FOAM PRODUCT HAVING AN ACCESSORY AND METHOD OF MAKING

PRODUIT EN MOUSSE COMPRENANT UN ACCESSOIRE, ET PROCEDE DE FABRICATION

English Abstract

A foam product embedded with an accessory and a method of making the same are disclosed. The foam product includes a foam body, the accessory and an adhesive member. The foam body is composed of a plurality of expanded foam beads bonded with one another. The accessory is fully or partly embedded in the foam body. The adhesive member is interposed between the foam body and the accessory. In particular, the adhesive member has branches penetrating into gaps among the expanded foam beads that surround the accessory.

French Abstract

L'invention concerne un produit en mousse dans lequel un accessoire est incorporé et concerne également un procédé de fabrication de celui-ci. Le produit en mousse comprend un corps de mousse, l'accessoire et un élément adhésif. Le corps de mousse est composé d'une pluralité de billes en mousse expansée collées les unes aux autres. L'accessoire est entièrement ou partiellement incorporé dans le corps de mousse. L'élément adhésif est intercalé entre le corps de mousse et l'accessoire. En particulier, l'élément adhésif présente des ramifications pénétrant dans des espaces parmi les billes de mousse expansée qui entourent l'accessoire.

Claims

The invention claimed is:


1. A method of making a foam product embedded with an accessory,
comprising the steps of:

coating thermoplastic adhesive on a surface of the accessory;
placing the coated accessory in a cavity of a mold;
introducing a plurality of foam beads into the cavity of the mold; and
heating the mold in order to expand the foam beads into a foam body
with a shape corresponding to that of the cavity, to melt the thermoplastic
adhesive, and to enable the thermoplastic adhesive penetrating into gaps of
the
expanded foam beads whereby adhering the accessory to the foam body.


2. The method of claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic adhesive is hot
melt adhesive.


3. A foam product comprising:

a foam body composed of a plurality of expanded foam beads bonded
with one another;

an accessory fully or partly embedded in the foam body; and
an adhesive member interposed between the foam body and the
accessory, wherein the adhesive member has branches penetrating into gaps
among associated ones of the expanded foam beads that surround the
accessory.


4. The foam product of claim 3, wherein the adhesive member is made
of holt melt adhesive.


5. A foam product comprising:

a foam body composed of a plurality of expanded foam beads bonded
with one another;
an accessory fully or partly embedded in the foam body; and
an adhesive member made of hot melt adhesive and interposed between
the foam body and the accessory.

Description

CA 02638891 2008-08-19

FOAM PRODUCT HAVING AN ACCESSORY AND METHOD OF
MAKING
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Field of Invention

This invention relates to a foam product embedded with an accessory
and a method of making the same, and more particularly to a technique which
enables establishing strong connection between an accessory and a foam body.
FIG. 5 illustrates a conventional foam body 5 embedded with an
accessory 6. The foam body 5 defines a through hole 50. The accessory 6
is composed of a male fastener 60 and a female fastener 61. As shown, both
the male and female fasteners 60, 61 are received in the through hole 50 and

engage with each other. In this manner, the accessory 6 seems to be securely
embedded in the foam body 5.
However, since the accessory 6 is merely received with its exterior
surfaces not adhered to the foam body 5 and the accessory 6 is often under a
heavy load while in use, the through hole 50 in which the accessory 6 is

situated may easily be enlarged bit by bit. The enlarged through hole 50
causes the accessory 6 to be prone to movement within the through hole 50.
SUlVIlVIARY OF INVENTION

The invention relates to a method for producing a foam product,
wherein a plurality of foam beads together with an accessory coated with
thermoplastic adhesive are placed in a cavity of a mold and then be heated to
produce the foam product embedded with the accessory.

By using the method, the foam product is formed to include a foam
body, the accessory embedded in the foam body and an adhesive member
strongly connecting the foam body and the accessory. The foam body is
1


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formed of the plurality of expanded foam beads bonded with one another.
The accessory is fully or partly embedded in the foam body. The adhesive
member made of the thermoplastic adhesive, shaped like fibrous roots, is
interposed between the foam body and the accessory. In particular, the

adhesive member has branches penetrating into gaps among the associated
expanded foam beads that surround the accessory. Hence the bonding
strength between the foam body and the accessory are greatly improved.
The present invention and the advantages thereof will become more
apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description when taken
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an accessory coated with thermoplastic
adhesive in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross section illustrating that a plurality of foam beads and
the coated accessory of FIG. 1 are placed in a cavity of a mold;

FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2, illustrating the foam beads are expanded
under heat treatment;

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 except that the mold has been removed; and
FIG. 5 is a conventional foam product.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, a
method of making a foam product in which an accessory 2 is securely
embedded in a foam body 1 is illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 as including the steps
described below.

As shown in FIG. 1, the first step in the method is to have the accessory
2 coated with thermoplastic adhesive 30, such as hot melt adhesive or heat
seal
adhesive. Thermoplastic adhesive 30 remains the state of solid under room
temperature, melts into viscous liquid when being heated up to some certain
2

_ ~..,. .. _.. . , _ ,
CA 02638891 2008-08-19

degree, and transforms back into its original solid state with extremely
strong
viscosity. In this preferred embodiment, the thermoplastic adhesive 30 is hot
melt adhesive, which is strongly bonded to the accessory 2. The accessory 2
may be made of metal, wood, plastic, fiber glass, carbon fiber or other

composite materials. Take a surfboard for instance, the accessory 2 can be
served as a fin or a handle partly mounted on a surface of the surfboard or as
a
stringer fully embedded inside the surfboard.

The next step in the process, shown in FIG. 2, is to place and position
the coated accessory 2 in a cavity 42 of a mold 4 and then introduce a
plurality
foam beads 10 in the cavity 42. The mold 4 is composed of an upper die half

40 and a lower die half 41, that co-define the cavity 42. The foam beads 10
are pre-foamed particles made of a material selected from the group consisting
of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), a PE/PS blend
(PO), or the like. It should be noted that the cavity 42 should be roughly

filled up with those foam beads 10 although there are still some gaps left
among the foam beads 10 and also between the foam beads 10 and inner walls
of the mold 4. Nevertheless, the foam beads 10 must be sufficient in quantity
to be formed into the foam body 1 after the molding process, as will be

described hereinafter.

Once having the accessory 2 and the foam beads 10 in place, the mold 4
is heated. Under the heat treatment, the foam beads 10 are expanded into the
foam body 1 with a shape corresponding to that of the cavity 42 of the mold 4.
Particularly, the hot melt adhesive 30 melts and penetrates into the gaps of
the
expanded foam beads 10, whereby adhering the accessory 2 to the foam body

1, as depicted in FIG. 3. More specifically, during the heating process, a jet
of stream of high-temperature and high-pressure fluid is injected into the
mold
cavity 42. Under such circumstances, the foam beads 10 are expanded in
volume with their surfaces melting. On the other hand, the hot melt adhesive
melts into viscous liquid and is driven by the steam to spread through
30 everywhere. Note that the die pressure should be controlled not to break
the
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mold 4 in case it may happen due to the high steam pressure as well as the
force generated by the expandect foam beads 10.

After the foaming process, the foam product including the foam body 1
and the accessory 2 is formed and taken out of the mold 4, as shown in FIG. 4.
As can be understood, the foam body 1 is actually formed from the

pre-foamed or expanded foam beads 10 that are tightly bonded with one
another. In particular, an adhesive member 3 is generated between the foam
body 1 and the accessory 2. The adhesive member 3 is formed from the hot
melt adhesive 30 which transforms back into the current original solid state.

As shown in FIG. 4, the adhesive member 3, shaped like fibrous roots, has
branches penetrating into the gaps among associated ones of the expanded
foam beads 10 that surround the accessory 2 in virtue of the aforementioned
high pressure.

The foregoing description is for purposes of illustration only and is not
intended to limit the scope of the protection accorded this invention. The
scope of protection is to be measured by the following claims, which should
be interpreted as broadly as the inventive contribution permits.

4

Representative Drawing