Shock absorbing flooring

Abstract

To provide an impact-absorbing floor material capable of adequately addressing the risk of fracture of a femur.SOLUTION: An impact-absorbing flooring material 110 has a flooring material 111 made of a hard material, an underfloor material 112 made of a soft material, and an air cushion layer with a mechanism for releasing air through a safety valve at a prescribed pressure, and under the conditions set so that the value of the bending stiffness of the flooring material 111 at a width of 10 mm is 1 N m 2 to 200 N m 2 or less, and a reference impact load Fs generated when an impact-applying body is dropped to apply an impact to a cushioning material is 6500 N, the impact-absorbing flooring material is characterized by having an impact load F generated when the impact-applying body is dropped to apply an impact via the cushioning material is 2000 N or more and 5000 N or less.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a shock absorbing floor material, which is particularly effective in preventing fractures of the femur when a person falls. [Background technology]

[0002] Falls and fractures among the elderly are currently a social problem, and fall fractures account for 10% of the reasons why elderly people become dependent on nursing care. In addition, fall fractures account for 20-25% of medical accidents. The location of fractures caused by falls varies greatly depending on age, and the risk of femoral fractures increases sharply after the age of 60. Femoral fractures require hospitalization for treatment and can lead to a prolonged inability to walk, which can lead to a decrease in bone mass, making symptoms more severe and more likely to lead to a state of dependent care. In childcare facilities such as kindergartens, nursery schools, and certified childcare centers, accidents caused by falls and fractures account for more than 20% of all accidents.

[0003] For this reason, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 listed below propose flooring materials that reduce the risk of bone fractures by absorbing the shock when a person falls. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 3600726 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 5244927 [Non-patent literature]

[0005] [Non-Patent Document 1] Yasuhiro Nishio et al., Experimental Mechanics, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 307-314, 2016 [Non-Patent Document 2] SN Robinovitch et al., Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, vol.113, pp.366-374, Nov. 1991 [Non-Patent Document 3] Amy C. Courtney et al., The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, vol.77-A, No.3, pp.387-395, Mar. 1995 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Incidentally, the performance of the flooring materials described in Patent Documents 1, 2, etc. is evaluated based on the floor hardness test stipulated in the Japanese Industrial Standard "JIS A 6519," and materials are deemed "safe" when the "G value" obtained in the test is 100G or less.

[0007] However, since the floor hardness test described above is a conversion of the head injury evaluation, it is difficult to say that it can properly evaluate the risk of femoral fracture. Therefore, it is difficult to say that the safety evaluation of the above-mentioned conventional flooring materials against femoral fracture is sufficiently guaranteed, and it cannot be said that they adequately deal with the risk of femoral fracture.

[0008] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a shock-absorbing floor material that can adequately address the risk of femoral fracture. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The shock absorbing flooring material according to the present invention, which is used to solve the above-mentioned problems, is a shock absorbing flooring material that prevents fractures of the femur caused by the shock of a user falling down, and has a floor top material made of a hard material, a floor underlay material made of a soft material provided below the floor top material, and a compressed air container (air cushion layer), and the value of the bending rigidity of the floor top material in a width of 10 mm of the floor top material is 1 Nm 2 More than 200Nm2 The present invention is characterized in that, under conditions set so that an impact-applying body having a weight and shape based on the pressure distribution applied to the trochanter of the femur when the user falls is dropped from a drop height based on the height of the user's waist, and an impact is applied to a cushioning material made of a material simulating human soft tissue, the standard impact load Fs generated when the impact-applying body is dropped from the drop height and an impact is applied to the floor material via the cushioning material, the impact load F generated is 2000N or more and 5000N or less. Effect of the Invention

[0010] The impact-absorbing flooring material of the present invention has good walkability and can adequately address the risk of femoral fractures in the event of a fall, thereby reliably reducing the incidence of falls and fractures that are a cause of elderly people requiring nursing care and medical accidents. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a main embodiment of an impact absorbing floor material according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a main part of a main embodiment of an impact load measuring device for measuring the impact load of an impact absorbing floor material according to the present invention. [Diagram 3] 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a main part of another embodiment of an impact load measuring device for measuring the impact load of an impact absorbing floor material according to the present invention. FIG. [Figure 4] 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a main part of still another embodiment of an impact load measuring device for measuring the impact load of an impact absorbing floor material according to the present invention. FIG. [Diagram 5] 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a main part of still another embodiment of an impact load measuring device for measuring the impact load of an impact absorbing floor material according to the present invention. FIG. [Figure 6] 10 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the weight of the impact load measuring device for measuring the impact load of the impact absorbing floor material according to the present invention. FIG. [Figure 7] 11 is a schematic structural diagram of still another embodiment of the weight of the impact load measuring device for measuring the impact load of the impact absorbing floor material according to the present invention. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] An embodiment of the impact absorbing floor material according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] [Main embodiment] A main embodiment of the impact absorbing floor material according to the present invention will be described with reference to Figs.

[0014] As shown in Figure 1, the shock-absorbing floor material of this embodiment is a shock-absorbing floor material 110 that prevents fractures of the femur caused by the impact of the user falling, and comprises an upper floor material 111 made of a hard material, an under-floor material 112 made of a soft material provided below the upper floor material 111, an air cushion layer 115, a safety valve 116 that releases air at a predetermined pressure, a pattern layer 113 laid on the upper surface of the upper floor material 111, and a protective layer 114 laid on the upper surface of the pattern layer 113.

[0015] The flooring material 111 is made of hard materials such as a wood base material such as plywood, a composite base material made of a mixture of wood powder and plastic, or a resin base material such as polyolefins such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and forms the floor surface on which users walk.

[0016] The floor underlayment 112 is made of soft materials such as resins such as polyolefin, PVC, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), polystyrene (PS), polyurethane (PU), etc., and has a foam structure such as independent foam or continuous foam formed by methods such as chemical foaming, physical foaming, and supercritical foaming, and constitutes an impact absorbing section that absorbs impact.

[0017] The pattern layer 113 is a sheet made of the same material as the floor covering 111, such as polyolefin or PVC, with a pattern such as wood grain or a geometric pattern applied to it, which adds a decorative element and is provided as needed.

[0018] The protective layer 114 is made of an acrylic coat, transparent PVC, or the like, and serves to protect the surface so as to improve durability such as chemical resistance, scratch resistance, and dent resistance, and is provided appropriately as necessary.

[0019] The air cushion layer 115 is made of PVC or PE, and can withstand pressures of 20 to 50 MPa. A safety valve 116 is attached to the air cushion layer, and when an impact is applied to the impact absorbing flooring material 110 and a certain load is applied, air flows out from the safety valve when the internal pressure exceeds the set pressure of the safety valve due to the increase in pressure. Therefore, when an impact occurs, a time period occurs during which deformation occurs at a constant load corresponding to the set pressure of the safety valve, and the impact load can be suppressed or controlled.

[0020] The floor covering 111 has a bending stiffness of 1 Nm at a width of 10 mm. 2 More than 200Nm 2 These are as follows:

[0021] The floor covering 111 has a bending stiffness (flexural stiffness) measurement value per unit width of 1 Nm 2 If the pressure is less than 10 Nm, the floor covering is easily bent and compressed locally, causing the floor to sink when walking, which impairs the walking feel, and is therefore undesirable. 2 It is preferable that the torque is more than 200 Nm. 2 If the thickness exceeds this range, problems with workability may occur due to bulkiness, etc., which is not preferable.

[0022] The bending rigidity (bending stiffness) value of the floor material 111 per unit width is a value calculated from the product (EI) of Young's modulus E (bending elasticity) and area moment of inertia I obtained by a three-point bending test. If the floor material 111 is made of a composite material in which multiple materials with different hardness are laminated, it can be obtained by calculating the product (EI) of Young's modulus E (bending elasticity) and area moment of inertia I for each layer of material and then calculating the sum of these.

[0023] The thickness of the floor underlayment 112 is designed based on the impact to be applied and the dynamic compression characteristics of the underlayment, and there is no limit.

[0024] The internal pressure of the air cushion layer is desirably as high as possible from the viewpoint of walkability, i.e., ease of walking without sinking, and the product of the impact load is desirably set to 2000 N or more. In addition, by providing a safety valve that leaks at a predetermined pressure when a load of 2000 to 5000 N is applied to the impact absorbing material, the energy applied to the underfloor material at the time of impact can be gradually reduced, and the maximum impact load can be suppressed.

[0025] The shock absorbing flooring 110 is configured such that an impact applying object having a weight and shape based on the pressure distribution applied to the trochanter of the femur when the user falls is dropped from a drop height based on the height of the user's waist to apply an impact to a cushioning material made of a material simulating human soft tissue under conditions set so that a standard impact load Fs of 6500N is generated when the impact applying object is dropped from the drop height and an impact is applied to the flooring 110 via the cushioning material, and the impact load F is 2000N to 5000N (preferably 3440N or less). A load of 3440N or less can sufficiently reduce the risk of fracture.

[0026] Here, the impact load measuring device for measuring the impact load F and the amount of displacement (deformation) D is shown in Fig. 2. The explanation will be based on the above.

[0027] As shown in Fig. 2, the impact load measuring device 2 comprises a measurement table 5 installed on the floor FL, a weight dropping unit 6 arranged on the measurement table 5, and a load measuring unit 7. A load cell 8 of the load measuring unit 7 is arranged on the measurement table 5, and an evaluation floor material 9 made of the same material as an impact absorbing floor material 110 to be evaluated for safety against fractures is placed on the load cell 8, and a cushioning material 10 is placed on the evaluation floor material 9. The load cell 8 receives the impact load when a weight 11, which is an impact applying body, falls, and outputs the information to an impact load calculating device 12.

[0028] The weight dropping section 6 comprises a support 13 rising from the measurement table 5, an arm 14 extending horizontally perpendicular to the top of the support 13, and a height adjustment section 15 such as a dial for changing the height of the arm 14 relative to the support 13. An electromagnet 16 is disposed under the tip of the arm 14, and when an electromagnet ON / OFF device 17 is turned ON, the weight 11 having an accelerometer 18 attached thereto is attracted to the electromagnet 16, and when the electromagnet ON / OFF device 17 is turned OFF, the weight 11 together with the accelerometer 18 is detached from the electromagnet 16, and the weight 11 together with the accelerometer 18 falls onto the cushioning material 10.

[0029] The accelerometer 18 outputs the information to an impact energy / displacement calculation device 19. The impact energy / displacement calculation device 19 calculates the impact energy SE caused by the collision of the weight 11 based on the information from the accelerometer 18, and calculates the displacement (deformation) D of the floor underlayment of the evaluation floor material 9. In this embodiment, the weight drop part 6, the electromagnet 16, and the electromagnet ON / OFF device 17 correspond to the weight holding and dropping part.

[0030] In addition, the impact portion 11a of the weight 11 on the lower surface thereof which comes into contact with the cushioning material 10 and delivers an impact thereto has a curved surface with a radius of curvature R of 60 mm or more and 180 mm or less (preferably 90 mm or more and 160 mm or less) which imitates the shape of the trochanter of the femur, and is spherical in shape overall.

[0031] The cushioning material 10 is made of an ultra-soft urethane resin for modeling that mimics human soft tissue (for example, "Human Skin Gel" (product name) manufactured by Exseal Co., Ltd.), and mimics the human soft tissue around the femur, with an Asker C hardness (based on the Japanese Industrial Standard "JIS K 7312") of more than 0 and less than 16 (preferably 5 or more and 10 or less), a Young's modulus of 0.05 MPa or more and 0.8 MPa or less (preferably 0.1 MPa or more and 0.5 MPa or less), a dynamic viscoelasticity Tan δ (based on the above-mentioned non-patent document 1) at 25°C and a measurement frequency of 1 Hz of 0.1 or more and 0.7 or less (preferably 0.2 or more and 0.5 or less), and a thickness of 7 mm or more and 80 mm or less (preferably 9 mm or more and 30 mm or less).

[0032] A method for measuring the impact load F and the amount of displacement (deformation) D using such an impact load measuring device 2 will now be described.

[0033] First, the height adjustment unit 15 is operated so that the arm 14 of the weight drop unit 6 of the impact load measuring device 2 is set to the drop height Sh of the weight 11, and the weight 11 (together with the accelerometer 18, has a weight Sw) is prepared. The electromagnet ON / OFF device 17 is turned ON to cause the electromagnet 16 arranged on the arm 14 to attract the weight 11 together with the accelerometer 18. The load cell 8 is placed on the measurement table 5, and the cushioning material 10 having a thickness Ka and hardness Kb is placed on the load cell 8.

[0034] Then, by turning off the electromagnet ON / OFF device 17, the weight 11 detached from the electromagnet 16 and the accelerometer 18 are dropped onto the cushioning material 10. The impact load calculation device 12 determines the reference impact load Fs based on the impact load value from the load cell 8, while the impact energy / displacement calculation device 19 calculates the displacement (deformation) D1 of the cushioning material 10 caused by the collision of the weight 11 based on information from the accelerometer 18, and determines the impact energy SE based on the information from the accelerometer 18, the weight Sw, the drop height Sh, etc.

[0035] When the standard impact load Fs is 6500N and the impact energy SE is 28.4J, the conditions such as the drop height Sh and weight Sw of the weight 11, the thickness Ka and hardness Kb of the cushioning material 10 are set as they are, and when the standard impact load Fs is not 6500N or the impact energy SE is not 28.4J, the above conditions are appropriately adjusted so that the standard impact load Fs is 6500N and the impact energy SE is 28.4J, thereby setting the standard impact load Fs of the impact load measuring device 2 to 6500N and the impact energy SE to 28.4J.

[0036] Since the standard impact load Fs is an impact force of 5600 N (in a muscle-relaxed state) applied to the femur when falling from a standing position (see Non-Patent Document 2), the value is multiplied by 1.15 as a safety factor to set the value at 6500 N. The impact energy SE is a value that is calculated and determined in advance based on the value of the standard impact load Fs and the conditions of the cushioning material 10 (such as thickness and various physical properties), and is often set to 28.4 J.

[0037] After setting the standard impact load Fs and impact energy SE of the impact load measuring device 2, the evaluation floor material 9 is placed between the load cell 8 and the cushioning material 10, and then the electromagnet ON / OFF device 17 is turned OFF again, causing the weight 11, which has been detached from the electromagnet 16, to fall onto the cushioning material 10 together with the accelerometer 18. The impact load calculation device 12 calculates the impact load F based on the impact load value from the load cell 8, and the impact energy / displacement calculation device 19 calculates the combined displacement (deformation) D2 of the cushioning material 10 and the evaluation floor material 9 caused by the collision of the weight 11 based on information from the accelerometer 18, and by calculating the difference (D2-D1) between this and the previously calculated displacement (deformation) D1 of the cushioning material 10, the displacement (deformation) D of the floor underlayment of the evaluation floor material 9 is calculated.

[0038] If the impact load F thus obtained is less than 2000N, the shock absorbing capacity will be too strong, making walking difficult, which is undesirable, whereas if it exceeds 5000N, the shock absorbing capacity will be too weak, making it difficult to adequately address the risk of femoral fracture, which is undesirable.

[0039] Therefore, the shock-absorbing flooring material 110 of this embodiment can adequately address the risk of femoral fractures, and can reliably reduce the incidence of falls and fractures that can lead to the need for nursing care among the elderly and medical accidents.

[0040] [Other embodiments] <Impact load measuring device> In the above-described embodiment, the impact load F is measured using the impact load measuring device 2 as shown in FIG. 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As another embodiment, for example, the impact load F can be measured using an impact load measuring device as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5.

[0041] Specifically, in the impact load measuring device 30 shown in Fig. 3, an evaluation floor material 9 is placed on a measurement table 5, and a cushioning material 10 is placed on the evaluation floor material 9. A weight 11, an accelerometer 18, and a load cell 8 are integrated to form an impact applying body, and the weight 11, an accelerometer 18, and a load cell 8 together form a weight Sw. When an electromagnet ON / OFF device 17 is turned ON, the weight 11, the accelerometer 18, and the load cell 8 are attracted and held by the electromagnet 16.

[0042] In addition, only the impact portion 11a on the lower surface of the weight 11, which comes into contact with the cushioning material 10 and delivers the impact, has a curved surface with a radius of curvature R of 60 mm or more and 180 mm or less (preferably 90 mm or more and 160 mm or less) that mimics the shape of the trochanter of the femur, and the weight 11 is cylindrical overall.

[0043] In the impact load measuring device 30, as in the above-described embodiment, by turning off the electromagnet ON / OFF device 17, the weight 11 together with the accelerometer 18 and the load cell 8 can be detached from the electromagnet 16 and dropped onto the cushioning material 10.

[0044] 4, an evaluation floor material 9 is placed on a measurement table 5, and a cushioning material 10 is placed on the evaluation floor material 9. The weight drop part 6 is structured so that an arm 14 can swing downward around a height adjustment part 15. An accelerometer 18 and a load cell 8 are fixed to the tip of the arm 14, and a weight 11 is also fixed to the tip. In this embodiment, the weight drop part 6 corresponds to the weight holding and dropping part, the height adjustment part 15 corresponds to the rotating part, and the weight 11, the accelerometer 18, the load cell 8, and the arm 14 correspond to the impact applying body.

[0045] In such an impact load measuring device 31, the arm 14 of the weight dropping unit 6 is adjusted to the drop height Sh of the weight 11 by operating the height adjustment unit 15 of the impact load measuring device 31. Then, the height adjustment unit 15 is loosened to swing the arm 14 downward, whereby the weight 11 can be dropped onto the cushioning material 10.

[0046] 5, the floor material to be laid on the existing floor FL is the evaluation floor material 9. The weight drop part 6 of this impact load measuring device 32 is also structured so that the arm 14 can swing downward around the height adjustment part 15. An accelerometer 18 and a load cell 8 are fixed to the tip of the arm 14, and further, a weight 11 is fixed thereto, and a buffer material 10 is arranged to cover the lower part of the weight 11. In this embodiment, the weight 11, the accelerometer 18, the load cell 8, the arm 14, and the buffer material 10 correspond to the impact applying body.

[0047] In such an impact load measuring device 32, the arm 14 of the weight dropping unit 6 is adjusted to the drop height Sh of the weight 11 by operating the height adjustment unit 15 of the impact load measuring device 31. Then, by loosening the height adjustment unit 15 and swinging the arm 14 downward, the weight 11 can be dropped via the cushioning material 10 onto the evaluation floor material 9 laid on the floor FL.

[0048] <Impact Applicator> In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a spherical or cylindrical weight 11 having a curved surface with a radius of curvature R of 60 mm or more and 180 mm or less (preferably 90 mm or more and 160 mm or less) is used so that the impact portion 11a on the lower surface that comes into contact with the cushioning material 10 to deliver the impact mimics the shape of the trochanter of the femur. However, as another embodiment, for example, as shown in Figure 6, it is more preferable to set the radius of curvature R1 (e.g., 175 mm) in one direction (length direction) of the impact portion 11a on the lower surface that comes into contact with the cushioning material 10 to deliver the impact and the radius of curvature R2 (e.g., 65 mm) in the other direction (width direction) perpendicular to the one direction separately, thereby making the impact portion 11a into a weight 11 that further approximates the shape of the trochanter of the femur in three dimensions.

[0049] In the above-described embodiment, an impact applying body in which the striking portion 11a is integrally formed with the weight 11 has been described; however, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, it is also possible to provide an impact applying body in which the weight 11 is separated into a heavy main body portion 11b and a striking portion 11a that applies the impact, and a load cell 8, an accelerometer 18, etc. are interposed between the main body portion 11b and the striking portion 11a.

[0050] <Load measurement section> In the above embodiment, the impact load is directly measured by using the load cell 8. However, in another embodiment, instead of the load cell 8, the impact load can be calculated based on the acceleration measured by the accelerometer 18. It is.

[0051] <Cushioning material> In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the application of the cushioning material 10 made of ultra-soft urethane resin for molding was described, but depending on the conditions, it is also possible to apply cushioning materials made of synthetic rubber, natural rubber and its foams, polystyrene foam, various elastomers and their foams, animal soft tissue, etc.

[0052] Ultra-soft urethane resin for modeling is not only consistent as a material, but also behaves similarly to human soft tissue, making it extremely suitable for use in a wide range of conditions in the above-mentioned measurement method using the impact load measuring device 2, and as such is highly versatile as a cushioning material for measuring impact loads caused by falls under a variety of conditions. EXAMPLES

[0053] Examples carried out to confirm the effects of the impact absorbing floor material according to the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to only the examples described below.

[0054] [Test specimen] The floor covering material, under-floor material, and flooring material consisting of an air cushion layer shown in Table 1 below were fabricated as test specimens Examples 1 to 5 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4.

[0055] [Table 1]

[0056] The bending rigidity (bending stiffness) of the flooring material at a width of 10 mm was determined by performing a three-point bending test on a 100 mm x 10 mm test piece with a span of 80 mm to determine Young's modulus E (bending elasticity). The area second moment I was also calculated based on the following formula (1), and the bending rigidity (EI) was calculated by multiplying the Young's modulus E (bending elasticity) and the area second moment I by the following formula (1).

[0057] I=(bh 3 ) / 12 (1) Here, b is 1 (unit width) and h is thickness.

[0058] [Test Contents] For the above-mentioned test specimen Examples 1 to 5 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4, the impact load F and the displacement (deformation) D were determined, respectively, using the impact load measuring device 2 described above. However, in the impact load measuring device 2, the weight 11 was divided into a heavy main body portion 11b and an impact portion 11a for applying an impact, as shown in Fig. 7, and a load cell 8 and an accelerometer 18 were interposed between the main body portion 11b and the impact portion 11a to form an impact applying body.

[0059] <Device specifications> Load cell: Tokyo Measuring Instruments Laboratory Co., Ltd. "TCLU-5A" (model number) Accelerometer: Showa Sokki Co., Ltd. digital shock and vibration accelerometer "1340B" (model number) Measurement table / surface plate size: 750mm x 1000mm x 125mm Weight: 185kg Weight body: Material: Stainless steel - Weight striking part / Material: Machined stainless steel Curvature radius R: 100mm Impactor / Weight Sw: 5.85kg (including accelerometer) - Cushioning material / "Human Skin Gel" (product name) manufactured by Exseal Co., Ltd. Thickness: 20mm Asker C hardness: 7 Young's modulus: 0.22MPa Dynamic viscoelasticity Tan δ: 0.24 (25℃, measurement frequency 1Hz)

[0060] <Test Method> As described in the above embodiment, the weight 11 was dropped (drop height Sh: 50 cm) and the impact load Fs,F was calculated based on the information from the load cell 8, and the displacement of the weight was calculated based on the information from the accelerometer.

[0061] The shock absorbing properties were evaluated based on the description in Non-Patent Document 3, and the load F was classified into the ranks shown in Table 2 below.

[0062] [Table 2]

[0063] [Test Results] The results of the above mentioned tests are shown in Table 3 below.

[0064] [Table 3]

[0065] Comments on Examples and Comparative Examples In Example 1, the shock absorption was judged as △ in Table 2, but the walkability was very good and was rated as ◎. Examples 2 and 3 were almost the same, and the shock absorption was judged as △ in Table 2. The walkability was evaluated as ◯, which was slightly inferior to Example 1, but was sufficiently good. In Example 4, the shock absorption was judged as ◯ and the walkability was ◯, both of which were well balanced. In Example 5, the load F rank was the same, but the shock absorption was further improved, but the walkability was slightly reduced due to the occurrence of slight sinking. In Comparative Example 1, the shock absorption was in a very good state of ◎, but on the other hand, the rigidity of the floor material was insufficient, so the walkability was ×. In Comparative Examples 2 to 4, the air cushion layer was removed from Examples 1 to 3, and the walkability was good ◎, but the shock absorption was ×.

[0066] From the above, it has been confirmed that the shock-absorbing floor material according to the present invention is capable of adequately addressing the risk of femoral fracture. [Industrial Applicability]

[0067] The impact-absorbing flooring material of the present invention can adequately address the risk of femoral fractures and can therefore be applied to the floors of a variety of facilities, including elderly care facilities, medical facilities such as hospitals, and childcare facilities such as kindergartens, nursery schools, and certified child care centers, and can be used in an extremely beneficial manner from an industrial perspective. [Explanation of symbols]

[0068] 2,30~32...Impact load measuring device 5. Measuring table 6. Weight drop section 7. Load measurement section 8. Load cell 9. Evaluation of flooring materials 10...Cushioning material 11... weight 11a Impact section 11b Main body 12. Impact load calculation device 13...post 14...Arm 15 Height adjustment section 16... Electromagnet 17...Electromagnet ON / OFF device 18...accelerometer 19 Impact energy and displacement calculation device 110 Shock-absorbing flooring 111...Floor covering material 112...Floor underlayment 113...Pattern layer 114...protective layer

Claims

1. A shock-absorbing flooring material that prevents fractures of the femur caused by the impact of a user falling, A floor covering made of a hard material; The floor covering comprises an underfloor material made of a soft material provided under the floor covering and an air cushion layer having a mechanism for releasing air through a safety valve at a predetermined pressure, and the bending rigidity value of the floor covering at a width of 10 mm of the floor covering is 1 Nm ２ More than 200Nm ２ is as follows: An impact-applying body having a weight and shape based on the pressure distribution applied to the trochanter of the femur when the user falls is dropped from a drop height based on the height of the user's waist, and an impact is applied to a cushioning material made of a material that mimics human soft tissue, under conditions set so that the standard impact load Fs generated when the impact-applying body is dropped from the drop height and an impact is applied to the flooring through the cushioning material, the impact load F generated is 2000N or more and 5000N or less.

2. The air cushion layer according to claim 1, This shock-absorbing floor material is characterized in that a safety valve is activated to allow air to flow out so that the load applied to the air cushion layer through the upper floor material and the lower floor material is 2000N or more and less than 5000N.

3. The impact absorbing floor material according to claim 1 or 2, The impact-applying body is provided with an impact portion that comes into contact with the cushioning material to apply an impact, and the impact portion has a curved surface with a radius of curvature R of 60 mm or more and 180 mm or less.

4. In the impact absorbing floor material according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The shock-absorbing floor material is characterized in that the cushioning material has a thickness of 7 mm or more and 80 mm or less.

5. The impact absorbing floor material according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The shock-absorbing floor material is characterized in that the cushioning material is made of ultra-soft urethane resin for molding.

Images