JP7779209B2 - Woven fabrics and interior materials for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to woven fabrics and vehicle interior materials.

The technology described in Patent Document 1 is known for woven fabrics containing optical fibers (optical fiber fabrics). Specifically, Patent Document 1 discloses a woven fabric woven with ordinary yarn and weft yarns containing optical fibers with a two-layer structure consisting of a core and a clad. When light from an LED light source is incident on one end of this optical fiber, one side (front side) and the other side (back side) of the woven fabric become illuminated.

JP 2010-267573 A

However, in the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, if one side is used as a design surface, for example when the other side is attached to a structure, light emission from the other side is not necessarily required, and there is a possibility that the light emission will be wasted. If light could be efficiently emitted from one side without emitting light from the other side (or by suppressing light emission), the brightness on the one side could be increased. This would extend the distance that the optical fiber can guide light, making it easier to improve the design of the woven fabric. It would also be possible to reduce the output of the light source, thereby achieving energy savings, heat generation suppression, cost reductions, etc.

This disclosure is a technology developed based on the above circumstances, and aims to provide a woven fabric and vehicle interior material that can efficiently emit light.

The present disclosure relates to a woven fabric in which a plurality of first threads extend in a first direction and a plurality of second threads extend in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and these first threads and second threads are woven together to form a cloth-like fabric; the first threads have a core that guides light in the first direction and a clad that covers the surface of the core; the clad has an emission portion that is recessed from the surface of the clad and emits light guided by the core to the outside of the first thread; and the plurality of first threads are woven in such a way that a plurality of the emission portions appear on one side of the woven fabric.

With this configuration, multiple first threads are woven into multiple second threads in a manner that leaves multiple light-emitting portions on one side of the woven fabric, resulting in a woven fabric that emits (emits) light on one side and does not emit light on the other side (or has a lower brightness on the other side than on the one side). This makes it possible to provide a woven fabric that can efficiently emit light on one side.

In the above configuration, the first thread may be configured so that multiple emission portions are aligned in the second direction on the surface of the cladding.

Depending on the position of the emission section on the surface of the cladding in the second direction (circumferential direction of the cladding), there is a possibility of light emission defects resulting in localized reductions in brightness due to, for example, light being emitted obliquely (rather than perpendicularly) to one surface. However, with the above-described woven fabric, multiple emission sections are arranged in the second direction on the surface of the cladding, which prevents the occurrence of such light emission defects and enables more efficient light emission.

In the above configuration, the first thread may be configured such that a plurality of the emission sections are arranged in the first direction on the surface of the cladding, and the distance between two adjacent emission sections may be smaller as the emission sections are positioned farther away from a light source that generates the light guided by the core.

With this type of woven fabric, the further away from the light source the more closely spaced the multiple emission sections are, preventing a decrease in brightness as the distance from the light source increases. Furthermore, it is possible to emit light with uniform brightness across the entire surface of one side of the woven fabric, for example.

In the above configuration, the emission portion may be recessed from the surface of the cladding to the surface of the core.

This type of woven fabric makes it easier for light guided by the core to exit from the cladding, improving brightness.

In the above configuration, the emission portion may be a depression formed by laser irradiation.

The surface of the first thread (the clad surface) that makes up the cloth-like woven fabric is relatively small. However, with the woven fabric described above, even the emission section provided on the surface of such a relatively small first thread can emit light with high precision.

The present disclosure also relates to a vehicle interior material that includes a trim portion to which the above-described woven fabric is attached, and the multiple first threads are woven in such a way that multiple emission portions appear on the surface of the trim portion facing the interior of the vehicle.

This configuration makes it possible to provide vehicle interior materials that efficiently emit light from the inside of the vehicle cabin and improve design.

This disclosure makes it possible to provide woven fabrics and vehicle interior materials that can emit light efficiently.

FIG. 1 is a view of a door trim according to a first embodiment as seen from inside a vehicle interior; Schematic diagram showing a light-emitting device Enlarged view of part of the woven fabric from inside the vehicle Cross-sectional view of a portion of the woven fabric (cross-section taken along line IV-IV in Figure 3) FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which an emission part is formed by laser irradiation. Schematic diagram showing a light-emitting device according to a second embodiment.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 5. In this embodiment, a door trim (vehicle interior material) 100 attached to the door of an automobile (vehicle) and a woven fabric 4 will be described. The direction of arrow X is the front-to-rear direction (first direction), the direction of arrow Y is the up-down direction (second direction intersecting the first direction), and the direction of arrow Z is the interior/exterior direction of the vehicle. In Figures 1 to 3, the front side of the paper corresponds to the inside of the vehicle cabin, and the back side of the paper corresponds to the outside of the vehicle cabin. In Figures 4 and 5, the upper side corresponds to the inside of the vehicle cabin, and the lower side corresponds to the outside of the vehicle cabin.

As shown in FIG. 1, the door trim 100 comprises a plate-shaped trim portion 1 made of resin such as polypropylene, and a woven fabric 4 attached to the trim portion 1 by adhesive or the like. The trim portion 1 is divided into multiple plate members, such as a lower board 1A, a middle board 1B, and an upper board 1C, which are assembled together to form a single plate-like body as a whole. Note that the trim portion 1 does not have to be divided into multiple plate members, and its configuration is not particularly limited.

The woven fabric 4 has one surface (the surface facing the interior of the vehicle) 4A and the other surface (the surface facing the exterior of the vehicle) 4B (see Figure 4) opposite to the interior surface of the upper board 1C of the trim section 1, which is attached using an adhesive or the like. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the woven fabric 4 is formed by interweaving a plurality of first threads 10 and a plurality of second threads 20 such that the plurality of first threads 10 extend in the front-to-rear direction (first direction) X and the plurality of second threads 20 extend in the up-down direction (second direction intersecting the first direction) Y. The weaving method of the woven fabric 4 is not particularly limited, and examples of usable weaves include plain weave, twill weave, and satin weave.

As shown in FIG. 2, the woven fabric 4, together with the light source (LED) 3, constitutes the light-emitting device 2. The first threads 10 are bundled together at one end 10A and are adjacent to the light source 3. The light-emitting device 2 receives light generated by the light source 3 through one end 10A of the first threads 10 and emits it from one surface 4A of the woven fabric 4 toward the interior of the vehicle, causing the one surface 4A to emit light. The woven fabric 4 decorates the trim 1 by emitting light to enhance its design, and is used, for example, as a decorative member or a covering material. The light source 3 is attached, for example, to the exterior surface of the trim 1. Note that FIG. 2 (and FIG. 6) schematically illustrates the position of the emission portion 13, which will be described later. In reality, the emission portion 13 is formed on the surface 12A of the first threads 10, as shown in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 4, the first thread 10 is an optical fiber having a core 11 that guides light generated from the light source 3 in the forward/backward direction X, and a clad 12 that covers the surface 11A of the core 11 (the surface surrounding the core 11). The material of the core 11 is not particularly limited as long as it is capable of guiding light, but acrylic resin, for example, can be used. The material of the clad 12 is not particularly limited as long as it has a lower refractive index than the core 11, but fluorine-containing resin, for example, can be used. The material of the second thread 20 is not particularly limited, but polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin, for example, can be used. The first thread 10 and the second thread 20 may be a single thread, or multiple threads may be twisted together to form a single thread.

The diameter of the core 11's cross section in the radial direction is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, 50 μm or more, 100 μm or more, 150 μm or more, 500 μm or less, 300 μm or less, 250 μm or less, or 200 μm. The thickness of the cladding 12 (height from the surface 11A of the core 11) is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, 1 μm or more, 3 μm or more, 5 μm or more, 40 μm or less, 35 μm or less, or 25 μm or less. This configuration allows the first thread 10 to have an emission portion 13 that can suitably emit guided light.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the clad 12 has recesses (hole-like through-holes formed in the thickness direction of the clad 12) extending from the front surface 12A, which is the interior-facing surface of the clad 12, to the front surface 11A of the core 11, and includes a plurality of emission portions 13 that emit light guided by the core 11 to the outside of the first threads 10. The plurality of first threads 10 are woven on one surface 4A of the woven fabric 4 (see Figure 2) so that the emission portions 13 appear on the interior-facing surface of the trim portion 1 (the interior-facing surface 1C1 of the upper board 1C). In this embodiment, the emission portions 13 are not formed on the back surface 12B, which is the exterior-facing surface of the clad 12. Note that the emission portions 13 may be formed on the back surface 12B of the clad 12, but in that case, the number of emission portions 13 formed on the back surface 12B of the clad 12 is smaller than that on the front surface 12A of the clad 12. The diameter (hole diameter) of the emission section 13 is not particularly limited, but may be 5 μm or more, 10 μm or more, 15 μm or more, 40 μm or less, 30 μm or less, 25 μm or less, or 20 μm.

As shown in Figures 2 to 4, the first yarn 10 is configured with multiple emission sections 13 arranged along the front-to-back direction X and the up-to-down direction Y on the surface 12A of the cladding 12. As shown in Figure 2, the distance between adjacent two emission sections 13 decreases as the emission sections are positioned farther from the light source 3. Specifically, if the emission sections 13 arranged along the vertical lines E, F, and G are designated as a first group 13E, a second group 13F, and a third group 13G, respectively, the distance L2 between the second group 13F and the third group 13G is smaller than the distance L1 between the first group 13E and the second group 13F (the distance L2 between the lines F and G is smaller than the distance L1 between the lines E and F). The second group 13F is a row of multiple emission sections 13 positioned farther from the light source 3 than the first group 13E. The third group 13G is a row of multiple emission sections 13 arranged farther from the light source 3 than the second group 13F.

As shown in FIG. 3, the surface 12A of a single first yarn 10 is provided with a plurality of exit portions 13 arranged in the vertical direction Y, including a first exit portion 13A, a second exit portion 13B, and a third exit portion 13C. The second exit portion 13B is provided between the first exit portion 13A and the third exit portion 13C. Any three exit portions 13A, 13B, and 13C (denoted as 13M) arranged in the vertical direction Y on the surface 12A of a single first yarn 10 are aligned in the vertical direction Y with the three exit portions 13A, 13B, and 13C (denoted as 13N) of the first yarn 10 located adjacent thereto (below in FIG. 3) and are positioned on the same straight line (for example, on a straight line such as lines E, F, and G in FIG. 2).

As shown in FIG. 5 , the woven fabric 4 is manufactured through a first process in which a fabric body 5 is produced, and a second process in which one side of the fabric body 5 is irradiated with a laser to produce the woven fabric 4. In the first process, first yarns 10 and second yarns 20 are woven into a cloth using a loom to produce the fabric body 5. In the second process, a laser device 30 is used to irradiate one side of the fabric body 5 (the side of the woven fabric 4 facing the interior of the vehicle) with a laser to form multiple emission points 13, thereby producing the woven fabric 4. The emission points 13 are depressions created by the laser irradiation from the laser device 30.

The laser device 30 includes a laser generating unit 31 that generates a laser, and a scanner unit 32 that has a reflecting unit 33 and a lens 34. The scanner unit 32 reflects the laser generated by the laser generating unit 31 in a desired direction using the reflecting unit 33 and emits the laser to the outside through the lens 34, thereby irradiating the laser at any position on the fabric body 5. When the laser is irradiated onto the surface 12A of the clad 12, the irradiated portion melts, evaporates, or the like, forming an emission portion 13. The laser irradiated onto the fabric body 5 from the laser device 30 can have a wavelength of 342 nm and a pulse width of 200 fs, for example. This configuration allows multiple emission portions 13 to be formed in the clad 12 in an optimal manner. Furthermore, damage to the core 11 and second yarn 20 due to laser irradiation can be suppressed.

Next, the effects of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, a woven fabric 4 is shown in which a plurality of first threads 10 extend in the longitudinal direction X, and a plurality of second threads 20 extend in the vertical direction Y intersecting the longitudinal direction X, forming a cloth-like structure woven from these first threads 10 and second threads 20. The first threads 10 include a core 11 that guides light in the longitudinal direction X and a clad 12 that covers the surface 11A of the core 11. The clad 12 includes an emission portion 13 that is recessed from the surface 12A of the clad 12 and emits light guided by the core 11 to the outside of the first threads 10. The plurality of first threads 10 are woven such that a plurality of emission portions 13 are visible on the interior surface 4A of the woven fabric 4.

With this configuration, multiple first threads 10 are woven into multiple second threads 20 in such a way that multiple emission portions 13 appear on the interior-facing side 4A of the woven fabric 4. This allows the woven fabric 4 to emit (emit) light on the interior-facing side 4A and not emit light on the other side 4B (or the brightness on the other side 4B is lower than on the interior-facing side 4A). This makes it possible to provide a woven fabric 4 that can efficiently emit light on the interior-facing side 4A.

The first thread 10 is configured with multiple emission sections 13 arranged in the vertical direction Y on the surface 12A of the clad 12.

Depending on the position of the emission section 13 on the surface 12A of the cladding 12 in the vertical direction Y (circumferential direction of the cladding 12), there is a possibility that light may be emitted at an angle (rather than perpendicular) to the surface 12A facing the interior of the vehicle, resulting in a partial reduction in brightness and resulting in a light emission defect. However, with the woven fabric 4 described above, multiple emission sections 13 are arranged in the vertical direction Y on the surface 12A of the cladding 12, which prevents the above-mentioned light emission defect from occurring and enables more efficient light emission.

The first thread 10 is configured with multiple emission sections 13 arranged in the front-to-back direction X on the surface 12A of the cladding 12, and the distance between two adjacent emission sections 13 becomes smaller as they are positioned farther away from the light source 3 that generates the light guided by the core 11.

With this type of woven fabric 4, the more closely spaced the multiple emission sections 13 are, the further away from the light source 3, preventing a decrease in brightness with increasing distance from the light source 3. Furthermore, for example, it is possible to emit light with uniform brightness across the entire surface 4A of the woven fabric 4 facing the interior of the vehicle.

The emission section 13 is recessed from the surface 12A of the cladding 12 to the surface 11A of the core 11.

This type of woven fabric 4 makes it easier for light guided by the core 11 to exit from the cladding 12, improving brightness.

The emission portion 13 is a depression created by laser irradiation.

The surface of the first yarn 10 (surface 12A of the cladding 12) that makes up the cloth-like woven fabric 4 is relatively small. However, with the woven fabric 4 described above, even the emission section 13 provided on the surface 12A of this relatively small first yarn 10 can emit light with high precision.

In addition, this embodiment shows a door trim 100 that includes a trim portion 1 to which the above-mentioned woven fabric 4 is attached, and the multiple first threads 10 are woven in a manner that multiple emission portions 13 appear on the interior-facing surface 1C1 of the trim portion 1.

This configuration allows for the provision of a door trim 100 that efficiently emits light from the inside of the vehicle cabin and improves design.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 6. In this embodiment, the same components as those in the above embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions of the structure, operation, and effects will be omitted.

The woven fabric 104 is formed by weaving together a plurality of first threads 110 and a plurality of second threads 20, with the plurality of first threads 110 extending in the front-to-back direction (first direction) X and the plurality of second threads 20 extending in the up-down direction (second direction intersecting the first direction) Y. The first threads 110 are optical fibers consisting of a core and a cladding that covers the core. The first threads 110 are recessed from the surface of the cladding and have a plurality of emission portions 113 from which light guided through the core exits. The woven fabric 104, together with the light source 3, constitutes the light-emitting device 102.

The woven fabric 104 is divided into a first portion 113A having a plurality of emission sections 113, and a second portion 113B having a plurality of emission sections 113 and disposed farther from the light source 3 than the first portion 113A. In the first portion 113A, the emission sections 113 are arranged at equal intervals in the front-to-back and up-to-down directions. In the first portion 113A, the emission sections 113 in any given row (e.g., the emission sections 113 arranged in the up-to-down direction) are arranged so that their positions are staggered (displaced in the up-to-down direction) relative to the emission sections 113 in the rows located before and after it. In the second portion 113B, as in the first embodiment above, the distance between two adjacent emission sections 113 becomes smaller as the emission sections are disposed farther from the light source 3.

<Other Embodiments>
The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above and in the drawings, and for example, the following embodiments are also included within the technical scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, various modifications other than those described below can be made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

(1) In addition to the above embodiments, the configuration of the first thread can be modified as appropriate. For example, the core may be made up of two layers: a first core and a second core covering the surface of the first core. The first thread may also have multiple linear cores. Furthermore, the first thread may be made by twisting optical fiber and a thread other than optical fiber.

(2) The woven fabric may be formed into a cloth-like shape by weaving together threads other than the first threads and second threads. For example, the woven fabric may be formed into a cloth-like shape by weaving together a plurality of first threads, a plurality of second threads, a plurality of third threads, and a plurality of fourth threads so that the plurality of first threads and third threads extend in a first direction and the plurality of second threads and fourth threads extend in a second direction. The woven fabric may also be woven so that other threads, such as the third threads and fourth threads, are arranged on the back surface (surface facing the outside of the vehicle cabin) of the first threads (optical fibers).

(3) In the above embodiment, three emission sections (first emission section, second emission section, and third emission section) are formed in the vertical direction on the surface of one first thread, but this is not limited to this. For example, the number of emission sections formed in the vertical direction on the surface of one first thread may be two, four, five or more. Furthermore, the more emission sections formed in the vertical direction on the surface of one first thread, the more effectively light can be emitted, suppressing insufficient light emission caused by light being emitted at an angle.

(4) In the above embodiment, door trim is used as an example of a vehicle interior material, but this is not limiting. Vehicle interior materials may also include other interior materials, such as quarter trim, side trim, instrument panel, ceiling material, pillar garnish, etc.

(5) The woven fabrics and vehicle interior materials exemplified in the above embodiments are not limited to use in vehicles and may be provided for various types of vehicles. For example, the above woven fabrics and vehicle interior materials can also be applied to vehicles such as trains and recreational vehicles as ground vehicles, airplanes and helicopters as flying vehicles, and ships and submarines as marine and underwater vehicles.

(6) The woven fabrics exemplified in the above embodiments can be used not only as interior materials for vehicles, but also as fabrics for the side walls of buildings, houses, facilities, and other structures, and as decorative fabrics for furniture, etc.

1... trim portion, 3... light source, 4, 104... woven fabric, 10, 110... first thread, 11... core, 12... cladding, 13, 113... emission portion, 20... second thread, 100... door trim (vehicle interior material), X... front-to-rear direction (first direction), Y... up-to-down direction (second direction)

Claims (5)

A woven fabric,
a plurality of first threads extending in a first direction and a plurality of second threads extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, the plurality of first threads and the plurality of second threads being woven together to form a fabric;
The first yarn is
a core that guides light in the first direction;
a cladding covering the surface of the core,
The clad includes an emission portion recessed from the surface of the clad and emitting light guided by the core to the outside of the first yarn,
the plurality of first yarns are woven in a manner that the plurality of emission portions appear on only one surface side of the woven fabric ,
a first section including a plurality of the emission sections;
a second section including a plurality of the emission sections and disposed at a position farther from the light source than the first section;
In the first section, the plurality of emission sections are arranged at equal intervals in the first direction and the second direction, and each emission section arranged in the second direction is shifted in the second direction relative to an emission section adjacent to the emission section in the first direction and arranged in the second direction,
In the second section, among the plurality of exit sections, the distance between two adjacent exit sections in the first direction is smaller the farther the exit sections are from the light source . The woven fabric described in claim 1, wherein the first yarn is configured so that multiple emission portions are aligned in the second direction on the surface of the cladding. The first yarn is configured such that a plurality of the emission portions are arranged in the first direction on the surface of the clad,
3. The woven fabric according to claim 1, wherein the distance between two adjacent light exit sections among the plurality of light exit sections becomes smaller as the adjacent light exit sections are positioned farther away from a light source that generates the light guided by the core. The woven fabric described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the emission portion is recessed from the surface of the cladding to the surface of the core. A trim part to which the woven fabric according to claim 1 or claim 2 is attached,
The plurality of first threads are woven in a manner that the plurality of emission portions appear on a surface of the trim portion facing the interior of the vehicle.