Vamp raw material, vamp processing device and vamp manufacturing process

Abstract

The invention provides a vamp raw material, a vamp processing device and a vamp manufacturing process. The vamp raw material is fine paste or slurry, and the viscosity of the vamp raw material in the normal temperature state is larger than or equal to 100 Pa.s. The vamp processing device comprises a movable feeding device used for mixing, supplying and conveying pasty raw materials and feeding shoe tree surfaces or shoe sole side walls and the like; the scraper device is used for pushing the raw materials to be uniformly smeared on the shoe tree; the control system is used for setting the feeding parameters of the movable feeding device and the motion trail of the scraper device so as to control the mechanical arm to drive the movable feeding device and the scraper device to conduct feeding or blade coating along a preset trail; and the shoe tree is used for forming and positioning the vamp. In the vamp manufacturing process, a vamp processing device is adopted for vamp manufacturing. The invention belongs to a brand-new vamp integral forming process, and the applicable raw materials are wider in selection of the raw materials; the design of a raw material blade coating control program is simple; the shoe rack is suitable for various shoe types.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of shoe upper manufacturing, and particularly relates to a raw material for shoe upper, a shoe upper processing device and a shoe upper manufacturing process. Background Art

[0002] Generally, the production of shoe uppers uses knitted fabrics and / or woven fabrics as the main body, and the shoe upper fabrics are formed through steps such as impregnation and lamination; then they are cut into multiple pieces, and then each piece is sewn to form the shoe upper. Therefore, the manufacturing of shoe uppers belongs to labor-intensive work. Although there are some machines applied to shoe upper manufacturing, they are mostly used for operations such as the fitting of shoe uppers and shoe lasts, the weaving of shoe upper fabrics, the sewing of shoe uppers and soles, and trimming, which belong to a semi-mechanical and semi-manual operation mode.

[0003] Regarding the intelligent manufacturing of shoe uppers, major shoe brands are also inventing new manufacturing processes. For example, in patent application CN109953403A of Adidas, a number of rigid elements and stretchable parts are arranged on the shoe upper, the stretchable parts are fixed to the rigid elements, and the adjustment of the shoe upper size is achieved through the stretching of the stretchable parts, and the inflation of the shoe last is coordinated to simplify the differences in the manufacturing of shoe uppers of different sizes and reduce the manufacturing cost of shoe uppers. However, its stretchable parts are still realized through the selection of yarn knitting methods and yarn types, and different parts of the shoe upper have different requirements for stretchability, so the overall complexity of shoe upper manufacturing is still relatively high, and it is difficult to integrally form the shoe upper.

[0004] On Running uses a LightSpray TM technology to achieve the integral forming manufacturing of shoe uppers. LightSpray TM uses a robotic arm for automated spraying and weaving operations. Compared with the indispensable steps such as yarn extrusion, finishing, knitting or weaving, and component assembly and sewing in the traditional shoe upper manufacturing process, LightSpray TM can precisely manufacture high-performance and lightweight shoe uppers in one step, and the efficient manufacturing process can minimize production waste. However, its equipment investment is relatively high. A single robotic arm scans the appearance of the shoe last into a shoe upper, which takes a long time and has low production efficiency. It must be assisted by complex program design, and the materials and spinnerets must be precisely matched. If the shoe type or shoe upper changes, significant corrections need to be made in aspects such as material formula, properties, nozzle aperture, length and pressure, etc., making it difficult to expand production.

[0005] Therefore, providing a shoe upper processing method that can integrally form, has high production efficiency, and simple program design is of great significance for the intelligent development of the entire shoe manufacturing industry. Summary of the Invention

[0006] Aiming at the problems of complex processes and low production efficiency in the existing shoe upper manufacturing technology, the present invention provides a shoe upper raw material, a shoe upper processing device and a shoe upper manufacturing technology.

[0007] The technical solution of the present invention is as follows: A shoe upper raw material, the raw material is in a delicate paste or slurry form, and the raw material includes a base material, an auxiliary material, a filler, an additive, and a solvent; among them, the auxiliary material, the filler, and the additive are selectively added according to the performance requirements of the shoe upper; the base material is an oligomer or polymer for preparing any one of polyolefin, polyester, polyamide, polyurethane, and rubber; the auxiliary material is an organic small molecule or oligomer, used to adjust any one or more of the flexibility, formability, adhesiveness, heat resistance, dimensional stability, skin-friendliness, and chemical stability resistance of the base material; the filler is an inorganic particle, a metal nanoparticle, or a fiber, used to enhance the thermal conductivity, toughness, or antibacterial property of the base material; the additive is any one or more of an antioxidant, a plasticizer, an ultraviolet light stabilizer, a flame retardant, and a dispersant; the solvent is selected according to the characteristics of the base material, so that the viscosity of the raw material at room temperature is ≥100 Pa·s.

[0008] The present invention also provides a shoe upper processing device, including: a movable feeding device, used for the processes of mixing, feeding, conveying, and feeding the paste-like raw material onto the shoe last surface or the side wall of the shoe sole; a scraping device, used to push the raw material to be evenly applied on the shoe last; a control system, used to set the feeding parameters of the movable feeding device and the movement trajectory of the scraping device, so as to control the robotic arm to drive the movable feeding device and the scraping device respectively to perform feeding and scraping along a predetermined trajectory; a shoe last, used for the shaping and positioning of the shoe upper.

[0009] Further, the movable feeding device includes: a material barrel, a mixer, a material pipe assembly, a compression pump, a metering pump, and a nozzle. The nozzle is placed at the end of the robotic arm and is closely connected to the robotic arm; the material pipe assembly is respectively connected to the material barrel, the mixer, the metering pump, and the nozzle to realize the transportation of the raw material to the nozzle; the material barrel contains raw materials with the same or different compositions; the mixer is used to evenly mix different raw materials; the metering pumps are respectively arranged at positions before the nozzle and the mixer, used for accurate control of feeding; the compression pump is selectively arranged above the nozzle, used to assist in increasing the feeding speed and feeding amount of the highly viscous raw material; the nozzle is arranged at different positions of the shoe last, used to spray the same or different raw materials; a driving mechanism is arranged in the robotic arm, and the driving mechanism drives the nozzle to move and rotate.

[0010] Further, the scraping device includes a robotic arm and a scraper. The robotic arm has multiple degrees of freedom of movement, and the number of the robotic arm and the scraper is 1 to 6, used to scrape different parts of the shoe upper synchronously or asynchronously; the shape of the scraper includes various shapes such as a straight plate shape, a U shape, a single hook shape, and a serrated shape.

[0011] Furthermore, the shoe last includes: a first shoe last and a second shoe last; the first shoe last is used for chemical reactions of raw materials on its surface and evaporation of solvents; the second shoe last is used to realize re-stretching of the upper raw materials after film formation, so as to enhance the molecular orientation of the raw materials and improve the strength of the upper.

[0012] Furthermore, the overall upper size of the second shoe last is larger than that of the first shoe last. The size ratio range of the first shoe last to the second shoe last is 1:1 to 5.

[0013] Furthermore, heating rods and / or a water cooling system are built in the first shoe last and the second shoe last to adjust the surface temperature of the shoe last.

[0014] Furthermore, the surface of the shoe last is a smooth surface or is provided with various patterns or textures of machining to highlight the personalized design of the upper.

[0015] Furthermore, the materials of the shoe last and the squeegee are both elastic metals, so that the squeegee can better adapt to the complex surface of the upper to complete the scraping work of the raw materials.

[0016] Furthermore, a groove is provided at the collar position of the shoe last to store the remaining raw materials after scraping.

[0017] Preferably, one or more auxiliary components of ultraviolet light, infrared light, and x-rays are provided outside the shoe last to assist in realizing the forming of the upper fabric.

[0018] The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing an upper, including the following steps:

[0019] S1. Pre-treat the outer wall of the sole, that is, the bonding surface between the sole and the upper, to ensure the bonding strength between the upper and the sole, and pre-coat the shoe last with a release agent;

[0020] S2. Temporarily fix the sole and the shoe last;

[0021] S3. Control a movable feeding device to feed materials at specific positions on the outer wall of the sole and the surface of the shoe last;

[0022] S4. Scrape the raw materials / fabric flat with a squeegee device according to the set scraping trajectory;

[0023] S5. Take out the shoe last, clean the bonding substances at the bottom of the shoe last, print lines or patterns on the upper according to the design requirements of the upper, and bond / sew decorative parts; complete the manufacture of the upper.

[0024] Furthermore, the pre-treatment of the outer wall of the sole includes coating any one of a coupling agent, a primer, plasma, an adhesive, and a reactive low-molecular substance to improve the bonding strength between the upper and the sole.

[0025] Furthermore, the temporary fixing method between the sole and the shoe last includes: temporary bonding or magnetic attraction to pre-fix the shoe last and the sole, ensuring the smooth implementation of the scraping process.

[0026] Furthermore, in step S3, the positions for feeding materials on the surface of the shoe last extrude the same or different raw materials from nozzles at different positions on the surface of the shoe last according to the different functional requirements of each part of the shoe upper, so as to achieve differentiation or functionalization at different positions of the shoe upper.

[0027] Furthermore, the starting point of the scraping track is the bonding position between the sole and the shoe upper, and it passes through the shoe last head, shoe last ridge, shoe last side groove, and rear arc in the middle respectively. The end point of the scraping track is the shoe last throat.

[0028] Preferably, during the scraping process, multiple scrapings are carried out from the starting point to the end point according to the effect of the shoe upper; the multiple scrapings adopt the same or different movement tracks to ensure that the materials of different raw materials on the shoe upper are mutually fused at the interface and the interface is flat.

[0029] Furthermore, during the scraping process, by adjusting any parameter among the viscosity of the raw material, the distance between the scraper and the shoe last, the moving speed of the scraper, the temperature of the shoe last, and the scraping time, the control of the thickness and quality of the shoe upper is realized.

[0030] Preferably, according to the forming requirement of the shoe upper, after the first shoe last is taken out, the shoe upper is stretched by using the second shoe last and then taken out to enhance the molecular orientation of the raw material of the shoe upper and improve the strength of the shoe upper.

[0031] The advantages of the present invention are as follows: the paste-like raw materials used for the shoe upper can be more conveniently matched according to the movement needs of users, and the complex sewing process in the traditional shoe upper processing process is abandoned during the shoe upper preparation process; it belongs to a brand-new integral shoe upper forming process.

[0032] The shoe upper preparation process of the present invention is different from that in the LightSpray TM technology, which has high requirements for the viscosity of raw materials, nozzle accuracy, air circuit design, etc. in the automated spraying and weaving operation. The applicable raw materials are wider and more diverse in the selection of raw materials for feeding. Through the cooperation of shoe last heating and / or replacement, auxiliary components and scraping operations, various post-treatment operations such as shaping and stretching of raw materials can be completed; in addition, the movement track during the raw material scraping process is very simple, and the movement track is mostly a straight forward push action, so the design of the corresponding control program and the control system are simpler; the use of multiple robotic arms to operate simultaneously makes its production efficiency high and applicable to the preparation of a variety of different shoe types. The overall shoe upper preparation process has better versatility and is more suitable for large-scale shoe upper production and manufacturing. Description of the Drawings

[0033] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the shape of the scraper;

[0034] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the shape of a shoe last;

[0035] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the preset scraping track of a scraping plate;

[0036] Figure 4 It is the form of nozzle spraying material in Embodiment 1;

[0037] Figure 5 It is the preset movement track of the scraping plate in Embodiment 1;

[0038] Figure 6 It is the form of nozzle spraying material in Embodiment 2;

[0039] Figure 7 It is the preset movement track of the scraping plate in Embodiment 2;

[0040] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of a pattern of mechanical engraving or laser etching on the surface of a shoe last;

[0041] Figure 9 It is a schematic diagram of the shape of the scraping plate in Embodiment 4. Detailed implementation manners

[0042] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0043] The present invention aims to provide a brand-new method for manufacturing shoe uppers, abandoning the traditional mode of first weaving yarns into fabrics and then performing secondary processing on the fabrics and forming shoe uppers after stitching. The traditional shoe upper production mode described in the present invention represents the general manufacturing process of sports and casual shoe uppers, excluding pure leather shoes.

[0044] On the one hand, the present invention provides a raw material for manufacturing shoe uppers. The raw material is in a delicate paste or slurry state and generally includes a base material, auxiliary materials, fillers, additives, and solvents. Among them, the auxiliary materials, fillers, and additives can be selectively added according to the performance requirements of the shoe uppers.

[0045] The base material is oligomers or polymers for preparing materials such as polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides, polyurethanes, and rubbers; the auxiliary materials are organic small molecules, oligomers, etc., used to adjust the flexibility, formability, adhesiveness, heat resistance, dimensional stability, skin-friendliness, and chemical stability of the base material, etc.; the filler is inorganic particles, metal nanoparticles or fibers, used to enhance the thermal conductivity, toughness, antibacterial property, etc. of the base material; the additives are antioxidants, plasticizers, ultraviolet light stabilizers, flame retardants, and dispersants, etc. The solvent is selected according to the characteristics of the base material to ensure that the viscosity of the raw materials for shoe upper manufacturing is ≥100 Pa·s at room temperature.

[0046] On the other hand, the present invention provides a device and a process for implementing with this raw material. The shoe upper manufacturing device includes: a movable feeding device for processes such as mixing, feeding, delivering, and feeding the paste-like raw materials onto the surface of the shoe last or the side wall of the shoe sole; a scraping device for pushing the raw materials to be evenly applied on the shoe last; a control system for setting the feeding parameters of the movable feeding device, the movement trajectory of the scraping device, etc., to control the process that the robotic arm drives the movable feeding device and the scraping device to feed and scrape along a predetermined trajectory; and a shoe last for the shaping and positioning of the shoe upper.

[0047] Specifically, the movable feeding device includes: a material barrel, a mixer, a material pipe assembly, a compression pump, a metering pump, and a nozzle. The nozzle is placed at the end of the robotic arm and is closely connected to the robotic arm; the material pipe assembly is respectively connected to the material barrel, the mixer, the metering pump, and the nozzle to realize the transportation of the raw materials to the nozzle for waiting for the spraying instruction; the number of material barrels is not limited, and the material barrels are filled with raw materials with the same or different compositions; the number of mixers is not limited, and they are used to evenly mix different raw materials; the metering pumps are respectively arranged at positions before the nozzle and the mixer, used for accurate control of feeding, and the number of metering pumps is not limited; the compression pump can be selectively arranged above the nozzle to assist in increasing the feeding speed and feeding amount of highly viscous raw materials; the number of nozzles is not limited, and the nozzles are arranged at different positions of the shoe last to spray the same or different raw materials; a driving mechanism is arranged in the robotic arm, and the driving mechanism is a rotation control driving structure. The rotating shaft of the rotation control driving mechanism is connected to the moving nozzle mechanism, so as to drive the moving nozzle mechanism to perform moving and rotating actions.

[0048] The scraping device includes a robotic arm and a scraper. The robotic arm has multiple degrees of freedom of movement to adapt to operations in different dimensions. The number of robotic arms and scrapers ranges from 1 to 6, used to scrape different parts of the shoe upper synchronously or asynchronously; the shape of the scraper is not limited, it can be a straight plate shape, or special shapes such as U-shaped, single-hook-shaped, serrated-shaped, etc., as Figure 1 shown to meet the scraping operations of the raw materials at different parts of the shoe upper.

[0049] The control system is equipped with a number of different functional modules, including sensor module, error limiting module, image recognition module, calculation module, metering module, test module and motion controller, etc., which are used to control the feeding parameters of raw materials. The feeding parameters include feeding amount, material flow rate and feeding position. For the feeding motion trajectory of the nozzle in the movable feeding device, the position relationship between the nozzle and the shoe last during the spraying operation is simulated based on the ant colony algorithm optimization algorithm according to the shape of different shoe lasts and the requirements of the specific feeding position, and a plane coordinate system is established to generate the spraying trajectory and control the nozzle to move at the set speed and position.

[0050] The shoe last includes: a first shoe last (the surface temperature of the shoe last is ≥50°C) and a second shoe last; the first shoe last is used to realize chemical reactions of raw materials on its surface, evaporation of solvents, etc.; the second shoe last is used to realize re-stretching of the upper raw materials after film formation, so as to enhance the molecular orientation of the raw materials and improve the strength of the upper, so the overall upper size of the second shoe last is greater than that of the first shoe last. The size ratio of the first shoe last to the second shoe last is in the range of 1:1 to 5.

[0051] Of course, depending on the temperature differences during the molding or curing of different upper raw materials, the shoe last may be equipped with a built-in heating rod and / or a water cooling system to adjust the surface temperature of the shoe last.

[0052] The surface of the shoe last can be smooth or machined with various patterns or patterns to highlight the personalized design of the shoe upper.

[0053] Preferably, the shoe last and the scraper are made of elastic metal. In this way, when the shoe last surface has local protrusions, the scraper can avoid being stuck with the shoe last surface, so that the scraper can better adapt to the complex upper surface to complete the scraping and coating of the raw materials.

[0054] Preferably, a groove 1 is provided at the opening of the shoe last to store the remaining material after scraping; Figure 2 In addition to the temperature adjustment of the shoe last, the upper manufacturing device of the present invention can also be provided with auxiliary components such as ultraviolet light, infrared light, and x-ray outside the shoe last to assist in the molding of the upper fabric.

[0055] The shoe upper manufacturing process of the present invention comprises:

[0056] S1. Pre-treating the outer wall of the sole, that is, the bonding surface between the sole and the upper, to ensure the bonding strength between the upper and the sole, and pre-coating a release agent on the shoe last;

[0057] S2, temporarily fixing the sole and the shoe last;

[0058] S3, controlling the movable feeding device to feed materials at specific positions on the outer wall of the sole and the surface of the shoe last;

[0059] S4. Scrape and level the raw materials / fabrics according to the set scraping track using a squeegee device;

[0060] S5. Take out the shoe last, clean the adhesive substances at the bottom of the shoe last, print lines or patterns on the shoe upper according to the design requirements of the shoe upper, and bond / sew decorative pieces; complete the production of the shoe upper.

[0061] In step S1, the pretreatment method for the outer wall of the sole includes methods such as coating coupling agent, primer, plasma, adhesive or reactive low-molecular substances, etc. The purpose is to increase the roughness of the bonding surface between the sole and the shoe upper and endow the bonding surface with more polar groups such as hydroxyl groups and carboxyl groups, so as to improve the bonding strength between the subsequent shoe upper and the sole.

[0062] In step S2, the temporary fixing method between the sole and the shoe last can adopt methods such as temporary bonding and magnetic attraction to pre-fix the shoe last and the sole to ensure the smooth implementation of the scraping process.

[0063] In step S3, the feeding position on the surface of the shoe last can extrude the same or different raw materials at different positions on the surface of the shoe last according to the different functional requirements of each part of the shoe upper, so as to achieve the differentiation or functionalization of different positions on the shoe upper.

[0064] In step S4, the control mechanism controls the robotic arms of different squeegee devices to drive different squeegees to scrape the raw materials along the preset scraping track; as Figure 3 shown, the starting point of the scraping track is the bonding place between the sole and the shoe upper - the outer wall of the sole (dotted line), and it passes through all parts on the shoe last such as the toe cap, the ridge of the last, the side groove of the last, and the back arc in the middle. And the topline of the shoe last (solid line) is used as the end point of the scraping track, where the arrow is the direction of the middle track. According to the effect of the shoe upper, it can be scraped multiple times from the starting point to the end point; multiple scrapings can adopt the same movement track or different movement tracks to ensure that the materials of different raw materials on the shoe upper are mutually fused at the interface and the interface is flat.

[0065] During the scraping process, the thickness and quality of the shoe upper can be adjusted by adjusting parameters such as the viscosity of the raw materials, the distance between the squeegee and the shoe last, the moving speed of the squeegee, the temperature of the shoe last, and the scraping time.

[0066] In step S5, according to the forming requirements of the shoe upper, after the first shoe last is taken out, the second shoe last can be used to stretch the shoe upper and then taken out to enhance the molecular orientation of the raw materials of the shoe upper and improve the strength of the shoe upper.

[0067] In the manufacturing process of the upper of the present invention, multiple steps such as yarn extrusion, finishing, weaving or knitting, and component assembly and sewing are abandoned; it belongs to the integral forming process of the upper. Although multiple robotic arm components are required to perform feeding and scraping operations at different positions of the upper; the construction process is different from LightSpray TM In the technology, the automated spraying and weaving operation has high requirements for material viscosity, nozzle accuracy, air circuit design, etc. In the selection of raw materials for feeding, the applicable raw materials are wider and the types are more abundant; through the cooperation of the shoe last and the scraping operation, various post-treatment functions such as shaping and stretching of the raw materials are completed. The movement trajectory during the scraping process of the raw materials is very simple, and the movement trajectory is mostly a straight forward push action. Therefore, the design of the corresponding control program and the control system are instead simpler; and multiple robotic arms are used for simultaneous operation, with high production efficiency and applicable to the preparation of various different shoe types. The overall upper preparation process has better versatility and is more suitable for large-scale upper production and manufacturing.

[0068] The technical solution of the present invention will be further clearly and completely described below in conjunction with several specific embodiments and the corresponding drawings.

[0069] Embodiment 1

[0070] The raw material of the upper is a polymer material mainly based on polyurethane (PU). Polyurethane has the characteristics of good elasticity, good wear resistance, and excellent color fastness.

[0071] Preparation process of the raw material of the upper:[[]]

[0072] (1), Mix the base materials: 1,6 - hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), poly(1,4 - butanediol adipate) (PBA, Mn molecular weight is 2000 - 3000), and diethylene glycol (DEG) in a molar ratio of 2.0∶0.55∶0.4 to form a PU material, dissolve it in N,N - dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent (8 - 30 g of PU raw material is dissolved in every 100 mL of DMF), add antioxidant and antibacterial agent after stirring and dissolving, continue to stir to make the raw materials evenly dispersed, and transfer it to the bucket of the movable feeding device;

[0073] (2), The PU raw material in the bucket and the red color paste pass through a mixer and a metering pump, and are transported to two nozzles (the first nozzle and the second nozzle) through a material pipe.

[0074] The manufacturing process of the upper includes:[[]]

[0075] S1, Pre - coat polyurethane adhesive on the outer wall of the sole, that is, the bonding surface between the sole and the upper, to ensure effective bonding of the PU raw material, and pre - coat release agent on the first shoe last and the second shoe last;

[0076] The first shoe last is heated and kept warm at 65°C; the second shoe last is heated and kept warm at 70°C, and a cold water pipe is connected inside; the overall appearance volume of the second shoe last is 1.5 times that of the first shoe last, except for the part connecting with the sole.

[0077] S2. Use high temperature resistant double-sided tape to fix the first shoe last made of elastic metal material to the sole to ensure smooth implementation of the scraping and coating process.

[0078] S3, the first nozzle sprays the fabric around the outer wall of the sole, and the second nozzle sprays the fabric around the middle of the shoe last. Figure 4 shown.

[0079] S4. The mechanical arm of the scraper device performs scraping operation according to a preset motion trajectory, that is, the end of the mechanical arm moves according to the preset motion trajectory, and the scraper carried by the end of the mechanical arm can perform scraping operation according to the movement of the end of the mechanical arm.

[0080] Four robotic arms are used, and the tail ends are connected to four scrapers respectively; the four scrapers are two U-shaped scrapers and two straight scrapers; the two U-shaped scrapers operate synchronously and the two straight scrapers operate synchronously, and the U-shaped scraper operates earlier than the straight scraper.

[0081] like Figure 5 As shown, the scraping operation is performed according to a preset motion trajectory: one U-shaped scraper scrapes from the toe through the upper to the direction of the shoe last opening (scraping trajectory U1), and the other U-shaped scraper continues from the heel to the direction of the shoe last opening (scraping trajectory U2); two straight scrapers are symmetrically arranged on the side of the upper, extending from the side of the sole upward to the direction of the shoe last opening (scraping trajectories U3 and U4, U4 is not shown in the figure).

[0082] Next, two flat scrapers are used to perform additional scraping on both sides of the shoe last at the same time to smooth out the scratches / residues at the interface between the scraping tracks U1, U2 and the scraping tracks U3, U4.

[0083] After the nozzle and the coating robot arm complete a coating task, they return to their initial positions; they perform a second coating as needed or wait for the next batch of products to be coated.

[0084] S5. After the scraping is completed, the semi-formed upper fabric is put from the first shoe last onto the second shoe last 2. After staying for 20 seconds, the second shoe last is cooled from 70° C. to room temperature, and then the second shoe last is taken out to obtain a whole shoe with the upper made entirely of polyurethane.

[0085] Select to clean or reuse according to the state of the high-temperature resistant double-sided tape on the first shoe last and the second shoe last; for partial areas of the shoe upper, other colors such as white and green can be sprayed according to the style requirements to form a characteristic appearance of the overall shoe upper; or the method of screen printing / pad printing can be used to print LOGO or other patterns on the shoe upper.

[0086] Example 2

[0087] Compared with the elastic properties of polyurethane materials, the properties of polyester materials are sufficient rigidity and less elasticity; during running, the toe and tongue parts of the shoe generally require higher strength, while other parts of the shoe upper require good toughness and good wrapping properties; therefore, in this example, different materials are used to prepare different parts of the shoe upper.

[0088] Preparation process of the shoe upper raw materials:

[0089] (1) Mix three substances of the first base material: 1,6 - hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), poly(1,4 - butanediol adipate) (PBA, Mn molecular weight is 2000 - 3000), and diethylene glycol (DEG) in a molar ratio of 2.0∶0.55∶0.4 to form a PU material, dissolve it in N,N - dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent (8 - 30 g of PU raw materials are dissolved in every 100 mL of DMF), add antioxidants and antibacterial agents after stirring and dissolving, continue to stir to make the raw materials disperse evenly, and transfer it to the first bucket of the movable feeding device;

[0090] (2) Mix six substances of the second base material: terephthalic acid (PTA), ethylene glycol (EG), isophthalic acid (IPA), auxiliary materials: 5 - sodium sulfoisophthalate (5 - SSIPA), dimethylolpropionic acid (DMPA), and tetrabutyl titanate (TBT) in a mass ratio of 75:55:8:7:20:8 to form a polyester raw material, dissolve it in water, add antioxidants and ultraviolet light stabilizers after stirring and dissolving, continue to stir to make the raw materials mix evenly, and transfer it to the second bucket of the movable feeding device;

[0091] (3) Transport the materials in the first bucket and 8% by weight of nano - calcium carbonate to the first nozzle and the second nozzle through a mixer and a metering pump; transport the materials in the second bucket to the third nozzle, the fourth nozzle, and the fifth nozzle respectively.

[0092] The shoe upper manufacturing process includes:

[0093] S1. Pre - coat polyurethane adhesive on the outer wall of the sole, that is, the bonding surface between the sole and the shoe upper, to ensure effective bonding of the PU raw material and the polyester raw material, and pre - coat a release agent on the first shoe last and the second shoe last;

[0094] The first shoe last is heated and kept warm at 70°C; the second shoe last is heated and kept warm at 80°C, and a cold water pipe is connected inside; the overall appearance volume of the second shoe last is 1.2 times that of the first shoe last except for the part connecting with the sole.

[0095] S2. A magnet is temporarily arranged on the sole by magnetic attraction to fix the first shoe last made of elastic metal material to the sole to ensure smooth implementation of the scraping and coating process.

[0096] S3, the first nozzle sprays the material along track 1 (from the rear outer wall of the sole to the corresponding sole of the tongue in a half circle), the second nozzle sprays the material along track 2 (from the heel of the shoe last to the tongue in a circle); at the same time, the third nozzle sprays the material along track 3 (from the front outer wall of the sole to the corresponding sole of the tongue in a half circle); and the fourth nozzle and the fifth nozzle spray the material along tracks 4 and 5 respectively; Figure 6 shown.

[0097] S4. The scraper device robot arm performs scraping and coating operations according to a preset motion trajectory, that is, the end of the robot arm moves according to the preset motion trajectory, and the scraper carried by the end of the robot arm can perform scraping and coating operations according to the movement of the end of the robot arm.

[0098] Three mechanical arms are used, and the tail ends are connected to three scrapers; one U-shaped scraper and two single-hook scrapers. Figure 7 As shown, the scraping operation is performed according to a preset motion trajectory: the U-shaped scraper scrapes from the sole bonding surface through the forefoot surface and the two side surfaces of the forefoot - the shoe last ridge - the shoe last opening (scraping trajectory U5); then the two single-hook scrapers scrape from the heel and the sole bonding surface to the shoe last opening on both sides of the shoe (scraping trajectories U6, U7, U7 is not shown in the figure). To ensure that the upper is completely scraped, the sum of the lengths enclosed by the U-shaped scraper and the two single-hook scrapers is greater than the total circumference of the shoe last.

[0099] Next, two flat scrapers are used to perform additional scraping on both sides of the shoe last at the same time to smooth out the scratches / residues at the interface between the scraping track U5 and the scraping tracks U6 and U7.

[0100] After the nozzle and the coating robot arm complete a coating task, they return to their initial positions; they perform a second coating as needed or wait for the next batch of products to be coated.

[0101] S5. After the coating is completed, the semi-formed upper fabric is taken out from the first shoe last while hot and put on the second shoe last. After staying for 40 seconds, the second shoe last is cooled from 80° C. to room temperature and then taken out to obtain a whole shoe with the upper made entirely of polyurethane.

[0102] Local areas of the upper can be sprayed with other colors or printed with patterns using screen printing / pad printing methods according to style requirements.

[0103] Example 3

[0104] Polyborosiloxane (PBDMS) is an organic borosiloxane polymer with good mechanical properties, chemical stability, self-repairing, hydrophobic, self-cleaning and other functions. When used as a shoe upper, it can increase the anti-fouling and waterproof capabilities of the shoe upper and give the shoe upper a self-repairing property. In this embodiment, the shoe upper is prepared using polyborosiloxane material.

[0105] Preparation process of upper raw materials:

[0106] (1) Prepare the base material: hydroxy-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS-OH) and boric acid (H 3 BO 3 ) were mixed and reacted in a molar ratio of 1:4 to obtain a semi-solid polyborosiloxane (PBDMS);

[0107] PBDMS and solvent isopropyl alcohol (IPA) were dissolved in a mass ratio of 5.5:1; then 0.5% by mass of filler carbon fiber with a diameter of 2 μm was added to mix them evenly, and the solution was filtered using an organic filter membrane with a pore size of 100 μm to obtain a PBDMS solution.

[0108] (2) Adding 5% by weight NaCl particles into the PBDMS solution; subjecting the solution to ultrasonic treatment for 10 minutes to allow the NaCl particles to be evenly dispersed in the PBDMS solution; transferring the treated PBDMS solution to a material barrel through a movable feeding device, and conveying the material in the material barrel and 3% by weight orange color paste to the first nozzle and the second nozzle through a mixer and a metering pump.

[0109] The upper production process includes:

[0110] S1. Pre-coat the outer wall of the sole, i.e., the bonding surface between the sole and the upper, with polyurethane adhesive to ensure effective bonding of the PBDMS material, and pre-coat the first shoe last and the second shoe last with a release agent;

[0111] The first shoe last is heated and kept warm at 120° C.; the second shoe last is heated and kept warm at 140° C., and a cold water pipe is connected to the inside; the overall appearance volume of the second shoe last is 1.3 times that of the first shoe last, except for the part connecting with the sole.

[0112] Relevant patterns, various lines or LOGOs can be made on the surface of relevant parts of the first shoe last (such as the shoe last surface, the shoe last ridge, the shoe last nose, etc.) in advance by mechanical engraving or laser etching; Figure 8 shown.

[0113] S2. A magnet is temporarily arranged on the sole by magnetic attraction to fix the first shoe last made of elastic metal material to the sole to ensure smooth implementation of the scraping and coating process.

[0114] S3. The spraying trajectory / path of the nozzle is the same as that in Example 1.

[0115] S4. The setting of the squeegee and the preset scraping movement trajectory are the same as those in Example 1.

[0116] S5. After scraping, while it is still hot, take out the semi-finished upper fabric from the first shoe last and put it on the second shoe last. After staying for 40 seconds, cool the second shoe last from 140 °C to room temperature, then take out the second shoe last, and a complete shoe with an upper made of PBDMS material is obtained;

[0117] Spray water on the surface of the upper to remove NaCl particles, then stay for 1 h and dry for 30 s. Finally, a microporous and breathable polyborosiloxane upper fabric is obtained to improve the breathability of the complete shoe.

[0118] For local areas of the upper, different decorative parts can be bonded according to the style requirements or patterns can be printed by screen printing / decal printing.

[0119] Example 4

[0120] Polyethylene material is ultra-light and has good physical and mechanical properties, which can effectively reduce the weight of the upper. At the same time, in order to reduce production energy consumption, a light treatment process is proposed to replace the conventional heat treatment process with relatively high energy consumption.

[0121] Preparation process of the upper raw material:

[0122] (1). Mix the base material linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), photoinitiator benzophenone (BP) and co-crosslinking agent triallyl isocyanurate (TAIC) in a molar ratio of 110:2:1, put them into a stirrer, and at the same time add antioxidants, softeners, etc., and stir and mix them evenly, then load them into a drum;

[0123] Transport the polyethylene raw material in the drum and the color paste to the first nozzle and the second nozzle through a mixer and a metering pump.

[0124] The upper manufacturing process includes:

[0125] S1. Pre-brush polyurethane adhesive on the outer wall of the sole, that is, the bonding surface between the sole and the upper, to ensure effective bonding of the polyethylene raw material, and pre-coat the elastic metal shoe last with a release agent. Prepare an ultraviolet lamp with a power of 5 kW and a wavelength of 365 nm in advance.

[0126] S2. Use double-sided tape to fix the room-temperature shoe last and the sole to ensure the smooth implementation of the scraping process.

[0127] S3. The spraying trajectory / path of the nozzle is the same as that in Example 1.

[0128] S4. The settings of the squeegee are the same as those in Embodiment 1, except that the cutting edges of the two U-shaped squeegees and the two linear squeegees are serrated, as Figure 9 shown, so that after the material is squeegeed, there are texture marks left on the shoe upper;

[0129] The preset squeegeeing movement trajectory is the same as that in Embodiment 1.

[0130] S5. After squeegeeing is completed, the whole shoe + the shoe last are placed under an ultraviolet lamp for irradiation. The distance between the product and the light source is 10 cm. After irradiating for 20 s, the shoe last is taken out, and the whole shoe made of polyethylene fabric is obtained;

[0131] Different decorative parts can be bonded to the local area of the shoe upper according to the style requirements, or lines and patterns can be sprayed or printed.

[0132] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not impose any form of limitation on the present invention. Although the present invention has been disclosed above with the preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art of this patent, without departing from the technical solution scope of the present invention, can make some changes or modifications to the above-mentioned technical content as equivalent embodiments of equivalent changes. However, as long as it does not depart from the content of the technical solution of the present invention, any simple modification, equivalent change and modification made to the above embodiments according to the technical essence of the present invention still fall within the scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A raw material for a shoe upper, characterized in that: The raw materials are in the form of a fine paste or slurry, and include: base materials, auxiliary materials, fillers, additives, and solvents; wherein the auxiliary materials, fillers, and additives are selectively added according to the performance requirements of the upper; the base material is an oligomer or polymer for preparing any one of polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides, polyurethanes, and rubbers; the auxiliary materials are organic small molecules or oligomers, which are used to adjust any one or more of the flexibility, formability, adhesion, heat resistance, dimensional stability, skin affinity, and chemical resistance of the base material; the fillers are inorganic particles, metal nanoparticles, or fibers, which are used to enhance the thermal conductivity, toughness, or antibacterial properties of the base material; the additives are any one or more of antioxidants, plasticizers, ultraviolet light stabilizers, flame retardants, and dispersants; the solvent is selected according to the characteristics of the base material so that the viscosity of the raw materials at room temperature is ≥100Pa·s.

2. A shoe upper processing device, characterized in that: include: An active feeding device, used for mixing, feeding, conveying and loading the raw materials as described in claim 1 onto the surface of a shoe last or the side wall of a shoe sole; a scraper device, used for pushing the raw materials to be evenly applied to the shoe last; a control system, used for setting the loading parameters of the active feeding device and the motion trajectory of the scraper device, so as to control the robotic arm to respectively drive the active feeding device and the scraper device to load or scrape along a predetermined trajectory; a shoe last, used for molding and positioning the upper.

3. The shoe upper processing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The movable feeding device includes: a material barrel, a mixer, a material pipe assembly, a compression pump, a metering pump, and a nozzle. The nozzle is placed at the end of the robotic arm and is closely connected to the robotic arm; the material pipe assembly is respectively connected to the material barrel, the mixer and the metering pump, and the nozzle to realize the transportation of raw materials to the nozzle; the material barrel is filled with raw materials of the same or different compositions; the mixer is used to evenly mix different raw materials; the metering pumps are respectively arranged before the nozzle and the mixer for accurate control of the feeding; the compression pump is selectively arranged on the upper side of the nozzle to assist in increasing the feeding speed and feeding amount of high-viscosity raw materials; the nozzle is arranged at different positions of the shoe last to spray the same or different raw materials; a driving mechanism is arranged in the robotic arm, and the driving mechanism drives the nozzle to move and rotate.

4. The shoe upper processing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The scraper device includes a mechanical arm and a scraper. The mechanical arm has multiple degrees of freedom of movement. The number of the mechanical arm and the scraper is 1 to 6, which are used for synchronous or asynchronous scraping of different parts of the shoe surface. The scraper shapes include straight plate shape, U shape, single hook shape, and sawtooth shape.

5. The shoe upper processing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The shoe last includes: a first shoe last and a second shoe last; the first shoe last is used for chemical reaction of raw materials and evaporation of solvent on its surface; the second shoe last is used for re-stretching the upper raw materials after film formation to enhance the molecular orientation of the raw materials and improve the strength of the upper.

6. The shoe upper processing device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The overall shoe upper size of the second shoe last is larger than that of the first shoe last. The size ratio of the first shoe last to the second shoe last is in the range of 1:1.1-5.

7. The shoe upper processing device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The first shoe last and the second shoe last are built with a heating rod and / or a water cooling system to adjust the surface temperature of the shoe last.

8. The shoe upper processing device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The surface of the shoe last is a smooth surface or is provided with various machined patterns or textures to highlight the personalized design of the shoe upper.

9. The shoe upper processing device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: The shoe last and the scraper are both made of elastic metal, so that the scraper can better adapt to the complex surface of the upper to complete the scraping and coating of the raw materials.

10. The shoe upper processing device according to any one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that: A groove is provided at the opening of the shoe last to store the remaining raw materials after scraping and coating.

11. A process for manufacturing a shoe upper, characterized in that: The shoe upper processing device according to any one of claims 2 to 10 comprises the following steps: S1. Pre-treating the outer wall of the sole, that is, the bonding surface between the sole and the upper, to ensure the bonding strength between the upper and the sole, and pre-coating a release agent on the shoe last; S2, temporarily fixing the sole and the shoe last; S3, controlling the movable feeding device to feed materials at specific positions on the outer wall of the sole and the surface of the shoe last; S4, according to the set scraping track, the raw material is scraped and smoothed using a scraper device; S5. Take out the first shoe last, or then put in the second shoe last in a hot state, take it out after cooling, clean the adhesive material at the bottom of the shoe last, print lines or patterns on the shoe surface according to the design requirements of the shoe surface, and glue / sew decorative parts; complete the shoe surface production.

12. The process for making a shoe upper according to claim 11, characterized in that: The pretreatment of the outer wall of the sole includes coating any one of a coupling agent, a primer, plasma, an adhesive and a reactive low molecular weight substance to improve the bonding strength between the upper and the sole.

13. The process for making a shoe upper according to claim 11, characterized in that: Temporary fixing methods of the sole and the shoe last include: temporary bonding or magnetic attraction, pre-fixing the shoe last and the sole to ensure smooth implementation of the scraping and coating process.

14. The process for making a shoe upper according to claim 11, characterized in that: In step S3, the positions of the materials on the surface of the shoe last are determined according to the different functional requirements of the parts of the upper, and the nozzles extrude the same or different raw materials at different positions on the surface of the shoe last to achieve differentiation or functionalization at different positions of the upper.

15. The process for making a shoe upper according to claim 11, characterized in that: The starting point of the scraping track in step S4 is the bonding point between the sole and the upper, and passes through the last head, last ridge, last side groove, and rear arc in the middle, and the end point of the scraping track is the shoe last opening.

16. The process for making a shoe upper according to claim 15, characterized in that: The scraping process is carried out multiple times from the starting point to the end point according to the effect of the upper; multiple scraping uses the same or different motion trajectories to ensure that the materials of different raw materials on the upper are integrated with each other at the interface and the interface is flat.

17. The process for manufacturing a shoe upper according to any one of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that: The scraping process can adjust the thickness and quality of the shoe upper by adjusting any parameters such as the viscosity of the raw materials, the distance between the scraper and the shoe last, the scraper movement speed, the temperature of the shoe last and the scraping time.

18. The process for making a shoe upper according to claim 11, characterized in that: According to the requirements of upper molding, after the first shoe last is taken out, the second shoe last is used to stretch the upper before taking it out, so as to enhance the molecular orientation of the upper raw material and improve the strength of the upper.

Images