JP2005350783A - Molded article and fingerstall - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a molded article consisting mainly of a nonwoven fabric, excellent in deformability, excellent in resilience, and especially, improved in moldability and in stainproof performance, by laminating a sheet having flexibility on the thermoplastic resin nonwoven fabric and then molding the laminated material, and further capable of being suitably used as a fingerstall, because of a large surface friction coefficient and excellent in the deformability. <P>SOLUTION: This molded article comprises a three-dimensional steric structure which is formed out of a thermoplastic resin nonwoven fabric having a tensile elongation at break of ≥ 50%, a thermocompression bonding area of ≥ 8%, and a Metsuke (weight per unit area) of 200-1,000 g/m<SP>2</SP>, wherein the molded article has a maximum molding depth of ≥1 cm. The molded article is, if necessary, molded after laminating the sheet having the moldability on the nonwoven fabric. The molded article is molded so as to fit with a shape a finger, and therefore the article is suitably used as the fingerstall. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a molded article having excellent deformability and flexibility. More specifically, the present invention relates to a molded article having a large friction coefficient, excellent deformability, and having a comfortable touch, particularly suitable for use in a finger sack.

Conventionally, thermoplastic polyurethanes and block copolymers are used in clothing related items such as gloves and bibs, medical-related applications such as wound tape base fabrics, and engineering plastic applications as molded articles with elasticity and cushioning properties. Elastic nonwoven fabrics and films made of polyester elastomer, styrene / isoprene elastomer, olefin elastomer, etc. are generally used (for example, Patent Document 1). These resins can be injection molded relatively easily, but on the other hand, the quality of the molded product is difficult to control the dimensions of the molded product, or the deep drawn part is cut. There is a problem in maintaining. In addition, thermoplastic polyurethane and block copolymer polyester elastomer are moisture permeable even in a non-porous film state, and in particular, block copolymer polyester elastomer has high moisture permeability, has a characteristic that the coefficient of friction is large and is not slippery, On the other hand, elastic fibers and films have a feeling of stickiness when touched, and are difficult to use for direct contact with the human body.
Especially in finger sack applications, raw rubber or urethane latex is applied around a test tube shape similar to the finger and dried. Therefore, there is a demand for a material having comfort.
JP-A-8-126663

An object of the present invention is to provide a flexible molded article having excellent deformability. It is another object of the present invention to provide a molded article that has anti-slip properties and has a relatively dry touch when touched by a person, and is suitably used particularly for finger sack.

In order to provide a molded body or finger sack that solves the above-mentioned problems, the following means are taken.
That is, the first invention is a three-dimensional structure comprising a nonwoven fabric made of a thermoplastic resin having a break elongation of 50% or more and a basis weight of 200 to 1000 g / m ² having a thermocompression bonding area of 8% or more. In this case, the molded product is characterized in that the maximum molding depth is 1 cm or more.

  A second invention is the molded article according to the first invention, characterized in that a sheet having a breaking elongation of at least 30% in at least one direction is laminated on one side of a thermoplastic nonwoven fabric to be molded. .

3rd invention is a molded object as described in 1st or 2nd invention characterized by the thermoplastic resin nonwoven fabric being a long-fiber nonwoven fabric.

A fourth invention is a molded article characterized in that the thermoplastic resin of the first to third inventions is any one of polyurethane, polyolefin elastomer and polyester elastomer.

The fifth invention is a resin mainly composed of block copolymer polyester in which the sheets laminated in the second to fourth inventions are composed of a hard segment and a soft segment, and the thermoplastic resin as a raw material of the nonwoven fabric is a polyester resin It is a molded object characterized by comprising.

A sixth invention is a molded article according to any one of the first to fifth inventions molded by a plug assist molding method or a plug and ring forming method.

7th invention is a molded object in which the form after shaping | molding in 1st-6th invention has a cylindrical part of diameter 5-30mm and length 10-50mm.

An eighth invention is a finger sac constituted by the molded body described in the first to seventh inventions.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to obtain the molded object excellent in the softness | flexibility which has good air permeability and is hard to steam. Moreover, since the molded body of the present invention has a large coefficient of friction and excellent deformability, it can be suitably used as a finger sack. In particular, it is possible to improve moldability and impart antifouling properties by laminating and molding a highly extensible resin sheet on a thermoplastic resin nonwoven fabric.

  The present invention is described in detail below. First, in the present invention, a molded body based on a nonwoven fabric made of thermoplastic resin having high extensibility is required. This is because high breathability, flexibility, and light weight can be realized by using a non-woven fabric as a base. In the present invention, the elongation at break is preferably 50% or more, and the recovery rate at 10% elongation is more preferably 50% or more. This is particularly to ensure followability and comfort for human movement.

  In order to obtain high stretchability and stretch recovery properties, it is particularly preferable to use an elastomer resin such as polyurethane, polyolefin elastomer, or polyester elastomer. In particular, when used as a finger sack, it is preferable to use a non-woven fabric made of polyurethane or polyester elastomer having excellent moisture permeability, so that high breathability can be maintained, and it can be used comfortably without stuffiness during use.

  In addition, by adding pigments, organic lubricants such as erucic acid amides, or inorganic particles to these stretchable thermoplastic resins, nonwoven fabrics that have a relatively dry feel when touched by humans can be obtained. It becomes possible to obtain. When a lubricant is used, if the amount added is too large, the slipperiness becomes too high and it becomes difficult to use it with a finger sack or the like. In addition, it is one of preferred forms to incorporate an antibacterial agent, a deodorizing agent and the like as required.

  In addition, the sheet may be punched for the purpose, or printing may be performed for the purpose of controlling slipperiness or improving design. Further, when the molded product of the present invention is used as a finger sac, dirt is easily noticeable, so it is preferable to add about 0.05 to 10% of a pigment. By adding this pigment, it is easy to cause plastic deformation to some extent at the time of molding, and also has an effect of increasing dimensional accuracy. It should be noted that if there are too many additives such as pigments, it becomes easier to cut during molding.

  As the polyester-based elastomer, a block copolymer polyester resin composed of a hard segment and a soft segment is most preferably used in the present invention because of its excellent processability and moisture permeability. It is one of the preferred forms in some cases where suitable formability can be obtained by blending about 1 to 40%.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the thermoplastic resin nonwoven fabric shape | molded in this invention is 8% or more of thermocompression-pressing area areas, More preferably, it is 16% or more, Most preferably, it is 30% or more. When the molding drawing depth is large, calendering with a plain roll that serves as the entire surface is also preferable. When the pressing area is less than 8%, the air permeability is too high when manufacturing by the plug-assist molding method, and it is not preferable because the nonwoven fabric is torn at the time of molding or it becomes easy to fluff when used as a finger sack. Absent. A larger pressing area is preferable because uniformity during molding tends to be improved. What is necessary is just to process a thermocompression-bonding process with a hot embossing roll, a plain calendar, etc. Furthermore, if necessary, the surface may be subjected to a treatment such as a printing treatment, charging agent application, or functional resin coating.

In the present invention, the nonwoven fabric before molding is preferably a nonwoven fabric having a fiber diameter of 1 to 50 μm and a basis weight of 200 to 1000 g / m ² . Particularly preferably, the fiber diameter is 10 to 20 μm and the basis weight is 200 to 1000 g / m ² . If the fiber diameter is thinner than 1 μm, the nonwoven fabric tends to fluff due to wear and the like, and it is difficult to improve it even after post-processing such as embossing. When the fiber diameter is thicker than 50 μm, the desired soft texture of the present invention cannot be obtained, and the texture becomes rubber-like, which is a problem. Within the scope of the study by the present inventor, it was particularly preferable that the fiber diameter was between 3 and 15 μm. Further, if the basis weight of the nonwoven fabric is less than 200 g / m ^2, it is not preferable because it tends to cause a problem that a thin portion is formed on the molded sheet or the strength is lowered. On the other hand, if the basis weight exceeds 1000 g / m ² , problems such as excessive weight and wrinkles during molding are likely to occur.

  The molded body according to the present invention may have a maximum molding depth of 1 cm or more. This is because such a shape can be widely used in industry. Preferably it is 3 cm or more, more preferably 5 cm or more. The upper limit is not particularly determined, but when it is 100 cm or more, the industrial application field is narrowed, but technical difficulties are accompanied. Here, the maximum forming depth refers to the length from the opening to the top or bottom in a convex or box-like shape such as a test tube.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the thermoplastic resin sheet laminated | stacked and used with the nonwoven fabric used for the molded object of this invention is 50-2000 microns in thickness. If the thickness is less than 50 microns, the sheet is likely to be cut at a large deformation rate when forming into a three-dimensional structure so that the maximum forming depth is 1 cm or more, which is not preferable. On the other hand, when the thickness is larger than 2000 microns, it takes too much time for molding or is too unfavorable because the weight is too heavy.

  In the present invention, it is also one of preferable modes to laminate and composite a sheet having a breaking elongation of at least 30% in at least one direction on one side or both sides of a nonwoven fabric having good stretchability and moldability. As a compounding means, it is possible to bond them together using a thermal lamination method, an adhesive, or a heat-bonding fiber nonwoven fabric. When the breaking elongation of the nonwoven fabric is 30% or more, it becomes easy to follow the deformation of the thermoplastic resin sheet without being broken. It is desirable that the nonwoven fabric material to be bonded has the same or similar composition as that of the thermoplastic resin sheet because the problem of interfacial peeling hardly occurs. Or it is preferable that it is a nonwoven fabric with a good moldability containing a core sheath or a side-by-side composite fiber. Nonwoven fabrics formed by the hydroentanglement method or thermal bond method are also particularly preferred from the viewpoints of soft touch and formability.

  The molded body of the present invention is suitably used as a finger sack by molding so as to have a cylindrical portion having a diameter of 5 to 30 mm and a length of 10 to 40 mm. Since a stretchable sheet is used as the material, it fits on the skin, and because it has excellent slip resistance, the operation of turning the paper or picking up objects becomes easy.

In order to mold a stretchable material of 1 cm or more as in the present invention, it is preferable to mold by a plug assist molding method or a plug and ring forming method. This is because, by adopting the molding method, it is possible to achieve a high appearance size and thickness accuracy of a molded product and to shorten the molding cycle. The molding temperature is preferably 3 to 60 ° C. lower than the melting point of the thermoplastic resin sheet. This is because if the molding temperature is too higher than such a temperature range, the generation of odor due to the decomposition of the resin and the problem of dirt are likely to occur. In particular, when molding a urethane material, odors are prominent and attention must be paid to ventilation. Within the scope of the inventor's investigation, the moldability when using a block copolymer polyester resin was particularly good, and there was no problem of odor, which was preferable. In order to increase the molding dimensional accuracy, it is particularly preferable to perform vacuum molding. Therefore, the fragile air permeability of the sheet-like material as the molding precursor is preferably 3 cc / cm ² seconds or less, and particularly preferably less than 0.2 cc / cm ² seconds.

  Although it does not specifically limit as a manufacturing method of the elastic sheet which can be used combining with a nonwoven fabric by this invention, For example, the sheet | seat (thickness 50-5000 microns which consists of block copolymer polyester between 150-230 degreeC of melting | fusing point) The film) can be obtained by extrusion molding. When making a single sheet, extrusion molding may be performed on the release sheet. Further, it can be molded by a normal tenter or the like. In the case of using the extrusion laminating method, it can be combined with the nonwoven fabric simultaneously with the production of the sheet, which is one of the particularly preferable forms.

In the present invention, the raw material of the sheet combined with the nonwoven fabric is made of urethane or polyester elastomer, so that moisture permeability and waterproofness can be obtained. As the characteristics of the moldable nonwoven fabric alone or the composite product with the sheet, it is preferable that the moisture permeability is 100 to 5000 g / m ² · 24 hours, and the water pressure resistance is 500 mmAq or more. When the moisture permeability is in the above range, there is no problem that the humidity rises too much when it is used for house wrap use, for example, and there is no problem such as sultry when worn for use in contact with the human body such as clothing use. . Even if the moisture permeability is 5000 g / m ² · 24 hours or more, there is no direct problem, but when the moisture permeability is increased, the soft segment component ratio is generally increased, and the durability against ultraviolet rays and the weather resistance are likely to decrease. Not very good. Further, when the water pressure resistance is 500 mmAq or more, water does not enter the interior even if rain or the like adheres to the surface.

  In the case of laminating a block copolymer polyester resin composed of a hard segment and a soft segment as a sheet, the sheet thickness is preferably within the range of the present invention because it is related to moisture permeability and water pressure resistance. The soft segment component contributes to the expression of stretchability in the polymer skeleton. This copolyester is presumed to be able to obtain moisture permeability by adsorbing water molecules to the soft segment and allowing water molecules to permeate or diffuse inside the amorphous resin layer. For example, as a soft segment, the moisture permeability is improved by increasing the amount of copolymerization of the glycol component, but the strength of the resin itself is reduced.

  By extruding and laminating a 50-5000 μm thick sheet of block copolymer polyester composed of hard and soft segments to a moldable non-woven fabric, high moisture permeability is maintained in a non-porous film (sheet) state while maintaining waterproofness. Can be achieved. The melting point of the resin is related to the processability and moisture permeability of the extruded laminate, but when the sheet layer is formed by extrusion lamination, the melting point of the resin is between 150 and 230 ° C., and the MFR is about 30 at 230 ° C. It was a resin between ˜300 g / 10 min and was particularly preferred to be processed at a temperature 20-40 ° C. above the melting point.

  The melting point of polyester and the apparent melt viscosity during processing are determined by the structure and composition ratio of the soft segment, but within the scope of the inventors' investigation, this temperature is used to set the water pressure resistance and moisture permeability to desired values. I especially liked it. The higher the processing temperature, the higher the adhesive strength between the sheet and the nonwoven fabric. However, if the temperature is too high, the variation in the thickness in the width direction and / or the longitudinal direction of the sheet becomes large, making production difficult. The MFR of the resin is preferably between 30 and 150 g / 10 min at 230 ° C. In order to reduce fluctuations in the thickness, width direction and / or longitudinal direction of the film at the time of extrusion laminating, this MFR is preferable. If the MFR is higher than 300 g / 10 minutes, the width variation is increased due to the influence of the edge fluctuation of the end portion, which is not preferable. If the MFR is too low, the sheet is formed to the desired thickness of the present invention with high productivity. It becomes difficult.

  Moreover, in order to improve the adhesiveness of a sheet | seat and a nonwoven fabric, it is also preferable to contact a sheet | seat after preheating a nonwoven fabric to the temperature range of about 40-100 degreeC. Furthermore, it is particularly preferable to use a polymer in which about 0.1 to 5% of polyolefin or the like is added and kneaded in order to improve the film forming property.

Next, the present invention will be described with specific examples.
The measuring method used in the present invention is as follows.
(Elongation at break) A sheet-like material was cut into a 5 cm × 10 cm rectangle, and the elongation at break was measured at an effective width of 5 cm, a gauge length of 2.5 cm, and a constant crosshead speed of 10 cm / min.
(Elongation recovery rate) According to the JIS L 1096 B2 method, the distance L1 between the marked lines was measured by extending the specimen 10% with respect to the initial marked line distance L0 under no load, leaving it for 1 minute and then deweighting. . The residual strain rate was measured by the following formula.
Elongation recovery rate (%) = (L1−L0) ÷ (L0 × 0.1) × 100
(Moisture permeability)
It was measured according to [4.1.1 (Method A-1) calcium chloride used, φ70 mm] of JIS-L1099.
(Fiber diameter)
Photographs were taken with an operation electron microscope at an appropriate magnification, and about 20 to 200 fibers were randomly selected, and the distance between the side surfaces of each fiber was measured. The fiber diameter was measured assuming a circular cross-section in terms of the magnification.
(Fragile air permeability)
The measurement was performed according to JIS L 1096 A method (Fragile type method).
(Water pressure resistance)
Measurement was performed according to JIS L 1092 (for high water pressure).

(Example 1)
A copolyester resin Perprene P30B (230 ° C. MFR25, melting point 160 ° C.) was spun at 225 ° C. by a spunbond method to prepare a spunbond nonwoven fabric having a basis weight of 300 g / m ² . Furthermore, the obtained nonwoven fabric was heat embossed at 140 ° C. to obtain a nonwoven fabric with a pressing area of 40%. The recovery rate at 10% elongation was 95%, the Frazier permeability was 1.2 cc / cm ² sec, the moisture permeability was 9750 g / m 2 · 24 hr, and the water pressure resistance was 540 mmAq. The prepared sheet was heated to 200 ° C. and vacuum-formed by a plug assist method to form a test tube having a diameter of 12 mm and a depth of 8 cm. Molding was possible without problems such as cutting and wrinkling. A finger sack having a diameter of 12 mm and a length of 25 mm was prepared using the molded body, and when it was used, it could be used comfortably without feeling stuffy because of its moisture permeability.

(Example 2)
On the spunbonded nonwoven fabric of Example 1, a film made of the same material and having a thickness of 80 microns (breaking elongation: 280%) was laminated by an extrusion laminating method. Under the same conditions as in Example 1, when molding was performed so that the nonwoven fabric was on the inside, molding was possible without problems. The obtained sheet had a fragile permeability of 0 cc / cm ² , a moisture permeability of 1340 g / m 2 · 24 hr, and a water pressure resistance of 10,000 mmAq or more. When the molded body was used as a finger sack in the same manner as in Example 1, there was a non-woven fabric on the inner surface, and it was dry and comfortable to use.

(Example 3)
A polyester core-sheath fiber nonwoven fabric having a basis weight of 200 g / m ² (thermocompression bonding area 20%, breaking elongation 65%) and a 300 micron thick film of perprene P40B are bonded to an adhesive nonwoven fabric (Toyobo Co., Ltd. polyamide-based Dynac 20 g). / M ² ). The obtained sheet had a fragile permeability of 0 cc / cm ² , a moisture permeability of 910 g / m ² · 24 hr, and a water pressure resistance of 10,000 mmAq or more. When molding was performed in the same manner as in Example 1 so that the nonwoven fabric was on the inside, molding was possible without problems. Similarly, when used as a finger sack, it was dry and comfortable to use.

Example 4
In Example 1, 0.5 parts by weight of erucamide and 0.1 parts by weight of titanium oxide particles were blended with Perprene P30B, a copolymer polyester resin manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd., and a spunbond nonwoven fabric was prepared. And was embossed in the same manner as in Example 1 (breaking elongation: 380%, recovery rate: 92%, Frazier air permeability: ^2.5 cc / cm ² , moisture permeability: 11000 g / m ² · 24 hr, water pressure resistance 630 mmAq). When molding was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1, molding was possible without problems. Similarly, when used as a finger sack, it was dry and comfortable to use.

(Example 5)
When the nonwoven fabric used in Example 1 was molded by the plug and reforming method, it could be molded without any problems. Similarly, when used as a finger sack, it was dry and comfortable to use.

(Example 6)
A melt blown nonwoven fabric having a basis weight of 250 g / m ^{2 made} of fiber grade thermoplastic polyurethane was prepared and embossed at 150 ° C. in the same manner as in Example 1. (Elongation at break 270%, recovery rate 87%, Frazier air permeability is 1.3 cc / cm ² , moisture permeability is 7900 g / m ² · 24 hr, water pressure resistance 520 mmAq). When molding was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1, molding was possible without problems. Similarly, when used as a finger sack, it had a dry feeling and could be used comfortably without feeling stuffy.

(Comparative Example 1)
The spunbonded nonwoven fabric obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 was embossed so that the pressing area was 5% (Fragile air permeability 6.4 cc / cm ² ). Molding was performed by a plug-assisted vacuum forming method. In the molded product, the fibers slipped and multiple large holes were generated.

(Comparative Example 2)
When plug-assist molding was performed on a spunbonded non-woven fabric made of polybutylene terephthalate resin with a basis weight of 280 g / m ² and an elongation of 43% (fragile air permeability of 3.0 cc / cm ² ) at a molding temperature of 225 ° C., fracture occurred near the deep-drawn part occured. In addition, the molded product has a hard texture, and application to a finger sack is difficult.

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a molded product having a large friction coefficient, excellent deformability, flexibility, moisture permeability and resistance to moisture, and a shape that can be widely used in industry such as finger sack, and contribute to the industry. It ’s big.

Claims (8)

A three-dimensional structure composed of a nonwoven fabric made of thermoplastic resin having a breaking elongation of 50% or more and a basis weight of 200 to 1000 g / m ² having a thermocompression bonding area of 8% or more and having a maximum molding depth A molded product characterized in that the length is 1 cm or more. 2. The molded body according to claim 1, wherein a sheet having a breaking elongation of at least 30% in at least one direction is laminated on one surface of the thermoplastic resin nonwoven fabric to be molded. The molded article according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thermoplastic resin nonwoven fabric is a long-fiber nonwoven fabric. A molded article, wherein the thermoplastic resin according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is any one of polyurethane, polyolefin elastomer, and polyester elastomer. The sheet laminated in claims 2 to 4 is a resin mainly composed of a block copolymer polyester composed of a hard segment and a soft segment, and the thermoplastic resin as a raw material of the nonwoven fabric is composed of a polyester-based resin. Molded body. The molded body according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which is molded by a plug assist molding method or a plug and ring forming method. The molded body according to claim 1, wherein the molded body has a cylindrical portion having a diameter of 5 to 30 mm and a length of 10 to 50 mm. A finger sack constituted by the molded body according to claim 1.