Protective footwear toe caps are typically placed in finished footwear that provides impact and compression resistance. Traditional shoe toe caps are generally steel toe caps, and some are aluminum shoe toe caps. In recent years, plastic shoe toe caps or non-metallic synthetic shoe toe caps have gradually entered the market.

Compared to steel toe caps, aluminum toe caps and non-metallic composite totes are lighter, but they are usually much more expensive. However, they do have their advantages for specific applications, including in magnetic sensitive electronics and petrochemical industries. Safety shoes with synthetic toe caps and plastic toe caps are also commonly used at airports because their non-metallic properties minimize metal interference when passing through the security area.

At present, there are several different test standards and certification requirements according to the specific protection performance level of safety shoes and shoes. These include Canada's CSA certification under the z195-02 standard, the US ASTM F2413-05 standard (which replaced the ANSI Z41-1999 standard in recent years), and the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Directive 89/686 for the European Union. /EEC related regulations.

However, the toe cap can be tested as a component, using the requirements and test methods of the European standard EN 12568:1998 set specifically for the shoe toe cap. The test conditions for this standard are similar to the test standard EN ISO 20345 for finished shoes, but the clearance after impact compression is more demanding to offset the gap reduction that may result from the upward compression of the softer sole.

The EN 12568 standard covers the impact resistance and compression resistance of the toe cap, as well as the measurement criteria for the toe cap and the corrosion resistance of the metal toe cap.

The non-metallic shoe toe caps are tested for impact resistance after several different pretreatments, such as impact tests after high temperature and low temperature pretreatment, and impact tests after several different chemical treatments.

For manufacturers of finished footwear manufactured in the European market, we strongly recommend that they only purchase shoe toe caps that meet the EN 12568 test standard. Where possible, suppliers of shoe toe caps are required to provide test reports issued by their third-party testing organizations (such as SATRA) that are audited by the ISO 17025 standard. For non-metallic shoe toe caps, the European safety footwear standard (EN ISO 20345 and EN ISO 20346) requires that finished shoes can only be used with footwear heads that meet the requirements of Section 4.3 of EN 12568.

Anti-puncture midsole

For various reasons, the puncture-proof midsole typically does not cover the entire width of the sole, and the requirements of the EN ISO 20344 series of standards also allow for a distance of at least 6.5 mm between the edge of the puncture-resistant midsole and the edge of the midsole. However, in the case of compression, the hem of the toe cap may fall into the sole of the shoe beyond the outer edge of the puncture-proof midsole. Then the puncture-proof midsole is picked up in the toe cap and, because the puncture-proof midsole is now flat, it deforms upwards and squeezes the inner space of the toe cap.

In order to improve the impact resistance and compression resistance performance, the puncture-proof midsole must be fixed to the sole so that it is completely pressed under the hem of the toe cap. Thus, at the time of testing, it becomes the base of the toe cap and prevents the toe cap from sinking into the sole when it is compressed. In addition, the hem of the toe cap is placed completely over the bottom of the puncture-proof bottom plate to prevent it from moving into the hem of the toe cap during testing.