KR100524031B1 - Method for Making Stretch Leather Laminates and Finished Articles Containing Such Laminates - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of making stretchable leather laminates of stretchable fabrics and stretchable leathers such that the direction of high stretch of the fabrics and leathers substantially matches the preselected areas of the leather. There is also provided a finished product including such a laminate.

Description

Methods for Making Stretchable Leather Laminates and Finished Products Including Such Laminates {Method for Making Stretch Leather Laminates and Finished Articles Containing Such Laminates}

The present invention relates to a method of making a laminate of stretchable fabric and stretchable leather. The invention also relates to a finished product comprising the laminate produced by the above method.

Leather backed with fabric is known. U. S. Patent No. 2,136, 092 (Troy) discloses a method of laminating elastic fabrics in a stretched or expanded state in thin soft leather.

US Pat. No. 2,269,923 (Vamos) discloses stretch laminates of thin, soft, stretchable leather and elastic fabrics containing elastomeric fibers. The laminate has a low modulus of elasticity that allows it to stretch with foot movement when used in shoes. The laminate may be stretched from 10 to 50% or more. Preferred elastic fabrics are stretchable fabrics that are more stretchable than leather and are " one-way " stretch fabrics and are applied to the skin such that the stretch direction matches the skin's maximum stretch direction. Laminates made from the upper part of the shoe ("front part of the foot") must be trimmed in a separate process to remove the outer periphery of the fabric.

Rawhide is uneven and generally has a "line of tightness" perpendicular to its direction of high elongation. The tightness line is bent so that it is almost parallel to the spine at the center of the raw leather with little stretch on the spine, and almost perpendicular to the spine near the neck and tail. Extensibility may deviate from these arc lines in certain areas of the hide. This is described in "Manual of Shoemaking" (C. & J. Clark, Ltd., Somerset, England), 6 prints, 1989, pp. 94-101.

When laminating stretchable fabrics in raw leather, it is common to cover large pieces of fabric over substantially the entire area of the leather. In this way, a portion of the raw leather will have its maximum stretch direction parallel to the maximum stretch direction of the fabric, and a portion will mismatch, resulting in inadequate properties in the load and permanent elongation percentage of the laminate, particularly the laminate. The result is a large amount of laminates, poor durability and comfort of the finished product, or both.

The present invention cuts the shaped portion of the specially processed stretchable fabric and stretchable leather and then cuts the fabric and the leather portion cut to the final shape such that the overall fabric extensibility is substantially parallel to the maximum stretch direction of the leather. Laminating provides a method of obtaining a laminate with excellent comfort and quality.

Summary of the Invention

The method of the present invention for producing a laminate of stretchable fabric and stretchable leather useful for making shoes

(a) the cut leather piece has a substantially constant maximum stretchable direction and a substantially constant minimum stretchable direction, the maximum and minimum stretchable directions are substantially perpendicular to each other, and the maximum stretchable direction is the rounded portion of the shoe to be manufactured. Precutting the leather to the actual size and shape of the shoe component to be manufactured so as to extend from the toe to the heel of the foot,

(b) the cut piece of fabric having a substantially constant maximum stretchable direction and a substantially constant minimum stretchable direction, wherein the maximum and minimum stretchable directions are substantially perpendicular to each other and the maximum stretchable direction is the rounded portion of the shoe to be manufactured Transversely, the minimum stretchable direction extends from the toe portion to the heel of the foot, and precutting the directional stretchable fabric in the substantial size and shape of the shoe part to be manufactured such that the fabric is undercut relative to the leather piece;

(c) orienting the fabric piece with respect to the leather piece so that the stretchable direction of the fabric and the maximum stretchable direction of the leather are substantially parallel over the entire area of the leather piece, and

(d) laminating the fabric to the leather

It includes.

The present invention also provides a finished product comprising a laminate of stretchable fabric and stretchable leather produced by the method.

1 is a schematic illustration of half raw hides of cattle divided along the spine; The spine (1) part is on the top, the neck (2) part is on the left, and the hip (3) part is on the right. The "tightness line" is represented by (4). Portions tested in the examples herein are indicated by "A" and "B".

2 illustrates the upper of a women's shoe with an undercut fabric piece laminated to a precut leather piece.

In fabric / leather stretchable laminates, it is desirable to have a low permanent elongation to recover its shape after the finished product is stretched. Permanent elongation refers to the additional length remaining after the sample is stretched and released. Permanent elongation is important in the case of thin, flexible leather, especially when it is manufactured to be stretchable (elastic) and subject to greater strength than ordinary leather. Such leather is easily stretched and deformed, and the ability to recover substantially to its original dimensions is important for its durability and usefulness. A permanent elongation of about 10% or less is preferred.

In some applications, it is desirable for comfort and stability that the unloading force is adjusted in at least certain portions of the finished product. Deload force refers to the stress observed in a sample when the sample shrinks from its expanded state. For example, if the unloading force of the material used for shoes is too high, the foot will be uncomfortablely pressed and difficult to move. If the unloading force is too low for a given cult, the shoe will not accept the foot properly and the shoe will be unstable. For example, a deload force between about 0.357 and about 1.250 kg / cm (about 2 to about 7 lb / inch) at 25% elongation is desirable.

In raw leather of A and B quality, classified according to the oral industry standard, about 70% of the leather is largely useful, the rest too thin, too damaged by blemishes and blemishes, or too small to use. When laminating an entire raw hide to a large piece of elastic fabric, only about 30% of the original useful part of the raw hide has the necessary relative registration of the direction of stretch of the fabric and the direction of maximum stretchability of the leather, with the desired low elongation and optimum unloading force. Have However, in the method of the present invention, almost 100% of the original useful portion of the raw hide has this match. Therefore, yields of useful, high quality laminates can be three or more times.

When the high stretch direction of the fabric is substantially matched with the maximum stretchability direction of the leather, low permanent elongation and optimum unloading force can be achieved in laminates made from any part of raw leather widely used to make shoe uppers. It turns out that it can. That is, the direction of high elongation of the fabric is laminated at right angles to the tightness line in the leather. This provides (a) one or more stretchable leather pieces cut to shape with one or more highly stretchable directions, and (b) one or more pieces of one-way stretch fabric cut to fit, and (c) undercut. ) The high stretch direction of the fabric and the one or more high stretch directions of the leather are substantially fully matched when used in shoemaking, and when used to manufacture other leather products, one or more preselected areas of the leather ( By orienting the fabric against the leather so that it occupies at least 50% of the area and is preselected to provide the desired stretch properties in the finished product) and (d) laminating the fabric to the leather. Instead of laminating the whole raw hide to one large piece of fabric, the raw hide and the fabric can be cut into shaped parts and the fabric can be laminated to the cut of the raw hide one part at a time. Moreover, in the method of the present invention there is little waste because each part has optimal stretching properties for its intended use and the unevenness in the hide can be avoided before lamination.

The laminates of the present invention can be used to make finished products such as footwear, garments, garment accessories, upholstered furniture and bags. Clothing includes coats, jackets, pants and skirts. Clothing accessories include gloves, belts and hockey gloves, baseball gloves, golf gloves and athletic gloves such as yacht gloves. Upholstered furniture includes residential, commercial and automotive chairs. The laminate of the present invention is particularly advantageous for shoes. When making parts of shoes using the method of the present invention, the cut pieces have a uniform maximum and minimum stretchable direction that is substantially perpendicular to each other and the stretch direction of the fabric is the maximum of the leather over the entire area of the leather. The leather is precut in shape to substantially align with the stretchable direction.

As used herein, "leather" means tanned raw hides of cows (including calves), goats, sheep, pigs, kangaroos, and other animals, provided that they are provided to provide sufficient extensibility for their intended use. Subject to tanning. Cow (bovine) leather is preferred for most footwear applications. The leather should be able to stretch at least to the extent desired in the intended final product. The leather should be of a suitable thickness so that the laminate is of a thickness suitable for its intended use. "Grain side" refers to the leather side facing the outside of the animal, and "flesh side" refers to the leather side facing the inside of the animal.

As used herein, in the context of cut leather, an "undercut" fabric means that the piece of leather is larger than the piece of fabric in all directions of the leather side, the difference being that the insole of the shoe during the subsequent operation of the shoemaking process In order to be able to be directly bonded to the upper leather of the shoe, i.e. substantially free of stretchable fabric contained within the attachment area, and when reinforcing the upper contour of the shoe, the fabric is not within the flexion line. Preferred dimensions of the undercut are 5-11 mm (6 / 32-14 / 32 inches) all around the shape (see FIG. 2).

As shown in FIG. 2, the fabric 1 is laminated to the leather 2. It can be seen that the edge 3 of the fabric is cut smaller than the edge 4 of the leather. Arrow 5 indicates the low stretch direction of the fabric and leather, and arrow 6 indicates the high stretch direction of the fabric and leather. In the shoemaking process, undercutting allows molding (forming in the mold) only by the shoe top stack thickness around the area where the bottom engages the shoe top. This has several advantages. Sharper, distinct lines are made, resulting in a good form of shoes. Moreover, the lasting process is easier to perform. Finally, when the shoe sole is hot melt bonded to the top in a subsequent step, no exfoliation of the stretchable fabric from the stretch leather top occurs.

When the term "undercut" is used in implementations other than shoemaking, the difference in size between the fabric and the leather is such that the stitching does not substantially include the extensible fabric during the stitching.

The fabric may be woven, knitted or nonwoven. The fabric should be able to stretch at least to the extent desired for the final finished product. Fabrics with a stretch of about 15-40% can be used. Fabrics with an elongation of about 25-30% are preferred at the top of the shoe. The fabric may have a higher, lower, or the same stretch potential as leather. In order to provide sufficient deloading force, the fabric should be made of elastomeric fibers. Spandex is the preferred elastomeric fiber, and Lycra Spandex (registered trademark of E. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company) is most preferred.

Preferably, the fabric is a unidirectional stretchable fabric with little stretch in the direction perpendicular to the unidirectional stretch in order to obtain an adequate match of stretchability in the fabric and the leather. This can easily be achieved by incorporating elastomeric fibers only in warp or weft for woven fabrics. In knitted fabrics, techniques such as weft insertion can be used to obtain a fabric with substantially one-way stretch. Similarly, the nonwoven can be made of, for example, stitch bonding or otherwise incorporating spandex into the nonwoven in one direction and overwhelmingly stretchable in one direction.

The fabric should generally be thin enough so that the laminate does not exceed much of the usual thickness of ordinary leather normally used in the final product. For example, in ladies dress shoes, the laminate should be about 1.2 mm thick, athlete shoes about 1.0-1.5 mm, and boots about 1.7-2.5 mm. The fabric is porous so that the laminate "breaths", smooth to minimize the irregularities on the silver side of the leather, strong to provide durability to the laminate, and the laminate has an optimal flexural modulus that is suitable for its intended use. It is advantageous to have a balance of.

The extensibility of fabric / leather laminates is important in finished products. Substantially matching the high stretch direction of leather and fabric maximizes the flexibility of the laminate and the durability of the shoes made from such laminate. This may be taken into account to provide the desired extensibility in the finished product. For example, an oral leather is usually cut from "tense foot heel to toe" so that the tightness line usually extends from the foot heel to the toe. This provides longitudinal stability to the shoe while allowing lateral flexibility and extensibility for durability and comfort. The laminate according to the present invention is tautly cut from the hind axle to the toe. This means that the maximum stretchable direction of the fabric / leather laminate traverses the rounded portion of the shoe and the minimum stretchable direction is the longitudinal direction of the shoe. Therefore, the unidirectional stretch of the fabric is important for shoes where stability and durability depend on proper orientation of the high stretch and low stretch direction of the leather and laminate.

For shoes, the laminate has certain desirable properties that enable shoes to provide optimal comfort and maintain freshness. These characteristics can be determined by measuring the unloading force at a given elongation.

Preferred laminates are within the ranges shown in the following table.

Elongation (%) Deload Force Range (kg / cm (lb / in)) 0 0 (0) 5 0-0.152 (0-0.85) 10 0.036-0.268 (0.2-1.5) 15 0.052-0.393 (0.29-2.2) 20 0.214-0.571 (1.2-3.2) 25 0.339-1.071 (1.9-6.0) 30 0.750-2.143 (4.2-12.0)

For the purposes of the present invention, "elastomeric fibers" means staple fibers or continuous filaments that have an elongation at break of greater than 100% and, when stretched and released, quickly and strongly shrink substantially to their original length. Such fibers include rubber fibers, spandex and polyetherester fibers and may be covered or entangled with other non-elastomeric fibers, or may be just intact.

"Spandex" is its conventional meaning, ie synthetic filaments or fibers in which the fiber forming material is a long chain synthetic elastomer consisting of at least 85% by weight of segmented polyurethane.

"Substantially matched" means that the high stretch direction of the fabric and the high stretch direction of the leather align within about 45 ° of parallel, preferably within about 22 ° of parallel. The accuracy of registration required to achieve the desired combination of low permanent elongation and optimum unloading force may vary somewhat due to the variability of natural leather. Therefore, the properties of the individual pieces of leather can cause the required registration to be slightly better or worse than about 20 °.

Since the fabric of the laminate is not generally intended to be visible, it is generally attached to the leather side intended as the inner surface of the final product. For dress shoes, this is the inside of the leather. For stretchable raw or suede, this is the unfinished side of the leather. If desired, another piece of natural leather, lining fabric, or artificial leather having suitable stretch properties may be laminated on the fabric side to the first laminate to provide an extensible laminate having two finished sides. .

Other conventional treatments for leather, such as dyeing or applying a waterproofing or damage resistant surface treatment agent, can be performed as long as such treatment does not substantially affect the extensibility, unloading and permanent elongation properties of the laminate.

Fabrics cut to shape can be applied or laid on the leather when loose or stretched. If a smooth surface is desired in the laminate, the fabric should not be stretched excessively during lamination and the adhesive should be applied uniformly so that the finished laminate is free of wrinkles and wrinkles, unless wrinkles and wrinkles are a desirable feature.

Any type of adhesive can be used. Preferred adhesives are sufficiently elastic so as not to inhibit the extensibility of the laminate, and preferably high enough so that the adhesive does not form a continuous film that affects the porosity of the laminate during lamination. For example, hot melt adhesives and pressure sensitive adhesives are preferred, but solvent bases and emulsion adhesives may also be used. In particular, when the final product is oral, the adhesive can be applied in a discontinuous manner to the fabric or leather or both so that the porosity and breathability of the laminate is not deteriorated. Although it does not affect the surface appearance of the leather much, the pressure is used to form the bond between the cut to the leather and the final shape of the fabric, and the fabric is pressed onto the leather by means such as flat press, roller press or upper press. The laminated article can be formed.

Test Methods

Three samples were tested for registration of fabric stretch and leather stretch. Each sample was 7.62 cm (3 inch) long and 2.54 cm (1 inch) wide and tested in the longitudinal direction. An Instron Tensile Tester was used with a C cell battery and a C clamp of 2.54 cm by 7.62 cm (1 inch by 3 inch) faces. Sample gauge length (between clamps) was 5.08 cm (2 inch). Each sample was stretched three times between 0 and 30% extension at a constant rate of 200% / min. In the third cycle, the stress, or unload force, was recorded in kg / cm (lb / inch) at 30% elongation while removing the load from the last elongation. Percent elongation was reported as a percentage of the length increase of the material remaining immediately after the third extension, ie when the stress returned to zero.

% Elongation = {(Length-Initial Length) / Initial Length} x 100

Sample manufacturing

Leather was half of tanned cowhide leather with about 30% maximum strength and about 0.8 mm finished thickness, sold as "Leather for Lycra®" by Curtidos Trevino, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. An area about 30.48 cm (about 12 inches) below the spine at the center of the tanned rawhide was designated as area A, and an area about 30.48 cm (about 12 inches) below the spine near the hip was designated as area B (Fig. 1). In area A, the tightness line is almost parallel to the spine, in other words, the maximum stretchability direction is perpendicular to the spine, in area B the tightness line is almost perpendicular to the spine, in other words, the maximum stretchability direction is parallel to the spine Close to The unloading force of the leather is about 1.250 kg / cm (about 7 lb / inch) in the high elongation direction, about 1.964 kg / cm (about 11 lb / inch) in the low elongation direction, and the permanent elongation is high extension and low elongation. It was 17% in both sex directions.

The fabric is 560 denier Lycra® 127 spandex (EI du Pont) with air spray tangles with 150 denier 34 filament Dacron® 56 polyester (registered trademark of EI du Pont de Nemours and Company). de Nemours and Company® plain weave fabric with weft and 100 denier two-strand 34 filament Dacron® 56 textured polyester as warp yarn. In the weft direction, the load capacity is 0.536 kg / cm (3 lb / inch), the fabric has a permanent elongation of 5% in the high elongation (weft) direction, and 8.929 kg in the low elongation (warp) direction. / cm (50 lb / inch) and permanent elongation was 15%. This thickness was about 0.4 mm.

Hot melt adhesive (“System # 2100”, ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer with tackifying resin; melting point 104.4 ° C. (220 ° F.); Starensier Corp. (Newberryport, Mass.) Was applied to the fabric. . The adhesive was roll coated onto the fabric in a discontinuous random pattern by conventional means.

<Example 1>

The four rectangular fabrics with the adhesive applied are not stretched on the inner side of the tanned rawhide, and the resulting laminate is approximately 16.072 kg / cm (90 lb / s) for approximately 3 seconds until the fabric reaches 104.4 ° C (220 ° F). in pressure).

The alignment of the four fabric rectangles is as follows.

Sample 1 is placed in the A region of raw leather (see FIG. 1) such that the maximum stretchable direction of the leather is parallel to the maximum stretchable direction of the fabric. When testing extensibility in the direction of high elongation, the result is as A1 below. When tested perpendicular to the high stretchability direction, the results are as shown in A2.

For sample 2, the fabric was spun 90 ° (still A region). When testing the stretchability parallel to the stretch direction of the fabric (perpendicular to the high stretch direction of the leather), the result is as shown by A3, and when tested perpendicular to the fabric stretchability, the result is A4.

Samples 3 and 4 were aligned as above except that they were in the B region of rawhide. This is because in the fabric of Sample 1, the fabric placed in parallel with the maximum stretchability direction now has a stretch direction that is substantially perpendicular to the high stretchability direction of the leather, since the maximum stretchability direction of the raw leather changed from the A region to the B region. . Tested as above, the results B1 and B2 reflected elongation tests that were parallel and perpendicular to the fabric stretch direction, respectively, and B3 and B4 were also parallel and perpendicular to the fabric stretch direction, respectively.

As shown in Table 1 below, only A1 and B3 where the test direction (applied stress direction) and high elongation direction of the leather and fabric are substantially matched are within the range of test results in an acceptable range (low unloading force and ≤10 % Elongation), such a sample represents the claimed invention. These results also demonstrated that the method of the present invention allows much more economical and practical use of raw hides. Neither accepted result B1 and B2 simulated the situation where the stretchable fabric was placed on raw leather. This alignment did not compensate for the natural change in maximum stretch direction in the hide.

Sample / test Sample matching exam Laminate Characteristics Fabric Extensibility vs. Leather Extensibility Direction (°) Extensibility vs. Fabric Extensibility Direction (°) Release Load (kg / cm (lb / in)) Permanent Elongation (%) A1 0 0 0.839 (5) 4 A2 0 90 > 8.929 (> 50) 15 A3 90 90 3.214 (18) 14 A4 90 0 > 8.929 (> 50) 15 B1 90 0 1.071 (6) 11 B2 90 90 > 8.929 (> 50) 16 B3 0 0 0.893 (5) 4 B4 0 90 8.929 (> 50) 14

<Example 2>

This example also shows that the properties of the laminate depend on how the laminate is made, cut and used.

The fabric was laminated to raw leather in the A region so that the high stretch direction of the fabric coincided with the high stretch direction of the raw leather, that is, perpendicular to the spine of the raw leather (90 °). The sample was then cut at various angles to the spine for testing. When mating the final cut so that the high stress application direction (test direction) is matched within about 20 ° of the high stretch direction match of the fabric and the leather, as in Sample A1, low load and low percent permanent elongation are preferred. A combination was obtained. After about 20 ° registration, the properties become less desirable (A1 and A2 are tested as in Example 1). These data are shown in Table 2.

Sample / test Sample matching exam Laminate Characteristics Fabric Extensibility vs. Leather Extensibility Direction (°) Extensibility vs. Fabric Extensibility Direction (°) Release Load (kg / cm (lb / inch)) Permanent Elongation (%) A1 0 0 0.893 (5) 4 A5 0 22 1.250 (7) 12 A6 0 45 1.250 (7) 13 A2 0 90 > 8.929 (> 50) 15

The results also showed that if a part matched with A5 and A6 was used as the part of the shoe, it could obtain a similar deloading force as the part of the present invention, A1, that is, a comfortable shoe. However, these same matches A5 and A6 have a fairly high% elongation outside of the present invention and will therefore deform during wear.

This application is part of an ongoing application of US 08 / 730,423, filed October 15, 1996.

Claims (10)

(a) precutting the leather into the size and shape of the finished part to provide an extensible leather piece having at least one highly elongate direction, (b) precutting the fabric into the size and shape of the finished part to provide a unidirectional stretchable fabric, (c) the direction of high stretch of the fabric and the direction of stretch of the leather is in at least one preselected area of the leather, which occupies at least 50% of the total area of the leather piece and is preselected to provide the desired stretch properties in the finished product. Orienting the fabric with respect to the leather to mate within 0 to 45 ° of parallelism, and (d) laminating the fabric to the leather such that the fabric is undercut A method of making a laminate of stretchable fabric and stretchable leather, characterized in that it comprises a. The method of claim 1 wherein the preselected area of the leather comprises at least 90% of the total area of the leather piece. (a) the cut leather piece has a constant maximum stretchable direction and a constant minimum stretchable direction, the maximum and minimum stretchable directions are perpendicular to each other, the maximum stretchable direction crosses the rounded portion of the shoe to be manufactured, and the minimum stretched The pre-cutting of the leather into the size and shape of the shoe part to be manufactured, such that the probable direction extends from the toe to the heel of the foot, (b) the cut piece of fabric has a constant maximum stretchable direction and a constant minimum stretchable direction, the maximum and minimum stretchable directions are perpendicular to each other, and the maximum stretchable direction crosses the rounded portion of the shoe to be manufactured, and the minimum stretched direction The sex direction extends from the toe to the heel of the foot, and pre-cutting the directional stretch fabric in the size and shape of the shoe component to be manufactured so that the fabric is undercut against the leather piece, (c) orienting the fabric piece with respect to the leather piece so that the stretchable direction of the fabric and the maximum stretchable direction of the leather match within 0 to 45 ° of parallel over the entire area of the leather piece, and (d) laminating the fabric to the leather A method of making a laminate of stretchable fabric and stretchable leather useful for manufacturing shoes, characterized in that it comprises a. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the stretchable fabric has a stretchability of 15-40%. The method of claim 3 wherein the stretchable fabric contains spandex as elastomeric fibers. (a) precutting the leather into the size and shape of the finished part to provide an extensible leather piece having at least one highly elongate direction, (b) precutting the fabric into the size and shape of the finished part to provide a unidirectional stretchable fabric, (c) the direction of high stretch of the fabric and the direction of stretch of the leather is in at least one preselected area of the leather, which occupies at least 50% of the total area of the leather piece and is preselected to provide the desired stretch properties in the finished product. Orienting the fabric with respect to the leather to mate within 0 to 45 ° of parallelism, and (d) laminating the fabric to the leather such that the fabric is undercut A finished product which is a shoe, bag, garment, upholstered furniture or garment accessory, characterized in that it comprises a laminate manufactured by a method comprising a. (a) the cut leather piece has a constant maximum stretchable direction and a constant minimum stretchable direction, the maximum and minimum stretchable directions are perpendicular to each other, the maximum stretchable direction crosses the rounded portion of the shoe to be manufactured, and the minimum stretched The pre-cutting of the leather into the size and shape of the shoe part to be manufactured, such that the probable direction extends from the toe to the heel of the foot, (b) the cut piece of fabric has a constant maximum stretchable direction and a constant minimum stretchable direction, the maximum and minimum stretchable directions are perpendicular to each other, and the maximum stretchable direction crosses the rounded portion of the shoe to be manufactured, and the minimum stretched direction The sex direction extends from the toe to the heel of the foot, and pre-cutting the directional stretch fabric in the size and shape of the shoe component to be manufactured so that the fabric is undercut against the leather piece, (c) orienting the fabric piece with respect to the leather piece so that the stretchable direction of the fabric and the maximum stretchable direction of the leather match within 0 to 45 ° of parallel over the entire area of the leather piece, and (d) laminating the fabric to the leather Shoe characterized in that it comprises a laminate manufactured by a method comprising a. delete 8. The shoe of claim 7, wherein the laminate has a load capacity in the range of 0.357-1.250 kg / cm (2-7 lb / inch) at 25% elongation and a permanent elongation of 0-10%. 4. The method of claim 3 further comprising reinforcing the upper contour of the shoe by inserting non-extensible fabric tape and a high strength, low stretch cord prior to bending.