Custom-Fit Knitted Articles Through Digital Stitch Count Scaling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional knitted textile manufacturing methods produce garments and articles in standardized sizes, leading to inconsistent fits across different manufacturers, as consumers cannot ensure a reasonable fit due to varying size standards, and this issue is exacerbated for non-garment articles lacking standardized sizes.
Innovation Solution
A process involving digital representation of the object to be knitted, using scans or images, with surface fitting algorithms for accuracy, to extract measurements and adjust stitch counts for customized fit, allowing for iterative updates based on user preferences and material variations, ultimately producing machine instructions for computerized knitting machines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If standardized sizes are used for mass production, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to inconsistent fits across different manufacturers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the sizing parameters from standardized discrete sizes to continuous custom measurements derived from 3D body scanning. The system captures precise anatomical data and translates it into knitting parameters (stitch counts, needle selections) that exactly match individual body dimensions, eliminating fit inconsistency while maintaining productivity through automated digital workflows.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by creating a digital 3D representation and virtual fitting of the garment before actual manufacturing. This allows fit verification and adjustments to be made in the digital domain, ensuring manufacturing precision is achieved before production begins, thus avoiding rework and maintaining productivity.
2Manufacturing precision
If custom measurements are taken for each consumer, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to scanning and digital representation systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital copy (3D representation) of the consumer's body measurements instead of using physical measurement tools. This digital twin captures all necessary dimensional data in a virtual model that can be manipulated and used for pattern making without requiring complex physical measurement equipment, thus reducing device complexity while maintaining high manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical measurement systems (tape measures, rulers, manual sizing) with optical scanning and digital processing systems. This substitution automates the measurement process, reduces human error, and simplifies the overall system by using software algorithms to handle the complexity of custom fit calculations rather than mechanical adjustment mechanisms.
3Ease of manufacture
If standardized patterns are used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but adaptability deteriorates due to inability to accommodate individual shapes and sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms static standardized patterns into dynamic, adjustable digital patterns that can be automatically modified based on individual body measurements. The digital pattern system allows real-time adjustment of stitch counts, garment dimensions, and design features while maintaining ease of manufacture through automated computer-controlled knitting machines that can process these dynamic specifications without manual intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal digital pattern system that can accommodate any body type, size, or shape through a single platform. The same software and knitting machine infrastructure can produce completely customized garments for different customers by simply inputting their unique measurements, eliminating the need for multiple specialized toolsets and maintaining ease of manufacture through a unified multi-functional system.
Data Source
AI summary
Custom-fit versions of knitted articles are produced according to digital representations of objects for which the articles are to be manufactured. The digital representations, optionally augmented by surface fitting algorithms, allow for accurate scaling of pattern-specified stitch counts for pattern elements representing the article taking into account wales and courses densities for the material(s) from which the article is to be made. Displayed dimensionally-accurate representations of the custom-fit articles allow for user-specified style and fit preferences to be made and a final digital pattern of the article to be produced. Machine instructions representing pattern pieces to be knitted are automatically produced from the final digital pattern of the article for a target computerized knitting machine and the custom-fit article then manufactured according to the machine instructions.