A method for automated manufacturing of shoe soles comprises the steps of: loading a transfer device with at least one outsole element and at least one supporting element, positioning the loaded transfer device adjacent a first part and a second part of a sole mold, transferring the at least one outsole element from the transfer device to the first part and transferring the at least one supporting element from the transfer device to the second part of the sole mold, filling the sole mold with a plurality of individual particles, and applying a medium to bond and/or fuse the particles with each other and with the at least one outsole element.

The invention is a shoe cover dispenser (10) comprising a container (1) with two opposite containment sides (11, 12) and an opening for the insertion of a foot, and a plurality of shoe covers (2, 3) contained in said container (1), each shoe cover (2, 3) in turn comprising a covering provided with an opening (21, 31) for the insertion of a foot. Each shoe cover (2, 3) comprises a flexible strip (A, B) constrained along a part of the edge (22, 32) of said opening (21, 31) of the covering, and wherein the ends (A1, A2, B1, B2) of said strip (A, B) are respectively constrained to said opposite sides (11, 12), so that said strip is forcedly held between said sides (11, 12) while assuming the form of a U.

Provided is a shoe including an upper composed of a fiber sheet, the fiber sheet including: a base sheet including yarns having heat shrinkability; and a plurality of chip members, each of which is a sheet having an area smaller than that of the base sheet, the base sheet and the plurality of chip members being layered and joined together.

An automated production line for transferring and processing multiple shoe members includes multiple transferring rail units aligned along a transferring direction, multiple handoff rail units aligned along the transferring direction and alternately arranged with the transferring rail units, multiple transferring unit each being movably mounted to a respective one of the transferring rail unit for transferring the shoe members onto an adjacent one of the handoff rail units, multiple handling units each being movably mounted to a respective one of the handoff rail units and being adapted to transfer the shoe members onto an adjacent one of the transferring rail units, and multiple processing units disposed beside the transferring rail units for processing the shoe members.

A last extension for a shoe last provides a pattern defining an origin location. The origin location on the last extension can be used to identify locations or points on a last or a shoe component on a last for control of location-critical manufacturing operations, including decorative and functional operations.

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 robotic coordinate measurement machine (CMM) having a contact direction sensitive (CDS) probe is usable to detect internal dimensions for an object of interest. A robot arm may contact a surface with the CDS probe which may then detect a magnitude and direction of the resulting reaction force. The robotic CMM may monitor the magnitude and/or direction of the reaction force while the CDS probe is being slide across a surface to determine dimensions for the surface. Changes in the reaction force sensed by the CDS probe may be used to identify contact with other surfaces of contours in the surface the CDS probe is being slid across. A path of the CDS probe may be altered based on the contact with other surfaces or the contours.

An automatic shoe-making device includes a bottom mold unit having a shoe last, two side mold units driven to combine with or separate from each other, a pressing mold unit driven to be movable relative to the bottom mold unit, a feeding unit configured to feed a sole material into a mold cavity in a supercritical fluid state, and a control unit configured to: control the two side mold units to form a combined configuration, so the two side mold units surround the shoe last to form the mold cavity for receiving the sole material, control the pressing mold unit to hot-press the sole material to form a shoe product or a shoe component, and control the pressing mold unit and the two side mold units to move away from the bottom mold unit to allow the shoe product or the shoe component to be removed from the shoe last.

A mould for manufacturing three-dimensional items, comprising a body; a lid configured to close the body; and incorporated closing and openings configured to keep the body and the lid joined during the movement thereof is disclosed. A machine for manufacturing three-dimensional items, comprising a receiving module configured to receive the mould; a conditioning module configured to receive the mould from the receiving module and act on the incorporated closing and openings in order to separate the lid from the body; and a handling module configured to receive the body from the conditioning module and enable the placement of the components of the item to be manufactured. A method for manufacturing three-dimensional items and manufacturing plant associated with the machine.

A custom footwear sole component may have an upper surface conforming to a lower surface of an underfoot component. A method of making the custom sole component includes detecting a shape of a lower surface of the underfoot component. An upper surface of the sole component may be designed that has an upper surface conforming to the detected shape of the lower surface of the underfoot component. The sole-component upper-surface design may conform to three-dimensional geometrical surface data describing an as-worn shape of the lower surface of the underfoot component. Portions of the upper surface of the sole component may extend beyond an upper surface of the underfoot component to form with the underfoot component a combined continuous upper surface. The designed sole component and custom footwear may then be manufactured.