TWI857823B - Glue-free lamination method for elastic pads - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a non-adhesive laminating method for elastic pads. First, a substrate is prepared, which is a sheet formed by mixing natural rubber with a foaming agent and related additives and then pressing it. Then, a destroying material is arranged on the surface of the substrate. The destroying material includes a foaming agent and a foaming aid. Then, the destroying material is instantly heated to cause the destroying material to produce a chemical reaction and destroy the surface of the substrate. Then, a surface material is attached to the surface of the substrate. Then, the heat-attached surface material is attached to the substrate. The substrate and the surface material are partially matured, and a strengthening method is applied at the same time. The strengthening method is to apply external force to the surface material so that the damaged material on the contact surface between the surface material and the substrate is strengthened by the external force, making it easier for the surface material and the substrate to connect. Then, pressure is applied to the outer side of the surface material and the substrate to promote the bonding between the surface material and the substrate. Finally, the surface material and the substrate are heated to fully mature the substrate, thereby obtaining an elastic pad.

Description

Glue-free lamination method for elastic pads

The present invention is related to elastic pads, and more specifically, refers to a method for making elastic pads without adhesive bonding.

According to the common knowledge, elastic pads are made by laminating rubber sheets with surface materials of different physical properties (such as fiber fabrics, etc.). The technology for laminating the rubber sheets and the surface materials is to apply adhesive or bonding agent on the surface of the rubber sheets before they are matured and shaped, and then the surface materials are attached to the rubber sheets and sent to the vulcanization foaming box for maturation before they can be foamed and formed into elastic pads. Such methods of laminating the surface materials and rubber sheets using adhesive or bonding agent will cause environmental problems such as air and water pollution in the process.

For this purpose, the inventor developed the Republic of China Publication No. 200607634 "Method for the Production of Continuous Rubber Embossed Foam" many years ago. It mainly uses the gas pressure generated by the chemical change of the foaming agent added to the rubber sheet material to bond the surface material. No adhesive or bonding agent is needed. The inventor calls it glue-free bonding technology. This process is more environmentally friendly and is currently widely used in the industry.

Secondly, in order to solve the problems of the slow water absorption speed of the woven fabric absorbent mat, and the poor feel of the hard diatomaceous earth absorbent mat, easy to break and easy to slip (need to be used with anti-slip pads), the inventor has successively developed the elastic absorbent mat with the Republic of China invention No. I693909, No. I729845 and the new model No. M582806, No. M601062 in recent years. The elastic absorbent floor mat not only absorbs water faster, but also feels soft when stepped on and will not slip on the ground. Therefore, it can indeed solve the shortcomings of the aforementioned different types of absorbent floor mats. Moreover, these elastic absorbent floor mats have been sold in most merchants and wholesale channels, and consumers have given very good feedback on their experience. These elastic absorbent floor mats are also elastic mats, and the bonding method of the surface material and the rubber sheet also utilizes the glue-free bonding technology of the aforementioned elastic mats.

However, based on the spirit of continuous improvement, the inventor has invented the "glueless bonding method for elastic pads", which has a better adhesion between the surface material and the rubber sheet.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a non-adhesive bonding method for elastic pads, which can not only bond rubber sheets and surface materials with different physical properties without the need for adhesives, which is very environmentally friendly, but also has a very good degree of adhesion between the surface material and the rubber sheet and is not easy to separate.

Therefore, in order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention provides a non-glue laminating method for elastic pads, the steps of which at least include: preparing a substrate: preparing a substrate, which is a sheet formed by mixing natural rubber and related additives; setting a destroying material: setting a destroying material on the surface of the substrate, the destroying material comprising a foaming agent and a foaming aid; instant heating: instantaneously heating the destroying material so that the destroying material produces a chemical reaction and destroys the surface of the substrate; pasting a surface material: pasting a surface material on the surface of the substrate One surface material; heating and strengthening: heating the bonded substrate and surface material to partially mature the substrate, and at the same time applying a strengthening means, the strengthening means is to apply external force to the surface material, so that the damaged material on the contact surface between the surface material and the substrate is strengthened by the external force, making the surface material and the substrate easier to connect; pressure: applying pressure to the outer side of the surface material and the substrate to promote the bonding between the surface material and the substrate; maturation: heating the surface material and the substrate to mature the substrate, thereby obtaining an elastic water-absorbing mat.

Preferably, in the step of preparing the substrate, the substrate is placed on a continuously moving support member, and after the maturation step, the elastic pad is separated from the support member, and the support member is an embossing mold that can produce a pattern on one side of the substrate.

Preferably, the destroying material further contains a defoaming agent/antifoaming agent and/or an elastic material.

Preferably, the base material and the destroying material are further added with water-absorbing material powder.

Preferably, in the instant heating step, the instant heating temperature is at least the temperature at which the foaming agent can produce a chemical reaction and generate gas.

Preferably, in the step of attaching the surface material, the surface material is a fiber sheet.

Preferably, in the step of heating and strengthening, the strengthening means can be one or a combination of physical means such as wind, radio waves, laser or magnetic waves.

Preferably, the strengthening means is wind force, so that part of the surface of the substrate and part of the damaged material can extend into the surface material.

Preferably, the strengthening means is negative pressure wind force.

Preferably, in the heating and strengthening step, the substrate is allowed to mature to about half maturity, and in the maturing step, heating may be performed at least once until the substrate is fully matured.

100, 200: Glue-free lamination method for elastic pads

110: Prepare the substrate

120: Set up destructive materials

130: Instant heat

140: Surface material installation

150: Heating and strengthening

160: Pressure

170:Mature

1: Base material

2: Destruction of materials

3: Surface material

10: Elastic pad

The first figure is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The second figure is a schematic diagram of an elastic pad made by a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The third figure is a schematic diagram of the process of another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The fourth figure is a schematic diagram of another preferred embodiment of the present invention in which the strengthening means causes part of the surface of the substrate and part of the damaged material to be attracted by negative pressure and extend into the surface material.

Below, two preferred embodiments of the present invention are cited and further described in detail with reference to the drawings:

First, please refer to the first and second figures, which show a method 100 for making elastic pads without adhesive in a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The first step is to prepare a substrate 110: prepare a substrate 1, which is a sheet made of natural rubber extracted from rubber tree latex, added with a foaming agent (such as azodicarbonamide ADC/AC, nitroso foaming agent, oxybisbenzenesulfonylhydrazine, benzenesulfonylhydrazine, etc., azodicarbonamide in this embodiment, but not limited to) and a foaming aid (such as a promoter, inhibitor, stabilizer and catalyst, etc.) and other additives mixed with water-absorbing material powder (the elastic pad prepared by the present invention needs to be added only when it is used as a water-absorbing floor mat), kneaded and extruded. The foaming agent, foaming aid and other additives are known additives for controlling the foaming and vulcanization of natural rubber. They are known technologies and their detailed ingredients and foaming principles will not be described here.

The second step of the present invention is to set a destroying material 120: a destroying material 2 is set on the surface of the substrate 1, and the method is coating or spraying, etc., but not limited. The destroying material includes a foaming agent, a foaming aid, a defoaming agent/defoaming agent or/and a water-absorbing material powder (only when the elastic mat prepared by the present invention is used as a water-absorbing mat), and an elastic material (liquid or solid). The foaming agent and the foaming aid are the same as those added to the substrate 1, but not limited. The defoaming agent/defoaming agent is a conventional rubber product defoaming agent, which is used to break the bubbles generated by the foaming agent on the surface of the substrate 1. To adjust the foaming effect of the foaming agent, the water-absorbing material powder refers to mineral powder such as diatomaceous earth, clay, clay, sand, etc. or/and plant powder such as cotton and agar or/and chemical powder such as sludge, slag, highly absorbent resin, nylon, polyacrylate, etc., but not limited. The present embodiment is diatomaceous earth. The elastic material can be a known thermoplastic elastic material, such as PU (TPU), TPR and natural rubber, etc., but not limited. The addition ratio of each of the foaming agent, foaming aid, defoaming agent, water-absorbing material powder and elastic material is not limited, and it only needs to be able to destroy the surface of the substrate 1. In addition, the water-absorbing material powder can be used to absorb water, and the elastic material is used for connection.

The third step of the present invention is instant heating 130: instant heating the destroying material 2 so that the destroying material 2 produces a chemical reaction and then destroys the surface of the substrate 1. The instant heating temperature is at least the temperature at which the foaming agent and the foaming agent can produce a chemical reaction. For example, the decomposition temperature of the azodicarbonamide foaming agent is about 195°C to 120°C, and the instant heating temperature is above 195°C. During instant heating, the surface of the substrate 1 will also be softened by the heat and easily destroyed by the foaming gas pressure and the foaming interaction of the foaming agent and the foaming agent in the destroying material 2. In addition, when the elastic material added to the destructive material 2 is solid, the instantaneous heating temperature can also soften the elastic material, and the softened elastic material is destroyed and separated by the interaction of the foaming agent and the defoaming agent.

The fourth step of the present invention is to attach the surface material 140: when the destructive material 2 produces a chemical reaction and destroys the surface of the substrate 1, a surface material 3 is laid on the surface of the substrate 1, and the substrate 1 and the surface material 3 can be gradually attached to each other under the action of the destructive material 2 starting to produce a chemical reaction. The surface material 3 is a fiber sheet, such as cloth, etc.

The fifth step of the present invention is heating and strengthening 150: the laminated substrate 1 and the surface material 3 are heated and a strengthening means is applied at the same time. The strengthening means is to apply an external force to the surface material 3 so that the surface material 3 and the substrate 1 are more easily connected. The aforementioned heating method is to input the substrate 1 and the surface material 3 into a known oven. The surface material 3 and the substrate 1 can be naturally bonded by the foaming gas pressure of the foaming agent in the destroying material 2 and the bubble breaking interaction of the bubble breaking agent. The heating temperature can make the substrate 1 mature to about half-mature. The strengthening means is carried out in the oven, but it is not limited. The strengthening means can be one or a combination of physical means such as wind, radio waves, lasers or magnetic waves. The strengthening means can directly reach the destroying material 2 through the material gap of the surface material 3 to improve the connection between the destroying material 2 and the surface material 3. Furthermore, the softened and separated elastic material in the destructible material 2 can further assist in connecting the surface material 3 and the substrate 1.

The sixth step of the present invention is to apply pressure 160: after the surface material 3 and the substrate 1 are subjected to the strengthening means, pressure is applied to the outer sides of the surface material 3 and the substrate 1 to promote the bonding of the surface material 3 and the substrate 1. The method of applying pressure can be to input the surface material 3 and the substrate 1 into a conventional press to be pressed, but is not limited.

The final step of the present invention is curing 170: the surface material 3 and the substrate 1 are heated in an oven until the substrate 1 is fully cured, thereby obtaining an elastic pad 10. The surface material 3 and the substrate 1 can be cured by heating in one oven, or by heating in multiple ovens and gradually curing.

Thus, the adhesive-free bonding method 100 of the elastic pad of the present invention utilizes the method of placing a destroying material 2 on the surface of the substrate 1 and then heating it instantly to cause the destroying material 2 to produce a chemical reaction and destroy the surface of the substrate 1, and then placing the surface material 3 on the substrate 1, so that the substrate 1 and the surface material 3 can be naturally bonded by the gas pressure generated by the foaming agent in the destroying material 2 and the bubble breaking interaction of the bubble breaking agent, and then the substrate 1 and the surface material 3 are heated and a strengthening method is applied at the same time to improve the bonding degree between the substrate 1 and the surface material 3. Finally, the substrate 1 and the surface material 3 can be bonded without the need for an adhesive to manufacture the elastic pad 10. Furthermore, when water-absorbing material powder is added to the base material 1 and the destroying material 2, the elastic pad 10 can be used as a water-absorbing floor mat.

As shown in the third figure, another preferred embodiment of the present invention is a non-adhesive laminating method 200 for elastic pads. The steps are substantially the same as the non-adhesive laminating method 100, except that the substrate 1 is attached to a continuously moving support member 4 (for example, placed on a conveyor belt, not shown in the figure), the support member 4 is a release fabric that can produce a pattern on one side of the substrate 1, but is not limited to it, and the support member 4 is separated from the elastic pad 10 after the aging step 170. Next, in the step of heating and strengthening 150, the strengthening means can be negative pressure wind, so that part of the surface of the substrate 1 and part of the destruction material 2 can be attracted by the negative pressure and extend into the surface material 3, as shown in the fourth figure. Furthermore, the curing step 170 can be heated twice, and the curing can be performed at 70%, 85% and finally completed. Thus, after the support member 4 is separated from the elastic pad 10, the surface of the substrate 1 can be affected by the support member 4 to form a predetermined pattern.

In addition, the present invention can also prepare an elastic pad with multiple layers of fiber cloth (i.e., the surface material 3). It is only necessary to set the destroying material 2 containing elastic material between each layer of fiber cloth, and the destroying material 2 can be used to connect each layer of fiber cloth. Specifically, the steps of setting the destroying material 120, instant heating 130, attaching the surface material 140, and heating and strengthening 150 are repeated several times, and then the steps of pressing 160 and aging 170 are performed. In addition, various types of recycled materials can also be added to the substrate 1 of the present invention, so that the present invention also has the effect of using recycled waste as materials.

As can be seen from the above, the adhesive-free bonding method of the elastic pad provided by the present invention only utilizes the destructive effect of the destructive material on the surface of the substrate when it is heated and undergoes chemical changes instantly, and with the strengthening means applied to the surface material, the substrate with different physical properties can be bonded to the surface material. No adhesive is required, which is very environmentally friendly. A predetermined pattern can also be formed on one side of the substrate by a support member that can be separated from the substrate. Compared with the conventional adhesive-free bonding method of the elastic pad, which only utilizes the gas pressure generated by the foaming agent in the substrate to bond the substrate to the surface material, the present invention can make the bonding degree between the substrate and the surface material better, and the surface material is less likely to be separated from the substrate, which is more practical.

Of course, the surface material in the manufacturing method of the present invention is not limited to cloth, but can also be materials such as plastic film, so as to enhance the diversity of elastic pad products and increase the use of the product.

The above are only several preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone with common knowledge in the relevant technical field may make some modifications, changes and embellishments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be subject to the scope of the attached patent application.

100: Glue-free lamination method for elastic pads

110: Prepare the substrate

120: Set up destructive materials

130: Instant heat

140: Surface material installation

150: Heating and strengthening

160: Pressure

170:Mature

Claims (10)

A method for making elastic pads without adhesive bonding, the steps of which at least include: Prepare a base material: Prepare a base material, which is a sheet formed by mixing natural rubber and related additives and then pressing; Setting a destroying material: Setting a destroying material on the surface of the substrate, the destroying material comprising a mixed foaming agent and a foaming aid; Instant heating: Instantly heat the destructive material to cause it to undergo a chemical reaction and destroy the surface of the substrate; Paste the surface material: paste a surface material on the surface of the substrate; Heating and strengthening: The substrate and the surface material to be bonded are heated to partially mature the substrate, and a strengthening method is applied at the same time. The strengthening method is to apply an external force to the surface material so that the damaged material at the contact surface between the surface material and the substrate is strengthened by the external force, making it easier for the surface material and the substrate to be connected; Applying pressure: applying pressure to the outer side of the surface material and the substrate to promote the bonding between the surface material and the substrate; and Ripening: Heat the surface material and the base material to fully ripen the base material, thereby obtaining an elastic pad. As described in claim 1, in the step of preparing the substrate, the substrate is placed on a continuously moving support member, and after the maturation step, the elastic pad is separated from the support member, and the support member is an embossing mold that can produce a pattern on one side of the substrate. The adhesive-free bonding method of the elastic pad as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the destroying material further contains a defoaming agent/antifoaming agent and/or an elastic material. The adhesive-free bonding method of the elastic pad as described in claim 3, wherein the base material and the destroying material are further added with water-absorbing material powder. In the method for making elastic pads without adhesive bonding as described in claim 1 or 2, in the instant heating step, the instant heating temperature is at least the temperature at which the foaming agent can produce a chemical reaction and generate gas. The adhesive-free laminating method of the elastic pad as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein in the step of laminating the surface material, the surface material is a fiber sheet. As described in claim 6, in the step of heating and strengthening, the strengthening means may be one or a combination of physical means such as wind, radio waves, lasers or magnetic waves. As described in claim 7, the adhesive-free bonding method of the elastic pad, wherein the strengthening means is wind force, so that part of the surface of the substrate and part of the damaged material can extend into the surface material. The adhesive-free bonding method of the elastic pad as described in claim 8, wherein the strengthening means is negative pressure wind force. As in the method for adhesive-free bonding of elastic pads as described in claim 1 or 2, in the heating and strengthening step, the substrate is allowed to mature to about half-mature, and in the maturing step, heating can be performed at least once until the substrate is fully matured.

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