阅读说明：本技术 由成型针织件形成的用于车辆座椅的座椅套的制造方法 (Method for producing a seat cover for a vehicle seat, formed from a profiled knitted part ) 是由 H·伯姆 N·北安 P·博尔顿 R·库伯勒 于 2019-06-27 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种用于车辆座椅的座椅套的制造方法,该座椅套由成型针织件形成。成型针织件具有无端纤维和加强纤维并且加强纤维各自构造为具有芯纤维和同轴地包裹芯纤维的外皮纤维。在此,首先借助针织机生产成型针织件,然后借助熨烫机由成型针织件制造座椅套。熨烫机具有至少一个成型为车辆座椅的下模并且芯纤维比外皮纤维具有更高的熔点。(The invention relates to a method for producing a seat cover for a vehicle seat, which is formed from a profiled knit. The forming knit has endless fibers and reinforcing fibers and the reinforcing fibers are each configured with core fibers and sheath fibers coaxially wrapped around the core fibers. Here, a profiled knitted element is first produced by means of a knitting machine, and then a seat cover is produced from the profiled knitted element by means of an ironing machine. The ironing machine has at least one lower mold shaped as a vehicle seat and the core fiber has a higher melting point than the sheath fiber.)

1. A method of manufacturing a seat cover for a vehicle seat, the seat cover being formed from a profiled knit, wherein the profiled knit has endless fibers and reinforcing fibers, and the reinforcing fibers are each configured with a core fiber and a sheath fiber coaxially wrapping the core fiber, wherein the profiled knit is first produced by means of a knitting machine, and then the seat cover is manufactured from the profiled knit by means of an ironing machine, wherein the ironing machine has at least one lower mold profiled to a vehicle seat, and wherein the core fiber has a higher melting point than the sheath fiber, the method comprising the steps of:

a. knitting a three-dimensional shaped knit from the endless fibers and the reinforcing fibers in the shape of the seat cover to be produced by means of the knitting machine,

b. tensioning a shaped knitted piece having the shape of a seat cover onto a lower mould of the ironing machine,

c. heating the formed knitted piece by means of the ironing machine to produce a seat cover, wherein the temperature acting on the formed knitted piece is higher than the melting point of the sheath fibers and lower than the melting point of the core fibers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the lower die directly adjacent the forming knit in steps b and c is air and vapor permeable.

3. Method according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the ironing machine has an upper die and that the outer surface of the upper die, which directly adjoins the profiled knitted piece in steps b and c, is air and vapour permeable.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that heating is carried out in step c by means of water vapour.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that in step c water vapor is conveyed onto the forming knit through at least the air-permeable outer surface of the lower mold.

6. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that after step b the shaped knit is fixed on the lower mold by means of a needle row.

7. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the reinforcing fibres are heated in step c until the reinforcing fibres are caused to bond with the endless fibres of the forming knit at the location where they overlap with the endless fibres.

8. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the core fiber and the sheath fiber are each comprised of polyester.

9. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the reinforcing fibres have a higher stiffness than the endless fibres.

10. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the melting point of the core fiber is above 110 ℃.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a method for producing a seat cover for a vehicle seat, which is formed from a profiled knit.

Background

In the prior art, textile seat covers are produced from cut parts. The production of the cut piece is here performed by the process steps of punching, sewing, and filling with a cushion. These process steps, particularly sewing, are very complex, time consuming and consumable.

The process can be improved by knitting the seat cover. However, a disadvantage is that the knitted seat cover is very vulnerable to loads due to its low galling resistance and wear resistance. Similarly to the case of wound fabrics, it is not possible in the knitting technique to add additives during the washing process. In the prior art, reinforcing fibers consisting of two components with different melting points are used for shaping or fixing the web material. DE 19721370 a1, for example, discloses a method for producing a continuous web material for use in batteries, which web material has hot-melt matrix fibers contained therein. This method is not suitable for the production of motor vehicle seats.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a seat cover for a vehicle seat, which optimizes the production process of a molded seat cover and at the same time ensures sufficient anti-sticking properties of the seat cover.

This object is achieved by the combination of features according to claim 1.

Thus, according to the invention, a method for producing a seat cover for a vehicle seat is proposed, which is formed from a profiled knit. The forming knit has endless fibers and reinforcing fibers. Here, the reinforcing fibers are each configured to have a core fiber and a sheath fiber coaxially wrapping the core fiber. A profiled knitted item is first produced by means of a knitting machine and then a seat cover is produced from the profiled knitted item by means of an ironing machine. The ironing machine also has at least one lower die shaped as a vehicle seat and the core fibers have a higher melting point than the sheath fibers. The method comprises the following steps:

a. a three-dimensional shaped knitted article is knitted from endless fibres and reinforcing fibres in the shape of the seat cover to be produced by means of a knitting machine,

b. the formed knitted piece having the shape of a seat cover is tensioned onto the lower die of the ironing machine,

c. the forming knitted fabric is heated by means of an ironing machine to produce the seat cover, wherein the temperature acting on the forming knitted fabric is higher than the melting point of the sheath fibers and lower than the melting point of the core fibers.

The advantage of this method is that the corresponding profiled knitted part is knitted to the final, three-dimensional seat cover shape during production. In the prior art, seat covers made of flat material are produced from a material which must first be cut and sewn to obtain the corresponding shape of the seat cover. According to the invention, these two production steps are eliminated, since the shaped knitted fabric is produced by adding and removing meshes with the aid of a flat knitting machine. A three-dimensional shaped knit with raised areas due to excess mesh is produced, which corresponds to the shape of the corresponding car seat. Since abrasion/galling resistance is a critical requirement in the case of knitted textiles, reinforcing fibers are also introduced into the shaped knitted fabric in addition to the endless fibers when knitting with a flat knitting machine. The reinforcing fibers are distributed uniformly over the forming knit. However, configurations having concentrated reinforcing fibers at specific locations of the shaped knit, such as locations where ease of galling is high, are also possible.

The advantage of the reinforcing fibers is that the core fibers have a higher melting point than the sheath fibers. Whereby in step c only the sheath fibers melt while the core fibers retain their solid structure. The molten sheath fibers are cooled again after step c, thereby causing the endless fibers and the reinforcing fibers to be bonded and fixed. In this way the ease of galling of the individual fibers is minimized. Since the lower die of the ironing machine has the shape of the corresponding vehicle seat and heat is applied to the lower die, the formed knitted fabric also maintains the shape after the reinforcing fibers are bonded or melted with the endless fibers. The retention of this shape is supported by the stability of the core fiber.

In an advantageous variant, the outer surface of the lower mold which directly adjoins the forming knit in steps b and c is permeable to air and vapor.

Furthermore, an embodiment is advantageous in which the ironing machine has an upper die and the outer surface of the upper die which directly adjoins the formed knitted piece in steps b and c is air and vapour permeable.

In an advantageous variant of the method according to the invention, the heating is carried out in step c by means of water vapor.

Preferably, in the method, in step c, water vapor is supplied to the forming needle through at least the air-permeable outer surface of the lower mold.

Since the outer surface is air and steam permeable, the ironing machine, in operation, directs steam onto the formed knitted fabric. In this case, water vapor is supplied from the interior of the lower or upper mold to the forming needle via an air-and vapor-permeable outer shape. Whereby the endless and reinforcing fibers are heated to a temperature above the melting point of the sheath fibers and below the melting point of the core fibers.

In one embodiment of the method, the shaped knitted article is fixed to the lower mold after step b by means of a needle row surrounding the lower mold. This is an advantageous way of fixing the shaped knitting on the lower die, since the needle row is particularly suitable for integration into the lower die and tensioning the shaped knitting on the lower die.

In a further advantageous variant of the method according to the invention, the reinforcing fibers are heated in step c until the reinforcing fibers are bonded to the endless fibers of the forming knit at the location where they overlap the endless fibers.

It is also advantageous if the core fibers and the sheath fibers are each composed of polyester.

In a preferred embodiment of the method, the reinforcing fibers have a higher stiffness than the endless fibers. Thus, the reinforcing fibers stabilize the formed knit and are able to maintain the shape of the corresponding vehicle seat.

In one variant of the method according to the invention, the melting point of the core fiber is also brought above 110 ℃. Since this temperature is a limit value, it is not exceeded under the usual operating conditions of the vehicle, thus ensuring that the profiled knitted fabric is not heated in the vehicle to a temperature above this limit value. In this way it is ensured that the reinforcing fibers retain their shape and the shaped knit does not deform due to the temperature influence in the vehicle.

Further advantageous developments of the invention are indicated in the dependent claims. The embodiments of the invention are not limited to the preferred examples given above. Rather, many variants are conceivable, which make it possible to use the illustrated embodiments even in fundamentally different types of embodiments.