave portion 13 is set to be larger than the thickness of the sewing thread 5. The shape of the concave portion 13 may be arbitrarily set, but preferably, the concave portion 13 has a bottom portion 15 and side wall portions 16 extending from both sides of the bottom portion 15 to the opposing surface 3.

[0019] The bottom portion 15 is on the back side of the design surface 2 in the planned sewing portion 7 and is formed in a planar shape parallel or substantially parallel to the opposing surface 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the lower thread 5b of the sewing thread 5 is located on the bottom portion 15 in the concave portion 13. Also, in the present embodiment, both side wall portions 16 shown in FIG. 1(a) are perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the bottom portion 15 and are formed parallel or substantially parallel to each other so that the concave portion 13 has a constant or substantially constant width.

[0020] Also, in the general portion 6, between the planned sewing portions 7, 7, a groove portion 18 is formed on the design surface 2, and the design surface 2 bulges outward so that the design surface 2 curves outward between the groove portion 18 and each planned sewing portion 7. The design surface 2 including the groove portion 18 presents a design similar to, for example, a connecting portion where the terminal portions of a pair of skin pieces 19 made of genuine leather (natural leather) or the like are each folded back and abutted against each other and connected, as shown in the reference example in FIG. 5, thereby giving an impression that the skin body 1 shown in FIG. 1(a) consists of a plurality of skin pieces, and is for enhancing the design property. As shown in FIG. 3, the groove portion 18 is located parallel to the planned sewing portions 7, 7. That is, stitches by the upper thread 5a of the sewing thread 5 are located on each of one side and the other side with the groove portion 18 as a reference.

[0021] Then, for example, when sewing is performed on the area to be sewn 7 with sewing thread 5 using a sewing machine, as shown in Figure 2, the display body 1, by having a reaction force weakening part 11, weakens the reaction force against the tightening of the sewing thread 5. This causes the needle hole 9 to widen, and the curvature of the sewing thread 5 and the surface body 1 at the edges of the design surface 2 of the area to be sewn 7 and the needle hole 9 to be tightened by the sewing thread 5 to increase, resulting in a three-dimensional appearance in the sewn area 8. In other words, by forming the reaction force weakening part 11, it is possible to achieve a three-dimensional appearance and needle hole diameter in the sewn area 8 that is similar to that of genuine leather, even when using sewing thread 5, sewing needles, and sewing machines used when sewing on natural leather such as animal hides. Thus, the appearance can be improved with a simple structure.

[0022] Furthermore, by making at least a portion of the sewing area 7 thinner than the general area 6, a reaction force weak area 11 is formed, making it possible to construct an inexpensive surface body 1 with improved appearance.

[0023] For example, in this embodiment, a recess 13 is formed on the surface 1 opposite to the design surface 2, and the side of the recess 13 facing the design surface 2 is configured as a reaction force weakening portion 11. By adjusting the depth of the recess 13, the reaction force at the reaction force weakening portion 11 can be easily adjusted.

[0024] Furthermore, since the recess 13 has a bottom 15, by setting the width of the bottom 15 to a predetermined width that can absorb errors in the insertion angle (rotational deviation) and the intersection (parallel deviation) of the insertion position of the sewing needle into the surface body 1, for example, even if the insertion angle of the sewing needle is slightly off during sewing as shown by arrow A in Figure 4, or the insertion position of the sewing needle is slightly off as shown by arrow B, these deviations are absorbed by the width of the bottom 15 of the recess 13, suppressing variations in the reaction force on the sewing thread 5 that constitutes the stitch, and thus suppressing variations in appearance caused by this.

[0025] Furthermore, the recessed portion 13 can be easily formed by injection molding or the like simply by modifying the shape of the mold for the surface body 1.

[0026] As shown in Figure 3, this embodiment shows an example in which the above-mentioned surface material 1 is used as an interior material 20. The interior material 20 is configured such that the surface material 1 covers and decorates at least a portion of the interior material main body 22, which is the base material. For example, an example of the interior material 20 is an interior material for vehicles installed in the passenger compartment of a vehicle such as an automobile.

[0027] The interior material body portion 22 is formed into an appropriate shape using, for example, a rigid synthetic resin. At least a portion of the surface of the interior material body portion 22 is fixed to the opposing surface 3 of the outer skin 1, which is sewn with sewing thread 5, by adhesive or the like. The outer skin 1 is fixed to the interior material body portion 22 such that the sewing thread 5 applied to at least the sewing area 7 forms part of the design of the interior material 20. The end portion of the outer skin 1 may be folded back from the end portion of the interior material body portion 22 to the back side of the interior material body portion 22 and fixed thereto. The recess 13 is a portion that does not come into contact with the surface of the interior material body portion 22, but it has virtually no effect on the design surface 2.

[0028] Thus, the interior material 20 equipped with the above-described surface material 1 is inexpensive yet has a good appearance similar to genuine leather.

[0029] Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 6. Note that components and operations similar to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and their descriptions are omitted.

[0030] In this embodiment, the surface body 1 has one designated sewing area 7, and the upper thread 5a of the sewing thread 5 forms a so-called single-stitch sewing area 8. On the opposing surface 3 side of the sewing area 7, a recess 13 is formed, and the design surface 2 side of the recess 13 is a reaction force weak area 11.

[0031] In the illustrated example, the surface body 1 is formed by connecting a first portion 25 and a second portion 26, with a sewing area 7 formed in a part of the second portion 26, and the remaining part of the second portion 26 and the first portion 25 constituting a general portion 6. In the first portion 25 and the second portion 26, the design surface 2 and the opposing surface 3 are stepped. In the continuous portion where the first portion 25 and the second portion 26 are connected, a projection 27 is formed at the end of the second portion 26. The projection 27 is formed at a position adjacent to the sewing area 7. In this embodiment, the projection 27 that forms the end of the second portion 26 is formed parallel to the sewing area 7. The projection 27 is curved so that the design surface 2 protrudes in an arc on the opposite side from the sewing area 7. In other words, the projection 27 bulges outwards toward the first portion 25, and is connected to the design surface 2 of the first portion 25 at a position on the second portion 26 side of the tip of the bulge. In other words, the surface of the protruding portion 27 is curved so as to fold back toward the second portion 26 and is connected to the design surface 2 of the first portion 25. These portions, including the protruding portion 27 and its surrounding area, exhibit a design similar to a connecting portion where, as shown in the reference example in Figure 7, the end of one surface piece 19a made of genuine leather (natural leather) or the like is folded back and overlapped with the end of another surface piece 19b made of genuine leather (natural leather) or the like, and these end pieces are connected to each other, giving the impression that the surface body 1 shown in Figure 6 is made up of multiple surface pieces, thereby enhancing the design.

[0032] In this way, by having at least a portion of the sewing area 7 having a weak reaction force area 11 where the reaction force against the sewing thread 5 is set to be weaker than that of the general area 6, when sewing is performed on the sewing area 7 with the sewing thread 5, the reaction force against the tightening of the sewing thread 5 is weakened, causing the needle hole 9 to widen, the curvature of the sewing thread 5 and the curvature of the surface body 1 at the design surface 2 of the sewing area 7 that is tightened by the sewing thread 5 and at the edge of the needle hole 9 to be strengthened, and a three-dimensional effect to be created in the sewing area 8. In this way, similar effects to the first embodiment can be achieved, such as improving the appearance of the surface body 1 having a single-stitch-like sewing area 8 with a simple structure.

[0033] In each embodiment, the shape of the recess 13 may be such that, for example, as in the third embodiment shown in Figure 8(a), the side wall portions 16 are inclined to gradually move away from the opposing surface 3, and the recess 13 is formed to gradually widen towards the opposing surface 3. Also, as in the fourth embodiment shown in Figure 8(b), the position where the bottom portion 15 and the side wall portions 16 connect may be curved in a curved shape.

[0034] Furthermore, the surface material 1 is not limited to being used for interior materials 20, but may be used for any other object to be covered. [Industrial applicability]

[0035] The present invention can be suitably used, for example, as a surface material for decorating interior materials for vehicles. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0036] 1 Epidermal body 2. Design surface 5 Sewing thread 6 General section 7. Sewing Schedule 11 Weak reaction force part 13 recess 15 Bottom 20 Interior materials 22 Interior material main body

Claims

1. A skin body formed from synthetic resin, General Division and It comprises a section to be sewn with sewing thread, The portion to be sewn has at least a portion of a weak reaction force section in which the reaction force against the sewing thread is set to be weaker than that of the general portion. An epidermal body characterized by the following features.

2. The area with weak reaction force is formed by making at least a portion of the area to be sewn thinner than the general area. The epidermal body according to feature 1.

3. It is formed on the side opposite to the design surface and has a recess that makes the design surface side a weak reaction force area, The recess has a bottom The epidermal body according to feature 1.

4. The main body of the interior material, A surface covering according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which covers at least a part of the main body of the interior material, An interior material characterized by having the following features.

Images