Systems and methods for end-to-end article management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11347209-B2
Application number	US-201916684456-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 14, 2019
Priority date	Nov 16, 2018
Publication date	May 31, 2022
Grant date	May 31, 2022

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for managing articles. The systems and methods described herein may comprise an example method for manufacturing an article. The systems and methods provides an end-to-end manufacturing value chain as a closed system and feedback loop.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for article management, the method comprising:
receiving consumer data comprising at least biometric information associated with one or more consumers;
receiving design inputs indicative of a design of an article, wherein the design of the article is based on the consumer data;
causing output of interactive content to a user interface associated with the one or more consumers, wherein the interactive content comprises at least a representation of the design of the article; and
outputting article data comprising at least manufacturing data indicative of instructions associated with manufacture of the article by applying a plurality of manufacturing processes on a piece of material, wherein the instructions are based on the design of the article;
receiving the piece of material comprising a textile, wherein the article data comprises information relating to the textile; and
determining, based at least on the article data, a select area of the piece of material that is to be printed, wherein the manufacturing processes comprise:
causing an applicator to apply a chemistry to the select area of the piece of material, wherein application of the chemistry to areas of the piece of material outside the select area is minimized and is based on at least the article data;
wherein the article data is represented by a unique identifier applied to the piece of material and is configured to be received by one or more computing devices associated with the plurality of manufacturing processes, wherein the manufacturing processes are configured to be updated based on at least reading the article data represented by the unique identifier, wherein the article data is dynamic and updated throughout the plurality of manufacturing processes based on applying of one or more of the plurality of manufacturing processes on the piece of material, wherein a preceding one or more of the plurality of manufacturing processes is updated based on updated article data received following applying a subsequent manufacturing process of the plurality of manufacturing processes on the piece of material, and wherein one or more other subsequent manufacturing processes are updated based on reading the updated article data represented by the unique identifier received following applying the preceding one or more of the plurality of manufacturing processes on the piece of material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the consumer data further comprises consumer preference information.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the outputting manufacturing data comprises outputting, to a digital print system, at least a portion of the manufacturing data.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving coloration data indicative of a coloration feasibility, wherein the design of the article is dependent on the coloration data.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a tech pack based on the design of the article and a fabric selection or outputting a bill of material based on the design of the fabric.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
drying the select area of the piece of material such that a surface of the select area is capable of being printed.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the chemistry comprises a foam chemistry.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the chemistry is applied using a drop on demand process.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving the piece of material comprising a textile, wherein the article data comprises information relating to the piece of material, wherein the manufacturing processes comprise:
conditioning, using a plasma, at least a portion of the piece of material to remove one or more contaminants from at least the portion of the piece of material, and changing one or more of a surface chemistry and a topography of at least the portion of the piece of material; and
applying one or more chemistries to at least the portion of the piece of material, wherein one or more of the conditioning and the applying is based on the article data.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the conditioning at least the portion of the piece of material further activates a surface of the textile, and wherein activation of the surface of the piece of material improves a performance of the one or more chemistries as compared to an unactivated surface of the piece of material with the same one or more chemistries applied thereto.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the article data comprises information indicating locations for application of a material on a surface of the article, and wherein the manufacturing processes comprise selectively disposing, using drop on demand and based on the locations and at least the article data, the material only at the locations, whereby the material is not disposed on at least a portion of the article.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the material comprises an adhesive.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the selectively disposing is based on registration points associated with the article.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising receiving the location information by one or more computing devices, wherein the receiving information comprises analyzing the article data to retrieve distortion correction information, wherein the distortion correction information is at least partially derived based on one or more manufacturing processes preceding the receiving information step and wherein selectively disposing is based on the distortion correction information.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the article data comprises nesting information indicating a spatial placement of one or more parts of the article on a textile web, and wherein the nesting information is at least partially derived from one or more of: characteristics of a material used to form at least a portion of the one or more parts of the article, one or more treatments applied to a material used to form at least a portion of the one or more parts of the article, a desired web speed, or an operation performed by a pick and place system configured to move the one or more parts of the article once separated from the material.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the nesting information is at least partially derived from a feedback loop associated with operations of the pick and place system.

17. A system configured to implement the method of claim 1 , wherein the system comprises one or more of: textile printer, textile laser cutter, textile pick-and-place unit, vision system, computer network with control unit.

Assignees

• North Face Apparel Corp

Inventors

• Page Graham
• Perez Anthony
• Dietz Angelique
• Rogers Charles
• Aghanouri Abolfazl
• Goparaju Subra
• Balabanov Demitri

Classifications

• G06Q30/0633

  Managing shopping lists, e.g. compiling or processing purchase lists (shipping orders G06Q10/083; order filling G06Q10/087) · CPC title

• G05B2219/36199

  Laser cutting · CPC title

• A41H3/00

  Patterns for cutting-out; Methods of drafting or marking-out such patterns, e.g. on the cloth · CPC title

• G05B2219/45196

  Textile, embroidery, stitching machine · CPC title

• G06K15/021

  Adaptations for printing on specific media · CPC title