Feeding process for forming zero-mold-seam popcorn shoe sole
By utilizing the pressure difference between the positive pressure air compressor and the finished cavity in the popcorn sole molding process, the popcorn particles are evenly entered into the finished cavity, solving the mold seam problem caused by inconsistent sole thickness and realizing mold seamless The effect of molding and cost reduction.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202411051114.9
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-08-01
- Publication Date
- 2024-12-24
AI Technical Summary
In the existing popcorn sole molding process, popcorn particles are formed under normal pressure, resulting in inconsistent thickness of the toe and tail of the sole, resulting in the generation of mold seams, increasing the production process flow and material waste, and increasing production costs.
The pressure difference between the positive pressure air compressor and the finished product cavity is adopted to keep the popcorn particles compressed in the barrel and the finished product cavity, ensuring that the particles can evenly enter the finished product cavity and avoid the formation of mold seams.
The moldless seam-free popcorn sole molding is achieved, which reduces subsequent processing processes, reduces production costs, and improves molding quality.
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The invention relates to the field of sole molding, and in particular to a material feeding process for molding a zero-mold-seam popcorn sole. Background Art
[0002] Popcorn soles, scientifically known as ETPU, are an invented polymer material composed of countless elastic and lightweight TPU foam balls. During the processing of existing TPU, TPU is made into granules like popcorn particles, and then the popcorn particles are processed into the required sole shape through steam molding. In this process, the outermost layer of the popcorn particles slightly melts and adheres to a stable shape, while the internal pore structure is not affected. When the sole is under pressure, it can shrink to half its size, greatly reducing the shock force on the sole. After the compression force disappears, the sole can quickly return to its original shape, so the TPU particles The soles made of popcorn particles are called popcorn soles; the existing popcorn particles are formed by a molding mold, such as a new type of ETPU popcorn automatic ejection mold disclosed in Application No. 2021231493301, which includes a fixed material gun plate, a fixed component A, a mold cover mold core, a mold middle frame, a fixed component B, a steam sealing tail plate, a cooling water pipe A, a cooling water pipe B, a mold bottom flower insert, a cylinder body, a cylinder positioning rod, a cylinder fixed plate, an ejection push plate, an ejection guide component and a guide slide rod, the fixed component A is installed at the upper end surface of the fixed material gun plate, and the mold cover mold core is installed on the fixed component A The mold middle frame is installed on the upper end surface of the mold upper cover mold core, the fixed component B is installed on the upper end surface of the mold middle frame, the steam sealing tail plate is installed on the top of the fixed component B, the cooling water pipe A and the cooling water pipe B are respectively located on the upper end surface of the fixed material gun plate and the bottom of the steam sealing tail plate, the mold bottom flower inserts are provided with a plurality of, and the plurality of mold bottom flower inserts are all installed on the upper end surface of the mold middle frame, the bottom of the cylinder body is provided with a plurality of cylinder positioning rods, the cylinder fixing plate is located outside the plurality of cylinder positioning rods, the top of the ejection push plate is fixed with the telescopic end of the cylinder body The ejection push plate is fixedly connected, and the ejection push plate is installed on the upper surface of the steam sealing tail plate through the ejection guide assembly. A plurality of guide slide bars are arranged between the ejection push plate and the steam sealing tail plate, and the top of the guide slide bar passes through the ejection push plate and is fixedly connected with the cylinder fixing plate; when used, the feed hole of the feed gun is connected to the material barrel with popcorn grains, the output port of the material barrel is opened, the output port of the material barrel outputs the popcorn grains and injects the popcorn grains into the finished product cavity of the middle frame through the feed hole of the feed gun, and then the entire mold is heated with water vapor, so as to perform water vapor foaming molding on the popcorn grains in the finished product cavity of the middle frame to obtain a popcorn sole.
[0003] However, the popcorn grains in the above-mentioned process for making popcorn shoe materials are formed under normal pressure. When the popcorn sole needs to be foamed, the overall thickness of the sole is not completely consistent at the toe and the heel due to the difference in the sole function, which leads to the thickness between the inner wall of the middle frame finished cavity and the mold core being thick and thin. As a result, when the popcorn grains enter the middle frame finished cavity, if the size of the popcorn grains is larger than the thinner position of the middle frame finished cavity, the popcorn grains cannot be foamed to the thinner position of the middle frame finished cavity. For example, the diameter of the popcorn grains is 5mm, while the thinner position of the middle frame finished cavity is 1.5mm. When the thickness is less than 5mm, the popcorn grains cannot enter the thinner position of the middle frame finished product cavity. In this way, the upper mold and the lower mold need to be separated by a certain gap away from each other so that the popcorn grains can enter the thinner position of the middle frame finished product cavity. However, this will cause the popcorn grains to overflow from all sides of the middle frame finished product cavity, and form a mold seam around the produced sole. After the sole is demolded, the mold seam of the sole needs to be cut or polished before the next link can be carried out. The cutting or polishing of the mold seam will increase the process flow of sole production, and also cause waste of sole materials, increasing production costs.
[0004] In view of this, the inventor of this case conducted an in-depth study on the problem, which resulted in this case. Summary of the invention
[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a material feeding process for forming a zero-mold-seam popcorn sole, so as to solve the problem that the soles produced by the existing process have mold seams, which need to be processed, increase the process flow, waste materials and cause high production costs.
[0006] In order to achieve the purpose, the present invention adopts such technical solution:
[0007] A material feeding process for forming a zero-mold-seam popcorn sole comprises the following steps:
[0008] Step 1: prepare materials, pour popcorn grains into a sealed material barrel, and the bottom of the material barrel has a discharge port that can be opened and closed, and a first air compressor for injecting pressure into the interior of the material barrel is installed on the material barrel, and a second air compressor that can pass into the finished product cavity of the molding mold is also installed on the molding mold for molding the shoe sole, the material barrel is directly above the molding mold, and the material barrel is installed at the discharge port with a feed pipe connected to the finished product cavity of the molding mold;
[0009] Step 2: Pressurize the material barrel in step 1 to make the pressure in the material barrel 3-12 kg, and at the same time add positive pressure to the finished product cavity to make the pressure difference between the pressure of the finished product cavity and the pressure inside the material barrel within 1-5 kg;
[0010] Step three, feeding, open the discharge port of the material barrel in step two, and at the same time start the first air compressor to keep providing positive pressure air to the feeding barrel, and start the second air compressor to keep providing positive pressure air to the finished product cavity, so that the pressure difference between the pressure in the finished product cavity and the pressure in the material barrel is maintained at 1-5 kg. During the feeding process, the popcorn grains are compressed and transported to the finished product cavity due to the pressure difference. The discharge port is open for 2-5s. After 2-5s, the discharge port is closed, and the compressed popcorn grains cover all parts of the finished product cavity.
[0011] The first air compressor and the second air compressor are both air compression pumps capable of outputting positive pressure air.
[0012] A plurality of mutually connected pressure relief holes are arranged around the finished product cavity, one of which is connected to the suction fan, and the aperture of each pressure relief hole is smaller than the minimum diameter of the popcorn particles that need to be compressed.
[0013] The first air compressor and the second air compressor are both high-pressure gas cylinders, which have an inner barrel body and an outer barrel body outside the inner barrel body. A hollow chamber filled with water is formed between the outer wall of the outer barrel body and the inner wall of the inner barrel body. Heating plates are electrically connected to the inner barrel body and the outer barrel body, and the material barrel and the molding cavity are connected to their corresponding outer barrel body through connecting pipes.
[0014] The interior of the connecting pipe is heated by a heating plate, and the output end of the connecting pipe is provided with a regulating valve.
[0015] The inner wall of the barrel is concavely provided with a plurality of mutually connected air holes, one of which is connected to the output end of the connecting pipe, and the inner diameter of the air hole is smaller than the minimum diameter of the popcorn particles that need to be compressed.
[0016] Compared with the prior art, the feeding process of forming a zero-mold-seam popcorn sole of the present invention has the following advantages:
[0017] 1. With the feeding process, the popcorn particles are compressed by positive pressure air and kept in a compressed state by the pressure difference between the material barrel and the finished product cavity, so that the compressed popcorn particles can be compressed to a size smaller than the thinner position of the finished product cavity and enter the thinner position of the finished product cavity, so that the compressed popcorn particles can enter various parts of the finished product cavity, and the compressed air is stopped, the popcorn particles foam, and the popcorn particles can fill the finished product cavity, so that the molded sole has evenly popcorn particles, thereby improving the molding quality of the molded popcorn sole.
[0018] 2. For the soles produced by the feeding process, since the popcorn particles have already covered all positions of the finished product cavity during the feeding process, there is no need to separate the upper and lower molds of the forming mold to allow the popcorn particles to enter the thinner positions in the finished product cavity, so that mold seams will not be produced in the produced soles. If the produced soles do not have mold seams, there is no need for subsequent processes for processing the mold seams, which reduces one processing step, reduces production costs, and avoids waste of sole materials. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] In order to further explain the technical solution of the present invention, it is elaborated in detail below.
[0020] A material feeding process for forming a zero-mold-seam popcorn sole comprises the following steps:
[0021] Step 1, prepare materials, pour popcorn kernels into a sealed material barrel, and the bottom of the material barrel has a discharge port that can be opened and closed, and a first air compressor for injecting pressure into the interior of the material barrel is installed on the material barrel, and a second air compressor that can pass into the finished product cavity of the molding mold is also installed on the molding mold for molding the sole. The first air compressor and the second air compressor are both air compression pumps that can output positive pressure air. The way in which the air compression pump generates positive pressure air to enter the material barrel and the molding mold is a well-known technology and will not be elaborated here. The material barrel is directly above the molding mold, and the material barrel is located at the discharge port. A feed pipe connected to the finished product cavity of the molding mold is installed. Preferably, a regulating valve that can adjust the opening of the feed pipe is provided on the feed pipe. The structure of the regulating valve and the way in which the regulating valve controls the feed amount of the feed pipe are well-known technologies in the art and will not be elaborated here. When used, the conduction and cutoff of the discharge port and the feed amount of popcorn kernels falling from the material barrel are controlled by controlling the regulating valve.
[0022] Step 2: Pressurize the material barrel in step 1 to make the pressure in the material barrel be 3-12 kg, and at the same time add positive pressure to the finished product cavity to make the pressure difference between the finished product cavity and the pressure inside the material barrel be within 1-5 kg; in this process, the discharge port is in a cut-off state, and the first air compressor inputs positive pressure air to the material barrel, and the popcorn particles in the material barrel are compressed.
[0023] Step three, feeding, open the discharge port of the material barrel in step two, and at the same time start the first air compressor to keep supplying positive pressure air to the feed barrel, and start the second air compressor to keep supplying positive pressure air to the finished product cavity, so that the pressure difference between the pressure in the finished product cavity and the pressure in the material barrel is maintained at 1-5 kg, and the popcorn particles are compressed and transported to the finished product cavity due to the pressure difference during the feeding process. The discharge port is open for 2-5s, and after 2-5s, the discharge port is closed. The compressed popcorn particles are distributed in various parts of the finished product cavity. Preferably, a plurality of interconnected pressure relief holes are provided around the finished product cavity, one of which is connected to the suction fan, and the aperture of each pressure relief hole is smaller than the minimum diameter that the popcorn particles need to be compressed. In this process, the positive pressure air pressure in the material barrel is greater than the positive pressure air pressure in the finished product cavity, and the compressed popcorn particles are affected by the pressure difference. The positive pressure air in the finished product cavity will be depressurized to a certain extent through the pressure relief hole in the molding die. In this way, the first air compressor is required to continuously input positive pressure air into the material barrel and the second air compressor is required to continuously input positive pressure air into the finished product cavity. The compressed popcorn particles are in a continuously compressed state when they are transported from the material barrel to the finished product cavity, so that the popcorn particles can enter various parts of the finished product cavity. After the popcorn particles enter various parts of the finished product cavity, the discharge port is closed, and the first air compressor and the second air compressor are closed. The popcorn particles are foamed and cover various parts of the finished product cavity. The popcorn particles can be directly covered with the finished product cavity without separating the molding die. At the same time, the setting of the pressure relief hole and the suction fan enables the popcorn particles to be better adsorbed and dispersed in various parts of the finished product cavity.
[0024] Compared with the prior art, the feeding process of forming a zero-mold-seam popcorn sole of the present invention has the following advantages:
[0025] 1. With the feeding process, the popcorn particles are compressed by positive pressure air and kept in a compressed state by the pressure difference between the material barrel and the finished product cavity, so that the compressed popcorn particles can be compressed to a size smaller than the thinner position of the finished product cavity and enter the thinner position of the finished product cavity, so that the compressed popcorn particles can enter various parts of the finished product cavity, and the compressed air is stopped, the popcorn particles foam, and the popcorn particles can fill the finished product cavity, so that the molded sole has evenly popcorn particles, thereby improving the molding quality of the molded popcorn sole.
[0026] 2. For the soles produced by the feeding process, since the popcorn particles have already covered all positions of the finished product cavity during the feeding process, there is no need to separate the upper and lower molds of the forming mold to allow the popcorn particles to enter the thinner positions in the finished product cavity, so that mold seams will not be produced in the produced soles. If the produced soles do not have mold seams, there is no need for subsequent processes for processing the mold seams, which reduces one processing step, reduces production costs, and avoids waste of sole materials.
[0027] In the present invention, it is preferred that the first air compressor and the second air compressor are both high-pressure gas cylinders, the high-pressure gas cylinder has an inner barrel body and an outer barrel body outside the inner barrel body, a hollow chamber filled with water is formed between the outer wall of the outer barrel body and the inner wall of the inner barrel body, the inner barrel body and the outer barrel body are electrically connected with a heating plate, the material barrel and the forming mold cavity are both connected to their corresponding outer barrel bodies through a connecting pipe, the interior of the connecting pipe is heated by a heating plate, and the output end of the connecting pipe is provided with the above-mentioned regulating valve, it is preferred that the heating plate and the heating plate are both heating coils; the heating plate keeps the water in the hollow chamber at a certain temperature, and the airflow ejected from the high-pressure gas cylinder has a certain temperature, so that the popcorn grains are preliminarily heated, thereby reducing dryness and dehumidification of the popcorn grains to a certain extent, which can improve the foaming quality of the popcorn grains.
[0028] In the present invention, it is preferred that the inner wall of the barrel is recessed with a plurality of interconnected air holes, one of which is connected to the output end of the connecting pipe, and the inner diameter of the air hole is smaller than the minimum diameter of the popcorn particles that need to be compressed; when used, the setting of the air holes can allow positive pressure air to enter the barrel from all directions, and can more evenly compress the popcorn particles in all directions in the barrel.
[0029] The product form of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments of this case. Any appropriate changes or modifications made by anyone with similar ideas should be deemed to be within the patent scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A feeding process for forming a zero-mold-seam popcorn sole, characterized in that: The steps include: Step 1: prepare materials, pour popcorn grains into a sealed material barrel, and the bottom of the material barrel has a discharge port that can be opened and closed, and a first air compressor for injecting pressure into the interior of the material barrel is installed on the material barrel, and a second air compressor that can pass into the finished product cavity of the molding mold is also installed on the molding mold for molding the shoe sole, the material barrel is directly above the molding mold, and the material barrel is installed at the discharge port with a feed pipe connected to the finished product cavity of the molding mold; Step 2: Pressurize the material barrel in step 1 to make the pressure in the material barrel 3-12 kg, and at the same time add positive pressure to the finished product cavity to make the pressure difference between the pressure of the finished product cavity and the pressure inside the material barrel within 1-5 kg; Step three, feeding, open the discharge port of the material barrel in step two, and at the same time start the first air compressor to keep providing positive pressure air to the feeding barrel, and start the second air compressor to keep providing positive pressure air to the finished product cavity, so that the pressure difference between the pressure in the finished product cavity and the pressure in the material barrel is maintained at 1-5 kg. During the feeding process, the popcorn grains are compressed and transported to the finished product cavity due to the pressure difference. The discharge port is open for 2-5s. After 2-5s, the discharge port is closed, and the compressed popcorn grains cover all parts of the finished product cavity.
2. The feeding process of forming a zero-mold-seam popcorn sole according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first air compressor and the second air compressor are both air compression pumps capable of outputting positive pressure air.
3. The feeding process of forming a zero-mold-seam popcorn sole according to claim 1, characterized in that: A plurality of mutually connected pressure relief holes are arranged around the finished product cavity, one of which is connected to the suction fan, and the aperture of each pressure relief hole is smaller than the minimum diameter of the popcorn particles that need to be compressed.
4. The feeding process of forming a zero-mold-seam popcorn sole according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first air compressor and the second air compressor are both high-pressure gas cylinders, which have an inner barrel body and an outer barrel body outside the inner barrel body. A hollow chamber filled with water is formed between the outer wall of the outer barrel body and the inner wall of the inner barrel body. Heating plates are electrically connected to the inner barrel body and the outer barrel body, and the material barrel and the molding cavity are connected to their corresponding outer barrel body through connecting pipes.
5. The feeding process for forming a zero-mold-seam popcorn sole according to claim 3, characterized in that: The interior of the connecting pipe is heated by a heating plate, and the output end of the connecting pipe is provided with a regulating valve.
6. The feeding process for forming a zero-mold-seam popcorn sole according to claim 2, characterized in that: The inner wall of the barrel is concavely provided with a plurality of mutually connected air holes, one of which is connected to the output end of the connecting pipe, and the inner diameter of the air hole is smaller than the minimum diameter of the popcorn particles that need to be compressed.