Method and apparatus for transforming a part periphery to be cut from a patterned sheet material
AssigneeGerber Technology, Inc.
InventorJames S. Herman Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for cutting patterned sheet material to provide a predetermined relationship between a pattern characteristic and the part to be cut. An estimated position of a pattern characteristic is projected onto the sheet material and a distance between the estimated position and an actual position of the pattern characteristic is identified. A transforming program calculates a position for other pattern characteristic positions and cutting instructions are then created and executed.
Claims19
A method of transforming a digitized periphery of a part to be cut from a patterned sheet material having a plurality of repeating pattern characteristics, comprising:
- (a) disposing a first segment of the patterned sheet material upon a support surface;
- (b) selecting a first pattern characteristic occurring in the first segment;
- (c) projecting a reference image onto the first segment at an estimated position of the first pattern characteristic;
- (d) visually inspecting the sheet material and the projected reference image to identify a corresponding pattern characteristic position proximal to the projected reference image;
- (e) identifying a difference between the projected reference image at the estimated position and the corresponding pattern characteristic position proximal to the projected reference image;
- and
- (f) rotating the digitized periphery of the part in response to the identified difference.
A method of calculating an estimated position of a third occurrence of a pattern characteristic on a patterned sheet material having repeating occurrences of the pattern characteristic, comprising:
- (a) projecting a first reference image onto the sheet material at a first estimated position of the pattern characteristic;
- (b) visually inspecting the sheet material and the projected first reference image to identify a corresponding first pattern characteristic position;
- (c) identifying a difference between the first reference image on the sheet material at the first estimated position and the corresponding first pattern characteristic position;
- (d) projecting a second reference image onto the sheet material, the second reference image including a second estimated position of the pattern characteristic;
- (d) visually inspecting the sheet material and the projected second reference image to identify a corresponding second actual pattern characteristic position;
- (e) identifying a difference between the second reference image on the sheet material at the second estimated position and the corresponding second pattern characteristic position;
- and
- (f) calculating a position of a third occurrence of the pattern characteristic based upon a difference between the first estimated position and the first actual pattern characteristic position, and the second estimated position and the second actual pattern characteristic position.
A method of transforming a digitized part periphery relative to a patterned sheet, comprising:
- (a) projecting an estimated position of a pattern characteristic and an estimated pattern distortion onto the sheet material;
- (b) identifying by visual operator inspection of the sheet material a first vector relating the projected estimated position of the pattern characteristic to a unique actual pattern characteristic position, and a second vector relating the estimated pattern distortion to an actual pattern distortion;
- and
- (c) transforming the digitized periphery in response to the identified vectors.
A method of transforming and distorting a digitized periphery of a part to be cut from a patterned sheet material having a repeating pattern characteristics, comprising:
- (a) disposing a first segment of the patterned sheet material upon a support surface;
- (b) projecting a reference image onto the first segment at the estimated position of a first pattern characteristic, the reference image including an estimated fabric distortion including one of a bow and a skew;
- (c) visually inspecting the first segment of the patterned sheet material to identify an actual fabric distortion;
- (d) visually inspecting the first segment of the patterned sheet material and the projected reference image and identifying a difference between the projected reference image and the actual fabric distortion;
- and
- (e) transforming the digitized periphery of the part in response to the identified difference.
A method of identifying a fabric repeat characteristic in a patterned sheet material, comprising:
- (a) projecting a first estimated pattern characteristic position onto the sheet material;
- (b) identifying a first actual pattern characteristic position corresponding to the first estimated pattern characteristic position;
- (c) projecting a second estimated pattern characteristic position onto the sheet material spaced apart from the first estimated pattern characteristic position;
- (d) identifying a second actual pattern characteristic point corresponding to the second estimated pattern characteristic position;
- and
- (e) calculating a pattern characteristic repeat frequency for a portion of the sheet material intermediate the first and the second actual pattern characteristic positions.
A method of associating an estimated pattern characteristic position and an actual pattern characteristic position located on a sheet material having a periphery, comprising:
- (a) identifying a reference image of an estimated pattern characteristic position located outside the periphery of the sheet material;
- (b) moving the reference image by one of an estimated pattern characteristic repeat and an actual pattern characteristic repeat to locate the reference image within the periphery of the sheet material;
- and
- (c) projecting the reference image within the periphery of the sheet material.
An apparatus for transforming a part periphery to be cut from a patterned sheet material, comprising:
- (a) a database containing coordinate information of the part periphery;
- (b) a projector for projecting a part periphery onto the sheet material;
- (c) an input device for entering offset data representing a difference between a projected reference point and a corresponding point on the sheet material;
- and
- (d) a controller operably connected to the database and the projector for calculating a pattern characteristic position in response to the offset data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.