JPH06284901A - Fitting material for ski boots - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To offer unique fitting material is be used for inner boots of the ski boots, as the forms of this material can be repeatedly added. CONSTITUTION:This material is made by sticking a thermoplastic polymer 13 whose melting point is 40-90 deg.C to the inner face of the cell 12 of a soft foam 11 which have continuous bubble cells. Due to this structure, fitting procedure can become much easier as it can be done repeatedly, which results in improvement of the fitting performance of ski boots.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ski boot fitting used for an inner boot which is inserted into a shell of a ski boot to cover a foot, and more particularly to a fitting which can be repeatedly given a shape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows an example of a ski boot including a shell 1 and an inner boot 2. The shell 1 is made rigid so that the movement of the skier's legs can be immediately transmitted to the ski. However, there are individual differences in the shape of the foot accommodated in the shell 1, and the inner boot 2 is interposed between the shell 1 and the foot for the purpose of absorbing the difference in shape and holding the foot without pain. Has been done.

As a fitting method for this type of ski boot, a soft foam urethane injection method (urethane forming) has been conventionally used. With this urethane foaming method, the inner boots 2 are placed in the shell 1, and the legs are inserted into the inner boots 2.
Mixing different types of reaction liquids (for example, polyol and isocyanate) into the inner boots 2 at a foaming pressure, and foaming and solidifying the reaction liquids in the inner boots 2 to form inner boots that fit the user's foot shape. Work (hereinafter referred to as fitting work) is performed.

[0004]

However, the conventionally used fitting materials cannot be modified because their shape is fixed once they are foamed and solidified. Therefore, there is a problem that if the user moves his / her foot in the boot during the fitting work, an appropriate shape cannot be obtained. Also, once the reaction solution is mixed, the fitting operation cannot be stopped halfway, or if the fitting operation is stopped after mixing the reaction solution,
The mixed reaction solution is wasted. Furthermore, there were complaints that the reaction solution had a pot life and the fitting work had a time limit.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a fitting material for sports shoes which can be repeatedly given a shape.

[0006]

The fitting material for a ski shoe of the present invention has a constitution in which a thermoplastic polymer having a melting point of 40 to 90 ° C. is adhered to the cell inner surface of a soft foam having open cells. The said subject was solved.

[0007]

The fitting material for ski shoes of the present invention has a melting point of 40-9 on the inner surface of the cell of the soft foam having open cells.
Since a thermoplastic polymer of 0 ° C is attached, it can be easily deformed by heating to a temperature above the melting point of the thermoplastic polymer to melt and soften the thermoplastic polymer. By deforming to fit and cooling it at room temperature as it is, the softened polymer hardens and its shape is retained, and the fitting operation is completed. Furthermore, once the fitting material whose shape has been fixed is heated above the melting point of the thermoplastic polymer, the thermoplastic polymer melts and softens and the restoring force of the soft foam restores this fitting material to its original shape. The fitting work can be performed again.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a fitting material for ski shoes according to the present invention, in which reference numeral 10 is a fitting material. The fitting material 10 has a melting point of 40 to 40 on the inner surface of the cell 12 of the soft foam 11 having open cells.
It is formed by adhering a thermoplastic polymer 13 at 90 ° C.

The soft foam 11 has a glass transition point (hereinafter referred to as Tg) of Tg ≦ 0 ° C., preferably T.
A material whose g is equal to or lower than the ambient temperature of the use environment is used, and for example, a urethane foam material, a silicone rubber foam material, a fluororubber foam material, a natural rubber foam material or the like is preferably used. The ambient temperature of the environment in which the ski boot is used is generally 0 ° C. or lower. When the Tg of the foam is higher than the ambient temperature of the environment in which it is used, the foam becomes hard at the temperature of the environment in which it is used and is not suitable as a fitting material. On the other hand, when a soft foam having Tg equal to or lower than the ambient temperature of the use environment is used, the foam does not become hard even at the use environment temperature and the function of the fitting material is not impaired. As the soft foam 11, one having continuous pores is used.
If the foam 11 has independent pores, it becomes difficult to impregnate the thermoplastic polymer 13 into the pore cells 12 inside the soft foam 11, which is not preferable.

As the thermoplastic polymer 13, a resin material having a melting point (Tm) of 40 ° C. to 90 ° C. is used. For example, thermoplastic polyester resin, ethylene vinyl acetate resin, ethylene acrylic resin, ethylene-vinyl acetate-acrylic resin. , Thermoplastic polyurethane resin and the like can be used, and a particularly suitable commercially available product is Praxel H7 manufactured by Daicel. This thermoplastic polymer 13
If the melting point is lower than 40 ° C., it will be melted or softened depending on the body temperature during use, and the holding property for the foot will deteriorate. Further, if the melting point is higher than 90 ° C., the foot is put in the inner boot 2 when the shape is fixed, so it is not preferable to use the fitting material 10 having a temperature higher than 90 ° C. 90 ° C. is also a considerably high temperature for the human body, but since the fitting material 10 is a foam, the heat conduction is poor and the foot does not feel excessive heat, so it can be used up to 90 ° C.

This fitting material 10 is used inside the inner boot 2 housed in the shell 1 of the ski shoe shown in FIG. The method of fixing the fitting material 10 to the inner boot 2 is not particularly limited. For example, the method of welding to. Also, the arrangement of the fitting material 10 is not particularly limited,
The fitting material 10 may be arranged on the entire inner boot 2, or may be arranged only on the essential portions such as the heel portion, the heel portion, and the instep portion where a particular fit is required. By fixing the fitting material 10 to the inner boot 2 in this manner, the inner boot capable of fitting work can be configured.

Next, an example of a method of manufacturing this fitting material will be described. FIG. 2 shows an example of an apparatus for manufacturing the fitting material 10. This manufacturing apparatus includes a vacuum chamber 20 for accommodating a container of a thermoplastic polymer solution 21.
And a vacuum pump 22 connected to the air inlet / outlet of the vacuum chamber 20. In order to manufacture the fitting material 10 with this manufacturing apparatus, first, a thermoplastic polymer solution (hereinafter referred to as a polymer solution) 21 in which a thermoplastic polymer is dissolved in an organic solvent, and a soft foam 11 having a desired size and shape are prepared. The container of the polymer solution 21 is put in the vacuum chamber 20, the soft foam 11 is put in the container to seal the vacuum chamber 20, and then the vacuum pump 22 is driven to evacuate the vacuum chamber 20. To do. Then, the inside of the vacuum chamber 20 is depressurized to a predetermined degree of vacuum to replace the air in the cells 12 of the soft foam 11 with the thermoplastic polymer solution 21. Then, the soft foam impregnated with the polymer solution 21 is taken out from the vacuum chamber 20, and the organic solvent is removed by evaporation. As a result, the fitting material 10 shown in FIG. 1 is obtained.

Since the fitting material 10 has a structure in which a thermoplastic polymer 13 is adhered to the inner surface of the cell 12 of a soft foam 11 having open cells, the fitting material 10 is fixed to the inner boots 2 of the ski shoe to be thermoplastic. Polymer 1
When heated to the melting point of 3 or higher, the thermoplastic polymer 13 is melted and softened, and is easily deformed when an external force is applied. In this state, fitting work is performed. That is,
By inserting the foot into this inner boot, fitting the fitting material 10 to the shape of the foot, and cooling it at room temperature in that state, the softened polymer is hardened and its shape is retained, whereby the fitting work is completed. To do. Here, in order to heat the fitting material 10,
Hot air heating or the like is suitable.

Further, with this fitting material 10, when the fitting work needs to be performed again, for example, when a sufficient fitting feeling cannot be obtained in the first fitting work, the fitting material 10 which has been subjected to the fitting work is heated again. By heating above the melting point of the thermoplastic polymer 13, the thermoplastic polymer 12 is melted and softened, and the fitting material 10 is restored by the restoring force of the soft foam.
Is restored to its original shape so that the fitting operation can be performed again. Hereinafter, production examples of the fitting material according to the present invention will be described.

(Manufacturing Example) A soft urethane foam material having continuous pores was used as the soft foam, and Praxel H7 manufactured by Daicel was used as the thermoplastic polymer to manufacture a fitting material by the manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. A polymer (Plaxel H7) was dissolved in toluene to prepare a 20 wt% polymer solution 21. The container of the polymer solution 21 was put in the vacuum chamber 20, the foam 11 was put in the polymer solution 21, and the vacuum chamber 20 was sealed. Next, the vacuum pump 22 was driven to reduce the pressure in the vacuum chamber 20 to about 8 kPa, and the air in the cells of the foam 11 was replaced with the polymer solution 21. Next, the vacuum chamber was opened, the foam 11 impregnated with the polymer solution 21 was taken out, and toluene was volatilized to adhere the polymer to the cell inner surface of the foam 11 to obtain a fitting material. The obtained fitting material can be easily deformed by heating at about 60 to 80 ° C., and then can retain its shape by cooling at room temperature, and has sufficient practicality as a fitting material for ski shoes. It was Moreover, after fixing the shape of this fitting material, the fitting material was restored to the original shape by heating again, and the fitting operation was possible again.

[0016]

As described above, the fitting material for ski boots of the present invention is formed by adhering a thermoplastic polymer having a melting point of 40 to 90 ° C. to the cell inner surface of a soft foam having open cells. By heating above the melting point of the thermoplastic polymer to melt and soften the thermoplastic polymer, it becomes easily deformable.In this state, fitting work is performed, and by allowing it to cool, the softened polymer cures. Its shape is retained. further,
Once the shape-fixed fitting is heated above the melting point of the thermoplastic polymer, the thermoplastic polymer melts and softens, and the restoring force of the soft foam restores the fitting to its original shape. It becomes possible to work. Therefore, according to this fitting material, the fitting work for fitting the inner boot of the ski shoe to the user's foot can be repeatedly performed, which facilitates the fitting work. Further, since the fitting work can be repeatedly performed, there is no failure and the ski shoes and the feet can be surely fitted to each other, so that the fitting property of the ski shoes can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a fitting material for a ski shoe of the present invention, and is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of the fitting material.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a manufacturing apparatus suitable for manufacturing the same fitting material.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a ski shoe having inner boots.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Shell, 2 ... Inner boot, 10 ... Fitting material, 11 ... Soft foam, 12 ... Open cell, 13 ... Thermoplastic polymer, 20 ... Vacuum chamber, 21 ... Thermoplastic Polymer solution, 22 ... Vacuum pump.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A fitting material for use in an inner boot that is inserted into a shell of a ski shoe to cover a foot, wherein a soft foam having open cells has a melting point of 40 on the inner surface of the cell.
A fitting material for ski shoes, which is obtained by adhering a thermoplastic polymer having a temperature of up to 90 ° C.