Vision-guided stitching systems and logic for fabricating engineered textiles with interstitched superposed wires

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11555264-B2
Application number	US-202017085297-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 30, 2020
Priority date	Nov 1, 2019
Publication date	Jan 17, 2023
Grant date	Jan 17, 2023

Abstract

Presented are automated manufacturing systems for fabricating engineered textiles, footwear and apparel formed with such engineered textiles, methods for making such engineered textiles, and memory-stored, processor-executable instructions for operating such manufacturing systems. An automated manufacturing system constructs engineered textiles from workpieces composed of superposed, unwoven wires. The system includes a movable end effector bearing a stitching head and an image capture device. The stitching head has a thread feeder and sewing needle to generate stitches. The image capture device captures images of the workpiece and outputs data indicative thereof. A system controller receives this image capture device data and locates, from the captured image of the workpiece, gaps defined between quadrangles of the superposed wires. The controller commands the end effector to sequentially move the stitching head and thereby align the sewing needle with the gaps, and commands the stitching head to insert a succession of stitches within these gaps.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. An automated manufacturing system for constructing an engineered textile from a workpiece composed of superposed wires, the manufacturing system comprising:
a movable end effector;
an image capture device configured to capture an image of the workpiece and output data indicative thereof;
a processing head mounted to the movable end effector, the processing head including a stitching head with a thread feeder and a sewing needle cooperatively configured to generate stitches; and
a system controller operatively connected to the movable end effector, the image capture device, and the processing head, the system controller being programmed to:
receive, from the image capture device, the data indicative of the captured image of the workpiece;
determine a plurality of predefined joint locations for the superposed wires, including locating, from the captured image of the workpiece, multiple gaps each defined between a quadrangle of the superposed wires;
command the movable end effector to sequentially move the processing head to align the processing head with each of the predefined joint locations; and
command the processing head to join the superposed wires at the predefined joint locations to form the engineered textile, including commanding the stitching head to insert a succession of stitches within the gaps between the superposed wires.

2. The manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the stitching head further includes a needle receiver operable to reciprocally translate the sewing needle, a bobbin case operable to feed bobbin thread, and a shuttle hook operable to create a lockstitch between the bobbin thread and a top thread fed from the thread feeder.

3. The manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the system controller is further programmed to:
identify, within the captured image of the workpiece, respective sets of intersecting points of the superposed wires defining the quadrangles; and
determine, within each of the respective sets, a center of a respective diagonal line segment connecting an opposing pair of the intersecting points,
wherein locating the gaps includes designating the center of the diagonal line segment of each of the sets of intersecting points as one of the gaps.

4. The manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the system controller is further programmed to:
identify, within the captured image of the workpiece, an estimated centerline for each of the superposed wires; and
construct the quadrangles of the superposed wires from the estimated centerlines,
wherein locating the gaps includes designating a central region within each of the quadrangles between the estimated centerlines as one of the gaps.

5. The manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the system controller is further programmed to:
identify, within the captured image of the workpiece, two intersecting points of the superposed wires defining two respective corners for each of the quadrangles; and
determine, for each of the quadrangles, a central region at a calibrated angle from a line segment connecting the two respective corners and at a calibrated distance from one of the respective corners,
wherein locating the gaps includes designating the central region of each of the quadrangles as one of the gaps.

6. The manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the system controller is further programmed to determine path plan data for moving the processing head to join the superposed wires at the predefined joint locations, the path plan data including an origin, a destination, and a joint route for traversing the processing head from the origin to the destination.

7. The manufacturing system of claim 6 , wherein the system controller is further programmed to:
generate a trace of the joint route;
determine a start position and an end position within the captured image of the workpiece; and
superimpose the trace of the joint route onto the captured image of the workpiece with the origin overlapping the start position and the destination overlapping the end position.

8. The manufacturing system of claim 7 , wherein the system controller is further programmed to:
determine a plurality of calibrated alignment points on the stitch route;
determine a respective displacement, if any, between each of the calibrated alignment points and a respective alignment location in the image of the workpiece; and
determine a respective trace correction to offset each of the respective displacements.

9. The manufacturing system of claim 1 , further comprising a workpiece frame configured to retain the superposed wires in a tensioned, crisscrossed pattern.

10. The manufacturing system of claim 9 , wherein the workpiece frame includes a plurality of adjoining casing walls defining an inner frame space across which the workpiece is stretched, and a series of posts projecting from the casing walls and spaced from one another along the perimeter of the inner frame space, the wires being wound around the posts.

11. The manufacturing system of claim 1 , further comprising a position sensor configured to determine real-time positions of the processing head relative to a calibrated origin position and output sensor signals indicative thereof.

12. The manufacturing system of claim 11 , wherein the system controller is further programmed to:
receive, from the position sensor, the sensor signals indicative of the real-time positions of the processing head;
determine, from the received sensor signals and a captured image of the workpiece, an estimated distance between each of the real-time positions of the processing head and a next adjacent one of the joint locations; and
estimate a plurality of desired trajectories each based on the estimated distance between the real-time position of the processing head and the respective next adjacent one of the joint locations.

13. The manufacturing system of claim 12 , wherein the system controller is further programmed to determine, one-at-a-time in real-time from the received sensor signals and the captured image of the workpiece, the respective next adjacent one of the joint locations closest to each of the real-time positions of the stitching head.

14. The manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the movable end effector includes a support frame attached to a robot arm.

15. An automated manufacturing system for constructing an engineered textile from a workpiece composed of superposed wires, the manufacturing system comprising:
a movable end effector;
a processing head mounted to the movable end effector; and
a system controller operatively connected to the movable end effector and the processing head, the system controller being programmed to:
determine a plurality of predefined joint locations for the superposed wires;
determine path plan data for moving the processing head to join the superposed wires at the predefined joint locations, the path plan data including an origin, a destination, and a joint route for traversing the processing head from the origin to the destination;
generate a trace of the joint route;
determine a start position and an end position within a captured image of the workpiece;
superimpose the trace of the joint route onto the captured image of the workpiece with the origin overlapping the start position and the destination overlapping the end position;
command the movable end effector to sequentially move the processing head to align the processing head with each of the predefined joint locations; and
command the processing head to join the superposed wires at the predefined joint locations to form the engineered textile.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Nordstrom Matthew D

Classifications

• A43B23/025

  assembled by stitching · CPC title

• D04H3/045

  for net manufacturing · CPC title

• D04H3/05

  in another pattern, e.g. zig-zag, sinusoidal {(D04H3/04 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• A43D2200/10

  Fully automated machines, i.e. machines working without human intervention · CPC title

• D05B19/12

  characterised by control of operation of machine · CPC title