DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Shoes have heretofore been provided, as having the fore- upper part strengthened by under-toe caps, named simply under-toes in the following, placed between the toe of the upper and the lining.

The under-toes, whose form depends on the shoe model and size, are supplied with a layer of adhesive applied to at least one surface, i. e. the one which is to be glued to the inner surface of the upper.

Currently, in order to apply the under-toe, an operator places it on the corresponding inner part of the upper and then activates a heated punch which presses the under-toe to this part of the upper.

The under-toe cap is kept pressed for about 15-20 seconds, so as to activate the adhesive applied onto it and allow mutual gluing between the under-toe and the toe of the shoe upper.

Consequently, the operator must first choose the appropriate under-toe from a range of available under- toes; then he has to position the selected under-toe on the upper, operate the punch to go down and wait about 15 -20 seconds before operating the punch to go up.

This technique leads to limited productivity and the resulting quality depends on the operator's experience, ability, tiredness, working cycle repetitiveness, and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention was evolved with the general object of providing a machine that overcomes the above mentioned disadvantages, more particularly a machine that can automatically select the proper type of under-toe from among a predetermined range of under-toes, and promptly position the selected under-toe on the upper toe area.

Another object of the present invention is to propose a machine which reduces the time necessary to fasten the under-toe to the upper toe area and whose productivity is considerably higher than the productivity obtained by known machines Another object of the present invention is to propose a machine whose productivity is independent from the operator.

A further object of the present invention is to propose a machine which can be operated by commonly specialized personnel.

Still another object of the present invention is to propose a machine, which applies adhesive to the under- toe surface which does not touch the upper.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to propose a machine which fulfills all the above mentioned objects and is obtained by a combination of working means and actuators which are simple to manufacture and whose

maintenance is very limited, the actuators being controlled by a control unit.

The above mentioned objects are obtained, in accordance with the contents of claims, by a machine for applying under-toes to the forepart of a shoe upper, including: at least one magazine for storing a stack of under-toes, situated in a first working station in which under-toes are picked up; a working station in which a picked up under-toe is applied to the forepart of a corresponding upper, said under-toe application station including a support surface for said forepart of the upper; a device which first picks up the uppermost under-toe from said magazine, then transfers said picked up under- toe to said application station and places said under-toe on said forepart of the upper and finally, presses said under-toe with a predetermined force and for a predetermined period of time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The characteristic features of the present invention will become fully apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: -Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a portion of the proposed machine ; -Figure 2 is a schematic side view of the proposed machine;

-Figure 3 is a schematic, plan view of the proposed machine, with some parts removed, so as to better show other parts; -Figure 4 is a plan view of the station, in which the under-toe is applied to the upper, in a working step after the under-toe has been applied; -Figure 5 is an enlarged view according to the arrow A of Figure 2, showing the means for adjusting the mutual distance between the stems defining a magazine of the carrousel; -Figures 6,7 are sectional views taken along lines VI- VI and VII-VII of Figure 5; -Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII of Figure 3; -Figure 9 is a view according to the arrow B showing the particular W of Figure 2; -Figure 10 is the same view as Figure 2 of another, significant embodiment of the proposed invention.

BEST MODES OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION With reference to the figures, reference numeral 1 generally designates a stepwise operated carrousel supported by a vertical shaft 2.

This carrousel carries a plurality of magazines, e. g. four indicated with Cl, C2, C3, C4. The magazines are arranged in quadrature and symmetrical with respect to vertical diametrical planes of the carrousel, for instance the planes D1 and D2 shown in figure 3.

It is understood that the number of magazines can vary; there can be e. g. two, three, five six, etc. magazines.

The magazine Cl, and likewise all the other ones, includes: -two stationary vertical stems 3, symmetrical with respect to a relative diametrical plane Dl of the ones mentionedabove; -a first pair of movable vertical stems 4, symmetrical with respect to this plane Dl, freely introduced into the relative slots 5 made in the carrousel parallel to this plane, and with the jackets 4a fastened to a first crosspiece 6 made in the region of the lower surface la of the carrousel; -a second pair of movable vertical stems 7, symmetrical with respect to the plane D1, freely introduced into the relative slots 5 and whose jackets 7a are fastened to a second crosspiece 8 made in the region of the lower surface la of the carrousel 1.

As already mentioned, the other magazines C2, C3 and C4 are made exactly in the same way as C1.

These crosspieces 6,8 are carried by two cylindrical rods 9 and can slide with respect to these rods independently from each other.

The cylindrical rods 9 are fastened to a bar 10 symmetrically with respect to the above-mentioned diametrical plane.

The bar 10 is attached to the lower surface la of the carrousel 1.

A head lla of a bolt 11, engaging with the second crosspiece 8, goes in abutment against the edge 12a of a groove 12 made in the carrousel along the diametrical plane already mentioned.

Acting on the bolt 11, the position of the crosspieces 6, 8 is fixed, and consequently, the mutual positioning of the stems 4,7 is defined.

By screwing this bolt 11, the second crosspiece 8 is pressed against the lower surface la of the carrousel thus bending the rods 9 and fastening the first crosspiece 6 to the lower surface la.

The unscrewing of the bolt 11 permits crosspieces 6,8 sliding movement with respect to the relative rods, so as to define a new spatial configuration of the group constituted by the stationary stem 3 and movable stems 4, 7.

The slots 5 do not obstruct the movement of the movable stems during the adjustment of this spatial configuration.

The stationary stems 3 and movable stems 4,7 define the walls of the magazine C, which receives a stack of toes P.

In its lower part, the carrousel 1 carries vertical position identification metal blocks Rl, R2, R3, R4, placed at different levels, so as to make them each of them correspond to one of the magazines C1, C2, C3, C4; these metal blocks R1, R2, R3, R4 are detected by a series of corresponding sensors S1, S2, S3, S4 situated upstream of a first station 50, in which the under-toes are picked up from a relative magazine (Figure 8).

The carrousel 1 moves stepwise in direction N, in the described case, by 90° steps.

Therefore, it is possible to place any of the magazines in the station 50, which is extremely advantageous because makes it possible to store in the magazines

under-toes of different sizes, for different types of shoes.

A slide 30, situated over the carrousel 1, supports in its lower part a pick up device 31, driven to move vertically by a suitable actuator 32 controlled by an electronic control unit, not shown.

The slide 30 moves longitudinally along the diametrical plane D1 of the station 50 between two extreme positions Hl, H2, first and second, respectively.

In the first position H1, the pick up device 31 is situated over the first pick up station 50, while in the second position H2, this device is situated over a second working station 60, in which the under-toe P is applied to an upper T.

The pick up device 31 features, made in its surface 36, several holes 35 (Figure 9), which can be connected to a source of vacuum (not shown), and heating means (e. g. electric resistor) controlled via a thermostatic device to maintain this surface 36 with the holes at a predetermined temperature.

The second working station 60 has a support surface 61 with a locking element 62 driven to move vertically by a relative actuator 63 between a working lowered position 0 (Figures 1,2) and a working raised position (not shown).

Operation of the machine becomes evident from the following description.

One of the magazines C, storing under-toes corresponding to the upper T, is moved to the pick up station 50.

The part of the upper on which the under-toe is to be applied, is placed on the surface 61 and the locking

element 62 clamps the fore edge of the under-toe to the surface 61.

In time relation with the above operations, the pick up device 31, already placed in the pick up station 50, lowers until it strikes the stems 4,7, which are pushed downward against the elastic reaction of elastic means 73, connected to these stems, until the pick up device goes in abutment against the uppermost under-toe P of the stack of under-toes stored in the magazine C situated below (Figure 1).

The pick up device 31 can pick up the under-toe P due to the holes 35 being connected to the vacuum source.

Then, the pick up device 31 is raised, so as to be locate, by motion of the slide 30, over the second working station 60.

During the pick up device 31 upward movement, the adhesive applied to the lower surface of the under-toe is activated due to the heat that the surface 36 transmits to the under-toe (Figure 2).

Lowering of the device 31 allows application of the under-toe with the adhesive already activated; this application is optimized by the pressure of the device 31 on the under-toe.

The pressure is maintained for a predetermined period of time, which is considerably shorter than time needed for the solutions described in the prior art. This is because, according to the present invention, the adhesive is already active at the moment in which the under-toe touches the upper.

After the pressure period has finished, the device 31 is raised and the slide 30 goes back to the first working position Hl.

This makes it possible to apply adhesive to the other surface of the under-toe, so that a suitable lining can be put thereon.

The adhesive is applied to the under-toe by a spray gun 70, operated either by an operator, or automatically by means 80 controlled by the control unit and moving along axes X, Y in relation to the under-toe size.

Consequently, the proposed machine activates the adhesive on the run, while the under-toe is transferred from the magazine to the second working station 60, which reduces the time necessary to apply the under-toe to the upper.

The under-toe is positioned on the upper automatically, which, on the one hand, reduces the time necessary for performing the above described working steps, and on the other hand, optimizes the positioning, which does not depend on the operator's ability.

It is also to be pointed out that the proposed machine allows to use a vast range of under-toes, four of which (in the present case) always available.

In order to use under-toes different form the ones in the magazine, it is necessary to act on the magazines, i. e. on the stems 4,7, whose mutual distance and distance from the stationary stems 3 define the type of under-toe to be stored in the magazine.

In the present case, the magazines are situated on the carrousel 1, however they can be arranged in a different way, e. g. aligned in one or more lines, or in a still different way.

Figure 10 shows an interesting embodiment of the proposed machine.

As seen in this Figure, a heat source 150 is situated between the pick up station 50 and under-toe application station 60, for sending heat (e. g. hot air, infrared rays, etc.) upwards.

This heat source 150 makes the machine extremely versatile, as far as the technical-functional aspects of the adhesive activation are concerned.

For instance, the adhesive can be activated solely by this heat source; in this case, the pick up device 31 has only the task of picking up the under-toe and transferring it to the application station 60.

The adhesive is activated preferably by stopping the pick up device 31 over the heat source 150 (position F) for a period of time necessary to activate the adhesive.

This operation can be optimized and shortened by lowering the pick up device 31 by the actuator 32.

The adhesive can be activated also on the run, by the heat source 150, i. e. without stopping the pick up device 31.

The heat necessary to activate the adhesive can be supplied either by the pick up device 31 or by the heat source 150.

As far as the heat source 150 is concerned, reference is made to the above described situation.

All these consideration allow for the best dimensioning of the electric resistors and of the heat source 150.

It is necessary to point out that the proposed machine can be also used for only transferring a under-toe from

the pick up station 50 to the application station 60, without adhesive activation (by deactivating the heat source 150 and heating means of the pick up device 31); in this case, it is obvious that the adhesive is activated in the application station 60 according to known techniques.