Composite band for use in a footwear forming machine

A composite band for use in a lasting machine to wipe a curvilinear portion of a margin of a footwear assembly onto an insole of the footwear assembly that includes a last, a shoe upper on a last, which upper includes said margin that extends away from the last, and said insole at a last bottom, comprising:

• an elastic footwear assembly engaging strip member having a curved section to wrap around the curvilinear portion of the footwear assembly during lasting and a pair of legs extending away from the curved section to engage contiguous parts of the footwear assembly during lasting to press the upper inwardly at said contiguous parts during lasting, said elastic footwear assembly engaging strip member having a T-slot extending longitudinally the length of the elastic footwear assembly engaging member and comprising a transverse slot member and a radial slot member;
• a metal strip substantially entirely disposed within the T-slot and dimensioned to fit snugly within the transverse slot member of the T-slot such that the metal strip can slide longitudinally within the T-slot of the elastic footwear assembly engaging strip member but is substantially unable to move either transversely or radially relative to the elastic footwear assembly engaging strip member;
• and
• at least three mechanical connectors disposed to effect mechanical attachment of the metal strip to the lasting machine and comprising a first mechanical connector positioned at the curved section and operable to enable the metal strip to interact with the elastic footwear assembly engaging strip member at the curved section to prevent any substantial movement at said curved section in any direction of the metal strip relative to the elastic footwear assembly engaging strip member, a second mechanical connector operable to connect the metal strip to the lasting machine proximate one leg of the pair of legs to permit small longitudinal movement only of the metal strip relative to the elastic footwear assembly engaging strip member at said one leg during lasting, and a third mechanical connector operable to connect the metal strip to the lasting machine proximate the second leg of the pair of legs to permit small longitudinal movement only of the metal strip relative to the elastic footwear assembly engaging strip member at said second leg during lasting.

A composite band for use in a lasting shoe machine to wipe toe and contiguous sides of a shoe assembly, comprising:

• a polytetrafluoroethylene elastic shoe engaging strip having a curved portion to wrap around the toe of the shoe assembly during lasting and a pair of legs extending away from the curved portion to engage respective sides of the shoe assembly during lasting to press said respective sides inward during lasting, said shoe engaging strip having a T-slot extending longitudinally the length of the shoe engaging strip and comprising a transverse slot and a radial slot;
• a metal strip substantially entirely disposed within the T-slot and dimensioned to fit snugly within the T-slot such that the metal strip can slide longitudinally within the T-slot of the shoe engaging strip but is unable by constraint of the T-slot to move either transversely or radially relative to the elastic shoe engaging member;
• and
• at least three mechanical connectors disposed to effect mechanical attachment of to the metal strip to the lasting machine, comprising a first mechanical connector positioned at a toe region and operable to enable the metal strip to interact with the shoe engaging strip at the toe region to prevent any substantial translational movement there in any direction of the metal strip relative to the shoe engaging strip, a second mechanical connector operable to interconnect the metal strip to the lasting machine proximate one leg of the pair of legs to permit small longitudinal movement only of the metal strip relative to the shoe engaging strip at said one leg during lasting, and a third mechanical connector operable to interconnect the metal strip to the lasting machine proximate the second leg of the pair of legs to permit small longitudinal movement only of the metal strip relative to the shoe engaging strip at said second leg during lasting.

A composite band for use in a lasting shoe machine to wipe a toe and contiguous sides of a shoe assembly, comprising:

• a polytetrafluoroethylene shoe engaging strip having a curved section to wrap around the toe of the shoe assembly during lasting and a pair of legs extending away from the curved section to engage the contiguous sides of the shoe assembly during lasting to press an upper at said contiguous sides during lasting, said shoe engaging strip having a T-slot extending longitudinally the length of the shoe engaging strip and comprising a transverse slot and a radial slot;
• a flat metal strip substantially entirely disposed within the T-slot and dimensioned to fit snugly within the T-slot such that the flat metal strip can slide longitudinally within the T-slot of the shoe engaging strip but is substantially unable to move either transversely or radially relative to the elastic shoe engaging member;
• and
• at least three mechanical connectors secured to the flat metal strip and disposed to effect mechanical interconnection of the flat metal strip to the lasting machine, comprising a first mechanical connector positioned at a toe region and operable to enable the flat metal strip to interact with the shoe engaging strip at the toe region to prevent any substantial movement in any translational direction of the flat metal strip relative to the shoe engaging strip, a second mechanical connector operable to interconnect the flat metal strip to the lasting machine proximate one leg of the pair of legs to permit small longitudinal movement of the flat metal strip relative to the shoe engaging strip at said one leg during lasting, and a third mechanical connector operable to interconnect the flat metal strip to the lasting machine proximate the second leg of the pair of legs to permit small longitudinal movement only of the flat metal strip relative to the shoe engaging strip at said second leg during lasting.

A composite band for use in a lasting machine to wipe a curvilinear portion of the margin of a footwear assembly onto an insole of a shoe assembly that includes a last, a shoe upper on the last, which upper includes said margin that extends away from the last, and said insole at a last bottom, comprising:

• an elastic footwear assembly engaging strip having a curved section to wrap around the curvilinear portion of the footwear assembly during lasting and a pair of legs extending away from the curved section to engage contiguous parts of the footwear assembly during lasting to press the upper inwardly at said contiguous parts during lasting, said elastic footwear assembly engaging strip having a slot extending longitudinally substantially the length of the elastic footwear assembly engaging strip and comprising at least a transverse slot member and a radial slot member;
• and
• a metal strip substantially entirely disposed within the slot and being mounted to slide in the longitudinal direction of the slot of the elastic foot assembly engaging the strip without substantial movement either transversely or radially relative to the elastic footwear assembly engaging strip;
• and
• at least three mechanical connectors disposed to effect mechanical attachment of the metal strip and thereby the elastic footwear assembly engaging strip to said lasting machine.