System and method for garment-to-garment recovery and reconstruction

Abstract

The invention provides automatic cloth opening visual inspection equipment which comprises a camera shooting unit which shoots a to-be-detected material which is processed by a first process and has a preset weight to generate a first image, and a controller which grades parameters of the shot to-be-detected material with a preset threshold value to generate a second image. And distributing the to-be-tested material according to the rating result so as to convey the to-be-tested material to the second process or back to the first process. The invention further discloses a system and a method for garment-to-garment recovery and reconstruction.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of clothing recycling, and in particular to a system and method for clothing-to-clothing recycling. Background Art

[0002] The garment-to-garment (G2G) recycling system involves a compact production line used in the textile industry to recycle old clothes into ready-made garments. It is designed to recycle pre- or post-consumption clothing and produce new clothing that can be worn or sold through a series of processes such as disinfection and regeneration. The system can be installed and operated in limited spaces (such as containers) to explore commercial and educational models for the circular economy of textile machinery recycling. With its vibration-resistant, low-noise, low-dust, and wastewater-reducing design, the system minimizes interference with the surrounding environment and can be configured to operate in community spaces such as shopping malls. The system's process does not include dyeing the fabric, which significantly enhances the system's environmental friendliness.

[0003] WO2020198957A1 discloses a garment-to-garment system for making new garments by recycling discarded garments, which avoids or minimizes the possibility of generating wastewater by performing anhydrous disinfection of discarded garments by ozone fumigation. Specifically, the fabric pieces of the disinfected discarded garments are loosened, and dust is removed to form fiber clusters, which are then loosened and impurities are removed to form fiber clumps. The fiber clumps are anhydrous disinfected by ozone fumigation or UV-C radiation. Advantageously, the fiber clumps are unfolded to form a fiber web during the disinfection process. The exposed surface area of ​​the fiber web is significantly higher than the surface area of ​​the discarded clothing, thereby improving the effectiveness of disinfection. New garments are then formed from the disinfected fiber clumps by standard garment manufacturing processes. The application details the process for disinfecting recycled clothes and is incorporated herein by reference.

[0004] The system and method for garment-to-garment recycling disclosed in the present application comprises a complete and miniaturized production line, which may include disinfection, opening, cleaning, visual inspection, combing, drawing, rotor spinning, roving, ring spinning, winding, doubling and twisting, and knitting and other process flows.

[0005] There is no such miniaturized system for garment-to-garment recycling on the market. The system of the present invention can be performed in a container with limited space, has environmentally friendly designs such as noise reduction and dust removal, and covers the complete process of garment-to-garment recycling and recycling. Therefore, the miniaturized G2G system can be used to develop applications in many different fields, for example, placed in shopping malls for business-to-consumer (B2C) business, business-to-business (B2B) business, research and development (R&D), education and promotion purposes. The system can output the input recycled clothes into customized new clothes (ready-made clothes) through a series of processes, which is environmentally friendly and saves resources. In the process flow of the system, waterless disinfection is adopted and there is no need to dye the fabric, which further reduces the pollution to the environment. Visual inspection, diversion and automatic conveying of the opened fibers before combing increase the degree of automation and are more conducive to adapting to limited space. The result of diversion enables the formation of combed sliver directly in the combing process. The yarn spinning adopts the rotor spinning method and the ring spinning method, covering different recycling requirements and broadening the scope of application of the regenerated fiber. Shorter or longer fibers are spun by rotor, and fibers that are not suitable for rotor spinning (such as cashmere fibers or other high-quality fibers) are spun by ring to improve yarn quality. Customers can customize the garments recreated by the system based on the body shape data from the 3D body scanning device. Summary of the invention

[0006] The system and method for garment-to-garment recycling disclosed in the present invention describe a complete and compact industrial chain, providing an automated production line at the container-sized level and a customized system that can achieve tailor-made clothing.

[0007] Specifically, the present invention discloses an automated visual inspection device for fabric loosening, comprising: a camera unit, which photographs a material to be tested of a predetermined weight that has been processed by a first process to generate a first image, and a controller, which rates the parameters of the photographed material to be tested against a preset threshold value, and diverts the material to be tested according to the rating result, so as to transport the material to be tested to a second process or back to the first process.

[0008] In some embodiments, the controller includes an image processing unit, which processes the first image to convert the first image into a second image including an unopened cloth area and an unopened yarn boundary.

[0009] In some embodiments, the above processing includes converting the first image into an HSV color model, and extracting a foreground image of the material to be tested by using the hue characteristics of the image background.

[0010] In some embodiments, the above processing includes fusing the first image and the foreground image to detect the unopened cloth area.

[0011] In some embodiments, the above processing includes fusing the first image and the foreground image to detect the boundary of the unopened yarn.

[0012] In some embodiments, the controller rates the degree of opening of the material to be tested based on the size of the unopened cloth area and the proportion of the area defined by the unopened cloth area and the unopened yarn boundary to the foreground image; when the opening level is lower than a preset threshold, a first signal is sent to automatically transport the material to be tested back to the first process; otherwise, a second signal is sent to automatically transport the material to be tested to the second process.

[0013] In some embodiments, the opening level is set to 5 levels, level 1 is the lowest opening level, and level 5 is the highest opening level. Preferably, the preset threshold is set to level 3.

[0014] In some embodiments, the automated visual inspection device for fabric opening further includes a display device, which displays various parameters, the first image, and the second image required in the automated visual inspection device for fabric opening.

[0015] In some embodiments, the camera unit includes a lighting device, which illuminates the material to be tested to facilitate shooting. Preferably, the lighting device is a surface light source with the same width as the conveyor belt carrying the material to be tested.

[0016] In some embodiments, the diversion adopts an automatic conveying device, which includes a conveyor belt carrying the material to be tested and an aerodynamic device. Preferably, the automatic conveying device includes a conveyor belt, two-way conveying fans and a cotton box, which respectively send the tested material back to the feeding end of the first process or the second process, and the process is controlled by a controller.

[0017] The present invention further discloses a system for clothing-to-clothing G2G recycling, comprising: a disinfection unit, which disinfects the recycled clothing and outputs the disinfected fabric; an opening unit, which opens the disinfected fabric and outputs the opened small pieces of fabric, yarn and / or fiber; a bullet cleaning unit, which further opens the opened small pieces of fabric, yarn and / or fiber and outputs the material to be tested; a visual unit, which is included in the bullet cleaning unit, and the visual unit includes the automatic fabric opening visual detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, automatically The visual inspection equipment for opening and lowering fabrics grades the materials to be tested, and diverts the materials to be tested according to the grades, so as to convey the materials to the combing section or convey them back to the opening section; the combing section combs the materials to be combed, and outputs the combed slivers; the drawing section draws the combed slivers, and outputs the slivers to be spun; the spinning section spins the slivers to be spun into single yarns; the doubling and twisting section doubling and twisting the single yarns, and outputs ply yarns suitable for knitting garments; and the knitting section weaves the ply yarns into garments.

[0018] In some embodiments, the cleaning section includes a mixing unit for mixing the virgin fibers with the material to be combed according to a preset mixing ratio.

[0019] In some embodiments, the blending unit includes a blending database, which determines a preset blending ratio based on the material and quality of the recycled clothing, predicts the yarn quality under different blending strategies, and makes recommendations to operators.

[0020] In some embodiments, the combing section includes a flat combing unit and a roller combing unit. The material to be combed is first combed by the roller combing unit. If the main component of the material to be combed is wool fiber, it is directly output as combed strips after roller combing. Otherwise, the material to be combed is automatically transported to the flat combing unit for flat combing after roller combing, and is output as combed strips after flat combing.

[0021] In some embodiments, the drawing section includes an active sliver guide frame and a sliver coiler. The active sliver guide frame can automatically feed the combed slivers in a limited space and collect the combed slivers in the sliver coiler.

[0022] In some embodiments, the spinning section includes a rotor spinning unit and a ring spinning unit. If the sliver to be spun is a fiber not suitable for rotor spinning, it is delivered to the ring spinning unit; otherwise, it is delivered to the rotor spinning unit.

[0023] In some embodiments, the fiber not suitable for rotor spinning includes cashmere fiber.

[0024] In some embodiments, the ring spinning unit includes a roving device, a ring spinning device, and a winding device.

[0025] In some embodiments, the doubling and twisting section further includes two spindle twisting units.

[0026] In some embodiments, the system for garment-to-garment G2G recycling further includes an ordering department, through which customers order garments. Preferably, customers intuitively monitor the progress of recycling through a G2G progress page provided by the ordering department.

[0027] In some embodiments, the customization department further includes a customer body shape feature unit, which includes customer body shape feature data. The customer body shape feature data is provided to the knitting department, and the knitting department knits ready-made clothes that meet the customer's body shape characteristics for the customer based on the customer's body shape feature data.

[0028] In some embodiments, the customer's body shape feature data comes from a 3D body scanning device.

[0029] In some embodiments, the customization department selects clothing styles for customers based on the customer's body shape feature data and recommends appropriate sizes. Alternatively, the customer browses and selects the desired clothing styles through the G2G clothing style page provided by the customization department.

[0030] In some embodiments, the system for garment-to-garment G2G recycling further includes a material tracking unit, which monitors the status of each process of the system online and automatically collects and stores data and status. The material tracking unit includes an input device for a user to input control instructions and data and an output device for displaying data and status to the user.

[0031] In some embodiments, the material tracking unit further includes a sensing unit, which includes one or more temperature sensors and one or more humidity sensors. The material tracking unit collects temperature and humidity data of the system.

[0032] On the other hand, the present disclosure also discloses a method for clothing-to-clothing recycling, comprising the following steps: disinfecting the recycled clothes and outputting the disinfected fabrics; opening the disinfected fabrics and outputting the opened small pieces of fabric, yarns and / or fibers; cleaning the opened small pieces of fabric, yarns and / or fibers and outputting the materials to be tested; detecting the materials to be tested by the automated fiber visual inspection equipment of any one of claims 1 to 10, grading the parameters of the materials to be tested with a preset threshold value, thereby determining the degree of opening of the materials to be tested, and when the opening grade is lower than the preset threshold value, conveying the materials to be tested back to the opening and cleaning steps, otherwise conveying the materials to be tested to the combing step; combing the materials to be combed and outputting the combed strips; drawing the combed strips and outputting the strips to be spun; spinning the strips to be spun into single yarns; drawing and doubling the single yarns and outputting ply yarns suitable for knitting into garments; and knitting the garments with the ply yarns.

[0033] In some embodiments, before the carding step, the method further includes mixing the virgin fibers with the material to be carded according to the mixing ratio predicted and set by the mixing database.

[0034] In some embodiments, in the combing step, the material to be combed is first roller combed. If the main component of the material to be combed is wool fiber, it is directly output as combed slivers after roller combing. Otherwise, the material that has undergone roller combing is automatically conveyed for cover plate combing, and is output as combed slivers after cover plate combing.

[0035] In some embodiments, in the spinning step, roving, ring spinning and winding steps are performed on fibers that are not suitable for rotor spinning, otherwise rotor spinning is performed. Preferably, the fibers that are not suitable for rotor spinning include cashmere fibers.

[0036] Other features and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] The foregoing and other features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments provided by way of example only and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the drawings are only schematic and that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and not necessarily with all details complete without affecting the understanding of the present invention. In the drawings:

[0038] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a system for garment-to-garment recycling according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0039] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a disinfection unit according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0040] Figure 3A A schematic diagram showing an opening part and a cleaning part according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0041] Figure 3B A schematic diagram of an interface of a hybrid database according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0042] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Schematic diagrams of a roller combing unit and a flat plate combing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention are respectively shown;

[0043] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a drawing section according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0044] Figures 6A to 6D Schematic diagrams of a rotor spinning unit, a roving device, a ring spinning device and a winding device according to an embodiment of the present invention are respectively shown;

[0045] Fig. 7A and 7B Schematic diagrams of a doubling twisting section and a two-spindle twisting unit according to an embodiment of the present invention are respectively shown;

[0046] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a knitted portion according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0047] Figures 9A to 9D Schematic diagrams of customer body shape feature data, a 3D human body scanning device, a G2G clothing style page provided by the ordering department, and a G2G process page provided by the ordering department according to an embodiment of the present invention are respectively shown;

[0048] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of an automated fiber visual inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0049] FIG. 11A to FIG. 11C Schematic diagrams showing a recycling clothing tracking barcode, a QR code scanner, and a start QR code and an end QR code attached to a machine representing the start and end of a process at the machine, respectively, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0050] Fig.11D A schematic diagram of an interface of a material tracking unit according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0051] Fig.12 A flow chart of a method for garment-to-garment recycling according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] For ease of description, terms such as "upper", "lower", "top", "bottom" and any variations thereof are used to explain the position of a component or the position of one component relative to another component and are not intended to be limited to a specific orientation or position. Terms such as "first", "second", etc. are used herein to describe various components, elements, regions, parts, etc. and are not intended to be limiting.

[0053] When introducing elements of the present disclosure or the preferred embodiments thereof, the words "a", "an", and "the" are not intended to indicate a limitation of quantity, but rather to indicate the presence of at least one item unless otherwise specified or clearly contradicted by context. Additionally, the terms "comprising", "including", "comprising", and "having" are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements besides the listed elements.

[0054] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the embodiments of the present invention have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs.

[0055] It should be understood that, if any prior art publication is cited herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in any country.

[0056] Figure 1A schematic diagram of a system 100 for garment-to-garment recycling according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The system 100 is integrated in a container with a limited space, and includes a disinfection section 110, an opening section 120, a cleaning section 130, a visual section 132, a combing section 140, a drawing section 150, a spinning section 160, a doubling and twisting section 170, and a knitting section 180. The combing section 140 includes a roller combing unit 142 and a flat combing unit 144. The spinning section 160 includes a rotor spinning unit 162 and a ring spinning unit 164. The ring spinning unit 164 includes a roving device 164A, a ring spinning device 164B, and a winding device 164C. The doubling and twisting section 170 includes a doubling unit 172 and a doubling unit 174, and preferably, further includes a two-spindle doubling unit 176. Those skilled in the art can understand that the above parts, units and devices are not necessary. For example, if the recycled clothes are unconsumed clothes, they do not need to go through the disinfection part 110; for example, if the customer only needs ply yarn, the knitting part 180 is not needed; and so on. In addition, two or more of the above parts can be integrated into one component. The above parts can have different spatial layouts under reasonable circumstances, and the process of the system does not have to be executed in the order of the above numbered flow.

[0057] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a disinfection unit 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The disinfection unit 110 disinfects one or more recycled clothes 111 to remove microorganisms on the clothes and outputs the disinfected fabric. The disinfection unit 110 includes an ozone fumigation box 112, and optionally, may also include an ultraviolet radiation lamp 114. The disinfection unit 110 has an input device 116 and an output device 118, which are convenient for operators to control and inspect. WO2020198957A1 discloses a method of waterless disinfection using ozone fumigation or ultraviolet rays. Other methods known in the art can also be used, such as high temperature disinfection.

[0058] Figure 3A A schematic diagram of an opening section 120 and a cleaning section 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The opening section 120 opens the sterilized cloth and outputs small pieces of cloth, yarn and / or fiber. The opening process is the process of tearing large fiber clumps and blocks into small pieces and small bundles. Opening reduces the scale of the lateral connection of the fibers, creating conditions for further loosening to a single state in the future. The sterilized cloth is broken into small pieces of cloth (rags), yarn and / or fiber after opening and cleaning. The cleaning section 130 further opens the small pieces of cloth, yarn and / or fiber output by the opening section 120, and outputs the material to be tested 314. The material to be tested 314 is then input into the visual section 132 for visual inspection, and the visual section 132 may be included in the cleaning section 130. The visual section 132 will be described in detail later. Figure 3AOptionally, the cleaning section 130 further comprises a mixing unit, which mixes the raw fiber with the material to be combed output from the cleaning section 130 to the combing section 140 according to a preset mixing ratio.

[0059] Figure 3B The schematic diagram of the interface of the hybrid database 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The hybrid unit includes a hybrid database 200, which determines a preset mixing ratio according to the material and quality of the recycled clothes. The material mixing strategy, that is, the mixing ratio of virgin fiber and regenerated fiber (i.e., the material to be combed), affects the processing and recycling quality. The operator can input information such as the structure, clothing type, new and old condition, content, thickness and weight of the fabric of the recycled clothes into the hybrid database 200. The hybrid database 200 predicts the yarn quality under different blending strategies based on the input information and makes suggestions to the operator, which can benefit both experienced operators and novice operators. In order to improve product quality, the inventor established a hybrid database 200 based on experience and test data from hundreds of experiments. According to the test, the suggestions made have been proven to be effective and improved the quality of the yarn.

[0060] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Schematic diagrams of a roller combing unit 142 and a flat combing unit 144 according to an embodiment of the present invention are respectively shown. The combing unit 140 combs the combed material and outputs the combed slivers. The combed material is first combed by the roller combing unit. If the main component of the combed material is wool fiber, it is directly output as combed slivers after roller combing. Otherwise, the combed material is automatically transported to the flat combing unit for re-combing after being output from the roller combing unit, and is output as combed slivers after being combed by the flat.

[0061] The carding machine is a spinning machine that combs the preliminarily processed spinning raw materials into single fibers, forms a mesh fiber layer, and then gathers them into fiber strips. The carding machine can comb the cotton bundles and arrange them in the same direction. The roller carding machine is suitable for combing wool fibers, while the flat carding machine can further comb cotton fibers and cotton-type chemical fibers. It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the carding section 140 is not limited to roller carding or flat carding, and other methods such as cashmere carding machines and semi-worsted carding machines can also be used.

[0062] Figure 5A schematic diagram of a drawing section 150 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The drawing section 150 draws the combed slivers and outputs slivers to be spun. The function of the drawing machine is to improve the internal structure of the fiber slivers, thereby improving the uniformity of their long segments and reducing the weight unevenness, so that the fibers in the fiber slivers are straightened and parallel, reducing hooks, making the fineness meet the requirements, and making raw materials of different types or qualities mix evenly to achieve a specified mixing ratio. During the drawing process, multiple fiber slivers are pulled together to form a straightened unit, thereby improving the uniformity. The drawing section 150 includes an active guide frame 152 and a coiler 154. The active guide frame 152 can automatically feed the combed slivers in a limited space, and collect the combed slivers in the coiler 154, thereby improving the quality of the generated slivers and saving manpower. In order to save space and miniaturize the entire system, the present invention is designed to shorten the size of the active guide frame 152, such as Figure 5 shown.

[0063] The spinning section 160 weaves the sliver to be spun into single yarn. The spinning section 160 includes a rotor spinning unit 162 and a ring spinning unit 164. Figures 6A to 6D Schematic diagrams of a rotor spinning unit 162, a roving device 164A, a ring spinning device 164B and a winding device 164C according to an embodiment of the present invention are respectively shown. If the fiber in the material to be combed is not suitable for rotor spinning, it is transported to the ring spinning unit 164, otherwise it is transported to the rotor spinning unit 162. The fiber that is not suitable for rotor spinning can be, for example, cashmere fiber or other high-quality fiber. It is well known to those skilled in the art that high-quality fiber is a fiber recycled from recycled clothes with loose fabric and yarn structure, and the fiber is relatively slender, and the length and strength are well maintained. Due to the large number of recycling factors and the wide variety of fabrics and yarns, the selected range will vary according to the recycling factors and the type of fabric or yarn. The ring spinning unit 164 includes a roving device 164A, a ring spinning device 164B and a winding device 164C.

[0064] The rotor spinning machine is one of the free-end spinning methods, which uses a rotor to condense single fibers. Because it mainly uses airflow at the beginning, it is also called an air-spinning machine. During the rotor spinning process, the drafted fiber strips are fed into a high-speed rotor and spun into single yarns. Rotor spinning has a high spinning speed and a large winding capacity. It has good spinning suitability for spinning low-grade cotton and waste cotton, and the working environment is greatly improved. The rotor spinning process is short and the count cannot be very high. Ring spinning is one of the methods of non-free-end spinning using true twist. The ring spinning machine has a ring-shaped steel collar, which twists the coarse short fibers into yarn, passes through the steel collar, and winds it onto the bobbin. Ring spinning is widely used for spinning and twisting various fibers. The single yarn spun by the ring spinning machine has high strength and good quality. It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the spinning section 160 is not limited to rotor spinning or ring spinning, and other methods such as vortex spinning and jet spinning can also be used.

[0065] The introduction of the ring spinning unit 164 can expand the applicable fiber range and improve the yarn quality. Some fibers that are not suitable for rotor spinning, such as cashmere fibers or other high-quality fibers, can be ring-spun to enhance their yarn strength, which is beneficial for further knitting processing. Some higher-quality regenerated fibers can be ring-spun to produce finer yarns, and then two yarns can be fed during the knitting process to further improve the quality of knitted garments.

[0066] Before the ring spinning process, the drawn sliver needs to be processed into a roving with a protective twist to reduce the linear density. Winding, also known as winding, is the process of processing the bobbin or hank yarn into a bobbin that meets certain requirements on a winding machine. Multiple bobbins are formed into a large bobbin to eliminate yarn defects and improve yarn quality.

[0067] Fig. 7A The schematic diagram of the doubling and twisting section 170 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The doubling and twisting section 170 doubling and twisting the single yarns, and outputs the ply yarns suitable for knitting into garments. The doubling and twisting section 170 includes a doubling unit 172 and a twisting unit 174, and preferably further includes two spindle twisting units 176. Figure 7B A schematic diagram of a two-spindle two-for-one twisting unit 176 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Double yarn can combine two single yarns to form a double yarn. During double twisting, the double yarn is fed into the two-spindle two-for-one twisting unit 176, and the two-spindle two-for-one twisting unit 176 can double-twist the double yarn into a ply yarn to enhance strength and balance torque.

[0068] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a knitted portion 180 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The knitted portion 180 is knitted into a garment using ply yarn. The garment may be, for example, a knitted sweater, a knitted skirt, etc. A fully fashioned knitting machine may be used to make a new garment.

[0069] Figures 9A to 9D Schematic diagrams of customer body shape feature data 192, 3D human body scanning device 194, G2G clothing style page 196 provided by the ordering unit 190, and G2G process page 198 provided by the ordering unit 190 are respectively shown according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system 100 further includes the ordering unit 190. The ordering unit 190 further includes a customer body shape feature unit, which can provide tailor-made clothing for customers. The customer body shape feature unit includes the customer body shape feature data 192, such as Fig. 9A Optionally, the customer's body shape characteristic data 192 is provided to the knitting unit 180. The knitting unit 180 knits a garment that meets the customer's body shape characteristics for the customer based on the customer's body shape characteristic data 192. The customer's body shape characteristic data comes from a 3D human body scanning device 194, such as Fig. 9BAs shown. The customer body shape feature unit can extract the customer body shape feature data 192 from the 3D human body scanning device 194. Optionally, the ordering unit 190 can recommend a suitable size for the customer to select a clothing style based on the customer body shape feature data 192. The customer can select the clothing style by Fig. 9C The G2G clothing style page 196 provided by the ordering department 190 shown in FIG. 196 allows customers to browse and select the desired clothing style. Fig.9D The G2G progress page 198 provided by the customization department 190 is shown to intuitively monitor the progress of recycling. When the garment is completed, the customization department 190 will notify the customer to pick up the garment product through email, SMS, etc., and provide the customer with a customer experience survey to provide feedback on the product and service.

[0070] The present invention provides a combined machine integrating opening, cleaning and combing. The combined machine integrating opening, cleaning and combing may include an automatic cloth opening visual inspection device 300 after the cleaning operation. Fig.10 The schematic diagram of the automatic cloth opening visual inspection device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The automatic cloth opening visual inspection device 300 evaluates the cotton cleaning output, determines the degree of opening of the fabric material, and then decides to re-open and re-clean the cotton to reduce the impact of the unopened fabric / yarn on the subsequent roller combing machine. The automatic cloth opening visual inspection device 300 can reduce the manpower for machine operation and monitoring. The automatic cloth opening visual inspection device 300 is placed at the visual part 132 of the system 100, which diverts the material to be tested 314 and outputs the material to be combed to the combing part 140 or transports it back to the feeding end of the opening part 120.

[0071] The automated cloth opening visual inspection device 300 includes a camera unit 310. Optionally, the automated fiber visual inspection device 300 includes a conveyor belt 312, and the material to be tested 314 of a predetermined weight that has been opened and cleaned (first process) is conveyed to the bottom of the camera unit 310 through the conveyor belt 312 for easy shooting. It can be understood by those skilled in the art that the material to be tested 314 can also be placed on other conveying devices for shooting. The camera unit 310 can be equipped with one or more lighting devices, and the lighting device illuminates the material to be tested 314 for easy shooting. Preferably, the lighting device selects a surface light source with the same width as the conveyor belt 312. The camera unit 310 shoots the material to be tested 314 of a predetermined weight that has been processed by the first process to generate a first image 320. The lighting device can select an LED light source. The light source of the lighting device is not limited to a visible light source. For example, infrared photography processing can also be performed on the graphics.

[0072] The automatic cloth opening visual inspection device 300 includes a controller. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the controller is a controller networked with a programmable logic controller (PLC) of an opening-cleaning-combing machine. In other embodiments, the controller can also be a controller integrated with the PLC of the opening-cleaning-combing machine. Or it can be other controllers that can realize the above functions under the operation of a non-combined machine. The form of the controller includes but is not limited to a central processing unit (CPU), a single-chip microcomputer (MCU), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a system on a chip (SoC), etc. The controller rates the parameters of the photographed material 314 to be tested with a preset threshold value, and diverts the material 314 to be tested according to the rating result, so as to transport the material 314 to the second process or transport it back to the first process. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second process is a combing process located in the combing section 140. The controller may include an image processing unit. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the image processing unit processes the first image 320 and converts it into a second image 322 containing an unopened cloth piece area and an unopened yarn boundary. Preferably, the image processing unit converts the first image 320 into an HSV color model, and extracts the foreground image of the material to be tested by the hue characteristics of the image background. Preferably, the image processing unit fuses the first image and the foreground image to detect the unopened cloth area. Preferably, the image processing unit fuses the first image and the foreground image to detect the unopened yarn boundary.

[0073] The controller will rate the degree of opening of the cloth piece according to the size of the area of ​​the unopened cloth piece detected from the second image and the proportion of the area defined by the unopened cloth piece area and the unopened yarn boundary in the foreground image. When the opening level is lower than the preset threshold, the controller will send a first signal (e.g., signal 1 or high level) to the PLC of the opening-cleaning-combing machine to automatically transport the material to be tested back to the first process, otherwise, the controller will send a second signal (e.g., signal 0 or low level) to the PLC of the opening-cleaning-combing machine to automatically transport the material to be tested to the second process. Preferably, the opening level is set to 5 levels, with level 1 being the lowest opening level and level 5 being the highest opening level. Preferably, the preset threshold is set to level 3.

[0074] In other embodiments, the degree of opening of the fiber 314 to be tested can be estimated, for example, by parameters such as the density of fiber distribution and the degree of discreteness between fibers. The degree of opening can also be evaluated by dividing the image into a number of cells. It is understood that the controller can also directly perform quantitative analysis on the first image 320 by mathematical calculation without performing image conversion.

[0075] The automated visual inspection device 300 for opening fabrics may include an input device, which sets the above-mentioned predetermined weight value and preset threshold and other parameters according to the type and quality requirements of the material 314 to be tested. The automated visual inspection device 300 for opening fabrics may further include a display device 330. The display device 330 displays various parameters required in the automated visual inspection device 300 for opening fabrics, the first image 320 and the second image 322. The diversion may be performed by an automatic conveying device, preferably an aerodynamic device and a conveyor belt. In other embodiments, a movable platform and a manipulator may also be used. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the automatic conveying device includes, in addition to the conveyor belt, two-way conveying fans and a cotton box, which respectively send the refluxed material back to the first process feeding end and the second process, and the process is controlled by a controller.

[0076] The system 100 further includes a material tracking unit 400. The material tracking unit 400 monitors the status of each process of the system 100 online, and automatically collects and stores data and status. The material tracking unit 400 includes an input device for the user to input control instructions and data. The input device can be a QR code scanner 412. For example, FIG. 11A to FIG. 11C Schematic diagrams of a recycling clothing tracking barcode 410, a QR code scanner 412, and a start QR code 414 and an end QR code 416 attached to a machine representing the start and end of a process at the machine are respectively shown according to an embodiment of the present invention. The material tracking unit 400 may further include an output device for displaying data and status to a user. The material tracking unit 400 collects temperature and humidity data of the system 100, and may further include a sensing unit. The sensing unit includes one or more temperature sensors and one or more humidity sensors. Fig.11D Schematic diagram of the interface of the material tracking unit 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The interface of the material tracking unit 400 can be used as the main control interface of the system 100. Optionally, the main control interface can input and display output through a touch screen.

[0077] Fig.12A flow chart of a method 600 for garment-to-garment recycling according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The method 600 may include the following steps. The recycled garments are disinfected 610, and the disinfected fabric is output. The disinfected fabric is opened 620, and the opened small pieces of fabric, yarn and / or fiber are output. The opened small pieces of fabric, yarn and / or fiber are cleaned 630, and the material to be tested is output. The degree of opening of the material to be tested is rated 632, and the material to be tested is diverted according to the rating results and transported to the second process (combing) 640 or transported back to the first process (opening) 620. Preferably, the virgin fiber is mixed with the material to be combed according to a predetermined mixing ratio 634. Subsequently, the material to be combed is combed 640, and the combed strips are output. Optionally, in the combing step 640, the material to be combed is firstly subjected to roller combing 642, and then it is determined 644 whether the main component of the material to be combed is wool fiber. If so, the material to be combed is directly output as combed slivers after roller combing 642, otherwise the material after roller combing 642 is automatically conveyed for flat plate combing 646, and output as combed slivers after flat plate combing. After the combing step 640, the combed slivers are drawn 650, and the slivers to be spun are output. Subsequently, the slivers to be spun are spun 660 into single yarns. Optionally, in the spinning step 660, it is first determined 664 whether the fiber to be spun is a fiber not suitable for rotor spinning. If so, roving 666A, ring spinning 666B and winding 666C steps are performed, otherwise rotor spinning 662 is performed. Fibers not suitable for rotor spinning can be, for example, cashmere fibers or other high-quality fibers. It is well known to those skilled in the art that high-quality fibers are fibers recovered from recycled clothes with loose fabric and yarn structures, and the fibers are relatively slender, and the length and strength are well maintained. Since there are many recycling factors and there are many types of fabrics and yarns, the selected range will vary according to the recycling factors and the types of fabrics or yarns. Subsequently, the single yarn is doubled 670A and twisted 670B to output a ply yarn suitable for knitting into a garment. Optionally, after the twisting 670B, two-spindle twisting 670C can be further performed to enhance the strength and balance torque of the ply yarn. Finally, the ply yarn is knitted 680 into a garment, such as a knitted sweater, a knitted skirt, etc. The above steps are not necessarily necessary steps to implement the present invention, and the order of the above steps can be modified or adjusted within a reasonable range.

[0078] The above detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure or its application and / or use. It should be understood that there are a large number of variations. The detailed description will enable those of ordinary skill in the art to implement the exemplary embodiments of the present invention without undue experimentation, and it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made to the functions and structures described in the exemplary embodiments.

[0079] Benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that make any benefit, advantage, or solution present or more apparent should not be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature or element.

Claims

1. An automated cloth opening visual inspection device, comprising: a camera unit, wherein the camera unit photographs a material to be tested of a predetermined weight processed by a first process to generate a first image, and A controller is provided for rating the photographed parameters of the material to be tested against a preset threshold value, and for diverting the material to be tested according to the rating result, so as to transport the material to be tested to a second process or back to the first process.

2. The automatic cloth opening visual inspection device according to claim 1, wherein: The controller comprises an image processing unit, which processes the first image and converts it into a second image including an unopened cloth piece area and an unopened yarn boundary.

3. The automatic cloth opening visual inspection device according to claim 2, wherein: The processing includes converting the first image into an HSV color model, and extracting the foreground image of the material to be tested through the hue characteristics of the image background.

4. The automatic cloth opening visual inspection device according to claim 3, wherein: The processing includes fusing the first image and the foreground image to detect the unopened cloth area.

5. The automatic cloth opening visual inspection device according to claim 3, wherein: The processing includes fusing the first image and the foreground image to detect the boundary of the unopened yarn.

6. The automatic cloth opening visual inspection device according to claim 2, wherein: The controller rates the degree of opening of the material to be tested according to the size of the unopened cloth area and the proportion of the area defined by the unopened cloth area and the boundary of the unopened yarn to the foreground image; when the opening level is lower than the preset threshold, the controller sends a first signal to automatically transport the material to be tested back to the first process; otherwise, the controller sends a second signal to automatically transport the material to be tested to the second process.

7. The automatic cloth opening visual inspection device according to claim 6, wherein: The opening level is set to 5 levels, level 1 is the lowest opening level, and level 5 is the highest opening level. Preferably, the preset threshold is set to level 3.

8. The automated visual inspection device for fabric opening as described in claim 2 further comprises a display device, wherein the display device displays various parameters, the first image and the second image required in the automated visual inspection device for fabric opening.

9. The automatic cloth opening visual inspection device according to claim 1, wherein: The camera unit comprises an illumination device, which illuminates the material to be tested to facilitate shooting. Preferably, the illumination device is a surface light source having the same width as a conveyor belt carrying the material to be tested.

10. The automatic cloth opening visual inspection device according to claim 1, wherein: The diversion adopts an automatic conveying device, which includes a conveyor belt and an aerodynamic device that carry the material to be tested. Preferably, the automatic conveying device includes the conveyor belt, two-way conveying fans and a cotton box, which respectively send the tested material back to the first process feeding end or the second process. The process is controlled by the controller.

11. A system for garment-to-garment G2G recycling, comprising: A disinfection unit, wherein the disinfection unit disinfects the recovered clothes and outputs the disinfected clothes; An opening section, which opens the sterilized cloth and outputs the opened small cloth pieces, yarns and / or fibers; A cleaning section, which further loosens the opened small pieces of cloth, yarn and / or fiber, and outputs the material to be tested; A visual section, the visual section is included in the cleaning section, the visual section includes the automatic cloth opening visual inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the automatic cloth opening visual inspection device grades the material to be tested, and diverts the material to be tested according to the grading result, so as to transport the material to be tested to the combing section or back to the opening section; The combing part combs the material to be combed and outputs the combed strips; A drawing section, which draws the combed slivers and outputs slivers to be spun; A spinning section, wherein the spinning section spins the sliver to be spun into single yarn; a doubling and twisting section, which doubling and twisting the single yarns to output ply yarns suitable for knitting garments; and The knitting section weaves the ply yarn into a finished garment.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein: The cleaning section comprises a mixing unit for mixing the virgin fibers with the material to be combed according to a preset mixing ratio.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein: The mixing unit includes a mixing database, which determines the preset mixing ratio according to the material and quality of the recycled clothes, predicts the yarn quality under different blending strategies, and makes suggestions to the operator.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein: The combing section includes a flat combing unit and a roller combing unit. The material to be combed is first combed by the roller combing unit. If the main component of the material to be combed is wool fiber, it is directly output as the combed strips after roller combing. Otherwise, the material to be combed is automatically transported to the flat combing unit for flat combing after roller combing, and is output as the combed strips after flat combing.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein: The drawing section comprises an active sliver guide frame and a sliver coiler. The active sliver guide frame can automatically feed the combed slivers in a limited space and collect the combed slivers in the sliver coiler.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein: The spinning section comprises a rotor spinning unit and a ring spinning unit. If the sliver to be spun is a fiber not suitable for rotor spinning, it is transported to the ring spinning unit; otherwise, it is transported to the rotor spinning unit.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein: The fibers that are not suitable for rotor spinning include cashmere fibers.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein: The ring spinning unit comprises a roving device, a ring spinning device and a winding device.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein: The doubling and twisting section further comprises two spindle twisting units.

20. The system of claim 11, further comprising an ordering department, through which customers order garments, and preferably, customers intuitively monitor the progress of recycling through a G2G progress page provided by the ordering department.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein: The customization department further includes a customer body shape feature unit, which includes customer body shape feature data. The customer body shape feature data is provided to the knitting department, and the knitting department knits ready-made clothes that meet the customer's body shape features for the customer based on the customer's body shape feature data.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein: The customer's body shape feature data comes from a 3D body scanning device.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein: The customization department selects clothing styles for the customer based on the customer's body shape feature data and recommends appropriate sizes. Alternatively, the customer browses and selects the desired clothing styles through the G2G clothing style page provided by the customization department.

24. The system as described in claim 11 further includes a material tracking unit, which monitors the status of each process of the system online and automatically collects and stores data and status. The material tracking unit includes an input device for users to input control instructions and data and an output device for displaying data and status to users.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein: The material tracking unit further includes a sensing unit, wherein the sensing unit includes one or more temperature sensors and one or more humidity sensors, and the material tracking unit collects temperature and humidity data of the system.

26. A method for garment-to-garment recycling, comprising the steps of: Disinfect the recycled clothes and output the disinfected fabrics; Opening the sterilized cloth and outputting the opened small cloth pieces, yarns and / or fibers; cleaning the opened small cloth pieces, yarns and / or fibers and outputting the materials to be tested; The material to be tested is tested by the automated fiber visual inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, and the parameters of the material to be tested are rated with a preset threshold value, so as to determine the degree of opening of the material to be tested, and when the opening grade is lower than the preset threshold value, the material to be tested is transported back to the opening and clearing step, otherwise the material to be tested is transported to the combing step; Combing the materials to be combed and outputting the combed strips; Drawing the combed slivers and outputting the slivers to be spun; Spinning the sliver to be spun into single yarn; The single yarn is doubled and twisted for two times to output a ply yarn suitable for knitting into garments; and The ply yarn is used to knit a garment.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein: Before the combing step, the method further includes mixing the virgin fiber with the material to be combed according to the mixing ratio predicted and set by the mixing database.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein: In the combing step, the material to be combed is first roller combed. If the main component of the material to be combed is wool fiber, it is directly output as the combed slivers after roller combing. Otherwise, the material that has undergone roller combing is automatically conveyed for cover plate combing, and is output as the combed slivers after cover plate combing.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein: In the spinning step, the fiber not suitable for rotor spinning is subjected to roving, ring spinning and winding steps, otherwise rotor spinning is performed. Preferably, the fiber not suitable for rotor spinning includes cashmere fiber.

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