Textiles: knitting – Fabrics or articles – Multi-ply
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-28
2003-11-11
Worrell, Danny (Department: 1771)
Textiles: knitting
Fabrics or articles
Multi-ply
C066S202000, C066S16900R, C442S318000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06644070
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional knit fabric suitable for use as a cushion for a seat of a car, a railway train, an airplane, a baby car, a domestic or office chair; a cushion for a bed pad, a mattress, an anti-bedsore mat, a pillow or a kneeling mat; a spacer for a clothing; a shape-retainer; a shock absorber; a thermal insulator; an upper material or insole of shoes; or a supporter or a protector.
BACKGROUND ART
Three-dimensional knit fabrics consisting of front and back knit layers connected to each other with a connecting yarn have been used in various fields as cushion material because of their favorable functions such as cushioning property, air-permeability, thermal insulation property or body-weight dispersion property.
The cushioning property is exhibited in the thickness direction of the three-dimensional knit fabric by using a monofilament yarn rich in bending elasticity as the connecting yarn constituting an intermediate layer. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 11-269747 discloses a three-dimensional knit fabric excellent in compression recovery obtained by using a monofilament yarn having favorable elastic recovery as a connecting yarn. This fabric, however, lacks a cushioning property rich in elastic feeling because the configuration of the monofilament yarn used as a connecting yarn has not been taken into account, and also has a problem in that the elastic feeling becomes inferior and the fabric thickness reduces as the fabric is used repeatedly or for a long time. Further, since the elongation characteristic and the compressive deformation of front and back knit layers of the three-dimensional knit fabric are not taken into account, a favorable cushioning property is not obtainable when the fabric is used for a hammock type seat. In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-87077, a hammock type seat is disclosed, in which a three-dimensional knit fabric is mounted onto a seat frame in a stretched state. This seat, however, exhibits insufficient durability of its cushioning property when used repeatedly.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art and provide a three-dimensional knit fabric having a cushioning property rich in elastic feeling which does not deteriorate if the fabric is used repeatedly or for a long time. A more concrete object of the present invention is to provide a three-dimensional knit fabric suitable for use as a hammock type seat, which exhibits a cushioning property in excellent bounsiness feel and fits the human body, as well as a favorable shape-retaining property not causing a so-called deformation or depression, which is a phenomenon wherein the seat is not restorable to its original shape after a user has sat on it.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present inventor conceived of the present invention after diligent study on the diameter and curved configuration of a monofilament yarn connecting front and back knit layers of a three-dimensional knit fabric, the compressive property and compressive deformation of the three-dimensional knit fabric, and the structure of the three-dimensional knit fabric constituted by combining various fibrous materials.
Specifically, the present invention is a three-dimensional knit fabric consisting of front and back knit layers and a monofilament yarn connecting the knit layers with each other, characterized in that the curvature of the monofilament yarn in the three-dimensional knit fabric is in a range from 0.01 to 1.6, and the bending elongation of the monofilament yarn is 20% or less when the three-dimensional knit fabric is compressed to 50%.
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Hamamatsu Kenji
Ikenaga Hideo
Kawano Toshiaki
Asahi Kasei Kabushiki Kaisha
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
Worrell Danny
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