Improvements in or relating to devices for the planar reproduction of surface formations such as the soles of human feet

摘要

420,263. Reproducing foot-sole and other surfaces. MATTHIAS, E., Villa Spelma, St. Moritz, Switzerland. Jan. 20, 1934, No. 2063. Convention date, Dec. 7, 1933. [Class 106 (ii)] Apparatus for reproducing irregular surfaces, for example, the soles of human feet for diagnosis or for fitting footwear or orthopµdic appliances, comprises upper and lower plates 2, 3, mounted in a casing 54 and slidably supporting a number of rows of parallel pins 1. Each pin carries at its lower end a blade 5, one edge of which is parallel to the pin, the other edge being at 45‹ thereto. The blades 5 rest on a perforable sheet 9 supported between upper and lower sets of parallel bars 30, 35, and are lifted therefrom, on closing a cover 49 for the pins, by a plate 40 raised to engage collars on the pins by lugs 41 on the. plate engaging oblique slots 42 in side plates 43 moved laterally by pin and slot connections 46, 52 with the lid. In use the lid 49 is closed to raise the pins 1, a perforable sheet is inserted through a slot 34 between the bars 30, 35, the lid is then opened permitting the blades 5 to descend upon the sheet, and an object, for example, the foot, is pressed upon the surface formed by the pins 1. The blade of each pin pressed on penetrates the perforable sheet and produces a cut, of length corresponding to the descent of the pin, from which the surface of the object may be reproduced by measurement. Records of a foot may be made with the patient in a sitting position (foot unloaded) or standing (foot loaded). To ensure the placing of the foot in the same position on all occasions an upstanding right-angled strip is placed on the plate 2 in fixed relation to the pins 1 and indicators, slidable on the strip, are provided to mark the rear and lateral points of contact between foot and strip.