US20060000115A1

US20060000115A1 - Method of making insole and insole made thereby

Info

Publication number: US20060000115A1
Application number: US10/879,095
Authority: US
Inventors: Heng-Tai Chang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-06-30
Filing date: 2004-06-30
Publication date: 2006-01-05

Abstract

A method of making an insole includes the steps of (a) providing a base sheet material having through holes, (b) immersing the base sheet material in a filling material for enabling the filling material to fill up the through holes, (c) baking the base sheet material to cure the filling material, (d) splitting the base sheet material to a desired thickness, (e) bonding a fabric layer to one side of the base sheet material, (f) cutting the base sheet material into semi-finished insole, (g) stamping the semi-finished insole into a finished insole where the filling material protrudes over the top and bottom sides of the base sheet material, and the fabric layer has raised portions supported on the protruded filling material corresponding to the through holes.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of making an insole for shoes and more specifically, to the method of making an insole for shoe that has raised portions on the surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
An insole provides an elastic support to the sole of the user, enabling the user to walk comfortably. In order to enhance the elastic power and ventilation effect of an insole, the insole is made having raised portions protruding over the top surface. When the user pressed the sole on the raised portions of the insole, gaps are left in between the user's sole and the top surface of the insole for ventilation. An insole having raised portions may be molded from polymeric compound, foam material, rubber or the like. The mold has recessed portions in the cavity for forming raised portions on the surface of the insole. Usually, the insole molded integrally by this way has a bottom surface with recessed portions at areas corresponding to the raised portions of the top surface. When the insole is compressed, the raised portions tend to deform permanently after a long time of use of the insole, thereby reducing its elastic material property and ventilation effect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a method of making an insole, which is practical to make insoles that maintains a high elastic power and provides a satisfactory ventilation effect after a long time of use.
To achieve this objective of the present invention, the method of making an insole provided by the present invention comprises the steps of (a) providing a base sheet material made of a first compound, the base sheet material having a plurality of through holes through top and bottom sides thereof; (b) immersing the base sheet material in a fluid filling material prepared from a second compound to let the filling material fill up the through holes; (c) baking the base sheet material in a baking oven to cure the filling material; (d) splitting the base sheet material subject to a desired thickness; (e) bonding a fabric layer to a top surface of the base sheet material; (f) cutting the fabric layer bonded base sheet material thus obtained into a semi-finished insole with a predetermined shape; and (g) stamping the semi-finished insole to compact the base sheet material, for enabling the filling material to protrude over the top surface and a bottom surface of the base sheet material, thereby forming a plurality of raised portions at the fabric layer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart according to a method of making an insole of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a base material for insole according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing showing the filling material immersion procedure according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a sectional elevation of the base sheet material after filling material immersion according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the base sheet material after material splitting according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the base sheet material after fabric bonding according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a semi-finished insole obtained after cutting and baking procedure according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a finished insole made according to the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view in an enlarged scale of a part of the finished insole shown in FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a method of making an insole in accordance with the present invention includes the steps of (a) material preparation, (b) filling material immersion, (c) baking, (d) material splitting, (e) fabric bonding, (f) cutting and baking, and (g) stamping.
Referring to FIG. 2, a base sheet material 10 is provided during step (a) material preparation. The base sheet material 10 is molded from a polymeric compound, for example, EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate), having a plurality of circular through holes 12 through the top and bottom sides thereof.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, after step (a) material preparation, it proceeds to step (b) filling material immersion where the base sheet material 10 is immersed in a fluid filling material 14, enabling the filling material 14 to fill in the through holes 12. The filling material 14 is a different polymeric compound. According to this embodiment, the filling material 14 is latex. The filling material 14 is filled in the bottom die 16 of a mold 20 at first, and then the base sheet material 10 is put in the filling material 14 inside the bottom die 16, and then a press 22 is operated to close the upper die 18 of the mold 20 on the bottom die 16. When closing the upper die 18 on the bottom die 16, the filling material 14 is forced to fill up the through holes 12 and to move over the top and bottom sides of the base sheet material 10, and at the same time the base sheet material 10 is flattened. The flattened base sheet material 10 is kept in the mold 20 for several minutes to let the filling material 14 be hardened and fixedly positioned in the through holes 12.
Thereafter, it proceeds to step (c) baking where the base sheet material 10 is removed from the mold 20 and then put in a baking oven and baked to cure the filling material 14.
After step (c) baking, it proceeds to step (d) material splitting where the top and bottom layers are removed from the base sheet material 10 by splitting, thereby exposing the filling material 14 to the top and bottom side as shown in FIG. 5.
After step (d) material splitting, it proceeds to step (e) fabric bonding where a fabric layer 24 is covered on and bonded to the top side of the base sheet material 10 as shown in FIG. 6. The fabric layer 24 preferably has a color different from the color of the base sheet material 10 and the color of the filling material 14, thereby producing a visual effect.
After step (e) fabric bonding, it proceeds to step (f) cutting and baking where the fabric layer 24 bonded base sheet material 10 is cut into semi-finished insoles 30 subject to the shape of the sole of a human being as shown in FIG. 7, and then the semi-finished insoles 30 are baked in a baking oven for several minutes to soften the material structure.
After step (f) cutting and baking, it proceeds to the last step (g) stamping where the softened semi-finished insoles 30 are put in a cold stamper and stamped into the desired finished products as shown in FIG. 8. Because the semi-finished insoles 30 are still soft when taken out of the baking oven, the semi-finished insoles 30 can be stamped into the desired three-dimensional configuration to fit the structure of the shoe. When each semi-finished insole 30 is stamped in the cold stamper, the base sheet material 10 is compacted. After stamping, the base sheet material 10 is maintained in the compacted status, however, due to the material property of latex, the filling material 14 immediately returns to the former shape to protrude over the top and bottom surfaces of the base sheet material 10 and to push a part of the fabric layer 24 outwards, thereby fonning a plurality of raised portions 28.
Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, an insole 30 in accordance with the present invention comprises a base sheet material 10, a filling material 14, and a fabric layer 24. The base sheet material 10 is a sheet member having a plurality of circular through holes 12 through the top and bottom surfaces thereof. The base sheet material 10 is molded from EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate). The filling material 14 is obtained from latex and fixedly secured to the circular through holes 12 and protruded over the top and bottom surfaces of the base sheet material 10. The fabric layer 24 is covered on the top surface of the base sheet material 10 over the protruded part of the filling material 14, thereby forming a plurality of raised portions 28.
As indicated above, the invention provides numerous advantages as follows:
1. Because the filling material 14 fills up the circular through holes 12 of the base sheet material 10 and protrudes over the top and bottom surfaces of the base sheet material 10, it is directly supported on the outsole of the shoe and maintained in contact with the user's sole to receive pressure from the user directly. Therefore, the filling material 14 is constantly maintained protruded over the top and bottom surfaces of the base sheet material 10 even after a long time of use of the insole 30, giving an elastic support to the user's sole and good ventilation to the shoe.
2. The base sheet material 10 and the filling material 14 can be made of different materials having different hardness to fit different types of shoes.
3. The raised portions 28 of the insole 30 can be arranged to provide a massaging effect to massage the user's sole.

Claims

1. A method of making an insole comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a base sheet material made of a first compound, said base sheet material having a plurality of through holes through top and bottom sides thereof;

(b) immersing said base sheet material in a fluid filling material prepared from a second compound to let said filling material fill up said through holes;

(c) baking said base sheet material filled with said filling material in a baking oven to cure said filling material;

(d) splitting said base sheet material to a desired thickness;

(e) bonding a fabric layer to a top surface of said base sheet material;

(f) cutting the fabric layer bonded base sheet material thus obtained into a semi-finished insole with a predetermined shape; and

(g) stamping said semi-finished insole to compact said base sheet material, for enabling said filling material to protrude over the top surface and a bottom surface of said base sheet material, thereby forming a plurality of raised portions at said fabric layer.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first compound is ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA).

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second compound is latex.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein in said step (b), the filling material is filled in a bottom die, and then said base sheet material is put in said filling material inside said bottom die, and then a press is operated to close an upper die on said bottom die to force said filling material into the through holes of said base sheet material.

5. An insole comprising:

a base sheet material made of a first compound, said base sheet material having a plurality of through holes;

a filling material prepared from a second compound and fixedly filled in said through holes and protruding over two opposite sides of said base sheet material; and

a fabric layer covered on one side of said base sheet material, said fabric layer having a plurality of raised portions respectively supported on the protruded filling material corresponding to the through holes.