Vamp, insole or tongue preparation process and product

Abstract

The invention provides a vamp, insole and tongue preparation process which comprises the following steps: S1, weaving elastomer monofilaments or multifilaments into corresponding preformed samples according to the styles of vamps, tongues or insoles, S2, dipping the preformed samples in organic good solvents corresponding to the elastomer monofilaments or multifilaments for dipping pretreatment; s3, removing the redundant dipping solvent from the preformed sample subjected to dipping treatment in a flat plate extrusion form; s4, putting the dried preformed sample into a high-pressure kettle for supercritical foaming, and opening the high-pressure kettle to obtain a foamed fabric sample; the monofilament fineness is 0.1-1.0 mm, and the multifilament specification is 1 dtex to 2200 dtex. The invention also provides a product prepared by the preparation method. The obtained vamp, tongue and insole products have the characteristic of light weight, the air permeability, the heat retention property and the comfort are further improved, compared with the existing vamp, tongue and insole products, the production process is simplified, and the products with more diversified appearances and enhanced use performance are obtained.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of foaming materials, and particularly relates to a preparation process and product for a shoe upper, insole or tongue. Background Art

[0002] Traditional shoe accessories such as shoe uppers, tongues, and insoles are mainly made by weaving monofilaments through processes such as fly weaving, knitting, and shuttle weaving. The tongue or insole can also be made of foaming materials. These shoe accessories are not only an important form of presenting the appearance of shoes but also closely related to the wearing comfort of shoes.

[0003] As shoe uppers and tongues on the surface of shoes, in existing sports shoes, on the basis of ensuring strength, they mostly focus on lightweight and breathable performance; while the insole, as an accessory inside the shoe, pays more attention to good shock absorption and resilience.

[0004] Generally, shoe uppers, tongues, etc. made of monofilaments can achieve good air permeability through the woven mesh structure, while shoe tongues or insoles made of foaming materials are lightweight and have good shock absorption but poor air permeability; mainly because although the foamed shoe tongue or insole is a porous structure, in order to ensure the strength of the shoe tongue or insole, the microstructure of the pores is mostly in the form of closed pores, and its air permeability is low.

[0005] Therefore, it is of great significance to provide a simple processing method that can effectively improve the performance of the above-mentioned shoe accessories, which can further improve the air permeability, lightweight, warmth retention, and resilience performance on the basis of ensuring the use strength of the above-mentioned accessories. Summary of the Invention

[0006] Aiming at the problem that accessories such as shoe uppers, tongues, and insoles in the prior art need to further improve air permeability, lightweight, warmth retention, and resilience performance; the present invention provides a preparation process and product for a shoe upper, insole or tongue; this preparation process is more suitable for the application of monofilaments with a finer wire diameter in the shoe upper, insole or tongue, is simple to operate, and has a good improvement in the performance of accessory products such as shoe uppers.

[0007] A preparation process for a shoe upper, insole or tongue includes the following steps:

[0008] S1. First, weave the elastomeric monofilament or multifilament into a corresponding preform sample according to the style of the shoe upper, tongue or insole.

[0009] S2. Immerse the preform sample in the corresponding organic good solvent of the elastomeric monofilament or multifilament for impregnation pretreatment.

[0010] S3. Remove the excess impregnation solvent from the impregnated preform sample in the form of flat extrusion.

[0011] S4. Put the dried preform sample into an autoclave for supercritical foaming, open the autoclave, and obtain the foamed fabric sample.

[0012] The fineness of monofilament is 0.1 - 1.0 mm, and the multifilament specification is 1 dtex - 2200 dtex.

[0013] Furthermore, the elastomeric monofilament or multifilament is selected from at least one of polyolefin elastomer (TPO), polyurethane elastomer (TPU), polyester elastomer (TPEE), and polyamide elastomer (TPAE).

[0014] Furthermore, in step S1, the elastomeric monofilament or multifilament obtains the corresponding preform structure of the fabric to be foamed through weft knitting, warp knitting, or weaving processes; or the elastomeric material corresponding to the elastomeric monofilament or multifilament is melt - extruded and molded into a three - dimensional reticular structure to be foamed.

[0015] Furthermore, the selected elastomeric monofilament in step S1 can be mixed - knitted with other yarns without foaming performance. When mixed - knitting, the structure and size need to be designed to reserve space for the deformation of the monofilament.

[0016] Furthermore, in step S2, the organic solvent is preferably one or more of acetone, N - methylpyrrolidone, ethyl benzoate, 1,2 - dichloroethane, and dimethylformamide (DMF); the preform sample is impregnated at room temperature for 5 - 15 min.

[0017] Furthermore, in step S2, the impregnation time of the elastomeric monofilament is directly related to the wire diameter; the thinner the wire diameter of the monofilament, the shorter the impregnation time.

[0018] Furthermore, in step S3, for organic solvents with higher viscosity, further rinsing and drying can be carried out to remove the excess impregnation solvent.

[0019] Furthermore, in the supercritical foaming of the autoclave in step S4, set the temperature in the autoclave to 100 - 150 °C. After the temperature reaches the set temperature and stabilizes, introduce nitrogen or carbon dioxide into the autoclave, adjust the gas pressure in the autoclave to 10 - 50 MPa. When the gas in the autoclave is in a supercritical state, keep the temperature and pressure constant for 0.5 - 4 hours, then quickly depressurize to atmospheric pressure, put the autoclave containing the sample into ice water and cool it to room temperature, open the autoclave, and obtain the foamed fabric sample.

[0020] An upper, insole, or tongue of a shoe is made by the above process.

[0021] Furthermore, after the tongue is woven with monofilament or multifilament and uniformly foamed, it is then molded into the shape of the tongue by molding to obtain the finished tongue of the shoe.

[0022] The advantages of the present invention are as follows: From the perspective of the industrial use of foamed monofilaments, a supercritical foaming process applicable to elastomeric monofilaments or multifilaments with a relatively fine wire diameter is provided, which can ensure low-ratio foaming with uniform and stable foaming of monofilaments with a relatively fine wire diameter, making it more suitable for fabrics that require fine weaving, such as shoe uppers, shoe tongues, and shoe insoles; the obtained shoe upper, shoe tongue, and shoe insole products not only have the characteristic of light weight, but also have further improved breathability, warmth retention, and comfort. Compared with existing shoe upper, shoe tongue, and shoe insole products, a new processing technology is also provided, which simplifies the production process, obtains a more diverse appearance, and enhances the performance of the products. Description of the Drawings

[0023] Figure 1 Partial enlarged structural view of a preform of a shoe upper woven from elastomeric monofilaments;

[0024] Figure 2 Partial enlarged structural view of a foamed preform of a shoe upper woven from elastomeric monofilaments;

[0025] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the weaving structure of elastomeric monofilaments.

[0026] Figure 4 Preform sample diagram of co-woven TPEA monofilaments and polyester multifilaments;

[0027] Figure 5 Sample diagram of a preform of co-woven TPEA monofilaments and polyester multifilaments after foaming;

[0028] Figure 6 Sample diagram of a preform of a TPEA monofilament woven insole after foaming;

[0029] Figure 7 Sample diagram of a preform of a TPEA monofilament woven shoe tongue after foaming. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0030] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without making creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0031] The manufacturing process of the shoe upper, shoe tongue, and shoe insole of the present invention is as follows: After weaving elastomeric monofilaments or multifilaments into a preform of a shoe upper, shoe tongue, or shoe insole, supercritical foaming is carried out to obtain the corresponding products. The fineness of the monofilaments used is 0.1 - 1.0 mm, and the multifilament specification is 1 dtex - 2200 dtex; it is more suitable for fine fabrics such as shoe uppers.

[0032] The elastomeric monofilament or multifilament material used in the present invention can be one or several of polyolefin elastomer (TPO), polyurethane elastomer (TPU), polyester elastomer (TPEE), and polyamide elastomer (TPAE). The above-mentioned elastomeric monofilament or multifilament is used to obtain the corresponding fabric plane preform structure to be foamed through processes such as weft knitting, warp knitting, and weaving. Or the above-mentioned elastomeric material is first melt-extruded and molded into a three-dimensional three-dimensional network structure to be foamed.

[0033] The plane or three-dimensional preform structure made of the above materials is subjected to supercritical physical foaming, and the monofilament or multifilament in the structure can form lightweight porous fibers, and the bulk density is reduced to 0.05 - 0.5 g / cm 3 , meanwhile, the gas expansion effect inside the fiber makes the fiber surface round and plump, and the glossiness is improved.

[0034] Taking the monofilament as an example, the manufacturing process of the shoe upper, shoe tongue, and insole of the present invention includes the following steps:

[0035] S1. First, the selected elastomeric monofilament is woven into the corresponding preform sample according to the style of the shoe upper, shoe tongue, or insole, as Figure 1 shown;

[0036] S2. Immerse the preform sample in an organic solvent for 5 - 15 minutes for surface pretreatment at room temperature. The organic solvent is preferably one or more of acetone, N-methylpyrrolidone, ethyl benzoate, 1,2-dichloroethane, and dimethylformamide (DMF);

[0037] S3. Remove the excess impregnating solvent from the impregnated preform sample in the form of flat extrusion. For organic solvents with high viscosity, further rinsing and drying can be carried out to remove the excess impregnating solvent;

[0038] S4. Put the dried preform sample into an autoclave, turn on the temperature controller, set the temperature in the autoclave to 100 - 150 °C. After the temperature reaches the set temperature and stabilizes, introduce nitrogen or carbon dioxide into the autoclave, adjust the gas pressure in the autoclave to 10 - 50 MPa. When the gas in the autoclave is in a supercritical state, keep the temperature and pressure constant for 0.5 - 4 hours, and then quickly depressurize to atmospheric pressure. Put the autoclave containing the sample into ice water and cool it to room temperature, and open the autoclave to obtain the foamed fabric sample. As Figure 2 shown.

[0039] In step S1, the selected elastomeric monofilament can be mixed and woven with other yarns that do not have foaming properties. In this case, the structure and size need to be designed during weaving to reserve space for the deformation of the monofilament.

[0040] In step S2, the type of the selected organic solvent is closely related to the material of the elastomeric monofilament, and the impregnation time is directly related to the wire diameter of the elastomeric monofilament; the finer the monofilament, the shorter the impregnation time.

[0041] The selected organic solvent is a good solvent for the material constituting the elastomeric monofilament; for example: polyolefin elastomer (TPO) is soluble in ketone solvents such as acetone and N-methylpyrrolidone, and polyester elastomer (TPEE) is soluble in ester or aromatic hydrocarbon solvents such as ethyl benzoate. Of course, the good solvent here does not mean that these elastomers can be directly dissolved in these solvents. In fact, the high molecular elastomer itself is affected by factors such as the ratio of hard and soft segments, degree of polymerization, and hardness, and already has properties far superior to its synthetic monomers, such as oil resistance, deformation resistance, friction resistance, solvent resistance, etc.; the good solvent mentioned in the present invention refers to a relative sense, in certain organic solvents, a certain type of high molecular elastomer is more likely to undergo swelling and solvent penetration, affecting its physical and chemical properties.

[0042] Similarly, compared with the elastomeric embryo or beads used in conventional supercritical foaming, the monofilament fiber has a relatively smooth surface and a high molecular orientation after melting and stretching, and the molecular arrangement structure is mostly linear; therefore, its solubility in the good solvent is further reduced compared with the elastomeric embryo or beads. Therefore, after the elastomer is made into a monofilament fiber, it will not easily dissolve in the corresponding organic good solvent, and the diffusion rate of the solvent inward on the fiber surface is slow; therefore, by adjusting the impregnation time, only the surface structure of the monofilament will be induced, causing the amorphous orientation region on the fiber surface to induce crystallization, reducing the heat enthalpy and increasing the crystallinity.

[0043] The monofilament itself has different foaming characteristics from the bulk material due to the linear arrangement of its molecular structure. Especially when the fineness of the fiber is relatively fine, its gas encapsulation ability is weak. When performing supercritical foaming, a large amount of gas escapes instantaneously when the autoclave is opened, resulting in a low foaming ratio of the fiber, or even unable to foam normally. Even if the foaming is successful, it is easy to break; at the same time, due to the different degrees of polymer crystallization and molecular chain entanglement, the melt strength and melt index presented by the monofilament when heated are in different ranges from those of the bulk material. Similarly, before and after foaming, the expansion ratios in the linear direction and the cross-sectional direction of the monofilament are inconsistent, which easily causes problems such as deformation and warping of the woven or melt-molded structure. This is also in the prior art. Although some people have theoretically proposed that foamed monofilaments can be used to make clothing and proposed that chemical foaming agents can be used to chemically foam monofilaments, it only applies to relatively thick monofilaments (greater than 4 mm), and there is no specific foaming method for relatively thin monofilaments. There are no products such as shoe uppers and insoles that require fine weaving made of foamed monofilaments on the market.

[0044] The main reason is that the knitted objects such as the shoe upper, shoe tongue, and insole are of small volume. Therefore, the diameter of the monofilament selected should not be too large (generally not more than 1 mm). If a relatively thick monofilament is used, although foaming is relatively easy, the foaming ratio is generally relatively high (the foaming ratio is greater than 5 times), which will cause the breathable holes on the foamed shoe upper to be too large. Besides the aesthetic problem, the strength of the fiber will also be severely reduced at such a high foaming ratio, unable to meet the usage requirements of fabrics that require relatively high strength, especially for the shoe upper; and the finer the monofilament, the more difficult it is to achieve uniform foaming due to the above reasons. Therefore, the difficulty of the present invention lies in how to achieve uniform and relatively low-ratio foaming of the monofilament when using a finer monofilament as the foaming raw material, which can not only ensure the usage strength but also avoid problems such as breakage, deformation, and curling after foaming that affect the actual use.

[0045] The way for the present invention to solve this difficulty is as follows: Before the preformed sample is foamed, it is pretreated as a whole. Through the induction effect of the solvent on the surface of the monofilament, the crystallinity of the surface of the monofilament in the preformed sample is improved within a short time, and the surface crystallinity is also made more uniform. In this way, there are more firm connection points between the molecules on the surface of each monofilament, the surface strength is increased, and a high melt strength protective layer is formed on the finer monofilament during the foaming process to prevent a large amount of gas from escaping; it also avoids phenomena such as breakage, deformation, or curling of the foamed monofilament due to insufficient uniformity.

[0046] The following further illustrates the specific performance of the present invention through several specific embodiments.

[0047] Polyamide elastomer (TPAE) is selected and different diameter monofilaments of 0.1 mm - 1.0 mm are obtained by melt spinning; the polyamide elastomer (TPAE) uses nylon 11 as the hard segment and polytetrahydrofuran ether as the soft segment, with a hardness (Shore D) of 55 and a density of 1.025 g / cm 3 , and the melt index is 17 g / 10 min.

[0048] Example 1

[0049] The above polyamide elastomer is melt-spun to obtain 0.1 mm TPEA monofilaments; the monofilaments are immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 5 min; after the immersed monofilaments are extruded to remove the excess immersion solvent, they are dried; the dried monofilaments are placed in an autoclave, the temperature controller is turned on, the temperature in the autoclave is set to 100 °C, and after the temperature reaches the set temperature and stabilizes, N 2 is introduced into the autoclave, the gas pressure in the autoclave is adjusted to 50 MPa, and after the gas in the autoclave is in the supercritical state, it is kept at a constant temperature and pressure for 4 hours, and then the pressure is quickly released to atmospheric pressure. The autoclave containing the sample is placed in ice water and cooled to room temperature, and the autoclave is opened to obtain the foamed monofilaments.

[0050] After measurement, the diameter of the foamed TPEA monofilament is 0.12 mm; the foaming ratio is 1.2. The tensile strength of the foamed monofilament is 12.4 MPa, and the elongation at break is 400%.

[0051] Example 2

[0052] The above polyamide elastomer was melt-spun to obtain a 0.2 mm TPEA monofilament; the monofilament was immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 5 min; after the impregnated monofilament was extruded to remove the excess impregnating solvent, it was dried; the dried monofilament was placed in an autoclave, the temperature controller was turned on, the temperature in the autoclave was set to 105 °C, and after the temperature reached the set temperature and stabilized, N 2 was introduced into the autoclave, the gas pressure in the autoclave was adjusted to 45 MPa. After the gas in the autoclave was in a supercritical state, it was kept at a constant temperature and pressure for 4 hours, then quickly depressurized to atmospheric pressure, and the autoclave containing the sample was placed in ice water and cooled to room temperature. The autoclave was opened to obtain the foamed monofilament.

[0053] After measurement, the diameter of the foamed TPEA monofilament is 0.25 mm; the foaming ratio is 1.25. The tensile strength of the foamed monofilament is 11.7 MPa, and the elongation at break is 420%.

[0054] Example 3

[0055] The above polyamide elastomer was melt-spun to obtain a 0.3 mm TPEA monofilament; the monofilament was immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 7 min; after the impregnated monofilament was extruded to remove the excess impregnating solvent, it was dried; the dried monofilament was placed in an autoclave, the temperature controller was turned on, the temperature in the autoclave was set to 110 °C, and after the temperature reached the set temperature and stabilized, N 2 or CO 2 was introduced into the autoclave, the gas pressure in the autoclave was adjusted to 40 MPa. After the gas in the autoclave was in a supercritical state, it was kept at a constant temperature and pressure for 3 hours, then quickly depressurized to atmospheric pressure, and the autoclave containing the sample was placed in ice water and cooled to room temperature. The autoclave was opened to obtain the foamed monofilament.

[0056] After measurement, the diameter of the foamed TPEA monofilament is 0.38 mm; the foaming ratio is 1.267. The tensile strength of the foamed monofilament is 11.2 MPa, and the elongation at break is 430%.

[0057] Example 4

[0058] The above polyamide elastomer was melt-spun to obtain 0.4 mm TPEA monofilaments; the monofilaments were immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 7 min; after the immersed monofilaments were extruded to remove the excess immersion solvent, they were dried; the dried monofilaments were placed in an autoclave, the temperature controller was turned on, the temperature in the autoclave was set to 115 °C, and after the temperature reached the set temperature and stabilized, N 2 or CO 2 was introduced into the autoclave. The gas pressure in the autoclave was adjusted to 35 MPa. After the gas in the autoclave was in a supercritical state, it was kept at a constant temperature and pressure for 3 hours, and then the pressure was quickly released to atmospheric pressure. The autoclave containing the sample was placed in ice water and cooled to room temperature, and the autoclave was opened to obtain the foamed monofilaments.

[0059] After measurement, the diameter of the foamed TPEA monofilament was 0.51 mm; the foaming ratio was 1.275. The tensile strength of the foamed monofilament was 10.5 MPa, and the elongation at break was 430%.

[0060] Example 5

[0061] The above polyamide elastomer was melt-spun to obtain 0.5 mm TPEA monofilaments; the monofilaments were immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 9 min; after the immersed monofilaments were extruded to remove the excess immersion solvent, they were dried; the dried monofilaments were placed in an autoclave, the temperature controller was turned on, the temperature in the autoclave was set to 125 °C, and after the temperature reached the set temperature and stabilized, CO 2 was introduced into the autoclave. The gas pressure in the autoclave was adjusted to 15 MPa. After the gas in the autoclave was in a supercritical state, it was kept at a constant temperature and pressure for 1 hour, and then the pressure was quickly released to atmospheric pressure. The autoclave containing the sample was placed in ice water and cooled to room temperature, and the autoclave was opened to obtain the foamed monofilaments.

[0062] After measurement, the diameter of the foamed TPEA monofilament was 0.75 mm; the foaming ratio was 1.5. The tensile strength of the foamed monofilament was 9.4 MPa, and the elongation at break was 460%.

[0063] Example 6

[0064] The above polyamide elastomer was melt-spun to obtain 0.6 mm TPEA monofilaments; the monofilaments were immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 9 min; after the immersed monofilaments were extruded to remove the excess immersion solvent, they were dried; the dried monofilaments were placed in an autoclave, the temperature controller was turned on, the temperature in the autoclave was set to 125 °C, and after the temperature reached the set temperature and stabilized, CO 2 was introduced into the autoclave. The gas pressure in the autoclave was adjusted to 15 MPa. After the gas in the autoclave was in a supercritical state, it was kept at a constant temperature and pressure for 1 hour, and then the pressure was quickly released to atmospheric pressure. The autoclave containing the sample was placed in ice water and cooled to room temperature, and the autoclave was opened to obtain the foamed monofilaments.

[0065] After measurement, the diameter of the foamed TPEA monofilament is 1.02 mm; the foaming ratio is 1.7. The tensile strength of the foamed monofilament is 9.2 MPa, and the elongation at break is 380%.

[0066] Example 7

[0067] The above polyamide elastomer is melt-spun to obtain a 0.7-mm TPEA monofilament; the monofilament is immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 11 min; after the immersed monofilament is extruded to remove the excess immersion solvent, it is dried; the dried monofilament is placed in an autoclave, the temperature controller is turned on, the temperature in the autoclave is set to 135 °C, and after the temperature reaches the set temperature and stabilizes, CO 2 is introduced into the autoclave, the gas pressure in the autoclave is adjusted to 15 MPa, and after the gas in the autoclave is in a supercritical state, it is kept at a constant temperature and pressure for 0.5 h, then the pressure is quickly released to atmospheric pressure, the autoclave containing the sample is placed in ice water and cooled to room temperature, and the autoclave is opened to obtain the foamed monofilament.

[0068] After measurement, the diameter of the foamed TPEA monofilament is 1.14 mm; the foaming ratio is 1.628. The tensile strength of the foamed monofilament is 8.6 MPa, and the elongation at break is 490%.

[0069] Example 8

[0070] The above polyamide elastomer is melt-spun to obtain a 0.8-mm TPEA monofilament; the monofilament is immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 11 min; after the immersed monofilament is extruded to remove the excess immersion solvent, it is dried; the dried monofilament is placed in an autoclave, the temperature controller is turned on, the temperature in the autoclave is set to 145 °C, and after the temperature reaches the set temperature and stabilizes, CO 2 is introduced into the autoclave, the gas pressure in the autoclave is adjusted to 10 MPa, and after the gas in the autoclave is in a supercritical state, it is kept at a constant temperature and pressure for 1 h, then the pressure is quickly released to atmospheric pressure, the autoclave containing the sample is placed in ice water and cooled to room temperature, and the autoclave is opened to obtain the foamed monofilament.

[0071] After measurement, the diameter of the foamed TPEA monofilament is 1.46 mm; the foaming ratio is 1.825. The tensile strength of the foamed monofilament is 8.7 MPa, and the elongation at break is 470%.

[0072] Example 9

[0073] The above polyamide elastomer is melt-spun to obtain 0.9 mm TPEA monofilaments; the monofilaments are immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 13 min; after the immersed monofilaments are extruded to remove the excess impregnating solvent, they are dried; the dried monofilaments are placed in an autoclave, the temperature controller is turned on, the temperature in the autoclave is set to 150 °C, and after the temperature reaches the set temperature and stabilizes, CO 2 is introduced into the autoclave, the gas pressure in the autoclave is adjusted to 10 MPa, and after the gas in the autoclave is in a supercritical state, it is kept at a constant temperature and pressure for 0.5 h, then the pressure is quickly released to atmospheric pressure, and the autoclave containing the sample is placed in ice water and cooled to room temperature, and the autoclave is opened to obtain the foamed monofilaments.

[0074] After measurement, the diameter of the foamed TPEA monofilaments is 1.8 mm; the foaming ratio is 2. The tensile strength of the foamed monofilaments is 8.9 MPa, and the elongation at break is 430%.

[0075] Comparative Example 1

[0076] The above polyamide elastomer is melt-spun to obtain 0.5 mm TPEA monofilaments; the monofilaments are directly placed in an autoclave, the temperature controller is turned on, the temperature in the autoclave is set to 125 °C, and after the temperature reaches the set temperature and stabilizes, CO 2 is introduced into the autoclave, the gas pressure in the autoclave is adjusted to 15 MPa, and after the gas in the autoclave is in a supercritical state, it is kept at a constant temperature and pressure for 1 h, then the pressure is quickly released to atmospheric pressure, and the autoclave containing the sample is placed in ice water and cooled to room temperature, and the autoclave is opened to obtain the monofilament product.

[0077] After measurement, the TPEA monofilaments without organic solvent impregnation pretreatment do not achieve uniform foaming, and the foamed part is 0.6 - 0.7 mm; the unfoamed part is still 0.5 mm and cannot be further used.

[0078] From Examples 1 - 9, in terms of the process of monofilament foaming itself, the smaller the diameter of the monofilament, the lower the temperature and the higher the pressure required for foaming, and the smaller the final foaming ratio. This is mainly because at a lower diameter, the surface area of the material is large and the ability to wrap the gas is poor. Therefore, conditions need to be adjusted, such as reducing the temperature, increasing the pressure, and prolonging the gas saturation time, etc., to enable smooth foaming. And the pretreatment before foaming is of great significance for achieving uniform foaming of thinner monofilaments. Comparative Example 1 also further illustrates that for thinner monofilaments, it is difficult to achieve uniform foaming without pretreatment and they cannot be further processed or used.

[0079] Table 1 is a comparison table of indexes such as the foaming ratio, breaking strength, and elongation at break of the monofilaments in each example, to more intuitively reflect the use strength of the monofilaments in each example after low-ratio foaming.

[0080] Table 1 Comparison of the properties of the monofilaments before and after foaming

[0081]

[0082] As can be seen from Table 1, the strength and elongation at break of the monofilaments after foaming in Examples 1-9 all meet the weaving requirements; after comprehensively considering the mechanical properties of the monofilaments after foaming and the foaming ratio, i.e., the degree of lightweight, monofilaments with a wire diameter of 0.6-0.9 mm are further preferably processed into a network fabric or sheet and then foamed. The specific embodiments are as follows:

[0083] Example 10

[0084] The above polyamide elastomer was melt-spun to obtain 0.6-mm TPEA monofilaments, and a preform of the upper mesh fabric was obtained by warp knitting and weft knitting, as shown in Figure 1 、 3 . The whole preform of the upper mesh fabric was immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 9 minutes; after squeezing out the excess impregnating solvent from the impregnated preform of the upper mesh fabric, it was dried; then supercritical foaming was carried out, and the foamed pattern is as shown in Figure 2 . The foaming process: 125 °C, 15 Mpa, pressure holding for 1.0 h, and the bulk density after foaming is 0.35 g / cm 3 .

[0085] The weight per square meter of the preform of the upper mesh fabric before foaming is 2256 g / m 2 , and the weight per square meter of the upper after foaming is 1758 g / m 2 , and the weight is reduced by 22%. It shows that the fabric woven from elastomer monofilaments can effectively achieve the lightweight goal of the upper material after supercritical foaming.

[0086] Example 11

[0087] The above polyamide elastomer was melt-spun to obtain 0.7-mm TPEA monofilaments, and a preform of the upper mesh fabric was obtained by warp knitting and weft knitting with polyester multifilaments, as shown in Figure 4 . The whole preform of the upper mesh fabric was immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 11 minutes; after squeezing out the excess impregnating solvent from the impregnated preform of the upper mesh fabric, it was dried; then supercritical foaming was carried out, and the foamed pattern is as shown in Figure 5 . The foaming process: 135 °C, 15 Mpa, pressure holding for 0.5 h, and the average bulk density after foaming is 0.29 g / cm 3 . Since the polyester multifilaments do not foam under this condition and only the TPEA monofilaments are foamed, the foamed upper mesh fabric shows a three-dimensional concave-convex shape, and combined with the color and position settings of the polyester multifilaments, it presents a special black-and-white texture.

[0088] Example 12

[0089] The above polyamide elastomer is melt-spun to obtain 0.8 mm TPEA monofilaments, and an insole preform is obtained by warp knitting and weft knitting. The insole preform is immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 11 min; after the impregnated upper fabric preform is extruded to remove the excess impregnating solvent, it is dried; then supercritical foaming is carried out, and the foamed pattern is as shown in Figure 6 shown. The foaming process: 145 °C, 10 Mpa, holding pressure for 1 h, and the density of the foamed body is 0.27 g / cm 3 .

[0090] Example 13

[0091] The above polyamide elastomer is melt-spun to obtain 0.9 mm TPEA monofilaments, and a tongue preform is obtained by warp knitting and weft knitting. The tongue preform is immersed in N-methylpyrrolidone for 13 min; after the impregnated upper fabric preform is extruded to remove the excess impregnating solvent, it is dried; then supercritical foaming is carried out, and the foamed pattern is as shown in Figure 7 shown. The foaming process: 150 °C, 10 Mpa, holding pressure for 0.5 h, and the density of the foamed body is 0.18 g / cm 3 .

[0092] Comparative Example 2

[0093] The upper is knitted in the same warp knitting and weft knitting manner as in Example 11, and the upper material is ordinary polyester multifilament.

[0094] Comparative Example 3

[0095] Conventional foamed beads made of polyurethane material are selected, and conventional insole samples are obtained after supercritical foaming and bead bonding.

[0096] Comparative Example 4

[0097] Conventional foamed beads made of polyurethane material are selected, and conventional tongue samples are obtained after supercritical foaming and bead bonding; no subsequent processes such as surface sizing and sewing are carried out.

[0098] Comparing the characteristics of the two uppers in Example 11 and Comparative Example 2, the gram weight, air permeability, clo value, etc. before and after foaming are respectively tested, as shown in Table 2.

[0099] Table 2 Comparison of the performance of the upper fabric before and after foaming

[0100]

[0101] Example 11 is a blended fabric of monofilament and ordinary multifilament, and its gram weight decreases by 30% before and after foaming. At the same time, from the results of air permeability and clo value, it can be seen that the air permeability of Example 11 is similar before and after foaming, but the clo value increases significantly after foaming, indicating that the foamed material has better warmth retention while hardly losing air permeability, achieving a warmth retention effect far higher than that of ordinary woven shoe uppers. Further comparison between Example 11 with the same fabric structure and Comparative Example 1 shows that Example 11 has better performance advantages in terms of light weight, air permeability, warmth retention, and appearance after foaming. The above results also show that the appearance and thickness of the fabric made of elastomeric monofilament after foaming can be pre-controlled by the fabric structure before foaming, the selected monofilament yarn diameter, or process conditions to obtain a special and aesthetically pleasing shoe upper, enhance its light weight and warmth retention effect, and at the same time, the foamed fabric has a good skin-friendly feeling as a shoe upper.

[0102] Compare the characteristics of the two insoles of Example 12 and Comparative Example 3, and respectively test PeakG (g), rebound (%) air permeability (mm / s), etc. before and after foaming, as shown in Table 3.

[0103] Table 3 Performance comparison between elastomeric fiber foamed insoles and ordinary insoles

[0104] Performance Example 12 Comparative Example 2 PeakG (g) 8.06 8.13 Rebound (%) 73.67 61.32 Air permeability (mm / s) 0.41 0.22

[0105] Table 3 is the performance comparison between the weft-knitted foamed insole of elastomeric fiber in Example 12 and the ordinary foamed polyurethane insole in Comparative Example 2. The resilience of Example 12 is increased by 20% and the air permeability is increased by 86% compared with the ordinary insole. This shows that after foaming, the elastomeric fabric can not only further improve the shock absorption and resilience performance of the whole shoe, but also contribute to the improvement of the microcirculation inside the shoe and the wearing comfort during exercise due to the inherent high-void structure characteristics of the fabric.

[0106] Compare the characteristics of the two shoe tongues of Example 13 and Comparative Example 4, and respectively test DSI and DSII, energy return ratio (%), air permeability (mm / s), etc. before and after foaming, as shown in Table 4.

[0107] Table 4 Performance comparison between elastomeric fiber foamed shoe tongues and ordinary shoe tongues

[0108] Performance Example 13 Comparative Example 1 DSI (N / mm) 125.23 623.05 DSII (N / mm) 724.64 2290.08 Energy regression ratio (%) 82.10 68.90 Air permeability (mm / s) 0.44 0.21

[0109] The wearing comfort of the tongue can be characterized by dynamic and static foot entry comfort (DSI and DSII). As can be seen from Table 4, both DSI and DSII of the tongue obtained by foaming elastomeric fibers are much lower than those of the tongue made of ordinary foam, indicating that when using elastomeric fibers to make the tongue, the wearer's comfort is higher, that is, a better wearing experience can be obtained; the energy return ratio of Example 13 is higher than that of the tongue made of ordinary foam, indicating that when used as a tongue, it can have a better ability to prevent the compression feeling on the instep caused by tying the shoelaces tightly; the breathability of Example 13 is improved by 109% compared with the ordinary foam tongue, and better breathability can further enable the wearer to obtain a good sports experience during exercise. In addition, using elastomeric fiber foamed tongue can simplify the process. For the tongue of the traditional process, in order to ensure its soft texture, it must go through processes such as cutting, gluing, dyeing, and sewing outside the foam, while the foamed tongue of the present invention only needs to be woven and then uniformly foamed, and molded into the shape of the tongue to obtain the finished tongue, or further dyed according to requirements; but compared with the previous need for 2-3 kinds of materials to make the tongue, it is reduced to 1 kind of material, and from 4-5 process steps, it is simplified to 1-2 processes, which can greatly improve production efficiency and reduce production costs.

[0110] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and there is no any form of limitation to 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 scope of the technical solution of the present invention, can make some changes or modifications by using the technical content prompted above into 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 present invention.

Claims

1. A process for preparing a shoe upper, an insole or a shoe tongue, characterized in that: The steps include: S1. Weave the elastomer monofilament or multifilament into corresponding preformed samples according to the style of the upper, tongue or insole. S2, immersing the preformed sample in an organic good solvent corresponding to the elastomer monofilament or multifilament for immersion pretreatment; S3, removing excess impregnation solvent from the impregnated preformed sample in the form of a flat plate extrusion; S4, placing the dried preformed sample into an autoclave for supercritical foaming, opening the autoclave, and obtaining a foamed fabric sample; The single yarn fineness is 0.1-1.0mm, and the multi-filament specification is 1dtex-2200dtex.

2. The process for preparing the upper, insole or tongue according to claim 1, characterized in that: The elastomer monofilament or multifilament is selected from at least one of polyolefin elastomer, polyurethane elastomer, polyester elastomer and polyamide elastomer.

3. The process for preparing the upper, insole or tongue according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: In step S1, the elastomeric monofilament or multifilament is weft knitted, warp knitted or weaved to obtain a corresponding flat preform structure of the fabric to be foamed; or the elastomeric material corresponding to the elastomeric monofilament or multifilament is melt-extruded to form a three-dimensional network structure to be foamed.

4. The process for preparing the upper, insole or tongue according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The elastomer monofilament selected in step S1 can be mixed with other yarns that do not have foaming properties. When mixing, the structure and size need to be designed to reserve space for the monofilament to deform.

5. The process for preparing the upper, insole or tongue according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S2, the organic solvent is preferably one or more of acetone, N-methylpyrrolidone, ethyl benzoate, 1,2-dichloroethane, and dimethylformamide; the preformed sample is immersed at room temperature for 5-15 minutes.

6. The process for preparing the upper, insole or tongue according to claim 5, characterized in that: The dipping time of the elastomer monofilament in step S2 is directly related to the wire diameter; the thinner the wire diameter, the shorter the dipping time.

7. The process for preparing the upper, insole or tongue according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S3, the organic solvent with high viscosity may be further rinsed and dried to remove excess impregnation solvent.

8. The process for preparing the upper, insole or tongue according to claim 4, characterized in that: In step S4, during the supercritical foaming in the autoclave, the temperature in the autoclave is set to 100-150°C. After the temperature reaches the set temperature and stabilizes, nitrogen or carbon dioxide is introduced into the autoclave, and the gas pressure in the autoclave is adjusted to 10-50 MPa. When the gas in the autoclave is in a supercritical state, the constant temperature and pressure are maintained for 0.5-4 hours, and then the pressure is quickly reduced to normal pressure. The autoclave containing the sample is placed in ice water and cooled to room temperature. The autoclave is opened to obtain the foamed fabric sample.

9. A product of a shoe upper, insole or tongue, characterized in that: The shoe upper, shoe insole or shoe tongue is prepared by the preparation process of any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. The product of the upper, insole or tongue according to claim 9, characterized in that: The shoe tongue is woven with monofilaments or multifilaments and then foamed uniformly, and then molded into the shape of the shoe tongue to obtain a finished shoe tongue.

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