Patent Application
20230051022
The present invention relates generally to a light-cured anti-slip structure of a shoe sole, and more particularly to a light-cured anti-slip structure of a shoe sole and a manufacturing method of the same.
As the technology develops, a range of applications of a lightweight product made of foam material is wider and wider. For example, toys, daily commodities, and sporting goods could be made of the foam material to lighten weight of products. Take the sporting goods as an example, a helmet lining, a protective apparatus, a shoe midsole, and components that are made of composite material could be made of the foam material.
However, an ability of anti-slip of the foam material is worse, so that when the products need to have the ability of anti-slip, the foam material cannot be a contact member that is directly exposed outside. So far, to solve the above problem, a base material made of the rubber is attached to the outer surface of the foam material, so that the products made of foam material could have the ability of anti-slip.
The base material made of the rubber is a thermosetting material, wherein a heating step under strict temperature control is necessary to complete a thermal curing reaction of the rubber, so that the manufacturing method of a base material made of the rubber consumes a great amount of time and material. On the other hand, the product made of foam material with the base material made of the rubber needs adhesive to adhere the rubber base material to the outer surface of the foam material. Moreover, when adhesive is aged, the rubber base material may fall from the surface of the foam material, so that the durability and the reliability of such anti-slip product are still weak.
Additionally, the product made of the foam material with the rubber base material utilizes the adhesive to fix the rubber base material to the outer surface of the foam material to provide the ability of anti-slip. Since the rubber base material has a thickness that is unable to be ignored, and the adhesive has a thickness as well, the thickness of the product with the ability of anti-slip cannot be reduced.
In conclusion, there is a need to develop a new light-cured anti-slip structure and a manufacturing method thereof, to produce an anti-slip product with a simple structure and lighter weight and to effectively promote production efficiency, reliability, and durability.
In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a light-cured anti-slip structure including a light-curing composite, wherein the light-curing composite includes a photopolymer, a photoinitiator, a thermosetting polymer, and a thermal curing initiator, which are mixed. During a radiating step, a light-curing reaction of light-curing composite could be induced, and an exothermic reaction is accompanied by the light-curing reaction to induce the thermal curing reaction. Therefore, by simply applying the light-curing composite in liquid on the substrate surface and radiating the light-curing composite, an anti-slip layer which is light and thin could be made. Comparing the light-cured anti-slip structure with the manufacture of the conventional product made of the foam material with rubber base material, the manufacturing time of an anti-slip structure is greatly shortened, thereby enhancing production efficiency, reliability, and durability. Additionally, since the anti-slip layer formed by radiating the light-curing composite is directly attached to the substrate surface, there is no medium or adhesive located between the anti-slip layer and the substrate surface.
The present invention provides a light-cured anti-slip structure including an anti-slip layer which is fixed on a surface of a substrate and is composed of a light-curing composite. The light-curing composite includes a photopolymer, a photoinitiator, a thermosetting polymer, and a thermal curing initiator. The photopolymer is greater than or equal to 50 wt % and is less than 100 wt % based on a weight of the light-curing composite. The photoinitiator is greater than or equal to 0.5 wt % and is less than or equal to 20 wt % based on the weight of the light-curing composite. The thermosetting polymer is greater than or equal to 5 wt % and is less than or equal to 50 wt % based on the weight of the light-curing composite. The thermal curing initiator is less than or equal to 5 wt % and is not equal to 0 wt % based on the weight of the light-curing composite. A sum of weight percentages of the photopolymer, the photoinitiator, the thermosetting polymer, and the thermal curing initiator is equal to 100 wt %. The photopolymer, the photoinitiator, the thermosetting polymer, and the thermal curing initiator are mixed to form the light-curing composite. The photoinitiator receives a light energy to induce a light-curing reaction of the photopolymer. Simultaneously, the photoinitiator releases heat to activate the thermal curing initiator, and the thermal curing initiator induces a curing reaction of the thermosetting polymer, thereby forming the anti-slip layer.
In addition, the another primary objective of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing method of a light-cured anti-slip structure at least including the following steps. Provide the light-curing composite, wherein the light-curing composite comprises the photopolymer, the photoinitiator, the thermosetting polymer, and the thermal curing initiator, which are mixed. Apply the light-curing composite on the surface of the substrate. Provide the light energy for radiating the light-curing composite; the photoinitiator receives the light energy to induce the light-curing reaction of the photopolymer. Simultaneously, the photoinitiator releases heat to activate the thermal curing initiator to induce the curing reaction of the thermosetting polymer, thereby forming the anti-slip layer on the surface of the substrate.
In addition, the another primary objective of the present invention is to provide the light-cured anti-slip structure which is manufactured by the manufacturing method of the light-cured anti-slip structure.
With the aforementioned design, the light-cured anti-slip structure includes the light-curing composite, wherein the light-curing composite includes the photopolymer, the photoinitiator, the thermosetting polymer, and the thermal curing initiator which are mixed. By simply apply the light-curing composite in liquid on the substrate surface and utilize the radiating step to induce the light-curing reaction and the thermal curing reaction of the light-curing composite, the anti-slip product with the anti-slip layer could easily be made. Comparing to the conventional foam material with the rubber base material, the manufacturing time of manufacture the light-cured anti-slip structure is significantly shortened, and the reliability and the durability of the product are enhanced. Additionally, since the anti-slip layer formed by radiating the light-curing composite is directly fixed onto the substrate surface, so that there is no medium or adhesive between the anti-slip layer and the substrate surface.
The present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which
Referring to
As illustrated in
Step S02: provide a light-curing composite 20, wherein the light-curing composite 20 includes a photopolymer, a photoinitiator, a thermosetting polymer, and a thermal curing initiator, which are mixed;
Step S04: apply the light-curing composite 20 on a surface 12 of a substrate 10; and
Step S06: provide a light energy LE for irradiating the light-curing composite 20, wherein the photoinitiator receives the light energy LE, LE1, LE2 to induce a light-curing reaction (namely a polymerization or a cross-link) of the photopolymer. At the same time, the photoinitiator releases heat to activate the thermal curing initiator to induce a curing reaction (namely a polymerization or a cross-link) of the thermosetting polymer, thereby forming an anti-slip layer 20a on the surface 12 of the substrate 10. In the current embodiment, the light-curing reaction and the thermal curing reaction in the step S06 do not need to be activated by an additional heating process. In other words, the thermal curing reaction is entirely induced by a heat energy released from an exothermic reaction of the light-curing reaction.
In an embodiment, the light-curing composite includes the photopolymer which is greater than or equal to 50 wt % and is less than 100 wt % based on a weight of the light-curing composite, the photoinitiator which is greater than or equal to 0.5 wt % and is less than or equal to 20 wt % based on the weight of the light-curing composite, the thermosetting polymer which is greater than or equal to 5 wt % and is less than or equal to 50 wt % based on the weight of the light-curing composite, and the thermal curing initiator which is less than or equal to 5 wt % and is not equal to 0 wt % based on the weight of the light-curing composite. A sum of weight percentages of the photopolymer, the photoinitiator, the thermosetting polymer, and the thermal curing initiator is equal to 100 wt %
In the step S02, the photopolymer is constituted of at least one type of acrylate monomers which have at least one double bond, wherein the acrylate monomers could have, but not limited to, a urethane group, an epoxy group, an amine group, a polyester group or the combination thereof. In the current embodiment, photopolymer is selected one of a group of component, consisting of full acrylate resin, 2-phenoxy ethyl acrylate, polyethylene glycol (600) dimethacrylate, ditrimethylolpropane tetraacylate, aliphatic urethane acrylate, aromatic urethane acrylate, modified bisphenol A epoxy diacrylate, amine-modified polyether acrylate, polyester acrylate, and a combination thereof.
The photoinitiator is selected from a group of components consisting of benzophenone, phosphine oxide, quinone, titanocene, and a combination thereof. For example, the benzophenone photoinitiator could be, but not limited to, 2-Hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, methylbenzoyl formate, 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone, or a combination thereof; the phosphine oxide photoinitiator could be, but not limited to, diphenyl-(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)-phosphine oxide, bis(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)-phenylphosphine oxide, or a combination thereof; the quinone photoinitiator could be, but not limited to DL-camphorquinone; the titanocene photoinitiator could be, but not limited to bis(η5-cyclopentadienyl)-bis(2,6-difluoro-3-[pyrrol-1-yl]-phenyl)titanium.
In the current embodiment, a light that could be absorbed by the said photoinitiators includes UV radiation and/or visible light, wherein a wavelength of a light that could be absorbed by each of the photoinitiators mentioned above is listed as below:
In the step S06, the light energy is provided by a light in a wavelength range of 100 nm to 600 nm. A time of irradiation is arranged from 1 second to 60 seconds A power of the light energy is arranged from 0.1 J/cm2 to 10 J/cm2. As illustrated in
The thermosetting polymer is selected from a group of components consisting of rubber material, urethane, epoxy, and a combination thereof. However, the thermosetting polymer is not limited to the above-mentioned material. In the current embodiment, the rubber material needs to be flowable, so that the rubber material could be liquid rubber, rubber monomer, dissolved rubber, or a combination thereof, wherein the dissolved rubber is a rubber that dissolved by a solvent, so that the rubber that is in liquid form could be evenly mixed with the photopolymer in liquid form. It is worthy to mention that any rubber material that is in liquid form is suitable to be used.
The thermal curing initiator includes peroxide, which is selected from a group consisting of benzoyl peroxide (BPO), dicumyl peroxide (DCP), di-t-butyl peroxide (DTBP), 1,1-bis(tert-butylperoxy)-3,3,5 trimethylcyclohexane peroxide (TMCH), bis(t-butylperoxy Isopropyl) benzene peroxide (BIPB), or a combination thereof. However, the peroxide which could be used as the thermal curing initiator is not limited to the aforementioned substances.
In the step S06, there are the light-curing reaction and the thermal curing reaction without a need of additional heating processes. In other words, the thermal curing reaction is entirely induced by a heat energy released from an exothermic reaction of the light-curing reaction. More specifically, after the photoinitiator is adapted to absorb the light energy LE, LE1, LE2 to release heat, a temperature of the light-curing composite is increased to an exothermic temperature. The thermal curing initiator is activated at an initiating temperature. When the exothermic temperature is greater than or equal to the initiating temperature, the thermal curing initiator is activated to induce the curing reaction of the thermosetting polymer. In the current embodiment, during a photo-curing process, the exothermic temperature of the photoinitiator is greater than or equal to 60 degrees Celsius. The initiating temperature of the thermal curing initiator is greater than or equal to 60 degrees Celsius, wherein the initiating temperature of the thermal curing initiator is smaller than or equal to the exothermic temperature of the photoinitiator.
In
In
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
After that, radiates the light-curing composite 20 with the light energy LE1, LE2 with different wavelength ranges to activate the curing reaction, and then detaches the mold 40 to allow the light-curing composite 20 to be exposed outside, thereby forming the anti-slip layer 20c upon the substrate surface 12. In the current embodiment, the anti-slip layer 20c forms a connecting layer 203 and a plurality of protrusions 204 according to a distribution of the holes 41 of the mold 40 that communicate with each other. The protrusion 204 on the connecting layer 203 could present a pattern of the mold (not shown). It is worthy to mention that when the maximum thickness T3 of the anti-slip layer 20c is smaller than 0.3 mm, the curing process of the light-curing composite 20 could be finished by being radiated with the light energy LE at the single wavelength, as shown in
In the step S04, the light-curing composite 20 is directly applied on the surface 12 of the substrate 10, so that no medium is located between the surface 12 of the substance 10 and the anti-slip layer 20a, 20b, 20c that is cured. In the current embodiment, the anti-slip layer 20a, 20b, 20c is attached to the substrate surface 12 without using adhesive, so that manufacturing cost could be reduced and the light-cured anti-slip structure could become thinner.
In the current embodiment, the light-cured anti-slip structure 1a, 1b, 1c could provide a great effect of anti-slip. As shown in Table 1 below, when a value of wet grip is higher, the effect of anti-slip is greater.
A plurality of the embodiments according to the present invention and comparative examples are listed below. The comparison shows the light-cured anti-slip structure provided by the present invention has better wet grip.
10 parts of full acrylate resin, 1 part of 2-phenoxy ethyl acrylate, 1 part of polyethylene glycol(600) diacrylate, 0.5 parts of 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, and 0.2 parts of diphenyl-(2,4,6-Trimethylbenzoyl)-phosphine oxide by weight are evenly mixed and undergo a light-curing reaction to form an anti-slip structure of the comparative example 1, wherein wet grip of the anti-slip structure of the comparative example 1 is 0.22.
10 parts of amine modified polyether acrylate, 1 part of 2-phenoxy ethyl acrylate, 1 part of polyethylene glycol(600) diacrylate, 0.5 parts of 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, and 0.2 parts of diphenyl-(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)-phosphine oxide by weight are evenly mixed and undergo a light curing reaction to form an anti-slip structure of the comparative example 2, wherein wet grip of the anti-slip structure of the comparative example 2 is 0.25.
10 parts of modified bisphenol A epoxy diacrylate, 1 part of 2-phenoxy ethyl acrylate, 1 part of polyethylene glycol(600) diacrylate, 0.5 parts of 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, and 0.2 parts of diphenyl-(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)-phosphine oxide by weight are evenly mixed and undergo a light-curing reaction to form an anti-slip structure of the comparative example 3, wherein wet grip of the anti-slip structure of the comparative example 3 is 0.23.
10 parts of aliphatic urethane diacrylate and 0.5 parts of 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone by weight are evenly mixed and undergo a light-curing reaction to form an anti-slip structure of the comparative example 4, wherein wet grip of the anti-slip structure of the comparative example 4 is 0.38.
10 parts of aliphatic urethane diacrylate, 1 part of 2-phenoxy ethyl acrylate, 1 part of polyethylene glycol(600) diacrylate, 0.5 parts of ditrimethylolpropane tetraacylate, 0.5 parts of 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, and 0.2 parts of diphenyl-(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)-phosphine oxide by weight are evenly mixed and undergo a light-curing reaction to form an anti-slip structure of the comparative example 5, wherein wet grip of the anti-slip structure of the comparative example 5 is 0.36.
10 parts of aliphatic urethane diacrylate, 1 part of 2-phenoxy ethyl acrylate, 1 part of polyethylene glycol(600) diacrylate, 0.5 parts of ditrimethylolpropane tetraacylate, 0.5 parts of 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, 0.2 parts of diphenyl-(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)-phosphine oxide, 2 parts of liquid rubber (Isoprene), and 0.5 parts of benzoyl peroxide by weight are evenly mixed and undergo a light-curing reaction and a thermal curing reaction without heating additionally to form an anti-slip structure of the embodiment 1, wherein wet grip of the anti-slip structure of the embodiment 1 is 0.52.
10 parts of aliphatic urethane diacrylate, 1 part of 2-phenoxy ethyl acrylate, 1 part of polyethylene glycol(600) diacrylate, 0.5 parts of ditrimethylolpropane tetraacylate, 0.5 parts of 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, 0.2 parts of diphenyl-(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)-phosphine oxide, 4 parts of liquid rubber (Isoprene), and 0.5 parts of benzoyl peroxide by weight are evenly mixed and undergo a light-curing reaction and a thermal curing reaction without heating additionally to form an anti-slip structure of the embodiment 2, wherein wet grip of the anti-slip structure of the embodiment 2 is 0.67.
10 parts of aliphatic urethane diacrylate that could be cured by UV radiation, 1 part of 2-phenoxy ethyl acrylate, 1 part of polyethylene glycol(600) diacrylate, 0.5 parts of ditrimethylolpropane tetraacylate, 0.5 parts of 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, 0.2 parts of diphenyl-(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)-phosphine oxide, 3 parts of liquid rubber (Isoprene), and 0.5 parts of benzoyl peroxide by weight are evenly mixed and undergo a light-curing reaction and a thermal curing reaction without heating additionally to form an anti-slip structure of the embodiment 3, wherein wet grip of the anti-slip structure of the embodiment 3 is 0.65.
10 parts of aliphatic urethane diacrylate that could be cured by UV radiation, 1 part of 2-phenoxy ethyl acrylate, 1 part of polyethylene glycol(600) diacrylate, 0.5 parts of ditrimethylolpropane tetraacylate, 0.5 parts of 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, 0.2 parts of diphenyl-(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)-phosphine oxide, 3 parts of liquid rubber (Isoprene), and 0.5 parts of benzoyl peroxide by weight are evenly mixed and undergo a light-curing reaction and a thermal curing reaction without heating additionally to form an anti-slip structure of the embodiment 4, wherein wet grip of the anti-slip structure of the embodiment 4 is 0.62.
3 parts of aliphatic urethane diacrylate, 7 parts of aliphatic urethane diacrylate that could be cured by UV radiation, 1 part of 2-phenoxy ethyl acrylate, 1 part of polyethylene glycol(600) diacrylate, 0.5 parts of ditrimethylolpropane tetraacylate, 0.5 parts of 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, 0.2 parts of diphenyl-(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)-phosphine oxide, 3 parts of liquid rubber (Isoprene), and 0.5 parts of benzoyl peroxide by weight are evenly mixed and undergo a light-curing reaction and a thermal curing reaction without heating additionally to form an anti-slip structure of the embodiment 5, wherein wet grip of the anti-slip structure of the embodiment 5 is 0.63.
As shown in Table 2 below, comparing with the comparative examples 1 to 5, the embodiments 1 to 5 have better ability of anti-slip.
Comparing the comparative examples 1-5 to the embodiment 1-5, the ability of anti-slip of the anti-slip structures of the comparative examples which are merely formed by the photo-curing process is worse, wherein the anti-slip structure of the comparative examples are ranged from 0.22 to 0.38. However, in the current embodiments 1-5 of the present invention, the liquid rubber and the thermal curing initiator are added, so that by radiating without heating additionally to induce the photo-curing reaction and the thermal curing reaction, ability of anti-slip of the anti-slip structure is significantly enhanced, wherein the wet grip of the anti-slip structure of the embodiments are ranged from 0.52 to 0.67. As shown in table 2, the ability of anti-slip of the anti-slip structure of the embodiment 2 is the best among the five embodiments, wherein the wet grip of the anti-slip structure of the embodiment 2 is 0.67. The content of the liquid rubber of the light-curing composite of the embodiment 2 is the highest among the five embodiments. Therefore, the content of the liquid rubber of the light-curing composite is higher, the ability of anti-slip of the anti-slip structure is better.
With such design, the light-cured anti-slip structure includes the light-curing composite, wherein the light-curing composite includes photopolymer, photoinitiator, thermosetting polymer, and thermal curing initiator, which are mixed. By utilizing radiating step to induce the photo-curing reaction and the thermal curing reaction which is induced by the photo-curing reaction, it is feasible to apply the light-curing composite in liquid on the surface of the substrate so as to form the anti-slip product with the thin anti-slip layer. Besides, comparing with the conventional anti-slip rubber sole and the conventional anti-slip foam sole, the manufacturing time of the light-cured anti-slip structure is significantly shortened, so that the production efficiency, reliability, and durability could be improved. The anti-slip layer, which is formed by radiating the light-curing composite, is directly fixed onto the surface of the substrate, so that no medium or adhesive is located between the anti-slip layer and the surface of the substrate. Additionally, in the present invention, the light-curing composite undergoes the photo-curing reaction and the thermal curing reaction without an additional heating processes. In other words, after the light-curing composite is radiated by the light energy, the photo-curing reaction and the thermal curing reaction could be induced. The conventional thermosetting rubber sole needs to be cured by an additional heating processes, but the anti-slip structure of the current embodiment of the present invention does not need such processes, so that the manufacturing method of the sole with the light-cured anti-slip structure could accelerate the step of the curing process of the anti-slip layer, thereby reducing the manufacturing time, manufacturing steps, and material waste.
It must be pointed out that the embodiment described above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. All equivalent methods and structures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope of the present invention.
