Buffing expanded foam items

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9789584-B2
Application number	US-201314060224-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 22, 2013
Priority date	Oct 22, 2013
Publication date	Oct 17, 2017
Grant date	Oct 17, 2017

Abstract

Foam items may be buffed using particles such as particulate sodium bicarbonate in accordance with the present invention. Foam items may be, for example, expanded EVA foam items pre-formed into an intermediate size and shape. A skin layer may be formed during the expansion of the foam item to form an expanded foam item which may be entirely or partially removed by buffing the item using particles projected with selected buffing parameters. The buffing parameters may be varied based upon the thickness of at least a portion of the skin layer and/or the desired degree of moldability for the foam item after buffing. Particulate sodium bicarbonate or other types of particles used for buffing may be recycled and reused for further buffing of foam items.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for buffing a foam item, the system comprising:
a conveyance mechanism that moves the foam item through at least a portion of the system;
at least one retaining mechanism that secures the foam item to the conveyance mechanism;
a chamber having at least an entrance through which the conveyance mechanism moves the foam item into the chamber and at least an exit through which the conveyance mechanism moves the foam item out of the chamber, the chamber comprising at least a top, a bottom, and sides that enclose the foam item as the conveyance mechanism moves the foam item through the chamber;
at least one particulate dispenser that propels particles at the foam item within the chamber, the particles having a hardness of between 1.0 and 5.0 Mohs and a particle size larger than 140 mesh;
a cleaning zone; and
a removal mechanism comprising a pair of protrusions on opposing sides of an entrance to the cleaning zone and adapted to engage and support the foam item as the retaining mechanism is conveyed in a direction opposed by the removal mechanism.

2. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 1 , further comprising a particle reservoir coupled to the at least one particulate dispenser to provide the particles to the at least one particulate dispenser.

3. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 2 , wherein the particle reservoir retains at least one of: ice particles, dry ice particles, and sodium bicarbonate particles.

4. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 1 , wherein the retaining mechanism is adapted to secure the foam item to the conveyance mechanism, the retaining mechanism comprising at least one prong that punctures a portion of the foam item to removeably retain the foam item to the conveyance mechanism.

5. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 1 , further comprising a cleaning mechanism that removes the particles from the foam item after the particulate dispenser has dispensed the particles.

6. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 5 , wherein the cleaning mechanism comprises at least an air blower that delivers moving air to the foam item.

7. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 5 , wherein the cleaning mechanism comprises at least one brush that contacts the surface of the foam item.

8. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 5 , wherein the cleaning mechanism comprises at least one water source that applies water to the foam item.

9. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 5 , wherein the cleaning mechanism comprises at least one vibrational device that applies vibrational energy to the foam item.

10. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 1 , wherein the chamber further comprises angled walls below the at least one particulate dispenser that collect particles after dispensing.

11. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 10 , further comprising an intake mechanism that delivers the particles collected by the angled walls to the at least one particulate dispenser.

12. A system for buffing foam items, the system comprising:
a buffing chamber comprising a top, a bottom, and sides that enclose the buffing chamber, the buffing chamber further comprising at least one entrance that receives a foam item into the chamber and an exit that permits the foam item to leave the buffing chamber;
at least one retaining mechanism that secures the foam item to the conveyance mechanism;
a plurality of dispensers within the buffing chamber that dispense particles at the foam item within a buffing zone of the buffing chamber, the particles having a particle size larger than 140 mesh;
a conveyance mechanism configured to move the foam item into the buffing chamber through the buffing chamber entrance, through the buffing zone of the buffing chamber, and out of the buffing chamber through the buffing chamber exit;
a cleaning zone; and
a removal mechanism comprising a pair of protrusions on opposing sides of an entrance to the cleaning zone and adapted to engage and support the foam item as the retaining mechanism is conveyed in a direction opposed by the removal mechanism.

13. The system for buffing the foam items of claim 12 , further comprising a cleaning mechanism, the cleaning mechanism adapted to remove particles from the foam item after the foam items have exited the buffing chamber.

14. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 13 , wherein the conveyance mechanism is further configured to move the foam item into a cleaning zone accessible by the cleaning mechanism.

15. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 12 , wherein the buffing chamber further comprises angled walls below the buffing zone that collects the particles after the particles are dispensed by the plurality of dispensers.

16. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 15 , wherein the buffing zone is lower than both the at least one entrance to the buffing chamber and the exit from the buffing chamber.

17. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 16 , further comprising a recycling mechanism that delivers the particles from the angled walls below the buffing zone to the plurality of dispensers within the buffing chamber for repeated dispensing.

18. The system for buffing the foam item of claim 17 , further comprising a filter in the recycling mechanism that removes a subset of particles from the system when the subset of particles have a particle size smaller than 140 mesh.

19. The system for buffing the foam items of claim 14 ,
wherein the retaining mechanism comprises at least one prong that punctures a portion of the foam item to removeably retain the foam item to the conveyance mechanism.

20. A system for buffing foam items, the system comprising:
a first chamber comprising a top, a bottom, and sides that enclose the first chamber, the first chamber further comprising at least an entrance that receives foam items into the first chamber and an exit that permits foam items to leave the first chamber;
a plurality of dispensers within the first chamber that dispense, within a pressurized fluid stream, particles at a foam item within a buffing zone of the first chamber, the particles having a hardness between of 1.0 and 5.0 Mohs;
a conveyance mechanism configured to move the foam item into the first chamber through the first chamber entrance, through the buffing zone of the first chamber, out of the first chamber through the first chamber exit and into a second chamber through a second chamber entrance;
at least one retaining mechanism that secures the foam item to the conveyance mechanism;
a cleaning zone; and
a removal mechanism comprising a pair of protrusions on opposing sides of an entrance to the cleaning zone and adapted to engage and support the foam item as the retaining mechanism is conveyed in a direction opposed by the removal mechanism.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Regan Patrick Conall
• Lee Dong Woo
• Yang Dong Youp
• Kim Byung Gi
• Lee Sang Gyu
• Chon Yong Joo
• Seo Jong Cher

Classifications

• A43B7/149

  Pads, e.g. protruding on the foot-facing surface · CPC title

• B24C1/08

  for polishing surfaces, e.g. {smoothing a surface} by making use of liquid-borne abrasives · CPC title

• A43D8/36

  by trimming the margins of sole blanks (trimming as an intermediate operation in shoemaking A43D27/00, as a finishing operation in shoemaking A43D87/00) · CPC title

• B29C44/5627

  by mechanical deformation, e.g. crushing, embossing, stretching · CPC title

• A43D27/00

  Machines for trimming as an intermediate operation (working on edges or margins, e.g. by trimming, of shoe part blanks A43D8/32; trimming as a finishing operation in shoemaking A43D87/00) · CPC title