Method and device to discriminate two ends of an article from each other

Abstract

The method comprises the steps of: generating a curve (PF) which approximates the profile of one end (P) of an article; processing said curve to determine whether it approximates the profile of said first or said second end.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to improvements to methods and to devices for handling articles having a longitudinal extension and two ends that differ from each other, for example and in particular tubular knitted articles such as stockings or socks.[0002]More specifically, the present invention relates to a new method and a new device to detect, i.e. distinguish or discriminate from each other two ends of the same article that differ in shape from each other, such as, in particular although not exclusively, a sock or stocking or other tubular knitted article.STATE OF THE ART[0003]In the manufacture of stockings and socks it is the trend to increasingly use automation of production processes, starting from knitting of the article up to sewing of the toe.[0004]In this trend towards automation, one of the most critical aspects is represented by the difficulty in automatically detecting which of the two ends of a tubular article, such as a sock delivered from a cir...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0027]In a particularly simple embodiment, although sufficiently accurate in many cases, the maximum and minimum values of the derivative are determined and the difference is calculated. The two ends of the article are detected, i.e. discriminated from each other, on the basis of a comparison between the maximum and minimum value of the derivative and a threshold value. This is possible thanks to the fact that, for example in the case of socks, the toe has a trend with a highly variable curvature, and therefore with a derivative that takes values differing greatly from one another along the extension of the profile representing the end, while the greater part of the band end is instead normally more or less rectilinear, and therefore its derivative has a flat trend.

[0028]According to another aspect, the invention relates to a device to distinguish from each other, i.e. to discriminate from one another a first end and a second end of an article, comprising an arrangement of sensors to identify a plurality of points belonging to the profile of an end of said article, and a control and processing unit which, as a function of the coordinates of said points, detects whether they belong to said first end or to said second end.

[0029]In practice, the control and processing unit can be programmed so as to generate a curve that approximates the profile of said end as a function of said points identified by said sensors.

[0030]According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the sensors comprise an

Problems solved by technology

Similar problems of orientation of tubular articles can be found in the feed of stockings or socks to setting machines.

For example, In producing feminine stockings, there is the problem of inserting each single stocking, with the toe already sewed, onto a setting board and for this purpose the individual stockings must be picked up from a container in which they are placed randomly to insert them over the board.

The methods and devices currently known to automatically distinguish from one another a first end and a second end of an article, such as a tubular knitted article, are not particularly reliable and are costly.

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