Contoured insole construction
A contoured insole construction is a single-piece insole construction which is contoured at about a foot receiving area thereof including an integrally formed raised foot receiving base region bounded by a lower outer lip perimeter region. In an alternative embodiment, the single-piece insole construction which is contoured at about the foot receiving area thereof includes a raised outer lip perimeter region and a lowered foot-receiving base region bounded by said raised outer lip perimeter region.
Latest South Cone, Inc. Patents:
This application is a divisional utility patent application of U.S. utility patent application Ser. No. 11.183,468 entitled “Contoured Insole Construction and Method of Manufacturing Same, by Guillermo Luis Palmer filed on Jul. 18, 2005.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to footwear, and more particularly to a novel contoured insole construction and a method of manufacturing the insole construction.
2. Background of Prior Art
Various insole constructions and methods of manufacturing such insole constructions are well known in the art. However, there is a need for improving the manufacturing process and for providing a single piece contoured insole construction in a fast and highly productive manner.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA contoured single piece footwear construction product is formed from a sheet of continuous material transferred along a cutting path by a pair of closely spaced apart form factor rollers which simultaneously deform the sheet of continuous material, guide a flexible continuous knife belt disposed within the cutting path into cutting engagement with the continuous sheet along a desired contour formed by the pair of rollers causing the contoured single piece footwear construction to separate from the sheet of continuous material.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe above mentioned features and steps of the invention and the manner of attaining them will become apparent, and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of the preferred embodiment(s) of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein.
An apparatus and method of manufacturing a single piece contoured footwear item are disclosed. The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. For purposes of explanation, specific nomenclature is set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. Descriptions of specific applications are provided only as examples. Various modifications to the preferred embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.
Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to
Considering now the apparatus 10 in greater detail with reference to
As best seen in
Considering now the sheet driving mechanism 12 in greater detail with reference to
As best seen in
As best seen in
Considering now the method 1110 of manufacturing the single-piece contoured footwear item 110 in greater detail with reference to
At about the same time as the sheet of continuous material 15 begins to be driven along the sheet cutting path 16, the knife belt driving mechanism 14 is also actuated at a belt driving step 1116, to cause the continuous knife belt 18 to be driven along the sheet cutting path 20.
In unison now, as the rollers 22 and 24 engage the sheet 15, the forms 32 and 34 in an alternating rhythm flex the continuous knife belt 18 into engagement with the sheet 15, which is simultaneously deformed in the same alternating manner by the forms 32 and 34 respectively. In this regard, as one of the forms, for example form 32 deforms a portion of the sheet 15 into a desired contoured shape, the deformed section of the sheet 15 is brought into simultaneous engagement with the cutting edge of the knife belt 18. Accordingly, at a cutting step 1120 the cutting edge of the knife belt 18 engages the sheet 15 and deviates from the path 20 to follow along a deform path indicated generally at 82 (
As the sheet 15 continues to move along the sheet cutting path 16 while in cutting engagement with the knife belt 18, which is now traveling along the deform path 82, the cutting action of the knife belt 18 separates the deformed section 110 from the sheet 15 at a separating step 1122. The separated deformed section, which has been removed from the sheet 15, is the single-piece contoured footwear item 110.
At a decision step 1124 a determination is made whether to repeat the steps 1114, 116, 1118, 1120, and 1122 to manufacture another single-piece contoured footwear item 110. This determination is made based upon the action of a trip switch (not shown) that provides an indication that there is an insufficient amount of the continuous sheet 15 to continue the manufacturing process. If there is a sufficient amount of continuous sheet 15, the process returns to step 1114 and continues as previously described. If there is not a sufficient amount of continuous sheet 15, the process goes to an end step 1126 that causes the sheet driving mechanism 12 and the knife belt driving mechanism 14 to be stopped. The manufacturing process 1110 is an automated process.
Although in this preferred embodiment the separate deformed section is described as a single-piece contoured footwear item 110, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other contoured items could also be manufactured in the same manner. For example, in
Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to
Considering now the apparatus 2110 in greater detail with reference to
After the distorted portion of the blank insole 810 has been cutaway and separated, the mold 2115 continues along the path P and into the nip of another pair of rollers (not shown) which in turn cause the mold 2115 and contoured insole 2810 by means (now shown) to be discharge from the apparatus 2110.
Considering now the mold 2115 in greater detail with reference to
The topside cutout 2132 and the bottom side cutout 2134 are configured in the shape of an insole in order to facilitate holding, deforming, and cutting the blank insole 810. In this regard, the topside cutout 2132 that has a sufficient depth dimension to retain the insole 810 in place within the carrier mold 2115 as it passes between the rollers 2122 and 2124 as previously described.
As best seen in
Considering now the novel method of using the apparatus 2110 to manufacture a contoured insole, such as the contoured insole 610, in greater detail with reference to
Next, at a placing step 914, a user places a single piece non-contoured insole blank, such as the insole blank 810, into the mold carrier 2115. More specifically, the user places the insole blank 810 into the upper cutout 2132 so that the blank 810 is supported from below by the thin sheet 2136 and the deforming member 2138.
The user then moves the mold carrier 2115 into the front nip between the rollers 2122 and 2124 allowing the roller to grasp and pull the carrier 2115 along the cutting path P. In this regard, the carrier 2115 is pulled between the rollers 2122 and 2124, which in cooperation with the distorting member 2138, cause an inner portion of the insole blank 810 to be distorted and pushed above the plane of the carrier 2115 as the carrier exits the rear nip from between the rollers.
Next, at a cutting step 918, the blade 2118, which is positioned at the rear nip of the rollers 2122 and 2124, slices the deformed insole blank 810 along a desired contour form resulting from distorting the blank 810 to form a single piece contoured insole, such as the contoured insole 2810.
Finally, when the carrier 2115 is discharged from the apparatus 2110, the user, at a removing step 920, removes the contoured insole from the carrier 2115. The user then places another blank insole into the now empty insole cutout 2132 and repeats the process to form another contoured insole.
While this invention has been shown fully and completely with special emphasis on certain preferred embodiments, it should be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.
Claims
1-13. (canceled)
14. An insole product formed by a method of construction, comprising:
- moving a sheet of continuous material along a cutting path by a pair of closely spaced apart form factor rollers;
- using said pair of form factor rollers to simultaneously deform said sheet of continuous material and to guide a flexible continuous knife belt into cutting engagement with said sheet along a desired contour formed by said pair of form factor rollers to separate a contoured single piece footwear construction from sheet of continuous material.
15. The insole product according to claim 14, wherein said contoured single-piece footwear construction is a contoured single piece insole.
16. The insole product according to claim 15, wherein said contoured single-piece insole includes a raised outer lip perimeter region and a lowered foot-receiving base region bounded by said raised outer lip perimeter region.
17. The insole product according to claim 15, wherein said contoured single-piece insole includes a raised foot receiving base region bounded by a lowered outer lip perimeter region.
18-21. (canceled)
22. (canceled)
23. An insole product, comprising:
- an single-piece insole construction;
- wherein said single-piece insole construction is contoured at about a foot receiving area thereof.
24. The insole product according to claim 23, wherein said single piece insole construction is integrally formed and includes a raised foot receiving base region bounded by a lower outer lip perimeter region.
25. The insole product according to claim 23, wherein said single piece insole construction is integrally formed and includes a raised outer lip perimeter region and a lowered foot-receiving base region bounded by said raised outer lip perimeter region.
26. A contoured footwear construction product, comprising:
- a cut away portion of a sheet of continuous material;
- wherein said sheet of continuous material is transferred along a cutting path by a pair of closely spaced apart form factor rollers which simultaneously deform the sheet of continuous material, guide a flexible continuous knife belt disposed within the cutting path into cutting engagement with the continuous sheet along a desired contour formed by the pair of rollers; and
- wherein the contoured footwear construction is separated from the sheet of continuous material.
27. The contoured footwear construction according to claim 26, wherein said contoured footwear construction is a single-piece construction.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 11, 2007
Publication Date: Mar 6, 2008
Applicant: South Cone, Inc. (Carlsbad, CA)
Inventor: Guillermo Palmer (Mogi das Cruzes)
Application Number: 11/974,269
International Classification: A43D 37/00 (20060101); A43B 13/38 (20060101); A43D 8/00 (20060101);