There are seats or mats that provide various functions, such as air blowing or massaging.
Of such seats, a vehicular seat includes a frame, a head rest, a cushion pad, and a cover, and provides various functions, such as adjustment of angle of the head rest, or height or front-and-rear distance of the seat depending on a driver's physical conditions. There are cushion pads that have a function of blowing air including cool or warm air. Examples of such cushion pads are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2007-054385 published on Mar. 8, 2007) and 2007-215695 published on Aug. 30, 2007.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are views illustrating a cooling/heating pad for a vehicular seat according to a related art.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, each of cooling/heating pads 11 and 12 includes a main pad 13, a duct 14, and a foam cover 15.
The main pad 13, the duct 14, and the foam cover 15 are each formed of a porous synthetic resin, such as soft polyurethane foam. The duct 14 is processed to have a depressed structure with an opening at its upper portion. The main pad 13 includes a groove to which the main pad 13 is attached and a groove to which an air inlet tube 17 is attached. The foam cover 15 is attached to the main pad 13 to cover the opened upper portion of the duct 14. The foam cover 15 includes a plurality of vent holes 15a at the opened upper portion of the duct 14 to connect to the duct 14. The foam cover 15 is covered by an outer sheath (not shown). The outer sheath is formed of natural or synthetic fabric or leather having a plurality of vent holes. Cool or warm air is generated from the a vehicular air conditioner and supplied to the cooling or heating pad through the air inlet tube 17, and is then blown toward a user via the duct 14, the vent holes 15a, and external vent holes (not shown).
A method of fabricating a cooling/heating pad includes the processes of forming each of the main pad 13, the duct 14, and the foam cover 15 using a porous synthetic resin, treating the main pad 13 so that a portion of the main pad 13 is depressed and the main pad 13 has grooves to which the duct 14 and the air inlet tube 17 are attached, attaching the duct 14 and the air inlet tube 17 to the main pad 13, attaching the foam cover 15 to the main pad 13, and covering the outer sheath. Accordingly, the conventional fabrication method of the cooling/heating pad is disadvantageous in light of an increase in the number of processes and an increased process time due to the process of attaching the duct 14 between the main pad 13 and the foam cover 15, thus resulting in an increase of fabrication costs.
The duct 14 is formed of a porous synthetic resin with low durability and elasticity. Accordingly, when the conventional cooling/heating pad is used for a long time, the duct 14 may sink down due to a user's weight thus narrowing or clogging the flow path of the duct 14. For these reasons, the conventional cooling/heating pad suffers from a short lifespan and high costs.
Moreover, bacteria, mold, or mites harmful for a human body are prone to infiltrate into the main pad 13 through the duct 14 because the duct 14 is formed of the porous synthetic resin having low durability and elasticity, and long-term use of the conventional cooling/heating pad may cause contamination of the main pad 13 and resultantly unpleasant odors from the main pad 13.