Automated trimming of pliable items
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsChih-Chi Chang, Cheng-Yen Ho, Mike F. Quigley, Shu-Hui Wang
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Abstract
The present invention relates to the automated cutting of pliable items. More particularly, the present invention relates to the automatic cutting and/or trimming of pliable items, such as a shoe upper that lacks uniformity. An image of the pliable item is captured having image features and a pattern is retrieved having pattern features, such as a proposed cut path. An image feature is compared to distance tolerances associated with pattern features to adjust the proposed cut path such that it satisfies the distance tolerances while providing a consistently sized and shaped trimmed item.
Claims20
A system for removing unwanted portions of pliable items, the system comprising:
- an image capturing device operable to capture an image of a pliable item;
- a processor coupled to the image capturing device that identifies at least one critical image feature within the captured image of the pliable item, the at least one critical image feature usable to identify at least one pattern representation corresponding to the pliable item;
- a computer-readable memory retaining the at least one pattern representation corresponding to the pliable item, the pattern representation identifying:
- (1) the pliable item,
- (2) at least one critical pattern feature associated with the pliable item, the at least one critical pattern feature identifying one or more critical image features expected to be found in the captured image of the pliable item, and
- (3) a corresponding proposed cut path for the pliable item based at least in part upon the identified at least one critical pattern feature;
- a processing system that overlays the proposed cut path onto the captured image and compares a distance between the at least one critical image feature and the at least one critical pattern feature to a predetermined distance tolerance, and generates an adjusted final cut path that satisfies the predetermined distance tolerance;
- and
- a cutting system moveable along the generated final cut path to trim the pliable item along the final cut path.
A method for trimming a pliable item used in forming an article of footwear, the method comprising:
- capturing at least one image of the pliable item while in a relatively planar orientation;
- in a processing unit, locating a pattern retained in a computer readable memory system, the pattern corresponding to the at least one captured image and identifying at least one critical pattern feature that corresponds to at least one critical image feature expected to be found in the captured image of the pliable item;
- in the processing unit, generating a proposed trimming path for the pliable item based upon the pattern;
- in the processing unit, comparing the proposed trimming path to at least one distance tolerance between the at least one critical pattern feature and the corresponding at least one critical image feature, and adjusting the proposed trimming path to a final trimming path such that the final trimming path satisfies the at least one distance tolerance;
- and
- applying a cutting device to the pliable item along the final trimming path.
A system for trimming pliable pieces of a shoe upper, the system comprising:
- an image capturing device operable to capture at least one image of a pliable piece to be used to form a shoe upper;
- a processing device operably coupled to the image capturing device and programmed to analyze the captured image and to identify at least one critical image feature of the pliable piece, the at least one critical image feature usable to identify at least one pattern representation corresponding to the pliable piece;
- a computer-readable memory retaining the at least one pattern representation corresponding to the pliable piece, the pattern representation usable to identify:
- (1) the pliable piece,
- (2) at least one critical pattern feature associated with the pliable piece, the at least one critical pattern feature identifying one or more critical image features expected to be found in the captured image of the pliable piece, and
- (3) a corresponding proposed cut path for the identified pliable piece based at least in part upon the identified at least one critical pattern feature and overlaid onto the captured image;
- a processing device programmed to compare a distance between the at least one critical image feature and the at least one critical pattern feature to a predetermined distance tolerance, and to create an adjusted final cut path satisfying the distance tolerance;
- and
- a cutting system moveable along the final cut path to trim the pliable item along the final cut path.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.