Moulding system for direct injection manufacturing of footwear
AssigneeECCO Sko A/S
InventorsJakob Moller Hansen, Jens Sonne Mortensen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A molding system for direct injection manufacturing of footwear. The molding system includes a mold cavity for receiving injection material for molding a sole part of the footwear. The system further includes a plurality of basic direct injection molds, each of which is attachable to injection molding equipment, and a plurality of sets of direct injection mold inserts, each set of direct injection mold inserts being configured to define at least part of an inner surface of the mold cavity when inserted in one of the plurality of basic direct injection molds. At least two of the plurality of basic direct injection molds differ from each other in size, corresponding to different ranges of sole part sizes.
Claims17
A direct injection production method of footwear, said method comprising steps of, for a specified footwear design:
- selecting a set of basic direct injection molds from at least two sets of basic direct injection molds that are differently sized from each other, each of which is attachable to and operable with injection molding equipment;
- providing, for each of the at least two sets of basic direct injection molds, at least one set of corresponding direct injection mold inserts;
- providing a footwear upper;
- assembling the selected set of the basic direct injection molds with the at least one set of corresponding direct injection mold inserts to establish a mold cavity of a footwear size defined by the at least one set of corresponding direct injection mold inserts and the footwear upper;
- injecting sole material into the mold cavity;
- and
- curing the sole material on the footwear upper,
- wherein the at least two sets of basic direct injection molds, when attached to the injection molding equipment, differ in length, and/or in width.
A direct injection system for manufacturing footwear, the system comprising:
- at least two sets of basic direct injection molds that are differently sized from each other, each of which is attachable to and operable with injection molding equipment;
- at least one set of corresponding direct injection mold inserts for each of the at least two sets of basic direct injection molds,
- wherein the system is configured to inject sole material into a mold cavity, the mold cavity being established via assembling:
- a selected set of the at least two sets of the basic direct injection molds,
- the at least one set of corresponding direct injection mold inserts, and
- a footwear upper,
- wherein a footwear size of the mold cavity is defined by the direct injection mold inserts and the footwear upper,
- wherein the system is configured to cure the sole material on the footwear upper, and
- wherein the at least two sets of basic direct injection molds, when attached to the injection molding equipment, differ in length, and/or in width.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.