Method and system for automatically manufacturing shoes

Abstract

Described are a method and a system for automatically manufacturing shoes. The method includes automatically manufacturing a plurality of soles in a first station and automatically manufacturing a plurality of uppers in a second station, wherein the first and the second station are operating in parallel and are arranged in a common facility so that a manufactured sole and a manufactured upper can be transported to a joining station and be automatically joined there.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application is related to and claims priority benefits from German Patent Application No. DE 10 2016 208 998.6, filed on May 24, 2016 and entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY MANUFACTURING SHOES, the content of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a method for automatically manufacturing shoes. Moreover, the present invention relates to a shoe manufactured by such a method and to a system for performing such a method.BACKGROUND[0003]Conventional methods for manufacturing shoes generally involve processing various components such as premanufactured soles and uppers at different processing stations, which are then later joined in a further, separate location. The production methods of the prior art are typically very complicated and labor intensive so that most of the shoe production is nowadays performed in the Far East, where labor co...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0030]However, in different embodiments, the transportation to the joining station may also be semi-automated or be performed manually, for example, if the production site does not allow a fully automated transportation from the first and / or second manufacturing station to the joining station or if the joining station is not arranged within the common facility.

[0031]In one embodiment, a first number of soles manufactured in step (a) corresponds to a second number of uppers manufactured in step (b). Moreover, the correspondence between the first number and the second number may take a percentage of defective soles and / or defective uppers into account. In contrast to conventional methods for manufacturing shoes, wherein the shoe components are largely independently manufactured in different facilities and then stored in a storage facility, this aspect of the present invention significantly streamlines the whole manufacturing process. For example, if percentages of defective components are taken into account, the overall manufacturing can be executed more efficiently, which reduces down times and a surplus of unused shoe components at any given point in time.

[0032]In one embodiment, the step of automatically manufacturing the plurality of soles in the first station comprises molding individual soles from a plurality of particles. While other sole manufacturing techniques might be used as well, molding individual soles from a plurality of particles is a particularly efficient method for the automated manufacture of shoe soles. Moreover, the inventors of the present invention have for the first time realized that this sole manufacturing method integrates particularly well into the automated manufacture of the overall shoe according to the present invention. One reason is that a manufacture of a sole by molding particles does not involve toxic or hazardous materials, which greatly facilitates the combination of the sole manufacture with the manufacture of the upper in a common facility.

[0033]In one embodiment, an automated quality check of the manufactured soles is performed, for example in the first manufacturing station or along the way from the first manufacturing station to the joining station or at another point in the process flow. The quality check may involve an automated inspection of the molded particles in the manufactured sole. The automated quality check may involve an automated measurement of the weight and / or the size of the manufactured sole. Dynamic properties such as cushioning, stiffness or flexing properties of the manufactured sole may also be automatically investigated.

[0034]Integrating such an automated quality check already into the first station further improves the automated manufacture of shoe soles. If the manufactured sole is partly defective, for example due to an undesired weight and / or size, the automated quality check may detect and remove such a sole already at an early stage of the manufacturing process. As a result, the error rate of the overall manufacturing process of a shoe is significantly reduced.

[0020]According to some embodiments, a shoe is manufactured by one of the above described methods is provided.

[0044]Finally, according to another aspect the present invention is directed to a system for performing one of the above-summarized methods. In one embodiment, the system comprises a first station for automatically manufacturing a plurality of soles, a second station for automatically manufacturing a plurality of uppers, a joining station adapted for automatically joining a sole and an upper, wherein the first and the second station are adapted for operating in parallel and are arranged in a common facility so that a manufactured sole and a manufactured upper can be transported to the joining station and automatically joined there.

[0045]As mentioned above, the transportation of the manufactured sole and the manufactured upper to the joining station may be also automated. Alternatively, it may be performed semi-automatically (i.e. with some manual support) or completely by humans. Further, the joining station and / or further stations of the system may also be arranged within the common facility to further facilitate automatization of the process, or such stations may be arranged outside the common facility.

Problems solved by technology

The production methods of the prior art are typically very complicated and labor intensive so that most of the shoe production is nowadays performed in the Far East, where labor costs are low.

A common disadvantage of the disclosed production methods is that the overall production of shoes is still very complicated and labor intensive.

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