Seamless Futon

Abstract

To provide a seamless mattress pad that does not have sewing machine stitches that penetrate a cover material in order to simplify the work of comfort sewing. [Solution] The seamless mattress pad 10 of the present invention has a core 16 and rolled cotton batting 14, 18 that wraps the core sandwiched between a bag-shaped cover material consisting of an outer fabric 12 and an inner fabric 20, and the core and rolled cotton batting are positioned within the cover material by the friction generated between the insides of the outer fabric and the inner fabric, and between the core and the rolled cotton batting, eliminating the need for comfort stitching.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This invention relates to a seamless mattress pad that is made by combining a core and rolled cotton and does not have any parts sewn by a comforter sewing machine or the like. [Background technology]

[0002] Futon mattresses that are widely sold include those that have a structure consisting of a flat core (or solid cotton) and rolled cotton that is arranged to wrap around the front and back of the core to form a relatively soft contact surface.

[0003] Furthermore, in a futon with this type of structure, a comforter sewing is usually applied, and after the core and the rolled cotton that encases it are covered with a cover material, the cover material is sewn through with a sewing machine, and seams are formed on the front and back surfaces of the futon, for example, at a predetermined distance from the edge of the futon, creating a circular seam (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Utility Model Registration No. 3055999 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, although this type of comfort stitch has the effect of preventing the core and the rolled cotton that surrounds it from shifting position inside the cover material and ensuring breathability, it requires a relatively large comforter sewing machine to process the futon, and since there are costs involved in maintaining the large sewing machine and the sewing process, there was a demand for simplifying the process.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a seamless mattress pad that does not have sewing stitches that penetrate the cover material, in order to simplify the comfort sewing work. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the seamless mattress pad of the present invention is characterized in that the core and the rolled cotton that wraps the core are sandwiched between a bag-shaped cover material made of an outer fabric and an inner fabric, and the core and the rolled cotton are positioned within the cover material by the friction generated between the inside of the outer fabric and the inner fabric, and the friction generated between the core and the rolled cotton. Note that in this specification, "seamless" refers to the absence of comfort stitching on the core and the rolled cotton, and sewing on the cover material itself is defined as not contradictory to the meaning of "seamless".

[0008] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the seamless mattress pad described above can be one in which neither the core nor the rolled cotton has a sewing stitch that penetrates the cover material, and for example, the core can be made of polyester cotton having a thickness of 3 cm to 12 cm, and further, the core can be made of a hardened polyester sheet that is made by blending non-recycled polyester cotton and recycled polyester cotton and synthesizing them by heat treatment. Also, the cover material can have a dust mite-proof function. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an example of a seamless mattress according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the example of the seamless mattress shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing another example of a seamless mattress according to the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing another example of a seamless mattress according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a mattress as a first embodiment, with a part cut away. In this embodiment, a seamless mattress 10 has a bag-shaped cover material formed by a front cloth 12 on the front side and a back cloth 20 on the back side, and has a structure in which a core 16 and rolled cotton 14, 18 that wraps the core are included.

[0011] The core 16 of the seamless mattress 10 of this embodiment is made of a hardened polyester sheet that is made by blending non-recycled polyester cotton and recycled polyester cotton and synthesizing it by heat treatment, and can be a structure made of a plate-shaped hardened polyester sheet having a thickness of, for example, 2 cm to 12 cm, more preferably 2.5 cm to 6 cm. The core 16 functions as a relatively hard solid cotton layer, and the size of the plate can be a little smaller than the general outer size of 140 cm x 205 cm considering the amount of rolled cotton for a mattress, and can also have other sizes, such as outer sizes of 160 cm x 205 cm, 180 cm x 205 cm, 200 cm x 205 cm, 240 cm x 205 cm, 280 cm x 205 cm, and 300 cm x 205 cm. The core 16 can be made of a single solid cotton sheet, or it can be made of a plurality of solid cotton sheets stacked on top of each other.

[0012] It is desirable to use a sheet material that is relatively hard and highly elastic for the plate-shaped hardened polyester sheet of the core 16. As an example of the manufacturing method, ordinary polyester cotton, including recycled polyester cotton made by processing recycled resources such as PET bottles into cotton, and low-melting polyester cotton are mixed uniformly to manufacture a sheet-shaped polyester cotton sheet. The sheet is folded over and fed little by little to heat-pressure bond the multiple polyester cotton sheets. Specifically, pressure is applied by a heat roller or the like to press the fibers into a plate shape, and the low-melting polyester is melted and maintained at a temperature that reaches every corner of the sheet. For this heating, the polyester cotton sheet is conveyed through the heat treatment device while the low-melting polyester component in the sheet is melted by heat-pressure bonding, and cooling air is applied by a blower located at the end of the heat treatment device to harden the molten polyester component with a low melting point. The compressed polyester cotton sheet hardens into a hard state, reducing the volume of the sheet material and hardening it.

[0013] The hardened polyester sheet used for the core 16 is made by mixing low-melting polyester cotton, in particular, so that the polyester cotton that melts temporarily and the polyester cotton that does not melt are mixed during heat treatment, and then the low-melting polyester cotton is instantly solidified by a very short cooling process, resulting in a hard hardened polyester sheet with a high resilience coefficient as a whole. For example, the low-melting polyester cotton is mixed uniformly at a weight ratio of 10 to 80%, and the normal polyester cotton including recycled polyester cotton is mixed at a weight ratio of 20 to 90% to obtain a polyester cotton sheet. A more preferable weight ratio of the low-melting polyester cotton is, for example, 20% to 60%, and even more preferable weight ratio of the low-melting polyester cotton is 25% to 45%. As the low-melting polyester cotton, a fiber made of low-melting polyester fibers that are made into a cotton-like form as a whole can be used, and a fiber with a different composition in the core-sheath structure can also be used, such as a core made of polyester cotton and a sheath made of copolymer polyester or polyethylene. For example, the normal polyester cotton has a thickness of 12 to 18 denier, and for example, the low melting point polyester cotton has a thickness of 4 to 6 denier. The core 16 can also be made of urethane foam or the like.

[0014] The cotton rolls 14, 18 are made of a material such as polyester cotton arranged to wrap the core 16, and the upper and lower cotton rolls 14, 18 can be arranged so as to be continuous above and below the core 16, or the core 16 can be sandwiched between the independent cotton rolls 14, 18. The cotton rolls 14, 18 are made of a material that is softer and more breathable than the core 16, and for example, a softer sheet of polyester cotton similar to the core 16 can be selected.

[0015] As a bag for enclosing such a cotton structure, the seamless mattress 10 of this embodiment has a bag-shaped cover material formed by the front cloth 12 on the front side and the back cloth 20 on the back side. The front cloth 12 and the back cloth 20 are sewn together at three sides of a rectangle to form a bag shape, and the cotton structure is stored in the cover material from one side that opens, and after storing the cotton structure, the open side is sewn with thread 22, so that the cotton structure can be stored inside the cover material. In addition, the seamless mattress 10 of this embodiment does not have a hem part with a protruding edge formed on the outer periphery of the cover material. The bag-shaped cover material in which the front cloth 12 and the back cloth 20 are sewn together is prepared in a size that is set to have a relatively small margin from the size of the plate-shaped hardened polyester sheet to be stored inside, and the mattress is completed by sewing one side as if to seal the hardened polyester sheet after storing it. The margin from the size of the hardened polyester sheet is the planar size of the hardened polyester sheet plus the thickness of the sheet, which is considered to be the state without any margin, and the margin is about 1 to 4 cm added to that.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the seamless mattress 10 of this embodiment, and it can be seen that the surface cloth 12, the rolled cotton 14, the core 16, the rolled cotton 18, and the lining cloth 20 are layered in this order from the top. The seamless mattress 10 of this embodiment is structured without comfort stitching on the core and the rolled cotton, which simplifies the manufacturing process accordingly and reduces the overall selling price. By eliminating the comfort stitching, there is concern about misalignment between the rolled cotton 14, 18 and the core 16, and between the rolled cotton 14, 18 and the inner sides of the surface cloth and the lining cloth in the in-plane direction. However, by making the core 16 a heat-treated sheet of relatively hard polyester cotton, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of areas that are partially sagging and structurally weakened, and therefore the friction generated between the core and the rolled cotton can be maintained well, and at the same time, the friction generated between the rolled cotton and the inner sides of the surface cloth and the lining cloth can also be maintained, which prevents overall misalignment.

[0017] The inventor of the present invention has conducted tests on the high resilience performance of the cured polyester sheet described above. In the golf ball drop test, a golf ball was dropped from a certain height, 60 cm in this test, onto the surface of the cured polyester sheet of the present embodiment and onto the surface of a polyurethane material as a comparative example, and the maximum height reached by the ball after bouncing off the surface of the sheet was measured. As shown in Table 1 below, the cured polyester sheet of the present embodiment bounced up to a maximum height of about 34 to 47 cm. In contrast, when a golf ball was dropped freely onto a polyurethane material as a comparative example, it only bounced up to a height of about 6 cm, indicating a significant difference in the resilience coefficient.

[0018] Table 1 JPEG0003250133000002.jpg45170

[0019] 3 is a perspective view showing a seamless mattress pad as a second embodiment, with a portion cut away, and the seamless mattress pad 30 of this embodiment has a bag-shaped cover material formed by a front cloth 32 on the front side and a back cloth 40 on the back side, with a core 36 inside and rolled cotton batting 34, 38 wrapping the core batting. In the seamless mattress pad 30 of the second embodiment, a hem 42 with a ridged edge is formed on the outer periphery of the cover material, but there is no comfort stitching on the core 36 and the rolled cotton batting 34, 38, which simplifies the manufacturing process and makes it possible to reduce the overall selling price.

[0020] As with the seamless mattress 10 of the first embodiment, the core 36 of the seamless mattress 30 of this embodiment is formed using a hardened polyester sheet that is hard overall and has a high coefficient of restitution. The method for manufacturing this hardened polyester sheet involves blending non-recycled polyester cotton with recycled polyester cotton and mixing in low-melting polyester cotton to create a state in which melted polyester cotton and insoluble polyester cotton are mixed during heat treatment, and then cooling the low-melting polyester cotton for an extremely short time to instantly solidify the low-melting polyester cotton, resulting in a hardened polyester sheet that is hard overall and has a high coefficient of restitution.

[0021] The rolled cotton 34, 38 are made of a material such as polyester cotton and are arranged to wrap the core 36. The upper and lower rolled cotton 34, 38 can be arranged so as to be continuous above and below the core 36, or the core 36 can be sandwiched between the independent rolled cotton 34, 38. As a bag for wrapping such a cotton structure, the seamless mattress 30 of this embodiment has a bag-shaped cover material formed by the front cloth 32 on the front side and the back cloth 30 on the back side. The front cloth 32 and the back cloth 40 are sewn together at three sides of a rectangle to form a bag shape, and the cotton structure is stored in the cover material from the opening side, and after the cotton structure is stored, the opening side is sewn with thread, so that the cotton structure can be stored inside the cover material.

[0022] In the seamless mattress 30 of this embodiment, eliminating the comfort stitch raises concerns about the internal core and rolled cotton becoming misaligned; however, by making the core 36 out of a heat-treated sheet of relatively hard polyester cotton, it is possible to prevent areas from becoming partially saggy and structurally weakened, thereby maintaining good friction between the core and rolled cotton, and at the same time maintaining friction between the rolled cotton and the inside of the outer fabric and lining, thereby preventing overall misalignment.

[0023] 4 is a perspective view showing a seamless mattress pad as a third embodiment, with a part cut away, and the seamless mattress pad 50 of this embodiment has a structure in which a bag-shaped cover material is formed by a front cloth 52 on the front side and a back cloth 60 on the back side, and a core 56 and rolled cotton batting 54, 58 that wraps the core are included inside. The front cloth 52 on the front side and the back cloth 60 on the back side each have a quilted structure, and cotton batting 64 is present in a rectangular or diamond-shaped portion where seams 66 intersect. In the seamless mattress pad 50 of the third embodiment, a hem portion 62 with a ridged edge is formed on the outer periphery of the cover material, but the structure is such that there is no comfort stitching on the core 56 and the rolled cotton batting 54, 58, which simplifies the manufacturing process and reduces the overall selling price.

[0024] As with the seamless mattress 10 of the first embodiment, the core 56 of the seamless mattress 50 of this embodiment is formed using a hardened polyester sheet that is hard overall and has a high coefficient of restitution. The method for manufacturing this hardened polyester sheet involves blending non-recycled polyester cotton with recycled polyester cotton and mixing in low-melting polyester cotton to create a state in which melted polyester cotton and insoluble polyester cotton are mixed during heat treatment, and then cooling the low-melting polyester cotton for an extremely short time to instantly solidify the low-melting polyester cotton, resulting in a hardened polyester sheet that is hard overall and has a high coefficient of restitution.

[0025] In the seamless mattress 50 of this embodiment, the rolled cotton 54, 58 are also made of a material such as polyester cotton arranged to wrap the core 56, and the upper and lower rolled cotton 54, 58 can be arranged so as to be continuous above and below the core 56, or the core 56 can be arranged so as to be sandwiched between the independent rolled cotton 54, 58. As a bag for wrapping such a cotton structure, the seamless mattress 50 of this embodiment has a bag-shaped cover material formed by a front cloth 52 on the front side and a back cloth 60 on the back side, each of which has a quilted structure. The front cloth 52 and the back cloth 60 are sewn together at three sides of a rectangle to form a bag shape, and the cotton structure is stored in the cover material from one side that opens, and the open side after the cotton structure is stored can be sewn with thread to store the cotton structure inside the cover material.

[0026] Even in the seamless mattress 50 of this embodiment, there is a concern that the elimination of the comfort stitching may cause the internal core and rolled batting to shift out of position; however, by making the core 56 out of a heat-treated sheet of relatively hard polyester cotton, it is possible to prevent areas from becoming partially saggy and structurally weakened, thereby maintaining good friction between the core and rolled batting, and at the same time maintaining friction between the rolled batting and the inside of the outer fabric and lining, thereby preventing overall shifting out of position. [Explanation of symbols]

[0027] 10, 30, 50 seamless mattress 12, 32, 52 Outer fabric 14, 34, 54 rolls of cotton 16, 36, 56 center core 18, 38, 58 rolls of cotton 20, 40, 60 Lining 22 Thread 42, 62 Heme 64 Cotton 66 Stitches

Claims

1. This seamless mattress is characterized in that a core and rolled cotton that wraps the core are sandwiched between a bag-shaped cover material consisting of an outer fabric and an inner fabric, and the core and the rolled cotton are positioned within the cover material by friction generated between the inner sides of the outer fabric and the inner fabric, and between the core and the rolled cotton.

2. 2. The seamless mattress according to claim 1, wherein neither the core nor the rolled cotton has a sewing stitch that passes through the cover material.

3. 2. The seamless mattress according to claim 1, wherein the core is made of polyester cotton having a thickness of 3 cm to 12 cm.

4. 2. The seamless mattress according to claim 1, wherein the core is made of a hardened polyester sheet obtained by blending non-recycled polyester cotton and recycled polyester cotton and synthesizing the mixture through heat treatment.

5. 2. The seamless mattress according to claim 1, wherein the cover material has a dust mite-proofing function.

6. 2. The seamless mattress according to claim 1, wherein the cover material has a front fabric and a back fabric sewn together without providing a ridged border on the periphery.

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