ABSTRACT
We propose a method of extracting the design features of a shoe last, and a quantitative estimation method of the difference between two lasts based on the design features. The design features are originally generated to manufacture a shoe last from a foot shape. They are defined as design information of a last, and are composed of shapes and lengths of contour lines of specific cross-sections of a last. Manufacturing close fitting shoes to specific person’s feet requires lasts of specific shape. Making a newly designed last is expensive and time-consuming. Our idea is to select a most suitable last out of the stock instead of making one if and only if the feature discrepancies are acceptable level between the required and the measured features. Therefore extracting the design features and quantitative comparison methods of them are important to obtain close fitting shoes to specific person’s feet. We studied the empirical design process of a last from a foot shape, where many steps of deciding the positions of cross-sections dimensions of the contour curves on cross-sections of a last. Our methods are developed from tracing the design process of a last and are implemented on a computer. Through experimental calculation we find they work well.
