Curved Needle Shoe Stitching Machine with Positioning Foot
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shoe sewing machines require a time-consuming and costly pre-gluing step for semi-finished workpieces and lack versatility to adapt to various shoe models and materials, limiting their ability to rapidly respond to changing fashion demands.
Innovation Solution
A curved-needle sewing machine with a reconfigured positioning foot that allows for sewing without pre-gluing, enabling the machine to work with both leather and synthetic materials, and allowing for both invisible and visible seams, while also being easily convertible for different operations by rapidly demounting its setup, and optionally using a straight needle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If pre-gluing is used to prepare semi-finished workpieces, then the stitching process is simplified, but the production time and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning foot is designed to perform preliminary positioning and spreading of the flaps before the needle enters, eliminating the need for pre-gluing. The positioning foot spreads the adjacent flaps of the bottom during the positioning phase, allowing the needle to directly insert and stitch without requiring prior adhesive application and drying time.
2Manufacturing precision
If dedicated machines are constructed for specific shoe stitching operations, then manufacturing precision is improved, but the machine lacks versatility and cannot adapt to changing market demands
Solution Approach 1:
The machine head is designed with universal positioning feet that can be rapidly exchanged to accommodate different shoe models and stitching operations. The positioning foot includes a spreading mechanism that can adapt to various bottom configurations, allowing the same machine to handle multiple shoe types (Ballerinas, pumps, sandals, etc.) with different materials (leather, synthetic) and stitching requirements (invisible seams, visible seams).
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning foot incorporates a spreading mechanism with movable elements that can dynamically adjust to different flap configurations. The spreading elements can be positioned and repositioned to accommodate various bottom geometries, enabling the machine to adapt to changing production requirements while maintaining stitching precision.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual sewing is used, then versatility and adaptability are maintained, but the working speed decreases and specialised personnel are required
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning foot with its automatic spreading mechanism performs the positioning and flap separation functions automatically during the stitching cycle, eliminating the need for manual intervention. The machine feeds and positions the material itself through the coordinated motion of the positioning foot and needle mechanism, achieving high-speed automated stitching without requiring specialised operators.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~6
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The machine (M) performs sewing of elements (E) to a bottom (F) for shoes, the bottom (F) being provided with an abutment (B) opposite the perimeter edge (22), extended to follow the edge (22). A positioning foot (10) provided with a slot (10A), which positioning foot (10) is fixed to a bearing body (11) solidly constrained to a head of the machine (M), which positioning foot (10) is able to abut against the abutment (B) in a zone of the abutment (B) from time to time affected in the sewing; a needle (4) mobile between a retracted position (R), in which it is external of at least one of said elements (E), the bottom (F) and the positioning foot (10), and an advanced position (A), in which the needle (4) is able to pass through the at least an element (E), then to penetrate laterally into the perimeter edge (22), then to exit at the abutment (B), then to transit through the slot (A) of the positioning foot (10) and then to enter a rotary-hook device (5), provided for cooperating with the needle (4) so as to realize stitches of the sewing (C); means for horizontally synchronically translating the needle (4) and the rotary-hook device (5) in an alternating motion in runs of an extension which is equal to a predetermined step.