System for shoe sole portion painting
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsPatrick Conall Regan, Feng-Ming Ou, Hao-Zhen Chen, Chih-Chung Wu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automated system for painting a shoe sole portion of a shoe is provided. The automated painting system is adapted to use a variety of stations and components to automatically paint a side surface of the shoe sole portion while it is secured in a jig, transition the jig to an open position, and remove the painted shoe sole portion from the jig.
Claims18
A painting system for painting a shoe sole portion of a shoe, the painting system comprising:
- a loading station adapted to position the shoe sole portion in a jig comprising a bottom plate having a first multi-layer deforming layer and a first rigid layer and a top plate pivotably coupled to the bottom plate, the top plate having a second multi-layer deforming layer and a second rigid layer, wherein the top plate and the bottom plate are placed in a closed position at the loading station such that an upper surface and a lower surface of the shoe sole portion are completely covered by the top plate and the bottom plate of the jig when the jig is in the closed position, and at least a portion of a side surface of the shoe sole portion is left exposed when the jig is in the closed position;
- a computer-controlled painting station adapted to automatically paint the exposed portion of the side surface of the shoe sole portion while the shoe sole portion is positioned in the jig;
- and
- a transport assembly adapted to transport the closed jig from the loading station to the painting station.
A painting system for painting a shoe sole portion of a shoe, the painting system comprising:
- a loading station adapted to position the shoe sole portion in a jig in a closed position, the jig adapted to hold the shoe sole portion in a fixed position when the jig is in the closed position such that only a side surface of the shoe sole portion is exposed;
- a painting station adapted to paint the exposed side surface of the shoe sole portion while being held by the jig, wherein the painting station is controlled by a computing device having a predefined painting path associated with the jig;
- an opening station having an opening mechanism adapted to translate movement of the jig into an opening force that transitions the jig from the closed position to an open position;
- and
- a transport assembly adapted to transport the jig from the loading station to the painting station, and from the painting station to the opening station.
A painting system for painting a shoe sole portion of a shoe, the painting system comprising:
- a loading station adapted to position the shoe sole portion in a jig in a closed position, the jig configured to hold the shoe sole portion in an inverted position such that when the jig is in the closed position, only a side surface of the shoe sole portion is exposed;
- a computer controlled painting station that is adapted to paint the exposed side surface of the shoe sole portion while being maintained by the jig;
- an opening station having an opening mechanism adapted to transition the jig from the closed position to a fully-open position;
- an unloading station having an inversion mechanism that is adapted to remove the shoe sole portion from the jig and invert the shoe sole portion to an upright position;
- and
- a transport assembly adapted to transport the jig from a first location to the painting station, from the painting station to the opening station, and from the opening station to the unloading station.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.