Cushioning material

Abstract

To provide a cushioning material that gives a cold sensation while showing moderate elastic deformation.SOLUTION: A cushioning material 10 has a core material 20, and a surface layer part 30 provided on the surface of the core material 20. The surface layer part 30 is a structure 31 composed of thermoplastic elastomer. Multiple columnar hollow chambers 33 are assembled through partition walls 32.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a cushioning material that elastically deforms moderately and has a cooling effect.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, pillows have been used to support the user's head and neck during sleep. For example, the pillow shown in Patent Document 1 uses, as an inner member, for example, a low-resilience urethane foam. When the user places their head and neck on the pillow, the pillow deforms due to the elasticity of the low-resilience urethane foam and fits along the shape of the head and neck, reducing local compression, dispersing body pressure throughout, and enabling a good night's sleep.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In order to obtain a good night's sleep, it is considered preferable to cool the head to a state of so-called cold head and warm feet. However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, since the rear side of the head and neck is in contact with the surface of the pillow, heat accumulates in the pillow, causing a problem that the user feels uncomfortable.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a cushioning material that has a cooling effect while moderately elastically deforming.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The cushioning material according to the present invention includes a core material and a surface layer portion provided on the surface of the core material. The surface layer portion is a structure made of a thermoplastic elastomer, and a large number of columnar hollow chambers gather via partition walls.

[0007] The structure is made of a thermoplastic elastomer (Thermoplastic Elastomer: TPE). In this specification, a thermoplastic elastomer is an elastomer that has rubber properties at normal temperature (for example, 25°C) and has the property of softening like a thermoplastic resin at high temperature, and has a higher thermal conductivity than air.

[0008] When a user places a part of the body on the upper surface of the structure, since the thermoplastic elastomer has a higher thermal conductivity than air, the heat generated by the user is transmitted to the structure faster than to the air, and a cooling sensation can be caused to the user.

[0009] Also, since there is a space for deformation where both sides of the partition wall are hollow chambers and the thermoplastic elastomer has rubber properties, it can be elastically deformed. Therefore, when a user places a part of the body on the structure and applies a pressing force, the structure can deform along the part of the user's body and maintain an appropriate elasticity to support the load. The elastic modulus of the structure is determined by the material of the thermoplastic elastomer, the size of the hollow chamber, the thickness of the partition wall, etc.

[0010] In this way, by making the surface layer portion a structure made of a thermoplastic elastomer, the cushioning material can have a cooling sensation while being elastically deformed moderately.

[0011] It is preferable that the hollow chamber of the structure has an open upper surface.

[0012] According to the above configuration, since the hollow chamber is columnar and the upper surface is open, when a user places a part of the body on the structure, only the upper end surface of the partition wall contacts the user's body. In this way, compared with the prior art, the area where the cushioning material and the body are in close contact is small, and the stuffy feeling is reduced, so that a cooling sensation can be caused to the user.

[0013] The hollow chamber may be any of triangular prism shape, quadrangular prism shape, hexagonal prism shape, and cylindrical shape.

[0014] The core material may be any of cylindrical shape, semi-cylindrical shape, and semi-elliptical cylindrical shape.

[0015] The shape of the core material may be rectangular when viewed from a plane.

Advantages of the Invention

[0016] According to the cushioning material of the present invention, it can have a cooling effect while being elastically deformed moderately.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0017]

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Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0018] Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The cushioning material 10 of the present invention is used, for example, as a pillow. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the cushioning material 10 includes a core material 20 and a surface layer portion 30 provided on the surface of the core material 20. The surface layer portion 30 is a structure 31 made of a thermoplastic elastomer, and a large number of columnar hollow chambers 33 gather via partition walls 32. Note that the cushioning material 10 is not limited to a pillow and may be used for a zabuton, a futon, etc., and the application is not limited.

[0019] The core material 20 is composed of a sheet material 21 and a filling material 26 accommodated inside the sheet material 21. The sheet material 21 has a semi-cylindrical shape (kamaboko type), that is, a shape having an arcuate side and a straight bottom side in the shape of a cross-section orthogonal to the length direction shown in FIG. 4. The sheet material 21 is formed by sewing a peripheral surface sheet material 22, a bottom surface sheet material 23 (23a, 23b), and left and right side surface sheet materials 24, 25. The sheet material 21 is air-permeable and is composed of a sheet material that can be heat-welded to the structure 31. Examples of the sheet material include a punching sheet or a mesh sheet in which a large number of through-holes are provided in a non-woven fabric. The non-woven fabric is formed from synthetic fibers such as polyester, for example, to facilitate drying, and the through-holes are formed in an arbitrary pattern such as a hexagonal shape, a square shape, or a circular shape when viewed from a plane. The left and right side surface sheet materials 24, 25 of the sheet material 21 are curved outward in a convex shape due to the filling pressure of the filling material 28 of the filling material 26.

[0020] The filling material 26 is configured in a semi-cylindrical shape (kamaboko type) that is substantially similar to the shape of the sheet material 21, and the filling material 28 is filled inside the bag body 27. The bag body 27 is formed of a cloth made of, for example, cotton or synthetic fiber, and the filling material 28 is, for example, granular objects such as synthetic fibers, buckwheat husks, foam beads, chips of resin materials, feathers, cotton, etc.

[0021] In this embodiment, the core material 20 is set to have a length L1 of approximately 67 cm, a width L2 of the bottom surface of approximately 10 cm, and a height L3 of approximately 13 cm, but it is not limited thereto.

[0022] The structure 31 that constitutes the surface layer portion 30 is attached to substantially the entire surface of the circumferential surface sheet material 22 of the sheet material 21. As shown in Fig. 5(A), before the structure 31 is attached to the core material 20, the overall shape of the structure 31 when viewed from a plane is rectangular, and an arc-shaped chamfered portion 31a is formed at the corner. Note that the shape of the structure 31 is not limited to a rectangular shape, and it may be any shape such as a triangular shape, a square shape, a polygonal shape, a circular shape, etc.

[0023] The structure 31 is formed by arranging a plurality of hollow chambers 33 without gaps, and each hollow chamber 33 is defined by partition walls 32 (32a, 32b, 32c) so as to exhibit a triangular prism shape with an isosceles triangle shape when viewed from a plane. The upper end of the hollow chamber 33 is open.

[0024] The partition walls 32 are composed of partition walls 32a, 32b, and 32c. A plurality of partition walls 32a are provided at a predetermined interval in parallel with the length direction of the structure 31 over substantially the entire length in the length direction of the structure 31. The partition walls 32b and 32c intersect the partition wall 32a respectively, and a plurality of them are provided at a predetermined interval along the directions of 75 degrees and 165 degrees obliquely with respect to the partition wall 32a over substantially the entire length in this oblique direction. Note that the angles at which the partition walls 32b and 32c intersect the partition wall 32a are not limited to 75 degrees and 165 degrees respectively, and may be set at any angle. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, arc-shaped chamfered portions 32d are formed at the corner portions at the ends in the length direction of the partition walls 32, making it difficult for the corners of the structure 31 to hit the user.

[0025] As shown in Fig. 6, an annular lower wall 34 for reinforcement is provided along the side edges on the bottom surface of the structure 31, and the lower ends of the hollow chambers 33 located near the side edges are blocked by the lower wall 34. The lower wall 34 may be provided only along a pair of side edges along the length direction of the structure 31, or may be provided only along a pair of side edges along the width direction of the structure 31.

[0026] The structure 31 is formed by injection molding a thermoplastic elastomer. The thermoplastic elastomer has rubber properties at normal temperature (room temperature), and the structure 31 has elasticity due to the deformation of the partition wall 32. The thermoplastic elastomer used in this embodiment has a higher thermal conductivity than natural fibers such as air, cotton, and linen, and is about 0.2 (W / m / K).

[0027] Also, the thermoplastic elastomer has a higher specific heat than natural fibers such as cotton and synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyethylene, and is about 3 J / (kg·K). The specific heat refers to the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of a unit mass of a substance by a unit temperature. Furthermore, the structure 31 is set to have a larger mass than the mass of the conventional surface layer portion made of natural fibers or synthetic fibers when the conventional surface layer portion made of natural fibers or synthetic fibers is attached to substantially the entire surface of the peripheral surface sheet 22 of the sheet material 21. As a result, the heat capacity of the structure 31 using the thermoplastic elastomer becomes larger than the heat capacity of the conventional surface layer portion made of natural fibers or synthetic fibers. The heat capacity refers to the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of an object by 1 degree Celsius.

[0028] Thus, since the structure 31 of this embodiment has a larger heat capacity than when using a conventional surface layer portion made of natural fibers or synthetic fibers for a sheet material 21 of the same size, the structure 31 made of a thermoplastic elastomer takes time to be warmed by the heat emitted from the user's body, and for the user, the cooling effect continues. In this embodiment, about 1600 g of the thermoplastic elastomer is used to form the structure 31.

[0029] In this embodiment, the length L4 in the length direction of the structure 31 is set to about 57 cm, and the length L5 in the width direction of the structure 31 is set to about 35 cm, but it is not limited thereto, and can be set to any length. Also, in this embodiment, the length L6 of the base of the isosceles triangle in the cross section of each hollow chamber 33 is set to about 1.5 cm, the lengths L7 of the other two sides are set to about 2 cm, the height L8 of the partition wall 32 is set to about 2 cm, and the thickness L9 is set to about 1 mm, but it is not limited thereto, and is appropriately set according to the desired elasticity.

[0030] Note that the hollow chamber 33 is not limited to a triangular prism shape, and the hollow chamber 33 may be any of a quadrangular prism shape, a hexagonal prism shape, or a cylindrical shape. When the hollow chamber 33 is a hexagonal prism shape with a regular hexagon shape when viewed from a plane, the structure 31 constitutes a so-called honeycomb structure. Further, the area of the shape of the hollow chamber 33 when viewed from a plane can be set as appropriate.

[0031] A method for manufacturing the cushioning material 10 of the present invention will be described. First, a thermoplastic elastomer is injection-molded to manufacture the structure 31 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, a peripheral surface sheet material 22 that is slightly larger in size than the structure 31 is adhered to the lower wall 34 of the structure 31 and the lower end surface of the partition wall 32 using means such as heat welding or an adhesive.

[0032] Next, as shown in FIG. 8, bottom surface sheet materials 23a and 23b are respectively connected to both end sides of the peripheral surface sheet material 22 by connection means such as sewing with a thread.

[0033] Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the side edges of the bottom surface sheet materials 23a and 23b are sewn together leaving an opening 23c for inserting the filler 26, and as shown in FIG. 10, the peripheral edges of the side surface sheet materials 24 and 25 are sewn to the side edges of the peripheral surface sheet material 22, the bottom surface sheet materials 23a and 23b. Thereby, the sheet material 21 is formed into a semi-cylindrical shape (kamaboko type) along the shape of the filler 26 having a peripheral portion, a bottom portion, and left and right side portions.

[0034] Then, the pre-manufactured filler 26 is filled through the opening 23c, and the opening 32c is sewn and closed. Thereby, the cushioning material 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is manufactured.

[0035] According to the cushioning material 10 of the present embodiment, since the thermoplastic elastomer has a higher thermal conductivity than air or natural fibers, the heat generated by the user can be transmitted to the structure 31 more quickly than air, and a cooling effect can be produced on the user. Further, in the prior art, when the user places the body on the structure 31, the surface of the cushioning material adheres to the user's body. However, in the present embodiment, since the hollow chamber 33 is columnar and the upper surface is open, only the upper end surface of the partition wall 32 contacts the user's body. For this reason, the area where the cushioning material 10 and the body are in close contact is small, the feeling of stuffiness is reduced, and a cooling effect can be produced on the user.

[0036] Also, in the present embodiment, the thermoplastic elastomer of the structure 31 uses one having a higher specific heat than natural fibers such as cotton and synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyethylene. The structure 31 is set such that its mass is larger than the mass of the conventional surface layer portion when a conventional surface layer portion made of natural fibers or synthetic fibers is attached to substantially the entire surface of the peripheral surface sheet material 22 of the sheet material 21 of the same size. As a result, the heat capacity of the structure 31 becomes larger than the heat capacity of the conventional surface layer portion made of natural fibers or synthetic fibers. For this reason, the structure 31 made of the thermoplastic elastomer takes time to warm itself by the heat generated from the user's body, and the cooling effect on the user can be maintained.

[0037] Also, in the cushioning material 10 of the present embodiment, since there are hollow chambers 33 on both sides of the partition wall 32 and there is a space for deformation, and the thermoplastic elastomer has rubber properties, it can be elastically deformed. For this reason, when the user places a part of the body on the structure 31 and applies a pressing force, the structure 31 can deform along a part of the user's body and maintain an appropriate elasticity to support the load. The elastic modulus of the structure 31 is determined by the material of the thermoplastic elastomer, the size of the hollow chamber 33, the thickness of the partition wall, and the like.

[0038] In this way, by making the surface layer portion 30 a structure 31 made of a thermoplastic elastomer, the cushioning material 10 can have a cooling effect while being elastically deformed moderately.

[0039] The above describes one embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0040] The shape of the core material 20 is not limited to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the core material 20 may be formed in a cylindrical shape. In this case, the bottom sheet materials 23a and 23b of the sheet material 21 are not provided, and the side edges of the circumferential sheet material 22 welded to the lower surface of the structure 31 are sewn together. Further, the core material 20 may be semi-elliptical columnar.

[0041] Also, as shown in FIG. 12, the core material 20 may have a rectangular shape when viewed from the plane. In this case, the sheet material 21 is formed by sewing the side edges of two rectangular sheet materials 27 and 28, and the structure 31 is provided on substantially the entire surface of one of the rectangular sheet materials 27.

[0042] Furthermore, in the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the structure 31 is provided along the length direction of the cushion material 10 over substantially the entire length of the circumferential sheet material 22 of the core material 20. However, as shown in FIG. 13, the length L4 of the structure 31 may be configured to be shorter than the entire length of the circumferential sheet material 22, and both ends of the structure 31 in the length direction of the cushion material 10 may be in a state where the circumferential sheet material 22 of the sheet material 21 of the core material 20 is exposed. Further, also in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the length L4 of the structure 31 may be configured to be shorter than the entire length of the circumferential sheet material 22, and both ends of the structure 31 in the length direction of the cushion material 10 may be in a state where the circumferential sheet material 22 of the sheet material 21 is exposed. Also, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the length L4 and / or the width L5 in the length direction of the structure 31 may be made smaller than one of the rectangular sheet materials 27 so that the surface of one of the rectangular sheet materials 27 is exposed.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0043] 10 Cushion material 20 Core material 21 Sheet material 30 Surface layer portion 31 Structure 32 (32a, 32b, 32c) Partition wall 33 Hollow chamber

Claims

1. Comprising a core material and a surface layer part, The core material includes a sheet material and a filling material accommodated inside the sheet material, The sheet material is a sheet material made of a punching sheet or a mesh sheet provided with a large number of through holes in a non-woven fabric that can be adhered to the surface layer part, The surface layer part is a structure made of a thermoplastic elastomer, and a large number of columnar hollow chambers are assembled via partitions and adhered to the outer surface of the sheet material, The sheet material is a cushion material composed of a plurality of members whose ends are connected to each other by sewing.

2. The cushion material according to claim 1, wherein the hollow chamber of the structure has an open upper surface.

3. The cushion material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the core material is any one of a cylindrical shape, a semi-cylindrical shape, and a semi-elliptical columnar shape.

4. The cushion material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the shape of the core material as viewed from the plane is rectangular.

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