AU718646B2 - Installation for the manufacture of shoe inserts - Google Patents

Description

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(25851WO.DOC Prt: 06.03.1998 KG) -1- INSTALLATION FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOE INSERTS The present invention relates to an installation for manufacturing shoe inserts according to the preamble of claim 1, particularly also a device for registering the topography of feet according to the preamble of claim 2 as well as a manufacturing device of such shoe inserts according to the preamble of claim 8.

For the manufacture of orthopedic shoe inserts on the one hand one needs a device for measuring the feet, particularly the topography of the sole of the foot, and on the other hand means for the manufacture of the shoe inserts in accordance with the measuring, if necessary under consideration of intended corrections. For an economical manufacture of shoe inserts it is desirable to match the measuring procedure and the manufacture.

From EP-A-0 071 386 an apparatus is known, in which at first the form of the sole of the foot is detected on a measuring device.

The measuring device mainly consists of a plurality of measuring pins, which under the action of springs are pressed upwards. A foot is positioned from above on that surface which is provided with pins, in such a way that the pins are depressed according to the form of the sole of the foot. With a clamping device the pins are blocked in that position, so that the surface formed by the pin ends represent a negative from the sole of the foot. The pattern so obtained is then introduced in an apparatus that scans it line by line in the XY-plane. Parallel to the movement of the detector in the XY-plane a milling tool is moved over an shoe insert blank. The height information of the pattern detected by the detector is mechanically transmitted to the (25851WO.DOC Prt: 06.03.1998 KG) 2 milling tool. Synchronously to the detection of the pattern by means of the detector the shoe insert is milled out from the blank.

This known appliance present different disadvantages. The pattern with its great number of pins and its clamping device is quite complicated. Beside other things it is necessary that the pins all move as identically as possible, and are subject to the same spring pressure to achieve congruous measuring conditions on all measuring points. Due to the direct mechanic connection to the milling tool possible mistakes are directly transposed to the shoe insert and must be laboriously corrected by hand, if they are recognizable.

The patterns must be introduced in the clampedstate into the manufacturing device. This requires that the measuring takes place in spatial neighborhood to the manufacturing device in order to minimize the risk of an alteration of the patterns during a transport.

The manufacture by milling line by line includes the risk that at each end of a line, when the milling cutter leaves the material, the blank material is broken away. Milling machines present the additional disadvantage that for a high quality work, they only mill in one direction and after every milling of a line, an empty return movement of the milling tool must be intercalated. Finally the particular risk exists that the last remaining rib of the blank at the edge of the blank is broken away by the milling cutter. The so produced, bursted edge of the shoe insert must then also be subject to a rework.

RAIt is one object of the present invention to provide an installation for manufacturing shoe inserts in which the 3 result of the measuring of the sole of a foot is obtained in a form which is easier transferable and useable and which, after a substantially automatic transfer, serves for the control of the device for manufacturing shoe inserts.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a measuring appliance that is of a simpler construction and preferably delivers the result of the measuring in the form of electric signals.

According to the present invention there is provided a device for registering the topography of a foot with at least one sensor, characterized in that the sensor is movable along substantially parallel tracks in a measuring plane, and that during such movement, values corresponding to the distance of the sole of a foot present in the zone of detection of the sensor from a given ground plane are determinable by the sensor, such that the topography of the sole of the foot is registerable in the form of data which represent substantially parallel sections of the foot; wherein each sensor is in contact with the sole of the foot during the measurement, is movably arranged and pressed e against the sole of the foot such that the sensor makes a movement following the form of the sole of the foot, and e 25 the movement of the sensor is transformable into an e electrical signal by a converter.

The invention shall further be described on behalf of an exemplary embodiment with reference to Figures.

eeee Figure 1 an isometric representation of the hole installation for manufacturing, ee Figure 2 an isometric representation of the effective e 35 manufacturing device, H:\Monique\Keep\speci\69831-96.doc 22/02/00 4 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure Figure an isometric representation of a sensor and its surrounding, an isometric representation with section of a support model, a simplified top view with indicated feet, an isometric representation of the electromechanical function of the manufacturing device, an isometric representation of the electromechanical function of the manufacturing device, an isometric representation of the work routine, a representation of the geometry of the tool engagement, Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9

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C C H:\Monique\Keep\speci\69831-96.doc 22/02/00 I i' (25851WO.OOC Prt: 06.03.1998 KG) Figure 10 an isometric representation of the detail of the process on the circular table with a truncated cone as terminal part, Figure 11 an isometric representation of the machining from the inner or the outer side, and Figure 12 disadvantages occurring by linear line by line processing on a compound table.

The external form of the measuring appliance is defined by two lateral boxes 1, 2, the effective measuring apparatus lying between them, and front and rear covers 3, 4, respectively.

The two walls of the boxes 1, 2 that are directed toward each another, support the effective measuring apparatus that consists of the working units wire rope grid A and sensor unit B explained below.

The wire rope grid A consists of a tensioning axle 5, a reversing axle 6, two adjusting axles 7, 8 and a wire rope 9.

The reversing axle 6 and the adjusting axles 7, 8 rest with their pivots in holes in the walls of the boxes 1, 2. The tensioning axle 5 is there supported in longitudinal holes and adjustable with regard to ribs 11, 12 at the boxes i, 2 by means of two screws The adjustability serves the pre-tensioning of the wire rope 9 which is affixed to the tensioning and reversing axles 6 respectively, and is strained to a taut grid. The adjusting axles 7, 8 that are profiled with recesses, (25851WO.DOC Prt: 06.03.1998 KG) -6guarantee the parallelism of the trunks of the rope 9, such that a regular grid of rope trunks 9 and gaps is formed.

That wire rope grid A forms the measuring platform on top of which the foot to be measured is centrally placed in such a way that its longitudinal axis is parallel to the axis of the wire rope. Then, the other foot of the test person is placed on top of one of the two adjacent boxes i, 2.

Penetrating through the gaps of the wire rope grid A, sensors 13 measure longitudinal sections of the sole of the foot. The sensors 13 are part of the sensor unit B lying underneath it which processes as follows: A basic body 14 that is formed as a slide with bearing bushes 15, mounted on two guiding axles 16, 17 and displaceable by a toothed belt 18, carries two bearing plates 19 with an axle 20, onto which the twenty four sensors 13 are rotatably mounted.

The sensors 13, separated by spacer blocks 21, are drawn into the working position by extension springs 22. The extension springs are predrawn to an axle 23. For measuring, each sensor 13 is individually connected to a linear potentiometer 25 by a linkage of bars 24.

The guiding axles 16, 17 are, at their ends, bolted on angles 26, 27 which themselves are bolted with bolts and nuts onto the boxes 1, 2. One of the angles 26 carries also the step motor 28, the other 27 the deflection wheel 29 (see figure 1).

Two levers 30, 31, which are connected by two bars 32, 33 and rotatably mounted on upright bearings 36, 37 by bolts 34, 35, are dislocated in both end positions by rollers 38, (25851WO.DOC Prt: 06.03.1998 KG) 7 39 and thus lower the sensors 13 during the empty stroke of the sensor unit B. The rollers 38, 39 are mounted onto one of the box side walls 2 by means of screws.

The step motor 28 draws the sensor system B from the heel 41 beneath the foot beyond the toes 43, each sensor 13 transfers the foot profile of one section to the length potentiometer 25. The measured data are read in a synchronously to the step motor 28 clocked manner and converted from analog to digital. The other foot is placed on top of one of the boxes 1 or 2.

The apparatus stores the topography of a foot in the form of the sections in a data file.

The feet can be.positioned with orthopedic corrections in the form of thin-walled support models 40 that are open on their lower side. The sensors 13 also detect the inner form of the support models 40 and register simultaneously the correction.

Beside others, it is imaginable that different sensors than the indicated electro-mechanical ones can be used, e. g.

contactless ones, using which the measuring occurs by the reflection of light or sound, and/or different transformers of the height values into electric signals can be used, e. g. those working contactless, measuring incremental or absolute values, or using inductive, optical or capacitive principles.

It is also conceivable to use a small number of sensors, in the extreme case only one, which then scan(s) several times the measuring section and, thereby, at each passage scan(s) a different line on the sole of the foot.

(25851WO.DOC Prt: 06.03.1998 KG) 8 Instead of wire ropes 9 for the grid A, strings of different material or thicker bars can be used.

The data provided by the measuring appliance, which at the beginning are available in analog form, are registered by a (not shown) data processing unit and converted into control signals for the manufacturing device as described in the following. For said data processing unit known standard components as e. g. A/D converters and small computers (PCs) can be used. In the easiest case, a PC currently purchasable with interface boards known in the market as well for registering measuring values and machine control can be used. It is also conceivable to connect a processing unit to the measuring appliance, wherein the data are stored on a portable data carrier. Those data are read into a control unit suitably equipped and connected to the manufacturing device. The necessary computing and possibly postprocessing of the data is done in the one or the other unit. Instead of the portable data carrier, a data transfer of any type can be used.

In addition to the pure conversion of the measuring data into control data for the manufacturing it is possible to provide for an optical survey on a screen, a rework in the sense of an orthopedic correction of the foot and/or a smoothening or any other useful manipulation of the data by using known programs.

The manufacturing device the shoe inserts is illustrated in Figures 6 to 12.

The support of the device, which consists of a base 101 and two post-like mountings 102, 103 is closed by four bolted covers 104, 105, 106, 107 and contains the function groups circular table with actuator C (25851WO.DOC Prt: 06.03.1998 KG) -9radial axis with actuator D and interpolation axis with actuator E which are bolted onto it.

Moreover, the cover 106 carries a field of control buttons 108 and behind the cover 105, the box with the electric control unit 109 is hidden.

The circular table with actuator C is driven by a two-stage toothed belt mechanism. A step motor 110, which is bolted onto a support angle 111, opposite the base 101, drives the toothed belt 113 by means of the actuating wheel 112 of the first gear stage. A double intermediate wheel 114 is actuated that is mounted on a fixed bearing neck 115. The bearing neck 115 is bolted to the mounting 103 by means of its flange. The intermediate wheel 114 is axially hold in place by a set collar 116. In the second gear stage the toothed belt 117 connects the intermediate wheel 114 with the actuating wheel 118 of the axis 119 of the circular table.

Two ball bearings 120 support the shaft 119 of the circular table in the mounting 103. It is made in form of a hollow shaft and at its front end, it has a plane flange 121 onto which the circular table 122 is laid such that it is, with its central hole, positioned over a disk with internal screw thread 123 that can be put under tension by means of a spindle having a star wheel 124.

In the working zone, the circular table 122 is supported by a support roller 125 with its support 126 that is affixed to the outer side of the mounting 103. The same support 126 carries also a sensor 127, which serves for indexing the angle of the circular table 122 by means of a hole 171 present in the latter.

(25851WO.DOC Prt: 06.03.1998 KG) 10 The radial axle with actuator D is actuated by a step motor 128 which is mounted to the base 101 by means of its support angle 129. The actuator consists of a trapezoidally threaded spindle 130 and a nut 131. The first one is key-bolted to the motor axle and supported by a axial bearing 132 on the front side of the motor, the latter one is bolted to a sledge 133 that guides the radial movement.

The sledge 133 slides with slide bearings 134 on two guiding shafts 135, 136, which are bolted to ribs at the machine base 101, and it carries, on a pillar 137, the step motor 138, which actuates the interpolation arbor E. The radial position of the working tool is indexed on an end switch 39 by means of the sledge 33.

The interpolation arbor with actuator E consists of a rocker 140 that is hingedly mounted to one of the guiding spindles 135, 136 by means of slide bearings 134 and is axially guided between the bearing plates 133a of the sledge 133. At its lower end, the rocker 140 carries a platform onto which the spindle drive motor 141 is affixed.

The shaft of motor 141 carries a flat belt wheel 142, which actuates a belt wheel 144 on the tool spindle 145 by means of a flat belt 143. The tool spindle 145 is hollow and by means of roller bearings rotatably mounted in the spindle cage 146 that is affixed to a platform 140a of the rocker 140 by means of two screws 147. The tool spindle 145 carries, in a grip at its front side, the working tool 148, a cylindrical hard metal grinding body with spherical front, that is pulled aginst to the spindle 145 by means of a screw 149.

(25851WO.DOC Prt: 06.03.1998 KG) 11 The step motor 138, which is hingedly bolted over a forkshaped part 150 to the pillar 137 of the sledge 133 by means of a shaft screw 151 and which is provided with an axial bearing 152, drives the trapezoidally threaded spindle 153 key-bolted to it which on its part carries a pivotable nut which is pivotably mounted to two bearings 154 at the rocker 140.

The fork-shaped part 150 on the pillar 137 carries the end switch 155 that indexes the position of the rocker 140 and consequently of the interpolation arbor E.

The circular table 122 can easily been taken off from the machine to a working table to be equipped with the blanks.

The blanks 156 are positioned on the markings corresponding to the size of the respective shoe inserts and fixed to the circular table 122 by means of two-sided adhesive tape.

Afterwards, the circular table 122 is re-positioned into the machine and bolted by means of spindle 124 and disk 123.

A data file containing the topography of two feet is read into the control unit through an interface.

When the working process is started, first all axes are reset to zero and then the control unit 109 first starts the spindle motor 141, then the circular table 122 and finally the radial axle D.

While the circular table C, carrying the two blanks 56 slowly rotates (arrow 157), the radial axle D moves from the periphery 159 of the circular table 122 towards its center 160: the working process draws a spiral on the circular table 122 (similar to the function of a disc player).

(25851WO.DOC Prt: 06.03.1998 KG) 12 As soon as the track of the tool meets the geometry of the topographies of the soles of the feet, the interpolation axle E starts to machine the defined foot rests into the blanks 156.

To avoid that the working tool 148 tears the blanks 156 off the circular table 122, the axle of the spindle 145 is inclined by an angle 161 of at least 150 relative to the axle of the circular table, such that the cylindrical part of the working tool 148 presses the blanks 156 towards the circular table 122 by means of a component 162 of the cutting pressure 172.

Depending on the suitability of the material, the processing of the blanks 156 can take place either in same 157 or in opposite 158 working directions of advance and tool rotation.

At the end of the working process, the normally highest zone of the pair of blanks 156, the truncated cone 163 corresponding to the arches of the two feet, is processed, so that due to the small depth of cut there exists only a little risk of edge tearing. Moreover, the last zone which is processed forms an arch 164 and thus is more stable on the blank 156 than a straight strip 165 at a line by line processing on a cross table 166.

The processing on the circular table allows also proceeding from the center 167 towards the periphery 159.

It is also possible to move the working tool in a spirally way and to keep the blanks on an immobile table. The spirally movement can also be realized by combining two linear movements, preferably arranged perpendicularly one to (25851WO.DOC Prt: 06.03.1998 KG) 13 another. Therein, the movement of the tool and the other of the table could be adapted, too.

From the above description of the manufacturing device the advantage becomes apparent that now two shoe inserts can be produced in one working process, instead of only one insert.

The above description allows the man skilled in the art to modify the invention without leaving the scope of protection of the invention.

Claims (17)

1. Device for registering the topography of a foot with at least one sensor, characterized in that the sensor is movable along substantially parallel tracks in a measuring plane, and that during such movement, values corresponding to the distance of the sole of a foot present in the zone of detection of the sensor from a given ground plane are determinable by the sensor, such that the topography of the sole of the foot is registerable in the form of data which represent substantially parallel sections of the foot; wherein each sensor is in contact with the sole of the foot during the measurement, is movably arranged and pressed against the sole of the foot such that the sensor makes a movement following the form of the sole of the foot, and the movement of the sensor is transformable into an electrical signal by a converter.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of similar sensors is present and a registration is obtained in that the sensors scan the measuring plane once from a beginning of the tracks to an end.

3. Device according to one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that each sensor is pressed against the sole of the foot by a spring element. good 30

4. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the converter produces an analog signal and that at least one analog/digital converter is used which transforms the analog signal provided from one or several sensor(s) into a digital signal.

H:\Monique\Keep\speci\69831-96.doc 22/02/00 15 Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a grid is used that substantially consists of parallelly disposed, tensioned or rigid strings, preferably wires, and on top of which the foot to be measured can be disposed, and in that each sensor penetrates through a gap between two strings of the grid and is movable along the gap for executing the measuring.

6. Device according to one of claims 2 to characterized in that at the beginning and at the end of the tracks of the sensors a stationary control element is located, in that the sensors have a protrusion, and in that a movable, following-on actuating element is present, which is moved from the beginning to the end of the tracks between the control elements so that the actuating element enters into operational contact with the protrusion of the sensors, whereby the sensors are movable between the active measuring position and a passive position, in which the sensors if moved along their track in their passive position, do not touch a foot being present in the measuring position on the appliance, thereby allowing a free return of the sensors into their starting position of a measurement. o*

7. Device according to one of claims 2 to 6, characterized by a wire rope grid onto which the foot to be measured *Soo 30 can be placed, wherein a reversing axle and a tensioning axle being pulled by screws, tension the wire rope grid, and two guiding 0* 0, axles hold the wire ropes in the grid, by a sensor unit that is pulled from the heel beyond 35 the toes by means of a step motor and a toothed belt along two guiding axles, wherein sensors which are positioned on a common axle, H:\Monique\Keep\speci\69831-96.doc 22/02/00 16 record longitudinal sections of the foot by means of linkages of bars on linear potentiometers, said sections being converted from analog into digital and stored, by two levers that are connected to two axles and are rotatably mounted in upright bearings by means of pins and which in both end positions of the measuring stroke are swivelled by rollers such that the sensors remain lowered in the wire rope grid during the return stroke, by thin-walled support models that are open at their underside and are placed under the foot for orthopedic correction before the measuring takes place, so that the sensors also register the correction and thus the appliance registers corrected foot undersurface data.

8. Installation for manufacturing shoe inserts with a first device according to one of the claims 1 to 7 for registering the topography of human feet and a second device for the automatic manufacture of shoe inserts by a material removing process of blanks, characterized in that by the first device, the topography of the sole of the foot is scanned line by line and is registerable and outputtable in the form of measuring data, particularly of digital nature, the second device for manufacturing shoe inserts from at e 025 least one blank comprises an installation for removing material in that a tool acting as removing tool is in a 0: plane movable with respect to the blank on a track which substantially spirals, and is liftable and lowerable in a direction which is at least inclined and preferably o. 30 perpendicular to said plane, in order to produce on the blank a predefined topography of the required shoe insert, in that by the second device the processing of the blank is performed in a substantially spiral way in accordance to 0. 0: control data that can be read in, to 0: 35 and in that a data processing unit is provided that transforms the measuring data of the first device into control data for the second device. H:\Monique\Keep\speci\69831-96.doc 22/02/00 17

9. Installation according to claim 8, characterized in that at least one pair of blanks can be positioned in such a way that the tool travels over all blanks on the spiral track during a 3600 turn to simultaneously produce pairs of shoe inserts.

Installation according to claim 9, characterized in that the blanks can be affixed in such a way on a table that the part of the shoe insert, corresponding to the arch of a human foot, is processed last by the tool.

11. Installation according to one of claims 8 to characterized in that the blanks are mountable on a table and the cutting plane or edge of the tool is positioned in an angle of at least 150 relative to the vertical of the table to produce a force component that presses the blank onto the table. 20

12. Installation according to one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that a table with rotary actuator for receiving the blanks is present, and that the tool is provided with an interpolating actuator for a movement :o at least approximately perpendicular to the table and a radial actuator for a forward and backward movement between the periphery and the center of the table.

13. Installation according to one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that it is provided with a control unit that can read a data set through an input, preferably from a data carrier, and according to the data set an automatic processing of the blank can take place.

14. Installation according to one of claims 8 to 13 for fully automatic processing of foot rests on shoe inserts, characterized by a circular table with actuator that receives the H;\Monique\Keep\speci\69831-96 .doc 22/02/00 18 blanks and rotates, by a radial axle with actuator that guides the tool spindle radially of the circular table, by an interpolation axle with actuator that carries the tool spindle and the spindle drive motor, wherein in varying the distance between the working tool and the circular table, the topography of the foot rests is transferred to the blanks, and wherein the working tool stands relative to the axis of the circular table in an angle that presses the blanks onto the circular table by a force component of the cutting pressure.

Installation according to one of claims 8 to 14, characterized in that a pair of blanks is positioned side by side and is symmetric to the center of the spiral track of the tool in the working zone of the tool.

16. Device for registering the topography of a foot substantially as herein described with reference to and as o 20 illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

17. Installation for manufacturing shoe inserts substantially as herein described with reference to and as :e illustrated by the accompanying drawings. Dated this 22nd day of February 2000 HANS-RUDOLF RICKLI By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK Fellows Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia H:\Monique\Keep\speci\69831-96.doc 22/02/00