Patent Application
20060042125
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an upper for a shoe, more particularly to an upper which is light-weight, soft, and abrasion-resistant.
2. Description of the Related Art
Materials used for forming uppers of shoes generally include leather, textile fabrics, vulcanized rubber, and various kinds of plastic materials. Among these materials, leather, vulcanized rubber and injection molded plastic materials are generally used for making toe caps and heel cups of shoes for climbing, hiking and hunting purposes, and have their advantages and disadvantages due to their inherent properties. For instance, while leather is comparatively soft, it is not water-resistant, and is susceptible to wearing and cracking. While vulcanized rubber is durable and resistant to water, it is relatively heavy. As for injected molded plastic materials, they are resistant to water but are not sufficiently durable and soft. In addition, since surface processing of leather and vulcanized rubber is relatively difficult, uppers made therefrom are rather monotonous in design, appearance and color. Expensive or time-consuming patterning techniques, such as transfer printing, will be required if patterns are to be formed on such uppers.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an upper which has characteristics of lightweight, softness, durability, and water-resistance.
Accordingly, an upper for a shoe includes a shell body having a toe part and a heel part. At least one of the toe part and the heel part is made of a composite material which includes a fabric layer having an outer surface and an inner surface, and an abrasion-resistant coating layer applied to the outer surface of the fabric layer. The coating layer has a thickness of about 0.05-0.25 mm, and is transparent to permit viewing of the outer surface of the fabric layer through the coating layer.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
The fabric layer 11 is made of a material selected from the group consisting of nylon, polyester, polycotton, cotton, acetate, and acrylic, and has a measure of softness so that it is comfortable to wear. In addition, the fabric layer 11 is of such a structure that it readily lends itself to a coloration treatment. The outer surface 111 of the fabric layer 11 can be directly formed to have desired patterns.
The coating layer 12 is formed from a material resistant to abrasion and water, and is made of a material selected from the group consisting of polyurethane (PU), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), and polyvinylchloride (PVC). The coating layer 12 has a bonding surface 121 that is bonded to the outer surface 111 of the fabric layer 11 by glue or by hot-pressing to form a laminate. Thus, the toe part 101 and the heel part 102 of the shell body 10 of the upper are abrasion- and water-resistant. Preferably, the coating layer 12 has a thickness of about 0.05-0.25 mm, and is transparent to permit viewing of the outer surface 111 of the fabric layer 11 through the coating layer 12.
With the aforesaid construction, the upper of this invention can achieve the following advantageous effects:
1. The upper of this invention is relatively more abrasion-resistant compared with conventional uppers.
2. As the thickness of the coating layer 12 is in the range of 0.05-0.25 mm, the upper of this invention is comparatively soft and light, and can be manufactured at relatively low costs. In addition, the upper is not susceptible to creasing during the lasting process.
3. The upper of this invention has better resistance to water compared with conventional fabric and leather uppers. Moreover, patterns can be easily formed on the fabric layer 11. As the patterns are protected by the coating layer 12 covering the fabric layer 11, the appearance of the upper can be maintained.
Referring to
Referring to
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
