Method for forming cushions
A method for forming cushions including the following four steps: (1) a compression step in which the structure ( 2 ) is compressed in a mold ( 3 ); (2) a thermal softening step in which the structure ( 2 ) is thermally softened by means of a heating medium; (3) a curing step in which the structure ( 2 ) directly undergoes forced cooling in a cooling medium, and is then cured; and (4) a mold release step in which the structure ( 2 ) is released from the mold ( 3 ).
1. A method of forming a cushion of spring-like structure made of continuous filaments tangled at random in loops and made to partly adhere to one another with heat, the method comprising:
a compression step of compressing a three-dimensional netted structure having two surfaces, three surfaces, four surfaces, or a greater number of surfaces formed thereon with a mold;
a thermal softening step of thermally softening the three-dimensional netted structure with a heating medium;
a curing step of forcibly or naturally cooling down the three-dimensional netted structure with a coolant to cure texture of the three-dimensional netted structure;
a mold release step of releasing the three-dimensional netted structure from the mold; and
an additional compression step of additionally compression-forming a compressed part of the three-dimensional netted structure, wherein an end area of the additionally compression-formed part is formed into a fastening rim for fastening the three-dimensional netted structure to another object in a later assembly step.
2. A method of forming a cushion of spring-like structure made of continuous filaments tangled at random in loops and made to partly adhere to one another with heat, the method comprising:
a thermal softening step of thermally softening a three-dimensional netted structure having two surfaces, three surfaces, four surfaces or a greater number of surfaces formed thereon with a heating medium;
a compression step of compressing the three-dimensional netted structure with a mold;
a curing step of forcibly or naturally cooling down the three-dimensional netted structure with a coolant to cure texture of the three-dimensional netted structure;
a mold release step of releasing the three-dimensional netted structure from the mold; and
an additional compression step of additionally compression-forming a compressed part of the three-dimensional netted structure, wherein an end area of the additionally compression-formed part is formed into a fastening rim for fastening the three-dimensional netted structure to another object in a later assembly step.
3. The method of forming the cushion of claim 1 , wherein the compression step and the thermal softening step are performed simultaneously.
4. The method of forming the cushion of claim 1 , wherein
the mold is any one of a metal plate, a resin plate and a cement plate having an opening, and
the heating medium is supplied through the opening.
5. The method of forming the cushion of claim 1 , further comprising a surface treatment step or an adhesive spray step.
6. The method of forming the cushion of claim 1 further comprising an adhesion step of bonding cloth to the three-dimensional netted structure.
7. The method of forming the cushion of claim 1 , the method being performed in combination with a method of processing the formed three-dimensional netted structure by hot press, high-frequency wave or ultrasonic wave.
8. The method of forming the cushion of claim 1 , wherein the thermal softening step thermally softens the three-dimensional netted structure by hot press instead of by using the heating medium.
9. The method of forming the cushion of claim 8 , wherein the thermal softening step includes a pre-heating step for pre-heating the three-dimensional netted structure and a main thermal softening step.
10. The method of forming the cushion of claim 2 , wherein the compression step and the thermal softening step are performed simultaneously.
11. The method of forming the cushion of claim 2 , wherein
the mold is any one of a metal plate, a resin plate and a cement plate having an opening, and
the heating medium is supplied through the opening.
12. The method of forming the cushion of claim 2 , further comprising a surface treatment step or an adhesive spray step.
13. The method of forming the cushion of claim 2 further comprising an adhesion step of bonding cloth to the three-dimensional netted structure.
14. The method of forming the cushion of claim 2 , the method being performed in combination with a method of processing the formed three-dimensional netted structure by hot press, high-frequency wave or ultrasonic wave.
15. The method of forming the cushion of claim 2 , wherein the thermal softening step thermally softens the three-dimensional netted structure by hot press instead of by using the heating medium.
16. The method of forming the cushion of claim 15 , wherein the thermal softening step includes a pre-heating step for pre-heating the three-dimensional netted structure and a main thermal softening step.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additional compression step further comprises applying ultrasound or heat to heat the end area to a temperature higher than that of other portions of the three-dimensional netted structure.
18. The method of claim 2 , wherein the additional compression step further comprises applying ultrasound or heat to heat the end area to a temperature higher than that of other portions of the three-dimensional netted structure.