Platen for direct digital printing onto a shoe

An apparatus for stretching a surface of a pair of shoes for digitally printing onto each surface by an external device, the apparatus comprising:

• a main plate configured to receive and provide support for the pair of shoes, the main plate comprising:
• a front end, a rear end opposite the front end, and a medial portion extending between the front and the rear ends, the medial portion being laterally offset from an outer edge of each of the front and the rear ends;
• a pair of curved grooves disposed at the rear end, the pair of curved grooves each being adapted to receive and provide support for an interior of the heel of each shoe of the pair of shoes;
• a pair of side arms associated with the main plate, each side arm of the pair of side arms being adapted to traverse longitudinally along an edge of the medial portion, each side arm having a hook adapted to engage with at least a portion of the tongue of each shoe;
• and
• a pair of motors associated with the main plate, the pair of motors each being configured to independently cause a longitudinal movement of one of the pair of side arms;
• wherein each motor of the pair of motors is adapted to receive an electrical signal from an external controller, the electrical signal selectively causing a rotation of a rotary shaft of each motor;
• the main plate being thus configured such that when each shoe of the pair of shoes is received by the main plate, and when the electrical signal is received by each motor, the pair of side arms are caused to traverse longitudinally, each hook engaging with at least a portion of the tongue of each shoe and each curved groove opposing an interior of the heel of each shoe, such that to cause a stretching of a surface of each shoe, and thus enabling direct digital printing onto each surface by the external device.