Manufacturing and assembly of a shoe or a portion of a shoe is enhanced by automated placement and assembly of shoe parts. For example, a part-recognition system analyzes an image of a shoe part to identify the part and determine a location of the part. Once the part is identified and located, the part can be manipulated by an automated manufacturing tool.

A smartphone or other mobile computer device, general purpose or specialized, wherein the smartphone device is configured to actively control the configuration of one or more bladders, compartments, chambers or internal sipes and one or more sensors located in either one or both of a sole or a removable inner sole insert of the footwear of the user and/or located in an apparatus worn or carried by the user, glued unto the user, or implanted in the user. The one or more bladders, compartments, chambers, or sipes, and one or more sensors are configured for computer control. A sole and/or a removable inner sole insert for footwear, including one or more bladders, compartments, chambers, internal sipes and sensors in the sole and/or in a removable insert; or on an insole; all being configured for control by a smartphone or other mobile computer device, general purpose or specialized.

This disclosure relates to a computer-implemented system and related methods for the design, evaluation, and/or manufacture of protective patient footwear, such as shoes, braces, boots, casts, corrective footwear, and orthoses. The system includes suitable hardware, software, and related peripherals, which function to acquire data related to the patient's particular footwear needs, such as by image capture, including three-dimensional scanning. The system may also acquire data through other sources of input, such as through one or more sensors for detecting various physiologic parameters associated with the lower extremity, or through input of medical conditions, prior indicators, exam, analysis, lab results, or the like, such as through medical practitioner input or other input protocols. The various inputs may be suitably processed to generate output in the form of a design accommodation to design or modify the protective patient footwear, or in the form of one or more medical evaluations or recommendations.

Systems and methods for monitoring the quality of a surface treatment applied to an article in a manufacturing process are provided. A surface treatment may be applied to at least a portion of an article. A thermal profile of the article may be obtained and used to determine temperature indications of different regions of the article to which the surface treatment has been applied. A standard model of the article may be obtained that includes model regions having model temperature ranges. The temperature indications of the article can be compared with the model temperature ranges to determine if any temperature indications are outside of a corresponding model temperature range. The article may be a shoe part. The surface treatments may include the application of heat, plasma, dye, paint, primer, and/or the application of other materials, substances, and/or processes.

The present invention provides a method (200) of modifying a shoe-last, comprising: acquiring (201) current digital data representing a foot shape; providing (202) reference digital data representing a shoe-last shape to be modified; comparing (203) the current digital data with the reference digital data to design patch shapes and patch positions; providing a shoe-last corresponding to the reference digital data; producing (204) patch elements corresponding the patch shapes: and applying (204) the patch elements on the shoe-last in accordance with the patch positions obtaining a modified shoe-last. The production and the application of the patch elements on the shoe-last are performed by employing an additive manufacturing technique.

A smartphone or other mobile computer device, general purpose or specialized, wherein the smartphone device is configured to actively control the configuration of one or more bladders, compartments, chambers or internal sipes and one or more sensors located in either one or both of a sole or a removable inner sole insert of the footwear of the user and/or located in an apparatus worn or carried by the user, glued unto the user, or implanted in the user. The one or more bladders, compartments, chambers, or sipes, and one or more sensors are configured for computer control. A sole and/or a removable inner sole insert for footwear, including one or more bladders, compartments, chambers, internal sipes and sensors in the sole and/or in a removable insert; or on an insole; all being configured for control by a smartphone or other mobile computer device, general purpose or specialized.

A method of making an arch support for an article of footwear at a kiosk includes scanning a foot of a customer who has selected a shoe for purchase, determining dimensions of the customer's foot based on the scan, comparing the dimensions of the customer's foot with pre-determined dimensions of a last used to make the selected shoe, defining a shape characterized by the difference between the dimensions of the customer's foot and the dimensions of the last, and printing the arch support with a 3D printer. The arch support has the shape characterized by the difference between the dimensions of the customer's foot and the dimensions of the last.

Systems and methods of measuring feet and designing and creating orthopedic inserts are described. A leg length discrepancy of a user is measured and this data, along with foot size are input into a computer. The computer then creates a computer model of a custom shoe insert based on this information. The computer model is then sent to a 3D printer to print the insert. The insert consists of a base insert with partial correction, and several additional layers that are added successively over time until a full correction is obtained. This eliminates any pain associated with a fully corrective insert, and allows the body to adjust gradually to the correction.

Manufacturing of a shoe or a portion of a shoe is enhanced by executing various shoe-manufacturing processes in an automated fashion. For example, information describing a shoe part may be determined, such as an identification, an orientation, a color, a surface topography, an alignment, a size, etc. Based on the information describing the shoe part, automated shoe-manufacturing apparatuses may be instructed to apply various shoe-manufacturing processes to the shoe part, such as a pickup and placement of the shoe part with a pickup tool.

Disclosed is a system for making optimised insoles, comprising sensing means configured to sense quantities relating to a postural setup and to position and movement patterns of one or more predefined parts of the body of a patient in orthostasis and during walking and an arrangement of the various components of the patient's feet in orthostasis and during walking; and processing means configured to analyse the postural setup and the position and movement patterns to detect one or more pathological patterns and one or more corresponding postural imbalances of said predefined part(s) of the patient's body; and to determine, based on the pathological pattern(s) and on the corresponding postural imbalance(s), one or more corresponding changes to be made to the setup of the feet and of the lower limbs of the patient, so as to no longer adopt said pathological pattern(s) thanks to the correction of said corresponding postural imbalance(s).