Patent Application
20180007999
The disclosure relates to a method of making a shoe, and more particularly to a method of making a moisture-permeable and waterproof shoe.
Conventional shoes, such as walking shoes, sneakers or boots, may have a vamp made from fabrics, natural leather or synthetic leather. The shoes with the fabric or natural leather vamp have the advantages of breathability and perspiration repellence, but are not water resistant. The shoes with the synthetic leather vamp have the advantage of water resistance, but are defective in breathability and often cause a sweltering feeling. Besides, the water-resistant effect of the conventional shoes cannot be comprehensively achieved without application of strips made from a waterproof material or waterproof adhesive to seams of the synthetic leather vamp.
The galoshes are generally made from a waterproof rubber material in one piece without formation of seams by injection molding techniques. Since the rubber material is relatively dense, the conventional galoshes are relatively rigid, heavy and moisture-impermeable. After wearing the galoshes for a long time, a user may experience discomfort from sweltering feelings.
Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a method of making a moisture-permeable and waterproof shoe that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.
According to one aspect of the disclosure, the method of making a moisture-permeable and waterproof shoe includes: forming a vamp and a bottom liner from a fabric laminate and connecting the vamp and the bottom liner to form a semi-finished shoe with seams; disposing a shoe last in a foot-receiving space provided in the semi-finished shoe; coating an outer surface of the semi-finished shoe with a resin material and curing the resin material to form a moisture-permeable and waterproof resin layer on the outer surface of the semi-finished shoe and to cover the seams; attaching a shoe sole to the bottom liner; and removing the shoe last from the receiving space.
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
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The moisture-permeable and waterproof resin layer 32 of the vamp 1 may have different structures due to selection of the resin material 3. For example, the moisture-permeable and waterproof resin layer 32 may be in the form of a porous membrane or non-porous membrane. The porous membrane has a plurality of pores, each of which has a diameter smaller than that of a water molecule and larger than that of a water vapor molecule. By way of a proper pore size arrangement, the porous membrane is waterproof and moisture-permeable. The non-porous membrane is free of pores and has a hydrophilic functional group-providing side and a hydrophobic functional group-providing side. When the non-porous member serves as the moisture-permeable and waterproof resin layer 32, the water vapor molecules will be adsorbed on the hydrophilic functional group-providing side, diffused to the hydrophobic functional group-providing side through capillary action and finally transpired to the environment.
As for the properties of the moisture-permeable and waterproof resin layer 32, the layer 32 may have a water resistance greater than 2000 mm as measured by the method in accordance with JIS L-1092B, and a moisture permeability greater than 2000 g/m3/24 hr as measured by the method in accordance with JIS L-1099B1.
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It is noted that based on the intended application and requirements, an additive, such as a pigment, a UV absorber, or an antibacterial agent, may be added to the resin material so that the waterproof and moisture-permeable resin layer 32 may achieve one or more of hyperchromic, ultraviolet resistant and antibacterial effects, etc.
Moreover, incorporation of the foam layer 112 would allow for the shoe to be soft, comfortable and lightweight for wearing. In one form, the foam layer 112 is omitted so that the outer fabric layer 111 is in direct contact with the inner fabric layer 113.
In summary, compared with the conventional shoes made from the fabrics, the natural leather or the synthetic leather, with the moisture-permeable and waterproof resin layer 32 covering the outer surface 1111 of the outer fabric layer 111 and the seams 13, the vamp 10 of the shoe of this disclosure is both waterproof and moisture-permeable. Besides, cutting the pieces 12 from the fabric laminate 11 and connecting the pieces 12 to form the vamp 10 and the bottom liner 14 make the semi-finished shoe 1 more flexible to match with designs and property requirements of different shoes, and the requirement for developing molds for different shoes can be eliminated. The structural arrangement of the outer fabric layer 111, the foam layer 112 and the inner fabric layer 113 makes the moisture-permeable and waterproof fabric laminate 11 of the shoe relatively lightweight and comfortable for wearing. Surface treatment performed on the outer surface 1111 of the outer fabric layer 111, such as embossing or patterning makes the appearance of the shoe more changeable so as to increase the aesthetic value of the shoe.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment 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.
