FR2865113A1 - Reinforcement for application onto an article comprises a discontinous covering of abrasion-resistant material with a high softening temperature on a thermoplastic film with a low adhesion temperature - Google Patents

Abstract

Reinforcement for application onto an article at a temperature T3 comprises a discontinous covering of abrasion-resistant material with a softening temperature T2 on the outside of a thermoplastic film with an adhesion temperature T1, where T2 is higher than T1 and T3 is between T1 and T2. Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) an article comprising a reinforcement as above; (2) applying a reinforcement as above by placing the reinforcement on the part the be reinforced with the thermoplastic film facing this part, applying pressure at the temperature T3, and cooling.

Description

1 REINFORCEMENT,

  The subject of the present invention is a reinforcement, in particular for an article of textile material or the like such as clothing (bag, shoe, etc.) and intended for protection in particular against abrasion, tears, etc.

  The field of application of the present invention is more particularly that of sports equipment and in particular sports clothing for skiing, skiing, climbing, walking, but also sports bags, backpacks, shoes, etc. Traditionally in the clothing industry, areas subject to greater stress are reinforced by the sewing of inserts / reinforcements based on various materials. For example WO 01/67903 teaches to cover the exposed parts with an additional yoke of high tenacity polyamide as known under the trade name Cordura.

  Similarly, US Pat. No. 6,286,150 relating to trousers teaches two ways of providing a protection of the lower leg against the edges of skis, namely by the addition of a heavy, relatively rigid polyamide yoke or by the prediction of a specific yoke made of a material as known under one of the trade names Kevlar, Cordura or Spectra, added in a corresponding cut of the trousers.

  It is also known from US Pat. No. 6,044,493 to provide a non-slip protective coating on the palm of a glove by PVC coating, ie application of this material in liquid form and drying.

  In all cases the reinforcements thus made always introduce an excess thickness detrimental to the comfort and aesthetics of the garment.

  This extra thickness also prevents a smooth and continuous surface and thus constitutes a "hooking" zone weakening said reinforcement.

  In addition sewn inserts require recovery operations and may cause additional sealing problems if they are applied to waterproof clothing, the seams then to be sealed.

  With regard to the reinforcements deposited by coating, their installation requires a few minutes of drying / cooking. In addition, the coating is easier to make flat.

  Finally, these reinforcements being deposited in liquid phase must always provide a solvent evacuation, which can also pose problems with respect for the environment if said solvents are dangerous or harmful to the environment and / or people who manipulate or breathe them.

  In all cases the additional inserts or reinforcements put in place by coating, have a significant overweight.

  FR 2,838,303 proposes to use a reinforcement consisting of a simple thermoplastic film provided with a heat-sealing face and applied under hot and under pressure on the outer face of the garment.

  Despite their small thickness, such films have a certain resistance to abrasion and tears, cuts and can be used to form effective reinforcements.

  Moreover, as they are not applied by sewing but by simple gluing, they do not require additional seam sealing operations.

  An object of the present invention is to improve a reinforcement of this type to make it even more resistant to cutting and abrasion.

  This object is achieved in the reinforcement according to the present invention, which is intended to be hot assembled at a temperature 03 on an article, in that it consists of a thermoplastic adhesive film having a bonding temperature 61, provided with on the inner side of a fusible side and, on the outer side, a discontinuous application of abrasion-resistant material having a softening temperature O 2, greater than the bonding temperature and the thermoplastic film, and in that the temperature 03 reinforcement assembly is between 01 and 02.

  The method of setting up such a reinforcement comprises the steps of placing a blank of the reinforcement on the part to be reinforced, the thermoplastic film being situated on the side of said part to be reinforced, for application on the draft of a hot pressure at a temperature 03 between 01 and 02, cooling.

  In the hot pressing operation, the thermoplastic film softens and adheres to the article to be reinforced, simultaneously the thermoplastic film fills the gaps between the pieces of abrasion-resistant material and thus ensures excellent cohesion of the material. composite thermoplastic film / abrasion resistant material.

  A very flexible and flexible reinforcement is obtained having a very smooth upper surface and an abrasion resistance significantly increased by the pieces / particle of abrasion resistant material.

  Moreover, the construction of such a reinforcement is inexpensive since the abrasion resistant material is applied by inexpensive means, such as screen printing, and it is during the assembly / bonding of the reinforcement to the article to be reinforced, that the reinforcement itself is finished.

  In any case the invention will be better understood and other characteristics thereof will be highlighted with the aid of the description which follows with reference to the appended schematic drawing, showing by way of nonlimiting examples several embodiments. 1 and is a perspective view of the preparation mode of a blank of the reinforcement; FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the laying of a blank of the reinforcement on an article, FIG. a perspective view of the bonding process of the reinforcement blank on the article, Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the reinforcement bonded to the article, Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 according to another embodiment, FIG. 6 illustrates the application of the reinforcement according to the invention to a pant bottom, FIG. 7 illustrates the application of the reinforcement according to the invention to a shoe, FIG. reinforcement according to the i nvention to a glove.

  Figure 1 illustrates the manufacture of a blank 10 of the reinforcement according to the invention.

  This blank 10 consists of a thermoplastic film 1, on which is applied by screen printing, that is to say through a screen 2, a discontinuous coating of material 3 resistant to abrasion.

  The screen 2 has a grid shape whose mesh 2a open allow the material 3 to pass.

  The material 3 may be applied, preferably at a room temperature such as 20 C, with the brush 4 as shown in Figure 1 or by any other application means used in screen printing such as roll, buffer, etc. The reinforcing blank 10 is then in the form of a flexible film having discontinuous platelets 3a of abrasion resistant material 3.

  In the case shown, the plates 3a have a shape corresponding to that of the meshes 2a 2 0 of the screen, namely a hexagonal shape, and are separated by intervals 3b corresponding to the wires 2b forming the meshes 2a. Of course, any other form of mesh may be provided.

  The thermoplastic film 1 may be a polyurethane, polyamide, polyester, polyolefin or polyvinyl chloride film.

  Depending on the type of material constituting it, this thermoplastic film has a different softening temperature.

  The bonding temperature 01 of said film will be greater than the softening temperature.

  For example, the temperature of bonding can vary between 100 and 185 C.

  The bonding temperatures of the various thermoplastic films that can be used are given below: polyurethane 100 to 175 C polyamide 140 C polyester 130 to 185 C 35 polyolefin 80 to 150 C polyvinyl chloride 120 C Thermoplastic films used may be for example adhesive films sold by Bermis under the trade names "Dewface", "Clarese", or by the company West Bridgford Machine or Ardmel. They have a thickness of between 100 and 400 microns.

  Prior to use, the reinforcing blank 10 may be protected by at least one non-adhering paper (not shown in the drawing) disposed on the side of the adhesive film, and intended to prevent inadvertent bonding of said film.

  The abrasion resistant material 3 consists for example of epoxy resin, or any other thermosetting resin (silicone, cross-linked polyurethane (PUR)) filled with fiberglass, carbon, aramid, etc. This resin has a softening temperature O 2 which is chosen to be greater than the bonding temperature O 1 of the thermoplastic film.

  For example, for an epoxy resin, the softening temperature O 2 is greater than 180 ° C.

  In the case shown in Figure 1, the epoxy resin 3 applied by brush, roller, etc. will dry and polymerize, either at an ambient temperature of about 20 C, or at a temperature below el.

  Once hardened this resin can be softened only after heating to a temperature greater than or equal to 180 C, ie above its softening temperature.

  Figures 2 to 4 illustrate the establishment and bonding of a reinforcing blank 10 on an article 20 to be protected.

  Firstly, a blank 10, pre-cut to the desired shape, is positioned on the article 20 so that the thermoplastic or heat-sealing film 1 is located on the side of the article to be reinforced 20. The assembly is then placed in a press 30 and hot-pressed at a temperature of less than 180 ° C., and for example between 100 and 175 ° C., if the resin is epoxy resin, at a pressure of a few bars, by lowering the top plate 25 31 of the press.

  As soon as the pressure is exerted at the appropriate temperature 03, the plate 31 is raised and the cooling is almost immediate. Depending on the case, additional cooling means may be provided. Depending on the case other means of hot pressing can be provided.

  At the end of this operation, not only the reinforcement blank 10 is converted into a reinforcement 15, but said reinforcement 15 is adhered to the article 20.

  By a single hot pressing operation is therefore carried out at the same time two steps, namely the realization of the reinforcement 15 itself and its assembly / bonding to the article to be reinforced.

  As shown more particularly in FIG. 4, in the reinforcement 15 completed, the thermoplastic film 1 which has softened during the hot-pressing step is raised in the gaps 3b located between two particles 3a of material 3 and thus ensures excellent cohesion between the different particles 3a of materials, which are no longer likely to detach.

  According to the thermoplastic film thickness 1 these intervals 3b will be more or less filled.

  The reinforcement 15 then has a much more flexible structure, flexible and resistant to shocks.

  According to a preferred embodiment, the distance d between two wafers 3a substantially corresponds to the thickness e of each wafer 3a, for example the thickness e is equal to 0.8 mm, and in general, d is between 0.2 mm and 1 mm, and e is between 0.2 mm and 1 mm.

  Moreover, the structure of the wafers 3a is not modified since the temperature 63 of hot pressing is lower than the temperature 62 of softening of said wafers.

  According to a preferred embodiment, represented in FIG. 5, a layer of foam material 40 is interposed between the reinforcement 15 and the article to be protected 20, below the thermoplastic film 1.

  This foam layer may be polyurethane foam, polyolefin and have a thickness between 0.5 mm and 3 mm. It can also be a three-dimensional type fabric bringing the same as the foam, volume and shock absorption to the whole.

  For example for a pant bottom protection, a foam thickness 40 of about 3 mm will be provided.

  Experience has shown that such a foam / fabric thickness increases the wear / abrasion resistance of such reinforcement by about 20% and therefore the service life thereof.

  It has in fact been found that, surprisingly, the three-dimensional foam / fabric provides a supple support which makes the shear / cut of the reinforcement more difficult.

  The foam 40 will preferably be pre-applied to the material to be protected, for example by sewing and / or gluing.

  It can also be envisaged that the foam layer is held in place by the heat-sealing film 1 during bonding of the blank to the article to be protected, in this case the foam layer will have a smaller contour than that of the draft to be held in place by the overflowing parts of the film.

  Figures 6 to 7 illustrate the application of the reinforcement according to the invention to different articles.

  In the case of FIG. 6, the reinforcement 15 is applied to the bottom of the legs 51 of trousers 50, on the inner or medial side thereof.

  In the case of Figure 7, the reinforcement 15 is applied at least partially on the shaft 61 of a shoe 60.

  In the case of Figure 8, the reinforcement 15 is applied to the end of each of the fingers 71 3 5 of a glove 70, palm side of the hand.

  Of course, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above by way of non-limiting examples and includes all similar or equivalent embodiments.

Claims (1)

6 claims   1. Reinforcement intended to be assembled hot at a temperature 63 on an article, characterized in that it consists of a thermoplastic adhesive film (1) having a bonding temperature 61, provided, on the internal side, with a face fusible and, on the external side, a discontinuous application (3a) of material (3), the material (3) being resistant to abrasion and having a softening temperature 62, greater than the bonding temperature 61 of the thermoplastic film, the assembly temperature 03 of the reinforcement being between 61 and 62.   2. Reinforcement according to claim 1, characterized in that the film (1) is made from at least one of the following polymers: polyurethane polyamide polyester polyolefin polyvinyl chloride 3. Reinforcement according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the film (1) has a thickness of between 100 and 400 microns.   4. Reinforcement according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the material (3) resistant to abrasion is obtained from at least one of the following polymers: epoxy-silicone resin, PUR ( cross-linked polyurethane) 5. Reinforcement according to claim 4, characterized in that the abrasion-resistant material (3) consists of a charged polymer.   6. Reinforcement according to claim 1 to 5, characterized in that the material (3) resistant to abrasion is applied to the thermoplastic film by screen printing.   7. Reinforcement according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the material (3) resistant to abrasion is applied by forming discontinuous plates (3a).   8. Reinforcement according to claim 7, characterized in that the plates (3a) are of regular shape.   9. Reinforcement according to claim 8, characterized in that the distance (d) between two plates (3a) substantially corresponds to the thickness e of each plate (3a).   An article comprising a reinforcement according to any one of claims 1 to 9.   11. Article according to claim 10, characterized in that a layer of damping material, such as foam (40) is interposed between the reinforcement (15) and said article.   12. A method of manufacturing and setting up a reinforcement according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: setting up a blank (10) of the reinforcement on the part to be reinforced, the thermoplastic film (1) being located on the side of said portion to be reinforced, for application to the blank (10) of a hot pressure, at a temperature 03 between 01 and 02 cooling.   13. The method of claim 12, characterized in that the temperature 03 is between 100 C and 175 C.