Automated footwear manufacturing line and method of operating such manufacturing line

Abstract

A method of manufacturing at least a part of a footwear in an automatic manufacturing line includes providing a footwear part in the form of a leather base layer, providing a footwear part in the form of a leather attachment layer, automatically stacking the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer against each other with an intermediate application of adhesive between them, automatically activating the adhesive, automatically forcing the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer against each other under a pressure with the adhesive between them, curing the adhesive and thereby bonding the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer to each other thereby providing at least a part of a footwear upper.

1 . A method of manufacturing at least a part of a footwear in an automatic footwear manufacturing line, the method comprising steps of:
 providing a first footwear part in a form of a leather base layer,   providing a second footwear part in a form of a leather attachment layer,   automatically stacking the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer against each other with an intermediate application of adhesive between them,   automatically activating the adhesive,   automatically forcing the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer against each other under a pressure with the adhesive between them, and   curing the adhesive and thereby bonding the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer to each other thereby providing at least a part of a footwear upper.   
     
     
         2 .- 5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . The method of manufacturing at least the part of the footwear according to  claim 1 , wherein the step of automatically activating the adhesive is performed by heating the adhesive. 
     
     
         7 . The method of manufacturing at least the part of the footwear according to  claim 1 , wherein the step of automatically activating the adhesive is activated by subjecting the adhesive to UV-radiation (UV: Ultra violet radiation), IR (IR: Infrared radiation), Ultrasound or any combination thereof. 
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 6 , wherein at least one of the leather base layer or the leather attachment layer shrinks when heating the adhesive. 
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 6 , wherein the heating the adhesive is continued over a period of time and/or heated to a temperature by which at least one of the leather base layer or the leather attachment layer will shrink within a predetermined dimension range. 
     
     
         10 .- 12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 6 , wherein the adhesive is a foil and/or a web prior to bonding. 
     
     
         14 .- 19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is a non-reactive glue which is a hot-melt adhesive having a Tg (Tg: glass transition temperature) between 100 degrees Celsius and 200 degrees Celsius. 
     
     
         21 .- 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the leather base layer is formed of top grain leather, and
 wherein the top-grain side is facing towards the leather attachment layer.   
     
     
         24 .- 25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the top-grain side of the leather attachment layer and/or the leather base layer is buffed. 
     
     
         27 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the leather attachment layer is formed of top-grain leather, having the top-grain side facing towards the exterior of the footwear. 
     
     
         28 .- 29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the leather attachment layer is between 0.3 mm to 2.0 mm. 
     
     
         31 .- 34 . (canceled) 
     
     
         35 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the leather base layer is forming at least part of a leather vamp of the footwear. 
     
     
         36 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the leather attachment layer is forming at least part of a leather counter of a footwear, and/or
 wherein the leather attachment layer is forming part of a leather toe cap of a footwear.   
     
     
         37 .- 44 . (canceled) 
     
     
         45 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the method is performed by in an automatic footwear processing arrangement (AFPA) having an input and an output,
 wherein the steps of providing the leather base layer and providing the leather attachment layer are performed in an automatic process transporting the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer from the input and automatically stacking these, one layer at least partially overlapping the other layer,   wherein the step of automatically activating the adhesive is performed automatically by means of an automatic adhesive activation arrangement, and   wherein the step of automatically forcing the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer against each other under the pressure with the adhesive between them is performed by an automatic pressure activation arrangement.   
     
     
         46 . (canceled) 
     
     
         47 . The method according to  claim 45 , wherein the method further comprises a step of curing the adhesive, performed subsequent to activation, via an automatic cooling arrangement. 
     
     
         48 .- 49 . (canceled) 
     
     
         50 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer are automatically cleaned of dust prior to a reactivation of adhesive already present thereon, and/or, prior to the the step of automatically activating the adhesive via a pre-adhesion processing arrangement. 
     
     
         51 .- 55 . (canceled) 
     
     
         56 . An automatic footwear processing arrangement (AFPA) defining an automatic footwear manufacturing line having an input and an output, the footwear manufacturing line including one or more stations configured for performing process steps, wherein the arrangement includes a station in the form of at least one automatically stacking arrangement stacking a leather base layer and a leather attachment layer obtained from the input (I), one layer at least partially overlapping the other layer and wherein the automatic stacking arrangement is cooperating with an associated automatic adhesive activation arrangement,
 the adhesive activation arrangement being arranged to automatically activate an adhesive between a mutually stacked leather base layer and leather attachment layer, the adhesive activation arrangement including or cooperating with an automatic pressure activation arrangement configured to force the leather base layer and the leather attachment layer against each other subject to at a pressure with the adhesive between them at the same time or subsequent to the activation of adhesive performed by the adhesive activation arrangement.   
     
     
         57 . The automatic footwear processing arrangement according to  claim 56 , wherein the one or more stations of the manufacturing line are interconnected with a transporting arrangement automatically configured for transporting footwear parts from one station to another station, and
 wherein the transportation of the footwear parts from the one station another station is controlled at least partly by a control arrangement so as to establish a manufacturing sequence for respective footwear items.   
     
     
         58 . The automatic footwear processing arrangement according to  claim 57 , wherein the control arrangement is monitoring movement of partially gathered footwear upper parts throughout a manufacturing sequence of a footwear upper. 
     
     
         59 .- 60 . (canceled) 
     
     
         61 . The automatic footwear processing arrangement according to  claim 56 , wherein a process of curing the adhesive is performed subsequent to activation of the adhesive via an automatic cooling arrangement. 
     
     
         62 .- 68 . (canceled) 
     
     
         69 . The automatic footwear processing arrangement according to  claim 56 , wherein the manufacturing line includes a subsequent automatic sole attachment arrangement for cementing a sole to a footwear upper. 
     
     
         70 . The automatic footwear processing arrangement according to  claim 56 , wherein the manufacturing line includes a subsequent automatic arrangement configured for direct injection of a sole to a footwear upper. 
     
     
         71 . (canceled)