New tools for "sensing" shoe steps
The footwear industry suffers from considerable profit loss due issues associated with the sole attachment process. A consequence of this is growing customer dissatisfaction and decreasing loyalty having a negative impact on profits. Towards improving the shoe-bottoming process, modern shoe-making industries have made efforts to optimize the properties of the lasted upper and sole unit interface. It was shown that the quality of the upper surface is most critical for its adhesive bonding with the sole. Therefore, increasing is the interest on the development of innovative, cost-effective techniques for improved surface preparation. Irist partners were successful in manufacturing high competency upper materials. Taking advantage of the latest advances in automation and robotics, a new process for alternative surface treatment of leather and synthetic materials was developed. A closed loop control process was employed to identify feedback/control mechanisms and ensure high quality surface roughing. Detailed mapping of leather surfaces by grit blasting revealed surface topology and enabled quantitative removal of the upper material for optimum quality. Surface quantification was facilitated by an optical measurement system that provided good indication of online grit mass flow rates. The sensor system was easily calibrated and its performance was tested at the grit blasting facility available in a network partner's laboratory. The tests conducted involved pressure control of the air and mass-flow control of the grit delivery using pneumatically operated gate valves. The results obtained showed that the sensor system developed was most beneficial improving quality when grit blasting was used in the roughing process of upper material. Application of opto-electronic measurement and control systems in shoe-bottoming suggests significant reduction in footwear production estimated costs. The striking impact of the transfer of knowledge to industrial applications is also illustrated and further applications are strongly encouraged towards increasing competitiveness.
