Patent GB-1010149-A (GB)
IPC: A43D21/12
Abstract: 1,010,149. Shoe upper conforming machines. BRITISH UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CO. Ltd. June 20, 1962 [March 22, 1961], No. 10361/61. Heading A3B. A shoe upper conforming machine for pulling over and lasting the forepart and joint regions of an upper has the following features:-(a) a last support, (b) grippers comprising a pair of toe grippers, two pairs of forepart grippers and a pair of joint grippers, (c) a pair of joint clamps, (d) wipers comprising a pair of joint wipers for inwiping and a pair of toe wipers for downwiping and inwiping, (e) a heel support, (f) a toe-pad, (g) fluid pressure operating means. All parts have adjustable settings and the two pairs of grippers nearest to the toe have readily removable gripping jaws to suit various styles and sizes of shoe. A last having an upper and insole positioned thereon is placed bottom downwards on the last support 2 and the marginal portions of the upper are placed in the grippers 4, 6, 8, 10. The support 2 is then raised to effect a preliminary tensioning of the upper, then the grippers are lowered to pull the upper over the last. The joint clamps 22, 24 then clamp the sides of the upper and the joint wipers 16, 18 perform their inwiping operation. The toe wipers 12 then wipe down over the upper and a toe pad 30 rests, lightly at first on the toe. The toe wipers 12 then wipe inwardly towards the heel which is supported by a heel support 28 until they reach the joint wipers 16, which are yieldably mounted; the toe wipers then force the joint wipers down to take over control of the upper in this region. The toe pad 30 then applies pressure and the last support 2 is lowered, the last being supported on the wipers. After a suitable dwell period the last is released and falls into a shoe box. The last support 2 (Fig. 3) has an inner support 40 and an outer support 44 which is pivoted on a pin 80 and has a retarder 27 which is used to position the last. Both supports are moved upwards by a piston rod 52 which has pawls 108, 110 mounted on lugs 104 attached to the rod. The inner support 40 is mounted on a rod 48 accommodated in the piston rod 52 and the outer support 44 slides over the piston rod, guided by a keyway in the piston rod. On raising the piston rod 52 (e.g. by compressed air) the pawl 110 engages an abutment 126 on the outer support 44 to rotate it until the second pawl 108 engages a siimlar abutment. This imparts a toeward draft to the upper and brings the insole parallel to the plane of the wipers. Both supports then move upwards, the outer support being raised by the pawls 108, 110 and the inner support by the rod 48. Before the wiping operation the outer support 44 is lowered by moving the pawls away from the abutments by means of a second piston rod 143 moving a lever 116 attached to the pawl 110 which is linked to the pawl 108 by a bar 112. The forepart grippers 6 (Fig. 6) are mounted in gimbals 222, 224 and are moved heightwise by a piston rod 206. Movement away from the shoe is controlled by a link 238 and movement along the length of the shoe is controlled by a member 268 connected to the lever 250. Adjustment to suit various shapes of shoe is by means of rotation of the gripper about the axis of the piston rod which is controlled by gearing 252 and a worm gear (not shown). The length-wise adjustment of the gripper may be controlled by the handwheel 282. The gripper jaws are closed by a roller 196, mounted on a piston rod 190, acting on a tail portion of the lower jaw which is held against an abutment 200. The grippers 4, 8, 10 are similar in construction but have different adjusting mechanisms, e.g. toe grippers 4 have only one gimbal 222, grippers 8, 10 are directly mounted on slides. The joint wipers 16, 18 (Fig. 10) and joint clamps 22, 24 are mounted in a housing 412. The joint wipers 16, 18 are angularly displaceable with respect to each other to suit various styles of shoes. The clamps 22, 24 are connected by a cog 450 so that they both exert equal pressure and are mounted on a block 440 which is moved in towards the side of the shoe by a cylinder block 424 sliding on a piston rod 423. The wipers 16 are yieldably mounted on a block 484 which is pivoted by a pin 486 on the end plate of a piston rod 490, the wipers being forced upwards by a spring 494. The wipers 18 are mounted in a similar fashion. Both wipers comprise a plurality of fingers. The toe wipers 12 and the toe pad 30 (Fig. 15) are mounted on a carrier 534, which is movable lengthwise of the shoe; the carrier 534 being amounted on a cradle 524 which is movable heightwise of the shoe. The wipers are advanced heightwise by the piston 530 and lengthwise by the piston 540 via a toggle link 556, 560. The wiper plates are contained within a wiper box 536. The toe pad 30 is operated by a bell-crank 572 connected to a piston rod 582. The heel support 700 is mounted on a piston rod 704 which is adjustable heightwise by a clamp 708. The apparatus is powered by a fluid pressure operating means, e.g. compressed air which is controlled by solenoid operated valves, microswitches and pressure sensitive switches. The cycle is interrupted automatically after the pulling over operation for the operator to check the upper, but the apparatus may be stopped at any time by a cut-out switch (not shown). The cycle may also be stopped after the joint wiping operation by means of a selector switch (not shown). Specifications 871,990, 912,650, 941,309, 983,741 and 991,013 are referred to.