Automatic shoe-lacing machine and method for processing a shoe upper
AssigneePou Chen Corporation
InventorsYu-Fong Yang, Wen-Pao Chang, Zhao-Quan Ke, Yao-Hsin Wang, Chien-Yu Hsu
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Abstract
An automatic shoe-lacing machine for securing a shoelace onto a shoe upper includes a jig unit, a robotic arm unit and a control unit. The jig unit permits the shoe upper to be disposed thereon. The robotic arm unit is disposed at the proximity of the jig unit. The robotic arm unit simultaneously holds and moves two tipping members of the shoelace for sequentially passing the tipping members through eyelets formed in the shoe upper. The control unit controls the movement of the robotic arm unit.
Claims15
An automatic shoe-lacing machine adapted for securing a shoelace onto a shoe upper, the shoelace having a flexible lace body, and two tipping members that are respectively connected to two opposite ends of the lace body, the shoe upper having two spaced-apart lace stay pieces, each of the lace stay pieces being formed with a plurality of spaced-apart eyelets, said automatic shoe-lacing machine comprising:
- a jig unit adapted to permit the shoe upper to be disposed thereon;
- a robotic arm unit disposed at the proximity of said jig unit, said robotic arm unit being adapted to simultaneously hold and move the tipping members of the shoelace for sequentially passing the tipping members through the eyelets of the shoe upper;
- and
- a control unit controlling the movement of said robotic arm unit;
- wherein said robotic arm unit includes an arm module, and two spaced-apart grip modules that are connected to the arm module and that are for respectively holding the tipping members, said arm module and said grip modules being controlled by the control unit for sequentially passing the tipping members through the eyelets of the shoe upper;
- wherein said arm module includes an upper arm mechanism, said grip modules being mounted to a distal end of said upper arm mechanism;
- wherein said automatic shoe-lacing machine further comprising a machine vision unit that is for detecting the positions of the eyelets of the shoe upper;
- and
- wherein said machine vision unit is operable to output a coordinate signal that is related to the position of at least one of the eyelets of the shoe upper, said control unit emitting a drive signal upon reception of the coordinate signal output from said machine vision unit, said upper arm mechanism of said arm module moving said grip modules to a designated position upon reception of the drive signal emitted from said control unit, and then returning a ready signal, said control unit emitting a lacing signal upon reception of the ready signal emitted from said upper arm mechanism, said upper arm mechanism cooperating with said grip modules for operating the shoelace upon reception of the lacing signal emitted from said control unit, and then returning a finish signal to said control unit.
A method for securing a shoelace onto a shoe upper by an automatic shoe-lacing machine, the automatic shoe-lacing machine including a robotic arm unit and a machine vision unit, the shoelace having a flexible lace body, and two tipping members that are respectively connected to two opposite ends of the lace body, the shoe upper having two spaced-apart lace stay pieces, each of the lace stay pieces being formed with a plurality of spaced-apart eyelets, said method comprising steps of:
- a) capturing, by the machine vision unit, a digital image that is related to the eyelets of the shoe upper, and determining, by the machine vision unit, the positions of two of the eyelets through which the tipping members of the shoelace would be operated to respectively pass via the digital image;
- b) passing, by the robotic arm unit, the tipping members respectively through the two eyelets, and moving, by the robotic arm unit, the tipping members away from the shoe upper such that two free end segments of the lace body that respectively connected the tipping members are crossed;
- c) holding, by the robotic arm unit, the tipping members and rotating the shoe upper and the robotic arm unit relative to each other, such that the two free end segments of the lace body are not crossed;
- and
- d) repeating steps a) to c) until the tipping members pass through all the eyelets of the shoe upper.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.