Patent Publication Number: US-7212885-B2

Title: System for selecting and retrieving shoes from an automated shoe rack

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Reference To Provisional Application: 
   This application claim the benefit of PPA Ser. No 60/481,300 filed Aug. 27, 2003 by the present inventors. 

   FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
   SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of Invention 
   This invention relates generally to an electro-mechanical device controlled electronically by means of a computer or push button console that is used for accessing shoes stored in a shoe organizer. 
   2. Background of the Invention 
   In today&#39;s fast moving environment where fast food restaurants are the way of life, people would like to be able to accomplish things in as fast and as efficient as possible to get where they have to go. One of the things people have to do on an everyday basis is to put their clothes on after getting up from bed. As a part of that routine, finding the right shoe for the right outfit to wear for that day or to wear for a special event, or a dinner engagement could be a rather trying experience when you&#39;re running late and need to get ready quickly. A typical problem is that you have quite a few shoes that may or may not be well organized into shoe racks in your closet. Even if they are organized in shoe racks, it often takes some time for you to bend down and look through all of the array of shoes you have to find just that right pair to match your outfit for that day or event you are about to be late attending. Some other problems that exists today even with the current shoe organizers that are in the market is that you have to take the time to either pull the shoe out of a shoe compartment so that you can see the shoe itself or for those types of racks that you lay the shoe on top of, you have to pick up the shoe from the rack. An additional disadvantage is that when someone is in a hurry and you have a choice of several similar shoes for a particular outfit, it would take you longer to look for the right shoes since you would have to manually search all of your shoes to pull out the similar shoes. 
   OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES 
   Accordingly, several objects and advantages of this invention are:
     (a) to provide an easy and quick way for a person to find the desired shoe by using a separately and conveniently mounted console that will contain pictures of all of the shoes stored in the shoe organizer within your closet.   (b) to provide a means to select the desired shoe by simply pressing the appropriate picture of the desired shoe on the console   (c) to provide a means whereby the console automatically opens up the shoe compartment that contains the selected shoe.   (d) to provide a means whereby the person can now quickly walk up to the extended shoe compartment and remove the pair of shoes without having to had looked for it as described in the prior art description.   (e) to provide a easy and flexible way to do multiple selections of shoes based on any matching criteria one desires for the purpose of facilitating matching up the right shoe to the right outfit.   

   Further objects and advantages are to provide a complete shoe organizational system that allows for someone to not only quickly find the desired shoe quickly and effortlessly, but it also allows one not to have to continuously bend over inside of the closet looking for the desired shoe, which can quickly tire someone out if done on a constant and continual basis. Further objects and advantages will become evident in the ensuing description and drawings. 
   SUMMARY 
   In summary, this invention describes a shoe organization and selection/retrieval system that allows a person that has a large number of shoes to quickly select the desired shoes or series of shoes by means of a shoe selection console, and then having the console automatically send a signal to the shoe organizer compartment(s) corresponding to the selected shoe(s), which in turn, extends the shoe compartment drawer of the desired shoe for easy extraction of the shoe(s). The shoe compartments can then be retracted back to its fully retracted position by the simple push of the opened shoe compartment drawer. 

   
     DRAWINGS—FIGURES  
     In the drawings, closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes. 
       FIGS. 1A to 1C  show a front, top, and side view of the shoe organizer compartment portion of the system using a ball bearing system for the shoe drawer movement. 
       FIGS. 2A to 2C  show a front, top, and side view of the shoe organizer compartment portion of the system using a rack and pinion type assembly for the shoe drawer movement. 
       FIG. 3  shows a front view of the shoe selection console with examples of the picture of the shoes attached to various cells. 
       FIG. 4A to 4C  show the complete systems with the shoe organizer compartment unit along with the shoe selection console and the connection of the two units via the means of wired or wireless connection. 
       FIG. 5A–5C  shows a front and top view of the shoe organizer unit showing only the detail front and backstop solenoid releases as well as a detailed view of the solenoid itself ( FIG. 5C ). 
   

   
     
       
         
             
           
             
                 
             
             
               DRAWINGS - Reference Numbers 
             
             
                 
             
           
          
             
                 
             
          
         
         
             
             
          
             
                 
               10 - External housing of the shoe organizer unit 
             
             
                 
               12 - shoe contained inside of shoe compartment 
             
             
                 
               14 - Ball bearings 
             
             
                 
               16 - Shoe organizer unit row separator/spacer bar 
             
             
                 
               18 - shoe compartment drawer 
             
             
                 
               20 - Ball bearing rail 
             
             
                 
               22 - Spring 
             
             
                 
               24 - Front Stop 
             
             
                 
               26 - Backstop 
             
             
                 
               30 - Shoe compartment drawer footing 
             
             
                 
               32 - Front stop release 
             
             
                 
               34 - Backstop release 
             
             
                 
               36 - Retractable stop release solenoid 
             
             
                 
               40 - Shoe selector computer 
             
             
                 
               42 - Picture of shoe in cell 
             
             
                 
               44 - data translator unit 
             
             
                 
               46 - Connector wire/wireless connection 
             
             
                 
               50 - Reversible gear motor 
             
             
                 
               52 - Gear teeth rail 
             
             
                 
               54 - Gear assembly 
             
             
                 
                 
             
          
         
       
     
   
   DETAILED DESCRIPTION—FIGS.  1 A,  1 B,  1 C,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 —PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   One embodiment of the shoe selector system is illustrated in  FIG. 1A  (front view),  FIG. 1B  (top view), and  FIG. 1C  (side view).  FIG. 1A  shows an embodiment of the shoe organizer compartment unit that uses ball bearings  4  as its transport mechanism for the sliding drawers. The shoe organizer compartment unit is a modular unit that can be easily expanded to hold more or less compartments.  FIG. 1A  shows a 12-unit compartment. The compartments are stackable and can also be added horizontally to add more compartments. The outside housing  10  can be made of plastic or wood. The compartment drawer  12  is made of the same material as the housing  10  and can contain a photograph of the shoe contained within the drawer if so desired.  FIG. 1A  shoes a picture of the shoe contained within for illustration purposes only. The ball bearings  14  is used to help the compartment drawer  12  slide in and out easily. The spacer bar  16  is used as a separator between each horizontal row and allows for stacking the compartment units as well as contains the release mechanisms for the front stop  24  and backstop  26 . 
     FIG. 1B  shows a top view of one of the compartment drawers  12  in its retracted position. The spring  22 , shown as a hidden component, is actually attached beneath the compartment drawer  12  to the front stop piece  24  and the backstop piece  26 . The front stop  24  and the backstop  26  pieces are attached directly to the bottom of the compartment drawer  12 . Attached to the bottom of the spacer bar  16  are two retractable stop release bars. The front stop release bar  32  is used to prevent the compartment drawer  12  from falling out from the organizer unit as well releasing the drawer to allow it to slide outward from the shoe organizer unit. The backstop release  34  is used to prevent the compartment drawer  12  from hitting the back of the shoe organizer unit as well as releasing the drawer to allow it to slide forward. The stop release solenoid  36  with a retractable pin is attached to each of the stop releases. 
     FIG. 3  shows the shoe selector computer unit that is used to select the desired shoe from the shoe organizer unit. A picture of each shoe is stored within the computer&#39;s memory and shown in each cell  40  that corresponds to each shoe compartment drawer  12 . The computer screen can be a touch screen display so that when the user wants to select a shoe, the person simply touches the picture of the shoe and the computer sends an electrical signal to the appropriate shoe compartment drawer  12  containing the desired shoe. Alternatively, it can be a point and click selection using a computer mouse. 
   The connection between the computer and the shoe organizer unit itself is via a simple pair of twisted wires  46 . In a higher model version of this invention, one can envision this connection being a wireless connection  46 . In either case, the communication between the computer and the shoe organizer unit and its drawer compartments will be via a computer bus using a very simple bus protocol. This is done because each compartment drawer will be software addressable vs. having physical connections to each and every drawer in the organizer. This will require a small microprocessor controlled digital circuit board on the organizer itself, which is shown in  FIG. 4C  as the data translator board  44 , and a wire bus that will connect to each drawer unit. Alternatively, a circuit board back plane can also be used, by attaching the back plane to the rear of the organizer unit. The shoe selector computer  40  has a digital “address” associated with each shoe drawer unit that is established when the user initially enters in the pictures and assigns them to each cell as described previously. When the user goes to select a shoe by touching the desired picture on the touch screen, the computer addresses the corresponding shoe compartment drawer&#39;s circuit connection by sending the address to the data translator board  44 . The data translator board will then convert the data address and activate the proper connection to the correct shoe compartment drawer  12  by sending an electrical signal to the solenoid or gear motor to open that drawer. 
     FIG. 4  shows the complete picture shoe organizer system.  FIG. 4A  shows the shoe organizer unit itself.  FIG. 4B  shows the shoe selector computer that has a touch screen display. The touch screen display is showing an example of a few shoes that are currently in the shoe organizer along with several “empty” cells where there are currently no shoes occupying those spaces in the shoe organizer.  FIG. 4C  shows a depiction of the data translator board that will be physically connected to the rear of the shoe organizer unit and the wired or wireless connection between the shoe selector computer and the shoe organizer unit. 
   Operation— FIG. 1 ,  3   
   One embodiment of the shoe selector system works as follows using ball bearings as the transport mechanism for the drawers.  FIG. 1B  shows the spring  22  in its fully extended position. That is, the maximum amount of spring tension is being applied to the spring  22 . The compartment drawer  12  is being held in its closed position by the front and backstops  24  and  26 . When a person wants to select a shoe they want to wear or look at, the person will scan the shoe selector console&#39;s screen (shown in  FIG. 3 ) to find the picture of the shoe desired. Once the desired shoe is found, the user presses, clicks on, or touches the picture of the shoe on the screen. The shoe selector computer will then send an electrical signal to the appropriate shoe compartment drawer  12  containing the matching shoes via the translator board  44 . The electrical signal will trigger the stop release solenoid  36  connected to both stop releases. The solenoid connected to the backstop release  34  will retract the stop release by pulling it down to clear the backstop attached underneath the compartment drawer  12 . Simultaneously, the solenoid connected to the front stop release  32  will also retract the front stop release by pulling it down to clear the front stop connected underneath the compartment drawer. 
   The spring  22  will then push the compartment drawer  12  outward. Once the front and backstops  24  and  26  clears the stop releases, the solenoid  36  automatically reverses polarity and pushes the stop releases back into its extended position. As the spring  22  continues to push the compartment drawer outward, using the ball bearings  14  to slide on, the compartment drawer will stop once the backstop  26  reaches the now extended front stop release  32 . At this point, the compartment drawer is fully extended and the shoes inside the compartment are assessable to the user. 
   Once the user is done with either viewing the shoes or removing the shoes, the user pushes the compartment drawer back into its fully retracted or closed position. Since the stop releases are spring loaded and beveled at the front, the compartment drawer&#39;s front and backstops  24  and  26  will push down the stop releases on its way back. As soon as the front and backstops clear the stop releases, the spring loaded stop releases will extend again to its extended position and hold the compartment drawer in place. The spring  22  is now again in its fully extended position. 
   Alternative Embodiments—the Preferred Embodiment,  FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  4   
   Another preferred embodiment of the shoe selector system is illustrated in  FIG. 2A  (front view),  FIG. 2B  (top view), and  FIG. 2C  (side view).  FIG. 2  represents another method for extending and retracting the shoe compartment drawers  12 . This preferred method could be considered as the high end model due to its more sophisticated operation and ease of use (and high cost). The only difference between the operation of compartment drawer  12  shown in  FIG. 1  and the one shown in  FIG. 2  is the method of how the drawer is extended and retracted. In  FIG. 2A , one of the shoe compartment drawers  12  is shown with a cutout of the reversible gear motor  50  that is attached beneath each of the shoe compartment drawers from the front view. 
   In  FIG. 2B , a top view is shown that provides a cutout picture of the reversible gear motor  50  and the gear assembly  54 . The gear teeth rail  52  is attached to the shoe compartment drawer on left side along the bottom of the drawer. Whether the rail manufactured on the left side or right side is irrelevant in this invention. 
   Operation— FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  4   
   The shoe selector computer operates as follows for both embodiments of the invention described above. The user enters the pictures of the shoes that will be stored in the shoe organizer into the computer  40  via the means of a digital camera interface  48  (Universal Serial Bus (USB) port) and a simple graphical user interface via the touch screen. The user first enters a setup screen found on the main computer screen menu. The computer then sets up the digital camera interface so that the pictures can be downloaded from the camera. The computer then prompts the user for each picture and asks the user which computer cell  42  that the user wishes to store the picture in. Ideally, the cell should correspond to the same or similar location in the shoe organizer itself in terms of row and column location. The cells will be numbered for ease of identification and organizing the pictures. Once the pictures are all entered in the computer is now ready for operation. 
   The operation of the gear-based shoe compartment drawer works as follows. The user goes to select the shoe desired from the shoe selector computer  40  shown in  FIG. 3  by touching or pressing the picture of the shoe located in the cell  42 . The computer will send message containing the “address” of the shoe compartment containing the selected shoe to the data translator board  44  attached the rear of the shoe organizer unit. The data translator board will convert the message and send a signal to the appropriate shoe compartment drawer  12  that contains the selected shoe. The signal will activate the reversible gear motor shown n FIG.  2 B—which is shown in its retracted or closed position. The gear motor will begin to turn the gear assembly  54  so that the gear meshed against the gear teeth  52  rotates in a counterclockwise direction. This will in turn, begin to extend the shoe compartment drawer  12  outward as the gear continues to turn. The motor will continue to turn for a pre-determined time until the cabinet drawer is at its fully extended or opened position. The pre-determined time is calculated based on the distance required to move the drawer to its fully opened position. Once the position has been reached, the motor will be turned off. There will be no need for backstops or stop releases in this embodiment of the invention although invention does not preclude the use of front stop and backstop switches as a backup in case the timing from the computer to activate the motor goes out of sync overtime. The switches will prevent impending damage to the motor and drawer units if this problem ever occurs. If this occurs, the shoe selector computer can automatically re-adjust the timing based on the time the front and/or backstop switches were activated. 
   At this point, the shoe compartment s now fully extended. The user can extract the shoes from the open compartment. Once the user is done with this tasks, the user then simply touches the front of the shoe compartment drawer  12  and gently pushes the drawer in. A micro-switch located at the front of the shoe compartment opening will sense that the drawer was pushed in and it will cause the reversible gear motor  50  to reverse polarity and turn on the motor. The motor will then turn the gear that is meshed against the gear teeth in a clockwise direction in order to cause the drawer to now be pulled back in or closed. The operation of closing the drawer can be equated to closing a CD tray on a computer or a CD audio player device. One only needs to slightly push the drawer in which allows the motor inside of the device to close the CD tray itself. 
   Conclusions, Ramifications, and Scope 
   Thus the reader can see that this automated shoe selector and shoe organization system is a very convenient, easy to use, and highly flexible system that allows one who own many shoes to quickly select a pair or pairs of shoes without having to bend over in a closet and search through all of the shoes to find the desired shoes. By the use of technology, this system allows one to quickly scan through their entire inventory of shoes by means of looking at a picture of the shoe on a touch screen that can be mounted separately from the shoe organizer unit itself for easy access. One can then simply touch the picture of the shoe desired on the touch screen and immediately, the shoe drawer compartment containing that shoe will open so that the person can walk into the closet and just grab the shoes. 
   While the above description contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of one preferred embodiment thereof. Many other variations are possible. For example, the following are just a few variations possible:
     In addition to the compartment drawer transport mechanism being a rack and pinion assembly and a spring loaded ball bearing assembly, other transport mechanisms are possible. One can envision a belt driven transport mechanism for the drawer unit or a piston driven transport mechanism as well.   The shoe organizer unit&#39;s physical construction can be of any lightweight material that is easily manufactured and durable.   The drawer compartments themselves can be made of a translucent or see-through material to allow for the ser to actually see the shoes while the drawer is in its closed position. Since the shoes are usually stacked on top of each other or space efficiency, it may be hard to see the shoes while inside of the drawer unit so each compartment may also have a small light so that the shoes may be seen more easily.   The computer software can be programmed to automatically re-configure itself whenever the user wants to add additional shoe compartments to the existing shoe organizer unit by automatically detecting when the additional compartments are stacked on and then showing the new compartments on the touch screen of the shoe selector computer.   The data translator unit can be any type of CPU (Computer Processing Unit) based component that is capable of handling any type of data protocol to convert the shoe compartment address into an electrical signal directed to the addressed shoe compartment. This can be a USB bus, 802.11 wireless connection, IEEE bus protocol, etc.   The shoe selector computer can be any type of CPU based component that does not necessarily have to have a touch screen pad interface. It can be a standard keyboard interface with a standard computer monitor or it can be a PDA device interface such as a Palm Pilot, cell phone, or equivalent device that has a display that can show pictures of the shoes contained in the shoe organizer unit. It may also be a simple mechanical push button type device with a photograph of each shoe inserted or pasted on each button and connected to the shoe organizer unit. In addition, it may also be a voice command operated interface for visually impaired people. The use of Braille can be used for identifying the shoe characteristics for visually impaired people.   The shoe organizer system can also have a feedback mechanism that will detect when a drawer has not been closed (in the case where the person was in a hurry and forgets to close the drawer) and sounds an audible and/or visual alarm that a compartment has been left opened. It can then automatically close the drawer unit itself after a certain programmable timeout period.   The shoe organizer system can also allow for the user to select multiple shoes at one time base on the matching criteria that the user enters. For example, the user may want to look at all red shoes that will match the red dress that she wants to wear. The shoe selector computer will then open the drawers of all red colored shoes all at once.   In yet another variable of the above multiple shoe selection feature, the computer can also make shoe selection suggestions for the user based on the type of dress or suit that the user will wear (including color, texture, etc.) and the shoe selector computer will match up the best shoes for that outfit and open the drawers for all matching shoes fitting that criteria.   In addition to the two aforementioned multiple shoe selection feature, the computer can also remember all previously elected combinations of outfits and shoes and establish a user preference model so tat the next time the user wants to match an outfit type with a shoe type, the computer can make suggestions based on historical data and the user&#39;s preference.   

   Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiment(s) illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.