Footwear fitting system
US5879725A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 9, 1997 |
| Grant date | Mar 9, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 9, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA43D95/00
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A footwear fitting system employs a set of sample footwear items, e.g., shoes, provided in small increments of length and width. The sample shoes are tried on by the wearer and the one providing the best fit is chosen. Then, a fit component of a stock shoe is re-formed with a molding apparatus to provide a size and width identical to the selected sample shoe. A shoe store need only stock a relatively small number of standard size shoes in order to provide the wearer with a close "custom" fit. The footwear interior is re-formed by mounting the footwear on a last having a length and width corresponding to that of the selected sample shoe. The last is heated to the softening temperature of a moldable strip of material, e.g., ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), incorporated into the shoe upper, then allowed to cool, whereby the footwear interior shape and size is reformed to correspond to the last. In an alternative embodiment, the footwear item is a shoe insert, e.g., a shoe insole. In a similar manner, the wearer is fitted to one of a set of sample shoe inserts. Then a stock insert is re-formed by molding to correspond in size and shape to the sample shoe insert providing the desired fit c…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.