Textured fabric printing system and method
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for printing on patterned fabrics, such as double jersey knit and quilted fabrics, lack flexibility in color and design customization due to limitations in altering yarn colors and patterns after weaving or quilting, resulting in inflexible graphic designs and misalignment of printed colors with fabric patterns.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses imaging and scanning to identify fabric threadings like stitches and bindings, compares actual fabric patterns to design data, adjusts print data for distortion, and aligns printed designs with fabric patterns using a printing apparatus and software, incorporating markers on selvedges for precise alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If fabric patterns are created by weaving or quilting with fixed yarn colors and stitch patterns, then the fabric structure and base pattern are established, but the color and design flexibility is limited and cannot be easily customized
Solution Approach 1:
The invention separates the pattern creation into two independent stages: (1) fabric manufacturing with structural patterns via weaving/knitting/quilting, and (2) post-manufacturing digital printing for color and design customization. This segmentation allows the fabric structure to be produced once while enabling unlimited color and design variations through printing, resolving the contradiction between pattern stability and design flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The fabric is pre-manufactured with embedded structural patterns, stitches, or quilt designs that serve as the base framework. This preliminary action establishes the tactile and structural pattern before any color application, allowing subsequent printing to only add color and design elements without altering the fabric's physical pattern structure, thereby enabling customization while maintaining pattern integrity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If fabric is printed before pattern creating stitches or quilting are added, then printing can be done on flat fabric, but the printed design cannot be easily changed and alignment with the final patterned fabric is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The fabric is first manufactured with its final structural pattern (stitches, quilting, or weaving variations) already in place. This preliminary action creates the definitive pattern framework that the subsequent printing process must align with. The printing is then performed on this pre-patterned fabric using imaging systems that detect the existing pattern features to guide precise color placement, ensuring both customization capability and alignment precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses imaging devices to scan the pre-patterned fabric and detect the actual positions of stitches, quilting patterns, or weaving variations. This feedback information is used to dynamically adjust the printing process, compensating for any fabric distortion or pattern variation. The imaging system provides real-time data about the fabric's actual state, allowing the printing system to align colors precisely with the detected pattern features despite any deviations from the ideal fabric geometry.
3Ease of operation
If fabric stretches or distorts during handling and printing, then the fabric becomes easier to manipulate, but the printed design becomes misaligned with the fabric pattern
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging system continuously monitors the fabric's actual pattern positions during handling and printing operations. When fabric distortion or stretching occurs, the imaging feedback detects the displacement of pattern features and dynamically adjusts the printing coordinates to compensate. This closed-loop feedback system maintains print alignment with the fabric pattern even when the fabric is manipulated or stretched, allowing easy handling without sacrificing printing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The printing system is designed to be dynamic and adaptive rather than static. The imaging and printing processes are continuously adjusted based on the fabric's actual state at each moment. The system can accommodate fabric movement, stretching, and positioning changes by dynamically recalculating print coordinates based on real-time imaging feedback, enabling both easy fabric handling and precise print alignment throughout the manufacturing process.
Data Source
AI summary
A print apparatus and print method is provided for patterned fabrics, particularly those with surface variations due to threadings. These threadings may be e.g. stitches and/or bindings arranged in the fabric that create the surface variations which create the pattern. The apparatus/method involves a vision system which detects the threadings at a granular level (e.g. detects individual stitches) and then determines how those stitches have moved due to fabric stretching. The computer and its software adjust the print design (often a color design) to match the distortion/warping of the fabric. In some cases, the printer can print along a line of the stitches at a width not much wider than the stitches at high precision and with precise alignment. The fabric printed may have reference markers to aid in identification of the threadings and a calibration process may be used for the printer to align the print and vision systems.