US3120666A - Transportation system for shoe manufacture - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 11, 1964 R. s. MURPHY 3,120,666

TRANSPORTATION sysmu FOR SHOE MANUFACTURE m l fAlToR RICHHRD 5. MURP K n-r-roz NEVY6 Feb. 11, 1964 R. s. MURPHY 3,120,666

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FOR SHOE MANUFACTURE Filed Jan. 14, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 MIME/wo mum/2o 5. MURPHY,

United States Patent 3,120,666 TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FOR SHOE MANUFACTURE Richard S. Murphy, 7034 Northmoor, Clayton, Mo. Filed Ian. 14, 1%3,Ser.fNo. 251,388 3 Claims. (Cl. 12--1) This invention relates to improvements in shoe manufact-uring systems and in particular is concerned with a transportation system used in shoe manufacture for mov- Ring the shoes to various working operations in their manufacture.

In the past, shoe manufacturing in the lasting, bottoming, and-finishing rooms of shoe plants have generally been carried out by moving carts carrying thirty-six pairs of shoes'between each of the individual shoe working operations in these various sections. It will be understood that the number of operations and Workers in each one of the lasting, bottoming and finishing sections or rooms may vary considerably from plant to plant, but, as an example, may involve any-where from ten to thirty operations for each of the sections. The thirty-six pair carts are wheeled from one operation to another as'the operations progress. This has occasioned the take up of a considerable amount of space, as these thirty-six pair carts are bulky. Further, there is a quite considerable tie-up of shoe inventory and also shoe lasts in these operations which entails a considerable amount of investment and expense. Additionally, quite a bit of theworkers time is involved when the thirty-six pair carts are moved from one operation to another.

It is a feature of the instant invention that an overhead conveyor system is employed from which shoe trays are suspended at spaced intervals .that move in a cycle throughout the various operations in each of the finishing, bottoming and lasting sections. The shoe trays are removable so that if it is required they may be taken out of thecycle for any desired purpose. By means of this invention, floor space is economized since no carts are employed and a free and open environment is obtained. Further, a great saving in last cost is employed, as the lasts utilized may be reduced to a fractional number of those previously required.

It-is another feature that the work process time is substantially reduced to less than one-half the time previously required. By applying heat by this process, wood lasts are in process only a short period of time, e.g., twoand one-half hours through the lasting and bottoming rooms.

Additionally, the system is quite adaptable for changes in operations as the speed of the conveyor may be altered to fit varying conditions.

As a further feature .of .this invention, specially designed shoe trays are employed making it very simple for the worker to remove the shoes from the tray while he is Working upon them and then replace them at the end of the operation upon the sametray aslit moves quite slowly alongithe conveyor line.

A further significant feature of this invention resides in the employment of specially designed driers through which the trays may move as they are advanced by't-he conveyor line. The drying is done automatically as the trays with shoes placed upon them move through the drier for a selected period of time.

The transportation system employed in this invention is relatively simple'in design and can be installed in existing shoe factories with a'minimum of expense, time and labor, with the realization of great savings in manufacturing costs and economy of working time with an increase in production. Additionally,-worker efiiciency is increased and the system can be employed with no additional training'required of the working personnel.

The above features are objectsof this inventionand further objects will appear in the detailed description which follows and will beotherwise apparent to those skilled in the art.

For the purpose-ofillustration ofthisinvention, a preferred embodiment is shown inthe accompanying-drawings. It is tobe understood that these drawings relate to a typical shoe manufacturing system and that theinvention is not limited thereto.

-In .the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is aplan viewof a schematic shoe manufacturing operation using the conveyor system of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view inelevation of the transportation system of this invention showing the conveyor and'a shoe traywith a worker atan operating position;

ployed adjacent-the bottoming section showing the ele' vation of the conveyor lineto raise the shoe'trays overhead and outof the Way of any'operations carried on beneath it for economy of space utilization;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged plan view of a shoe tray employed in this invention;

FIGURE 5 isaview in front elevation of the shoe tray shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an end view-in. elevation of the shoe tray of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged view showing the inner engagement of the tray support rod with-the shoe tray;

FIGURE 8 is an end view-in elevation of a drier showing the relationship with the shoe tray;

FIGURE 9 is an end view in elevation of a modified drier for employment with vertically-staggered trays; and

FIGURE '10 is afront view of the drier of FIGURE 9 showing the relationship ofthe vertically staggered trays.

In FIGURE 1 the transportation'system of this invention is shown employed in a lasting sectionorroom .20, ,a bottoming section 22 with an associated drying section 24,. and a finishing section 26. It-will be understood that the transportation system may be employed-in any one of these sections orall ofthem, as desired, and it'will also be understood that these rooms or sections may be.physically separated. It is also a feature of thisinvention'that, should it be desired, the conveyor system may beemployed in connectedfashion between all ofthe sections to form onecontinuous cycle rather than separate cycles for the lasting, bottoming, and finishing sections.

In the lasting section .20, a multiplicity of working stands or operations are designated by the referencenumeral .2-8, and it will be understoodthat thesearethe conventional working operations employed in a 'lasting of a shoe. A drier 30, to be described in further detail here inbelow, is also employed.

In the bottoming section22, a plurality of conventional bottoming operations are carried out as indicatedby the reference numeral 32. A drying operation 34 may likewlse be carried outin the bottoming cycle. Further, in this bottoming operation, the shoes may be transferred to the drying section 24' where they are passed'through two driers in sequence thatare designated'by reference numerals 36'and 38.

In the finishing-section, the working operations and stands aredesignatedby the reference numeral 40, and, here'again, it' will be.understood that these are conventional-working operations employed in the usual finishing room.

Reference is madeto FIGURE 2 showing the conveyor system employed. A conveyor line designated by the reference'numeral'42, and suspended from a-roof 44 by a roof'support rod-46, is utilized. The conveyor may be used with a-continuous chain 47 powered'by a conventional motor 48 to provide for movement of one foot in three to five seconds, as an example. The moving conveyor line is provided with a plurality of elongated, rigid, tray support rods 50. These are connected to the conveyor line at spaced intervals, such as at distances of three feet, as an example. The bottom of the support element is formed in the shape of a hook, as best appears in FIG- URE 7, and as designated by the reference numeral 52.

The shoe tray is best shown in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6, and, as shown there, has a loop 54 at the top and a tray or body section 53. The shoe tray is made of rigid metal construction, such as by the use of metal rods welded together in rigid form. Extending transversely across the tray is a wooden support element or beam 58 from which extend twelve wooden pins 59. These pins are used for supporting six shoes, it being understood that this is a three pair shoe rack. Wood is employed because this material does not retain heat and tend to burn the shoes when the tray loaded with shoes is passed through a drier. It will be further understood that this number may be increased so as to provide for six pairs in obvious fashion by increasing the length of the tray, and it will be further understood that another beam 58 may be employed underneath the first beam to provide for an upper and lower shoe support section.

The shoe tray is very simply fitted upon the rigid support elements by fitting the loop 54 over the hook 52. Thus, the tray may be either emplaced or removed from the support rod in a matter of seconds where desired.

The drying section 24 is more fully portrayed in FIG- URE 3. As there shown, it will be seen that the section 60, which is adjacent the bottoming section, is depressed or lowered with respect to the elevated remainder of the conveyor system, identified by the reference numeral 62. This provides for the transfer of shoes from the bottoming to the drying section by a worker, and after the transfer the shoe trays are elevated and lowered through the inclined sections 64 to the remainder of the elevated section 62 to keep the trays overhead out of the way of workers in any operations or activity that may be desired to be carried out underneath this portion.

The driers employed in this invention are best shown in FIGURE 8 in one form of drier and FIGURES 9 and 10 for another form of drier. Referring to FIGURE 8, the drier is composed of two elongated heating sections opposed to one another at an angle and designated by reference numeral 68. These heating sections are provided with infrared heating lamps 70, which are directed to converge on an open tunnel-like space 72 through which the shoe trays may pass. The drying sections 68 are spaced from one another at the top to leave a slot-like space 74 through which the tray support rod 50 may pass. The diverging bottoms of the driers are connected by a U-shaped sheet metal channel member or other walllike enclosure designated by the reference numeral 76. The drier is of a generally tunnel-like configuration with an open front end and an open rear end to provide for the ingress and egress of the trays as they move through the tunnel.

FIGURES 9 and 10 show a modified form of drier, designated by the reference numeral 80. In this form there is a top drier section 82 and a bottom drier section 84, which are formed of generally a square-like cross section with a throat portion 86 between the two sections. The bottom drier section 84 is closed by a channel-shaped wall 88 to provide for closure and confinement of the drier. A top slot portion 74 is provided in the same fashion as for the drier 30 described in FIGURE 8. The drier 80 shown in FIGURES 9 and 10 accommodates an upper tray 90 and a lower tray 92, which are vertically staggered with respect to one another as shown in the elevation view of FIGURE 10. This provides for economy of space and closer spacing of the trays where more trays are desired to be put on a single conveyor line.

Operation In the employment of the transportation system of this invention, conventional shoe working operations are carried out as in a conventional manufacturing plant. Thus, in the lasting operation, shoes are first of all partially lasted and loaded at the beginning of the operation at what is generally termed a pull-over station, designated by the reference numeral 100. The loading of the trays can be carried out by a single workman and the tray moves from the pull-over station 100, at the general rate of one foot in three to five seconds, to the next manufacturing operation 162 for side lasting, and from thence to a tack removing operation 104, a repair operation 196, a heelseat lasting operation 108, a cement spraying operation 110, a pounding operation 112, a ball lasting and heel pressing operation 114, a toe trimming operation 116, a bed or toe lasting operation 118, a tack pulling and shank trimming operation 120, a toe trimming and grinding operation 122, through the drier 124, which is of the same construction as the general drier 30, previously described, in which the shoes may be reversed on the tray to heat the uppers. After the drier 124, the shoes may then be passed through an ironing operation 126, and finally to a check out operation 128 where the shoes are removed from the conveyor shoe trays to a conventional shoe cart.

In the bottoming section, which s carried out in con vcntional bottoming fashion, the shoes are taken from the lasting operation and passed first of all to a toe pounding operation 130, from which they pass in sequence to a roughing operation 132, a shank adding operation 134 a grinding operation 136, and a filling operation 138 where a filler cement is added over the shank, Heating of the bottom of the shoe is also effected prior to the filling or cementing operation which facilitates the penetration of the cement into the pores of the shoe material. After cementing the bottom of the shoe and applying electric heat, the shoe sole can be pressed onto the shoe within a relatively short period of time, e.g., nineteen minutes, representing a great time saving in the shoe manufacture. From the filling operation, the shoes are passed through the drier 34, which is of a sutficient length to provide for a substantial period of time for heating and drying the filler, such as in the order of one minute, and, as an example, this drier may be ten feet in length. From the drier, the shoes may be mulled by spraying moisture over the heel of the shoe in a mulling operation 140 to eliminate wrinkling at this portion of the shoe. After this operation, the shoes are manually transferred to the portion 60 of the drying section shown in FIGURE 1.

In the drying section, the shoes move slowly in the direction of the arrows shown in FIGURES 1 and 3 and move through the two driers 36 and 38. The two driers are employed in sequence with a space between them in order to prevent undue moisture removal. After the shoe trays return to the section 60, the shoes are removed from them and transferred back to the bottoming conveyor line at station 142, which is a heel attaching station. From there the shoes pass to a sole laying operation 144 (in which electric heat may be applied to cement the soles), a leaf trimming operation 146, edge trimming operation 148, a sole brushing operation 150, and finally to an inspection station 152 where the shoes are removed from the bottoming conveyor line.

The shoes removed from the bottoming conveyor line are again put on thirty-six pair carts and may be transferred to the finishing section or room. The finishing operation is likewise carried out in conventional fashion.

In the finishing operation the shoes are loaded upon the shoe trays and passed through an edge trimming operation 154, a dust blowing operation 156, an edge inking operation 158, and a drier of the same general fashion as drier 30 to dry the ink. The shoe trays are then passed through an edge setting operation 162, and another drier 164, similar to drier 160, from where they are passed to a sanding operation 166, a olishin operation 168, du'st blowing operation 169, tab pullin op ra tion 170, bottom painting operation 172, and another drier 174 of similar construction as drier 160, and finallly to the last pulling operation 17 6. I

In the above description, it will be understood that the various operations have been described as typical and that it will be realized that these operations maybe varied from one plant to another according to conventional practices employed fitting the pa'rticular type of shoe manufactured and the particular manufacturing process follow in that plant. However, in all instances, the movement of the shoes in the transportation system of this invention can be eifected as described herein with any type of drying and working operation deemed necessary.

Various changes and modifications may be made Within the purview of this invention as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are within the scope and teaching of this invention as defined by the claims appended thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A system for transporting shoes in manufacturing plant through a multiplicity of working operations which comprises a movable conveyor line, means for mounting a multiplicity of racks on said conveyor line at spaced intervals, including rigid means connecting the conveyor line with each shoe rack to support the rack adjacent a worker, and means for moving said conveyor line past said working operations whereby workers at said working operations can remove shoes from the racks, work upon them, and replace them upon the racks after each individual working operation, and heating means positioned in vertical spaced relation to said conveyor line to heat shoes positioned upon each rack as it moves past the heating means, said heating means comprising a tunnel-like chamber having an open front and rear end to admit the rack and being further proivded with an elongated opening to receive the elongated rigid element connecting the conveyor line with the shoe rack.

2. A system for transporting shoes in a shoe manufacturing plant through a multiplicity of working operations which comprises a movable conveyor line, means for mounting a multiplictiy of racks on said conveyor line at spaced intervals, including a rigid means connecting the conveyor line with each shoe rack to support the rack adjacent a worker, and means for moving said conveyor line past said working operations whereby workers at said working operations can remove shoes from the racks, work upon them, and replace them upon the racks after each individual Working operation, and heating means positioned in vertical spaced relation to said conveyor line to heatshoes positioned upon each rack as it moves past the heating means, said heating means comprising a tunnellike chamber having an open front and rear end to admit the rack and being further provided with an elongated opening to receive the elongated rigid element connecting the conveyor line with the shoe rack, the tunnel like chamber having opposed sides provided with infrared heating means and a closed bottom.

3. A system for transporting shoes in a shoe manufacturing plant through a multiplicity of working operations which comprises a movable conveyor line, means for mounting a multiplicity of racks on said conveyor line at spaced intervals, including rigid means connecting the conveyor line with each shoe rack to support the rack adjacent a worker, each of said racks having a plurality of paired pins extending horizontally from said rack perpendicular to the conveyor line and each of said pair of pins supporting a shoe thereupon, and means for moving said conveyor line past said Working operations whereby workers at said working operations can remove shoes from the racks, work upon them, and replace them upon the racks after each individual working operation, heating means positioned in vertical spaced relation to said conveyor line to heat shoes positioned upon each rack as it moves past the heating means, said heating means c0mprising a heating zone having opposed side walls defining a passage through which the conveyor racks pass, and said walls being provided with infrared heating means directing heat upon said racks as they pass through the heating Zone.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,594,688 Perry Aug. 3, 1926 1,948,127 Perry Feb. 20, 1934 1,961,318 White June 5, 1934 2,150,274 Gingell Mar. 14, 1939 2,806,577 Lang Sept. 17, 1957 3,024,479 Baker et al. Mar. 13, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 811,824 France Apr. 23, 1937 1,004,423 France Apr. 18, 1947 852,059 Germany Aug. 7, 1952 384,221 Great Britain Dec. 1, 1932 681,633 Great Britain Oct. 29, 1952 840,654 Great Britain July 6, 1960

Claims (1)

1. A SYSTEM FOR TRANSPORTING SHOES IN MANUFACTURING PLANT THROUGH A MULTIPLICITY OF WORKING OPERATIONS WHICH COMPRISES A MOVABLE CONVEYOR LINE, MEANS FOR MOUNTING A MULTIPLICITY OF RACKS ON SAID CONVEYOR LINE AT SPACED INTERVALS, INCLUDING RIGID MEANS CONNECTING THE CONVEYOR LINE WITH EACH SHOE RACK TO SUPPORT THE RACK ADJACENT A WORKER, AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID CONVEYOR LINE PAST SAID WORKING OPERATIONS WHEREBY WORKERS AT SAID WORKING OPERATIONS CAN REMOVE SHOES FROM THE RACKS, WORK UPON THEM, AND REPLACE THEM UPON THE RACKS AFTER EACH INDIVIDUAL WORKING OPERATION, AND HEATING MEANS POSITIONED IN VERTICAL SPACED RELATION TO SAID CONVEYOR LINE TO HEAT SHOES POSITIONED UPON EACH RACK AS IT MOVES PAST THE HEATING MEANS, SAID HEATING MEANS COMPRISING A TUNNEL-LIKE CHAMBER HAVING AN OPEN FRONT AND REAR END TO ADMIT THE RACK AND BEING FURTHER PROVIDED WITH AN ELONGATED OPENING TO RECEIVE THE ELONGATED RIGID ELEMENT CONNECTING THE CONVEYOR LINE WITH THE SHOE RACK.

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