Skate Boot Shell Lamination for Consistent Stress Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional skate boot manufacturing methods result in inconsistent products due to hand-made construction and inadequate stress distribution between layers, leading to rigidity issues and potential discomfort during use.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the shaping and lamination of tridimensional outer and inner sub-shells made from different materials, with a reinforcement sub-shell, to create a skate boot shell that provides improved fit and structural integrity through heat and pressure bonding, allowing for a more customizable and durable design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If lasted skate boots are individually handmade by hand, then each boot can be custom-shaped, but manufacturing consistency and productivity are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The boot is divided into multiple laminated layers that can be individually shaped and then assembled together. This segmentation allows each layer to be manufactured with precision using automated processes while maintaining the ability to create custom boot shapes through the layered construction approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes thermoplastic materials that change their physical properties with temperature. By heating the materials to a formable state and then cooling them, the manufacturing process achieves both automated consistency and custom shaping capability, resolving the contradiction between standardized production and individual customization.
2Ease of manufacture
If a flat sandwich of laminated layers is bent into shape, then the boot can be formed, but stresses are induced at the interface between layers
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of bending flat layers into shape (which causes stress), the patent inverts the process by first shaping each layer to its final three-dimensional form and then assembling them together. This eliminates the bending stresses that would occur at layer interfaces during traditional forming processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The layers are pre-shaped to their final configuration before assembly. This preliminary action of shaping each layer individually ensures that no stress-inducing bending occurs during the assembly process, maintaining layer interface integrity while achieving the desired boot shape.
3Strength
If skate boots are molded from rigid plastic or composite material as a monolithic shell, then structural integrity is improved, but the boot becomes overly rigid and less comfortable
Solution Approach 1:
Different layers of the boot shell can be made from materials with different rigidity properties. This allows certain areas to be more rigid for structural support while other areas use more flexible materials for comfort, resolving the contradiction between overall structural integrity and localized comfort requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The boot shell is constructed from multiple layers of different materials laminated together. This composite structure provides both the structural integrity of rigid materials and the comfort of more flexible materials in appropriate locations, eliminating the need for a purely monolithic construction.
4Adaptability or versatility
If boot sub-shells are connected together, then complex boot shapes can be achieved, but the connection may be inadequate and induce stresses
Solution Approach 1:
The sub-shells are merged through lamination where layers are bonded together in an overlapping configuration. This combining approach creates a more reliable connection than simple mechanical attachment, distributing stresses across the bonded interface and maintaining the structural integrity needed for versatile boot designs.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enhances the fit and durability of skate boots by ensuring consistent stress distribution and material properties, addressing the issues of rigidity and comfort in existing skate boot designs.
Implementation Method 1
heating the at least one layer
Implementation Method 2
pressing the at least one layer against the mold surface
Implementation Method 3
cooling the outer sub-shell, the cooled outer sub-shell retaining its tridimensional shape
Implementation Method 4
bonding the shaped sub-shells together through lamination, the lamination being performed with the inner sub-shell in the outer sub-shell
Data Source
AI summary
A method of manufacturing a skate boot shell, and more particularly a non-lasted skate boot shell, including shaping tridimensional outer and inner sub-shells, and bonding the shaped sub-shells together through lamination. The lamination is performed after the sub-shells are shaped and includes applying heat to the sub-shells and/or pressure on one of the sub-shells toward the other against a mold surface. A skate boot shell with multiple sub-shells is also discussed, including an outer sub-shell, and inner sub-shell and a reinforcement sub-shell.