Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
WO94/01609 2 1 1 7 0 7 ~ pcr/~Eg2/ooo29
~ .
Nonwoven material l1ced ~ llnA~rl~yer for a f~hric covering
seats intenA~A for ~ccenger tr~ ~o~.
The invention relates to the use of a nonwoven
material as underlayer for a fabric covering seats in~nA~A
for p~scenqer trA-I~l~.L by road, rail or air. The invention
also relates to the seat covering com~ -e~ of a fr~.ic with
S the said nc~ ven material, adhesive bonded to it or not~,
as well as to the seat in~enA~A for p~C~e~er transport and
provided with this covering.
By "nor~l ~ell material" is understood what is
normally called a ,c ~.~en fabric, a ~ ell mat, or a
felt.
In order to e~ e the comfort of the user, a
seat generally comprises: l) a ~!-~~l~r~ hling the
ergonomic comfort of the user of the seat; this s ~ L
generally consists of dense foam, springs or bands; 2? a
padding layer consisting of a fo~m less dense ts~an ~hat
' constituting the r ~ L (and optionally separated from the
s~ L by a separating film), and 3) a cover fabric. The
padding layer and the cover fabric are ~n~o~ihle for the
thermo~hysio}ogical aspect of comfort.
A seat co.,_Ll~Led in this manner has a
partizularly good i n~ ting~ action, which entails
perspiration on the part of the user. If this perspiration
is not qui~ckly evacuated, a Ai~reeable sensation of
dampness results.
The insulating effect of the seat is principally
due to the substantial thiÇkn~ec of dense foam constituting
the ~ '1'~' ~ the film separating the dense foam from the
p~inq foam, and the closed character of the p~AAi~g foam
which encloses a multitude of air bubbles.
The evacuation of humidity due to perspiration on
; the part~of~the ucer is not possible throuqh the thickness
of the seat, heÇ~c~ the block of foam constituting the
:,
~ support prevents the humidity from being carried awa~.
WO 94/01609 PCI'/BE92/0002g
,~ ~
21170~ -
The humidity must therefore be eliminated either
through the sides or by ventilation, that is to say by a
pumping action due to movements and vibration.
The aim of the ~l&-ent invention is to make use
of a no~ e..material as underlayer for the fabric ~oveLing
a seat as replacement for the foam pA~i ng layer. It is a
; particular aim that thel,o.~s~oven material used in accordance
with the invention should serve both as a paA~i~g layer a~d
as a thermophysiological comfort layer.
10More particularly, the ~ ent invention has the
aim of using a .c rv~en material which is capable of rapidly
absorbing, in the contact zone L~ e~n the user and the
seat, the perspiration emanating from the user.
It is therefore the aim that the material used in
accor~ance with the invention should, Lh~ l. its hydro-
philic nature, be able to absorb the humidity rapidly
before conveying it to the outside.
Another aim of the p.~ t invention is to use a
en material c~ahl e of conveying the humidity in a
direction parallel to the surface of the material.
The ~e_cnt i~-vel~ion also has the aim of using
a ~r. ~c~ell material permitting the evacuation of humidity
-by ventilation.
It is a particular aim that the material used in
- 2~ accordance with the invention ~hould have characteristics
of compressive ~LLe.~Y Lh and elasticity adequate for
permitting the absG~Lion, co,.ve~ing and evacuation of
humidity.
The subject of the ~e_e--L invention is the use
of a l~O~OVel~ material as underlayer for a fabric covering
seats int~n~-~ for pAC~en~er transport (by road, rail or
air) as a replacement for the traditional foam pA~ing
layer.
The nonwoven material used in accordance with the
invention is proA~ce~ by a dry ~ocess. It has a density
between 20 and 100 kg/m' and preferably between 30 and 60
W094/01~ 2 1 17 0 7 4 PCT/BE92/~29
kg/m', with a thickness between 4 and 40 mm and preferably
between 8 and 12 mm.
The nor,~ e..material used in accordance with the
invention contains a minimum of 50% of synthetic fibres,
which are preferably selected from polyester, polyamide and
polyoxyamide fibres, or fibres of the "s~pe~bsorbent" type,
or a mixture of these various fibres. By fibres of the
"superabsGL~e..L" type are understood fibres having a~
absorption c~p~city higher than 100%, that is to say fibres
lo absorbing more than 1 g of water per gram of fibre. The
~e~h~Qrh~nt" fibres used are, for example, those
marketed under the names T~n-=61~, Fi~e~ b~, or Bemliese~.
The ay,-LheLic fibres selected are a-lv~,lLageously
polyester fibres. The fibres used are preferably hy~lo~hilic
or are made hydrophllic by a~p~G~iate ~ ~aLment.
The synthetic fibres included in the composition
of the material used in a_~oL~ance with the invention have
a ~h~ r~s5 between 3 and 40 dtex and preferably between
6 and 20 dtex, and a length between 2 and 12 cm and
preferably between 5 and 7.5 cm.
The nonwoven material used in a~c~ance with the
invention may contain up to 50% of natural and/or artificial
fibres,~which may for example be cellulose (cotton, rayon,
vi~-o~s),or wool fibres. - ~ -
2S The fibres constituting the material used in
accor~-nce with the invention are needle honAe~.
In one particular er~oAi~ent of the inventior
said fibres are both needle honA~ and heat bonded In - ;
case the nonwoven material must contain a certain percen~ge
of "heat hon~ing" fibres.
By heat honAing fibres are understood fibres
whose melting point is lower than that o~ the main fibres,
or fibres having a surface layer whose melting point is
lower than that of the interior part of the fibre ("two
3~ component" fibres~.
In another embodiment of the invention the fi~res
~,
, ~ ~
WO 94/01609 ' PCIYBE92/0002~,,
2117074
are hon~e~ both by needling and by chemical hon~ing. This
chemical honAinq is effected by spraying the fibres with a
resin, which may for example be an aqueou~ emulsion of
polyacrylate or polyurethane resin.
The ~G~ S ~e.~ material used in acco~ance with the
invention has sufficient compressive ~L.en~Lh to ensure
that, when it is subjected to a static pressure of 20
cN/cm2 (which COL~ C to the pressure exerted by the~
weight of an average person), it will retain a minimum
thic~n~sc of 2 mm. It is advantageous for this minimum
thic~ecc to be 4 mm.
This minimum thickness of 2 mm or even of 4 mm is
y in order to allow the material to absorb the
perspiration emanating from the user of the seat and to
~o~we~ this humidity in a direction parallel to the surface
of the material, or to convey it by ventilation.
The subject of the invention is also a covering
for seats intended for ra~r~er L,~ ,o-L, which
comprises a cover fabric and a nonwoven material, the said
material having the characteristics enumerated above.
In another embodiment of the ~G~ering according
to the invention the cover fabric and the nonwoven material
may~be adhesive bonded together by one of the techniques
known to the men ckilled in the art. This adhesive hon~in~
may for example be effeated with the aid of adhesive means
such as a ~isp~rsion, an emulsion or a solution of adhesive,
or such as a thermoplastic powder, film or coating. This
adhesive means may for exàmple be applied by atomisation,
sprinkl;n~ Le~.,ation or impression.
Yet another subject of the ~L e_e.. L invention is
a cover material for seats in~en~e~ for rAsscn~er transport, ''
which concicts of a cover fabric adhesive bonded to a
nonwoven material which has the characteristics enumerated
above. The adhesive bonding may be effected by one of the
~ 3~ technigues known to the men skilled in the art and
;~ enumerated above.
:
::
: '
wo 94/ol~ 2 1 1 7 0 7 4 PCT/BE92/ ~ 29
:
In addition, the invention has as a subject a
seat in~en~e~ for pACsenqer tral,_~GL- (by road, rail or air)
which has a covering or cover material according to the
invention. ~~~
Additional characteristics of the invention will
also emerge in the course of the description of examples of
embodiment of the invention, these examples being in no way
limitative.
MPT.P! ~.
The nor~ .~e~material used in accordance with the
invention comprises two types of fibres, which are available
as a mixture under the reference ~D-291 Quallofil-" from the
~u~c.,L de Nemours Company. This is a mixture of hollow,
; fo~ _hannel ther~obonding and polyester fibres of 13 dtex,
the~percentaga of hollow volume being greater than 23% of
- ~ the total volume of the fibre~ The length of the fibres is
7 to 8 cm. A ~pecial finish gives this fibre a smooth,
hydro p ilic ~urf~ace and a low inflammability character.
The mixture of fibres has been carded and n~rp~~
by ~ec~n~ques well known to the men skilled in the art. The
fibres were the~ G.I needle~honde~ and then heat hon~
The material thus obtained has a thic~n~sc of
10 mm and an apparent density of 40 kg/m'. It has a
compressivé ~Lle,.~Lh such that, when subjected to a static
p~essure of 20 cN/cm2, this material retains a thic~n~s~ of
- 8.5 mm.
This nor~c~e-- material has been tested in com-
parison with a stan~-rd foam on a "skin model" according to
the S~A~ rd DIN 504-101 Part 1. This s~An~Ard is in
addition ~rc~ as a dra$t s~An~rd under the reference
~; IS0/TC 38/SC 8 H 156.
The parameters tested are as follows: thermal
resistance: R~ (measured in m~ X/w), humidity trAnC~Qrt
resistance: R~e (measured in m2 mbar/w), and humidity
~; 35 absorption capacity Fi (expressed in %) (weight of water
absorbed per dry weight 0~ ~roduct). These three parameters
W094/01~ PCT/BE92/ ~ 29
2117~74 ~
were measured under static conditions, that is to say by
subjecting the no~ ell material or the foam to a static
load of 20 cN/cm2. The three parameters were also measured
under dynamic conditions, that is to say by~subjecting the
nonwoven material or the foam to im~ er of 20 cN/cm~ twice
a ~ A .
The fourth parameter measured is the ventilation
rate : V e~essed in ~
V = ~t lln~er S~iC cnn~i~ions - R~ nder ~ynamic cond.
R.~ under static conditions
The results of these comparative tests are given
- in the fo~ ing tables:
Static conditions:
TABLE 1 R~ (m2 K/w) R~ (m~ mbar/w) Fi (%)
Foam 7.626 1.715 3.6
Non~e,. material 7.931 1.2~9 5.3
Dynamic conditions:
TABLE 2 R~ (~2 K/w)R,~ (m~ mbar/w) Fi (%)
Fo~m 3.454 1.318 0.7
Nonwoven~material 4.161 0.867 1.0
.... .. .
It may be concluded from these tables that,
althou~h it has a slightly higher thermal resistance, the
nonwoven material has a lower humidity trA~ )o,- resistance
and better humidity absorption capacity than the foam layer.
The ventilation rate amounts for the nonwoven
material to 32% ((1.279-0.867)/1.279) and for the foam layer
to 23% ((1.715-1.318)/1.715), which means that the effect
of vibration and movements results in a more substantial
i,~c~ -e of humidity tran~fer in the case of the nonwoven
material than in the case of the foam layer.
wo 94/ol~n 2 1 1 7 0 7 4 PCT/BE92/ ~ 29
~YI~MPT.F~ 2 .
The nonwoven material used in accordance with the
invention comprises three types of fibres:
1) and 2) A standard mixture of two types oP ~ibres bearing
the ref~le..~e "D-291 Quallofil-n of the ~u~,.L de Nemours
Company, co~eisting of hollow four-channel fibres of the
"therm~ Ain~" type and polyester fibres, of 13 dtex, the
length of which varies ~ een 7 and 8 cm.
3) "Vivrelle-n fibre type 950 of the SNIA Company, of a
10thic~ ess of 3.3 dtex and a len~th varying from 3.5 to 4.5
c~ .
These three types of fibres were mixed in a ratio
of 70% of the "D-291 Quallofil-" mixture to 30% of
~Vivrelle-~ fibres.
~ 15~he mixture of fibres was carded and ~ ~rre~ in
; a~o,~ with ~e~hniq~es well known to those skilled in
the art. The fibres were then needle bonded and heat 1~
The material thus obtained has a thickness of
11 rm and an ~ density of 35 kg/m'. It has a
compressive ~ LL ~ Lh such that, when it is sub~ected to a
static ~e ~ure of 20 cN/cm~, it retains a thickness of 7
mm .
~!XAyP!.l;! 3 .
~ The ~ ~Ling for r~C~e~ger trans~o,L seats
according to the invention comprises the Ac ~el, material
whose characteristics are given in Example 1, and the cover
fabric "MILPOINT-n of the Guilford Company. This material
and this fabric were adhesive hQ~ to one another by means
of a thermoplastic powder of the copolyester type, spplied
by sprinkling.
