Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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1 ~ackpar~ Mou1ding Machine
Background of the Invention
(1) Field o-f the Invention
This invention is concerned with backpart moulding machines, i.e.
machines for moulding backparts of shoe uppers prior to assembly o~
such uppers on a last for a lasting operation to be performed thereon.
The term "shoe" where used herein is used generically as indicating
articles of outer footwear generally and as including articles oF
footwear in the course of their manufacture.
(2) Prior Art
Conventionally backpart moulding machines comprise an inner mould
member on which the backpart to be moulded oF a shoe upper can be
suppor-ted and about which it can be tensioned b~y the application Gf
tension to the upper along its length, and an outer mould member
between which and the inner mould member relative movement of approach
can take place whereby the backpart supported by ~he inner mould member
can be moulded therebetween.
For applying tension to the shoe upper as aforesaid, the operator
may himself apply such tension or, more usually, the operator will feed
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1 the upper into grippers arran~ed one at each side of the inner mould
member and toewardly thereof or alternatively a toe gripper, such
gripper or grippers then beins closed ancl moved away from the inner
mould member thus to apply the tension.
Machines of this sort are used for moulding bacl~parts of shoes
incorporating stiffenersg such stiffeners may be thermoformable, made
of board (fiber board), or solvent activated. In the case of
thermoformable stiffeners, the backpart is heated prior -to being placed
on the ;nner mould member, and the inner mould member is then chilled
or refrigerated in order that, during the backpart moulding process,
the thermoformable material is caused to become consolidated in the
moulded condition. In the case of fiber board and solvent activated
stiffeners, on the other hand, the inner mould member and sometimes the
outer mould member is heated, since there is a requirement for heat
during the moulding operation of such material.
Backpart moulding machines usually also comprise wiping means by
which lasting marginal portions of the backpart of the upper can be
wiped over and pressed against a surface of the inner mould member,
which surface corresponds to the heel end of an insole in the finished
shoe and is usually flatg an inwardly turne~ flange thus being pro~ided
on the moulded hackpart. Customarily the wiping means, which comprises
hinged wiper plates of the sort found also in heel seat lasting
machines, are mounted in association with the outer mould member.
One backpart moulding machine is described in U.K. Patent
Spec;fication No. 102~275, which machine comprises an inner mould
1 member having a loadiny position in which a heel seat plane (as
hereinafter defined) of the inner mould member lies inclined at about
10 to the vertical towards ~he operator, the inner mould member,
together with side grippers, being pivotal about a transverse a~is to
carry the inner mould member, with the upper thereon, into an operative
position, in which the inner mould member is aligned with the outer
mould member, the arrangement being such that, during such movement of
the inner mould member, the outer mould member is moved there towards,
whereby the backpart supported by the inner mould member is moulded
between the two mould members. The phrase "heel seat plane" is used
herein to denote a plane in which lies the usually flat surface of the
inner mould member against which lastiny marginal portions of the
backpart can be wiped over and pressed, as referred to above, or
o-therwise refers to the plane of a flat surface oF the lnner mould
member which corresponcls to the heel seat portion in the finished shoe.
In using the aforementioned machine, because of the angle of
inclination of the inner mould member in the loading position, the
operator has a clear view of the back seam region of the mould member,
so that positioniny the backpart thereon is -facllitated. On the other
hand, because of the inclination, it is di-fficult for the operator to
easily feed the upper into the side grippers and, furthermore, it is
awkward for the operator to apply initial tension, which he customarily
applies when -feeding the upper into the yrippers.
Another backpart moulding machlne is described in U.S. Patent
Specification No. 2~9~821, in which machine the heel seat plane of the
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1 inner mou1d member is inclined about 45 away from the operator. In
this case, positioning the backpart on the inner mould member with any
accuracy is difficult, although the initlal tension applied by the
operator as he feeds the upper into the side grippers is facilitated.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved
backpart moulding machine wherein the operator retains a clear view of
the back seam region of the inner mould member, when the mould members
are in a loading condition, while at the same time rendering
ergonomically acceptable the tensioning of the backpart of the upper
over the inner mould member by the operator.
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1 Brief Summary of the Invention
The invention thus provides a backpart moulding machine comprising
an inner mould member on which the backpart to be moulded of d shoe
upper can be supported and about which it can be tensioned by the
application of tension to the upper along its length, ancl an outer
mould member between which and the inner mould member relative movement
of approach can take place whereby the backpart supported by the inner
mould member can be moulded therebetween5 whereln, with the mould
members in an initial condition, in which a shoe upper can be placed on
the inner rrlould mernber, the latter is arranged with its heel seat plane
(as herein defined) inclined at about 20 to the vcrticlc away from the
operator.
It will bè appreciated that, by so inclining the inner mould
nnember, the operator can stil'l survey the back seam region of the inner
mould member, but the tensioning of the backpart about said member,
whether For tensioning it while -Feeding the upper into the grippers, or
for tensioning it until the nnou'ld members have closed, is facilitated.
Preferab'ly, when the mould members are in their initial condition,
the inner nnember is in a loading posi-tion out of alignment with the
outer member, said inner member being movable between said loadlng
position and an operative position, in which it is aligned with the
outer mould menlber for an opera~ion to be performed on the backpart
therebetween. Furthermore, preferably in such case the arrangement is
such that, with the inner mould in its operative position, the heel
seat plane thereof is further inclined away from the operator. In this
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1 way, the outer mould member is well clear of the inner mould member
during the loading operation and is positioned so as not to interfere
with the operator's view of the bac~ seam region of the mould during
loading.
It will further be appreciated that the heiyht of the operator of
the machine may well also be siSni-ficant when considering his view of
the back seam region of the inner mould member. Customarily, either
the operator is obliged to tolerate any inconvenience arising out of
his size in relation to the design of machine which he is operating, or
at best will acquire (if he happens to be small in relation to the
machine design) a suitable platform on which to stand in order to
operate the machine. In order to obviate such problems, in a machine
constructed in accordance with the invention, preferably the heightwise
position of the inner mould member in its initial ccnditiorl, can be
varîed. Conveniently, to this end, a f~ame portion of the machine, on
which the inner mould member is mounted, is itself carried on legs and
said legs incorporated jacking sc.rews for varying the heightwise
position of the -frame portion, and thus of the inner mould member.
The machine in accordance with -the invention is intended for use
on various types of footwear. In order to accommodate the majority of
styles, conveniently the mould members and any wiper members which are
also provided are arranged to operate on a shoe which is located in the
machine with the top line of the upper thereof facing towards the
operator; thus, conventionally the wiping means is arranged at the side
of the mould members away from the operator. Where, however~ i-t is
1 desired to be able manually to clear the lining oF a shoe to be
operated upon, i.e. to ensure that there are no pleats or undesired
t`olds in the liningg prior to the backpart moulding operation being
effected thereupon (and this may be the case3 even i~ automatic
spreading means is provided in the machine, where the inner mould
member is irltended for use with extra long counters)g i~ may be
desirable tG arrange the upper on the inner mould member with the
lasting marginal portion faciny the operatorS thus to afford ready
access to the lining in the region of the shoe bottom. In order thus
to accommodate both moulding arrangements, conveniently, in a machine
in accordance with the invention, the wiping means and the outer mould
member are moun-ted on a common sub-frame, the arrangement being such
that said sub-frame can be supported in the frame portion oF the
machine with the wiping means disposed either at the side of the outer
member facing the operator, or at the opposite side, selectively
according to the type of shoe to be operated upon. In such a case;
furthermore, where control mear,s is provided for adjusting the position
of the wiping means in relation to the sub-frame, and thus to the outer
mould member, in a direction extending fore-and-aft of the machine,
preferably such means is provided at both sides of the sub-frameg so
that ready access is provided thereto~ which ever way the sub-Frame is
mounted in the Frame portion. Similarly, the outer mould member is
preferably also mounted for fore-and-aft adjustment relative to the
sub-frame.
The control means for adjusting the position of -the wiping nneans
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1 may operate in conjunction with resilient means, the arrangement being
such that the resilient means serves to urge the wiping means towards
the outer mould member to a limit determined by said control means.
The machine in accordance with the invention is arranged to
operate on a variety of sizes of counters; thus, at one end of the size
range7 it is intended that children's shoes with a relatively short
counter may be operated upon, while, at the other end, men's shoes with
so-called long counters, i.e. counters which extend well into the shank
region of the shoe, are accomrnodated. It will uf course be appreciated
that the inner mould member is supported on i-ts support with its
toeward end face resting on top of the support, so thatg the longer the
mould member, the more closely the back seam region thereof will lie to
the outer mould member. If the space in between the two mould members
is sufficlent to allow for relative movement of approach in the case of
a large inner mould member, then, without an adjustment facility, a
small inner mould member will have an e~cessive travel to bring it into
the ou~er mould member. Such travel is not only expensive in terms of
the size of motor required, but is also time-consuming, leading to a
shorter daily output than could otherwise be achieved using the smaller
mould members. In the machine in accordance with the invention,
therefore, said sub-frame on which the outer mould mernber is mounted
can be supported in the frame portion in a selected heightwise
relationship with the inner mould member, and in this way -the outer
mould member can be set appropriate to the size of inner mould member,
so that the minimum travel necessary to enable convenient loading of
the shoe on -the one hand without excessive travel on the
other can be achieved~ It is envisaged that a pluralit~
of bolt holes will be provided in one of the frame portion
and sub-frame~ which holes can be used to receive the
fi~ing bolts, in accordance with the particular type o~
inner mould member which it is intended to use in the
machine. Of course, if it is intended that the machine
shall be used for more than one size of mould member 9
then clearly the selected disposition of the sub-frame
will in general reflect an appropriate position for the
larger size of inner mould member likely to be used.
According to a further broad aspect of the present
invention there is provided a backpart mouldin~ machine
which comprises an inner mould member on which the back-
part of a shoe upper can be supported and tensioned alongits length. An outer mould member is cooperable with
the inn~r mould member to mould the backpart of a shoe
upper therebetween. Means is provided for moving the
inner mould member between a loading position~ in which
a shoe upper can be placed thereon, and a moulding posi-
tion, in which it cooperates with the outer mou]d member
as a~oresaid. The improvement in the machine comprises
the inner mould member being supported with its heel
seat plane inclined at an angle of about 20 to the
verkical when in the loading position. Means is also
provided for varying the heightwise position of the
inner mould member in its loading position to facilitate
loading of shoe uppers on the inner mould memberO
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1 Brief Description of the Drawings
There now follows a detailed description, to be read with
reference to the accompanying drawing, of one machine in accordance
with the invention, which machine has been selected for description
merely by way of non-limiting example.
The accompanying drawing shows a view in side elevation of the
machine in accordance with the invention, with parts broken away.
l Description of the Preferred Embod-iment
The machine in accordance with the invention illustrated in the
accompanying drawing is a backpart moulding machine comprising a base
portion 2, a pair of side walls 4 extending upwardly from said base
portion and carrying at the upper ends a cross-head 6. The machine
comprises two operating stations side-by-side, only one of which will
now be described in detail.
Each operatin~ station comprises a support post 8 for an inner
mould member 10, the post ~ being carried on a block 12 which is
movable heightwise of the machine under the action of a
piston-and-cylinder arrangement 14 accommodated within the base portion
2. Associated with the block 12 are an arrangement of follower rolls
16 which are each captive in a cam slot 1~ formed in an arrangement of
cam plates 20, one such plate being arranged at either side of the
block 12. The cam slots ~8 are so constructed and arranged that, when
the piston-and-cylinder arrangement 14 is operated9 the support post 8
is moved upwardly and rearwardly, as will be referrecl to later.
c ~
Also carried by the ~ 12 is a piston-and-cylirlcler arrangement
22, through a piston rod 24 of which are operatively connected, one
disposed at each side of the inner mould member 10, two sets of
yrippers generally desigrlated 26, the arrangement beiny such that~ upon
actuation of the piston-and-cylinder arrangement 229 the jaws of the
grippers are first caused to close and thereafter the grippers are
moved downwardly relative to the inner mould member. Thus, with a shoe
upper placed over the inner mould member 10, the backpart of the upper
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1 can be tensioned about the inner mould member by the application of
tension to the upper along its length.
The machine in accordance with the invention also comprises an
outer mould member 28, which is made o-f a rubber material, is generally
U-shaped and the inner surface of which is moulded complementarily to
the outer surface of the inner mould member 10. The back seam region
of the outer mould member is secured to a slide member 30, which is
mounted for fore-and-aft adjusting movement, controlled by an
adjustment screw 32, on a block constituting a head portion 34 o-F the
machine. For urging the "legs" o-f the U-shaped outer mould member 28
inwardly, two pressure plates 36 are secured to said legs, the plates
being carried on lower ends of levers 38 which are pivoted,
intermediate their lengthg on the head portion 34, and upper ends o-F
which are pivotally connected to piston rods of piston-and-cylinder
arrangements 42, said arrangements being secured together back-to-back
and carried on the levers 38, a centralizing pin 44 heing provided,
upstanding from a base plate 46. For holding the legs open,
furtherrnoreg in order to allow the inner mould member to he enlbraced
thereby, latch members 40 are provided at the bottom of each lever 38.
Arranged at opposite sides o-f the base plate 46, which also
supports the head portion 34, are two side plates 48 on each of which
are pivoted a first lever 50, intermediate its length, and a second
lever 52. Oonnected between the first levers 50, at the lower ends
thereo-f, is a block 5~ on which is carried a cam plate 56 forming part
o-f wiping means of the machine. The cam plate has secured at each side
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1 thereof, and spaced from the surface thereoFg two locatincJ strips 58,
each strip having secured thereto a block 60 carried at the lower end
oF one of the second levcrs 52.
The cam plate 56 has two appropriately shaped arcuate cam slots
therein in which are accommodated follower rollers 62 supported on
carrier plates 64 -For wiper plates 66. Ihe wiper plates, and carrier
plates, are pivoted about a comnlon pivot 68, and a further follower
roll on the axis coincident with said pivot is accommodated in a first,
vertical, cam slot (not shown). Thus, in the operation oF the machine,
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lO as the wiper plates are moved relative to the cam plate, they~first
moved from an out-o~F-the-way position towards the inner mould member
with some radial movement oF the wiper plates, and then, after the
leading edges of the wiper plates have traversed the inner mould member
surface, only radial movement about the common pivot takes place.
For moving the wiper plates as aForesaid, outward portions of each
carrier plate 64 are connected by links 70 to a cross-member 72 which
is carried by a piston rod of a piston-and-cylinder arrangement 74,
said arrangement being mountecd on the base plate 46.
The wiping means is mounted for adjustment Fore-and-aft of the
machine, and to this encl a rocl 76 is supported in the head portion 34
and is captive therein, said rod also carrying two trunnion blocks 78
by which is connected respectively with the levers 50, 52. Thus,
rotation oF the rod 76 is effective to move the levers 50 about tileir
pivotal connection in the side plates 98, the levers 50, 52 acting as a
parallel linkage arrangement, whereby the cam plate is mairltained in a
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1 vertical position during such adjustment. In addition, the rod 76
carries a plurality of ~elville washers which act to urge the rods
rearwardly, and thus to urge the wiper plates 66 towards the inner
mould member. In this way~ the wiper plates 66 may yield, on engaging
a shoe upper on said inner mould member~ should it be necessary.
For rotatiny the rod 76, a knob 80 is carried at each end thereof,
for purposes to be described below.
The machine in accordarlce with the invention is so constructed and
arranged that5 when the inner mould member is in a loading position,
the heel seat plane (as herein defined) thereof is inclined at about
20 to the vertical away from the operator, while a corresponding plane
of the outer mould member is inclined at about 30 to the vertical away
from the operator. In this way, the inner mould member 10 is well
clear of the head portion 34 for loading purposes and furthermore,
because of the angle of inclination, the operator has a clear view of
the back seam reyion of the inner mould member, while at the same time
for initially tensioning the upper along its length for feeding into
the grippers 26, the angle is such that such drafting of the upper can
readily be performed. Of course, the optimum angle for loading
purposes will be affected according to the height of the operator, and
to this end, the base portion 2 of the machine in accordance with the
invention is moLInted on feet 82 which incorporate jacking screws~ so
that the hei~ht of the machine can be varied according to operator
height. The amount of adjustment provided by the jacking screws
incorporated in the feet 82 is in the regiorl oF 100 mm (4"). It will
1 thus be clear thatg hy jackiny the base portion 27 the hei~htwise
position of the inner mould member 109 when in its initial condition~
can be varied.
In usirig the machine in accordance with the invention, usually the
head portion 34 and its dependent integers will be arranged in the
manner shown in the drawing, that is with the inner mould member
arranged to receive uppers with the top line facing the operator, and
with the wiping means arranged behind the outer mould member 28. In
certain cases, however, it may be convenient if the lasting marginal
portions of the upper are facing the operator, and to this end, firstly
the support post 8 for the inner mould member ]0 is sc arranged -that
the inner mould member may be located thereon with its heel seat region
facing either way, and further the sub-frame constituted by the head
portion 34, base plate 46 and side plates 48 can be carried in the side
walls 4 of the machine either in the manner sho~n in the drawing or
effectively rotated through 180, so that the wiping means is on the
side of the outer mould member 28 facing the operator. The control
knob 80 referred to above are provided at both sides oF the head
portion 34, so that they will be excessible at the front of the machine
which ever way the sub~frame is moun-ted in the machine. Furthermore,
the heightwise relationship between this sub-frame and the side walls 4
can also be selected according to the size of inner mould member which
is intended to be used -in the machine; it will of course be appreciated
that there is a significant difference in height between e~g. a
children's and a men's using so-called long counters. To facilitate
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1 such selection, the side walls are provided with a plurality of (e.g.
three) bolt holes for receiving securing bolts 86 which are threadedly
secured in the side walls 4g. It is intended that this selection be
made during assembly of the machine, although it will be possible9 if
necessary to vary the heiyhtwise relationship o~ the sub-frame and side
walls in the factory.
In the operation of the machine~ the operator loads a shoe upper
on the inner mould member 10 and applies an initial tension, feeding
toeward portions of the upper -into the grippers, which are then closed
and tension the backpart about the inner mould member. When -the
operator is satisfied with -the position of the upper on the inner mould
member, he initiates an operating cycle, whereupon, under the action of
a piston~and~cylinder arrangement 14, the înner mould member 10 is
carried rearwardly and upwardly to bring the backpart supported thereon
into contact with the outer mould member 2~5 urging the back seam
re~ion thereof against the back seam region of said member 2~. The
piston-and-cylinder arrangements 42 are then operated and caused,
through the pressure plates 36, the "legs" of the outer mould member 2
to close against the inner mould member 10. At this stage, if the
lasting marginal portions of the upper are facing the operator,
clearance of the lining can ta~e place manually, and, when the operator
is satisfied, the next sta~e of the operating cycle is initiated,
whereupon wipers are caused to move downwardly and inwardly to wipe
lasting marginal portions of the upper, in the heel seat region,
inwardly over and press them against corresponding portions of the heel
1 seat face of the inner mould member. Where the backpart of the shoe
incorporates a counter of thermoplastic material, preferably the inner
mould member 10 is chilled or refrigerated (the backpart having
previously been activated by heat), while if the counter is of fiber
board~ then the inner mould member 10 and sometimes the outer mould
member 28 is heated.
