Last for preparing custom footwear
AssigneeMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
InventorsPeter M. Graf, Richard M. Stess, Dennis C. Bartizal, Timothy C. Sandvig
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A kit for use in preparing a last, i.e., an anatomical model of the human foot for use in the contruction of custom footwear, as well as a method of preparing lasts, the lasts prepared by such a method, and the custom footwear constructed by the use of such lasts. The kit includes a hardenable, shell-forming fabric that can be conformed to the shape of the foot, hardened in its conformed shape, and removed from the foot in a manner that does not substantially destroy its conformed shape. The resultant shell, being sufficiently smooth and being of substantially the same size and shape as the foot, can be used directly as a positive model of the foot.
Claims11
A kit for preparing a last comprising:
- a unitary, tubular, shell-forming fabric having sufficient extensibility and memory to be applied to a human foot and there tend towards its original dimensions so as to conform to said foot and be removable therefrom as a shell after hardening, the conformed shell being sufficiently thin and having a sufficiently smooth exterior to permit the use of said shell as a last;
- and
- fabric hardening means in the form of a curable resin pre-coated on said fabric.
A kit for preparing a last comprising:
- a unitary, tubular, shell-forming fabric having sufficient extensibility and memory to be applied to a human foot and there tend towards its original dimensions so as to conform to said foot and be removable therefrom as a shell after hardening, said fabric being sufficiently thin and having a sufficiently smooth exterior to permit the use of said fabric to form a last;
- and
- fabric hardening means in the form of a separate curable resin to be applied to said fabric prior to application of said fabric to said foot.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.