WO2013167943A1

WO2013167943A1 - Machine for manually assembling and pressing ending edges of the toe of a footgear

Info

Publication number: WO2013167943A1
Application number: PCT/IB2013/000750
Authority: WO
Inventors: Calogero Di Bella
Original assignee: Cottino, Francesco
Priority date: 2012-05-10
Filing date: 2013-04-22
Publication date: 2013-11-14
Also published as: ITMI20120805A1

Abstract

Semiautomatic machine for manually assembling and pounding ending edges of the toe of a footwear in progress, comprising means for delivering gluing material, an assembling and pounding roll and means for rotating the assembling and pounding roll.

Description

"Machine for manually assembling and pressing ending edges of the toe of a footgear"

ij sc ·(· sjc

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a machine for assembling and pounding the toe ends of a footwear, in particular a machine allowing the assembling and pounding of the two ending edges or corners of a footwear toe.

BACKGROUND ART

Automatic machines for assembling and pounding footwear parts during the manufacturing of the footwear themselves are known in the art. Usually they are composed of pairs of idle rolls running longitudinally the side portions of the shoe upper in order to fold the corners of the latter against the insole.

However, the footwear toe manufacturing is a critical aspect of the known machines. In particular, known machines has the following problem: as the longitudinal profile of the footwear is not uniform when the manufacturing ends, the two ending corners of the upper are still disassembled, or only partially assembled, against the insole, at the toe of the footwear itself. Then is common use, after the manufacturing on automatic machines, to apply the gluing material on the not-assembled edges in a completely manual way, and to proceed to fold and manually close the same edges against the insole.

Object of the present invention is to implement a machine allowing to carry out rapidly and precisely the assembling and pounding of the toe of a footwear, particularly referring to the two ending corners or edges of the toe itself.

A further object of the present invention is to define a process allowing to operate the aforementioned machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other objects are reached by the present invention thanks to implementing a semiautomatic machine for manually assembling and pounding ending edges of the toe of a footwear in progress, comprising means for delivering gluing material, an assembling and pounding roll and means for rotating the assembling and pounding roll. Thanks to the present invention the operator is aided in the assembling and pounding steps of the footwear, so that his/her operations are sped up and, at the same time, they become more accurate. Moreover, the footwear manufacturing is appreciably more uniform than the known art, so that an optimal realization of every single piece is guaranteed.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the assembling and pounding roll may have a substantially vertical axis.

Thanks to such a solution, the machine has a greater use versatility than other possible arrangements. Indeed, the vertical shape of the roll allows a higher piece visibility during the manufacturing, so that a check of the piece in progress is allowed in real time. A further advantage of a roll with a substantially vertical axis is the possibility of operate on the machine in both the possible use directions.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the assembling and pounding roll has a groove with shaped profile. Preferably, the profile is at least partially spiral - shaped.

Thanks to such a feature, every toe area is alternately engaging the assembling and pounding roll, at a rim of one of the groove cuts, and afterwards it is disengaged from the same roll, that is at the "bottom" of the cuts, so that to have a hammer effect onto the footwear in progress.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the assembling and pounding roll has at least two sections with different diameters.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the assembling and pounding roll has a bi-truncated profile, with a correspondence of the minor bases.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the central portion of said assembling and pounding roll has a section with diameter smaller than the sections at the ends of said assembling and pounding roll.

It is further described a process for manually assembling and pounding ending edges of the toe of a footwear in progress, by means of a semiautomatic machine comprising means for delivering gluing material, an assembling and pounding roll and means for rotating said assembling and pounding roll, in which an operator carries out the steps of: a) applying a gluing material on the front portion of a footwear, by said means for delivering gluing material;

b) pounding the front portion of said footwear against said assembling and pounding roll.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be more evident from the following description, made for illustration purposes only and without limitation, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a perspective side view of an embodiment of the present invention,

Figure 2 and Figure 3 are enlarged detailed views of an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 describes a possible engagement function versus time of a footwear area against the machine roll according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the figures, a semiautomatic assembling and pounding machine 1, hereinafter named machine 1, comprises means for delivering gluing material 2, hereinafter named delivering means 2, and an assembling and pounding roll 3, hereinafter named roll 3. Means for rotating the roll 3 around its own axis are further provided.

The delivering means 2, visible in detail in figure 3, are general means known in the art, adapted to deliver gluing material, and for example they can have a nozzle shape, as shown in the figure. Different shapes are provided and possible, and fall within the purpose of the present invention. The delivering means 2 can also be activated manually, for example by means of a foot control, or else through a keypad pushbutton, or other control means.

Alternatively, the activation of the delivering means 2 can be completely automatized, for example through the use of proximity sensors, which detect the footwear presence at the station where the delivering means 2 are. Generally, many methods for activating the delivering means 2 are known in the art and they fall within the scope and purpose of the present invention.

The roll 3, visible in detail in figure 2, can have various shapes.

In the figures, a particularly advantageous embodiment is suggested.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the roll 3 may have a substantially vertical axis.

Thanks to such a solution, the machine has greater use versatility. As mentioned, the vertical shape of the roll 3 allows an operator using the machine 1 to have a greater piece visibility during the manufacturing. In this way the operator can check the piece in progress in real time. As a skilled person in the art can understand, a further advantage of a roll with a substantially vertical axis is the possibility of operating on the machine in both possible use directions, that is, referring to figures, both from the left to the right and vice versa. At last, such a solution allows to hold down the transversal bulk of a machine 1 realized according to the present invention.

The herein described vertical arrangement of the roll 3 is the preferred, but not exclusive, shape of the machine 1, as different shapes are provided, for example the arrangement of a roll with horizontal axis, and fall within the scope and purpose of the present invention.

The side surface of the roll 3 can be smooth or, preferably, shaped. In particular, the shown shape has spiral-shaped knurls, or grooves 5, along the surface of the roll 3. Anyway other shapes different from the spiral are provided, for example grooves that are substantially parallel to the axis of the roll 3.

Thanks to such a groove 5, each area of the footwear in progress contacting the roll 3, when the roll 3 is rotated, is alternately engaged with, and disengaged from, the groove 5. More in detail, each single footwear area contacts alternately a cut rim of the groove 5 and then is disengaged from said cut rim of the groove 5, when the footwear area is at the "bottom" of the groove cut itself, that is it is not contacting the side surface of the roll 3. In other words the function that shows the engagement of a single area of a footwear in progress against the groove 5 of the rotated roll 3 during time, has the shape of a general rectangular wave. A possible example is shown in figure 4, wherein peaks 6 of the engagement function indicate the footwear contact against the cut rims of the groove 5, whereas the zero reduction 7 of the engagement function indicates the disengagement of the footwear area from the groove 5, that is the afore mentioned correspondence thereof with the groove cut bottoms. Then such a solution allows to emulate the hammer use, that is of a tool hitting the various footwear areas with a certain frequency. It is further obvious to the skilled person that a convenient shape of the groove 5 and the handling of the footwear against the roll 3 allow the rectangular wave to be at least frequency modulated, and then in figure 4 only one of the possible engagement functions of the groove 5 of the roll 3 against an area of the footwear in progress is represented.

The afore described hammer effect allows to carry out optimal gluing and pounding of parts of the footwear being manufactured on the machine 1, particularly referring to two ending edges of the upper toe of the footwear.

According to another preferred aspect of the invention, the roll 3 has not a constant diameter along its own axis. Preferably the roll 3 has at least two sections with different diameters one from another, so that to fit to the shape of the footwear in progress. A preferred embodiment of the roll 3, as the shown shape, has a central area having a reduced diameter in the central part of the roll 3, with respect to the diameter of sections at the ending portions of the roll 3. For the purposes of the present invention, the roll shape shown in figure 1 and figure 3 is particularly advantageous, wherein the two truncated cones composing the roll 3 are joined at the respective minor bases. The footwear positioning in order to make perpendicular the axes of the roll 3 and of the footwear itself, at the central area of the roll 3, demonstrated to be particularly effective in the manufacturing of a footwear toe. Specific means, known in the art and typically motorized means, are arranged inside the machine 1, and they are adapted to rotate the roll 3. Tools for controlling the activation of means adapted to rotate the roll 3 are further known in the art, for example button means 4.

The operation of the present machine 1 is then obvious to the skilled person from the treatise above and it is now briefly detailed.

Firstly, an operator positions a footwear in progress at the delivering means 2, in order to apply gluing material to parts of the footwear itself. Then he/she positions the footwear toe against the adequately rotated roll 3, and moves the footwear against the roll 3 according to a direction perpendicular to the axis of the roll 3, from the footwear toe towards the back portion of the footwear, in order to assemble and pound parts composing the footwear itself in progress.

Claims

1. Semiautomatic machine for manually assembling and pounding ending edges of the toe of a footwear in progress, comprising means for delivering gluing material, an assembling and pounding roll and means for rotating said assembling and pounding roll.

2. Machine according to claim 1 , wherein said assembling and pounding roll has a substantially vertical axis.

3. Machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the profile of said assembling and pounding roll has at least one groove.

4. Machine according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said groove is at least partially spiral - shaped.

5. Machine according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said assembling and pounding roll has at least two sections having different diameters from one another.

6. Machine according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the central portion of said assembling and pounding roll has a section with diameter smaller than the sections at the ends of said assembling and pounding roll.

7. Machine according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said assembling and pounding roll has a bi-truncated cone profile, with a correspondence of the minor bases.

8. Process for manually assembling and pounding ending edges of the toe of a footwear in progress, by means of a semiautomatic machine comprising means for delivering gluing material, an assembling and pounding roll and means for rotating said assembling and pounding roll, in which an operator carries out the steps of: a. applying a gluing material on the front portion of a footwear, by said means for delivering the gluing material;

b. pounding the front portion of said footwear against said assembling and pounding roll.