Engineering:Brannock Device

Short description: Shoe size measuring instrument

Brannock Device^[1]

Brannock Device at shoe museum in Zlín, Czechia

The Brannock Device is a measuring instrument invented by Charles F. Brannock for measuring a person's shoe size. Brannock spent two years developing a simple means of measuring the length, width, and arch length of the human foot. He eventually improved on the wooden RITZ Stick, the industry standard of the day,^[2] patenting his first prototype in 1925^[3] and an improved version in 1927.^[1] The device has both left and right heel cups and is rotated through 180 degrees to measure the second foot. Brannock later formed the Brannock Device Company to manufacture and sell the product, and headed the company until 1992 when he died at age 89. The Smithsonian Institution has the nearly complete records of the development of the Brannock Device and subsequent marketing.^[4]

The Brannock Device Company was headquartered in Syracuse, New York, until shortly after Charles Brannock's death. Salvatore Leonardi purchased the company from the Brannock Estate in 1993, and moved manufacturing to a small factory in Liverpool, New York.

On May 31, 2018, the Syracuse minor league baseball team had a one-night promotion and rebranded as the Syracuse Devices in honor of the Brannock Device.^[5]

Sizing system

The modern Brannock device takes three measurements of each foot:

Foot length: the length from heel to the tip of the longest toe
Arch length: the length from heel to the inside of the ball of the foot, or medial metatarsophalangeal joint
Width: the width of the foot perpendicular to the length

Foot and arch lengths correspond to numeric Brannock sizes, and foot widths correspond to letter Brannock widths AAAA (narrowest) to EEEE (widest), as follows:

[math]\displaystyle{ \text{Foot Length} = 7\tfrac{1}{3}\text{ inches} + (\text{Men's Brannock Size} \times \tfrac{1}{3}\text{ inch}) }[/math]

[math]\displaystyle{ \text{Arch Length} = 5\tfrac{18}{50}\text{ inches} + (\text{Men's Brannock Size} \times \tfrac{11}{50}\text{ inch}) }[/math]

[math]\displaystyle{ \text{Width} = 1\tfrac{10}{16}\text{ inches} + (\text{Men's Brannock Size} \times \tfrac{1}{8}\text{ inch}) + (\text{Steps Up From AAAA} \times \tfrac{3}{16}\text{ inch}) }[/math]

Women's Brannock sizes are offset from men's by one:

[math]\displaystyle{ \text{Women's Brannock Size} = \text{Men's Brannock Size} + 1 }[/math]

Template:Scrolling table/top |- ! 16 |- ! 16 ¹⁄₂ |- ! 17 |- ! 17 ¹⁄₂ |- ! 18 |- ! 18 ¹⁄₂ |- ! 19 |- ! 19 ¹⁄₂ |- ! 20 |- ! 20 ¹⁄₂ |- ! 21 |- ! 21 ¹⁄₂ |- ! 22 |- ! 22 ¹⁄₂ |- ! 23 |- ! 23 ¹⁄₂ |- ! 24 |- ! 24 ¹⁄₂ |- ! 25 |- ! 25 ¹⁄₂ Template:Scrolling table/mid |- ! Heel-to-Toe (Foot) Length !! Heel-to-Ball (Arch) Length !! AAAA !! AAA !! AA !! A !! B !! C !! D !! E !! EE !! EEE !! EEEE |- | 7 ²⁄₃ inches (19.5 cm) | 5 ²⁹⁄₅₀ inches (14.2 cm) | 1 ³⁄₄ inches (4.4 cm) | 1 ¹⁵⁄₁₆ inches (4.9 cm) | 2 ¹⁄₈ inches (5.4 cm) | 2 ⁵⁄₁₆ inches (5.9 cm) | 2 ¹⁄₂ inches (6.4 cm) | 2 ¹¹⁄₁₆ inches (6.8 cm) | 2 ⁷⁄₈ inches (7.3 cm) | 3 ¹⁄₁₆ inches (7.8 cm) | 3 ¹⁄₄ inches (8.3 cm) | 3 ⁷⁄₁₆ inches (8.7 cm) | 3 ⁵⁄₈ inches (9.2 cm)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 "Foot-measuring instrument" US patent 1725334, published 1929-08-20
↑ Aeppel, Timothy (10 January 2011). "Maker of Foot Measurer Tries to Stop Other Shoe From Dropping -- On It -- Iconic Bannock Device Hangs On By Its Toes Against Foreign-Made Rivals". United States: Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition. p. A.1.
↑ C. F. Brannock, "Foot-measuring instrument", US patent 1682366, published 28 Aug, 1928
↑ "From the Collections: Charles Brannock". Smithsonian Institution. May 21, 2014. https://invention.si.edu/collections-charles-brannock.
↑ Hill, Benjamin. "Chiefs give Brannock Devices their due", MiLB.com, New York, 4 June 2018. Retrieved on 15 August 2019.

Sources

Craig, Berry. "Why the Shoe Fits." American Heritage of Invention & Technology 16, no. 1. (Summer 2000): 64.
Davidson, Martha. "A Fitting Place for the Brannock Device Company Records." 2001.
Lukas, Paul. Inconspicuous Consumption: An Obsessive Look at the Stuff We Take for Granted, from the Everyday to the Obscure. Three Rivers Press, 1997. ISBN:0-517-88668-5
Brannock Device Company Records, 1925–1998
Aeppel, Timothy, "Maker of Foot Measurer Tries to Stop Other Shoe From Dropping - On It". Wall Street Journal, Jan. 10, 2011.

External links

The Brannock Device Co., Inc.
Charles Brannock: MIT inventor of the Week (August 2001)
Brannock Company history and archives
Brannock Device, an early Design Drawing from the Smithsonian (1920s) Smithsonian Institution Libraries

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[patent1927-1] 1.0 ^1.1 "Foot-measuring instrument" US patent 1725334, published 1929-08-20

[2] Aeppel, Timothy (10 January 2011). "Maker of Foot Measurer Tries to Stop Other Shoe From Dropping -- On It -- Iconic Bannock Device Hangs On By Its Toes Against Foreign-Made Rivals". United States: Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition. p. A.1.

[3] C. F. Brannock, "Foot-measuring instrument", US patent 1682366, published 28 Aug, 1928

[4] "From the Collections: Charles Brannock". Smithsonian Institution. May 21, 2014. https://invention.si.edu/collections-charles-brannock.

[5] Hill, Benjamin. "Chiefs give Brannock Devices their due", MiLB.com, New York, 4 June 2018. Retrieved on 15 August 2019.

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