JPH06126754A - Method for manufacturing embossed sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture an embossed sheet at high working efficiency by forming an embossed part with a recess on a base cloth, and then filling the recess with an elastomer material liquid to cure it, if necessary, after squeegeeing. CONSTITUTION:An unwoven cloth sheet 3 deposited on the upper surface of a molding die 4 is pressed using a metal molding die 4 with a recess 4a carved out as an embossing projection and a molding top force 5 with a projecting ridge. Thus the embossed part with a recess 3a is obtained. Further, an unwoven cloth sheet 3 is fitted into a curing plate 7 of the same shape as the molding die 4 in such a manner that the recesses are matched. Next an elastomer material liquid is poured into the recesses in a state described above, and the elastomer 10 squeezed out of the upper surface of the recess 3a of the embossed part is removed b squeezing work. After that, both sheet 3 and curing plate 7 are heated as bound together and the elastomer 10 is cured to obtain an embossed sheet. In addition, the embossed sheet is punched out in the configuration of a shoe sole and thus the shoe sole with an embossed pattern is mass-produced with high working efficiency.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

[Object of the Invention]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a sheet having anti-slip projections such as the sole of sports shoes.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, especially in marathon shoes and jogging shoes, in order to reduce the weight of the shoe and pursue shock absorption, the bottom of the ground contact surface is formed of solid rubber or high-density sponge, and the upper layer is lightweight and cushioning. A shoe sole having a so-called multiple structure, in which one or a plurality of sponges such as EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate), which are excellent in superposition, are superposed has appeared. However, in order to improve the ground gripping force and wear resistance of the non-slip projections provided on the bottom of the ground contact surface, solid rubber with high hardness and high-density sponge are used for these, so the inevitable It has a drawback that weight saving is limited.

For this reason, there is a method in which a polyurethane resin film on a non-woven fabric sheet and a liquid polyurethane composition before being made into non-slip projections are heat-cured by a mold to integrally bond them, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-140729. Kaihei 1-31060
No. 1), which has succeeded in making the shoe sole as thin as possible and lightening the overall weight within a range in which the anti-slip projections are worn early and lose the slip resistance.

Further, the present inventors applied screen printing to print an appropriate embossed pattern on a non-woven fabric sheet made of thermoplastic resin fibers with an ink made of a thermosetting resin, and then printed this embossed pattern. With the non-woven fabric sheet sandwiched between the upper and lower molds in a state corresponding to the recess formed in one of the pair of upper and lower molds, this is heated and pressed to cure the ink forming the embossed pattern, and We have already developed a method for manufacturing an embossed sheet, which is characterized by forming a non-woven fabric sheet sandwiched between flat portions of a mold into a solid film.

However, with the former method, it is difficult to produce a mold having a concave portion, and since a mold is used for a long period during the process, a large amount of mold is required. In addition, when filling the mold with the liquid polyurethane compound, it is necessary to remove excess polyurethane compound called a squeegee, but if this process is not done carefully, the insufficiently removed parts will appear as patterns. There is a problem that it will end up.

Further, if the surface of the mold is scratched, the polyurethane compound in the scratch will be cured and will be exposed as a handle. Therefore, it is necessary to handle the mold carefully. Further, in this method, since the polyurethane compound is heated and cured by covering the mold with a non-woven sheet, it is difficult to defoam the polyurethane compound, and defects such as bubble marks are often generated in the emboss.

On the other hand, in the latter method, it is difficult to form a thick emboss without further elaboration, and a mold similar to the former is required even if it does not last for a long time during the process. There was no change in that it was difficult to create and required management. Further, in recent sports shoes, in addition to the color contrast between the embossed portion and the non-embossed portion, a material-like contrast is also required, and the latter method has a drawback that it cannot be clearly embossed.

[0008]

[Technical Items Attempted to Develop] The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and the shoe sole can be embossed with a high design, and it is almost troublesome to make and manage the plate mold. This is an attempt to develop a method for producing an embossed sheet that has no workability, has good workability, and is suitable for mass production.

[0009]

[Constitution of the invention]

[Means for Achieving the Object] That is, in the method for producing an embossed sheet according to the first invention of the present application, an emboss having a recessed portion is thermoformed in a base fabric, and then an elastomer stock solution is poured into the recessed portion, and a squeegee is formed if necessary. After that, it is characterized by being cured.

A second method for producing an embossed sheet according to the present application is that a base cloth is thermoformed with an emboss having a concave portion, an elastomer stock solution is poured into the concave portion, and a squeegee is formed if necessary. As it hardens
It is characterized in that the base cloth on the bottom surface of the recess after curing is removed. The above objects are achieved by these inventions.

[0011]

In the present invention, since the elastomer stock solution is poured into the concave portion of the base cloth itself as a container to be cured, the mold corresponding to the plate mold for thermoforming embossing on the base cloth. It suffices to prepare a very small number of one or a few, and it is not necessary to wash the molds each time. In addition, if the base material on the bottom surface of the concave portion is removed after pouring the elastomer undiluted solution into the recessed portion to cure it, the cured portion of the elastomer undiluted solution exposes the base cloth as the surrounding, and the embossed surface is colored. In addition to contrast
Material contrast can be applied.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, taking embossing of the sole 2 of an athletic shoe 1 as an example. A) Thermoforming of the base cloth In this step, the base cloth, which is the material that holds the embossing and is attached to the midsole M and becomes the sole of the shoe, is thermoformed to emboss as a container having a recess. Process.

It is preferable to use a non-woven fabric sheet as the base fabric, which may be composed of any of thermoplasticity and thermosetting property. For example, the back skin-like artificial leather of Toray Co., Ltd. (Registered trademark) and the like can be applied. Note that there are various colors such as yellow and orange in EXCENE (registered trademark), and by making the embossing black, not only the color contrast but also the material contrast can be strongly represented. As the base cloth, besides this, a so-called ordinary nonwoven fabric sheet having tear strength, tensile strength, and abrasion resistance, as well as a thick film sheet and the like can be applied. As a so-called ordinary non-woven sheet, a sheet obtained by self-bonding elastic long fibers such as urethane is suitable. When using the film sheet as the base fabric,
Although it is not possible to express the contrast of materials as a design as much as using artificial leather or a non-woven sheet, fine embossing can be applied to improve the design.

On the other hand, as the thermoforming means, a so-called vacuum forming method, pressure forming method, hot pressing and the like can be performed. Hot pressing has the advantage that clear embossing can be applied to a relatively thick base fabric. In this case, upper and lower mating dies are used, and one is a flat die, and the flat die side has a sponge etc. The cushion material may be interposed so that the emboss can be softly attached by the pressing force of the cushion material. When the vacuum forming method is used, a mold made of a porous material having a large number of fine pores may be used, or the mold may be combined with the pressure forming method.

FIG. 2 shows a process by hot pressing using a non-woven sheet 3 as a base fabric, and 4 is a metal shaping mold in which a portion which becomes an embossing projection is carved as a recess 4a. Shaped upper mold 5 with a convex torus
And the base 6a of the vulcanizing press and the pressure plate 6b can be fitted together. The non-woven fabric sheet 3 is placed on the upper surface of the shaping die 4, heated and pressed with the shaping upper die 5 for an appropriate time, and further cooled if necessary, and matched with the concave portion 4a of the shaping die 4. Embossing having a concave portion will be applied. It should be noted that if the fabric of the base cloth is thick, it is difficult to emboss it. Therefore, it is desirable to comprehensively judge the material of the base fabric, the thickness thereof, the thermoforming means, etc., and select them.

C) Transfer to curing plate In the present invention, since the elastomer stock solution is directly poured into the recessed portion of the embossing of the base cloth, the elastomer stock solution is embossed in the above-mentioned step and is fitted in the shaping die 4. Although it may be performed, since the shaping mold 4 itself is made finely and firmly, it is preferable to transfer it to another simple curing plate.
That is, the curing plate 7 may be obtained by molding the shaping mold 4 and manufacturing a large amount of the same shape with an elastomer such as silicone rubber or gypsum, as shown in FIG. The nonwoven fabric sheet 3 removed from the shaping mold 4 is fitted again with the recessed portion 3a of the embossing thereof aligned with the recessed portion 7a of the curing plate 7 as shown in FIG. 3 (b). In this state, the elastomer stock solution is poured. Of course, shaping mold 4
After removing it from the above, it may be placed on a flat place to pour the elastomer undiluted solution, but this will make the pouring uneven and it will be difficult to do the squeegee later. It is better to transfer to.

D) Pouring of the elastomer stock solution After the nonwoven fabric sheet 3 is transferred to the curing plate 7, the polyurethane elastomer 10 as the elastomer stock solution is poured into the embossed concave portion 3a of the nonwoven fabric sheet 3. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, the two liquids which are the raw materials are mixed at the tip of the nozzle 8 and blown into the concave portion 3a of the emboss. Although not shown,
Of course, the two liquids may be mixed in the nozzle or in the container, appropriately defoamed, and poured into the concave portion 3a of the emboss. Suitable for polyurethane elastomers sprayed from a nozzle and supplied by Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. solventless quick-hardening urethane resin F-410N and R or F-
620N and R, and as suitable to be mixed and supplied in a container, Nippon Polyurethane Industry Co., Ltd.'s Nipporan (registered trademark) and Dainippon Ink Co., Ltd.'s Pandex (registered trademark) are available. is there. It is also possible to add a thickener to these polyurethane elastomers.
It is effective in preventing bleeding on the non-woven sheet and increasing the curing speed. A specific example of the thickener is AEROSIL (registered trademark) manufactured and sold by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.

E) Squeegee work When the polyurethane elastomer 10 is poured into the embossed recess 3a of the non-woven sheet 3, the squeegee tool 11 is used to protrude from the upper surface of the embossed recess 3a as shown in FIG. 4 (b). Polyurethane elastomer present 1
Remove 0. It should be noted that the squeegee work here does not have the drawback of being exposed as a handle on a portion other than the embossed portion, unlike the invention of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-310601 described above, and is a surface to be attached to the midsole M. So it can be done very roughly. Also, the polyurethane elastomer 1 from the nozzle 8 and the pattern of the recessed portion 3a of the emboss
Depending on the supply control of 0, almost appropriate amount can be poured into the recessed portion 3a of the emboss, and the squeegee work itself can be omitted.

F) Heating and curing After the squeegee work is completed, as shown in FIG. 4 (c), the nonwoven fabric sheet 3 and the curing plate 7 are placed in the oven 12 as they are, and heated at 120 ° C. for 45 minutes to produce polyurethane. The elastomer 10 is cured, then released from the curing plate 7 as shown in FIG. 5 (a), and further heated in an oven at 90 ° C. for 600 minutes as shown in FIG. 5 (b) for the purpose of stabilizing the elastomer, After cooling this, the shoe sole 2 having the desired embossment 13 is completed by punching out or cutting out the outer shape of the shoe sole, as shown in FIG. 5 (c). The nonwoven fabric sheet 3 that tends to be generated as the polyurethane elastomer 10 is cured by being pressed with a thick glass plate or the like during heat curing.
Curl may be prevented. Further, the curing plate 7 used during this period can be repeatedly used as it is as a curing plate even if the concave portion 7a thereof is slightly damaged or the residue of the polyurethane elastomer 10 is slightly attached.

G) Additional finish Since the shoe sole 2 obtained as described above has a non-woven surface like surface although embossed 13, it is unpleasant in terms of material contrast in this state, so it is used as a shoe sole. After punching or cutting, or immediately after the polyurethane elastomer 10 is heat-cured, additional finishing can be performed to improve the design. That is, as shown in FIG. 6A, the recessed portion 3a in which the polyurethane elastomer 10 of the emboss 13 is hardened is removed from the back by a grinder 14 or the like to expose the hardened polyurethane elastomer inside, or otherwise appropriately. It is removed by various cutting means. In addition, when a thermoplastic fiber is used for the non-woven fabric sheet, a heated metal piece 15 such as a trowel is pressed and melted against the fiber as shown in FIG. 6B. It can be formed into a solid film 3b. It is possible to deal with the same problem even if only the concave portion is formed into a solid film in the thermoforming step.

In the above embodiment, hot pressing was used as the thermoforming means, but FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of thermoforming, in which the urethane film sheet 9 is used as the base cloth and the vacuum forming method is used. It is designed to be embossed with. In this example, a shaping die 18 made of a porous body made of a ceramics sintered body is placed on the chamber 16, and a heater 17 is placed above the shaping die 18 to place the urethane film sheet 9 on the shaping die 18. In the softened state, the inside of the chamber 16 is decompressed, and the molding die 18 is sucked by vacuum to be embossed. The embossed urethane film sheet thus obtained can be finished into a shoe sole through the same steps as those in the above-mentioned embodiment.

When the base fabric is a non-woven fabric sheet having air permeability, it is convenient to deal with the above-mentioned vacuum forming method by forming a polyurethane resin coating on the base fabric. The presence of the polyurethane resin film can prevent bleeding of the elastomer stock solution, and conversely, the absence of the resin film can impregnate the non-woven fabric sheet with the elastomer stock solution. Even if these films are not formed, even if a separate film is temporarily superposed on the base fabric, the thermoforming can be similarly performed.

In the above embodiment, the polyurethane elastomer is used as the raw material for the embossed protrusions, but other elastomer raw materials such as photo-curing resin can be used in the present invention. Therefore, it may be exposed. The photocurable resin includes a photosensitive resin such as a polyvinyl alcohol emulsion of polyvinyl acetate having a styrylpyridinium group as a photosensitive group, a natural water-soluble polymer such as carrageenan and gelatin, carboxymethylcellulose, ammonium alginate, and starch dimethyl. A semi-synthetic water-soluble polymer such as aminopropyl ether, a synthetic water-soluble polymer such as polyethylene glycol and water-soluble nylon, and a photopolymerization type polymer composed of a photopolymerization initiator and a monomer such as benzophenone, thioxanthone and benzoin ether, and a heavy polymer. Since there is a mixed type composed of a chromate, a diazo resin, a photo-crosslinking agent such as a bisazide compound, it can be used in consideration of the above compatibility and workability. In addition, the photocuring refers to all substances that are irradiated with high-energy electromagnetic waves such as visible light, ultraviolet rays, X-rays, and electron beams, and absorb the energy to cause crosslinking, curing, insolubilization, and solidification. Similarly, light is a generic term for electromagnetic waves with high energy.

[0024]

According to the present invention, since the embossed concave portion of the base cloth itself is regarded as a container and the elastomer stock solution is poured and cured, the workability can be improved without being bothered in preparing the plate mold and its management. The embossed sheet can be manufactured in good mass production. Further, vacuum defoaming can be appropriately performed after pouring the elastomer undiluted solution, defects of bubble traces can be avoided, and a design with material contrast can be obtained by removing the base fabric on the bottom surface of the recessed portion.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which a shoe sole manufactured by the method for manufacturing an embossed sheet of the present invention is applied to sports shoes.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a step of thermoforming a base cloth in the embossed sheet manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the base cloth is transferred from the shaping mold to the curing plate.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing stepwise steps after thermoforming of the base fabric in the method for producing an embossed sheet of the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing steps of pouring a polyurethane elastomer, squeegee work, and primary heating.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing each step of plate removal and secondary heating as well as the completed shoe sole.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an additional finishing step of the same.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view showing another means for thermoforming a base fabric.

[Explanation of symbols]

 M midsole 1 athletic shoe 2 shoe sole 3 non-woven sheet 3a concave part 3b solid film 4 shaping mold 4a concave part 5 shaping upper mold 6a substrate 6b pressure plate 7 curing plate 7a concave part 8 nozzle 9 urethane film sheet 10 Polyurethane elastomer 11 Squeegee tool 12 Oven 13 Embossing 14 Grinder 15 Iron (metal piece) 16 Chamber 17 Heater 18 Shaped mold

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] October 28, 1992

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0017

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

D) Pouring of the elastomer stock solution After the nonwoven fabric sheet 3 is transferred to the curing plate 7, the polyurethane elastomer 10 as the elastomer stock solution is poured into the embossed concave portion 3a of the nonwoven fabric sheet 3. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, the two liquids which are the raw materials are mixed at the tip of the nozzle 8 and blown into the concave portion 3a of the emboss. Although not shown,
Of course, the two liquids may be mixed in the nozzle or in the container, appropriately defoamed, and poured into the concave portion 3a of the emboss. Suitable as a polyurethane elastomer to be sprayed and supplied from a nozzle is a solventless quick-hardening urethane resin of Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., and as a suitable one to be mixed and supplied in a container, Nippon Polyurethane Industry Co., Ltd. There are companies such as Nippon Polan (registered trademark) and Pandex (registered trademark) of Dainippon Ink Co., Ltd.
Further, it is effective to mix a thickener with these polyurethane elastomers in order to prevent bleeding into the nonwoven sheet and to accelerate the curing speed. A specific example of the thickener is AEROSIL (registered trademark) manufactured and sold by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method for producing an embossed sheet, comprising thermoforming an emboss having a recessed portion on a base cloth, pouring an elastomer stock solution into the recessed portion, optionally squeegeeing, and then curing. 2. A base cloth on the bottom surface of the recessed portion after curing, which is obtained by thermoforming an emboss having a recessed portion on the base cloth, pouring an elastomer stock solution into the recessed portion, squeegeeing if necessary, and then curing. A method for manufacturing an embossed sheet, which comprises removing