Exterior and interior materials

Abstract

To provide an outer covering that is easy to sew and has excellent appearance, and an interior material equipped therewith. [Solution] The surface body 1 comprises a first surface portion 5 and a second surface portion 6 connected to the first surface portion 5 via a continuous portion 7, the back side of which is formed in a stepped manner relative to the surface side of the first surface portion 5. The second surface portion 6 has a sewing portion 11 which is to be sewn with sewing thread 10. The continuous portion 7 is provided on the back side at a position along the sewing portion 11, which allows the continuous portion 7 to be expanded from the back side.

Description

Technical Field

[0006] , , ,

[0001] The present invention relates to a skin body having a stepped shape on the back side and an interior material provided with the same.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in a synthetic resin skin body formed by injection molding, in order to make the parting line (PL) during molding less noticeable, the parting line is set in a concave groove, and after molding, sewing is performed at that location so that the parting line is finally made less noticeable (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Although a synthetic resin skin body can express various shapes on the surface, as the shape becomes more complex, the shape on the back side may also become non-flat. When the back side is not flat, it is difficult to hold the skin body flat when sewing the skin body with a sewing machine or the like, so the manufacturing process becomes complicated in order to prevent distortion and poor tension in the sewing part.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such points, and an object thereof is to provide a skin body that is easy to sew and has excellent appearance, and an interior material provided with the same. [[ID=四十一]]

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An embodiment of the present invention comprises a first surface portion and a second surface portion connected to the first surface portion via a continuous portion, the back side of which is formed in a stepped manner toward the front side relative to the first surface portion, the second surface portion having a sewing portion to be sewn with sewing thread, and the continuous portion is provided on the back side at a position along the sewing portion to allow the continuous portion to be expanded from the back side. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, sewing is easy and the appearance is excellent. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [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 schematic perspective view showing a part of a sewing device for sewing the same epidermal body. [Figure 3] This is a schematic perspective view showing the sewing process of the same epidermal body. [Figure 4] This is a perspective view showing an example of an interior material having the same surface material as described above. [Figure 5] This is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a reference example of the epidermal tissue. [Figure 6] This is a front view showing the epidermal body of a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] This is a front view showing the epidermal body of a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] This is a front view showing the epidermal body of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] This is a front view showing the epidermal body of a fifth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] This is a front view showing the skin body of the sixth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] This is a front view showing the epidermal body of the seventh embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] This is a front view showing the epidermal body of the eighth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] This is a perspective cross-sectional view showing a portion of the epidermis. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] In Figures 1(a) and 1(b), 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 is an example of synthetic leather. The surface layer 1 is 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 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 figures, but it may be set as appropriate depending on the object to be covered.

[0011] The skin body 1 of this embodiment integrally comprises a first skin portion 5 and a second skin portion 6. The first skin portion 5 extends in a planar shape with, for example, a constant or substantially constant thickness.

[0012] The second skin part 6 has a thickness that is basically equal to or approximately equal to that of the first skin part 5 and spreads out in a planar shape. The second skin part 6 is connected to the first skin part 5 via a continuous part 7. The continuous part 7 has a curved shape in which the design surface 2 protrudes in an arc shape toward the first skin part 5 side. That is, the continuous part 7 bulges out so as to protrude toward the first skin part 5 side, and has a protruding shape that is continuous with the design surface 2 of the first skin part 5 at a position on the second skin part 6 side rather than at the tip 7a of the bulge. That is, the continuous part 7 is continuous with the design surface 2 of the first skin part 5 at a position where its surface is curved so as to be folded back toward the second skin part 6 side. The part including these continuous parts 7 and their peripheral parts presents a design similar to a connecting part where the terminal part of one skin piece 8a made of genuine leather (natural leather) or the like is folded back and overlapped on the terminal part of another skin piece 8b made of genuine leather (natural leather) or the like and these terminal parts are connected to each other, as shown in the reference example in FIG. 5. This gives the impression that the skin body 1 shown in FIG. 1(a) consists of a plurality of skin pieces, thereby enhancing the design quality.

[0013] Also, in order to enhance the design quality, a sewing planned part 11 to be sewn with a sewing thread 10 is set in the second skin part 6. By sewing the sewing planned part 11 with the sewing thread 10, a sewing part 12 is formed. In the skin body 1, the part excluding the sewing planned part 11 is a general part where no sewing is performed, so-called a non-sewing part.

[0014] In the present embodiment, the sewing thread 10 has an upper thread 10a that is partially located on the design surface 2 and forms a stitch, and a lower thread 10b that is wound around the upper thread 10a, located on the opposite surface 3 side, and not exposed on the design surface 2 side. In the illustrated example, the upper thread 10a is arranged in a wave shape so as to be wound around the lower thread 10b on the back side from the design surface 2 through the needle holes formed in the sewing planned part 11, and the lower thread 10b is arranged linearly on the opposite surface 3 side. Regarding the needle holes, they may be formed by the sewing needle penetrating the skin body 1 in the thickness direction at the position of the sewing planned part 11 during sewing, or may be formed in advance in the sewing planned part 11 before sewing.

[0015] The planned sewing part 11 is formed such that the design surface 2 side is recessed in the thickness direction from the peripheral part in the second skin part 6. The planned sewing part 11 is formed along a predetermined line. In the figure, the planned sewing part 11 shows an example of being formed along a straight line, but it is not limited to this, and it may be a curve or the like. The planned sewing part 11 is in a parallel position maintaining a constant or substantially constant distance from the tip 7a of the continuous part 7 forming the terminal part of the second skin part 6, that is, the end on the first skin part 5 side. Note that "parallel" is a term generally defined for the relationship between straight lines, but in the case of this embodiment, a state where positions maintain a constant or substantially constant distance from each other along a predetermined line, not limited to straight lines, is referred to as "parallel". In this example, as shown in FIG. 3, a so-called single stitch-like sewing part 12 is formed, where the stitch by the upper thread 10a of the sewing thread 10 applied to the planned sewing part 11 shows a design parallel to the tip of the continuous part 7.

[0016] On the opposite surface 3 side of the second skin part 6, there is a step shape on the design surface 2 side, that is, the upper side in the figure, with respect to the opposite surface 3 side of the first skin part 5. For example, in this embodiment, the opposite surface 3 of the second skin part 6 is in a position flush or substantially flush with the design surface 2 of the first skin part 5.

[0017] In this embodiment, the sewing section 12 is formed by a sewing machine M, which is a sewing device shown in Figure 2. The sewing machine M has a support surface 15, which is a needle plate that supports the outer surface 1, a presser foot 16 that presses a part of the outer surface 1 against the support surface 15, and a sewing needle 17 that is driven up and down relative to the support surface 15. A bobbin section is formed at the lower part of the support surface 15, on which a bobbin wound with the lower thread 10b of the sewing thread 10 (shown in Figure 1(b)) is placed, and a hole 19 is opened in the support surface 15, into which the tip of the sewing needle 17 is inserted into and removed from the bobbin section in accordance with the up and down movement of the sewing needle 17. The presser foot 16 has a bifurcated shape at the tip side in the feeding direction (shown by arrow A) of the outer surface 1 (shown in Figure 1(a)), and the sewing needle 17 is driven up and down at the position between the tips of these presser foot 16. The support surface 15 may have a protrusion 20 for positioning and guiding the outer surface 1 (shown in Figure 1(a)) during sewing. The protrusion 20 projects upward from the support surface 15. On the support surface 15, the protrusion 20 is positioned linearly from front to back in the feed direction relative to the presser foot 16 and the sewing needle 17.

[0018] Then, as shown in Figure 3, the outer skin 1 is placed on the support surface 15 with the opposing surface 3 facing downwards, and the area to be sewn 11 is positioned between the tips of the presser feet 16. With the second outer skin portion 6 of the outer skin 1 pressed down from the design surface 2 side by the presser feet 16, the outer skin 1 is fed along the area to be sewn 11, and the sewing needle 17 is passed through the area to be sewn 11, and the upper thread 10a passed through the tip of the sewing needle 17 and the lower thread 10b (shown in Figure 1(b)) wound on the bobbin are intertwined and sewing is performed.

[0019] At this time, due to the step difference in the continuous portion 7 between the second skin portion 6 and the first skin portion 5, the flexibility of this continuous portion 7 is lower than that of other parts. As a result, the opposing surface 3 of the second skin portion 6 bulges out from the support surface 15, making it difficult for the presser foot 16 to function properly and potentially making sewing difficult.

[0020] Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 1(a), the skin body 1 has an expansion assist portion 22 formed on the continuous portion 7, which allows the continuous portion 7 to be expanded from the opposing surface 3 side. The expansion assist portion 22 improves the flexibility of the continuous portion 7 and enables the second skin portion 6 to be stably and flatly pressed against the support surface 15 by the presser foot 16 in the sewing machine M, as shown in Figure 3, regardless of the step difference between the opposing surfaces 3 of the first skin portion 5 and the second skin portion 6. As shown in Figure 1(a), the expansion assist portion 22 is formed on the side of the continuous portion 7 opposite to the design surface 2. In this embodiment, the expansion assist portion 22 is formed at the corner where the opposing surface 3 of the second skin portion 6 and the end face 23 of the first skin portion 5 on the second skin portion 5 side meet. The expansion assist portion 22 is a recess (notch portion, cutout portion) with weight reduction or a slit portion cut by a blade or the like. The expansion assist portion 22 is formed in the continuous portion 7 at a position along the sewing target portion 11. In this embodiment, the expansion assist portion 22 is parallel to the sewing target portion 11. The expansion assist portion 22 corresponds to a position that covers at least the entire sewing target portion 11.

[0021] In this embodiment, the expansion assist portion 22 is a notch formed in the shape of a semi-cylindrical surface that protrudes toward the design surface 2. In the illustrated example, the expansion assist portion 22 is positioned on the second surface portion 6 side of the end face 23 of the first surface portion 5 so as not to penetrate toward the first surface portion 5. Furthermore, the inner surface of the expansion assist portion 22 has a curved shape that corresponds to the curvature of the surface of the continuous portion 7.

[0022] Therefore, as shown in Figure 3, when the outer surface 1 is placed on the support surface 15 of the sewing machine M and the presser foot 16 presses the second outer surface portion 6 against the support surface 15 from the design surface 2 side, the opposing surface 3 of the second outer surface portion 6 firmly contacts the support surface 15, especially at the position of the area to be sewn 11. Thus, sewing of the area to be sewn 11 by the sewing machine M is easy, and distortion and tension variations are less likely to occur in the formed sewn area 12. Furthermore, since the area to be sewn 11 is hardly deformed during sewing, even if the outer surface 1 returns to its original shape after sewing, there is less impact such as unexpected tension acting on the sewn area 12, and an outer surface 1 with excellent appearance can be manufactured. In addition, the protrusion 20 fits into the expansion assist portion 22, improving the positioning of the area to be sewn 11 and the sewing needle 17, i.e., the accuracy of the sewing position, and improving the linearity of the sewing. Note that the protrusion of the continuous portion 7 is located away from the sewing needle 17, so its influence on the presser foot 16 is minimized. As a result, it becomes possible to achieve a level of stitching equivalent to that of genuine leather.

[0023] In particular, the continuous portion 7 protrudes toward the first surface portion 5 on the design surface 2 side, and includes a protruding shape that connects with the design surface 2 of the first surface portion 5 at a position toward the second surface portion 6 side of the tip 7a of the protrusion, thereby improving the design. However, when the surface body 1 is placed on the support surface 15 of the sewing machine M and the presser foot 16 presses the second surface portion 6 toward the support surface 15 from the design surface 2 side, the reaction force due to the protruding shape of the continuous portion 7 acts like a spring, making it easy for the second surface portion 6 to bend toward the sewing target portion 11. In this embodiment, however, the expanding assist portion 22 can absorb the biasing force due to the protruding shape of the continuous portion 7, so even if the surface body 1 includes the above-mentioned protruding shape of the continuous portion 7, sewing of the sewing target portion 11 by the sewing machine M becomes easier.

[0024] Furthermore, the expansion assist portion 22 can be easily formed by injection molding or the like simply by modifying the shape of the mold for the surface body 1.

[0025] As shown in Figure 4, this embodiment shows an example in which the above-mentioned surface material 1 is used as an interior material 25. The interior material 25 is configured such that the surface material 1 covers and decorates at least a portion of the interior material main body 26, which is the base material. For example, an example of the interior material 25 is an interior material for vehicles installed in the passenger compartment of a vehicle such as an automobile.

[0026] The interior material body portion 26 is formed in an appropriate shape from, for example, a rigid synthetic resin. At least a portion of the surface of the interior material body portion 26 is fixed to the opposing surface 3 of the outer skin 1, which is sewn with sewing thread 10, by adhesive or the like. The outer skin 1 is fixed to the interior material body portion 26 such that the sewing thread 10 applied to at least the sewing portion 11 forms part of the design of the interior material 25. The interior material body portion 26 has a first portion 28 to which the opposing surface 3 of the first outer skin portion 5 is fixed, and a second portion 29 to which the opposing surface 3 of the second outer skin portion 6 is fixed. The surfaces of the first portion 28 and the second portion 29 that are covered by the outer skin 1 are formed in a stepped shape, and the end portion of the outer skin 1 of the second portion 29 may be folded back from the end portion of the interior material body portion 26 to the back side of the interior material body portion 26 and fixed to the first portion 28. The expansion assist portion 22 is located in a part that does not come into contact with the surface of the interior material main body portion 26, and therefore has virtually no impact on the design surface 2.

[0027] Thus, the interior material 25 equipped with the above-described surface material 1 has a good appearance and, despite using a synthetic resin surface material 1, has a good appearance similar to, for example, genuine leather.

[0028] In addition, in the first embodiment, as shown in the second embodiment in Figure 6, an inclined surface 31 connected to the expansion assist portion 22 may be formed on the end face 23 of the first skin portion 5. In this case, when the skin body 1 is placed on the support surface 15 of the sewing machine M and the second skin portion 6 is pressed against the support surface 15 from the design surface 2 side with the presser foot 16, the inclined surface 31 also firmly contacts the support surface 15, thereby further improving the stability of the skin body 1 on the support surface 15 and making sewing easier.

[0029] Furthermore, the cross-sectional shape of the expansion assist portion 22 is not limited to a circular shape. For example, as shown in the third embodiment in Figure 7, the cross-sectional shape of the expansion assist portion 22 may be triangular (for example, a triangular shape with an acute angle at the tip). Also, as shown in the fourth embodiment in Figure 8, the inclination of the inclined surface 31 may be made gentler.

[0030] Furthermore, as shown in the fifth embodiment in Figure 9, the cross-sectional shape of the expansion assist portion 22 may be rectangular (for example, a long rectangle towards the tip).

[0031] Furthermore, as shown in the sixth embodiment in Figure 10, the cross-sectional shape of the expansion assist portion 22 may be elliptical or oblong.

[0032] Furthermore, the expansion assist portion 22 does not necessarily have to involve weight reduction; for example, as in the seventh embodiment shown in Figure 11, it may be formed as a simple cut (slit).

[0033] Furthermore, as shown in the eighth embodiment in Figures 12 and 13, for example, the expanding assist portion 22 may be zigzag in shape, with notches 33 sequentially formed in the direction along the planned sewing portion 11. In this configuration, the flexibility of the continuous portion 7 can be further improved by the notches 33, so even if there is a three-dimensional shape 35 such as a raised area along the planned sewing portion 11 on the design surface 2 side of the continuous portion 7, the second surface portion 6 can be stably pressed into a flat shape regardless of the step difference between the opposing surfaces 3 of the first surface portion 5 and the second surface portion 6.

[0034] Furthermore, in each embodiment, the surface material 1 is not limited to being used for interior materials 25, 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 5. First epidermal layer 6. Second epidermal layer 7. Continuous section 7a tip 11 Sewing Schedule 22. Expanding auxiliary part 25 Interior materials 26. Main body of interior materials

Claims

1. The first layer of the skin, The first surface portion is connected to the second surface portion via a continuous portion, and the back side is formed in a stepped manner on the front side relative to the first surface portion, The second outer layer has a portion to be sewn with sewing thread, The continuous portion is provided with an expansion assist portion on its back side, positioned along the planned sewing area, which allows the continuous portion to be expanded from the back side. An epidermal body characterized by the following features.

2. The continuous portion includes a protruding shape that projects toward the first skin portion on the surface side and connects with the surface of the first skin portion at a position toward the second skin portion beyond the tip of the protrusion. The epidermal body according to feature 1.

3. The main body of the interior material, A surface covering that covers at least a part of the main body of the interior material, according to claim 1 or 2, An interior material characterized by having the following features.

Images