Adaptive Sewing Apparatus With Mechanical Fingers
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sewing technologies face challenges in accurately sewing stitches on complex or arbitrarily shaped materials, often requiring multiple templates and reducing manufacturing flexibility and increasing tooling costs.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a sewing machine with mechanical fingers and a structural grounding system that can securely position and transport materials along arbitrary seam shapes, using a passive belt system and cam profile to maintain orientation and provide clearance for the sewing needle, allowing for adaptive sewing of various designs and sizes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If custom made templates are used to clamp onto layers of materials for sewing, then sewing accuracy is improved, but device complexity and tooling cost increase due to requiring multiple templates for each size, style, and manufacturing step
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanical fingers are designed to perform multiple functions: they can clamp onto layers of materials, transport the materials along arbitrary seam shapes, and provide clearance for the sewing needle. This universal design eliminates the need for multiple custom templates for different sizes and styles, as the same mechanical finger assembly can adapt to various manufacturing requirements through programmable motion control.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical fingers are made movable rather than fixed, allowing them to translate along arbitrary seam shapes and provide dynamic clearance for the sewing needle. This dynamic capability enables the system to handle complex and changing seam geometries without requiring different physical templates, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining sewing accuracy.
2Manufacturing precision
If custom made templates are used for each size, style, and manufacturing step, then sewing precision is maintained, but manufacturing flexibility decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanical finger assembly serves as a universal tool that can accommodate different sizes, styles, and manufacturing steps through programmable control of its motion along arbitrary seam shapes. This eliminates the need for separate templates for each product variation, thereby maintaining sewing precision while significantly improving manufacturing flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the control parameters (position, orientation, and motion path of mechanical fingers) rather than changing the physical template structure. This allows the same mechanical assembly to adapt to different product requirements by modifying motion parameters, thus maintaining precision while enhancing versatility.
3Manufacturing precision
If mechanical fingers are positioned to secure material orientation and position, then sewing accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases due to translation system and structural grounding system
Solution Approach 1:
The functions of securing material orientation, positioning the material, and transporting it along the seam shape are merged into a single integrated mechanical finger assembly. This consolidation reduces overall device complexity compared to having separate systems for each function, while still achieving high sewing accuracy through the coordinated action of the unified structure.
Data Source
AI summary
Various examples are provided related to transporting and sewing material in, e.g., automation of sewing robots. Multiple pieces of layered materials can be transported on a flat planar surface while maintaining the material layer's position and orientation relative to one another during a sewing procedure of these materials along any arbitrary seam shape. In one example, among others, a system includes a sewing machine including a sewing needle, a material holding assembly and a translation system. The material holding assembly can include mechanical fingers that can contact material on a sewing plane adjacent to the sewing needle and a structural grounding system supporting the mechanical fingers. The translation system can reposition the material on the sewing plane via the mechanical fingers. Clearance around the sewing needle can be provided by repositioning individual mechanical fingers around the sewing needle.