Minnesota inventor Jeffrey Wagener has received the help of waterjet systems manufacturer Jet Edge, Inc. in the development of his innovative Sand Traxx changeable imprint sandals featuring waterjet cut rubber components.
Sand Traxx Changeable Imprint Sandals
Wagener has recently launched his new Sand Traxx Footwear company with the help of a crowdfunding campaign conducted on Indegogo.com. The amount that needs to be raised to run the startup company is only $10,000. Wagener will use the raised funds to create a new mold for the rubber characters on the sandals.
Sand Traxx sandals allow wearers to leave a customizable message in their footprints, by swapping out the letters on the bottom of the sandals. The new mold will improve the fit of the new rubber characters, and reduce waste in the manufacturing process.
Each pair of sandals is provided with eight spaces, two sets of alphabets, and two of each special character (1,&,#,$,?) as well as a heart. It is possible to place up to 10 characters into each sandal at the same time.
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Figure 1. Sand Traxx sandals allow their wearers to express themselves without ever saying a word.
Jet Edge’s Role
Jet Edge President Jude Lague has helped Wagener to secure a renowned sandal manufacturer who produces other well-known national brands (Figure 2). While the sandals are imported goods, final assembly is carried out in Minnesota, where an eco-friendly Jet Edge waterjet cutting system is used to cut the molded rubber letters. The next step is adhering Velcro® to the soles and the letters.
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Figure 2. Sand Traxx Footwear Founder Jeff Wagener, left, with Jet Edge President Jude Lague and Nancy Lauseng, Jet Edge marketing manager.
Wagener conceived the Sand Traxx concept while watching a ‘Shark Tank’ episode, where a person used flip flops with a proverb stamped on the bottom. He thought the idea was ok, but envisaged that allowing people to personalizing their own messages would be even better.
After raising the funding goal of $10,000, Sand Traxx plans to reward contributors of at least $55 with a pair of Sand Traxx sandals, a cotton bag, and 72 characters. Moreover, the company has arranged several perks for contributors of different levels.
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Jet Edge, Inc.
For more information on this source, please visit Jet Edge, Inc.