Shoe substrate reinforcing machine

A machine is disclosed which deposits powder in a selected configuration, fuses the configured powder into a laminate and adheres the fused laminate to a shoe substrate. The machine has a two part clamp which is displaceable from a retracted position to a clamp position. The part that is to clamp the substrate is interconnected with the other part by pins which extend through slots in the clamping part. The slots are wider than the pins so that relative linear and swivel motion is possible between this part.

The present invention relates to machines which deposit powder in a 
selected configuration, fuse the powder into a laminate and adhere the 
fused laminate to a shoe substrate to reinforce the substrate, and more 
particularly, to substrate clamping mechanisms for such machines. When a 
shoe substrate such as a counter is to be clamped to the work support 
surface in these machines, a well defined but limited peripheral area is 
available for clamping purposes. Since counters for a particular shoe 
design vary in size with shoe size, the location of this available 
clamping area also changes with shoe size. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a clamping assembly 
that can effectively clamp any counter of a family within the limited 
peripheral area available on each counter. 
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent 
from the following portion of this specification and from the accompanying 
drawings which in accordance with the mandate of the patent statutes, a 
presently preferred embodiment incorporating the principles of the 
invention.

A shoe substrate reinforcing machine which deposits powder in a selected 
configuration, fuses the powder into a laminate and adheres the laminate 
to a shoe substrate to reinforce the shoe substrate utilizes a work 
transfer device (a cube 10 having four faces 12). The work transfer cube 
is mounted on a spindle (not shown) which is indexable around a horizontal 
axis to four 90.degree. positions. The top or upper horizontal face 12 is 
the load/unload face where a shoe substrate 13 to be reinforced can be 
clamped in position on the support pad 14 of a mounting assembly 16 by 
clamping assemblies 17 located on either side of the mounting assembly 16. 
A clamped shoe substrate will be rotated 180.degree. to a join and cool 
station where the transfer cube will be lowered into forceful engagement 
with a fused laminate to adhere the laminate to the shoe substrate. 
Complete details of the work transfer cube are illustrated in detail in 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,411. 
Each clamping assembly 17 includes a lever arm 18 which is pivotally 
supported between a pair of posts 20 of a mounting bracket 22. The lever 
arm 18 is maintained in continuous cooperation with the mounting assembly 
16 by a spring element 24 so that movement of the mounting assembly from a 
lowered position to an elevated position will pivot the lever arms 18 from 
an elevated release position to a lowered clamping position where the 
clamps 26 will clamp the substrate 13 against the support pad 14 of the 
mounting assembly 16. 
The forward end of each lever arm 18 has a pair of "C" shaped pin receiving 
catches 28 which are adapted to matingly receive the pin (not shown) of a 
swivel bracket (not shown) to which a clamp 26 is secured. Detent 
mechanisms 36 releasably latch the pin (not shown) within a catch. 
Additional details of this structure are illustrated in U.S. patent 
application Ser. No. 851,841 which was filed on Apr. 14, 1986. 
The clamp 26 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a first part 40 which 
moves with the lever arm 18. (The clamp may pivot about the axis of the 
pin and a counterweight 41 may be secured to the first clamp part 40 so 
that the front of the clamp assembly will be held up when the clamp is 
displaced to the elevated release position.) A second part 42 is keyed to 
the stationary part 40 via pin 44 and slot 46 connections. The pins 44 
(the posts of rivets 47) have a diameter substantially less than the width 
of the slots so that in addition to vertical movement back and forth along 
the slots 46, the second clamp part 42 can be pivoted to a limited extent 
relative to the first part 40. The rivets 47 extend between the stationary 
part 40 and conical spring washers 48 which forcefully urges the two parts 
into mating engagement so that a setting for the second clamp part 42 will 
be maintained during repetitive clamp use. The length and width of the 
slots can be varied to achieve a greater displacement range. As can be 
seen from FIG. 2, a curved edge 50 of the first clamp part 40 which is 
proximate to the edge of the second part edge which engages the shoe 
substrate, overlies the second clamp part 42 throughout the displacement 
of the second part thereby tending to prevent the bending of the second 
clamp part 42. 
A much smaller shoe substrate 13A is illustrated in dot dash lines to show 
how the moveable clamp part 42 can be displaced and reoriented to a new 
position (shown in broken lines) to effectively clamp the outer periphery 
of this shoe substrate.