US 4,876,758 AGranted

System and method for forming custom-made shoe inserts

AssigneeAmfit, Inc.

InventorsPaul D. Rolloff, Reginald T. Lamb

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Abstract

A foot impression unit is provided with an array of gauging elements, a control mechanism for urging the gauging elements into contact with the undersurface of a person's foot to form an impression of the undersurface of the foot, a locking mechanism for releasably locking the gauging elements in place to retain that impression, and a sensing mechanism for scanning the gauging elements to produce digital signals indicative of the positions of the gauging elements. These digital signals are stored and processed by a computer to provide a stored data record serving as a digital representation of the impression of the undersurface of the foot. The computer may also be employed to provide stored additional information for modifying that data record to compensate for a perceived defect of the foot. In response to the stored data record and any stored additional information for modifying that data record, a shaping unit shapes an insert blank to form a custom-made shoe insert conforming to the undersurface of the foot and compensating for any perceived defect of the foot.

Claims13

Dependent claims

Apparatus for digitizing the undersurface of a person's foot, said apparatus comprising:

an array of gauging elements, each of aid gauging elements including an activator;
a frame for supporting the person's foot and for supporting the gauging elements in spaced relationship for independently guided movement towards the undersurface of the person's foot;
control means, supported by the frame, for urging the gauging elements into contact with the undersurface of the person's foot;
sensor means, supported by the frame and movable relative to the gauging elements, for scanning the gauging elements to sense the positions of the gauging elements and produce digital signals indicative of those positions;
said sensor means including a plurality of sensors, each corresponding to an associated one of the gauging elements, and a support structure, movably supported by the frame adjacent to each of the gauging elements, for supporting each of the sensors adjacent to the corresponding gauging element;
each of said sensors being operable, when moved adjacent to the activator of the corresponding gauging element, for detecting that activator to sense the position of the corresponding gauging element and produce a digital signal indicative of that position;
control means, supported by the frame and coupled to the support structure of the sensor means, for moving the support structure and the sensors supported thereon relative to the gauging elements to scan the gauging elements;
and
storage means, coupled to the sensor means, for storing the digital signals indicative of the positions of the gauging elements to provide a digital representation of the undersurface of the person's foot.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.