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US4604807A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Electronic foot measuring apparatus and method

Assignee: Florsheim Group Inc
•
Filing: 1985-08-30
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Granted: 1986-08-12
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Expires: 2005-08-30
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Abstract

Abstract Apparatus for electronically measuring the size of a foot for determining a properly fitted specific shoe size. A light source is arranged to cause an outline of a foot to be delineated upon a translucent panel. Light energy is directed from the panel through photo optic means to an electronic device containing means for inherently discriminating impulses of energy into a distinct white/black status to produce an electronic duplicate of the foot outline. The electronic image of the foot is processed within the apparatus to determine an accurately fitted size of shoe for the measured foot. Video display means is provided so that a customer may view the process of measurement of the shoe size and be informed of the precisely determined size of shoe to fit the customer's measured foot. Specific hardware is provided in the form of schematic diagrams for defining the operation of the invention.

Inventors

  • 👤 Harry S. Bock
  • 👤 Stanley O. Gregory
  • 👤 F. Philip Gardner
  • 👤 Russell H. Reid

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-03 08:23
CPC Classifications
A; A43; A43D; A43D1/00; A43D1/02; A43D1/025; G; G01; G01B; G01B11/00; G01B11/02; G01B11/024

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim 128 words
Apparatus for measurement of foot size comprising light sensitive array means comprising plural individual light sensitive elements, means for imaging the foot to be measured upon said light sensitive array means to thereby effect the storage of electrical energy in individual ones of said plural light sensitive elements, microprocessor means connected at an output thereof through address select logic means to an input of said light sensitive array means to direct the sequential reading of the output of said individual light sensitive elements thereof, video display means for displaying the image of said foot in response to the output of said light sensitive array means, and data bus means for transmitting said output of said light sensitive array means to said microprocessor means and said video display means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 128 words
Apparatus for measurement of foot size comprising light sensitive array means comprising plural individual light sensitive elements, means for imaging the foot to be measured upon said light sensitive array means to thereby effect the storage of electrical energy in individual ones of said plural light sensitive elements, microprocessor means connected at an output thereof through address select logic means to an input of said light sensitive array means to direct the sequential reading of the output of said individual light sensitive elements thereof, video display means for displaying the image of said foot in response to the output of said light sensitive array means, and data bus means for transmitting said output of said light sensitive array means to said microprocessor means and said video display means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 25 words
Apparatus for the measurement of foot size in accord with claim 1 wherein said light sensitive array means comprises an opticRAM dynamic random access memory.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 20 words
Apparatus for the measurement of foot size in accord with claim 1 wherein said microprocessor means includes program storage means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 22 words
Apparatus for the measurement of foot size in accord with claim 3 wherein said program storage means comprises read only memory devices.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 37 words
Apparatus for the measurement of foot size in accord with claim 3 wherein said storage means are connected to said microprocessor means through bidirectional buffer means and are responsive to address data signals from said microprocessor means.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 37 words
Apparatus for the measurement of foot size in accord with claim 4 wherein said storage means are connected to said microprocessor means through bidirectional buffer means and are responsive to address data signals from said microprocessor means.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 60 words
Apparatus for the measurement of foot size in accord with claim 1 wherein the said output to said address select logic means consists of a system row address strobe, a system column address strobe and a pulse whereby said address select logic means provides an output to direct access to said light sensitive array means as a logical sequential matrix.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 165 words
Apparatus for the measurement of foot size comprising light sensitive array means comprising plural individual light sensitive elements, means for imaging the foot to be measured upon said light sensitive array means to thereby effect the storage of electrical energy in individual ones of said plural light sensitive elements as determined by said image of the foot thereon, microprocessor means connected at an output thereof through address select logic means to an input of said light sensitive array means to direct the sequential reading of the output of said individual light sensitive elements thereof, video display means for displaying the image of said foot in response to the output of said individual light sensitive elements, data bus means for transmitting said output of said individual light sensitive elements to said microprocessor means and said video display means, and means connected to said microprocessor means and responsive to the foot image information at the output thereof to determine a specific shoe size for the imaged foot.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 165 words
Apparatus for the measurement of foot size comprising light sensitive array means comprising plural individual light sensitive elements, means for imaging the foot to be measured upon said light sensitive array means to thereby effect the storage of electrical energy in individual ones of said plural light sensitive elements as determined by said image of the foot thereon, microprocessor means connected at an output thereof through address select logic means to an input of said light sensitive array means to direct the sequential reading of the output of said individual light sensitive elements thereof, video display means for displaying the image of said foot in response to the output of said individual light sensitive elements, data bus means for transmitting said output of said individual light sensitive elements to said microprocessor means and said video display means, and means connected to said microprocessor means and responsive to the foot image information at the output thereof to determine a specific shoe size for the imaged foot.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 186 words
Apparatus for the measurment of foot size comprising light sensitive array means comprising plural individual light sensitive elements, means for imaging the foot to be measured upon said light sensitive array means to thereby effect the storage of electrical energy in individual ones of said plural light sensitive elements as determined by said image of the foot thereon, microprocessor means connected at an output thereof through address select logic means to an input of said light sensitive array means to direct the sequential reading of the output of said individual light sensitive elements thereof to thereby provide data at the output of said light sensitive array means indicative of the image of the foot thereon, video display means for displaying the image of said foot in response to the output of said individual light sensitive elements, data bus means for transmitting said output of said individual light sensitive elements to said microprocessor means and said video display means, and means connected to said microprocessor means and responsive to the foot image information at an output thereof to determine a specific shoe size for the imaged foot.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 186 words
Apparatus for the measurment of foot size comprising light sensitive array means comprising plural individual light sensitive elements, means for imaging the foot to be measured upon said light sensitive array means to thereby effect the storage of electrical energy in individual ones of said plural light sensitive elements as determined by said image of the foot thereon, microprocessor means connected at an output thereof through address select logic means to an input of said light sensitive array means to direct the sequential reading of the output of said individual light sensitive elements thereof to thereby provide data at the output of said light sensitive array means indicative of the image of the foot thereon, video display means for displaying the image of said foot in response to the output of said individual light sensitive elements, data bus means for transmitting said output of said individual light sensitive elements to said microprocessor means and said video display means, and means connected to said microprocessor means and responsive to the foot image information at an output thereof to determine a specific shoe size for the imaged foot.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 114 words
In an apparatus for the automatic measurement of foot size and the display thereof comprising light sensitive array means, means for imaging a foot to be measured on said light sensitive array, microprocessor means including program storage means connected through address select logic means to an input of said light sensitive array means to direct the readout therefrom of data indicative of the image of the foot thereon and video display means for displaying the image of the foot to be measured and foot size, the improvement comprising an opticram dynamic random access memory logically accessed by said microprocessor means through address select logic means whereby the output thereof is a logical sequential matrix.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 114 words
In an apparatus for the automatic measurement of foot size and the display thereof comprising light sensitive array means, means for imaging a foot to be measured on said light sensitive array, microprocessor means including program storage means connected through address select logic means to an input of said light sensitive array means to direct the readout therefrom of data indicative of the image of the foot thereon and video display means for displaying the image of the foot to be measured and foot size, the improvement comprising an opticram dynamic random access memory logically accessed by said microprocessor means through address select logic means whereby the output thereof is a logical sequential matrix.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 142 words
In an apparatus for the automatic measurement of foot size and the display thereof comprising light sensitive array means, means for imaging a foot to be measured on said light sensitive array, microprocessor means including program storage means connected through address select logic means to an input of said light sensitive array means to direct the readout therefrom of data indicative of the image of the foot thereon and video display means for displaying the image of the foot to be measured and foot size, the improvement comprising an opticram dynamic random access memory logically accessed by said microprocessor means through address select logic means whereby the output thereof is a series logical sequential matrix, and shoe size determining logic means, connected and responsive to said series logical sequential matrix at its input determines the specific shoe size for the imaged foot.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 142 words
In an apparatus for the automatic measurement of foot size and the display thereof comprising light sensitive array means, means for imaging a foot to be measured on said light sensitive array, microprocessor means including program storage means connected through address select logic means to an input of said light sensitive array means to direct the readout therefrom of data indicative of the image of the foot thereon and video display means for displaying the image of the foot to be measured and foot size, the improvement comprising an opticram dynamic random access memory logically accessed by said microprocessor means through address select logic means whereby the output thereof is a series logical sequential matrix, and shoe size determining logic means, connected and responsive to said series logical sequential matrix at its input determines the specific shoe size for the imaged foot.
Claim 17
Independent Claim 55 words
A method for measurement of foot size comprising the steps of placing a foot upon positioning means, imagining said foot upon a light sensitive array, sequentially reading of the image on said light sensitive array to form a logical sequential matrix signal, and processing and comparing said matrix signal to determine a specific shoe size.
Claim 18
Independent Claim 55 words
A method for measurement of foot size comprising the steps of placing a foot upon positioning means, imagining said foot upon a light sensitive array, sequentially reading of the image on said light sensitive array to form a logical sequential matrix signal, and processing and comparing said matrix signal to determine a specific shoe size.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 24 words
A method for measurement of foot size as claimed in claim 12 comprising the step of transmitting said matrix signal to video display means.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 26 words
A method for measurement of foot size as claimed in claim 13 comprising the step of displaying said specific shoe size on said video display means.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 40 words
A method for measurement of foot size as claimed in claim 12 comprising the step of transmitting said matrix signal means to microprocessor means, and to video display means, and displaying said specific shoe size on said video display means.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US2975519A Cited
US3173746A Cited
US3277779A Cited
US3408740A Cited
US3457647A Cited
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1989-08-11 1990-02-10 1990-08-12 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1993-08-11 1994-02-10 1994-08-12 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1997-08-11 1998-02-10 1998-08-12 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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