Method for securing a shoelace onto a shoe upper and an automatic shoe-lacing system
AssigneePou Chen Corporation
InventorsChien-Yu Hsu, Wen-Pao Chang, Yao-Hsin Wang, Wei-Hsin Hsu
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Abstract
An automatic shoe-lacing system includes a support unit for supporting a shoe upper thereon, a robotic arm unit disposed to hold an end portion of a shoelace to move along an eyelet passing path through predetermined shoelace eyelets of the shoe upper, and at least one hook unit. The hook unit has a hook disposed to hold and tense a flexible lace body of the shoelace to prevent twist of the shoelace during the shoe-lacing operation.
Claims11
An automatic shoe-lacing system for securing a shoelace onto a shoe upper, the shoelace having two opposite end portions and a flexible lace body interconnecting the end portions, the shoe upper having a plurality of shoelace eyelets, the flexible lace body having two opposite lace major surfaces, said automatic shoe-lacing system comprising:
- a support unit on which the shoe upper is supported;
- a robotic arm unit which is disposed to hold at least one of the end portions of the shoelace and to move the at least one end portion along an eyelet passing path, wherein, along the eyelet passing path, the at least one end portion passes through a predetermined number of the shoelace eyelets, and the flexible lace body is extended through and secured on the shoe upper;
- and
- at least one hook unit including a hook and a hook driving assembly which is disposed to drive a movement of said hook in a first direction such that, during the movement of the at least one end portion along the eyelet passing path, said hook is disposed to hold the flexible lace body, and is moved relative to the shoe upper between an initial position, where said hook is remote from the shoe upper, and a finished position, where said hook is close to the shoe upper, and such that, during the movement of said hook from the initial position to the finished position, said hook is disposed to tense the flexible lace body, and in the finished position, said hook is disengaged from the shoelace, said hook having a shaft which extends along a shaft axis parallel to the first direction to terminate at a shaft end distal from said hook driving assembly, and a hook tip which is disposed on said shaft end to hook and tense the flexible lace body of the shoelace, said hook unit further including a revolving driving assembly which has a revolving motor that is mounted on said hook driving assembly and that is disposed to drive said shaft to revolve about the shaft axis by a predetermined angle during the movement of said hook from the initial position toward the finished position, so as to bring one of the lace major surfaces of the shoelace into facing the shoe upper.
An automatic shoe-lacing system for securing a shoelace onto a shoe upper, the shoelace having two opposite end portions and a flexible lace body interconnecting the end portions, the shoe upper having a plurality of shoelace eyelets, the flexible lace body having two opposite lace major surfaces, said automatic shoe-lacing system comprising:
- a support unit on which the shoe upper is supported;
- a robotic arm unit which is disposed to hold at least one of the end portions of the shoelace and to move the at least one end portion along an eyelet passing path, wherein, along the eyelet passing path, the at least one end portion passes through a predetermined number of the shoelace eyelets, and the flexible lace body is extended through and secured on the shoe upper;
- and
- at least one hook unit including a hook and a hook driving assembly which is disposed to drive a movement of said hook in a first direction such that, during the movement of the at least one end portion along the eyelet passing path, said hook is disposed to hold the flexible lace body, and is moved relative to the shoe upper between an initial position, where said hook is remote from the shoe upper, and a finished position, where said hook is close to the shoe upper, and such that, during the movement of said hook from the initial position to the finished position, said hook is disposed to tense the flexible lace body, and in the finished position, said hook is disengaged from the shoelace, said hook having a shaft which extends along a shaft axis parallel to the first direction to terminate at proximate and distal shaft ends relative to said hook driving assembly, and a hook tip which is disposed on said distal shaft end to hook and tense the flexible lace body of the shoelace, said hook driving assembly having a tubular member in which said proximate shaft end of said shaft is movably received, said shaft having a smaller-diameter segment and a larger-diameter segment which are disposed proximate to and distal from said hook tip, respectively, said hook unit including a revolving driving assembly which has a second friction wheel that is rotatable relative to said tubular member and in frictional engagement with said larger-diameter segment of said shaft such that rotation of said second friction wheel makes revolving of said shaft about the shaft axis by a predetermined angle during the movement of said hook from the initial position toward the finished position, so as to bring one of the lace major surfaces of the shoelace into facing the shoe upper, and a revolving motor which is disposed on said tubular member to drive the rotation of said second friction wheel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.