Abstract: The system (7) for plotting the shape of a tri-dimensional object (2) is used in particular for the profile of a plantar arch (20). It comprises a sensing device (1) having rods (3) movable in a support (10, 11) such that said object (2) can be applied onto the first end (300) of each of said rods under a determined pressure force so as to drive said rods (3) in a translation motion and such that the set of the second ends (301) of said rods (3) define a surface (S.sub.A) replicating said shape to be plotted (20). Spring means (4) are associated with said movable rods (3) to oppose a calibrated resilient force opposing said pressure force. The system further comprises a contactless acquisition device (5) for acquiring and digitalizing said surface (S.sub.A) replicating said shape to be plotted (20), said device (5) delivering output electric signals (V.sub.S) correlated with the space coordinates of said second end (301) of said rods (3), with respect to reference coordinates (P.sub.

Abstract: A foot impression unit is provided with an array of gauging elements, a control mechanism for urging the gauging elements into contact with the undersurface of a person's foot to form an impression of the undersurface of the foot, a locking mechanism for releasably locking the gauging elements in place to retain that impression, and a sensing mechanism for scanning the gauging elements to produce digital signals indicative of the positions of the gauging elements. These digital signals are stored and processed by a computer to provide a stored data record serving as a digital representation of the impression of the undersurface of the foot. The computer may also be employed to provide stored additional information for modifying that data record to compensate for a perceived defect of the foot.

Abstract: For accurately positioning a shoe upper on its last preliminarily to a pulling over and toe lasting operation, the machine comprises an optical scanning system (20) by which, in cooperation with a central processor unit (22), coordinate axis values can be determined for selected portions of the topline region of the shoe upper (the "actual" values) and be compared with a set of taught data relevant to the shoe style, such taught data representing the positions in which the selected portions of the topline region of the shoe upper are to be located (the "should be" values), the central processor unit (22) comparing the actual and "should be" values and supplying correction signals to motors (16) associated one with each of the pincers (10, 12) whereby the shoe upper is selectively tensioned in order to achieve the desired location of the topline region of the shoe upper on its last.

Abstract: To automate the roughening of the peripheral surface of a shoe upper in the region to be soled, the application of adhesive along such surface and a final deburring operation, prior to injection molding the last supported shoe upper in the region of lateral side mold elements is measured at the peripheral curvature to determine a curved line of spacial coordinates and angles of curvature starting at a preselected null point, and the values are stored. Another last supported shoe upper is moved by a rotary turntable to be scanned at selected points along its periphery for comparing the selected points to the spacial coordinates and angles of curvature. Any deviation therefrom is adapted to a second preselected null point, after which the shoe upper is guided by a computer controlled robotic device along the curved line starting from the second null point.

Abstract: This invention relates to a shoe sole molding system comprising a press for molding a shoe sole and a mold control assembly for controlling mold members from the press. The mold control assembly comprises a body assembly movable up-and-down by means of hydraulic cylinder and piston. A carriage of box-shape in general is provided for carrying the body member and a rail member is provided for rollably engaging with the carriage member. Within the body member are nested two frame members in turn each carrying channel member for slidably engaging with the mold members in the press, thereby pulling out the mold members of the press, inserting the mold members into the press after the molding product is removed from the mold members.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for making shoe lasts, involves digitizing on the fly a large number of sample points on the outer surface of a model last representing a particular shoe style to produce a model last digital file representing the three-dimensional surface contour of the respective model last; grading the model last digital file to produce one or more graded last digital files each representing a different last size of the respective soe style; and utilizing each of the graded last digital files to produce a graded shoe last of the respective shoe style. The invention may also be utilized for making graded components of shoes, and for modifying shoe styles or creating new shoe styles by CAD/CAM techniques.

Abstract: A foot impression unit is provided with an array of gauging elements, a control mechanism for urging the gauging elements into contact with the undersurface of a person's foot to form an impression of the undersurface of the foot, a locking mechanism for releasably locking the gauging elements in place to retain that impression, and a sensing mechanism for scanning the gauging elements to produce digital signals indicative of the positions of the gauging elements. These digital signals are stored and processed by a computer to provide a stored data record serving as a digital representation of the impression of the undersurface of the foot. The computer may also be employed to provide stored additional information for modifying that data record to compensate for a perceived defect of the foot.

Abstract: In an integrated system to achieve a number of operations on a footwear upper assembly, an automatic rougher that includes a roughing tool adapted to remove material--and hence rough--the cement margin (or bonding surface) of the footwear upper assembly to provide a cementing surface onto which an outer sole is later applied. The cement margin (or bonding surface), as is known in this art, typically follows a closed-loop path that rapidly changes in all directions of an X-Y-Z coordinate system and the roughing tool must be continuously re-oriented to the many direction changes of the cement margin in order to track the margin. According to the present teaching the upper assembly, and hence the cement margin thereof, is ordinarily moved in rotational movement, rocking movement, transverse translational movement, and, also, vertical translational movement (i.e., movement toward and away from the roughing tool) during the course of roughing.

Abstract: For use in a system that includes first and second machines to perform operations on a footwear upper assembly, a transfer machine that includes an activator arm assembly, and a gripper assembly rotatably and pivotally connected to one end of the activator arm assembly. The gripper assembly includes a pair of fingers with a gripper jaw pivotally secured to each of the fingers. The pair of fingers are movable toward and away from each other respectively to grasp and release the footwear upper assembly. The pivotal attachment of the jaws permits the jaws to adjust to the irregular profile of the footwear upper assembly, a situation which is enhanced by the geometry of the gripper jaws which permits contact between the jaws at regions spaced longitudinally along the footwear upper assembly and by choosing a jaw material that is soft enough to deform, and hence provide larger contact area between the upper assembly and the jaws.

Abstract: A transfer machine to move a footwear upper assembly (or the like) between stations in a footwear (or the like) processing system which transfer machine includes an end effector having a mechanism to grasp the footwear upper assembly. A base serves as a reference in an X-Y-Z coordinate system with respect to which positions of the footwear upper assembly are known during movement of the footwear upper assembly within the footwear processing system. An interconnecting mechanism connects the end effector to the base and provides seven degrees of freedom to the mechanism to grasp with respect to said base; three translational degrees of freedom along the X-Y-Z axes of the transfer machine, a pivotal degree of freedom with respect to the base about the Y-axis, a tilting degree of freedom about the X-axis, a pivotal degree of freedom about the Z-axis, and a further pivotal degree of freedom about the Y-axis.

Abstract: Apparatus (and method) for automatically roughing the cement margin of a shoe or other footwear assembly, which footwear upper assembly includes an upper mounted on a last and an inner sole disposed upon the bottom of the last and connected to the upper. The apparatus (i.e., a roughing machine) typically includes a disc-shaped wire wheel (or other roughing tool) positioned with the plane of the brush approximately perpendicular to the cement margin at the region of contact between the two. The roughing machine includes a mechanism to receive the upper assembly and provide some combination of movements between the upper assembly and the periphery of the wire wheel to achieve a constant region (or area) of contact between the two as the cement margin moves with respect to the wire wheel in the course of roughing.

Abstract: A device for controlling the position of a semi-product of treated shoes comprises a holder, which is provided with a heel support and a toe cap support, the mutual distance of which is adjustable by means of a displacement chain according to the size of the treated shoe. The holder is arranged in side pieces which are fixed to flanges of a hollow shaft seated in a fork extension piece of a vertical spindle seated on a pin shaft fixed in a supporting platform. A piston rod of a main pressure cylinder is connected to one of the side pieces.

Abstract: A machine for automatically roughing the cement margin of a footwear upper assembly. The machine includes means for supporting the footwear upper assembly by a mechanism capable of applying to the upper assembly rocking movement, translational movement and rotational movement. A roughing tool is provided, as well as means for applying a combination movement to the upper assembly. Simultaneously, roughing is effected along the shoe margin by the roughing tool. The combination of movements serves continuously to present a new roughing surface to the roughing tool in the course of roughing, resulting in uniformity of roughing. The rotational movement serves to cause the roughing tool to track the cement margin with a determined orientation therebetween as the cement margin moves past the roughing portion of the roughing tool.

Abstract: In a thermo-cementing and folding machine, a gear pump operates to supply adhesive at a rate which is dependent upon the speed of rotation of a main drive shaft, by which workpiece feeding means of the machine is driven. The machine has also a facility for varying the rate of feed of a workpiece by the workpiece feeding means without varying the speed of rotation of the main drive shaft. The ratio of the rotational speed of the shaft to the operating rate of the pump is varied in response to variation of the workpiece feed rate. This arrangement is achieved by computer control, the gear pump being driven by a stepping motor for this purpose. In addition, at the end of each work cycle, use of a stepping motor facilitates "suck back" of adhesive, and a "fast forward" adhesive upon initiation of the next work cycle.

Abstract: A biplanar posting device having a board with a rear edge and a front edge and lines passing from the rear edge toward the front edge diverging toward the front edge and intersecting the front edge at an angle of about 70 degrees with a plate fixed to the upper surface of the board having end planar portions held in contact with the board and central diverging portions in the form of two flat planes diverging from the upper surface of the board at about 4 degrees and intersecting the planes in contact with the board at a line that overlays the diverging lines. An orthotic properly placed on the device and packed with plastic beneath the heel portion will inherently be formed with a lower surface to correct a defect in the bones of a patient.

Abstract: An automatic system for forming custon-made shoe inserts for a person's feet from a pair of blanks is provided with a foot impression mechanism including a pair of pin arrays for simultaneously forming an impression of the contour of the undersurface of each of the person's feet and for releasably retaining each impression formed. Each of the pin arrays is arranged in orthogonal rows and columns with adjoining pins in each column having asymmetric contacting surfaces.

Abstract: An automatic system for forming custom-made shoe inserts for a person's feet from a pair of blanks is provided with a foot impression mechanism for simultaneously forming an impression of the contour of the undersurface of each of the person's feet and for releasably retaining each impression formed. The system is also provided with a blank holding assembly for holding the blanks in lateral alignment with the impressions, a blank shaping mechanism for successively sensing each impression and for concomitantly successively cutting material away from each blank in conformance with the corresponding sensed impression, and a drive mechanism for automatically driving the blank shaping mechanism both laterally and to-and-fro over the impressions and the blanks in response to a single drive motor so as to automatically form the custom-made shoe inserts from the blanks in conformance with the impressions.

Abstract: A metal plate is heated to bring a heating surface thereof to a temperature of between 450.degree. C. and 300.degree. C. The shoe part to be heated is brought into opposed relationship with and close proximity to the heating surface. This method avoids color sensitivity problems and the necessity to adjust heaters to the shape of the shoe part. Apparatus for carrying out the method may have a support for a shoe on one side of the metal plate and a support for a sole to be attached to the shoe on the other side thereof.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing outer footwear such as a shoe comprises the step of dry or moist heat setting a lasted shoe (9, 10) by partially or totally immersing it in a fluidized solid material (2) in a bath (1). It is now proposed that the lasted shoe (9, 10) should be enclosed in a sleeve (7) of flexible impervious material, the upper open end (6) of the sleeve being fixed with respect to the bath (1) while the remainder of the sleeve including its closed end (7a) is partially or totally immersed in the fluidizable material. Apparatus for the performance of the method comprises a plurality of sleeves (9) fitted as aforesaid with their open upper ends (6) secured to the top (5) of the bath (1) and their lower closed ends (7a) secured by hooks (8) to the floor of the bath. The material is fluidized by admission of heated air to the bottom of the bath of which the top cover (5) has an air outlet (5b) including a filter for preventing escape of fluidized material.

Abstract: A system and method for forming a custom-made resilient insert for a given person's shoe in which the contour of the support surface of the insert conforms to the contour of the undersurface of a person's foot.

Abstract: An automatic system for forming custom-made shoe inserts for a person's feet from a pair of blanks is provided with a foot impression mechanism including a pair of pin arrays for simultaneously forming an impression of the contour of the undersurface of each of the person's feet and for releasably retaining each impression formed. Each of the pin arrays is arranged in orthogonal rows and columns with adjoining pins in each column having asymmetric contacting surfaces.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for stripping a sleeve from a length of resin-impregnated fiberglass rovings and for cutting a length of the impregnated fibers. The invention severs and separates the sleeve in a manner which assures that the fibers will remain compact and in which substantially all of the resin remains with the fiber rovings. The material is advanced through the stripper solely by drawing on the severed sleeve and without gripping or otherwise disrupting the fibers.

Abstract: A turntable rotatable about a vertical axis X supports a carriage slidable thereacross; two templates, with profiles respectively conforming to those of a pair of shoes whose uppers or vamps are to be roughened along a peripheral edge folded about an insole, are part of a stack which is mounted on the carriage and is releasably coupled with a shaft journaled in an overhanging, horizontally movable beam. The shaft carries a base frame of a shoe-supporting unit with heel and toe clamps for gripping a shoe whose vamp is to be roughened and which alignedly overlies the corresponding template; this template is contacted by a feeder which is carried on the free end of a horizontally swingable arm also supporting a rotary roughening brush whereby the latter follows the motion of the feeler during translatory shifts of the carriage and 180.degree. rotations of the turntable to work the entire peripheral vamp edge of the shoe.

Abstract: A flexible band for wrapping about a shoe contour. The band comprises an inner and an outer steel band with a resilient insert arranged therebetween. The inner and outer bands each comprise a toe portion and two side portions. The portions of the inner band overlap, and the portions of the outer band do not overlap. The flexible band also includes an innermost shoe-engaging member attached to the steel bands. The shoe-engaging member has a low friction portion at its toe section and a high friction portion on each side. The present construction permits a longer utility to the band while providing improved flexibility therewith.

Abstract: A roughing machine having a support for supporting bottom-up a shoe assembly formed of a last having an insole located on its bottom and an upper mounted thereon with the margin of the upper secured to the bottom of the insole and a roughing tool located above the shoe assembly and yieldably urged downwardly against the shoe assembly so as to rough the upper margin during movement of the support to move the upper margin past the roughing tool. The shoe assembly bottom has its heel seat portion, its shank portion and its forepart portion lying in different planes. The support is so constructed as to be rockable in such a manner that the heel seat portion, the shank portion, and the forepart portion of the upper margin all lie in horizontal planes during their movement past the roughing tool.

Abstract: A machine for roughing the margin of a shoe upper a desired distance inwardly of the non-rectilinear margin periphery during the rectilinear movement of a shoe assembly, comprising the upper mounted on a last, past a roughing tool. A sensing member, movable towards and away from the shoe assembly in unison with the roughing tool, is caused to bear against the side of the shoe assembly during the shoe assembly movement and the roughing tool is so spaced from the sensing member as to be engageable with the margin. The sensing member is laterally offsettable during the shoe assembly movement to insure that the roughing tool engages the upper margin inwardly of the margin periphery during the movement of upper margin peripheral portions that are inclined with respect to the direct of rectilinear movement of the shoe assembly.

Abstract: A dust extraction hood is mounted for pivotal movement with its associated tool on an automatic shoe bottom roughing machine. A parallel linkage is arranged to permit the hood to be spaced equidistantly from the shoe bottom throughout the operation of the machine, or in a way in which the tool becomes retracted into the hood during upward movement thereof. The retraction can be so arranged where maximum clearance is required, that the tool can protrude from the hood, and as the clearance requirements decrease, the hood member can shroud a greater area of the operating surface of the tool.

Abstract: A roughing machine operable to rough the margin of an upper of a shoe assembly that comprises a last having an insole located on its bottom and the upper mounted thereon with the upper margin lying against and being secured to the bottom of the insole. The shoe assembly is supported bottom-up on a shoe assembly support and the shoe assembly support is so moved as to move succeeding portions of the upper margin past a roughing tool. During this movement of the shoe assembly support, the shoe assembly support is caused to rock to thereby rock the shoe assembly.

Abstract: A roughing machine for roughing the margin of an upper of a shoe assembly comprised of a last having an insole on its bottom and the upper mounted thereon with the upper margin lying against and being secured to the insole periphery. The machine is so constructed as to enable a roughing tool to engage the upper margin a relatively great or a relatively small distance inwardly of the periphery of the shoe assembly bottom during movement of the upper margin past the roughing tool and the machine incorporates an automatically operable mechanism for placing the roughing tool in one or the other of these positions.

Abstract: A roughing machine for roughing the margin of an upper that is moved past a roughing tool of the roughing machine. The roughing tool is incorporated in a roughing tool assembly that is yieldably urged downwardly against the upper margin under relatively low pressure. A damper mechanism has a follower element in engagement with the roughing tool assembly. The damper mechanism is so constructed that the follower element provides a resistance to upward movement of the roughing tool assembly of a relatively high magnitude and a downward force of a relatively low magnitude is imparted to the follower element.

Abstract: A roughing machine for roughing the margin of an upper of a shoe assembly comprised of a last having an insole on its bottom and the upper mounted thereon with the margin lying against and being secured to the insole periphery. The machine incorporates a margin control mechanism that enables a roughing tool to engage the upper margin a relatively great distance inwardly of the periphery of the shoe assembly bottom during the passage of portions of the sides of the shoe assembly bottom past the roughing tool and to engage the upper margin a relatively small distance inwardly of the periphery of the shoe assembly bottom during the passage of the remainder of the shoe assembly bottom past the roughing tool.

Abstract: Apparatus for lasting of shoes has an elastic and flexible pad disposable in a cavity provided in a suitable housing. A portion of the pad is relieved for conforming to the configuration of a shoe last suspended in the housing cavity. Proper relieving of the pad permits same to stretch nonuniformly to conform to the irregular configuration of the last when a substantially uniform fluid pressure is applied to the pad, and this conforming of the pad to the last forces an upper arranged between the pad and last to be wiped over edges of the last and into contact with an insole disposed on the last for facilitating the securing of the upper to the insole.

Abstract: A roughing machine for operating on a shoe assembly, comprised of a last having an insole located on its bottom and an upper mounted thereon with the upper margin lying against and being secured to the periphery of the insole, by roughing the upper margin. The machine includes a roughing tool that is mounted to a tool mount. The tool mount includes a pair of tines that are yieldably urged against the bottom of the shoe assembly that is supported bottom-up in the machine and a sensing member that is movable from an idle position to a position of engagement with the side of the shoe assembly. A triggering arrangement causes the sensing member to move into engagement with the side of the shoe assembly in response to the engagement of the tines with the bottom of the shoe assembly.