Boots – shoes – and leggings
Patent
1996-10-25
1998-11-17
Ruggiero, Joseph
Boots, shoes, and leggings
83936, 36447006, 36447409, G06F 1546
Patent
active
058385690
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a method of cutting up sheet material in the form of remnants (i.e. short lengths) of non-repetitive shapes and that might have flaws of different types and seriousness. More precisely, the invention relates to a method that includes the following operations: digitizing the configuration of each remnant so as to generate and record graphics information representative of the shape of the remnant; defining a layout for pieces to be cut out from the remnant so as to use the surface area of the remnant optimally; and cutting out the pieces from the remnant in compliance with the resulting layout.
A particular field of application of the invention is that of cutting up hides, in particular in the shoe industry, the clothing industry, or the furniture industry. But the invention may be used for other natural or synthetic sheet materials, in particular those that are likely to be in the form of remnants having shapes that vary from one remnant to another.
In this type of application, a major constraint must be satisfied. For each step of the method: digitization, layout, and cutting out, the remnant must have the same dimensional characteristics, and must be disposed in the same way relative to the frames of reference of the work zones used.
With hides, it has been observed that after a hide has been handled to transfer it from one work zone to another, it is very difficult to maintain exactly the same configuration and the same disposition. One reason for this lies in dimensional variations due to various factors, and in particular the property of certain portions of the hide (legs, neck) to be deformed easily without returning spontaneously to their original shapes. It is immediately apparent that cutting out cannot be satisfactory if it is performed in a hide whose shape is different from the shape that was digitized in order to define the layout on the basis of which cutting out is to be performed.
To overcome this difficultly, one solution consists in using the same work surface for all of the operations, namely digitization, layout definition, and cutting out. The hide is not handled and therefore there is no risk of deformation. Unfortunately, choosing such a compact solution is detrimental to the modularity of the installation, to its operating flexibility, and to its throughput, since the various operations must be performed sequentially.
Another known solution consists in using different work stations for digitization, layout, and cutting out to give greater modularity, operating flexibility, and throughput, it being possible for there to be different numbers of digitizing, layout, and cutting-out stations depending on needs. Unfortunately, it is necessary to use means for transferring the hides between the various stations, e.g. trolleys for transporting rigid supports on which the hides are fixed, requiring complex and costly logistics to be implemented in order to ensure that the hides flow correctly between the work stations Moreover, in order to limit the number of hide transfers to as few as possible, the layout is generally defined blind, i.e. without directly inspecting the hides.
An object of the invention is to avoid the above-mentioned drawbacks by providing a method of cutting up remnants that makes it possible to maintain a modular configuration and high operating flexibility for the installation without having to use restrictive and costly means for holding the remnant in the same configuration or disposition.
The invention achieves this object by providing a method of the type defined at the beginning of the description, and which includes the following steps:
providing the surface of the remnant with first marks characteristic at least of the configuration of the remnant during digitization;
detecting the first marks so as to generate first position information representative of the positions of the first marks;
recording the first position information corresponding to the remnant whose configuration has been digitized;
projecting onto a work surface imag
REFERENCES:
patent: 4941183 (1990-07-01), Bruder et al.
patent: 4961149 (1990-10-01), Scheider et al.
patent: 5089971 (1992-02-01), Gerber
patent: 5333111 (1994-07-01), Chaiken et al.
Letra Systemes
Ruggiero Joseph
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