Laser finishing of apparel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10051905-B2
Application number	US-201715682507-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 21, 2017
Priority date	Aug 19, 2016
Publication date	Aug 21, 2018
Grant date	Aug 21, 2018

Abstract

Software and lasers are used in finishing apparel to produce a desired wear pattern or other design. A technique includes determining a fabric's response to a laser, capturing an initial image of a wear pattern on a garment, and processing the initial image to obtain a working image in grayscale. The working image is further processed to obtain a difference image by comparing each pixel relative to a dark reference. The difference image is converted to a laser values image by using the previously determined fabric response to the laser.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
assembling a garment made from fabric panels of a woven first material comprising a warp comprising indigo ring-dyed cotton yarn, wherein the fabric panels are sewn together using thread;
creating a laser input file that is representative of a finishing pattern from an existing garment made from a second material, wherein the first material comprises a different fabric characteristic from the second material, and the creating the laser input file comprises
capturing a target image of the finishing pattern from the existing garment of the second material, and
determining values for the laser input file that will result in a finishing pattern on the first material to obtain an appearance similar to the target image of the finishing pattern from the existing garment of the second material, wherein the determining values for the laser input file comprises
selecting a dark reference in the target image of the finishing pattern from the existing garment of the second material,
for each pixel in the target image, calculating a difference value between a pixel value and the dark reference, and
storing each difference value in the laser input file, wherein the laser input file comprises a reverse image compared to the target image; and
using a laser to create a finishing pattern on an outer surface of the garment based on the laser input file, wherein based on the laser input file, the laser removes selected amounts of material from the surface of the first material at different pixel locations of the garment,
for lighter pixel locations of the finishing pattern, a greater amount of the indigo ring-dyed cotton warp yarn is removed, while for darker pixel locations of the finishing pattern, a lesser amount of the indigo ring-dyed cotton warp yarn is removed, and
the finishing pattern created can extend across portions of the garment where two or more fabric panels are joined together by thread by exposing these portions to the laser.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first material comprises a denim and the second material comprises a denim.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the garment comprises at least one of a pair of jeans, shirt, short, jacket, vest, or skirt.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the garment and the existing garment are of the same type of garment.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the finishing pattern created by the laser on the garment includes a wear pattern comprising at least one of combs or honeycombs, whiskers, stacks, or train tracks, or a combination.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the finishing pattern on the existing garment was not created by a laser.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first material comprises a weft comprising yarn that has not been indigo dyed.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein for the portions of the garment exposed to the laser where the fabric panels are joined, the fabric panels are joined together using a thread comprising cotton.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the using a laser to create a finishing pattern on an outer surface of the garment comprises a single pass of the laser.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the using a laser to create a finishing pattern on an outer surface of the garment comprises multiple passes of the laser.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining values for the laser input file comprises:
forming a first pattern on a surface of the first material, wherein the first pattern comprises a plurality of color shades, the color shades are lighter shades relative to an original color of the first material, and the first pattern is formed by exposing the first material to a laser beam at a variety of laser levels,
the first pattern comprises a first region comprising a first shade, a second region comprising a second shade, and a third region comprising a third shade, and
a difference between the first shade and second shade is determined by a first incremental value in a laser input value, a difference between the second shade and third shade is determined by a second incremental value in the laser input value, and the second incremental value is the same as the first incremental value.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the determining values for the laser input file comprises obtaining a fabric response characteristic for the first material in response to a laser comprising:
for the first region, generating a first histogram for a distribution of pixels in the first region;
for the second region, generating a second histogram for a distribution of pixels in the second region; and
for the third region, generating a third histogram for a distribution of pixels in the third region.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the capturing a target image of the finishing pattern from the existing garment of the second material comprises using contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization image processing.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein when using the laser to create a finishing pattern, different laser levels are obtained by varying an output of the laser beam by altering a characteristic of the laser comprising at least one of a frequency, period, pulse width, power, duty cycle, or burning speed.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining values for the laser input file comprises:
providing a fabric response characteristic function for the first material in response to a laser; and
converting the target image of the finishing pattern from the existing garment of the second material based on the fabric response characteristic function for the first material into values for the laser input file, and the laser input file comprises a reverse image, compared to the target image.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the first material comprises a first surface texture characteristic which is different from a second surface texture characteristic of the second material.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the first material comprises a first dye characteristic which is different from a second dye characteristic of the second material.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the first material comprises a first base fabric color characteristic which is different from a second base fabric color characteristic of the second material.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the first material comprises a first yarn characteristic which is different from a second yarn characteristic of the second material.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the first material comprises a first yarn weight characteristic which is different from a second yarn weight characteristic of the second material.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the first material comprises a first yarn diameter characteristic which is different from a second yarn diameter characteristic of the second material.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the first material comprises a first yarn twist characteristic which is different from a second yarn twist characteristic of the second material.

23. A method comprising:
providing an assembled garment made from fabric panels of a woven first material comprising a warp comprising indigo ring-dyed cotton yarn, wherein the fabric panels are sewn together using thread;
providing a laser input file that is representative of a finishing pattern from an existing garment made from a second material, wherein the finishing pattern on the existing garment was not created by a laser, and the laser input file was obtained by
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Assignees

• Strauss Levi & Co

Inventors

• Benefiel Jennifer
• Sights James Barton
• Schultz Christopher

Classifications

• D06C23/02

  by singeing, teasing, shearing, etching or brushing · CPC title

• B41M5/24 Primary

  Ablative recording, e.g. by burning marks; Spark recording {(marking by high energetic means, e.g. by laser otherwise than burning or ablative removal B41M5/26; materials or methods for recording or reproduction by optical means G11B7/00)} · CPC title

• D06B11/0096

  to get a faded look · CPC title

• G06V10/50

  by performing operations within image blocks; by using histograms, e.g. histogram of oriented gradients [HoG]; by summing image-intensity values; Projection analysis · CPC title

• D06C23/00

  Making patterns or designs on fabrics · CPC title