LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY: ATOM Lab, the research and innovation business unit of shoe machinery manufacturer ATOM, will present a fully-automated process for shoe production for the first time.
The most technically challenging step in this process is bonding the outsole to the shoe upper. Covestro AG developed an efficient solution for this within a very short time. It is based on polyurethane raw materials for adhesives, which are applied to the outsole or upper by means of digital printing.
Digital printing of adhesives
For the application, ATOM Lab used a variation of the melt layer method (fused filament fabrication -FFF or Fused Deposition Modeling- FDM). This method uses strands of melt-processable adhesives – so-called filaments – which are melted. The molten adhesive is applied according to a digital print layout. The sole and upper are then joined under pressure. This creates a solid, permanent adhesive bond.
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