US 11,331,812 B2Granted

Robotic manipulation of fabric pieces using a dropping-roller-type picker

OwnerMichel St-Amandinventor

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Abstract

The method of transporting a piece of fabric material using a Morton™ picker comprises the steps of aligning a weight vector of the piece of fabric material being lifted, from the gap between the toothed wheel and the pressing foot of the picker and into a region between a tangent to the toothed wheel and a right angle to the pressing surface of the pressing foot; and lifting and transporting the piece of fabric material while maintaining the alignment of the weight vector in that region. In another aspect, there is provided robotic installation comprising a robotic arm and a Morton™ picker for manipulating pieces of fabric material. The robotic arm is configured for simultaneously rotating an axis of the picker and moving the picker along a hyperbolic trajectory, in a single complex motion without jitter, while maintaining the aforesaid alignment of the weight vector.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A method of transporting a piece of fabric material using a dropping-roller-type picker having a toothed wheel;

a pressing foot with a pressing surface and a gap between said toothed wheel and said pressing foot, wherein said toothed wheel being configured to retain a piece of fabric material thereunder, in said gap and against said pressing foot;
comprising the steps of:
aligning said picker for maintaining an alignment of a weight vector of said piece of fabric material from said gap, into a region between a tangent to said toothed wheel and a perpendicular to said pressing surface;
lifting said piece of fabric material while maintaining said alignment of said weight vector in said region, and
during said step of lifting, rotating an axis of said picker about said toothed wheel, wherein said axis is a line passing through a center of said toothed wheel and extending parallel to said pressing surface;
and lifting said piece of fabric material along a hyperbolic lifting trajectory while maintaining said step of rotating;
wherein said step of rotating and said step of lifting being combined in a first single complex motion;
and
further comprising a step of moving said piece of fabric material from a pile of said pieces of fabric material to a work table, wherein said step of moving comprising the step of lifting said piece of fabric material face up, and lowering said piece of fabric material face down on said work table while maintaining said alignment of said weight vector and while rotating said axis of said picker.

6 more elements

A robotic installation for manipulating pieces of fabric material, comprising a robotic arm and a dropping-roller-type picker mounted to said robotic arm;

said picker having a toothed wheel;
a pressing foot with a pressing surface and a gap between said toothed wheel and said pressing foot, wherein said toothed wheel being configured to retain a piece of fabric material thereunder, in said gap and against said pressing foot;
said robotic arm being configured to simultaneously rotate an axis of said picker and to move said picker along a hyperbolic trajectory;
and said robotic aim being also configured to lift a piece of fabric material;
to align said picker for maintaining an alignment of a weight vector of said piece of fabric material from said gap, to a region between a tangent to said toothed wheel and a perpendicular to said pressing surface;
and to maintain said alignment while moving said piece of fabric material, and said robotic aim being further configured to peel said piece of fabric material from a pile of said pieces of fabric material using a peeling angle of between 130° to 160°;
and said robotic arm being also configured for lifting said piece of fabric material face up along a first hyperbolic lifting trajectory while rotating said axis of said picker counterclockwise about said toothed wheel;
for moving said piece of fabric material to a work table and for lowering said piece of fabric material face down on said work table while rotating said axis of said picker clockwise and moving said picker along a second hyperbolic laying trajectory.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.