A systematic approach for developing a foot size information system for shoe last design

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Abstract

The property of a shoe last design significantly impacts the fitness of the shoes thus produced. Traditionally, a shoe last is designed by using numerous foot measure data. Among all the items of foot measure information, the foot length and joint girth are further identified as principle factors affecting shoe last design. In this paper, foot length and joint girth are analyzed by using a bi-variate normal distribution to obtain a more efficient foot size grading system. A set of 2486 adult male samples collected in Taiwan area are used in this analysis to establish the norm for the foot length and joint girth. A foot size information system (FSIS) providing shoe last related information such as the percentage of population that a last can fit in is established from the analysis results. This study contributes designers the grading information that is helpful for shoe last design.


Relevance to industry

Shoe last design is the basis for footwear design. The foot size information system derived in this paper provides shoe making industry with a more efficient and economical size grading system to design shoe lasts. This grading system also promotes customer satisfaction with better fitness in foot size.

Introduction

The design of new shoes starts with the design of a new shoe last. A shoe last is a wooden or metal model of the human foot on which shoes are shaped. In shoe making processes, the shoe last design plays an important role since the appropriateness of its design significantly impacts the fitness of the final products, namely, the shoes. A pair of new shoes should not only keep pace with fashion in its appearance, but should also satisfy the biomechanic requirements of the foot shape. Therefore, the objectives of designing a new shoe last are to make the shoes thus produced fit the consumers' feet properly and let them feel comfortable. To achieve this goal, the shoemaker's last is designed based on the basic data of the foot shape. Through iterative design and refinement, the last designer can turn the irregular three-dimensional data of the foot shape into a solid model of the last. One of the difficulties in this shoe last making process is to identify useful data for building a standard last from numerous foot measurements. Toward this effort, this paper presents an approach to systematically establish a Foot Size Information System (FSIS) based on the measured foot data using bi-variate normal distribution.

In the following sections, the foot structures and measures are first reviewed, then different foot size systems are presented and compared. Finally a set of 2486 adult male samples collected in Taiwan area is analyzed according to the proposed model and an efficient sizing approach is presented.

Section snippets

A review on the foot structure and measures

Shoes are subordinate to the feet and are bound to protect them. As the mold for shoe making, the shoe last should be designed in accordance to the foot shape. A thorough understanding of the foot structure and its biomechanic characteristics, therefore, is important for foot measurement, last design, and shoemaking.

The size specification system of shoe last

Popular culture dictates shoe options including elegance, fashionable, and comfortable as well as lifestyle, etc. The generalities of the pattern and size of the shoe last are the two most important requirements. Basically, the shoe last size specification consists of foot length, girth, bottom width, and the like dimensions. Because people vary in foot shape in gender, age, race, habits of living, and even during day or night, the size specification systems of shoe last are different around

The analysis of foot shape data and shoe last design

To meet the requirement of batch production and to satisfy the consumer's needs, we wish to establish a reasonable series of shoe last size system by applying statistic theory to analyze the foot shape data. In order to develop and establish the Foot Size Information System (FSIS), the original foot shape database in Taiwan area is used as samples to verify the fitness and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Conclusions

In this paper, the foot shape data in Taiwan area were analyzed in a systematic approach. A foot size information system (FSIS) was developed and established after analyzing the levels of confidence of the probability function for foot length and joint girth. The FSIS provides the basic information for the design and manufacturing of shoe lasts. The shoe last was classified into different classes by considering various incremental intervals of the foot length. Each class shows different grading

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the funding support of National Science Council under contract NSC 87-2212-E-009-018 and Mr. Y.T. Wei, General Manager and the staff members of Taiwan Footwear Research Institute, Taiwan, R.O.C. for their kind help and valuable information.

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