| abstract |
A shoe-stiffening material useful as a stock material to stiffen selected parts of a shoe, which material comprises: a flexible fabric material saturated with a latex composition comprising a natural or synthetic elastomeric polymer, such as styrene-butadiene rubber, and a cross-linking system comprising a peroxide agent, a vinyl polymeric activator and a metal oxide catalyst, which system is adapted to effect cross-linking of the polymer at a temperature and in a time period employed in the shoe-manufacturing process, the sheet material optionally coated on one or both sides with an adhesive thermoplastic polymer, whereby the flexible sheet material may be employed between an outer leather and an inner shoe liner, and forms a bonded, stiff stock material as a box toe stiffener or shoe counter. |