Support

Abstract

To provide a supporter excellent in flexibility and use feeling.SOLUTION: A supporter wrapped around a user in use includes a first face and a second face on an opposite side of the first face. The supporter forms a cylindrical portion by overlapping of the first face and the second face when wrapped around the user, and includes a hook-and-loop fastener for maintaining formation of the cylindrical portion. The hook-and-loop fastener includes a first thread forming a hook face and a second thread forming a loop face engaged with the hook face. One of the first face and the second face has the hook face, and the other has the loop face. In the supporter, fiber diameters of a fiber forming the first thread and a fiber forming the second thread are 30 μm or below.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a supporter.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, supporters have been used for purposes such as stabilizing joints.

[0003] For example, in Patent Document 1, a supporter for stabilizing finger joints has been proposed. The supporter of Patent Document 1 includes a belt-shaped main body portion that covers the ventral side of the finger, a first protruding portion that protrudes from the main body portion along the circumferential direction of the finger, and a second protruding portion that protrudes from the main body portion on the side opposite to the first protruding portion. And, a hook surface of a hook-and-loop fastener is formed on one of the surface of the first protruding portion and the back surface of the second protruding portion, and a loop surface of the hook-and-loop fastener is formed on the other. With such a configuration, when the first protruding portion and the second protruding portion are overlapped, the protruding portions and the main body portion of the supporter of Patent Document 1 can form a cylindrical portion for stabilizing around the finger joint. Further, the hook-and-loop fastener can maintain the state in which this cylindrical portion is formed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] By the way, in order to maintain the formation of the cylindrical portion as described above, a hook surface and a loop surface having a certain area are required. When using a general hook-and-loop fastener for such a requirement, since the yarns forming the hook surface and the loop surface are thick, the flexibility of the supporter may be impaired. And, a supporter with poor flexibility is difficult to conform to the shape of the affected area and may make it difficult to wear.

[0006] In addition, since the hook surface and the loop surface of the hook-and-loop fastener can be surfaces that come into contact with the user's skin, if the yarns constituting these surfaces are thick, there is a risk of impairing the usability by irritating the skin. In particular, when the supporter is applied to a user suffering from joint pain such as Heberden's nodes, the above-mentioned skin irritation becomes a problem.

[0007] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a supporter having excellent flexibility and usability.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] The supporter according to the present invention is a supporter that is wound around a user and used, the supporter includes a first surface and a second surface on the opposite side of the first surface, and forms a cylindrical portion by the overlap of the first surface and the second surface when wound around the user, and includes a hook-and-loop fastener that maintains the formation of the cylindrical portion, the hook-and-loop fastener includes a first yarn forming a hook surface and a second yarn forming a loop surface that engages with the hook surface, the first surface and the second surface each have the hook surface on one of the overlapping portions and the loop surface on the other, the fiber diameter of the fiber forming the first yarn and the fiber forming the second yarn is 30 μm or less.

[0009] According to such a configuration, since the fiber diameter of the fibers of the yarns constituting the hook surface and the loop surface of the hook-and-loop fastener is 30 μm or less, the flexibility in the hook-and-loop fastener forming portion is excellent. In addition, since the fibers of the yarns constituting the hook surface and the loop surface are thin, the irritation to the skin is suppressed, and the usability is excellent.

[0010] The supporter according to one aspect of the present invention is the loop surface is formed by a ply yarn in which the second yarn is twisted with a third yarn, The fiber diameter of the fiber forming the second thread is 8 μm or less, The fiber diameter of the fiber forming the third thread is 10 μm or more and 30 μm or less.

[0011] According to such a configuration, the second thread having a thinner fiber diameter of the fiber is twisted with the third thread having a thicker fiber diameter than this, so that the second thread mainly functioning for the engagement of the hook surface is prevented from coming off. Further, the second thread twisted with the third thread is likely to maintain a sufficiently exposed state so as to be able to engage with the first thread of the hook surface. And, because of these, the supporter of the above aspect becomes excellent in durability. Specifically, even when repeatedly washed, the engagement between the hook surface and the loop surface can be maintained.

[0012] A supporter according to one aspect of the present invention On the loop surface, the second thread forms loop-shaped undulations, and a part of the second thread stands up in a coiled shape.

[0013] A supporter having such a configuration forms not only loop-shaped undulations but also coiled standing portions on the loop surface with the second thread, so that the hook-and-loop fastener has excellent engagement properties despite the small fiber diameter of each thread. That is, the supporter of the above aspect is likely to maintain the formed state of the cylindrical portion, considering that it is composed of thin fiber threads to exhibit flexibility.

[0014] A supporter according to one aspect of the present invention The hook-and-loop fastener includes a loop layer having the loop surface, The loop layer includes a ground tissue into which the twisted yarn is inserted and knitted, The ground tissue has a double atlas knitting structure including a first tissue knitted with a first ground yarn knitted in an atlas pattern and a second tissue knitted with a second ground yarn knitted in an atlas pattern so as to cross the first ground yarn, The twisted yarn is inserted and knitted into a part of each of the first tissue and the second tissue to form loops and form a pile.

[0015] According to such a configuration, since the ply yarn is inserted and knitted so as to form needle loops in a part of the double atlas knitted structure to form a pile, the second yarn is easily held in the ground weave of the loop layer. Therefore, the above aspect is further excellent in durability against washing and the like and in form stability due to repeated attachment and detachment.

[0016] A supporter according to an aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of winding portions wound around the user and a main body portion connecting the plurality of winding portions. The plurality of winding portions are connected to the main body portion in a state of being separated from each other.

[0017] According to such a configuration, since the plurality of winding portions are separated, it is possible to wind while avoiding a joint portion accompanied by pain. In addition, since it is possible to wind the other winding portion in a state where a part of the winding portion is temporarily fixed to the affected part, winding becomes easy.

[0018] A supporter according to an aspect of the present invention One of the hook surface and the loop surface of the surface fastener forms the back surfaces of the main body portion and the winding portion.

[0019] In a supporter having such a configuration, the back surface of the main body portion that can contact the affected part and the back surface of the winding portion that can contact the affected part are a hook surface or a loop surface formed of a yarn having a small fiber diameter, so that the feeling of use such as reducing irritation to the skin is excellent. Such an improvement in the feeling of use is significant for patients with symptoms accompanied by pain such as Heberden's nodes.

[0020] A supporter according to an aspect of the present invention The surface fastener includes a hook layer having the hook surface and a loop layer having the loop surface and laminated on the hook layer. The main body portion has the hook layer and the loop layer adhered by an adhesive.

[0021] According to such a configuration, due to the interposition of the adhesive, the main body portion has rigidity suitable for fixing to the affected part.

Advantages of the Invention

[0022] As described above, according to the present invention, a supporter excellent in flexibility and usability can be provided.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0023]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0024] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, as an embodiment of the present invention, a supporter for a finger will be described.

[0025] The supporter 1 of the present embodiment is used to stabilize the joint part, which is the affected part to which it is applied. The affected part (joint part) is a part including a joint and a part of the bone extending on both sides of the joint. More specifically, the supporter 1 of the present embodiment is used to stabilize the joint part of the finger. Hereinafter, for each direction defined in the supporter of the present embodiment, the direction corresponding to the extending direction of the finger is referred to as the first direction D1, and the direction orthogonal to the first direction D1 is referred to as the second direction D2.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 1, the supporter 1 of the present embodiment is formed in an overall flat sheet shape and has a length that can be wound around a finger. The supporter 1 includes a first surface 1s that becomes the surface during wearing and a second surface 2s that is the back surface facing the finger surface during wearing. As shown in FIG. 4, when the supporter 1 is wound around a finger, the second surface 2s partially overlaps the first surface 1s to form a cylindrical portion. Further, the supporter 1 includes a hook-and-loop fastener for maintaining the formation of this cylindrical portion. The hook-and-loop fastener has a hook surface 11 formed in one region of the regions of the first surface 1s and the second surface 2s that overlap each other, and a loop surface 21 formed in the other region, and the loop surface 21 can engage with the hook surface 11 (FIG. 2).

[0027] As shown in FIG. 1, the supporter 1 of the present embodiment includes a main body portion 40 extending along the first direction D1 and a plurality of belt-like winding portions 50 extending from the main body portion 40 along the second direction D2. The supporter 1 includes the integrally formed main body portion 40 and the winding portions 50.

[0028] The main body part 40 is arranged so as to follow one joint such as the first joint of a finger and the bones on both sides of the joint when worn. The main body part 40 of the present embodiment has a width (length in the second direction D2) that can cover around half of the finger as a guide. Also, the main body part 40 has a length (length in the first direction D1) along one joint of the finger and a part of the bones on both sides of the joint. In the case of a supporter applied to a finger joint as in the present embodiment, the width (length in the second direction D2) of the main body part 40 is preferably 2 cm or more and 6 cm or less. Also, the length (length in the first direction D1) of the main body part 40 is preferably 2 cm or more and 6 cm or less. The main body part 40 of the present embodiment is formed to be longer in the first direction D1 than in the second direction D2.

[0029] The plurality of winding parts 50 of the present embodiment includes a pair of winding parts 50 extending from the main body part 40 to one side (the right side in FIG. 1) in the second direction D2. The pair of winding parts 50 are parallel along the same direction (the second direction D2) from one end edge part of the main body part 40 in the second direction D2. Each winding part 50 is formed with a gap in the first direction D1 so as to avoid contact with the joint of the finger. The size of the gap is designed in consideration of the thickness of the user's finger and the state of the joint, and specifically, it is preferably 0.2 cm or more and 2 cm or less, and more preferably 0.5 cm or more and 1 cm or less.

[0030] Each winding part 50 is configured to cooperate with the main body part 40 to form a cylindrical part extending along the first direction D1. For the formation of such a cylindrical part, the total length in the second direction D2 of the main body part 40 and one winding part 50 is preferably 4 cm or more and 10 cm or less. In the formed state of the cylindrical part, the second surface 2s of the winding part 50 overlaps the first surface 1s of the main body part 40, and in some cases, it overlaps up to the first surface 1s of the winding part 50. That is, in the formed state of the cylindrical part, the first surface 1s forms a partial overlapping region with the second surface 2s, and the second surface 2s forms a partial overlapping region with the first surface 1s.

[0031] The supporter 1 is provided with a surface fastener having, at least, a hook surface 11 formed on one of the overlapping regions of the first surface 1s and the second surface 2s, and a loop surface 21 formed on the other overlapping region. Briefly, the surface fastener has a hook surface 11 on one of the overlapping regions of the first surface 1s and the second surface 2s, respectively, and a loop surface 21 on the other. In the supporter 1 of the present embodiment, the hook surface 11 and the loop surface 21 are formed over the second direction D2 of the first surface 1s and the second surface 2s, and the hook surface 11 and the loop surface 21 are formed over the first direction D1 of the first surface 1s and the second surface 2s. Thereby, the supporter 1 of the present embodiment is easy to adjust the size of the overlapping region and is easy to adjust the amount of clamping of the fingers by the cylindrical portion.

[0032] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the supporter 1 of the present embodiment, the hook surface 11 is formed on the first surface 1s which is the surface at the time of wearing, and the loop surface 21 is formed on the second surface 2s which is the back surface at the time of wearing. More specifically, in the supporter 1 of the present embodiment, the surfaces at the time of wearing of the main body portion 40 and the winding portion 50 are the hook surface 11, and the back surfaces are the loop surface 21.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 2, the supporter 1 of the present embodiment has a multi-layer structure, and includes a hook layer 10 forming the hook surface 11, a loop layer 20 forming the loop surface 21, and a bonding layer 30 bonding the hook layer 10 and the loop layer 20.

[0034] The hook layer 10 is made of a fabric having cut pile, and includes a ground tissue 12 formed by knitting ground yarns in a plain weave or the like, and a cut pile layer 13 formed of a first yarn 131 for forming a hook surface 11. The first yarn 131 is knitted into the ground tissue 12 so as to form sinker pile and is supported by the ground yarns of the ground tissue 12. The first yarn 131 is subjected to gathering processing to form cut pile. In the cut pile layer 13, most of the fibers constituting the first yarn 131 extend from the ground tissue 12 while being entangled, and the tip portions are hooked and curved with respect to the thickness direction of the cut pile layer 13. In order to exhibit such a hooked shape, a crimped yarn is adopted for the first yarn 131 of the present embodiment.

[0035] The fiber diameter of the fibers constituting the first yarn 131 is 30 μm or less. Thereby, the flexibility and usability of the supporter 1 can be improved. On the other hand, the fiber diameter of the fibers constituting the first yarn 131 is preferably 10 μm or more, more preferably 20 μm or more. Thereby, the engagement property of the hook-and-loop fastener becomes sufficient. The fiber diameter of the fibers constituting the first yarn 131 is an average fiber diameter obtained by magnifying and observing the hook surface 11 with an electron microscope, measuring the widths of 50 fibers, and averaging them. As shown in the electron micrograph of FIG. 5, the tip portions of the fibers of the first yarn 131 are different from each other among the fibers due to gathering processing and have a non-uniform shape. Therefore, the measurement of the fiber width shall be performed on the base end side rather than the tip end portion.

[0036] The basis weight of the hook layer 10 is preferably 200 to 300 g / m 2 The basis weight of the hook layer 10 means the basis weight of the fabric and is measured by the measuring method specified in JIS L 1096:2020 8.3.

[0037] The loop layer 20 is made of a fabric having pile, and includes a ground tissue 22 knitted with ground yarns and a pile layer 23 formed of a twisted yarn 231 for forming a loop surface 21.

[0038] The combined twisted yarn 231 is formed by twisting a second yarn composed of fine-diameter fibers with a third yarn composed of thick-diameter fibers. As a result, the second yarn is supported not only by the ground weave 22 but also by the third yarn, so that the shedding of the fibers of the second yarn is suppressed.

[0039] The second yarn of the present embodiment is an ultrafine yarn, and is composed of ultrafine fibers produced by decomposing or dissolving the sea component from a composite fiber having a sea-island type cross-section and extracting the island component. In addition, examples of the second yarn include split yarns produced by mechanically splitting or solvent splitting a composite fiber having a segment pie type cross-section in which polymers having different polymer compositions are alternately arranged. The fiber diameter of the fibers forming the second yarn is 8 μm or less. The fiber diameter of the second yarn is preferably 5 μm or less, more preferably 3 μm or less. This can improve the flexibility of the supporter 1 and suppress the irritation to the skin, thereby improving the usability of the supporter 1. On the other hand, the fiber diameter of the second yarn is preferably 0.1 μm or more, more preferably 0.5 μm or more, and even more preferably 1 μm or more. This makes the engagement of the hook-and-loop fastener sufficient. The fiber diameter of the fibers constituting the second yarn can be obtained by magnifying and observing the cross-section of the supporter 1 with an electron microscope as shown in FIG. 6, measuring the diameters of the circumscribed circles of 50 fibers facing the front, and averaging them.

[0040] The fibers of the second yarn forming the pile mainly engage with the fibers of the first yarn 131 on the hook surface 11. In order to enhance such engagement, the fiber length of the fibers of the second yarn of the present embodiment is made longer than the fiber length of the third yarn. As a result, the second yarn not only forms loop-shaped undulations on the loop surface 21 but also forms many (a plurality of) tip portions standing upright in a coil shape.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 6, the fibers of the second yarn and the third yarn of the present embodiment have a circular cross-section. Note that the cross-sectional shape of the fiber of the present invention is not limited to a circular shape, and may be a fiber having a cross-sectional shape such as a cross shape or a star shape.

[0042] The second yarn of this embodiment contains a polyester resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Specifically, the fiber forming the second yarn contains 90% by mass or more of a polyester resin.

[0043] In the ply yarn 231 of this embodiment, for the purpose of making the fiber length of the second yarn longer than that of the third yarn, when twisting the composite fiber before sea-deweighting treatment or splitting treatment of the second yarn and the third yarn together, physical means of setting the supply speed of the yarns in twisting or interlace processing as the second yarn > the third yarn, supplying the twisting machine with different combinations such that the heat shrinkage rate is the second yarn < the third yarn, and subjecting to heat treatment after twisting so that the third yarn shrinks thermally more than the second yarn and the second yarn forms a loop shape or a coil shape around the third yarn, and means of combinations thereof can be mentioned. Examples of fibers with a high heat shrinkage rate that can be used for the third yarn include low-temperature (room temperature) drawn yarns and partially oriented yarns (POY) of polyethylene terephthalate, and copolymerized polyester-based high-shrinkage yarns composed of a polyester resin copolymerized with 10 mol% or more of isophthalic acid and / or 1 mol% or more of 5-sulfoisophthalate. Since the third yarn is a high-shrinkage yarn, the second yarn can form a large pile by the third yarn that tends to shrink when forming the loop surface 21. And such a second yarn becomes easy to engage with the first yarn 131 of the hook surface 11. In addition, even when only the second yarn subjected to interlace processing is used, an effect similar to that of the above ply yarn can be obtained. Specifically, the second yarn subjected to interlace processing has a plurality of interlaced portions that are partially intertwined and non-interlaced portions between the respective interlaced portions. The second yarn is such that the fibers forming the same support each other by the plurality of interlaced portions, so that the dropping of the fibers is suppressed. Also, in the non-interlaced portion of the second yarn, the fibers are in a state of spreading in a direction orthogonal to the length direction of the yarn. That is, the non-interlaced portion has a gap into which the fibers of the first yarn 131 can enter, whereby the second yarn becomes easy to engage with the first yarn 131.

[0044] The fiber diameter of the fiber forming the third yarn is 10 μm or more and 30 μm or less. The fiber diameter of the fiber constituting the third yarn shall be measured in the same manner as the fiber of the second yarn.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 3, the ground weave 22 of the present embodiment has a double atlas weave structure including a first weave formed by the first ground yarn 221 woven in an atlas weave and a second weave formed by the second ground yarn 222 woven in an atlas weave so as to intersect the first ground yarn 221. And the ply yarn 231 is inserted and woven so as to form needle loops in respective parts of the first weave and the second weave to form a pile. The first weave is a weave formed by the front reed LF which is the first reed, the second weave is a weave formed by the middle reed LM which is the second reed, and the inserted weave is a weave formed by the back reed LB which is the third reed.

[0046] The first weave of the present embodiment is an atlas weave structure composed of a repeating unit represented by 10 / 12 / 23 / 21. The second weave of the present embodiment is an atlas weave structure composed of a repeating unit represented by 23 / 21 / 10 / 12. The inserted weave of the present embodiment is a structure composed of a repeating unit represented by 00 / 12 / 33 / 21. Thus, each weave of the present embodiment has 4 courses as a repeating unit, and each yarn is shaken within a range of 3 wales. The openings 223 of the atlas weave structure which is the first weave and the openings 223 of the atlas weave structure which is the second weave are woven by the same needles, and the ply yarn 231 is inserted and woven so as to form needle loops (openings) 232 with the same needles. The ply yarn 231 inserted and woven in this way is likely to be held by the ground weave 22. Therefore, even if the supporter 1 is repeatedly washed dozens of times, the engagement property of the hook-and-loop fastener can be maintained. Such an effect is achieved by forming the needle loop of the ply yarn 231 at the same needle as the ground yarn of the ground weave 22. Therefore, the ground weave 22 may be a weave other than the atlas weave structure, and any weave may be used as long as it can form the needle loop of the ply yarn 231 at the same needle as the ground yarn. Examples of such a ground weave 22 include double denim weave and double cord weave.

[0047] The twisted yarn 231 formed of the ultrafine fibers as described above is likely to retain moisture, which acts in a direction to reduce the quick-drying property in the loop layer 20. On the other hand, in the supporter 1 of the present embodiment, since the loop surface 21 is formed in the region (the back surface of the main body portion 40 and the back surface near the main body portion 40 in the winding portion 50) that can contact the user's skin on the second surface 2s, a layer containing a relatively large amount of air can be formed between the second surface 2s and the skin, and the air permeability can be improved. Further, since the loop layer 20 of the present embodiment is composed of a second yarn made of ultrafine fibers and a third yarn that is a high-shrinkage yarn, when heat treatment is performed, the third yarn that is a high-shrinkage yarn shrinks greatly, and the second yarn made of ultrafine fibers forms a loop structure, and a curvature difference occurs between the fibers, so that the loop layer 20 is in a loose state with relatively large gaps between the fibers. Therefore, the loop layer 20 can exhibit excellent quick-drying property despite including the twisted yarn 231 formed of ultrafine fibers that are likely to absorb moisture. And the supporter 1 of the present embodiment has further enhanced the above-described quick-drying performance by the fact that the twisted yarn 231 (the second yarn and the third yarn) is formed of fibers containing a polyester-based resin.

[0048] The basis weight of the loop layer 20 is preferably 100 to 200 g / m 2 The basis weight of the loop layer 20 means the basis weight of the fabric and is measured by the measuring method specified in JIS L 1096:2020 8.3.

[0049] The bonding layer 30 of the present embodiment is a layer containing an adhesive that bonds the ground tissue 12 of the hook layer 10 and the ground tissue 22 of the loop layer 20. The bonding layer 30 is composed of a moisture-curing urethane-based adhesive or a heat-fusible hot melt adhesive. The basis weight of the bonding layer 30 is preferably 20 to 40 g / m 2 This can impart an appropriate stiffness for stabilizing the affected area without impairing the flexibility of the supporter 1.

[0050] As shown in Fig. 4, as a method for attaching the supporter 1 of the present embodiment, the main body portion 40 is aligned along the first joint (the second joint may also be used) of the finger and the bone extending on both sides of the first joint, and each winding portion 50 is wound around the finger with the gap between the pair of winding portions 50 positioned at the first joint. Since the hook surface 11 of the hook-and-loop fastener is formed on the entire surface of the first surface 1s and the loop surface 21 is formed on the entire surface of the second surface 2s in the supporter 1 of the present embodiment, it is not necessary to grasp the formation positions of the hook surface 11 and the loop surface 21 respectively. Just by winding as described above, a cylindrical portion is naturally formed.

[0051] As described above, one embodiment has been shown as an example. However, the supporter according to the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment. Further, the supporter according to the present invention is not limited by the above-described effects. The supporter according to the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0052] For example, the present invention is not limited to the application to finger joints, and can also be applied to joints of wrists, ankles, elbows, knees, etc.

Example

[0053] Hereinafter, it will be described more specifically with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0054] [Manufacturing Example] A ground fabric is formed by performing plain knitting with a crimped yarn of 111 dtex / 48 filaments (crimp ratio: 5%, made of PET) as the ground yarn, and a sinker pile is formed by knitting into the ground fabric using a crimped yarn of 167 dtex / 48 filaments (crimp ratio: 5%, made of PET) as the first yarn to produce a circular knitted fabric. The obtained circular knitted fabric is subjected to gathering processing and normal dyeing processing to obtain a first fabric having a hook layer over the entire surface in the surface direction (areal density: 260 g / m 2) was produced. Next, according to the organizational chart shown in FIG. 3, an 83 dtex / 36 filament non-crimped yarn was atlas-woven by a front reed as the first ground yarn, and an 83 dtex / 36 filament non-crimped yarn was atlas-woven by a middle reed as the second ground yarn. Furthermore, a ply yarn was inserted and woven by a back reed to produce a warp knitted fabric. As the ply yarn, a 25-island sea-island composite fiber of 84 dtex / 24 filaments (the island component is PET, and the sea component is ethylene terephthalate copolymerized with sodium 5-sulfoisophthalate and polyethylene glycol) as the second yarn and a high-shrinkage yarn of 33 dtex / 12 filaments (polyethylene terephthalate copolymerized with isophthalic acid) as the third yarn were twisted together. The obtained warp knitted fabric was subjected to alkali weight reduction with an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution to obtain an ultrafine PET yarn of 63 dtex / 888 filaments as the second yarn portion and subjected to normal dyeing processing to produce a second fabric having a loop layer over the entire surface direction (areal density: 170 g / m 2 ) was produced. The first fabric and the second fabric were adhered with an adhesive (areal density: 30 g / m 2 ) containing a wet-curable polyurethane-based resin to produce a laminate. This laminate was cut into the shape shown in FIG. 1 to obtain a supporter for stabilizing the finger joint (main body part: length 40 mm, width 25 mm, each winding part: length 60 mm, width 16.5 mm, size of the gap between the winding parts: 7 mm).

[0055] [Measurement of fiber diameter of each yarn] The surface of the first fabric (hook layer) and the cross-section of the second fabric (loop layer) created above were magnified and observed using an electron microscope. FIG. 5 shows an electron micrograph of the surface of the first fabric (hook layer), and FIG. 6 shows an electron micrograph of the cross-section of the second fabric (loop layer). The average fiber diameter of the fibers forming the first yarn was 18 μm. Also, the average fiber diameter of the fibers forming the second yarn was 2.1 μm, and the average fiber diameter of the fibers forming the third yarn was 14 μm.

[0056] [Engaging property and washing resistance of the hook-and-loop fastener] In accordance with the evaluation method specified in JIS L 3416:2020 7.4, the tensile shear strength and peeling strength before and after washing were evaluated. The results are as shown in Table 1 below. Thus, it was confirmed that the produced supporter maintained sufficient engagement of the hook-and-loop fastener even after 20 washes and was excellent in durability. It is considered that the supporter made of yarn formed from fine fibers shows such durability, which is an effect exceeding the prediction.

[0057]

Table 1

[0058] [Quick-drying property of the supporter] Based on the fact that the test piece of the laminate was made 300 mm × 300 mm and in accordance with the evaluation method of drying property specified in JIS L 1096:2020 8.25 except that dehydration was carried out for 3 minutes in a two-layer washing machine (HITACHI PS-50AS) and measurement was started after 3 minutes had elapsed before attaching it to the drying time measuring device, a test was conducted under the conditions of 20°C and 65% humidity. Taking the time (unit: minute) when the diffusible residual moisture rate of the laminate produced above becomes 0% as the evaluation criterion, the quick-drying property was evaluated. Also, in accordance with ISO 17617:2014 Method A1, 0.3 g of water was dropped under the conditions of 20°C and 65% humidity, and the water absorption and quick-drying property of the laminate was evaluated with the evaluation criterion that the diffusible residual moisture rate after 60 minutes is less than 20%. The results of the quick-drying property are shown in Figure 7, and the results of the water absorption and quick-drying property test are shown in Figure 8. The supporter made from such a laminate shows sufficient quick-drying property by natural drying when it absorbs water and can be dried immediately by applying a dry towel.

Explanation of symbols

[0059] 1: supporter, 1s: first surface, 2s: second surface, 10: hook layer, 11: hook surface, 12: ground weave, 13: cut pile layer, 131: first yarn, 20: loop layer, 21: loop surface, 22: ground weave, 221: first ground yarn, 222: second ground yarn, 223: opening, 23: pile layer, 231: ply yarn, 232: needle loop, 30: bonding layer, 40: main body part, 50: winding part, LF: first reed (front reed), LM: second reed (middle reed), LB: third reed (back reed), D1: first direction, D2: second direction

Claims

1. A supporter that is wound around a user and used, wherein the supporter includes a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, and forms a cylindrical portion by overlapping of the first surface and the second surface when wound around the user, and includes a surface fastener for maintaining the formation of the cylindrical portion, the surface fastener includes a first thread forming a hook surface and a second thread forming a loop surface engaged with the hook surface, one of the first surface and the second surface has the hook surface and the other has the loop surface, the fiber diameter of the fiber forming the first thread and the fiber forming the second thread is 30 μm or less, the loop surface is formed by a ply yarn in which the second thread is twisted with a third thread, the fiber diameter of the fiber forming the second thread is 8 μm or less, the fiber diameter of the fiber forming the third thread is 10 μm or more and 30 μm or less, the surface fastener includes a loop layer having the loop surface, the loop layer includes a ground tissue into which the ply yarn is inserted and knitted, the ground tissue has a double atlas knitting structure including a first tissue knitted with a first ground yarn knitted in an atlas pattern and a second tissue knitted with a second ground yarn knitted in an atlas pattern so as to cross the first ground yarn, the ply yarn is inserted and knitted into a part of each of the first tissue and the second tissue so as to form needle loops to form a pile, the supporter.

2. The supporter according to claim 1, wherein on the loop surface, the second thread forms loop-shaped undulations, and a part of the second thread stands up in a coiled shape.

3. The supporter according to claim 1, further including a plurality of winding portions wound around the user and a main body portion connecting the plurality of winding portions, wherein the plurality of winding portions are connected to the main body portion in a spaced-apart state.

4. The supporter according to claim 3, wherein one of the hook surface and the loop surface of the surface fastener forms the back surface of the main body portion and the winding portion.

5. The surface fastener includes a hook layer having the hook surface and laminated on the loop layer, the main body portion has the hook layer and the loop layer adhered by an adhesive, the supporter according to claim 4.

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