Automated Pattern Acquisition for Custom Product Manufacturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manufacturers face difficulties in obtaining a complete description of design areas for customizable products, especially when products are flexible assemblies with wide tolerances, making it challenging to map design patterns to physical products accurately.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for acquiring, characterizing, and applying manufacturing patterns through an automated production process that uses a web-based client/server architecture, allowing customers to input designs interactively, and subsequently producing physical products by generating Image Pattern Files, Cutting Files, and Operator directions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If manufacturers use flexible assemblies with wide tolerances for product customization, then adaptability and versatility improve, but manufacturing precision and measurement difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses physical reference products with printed markups to create digital copies of the manufacturing patterns. Cameras capture images of these reference products, and software automatically processes the images to generate accurate digital representations of design areas, eliminating the need for manual geometric descriptions and achieving high precision despite physical tolerances
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual measurement and geometric description methods with an automated optical system. Instead of manually measuring and describing complex flexible assemblies, the system uses cameras to capture images and software to automatically process them, substituting mechanical measurement with optical capture and computational processing
2Manufacturing precision
If manufacturers obtain complete geometric descriptions of flexible assemblies, then manufacturing precision improves, but device complexity and difficulty of detecting and measuring worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates digital copies of physical manufacturing patterns by capturing images of reference products with printed markups. This copying approach simplifies the system compared to complex geometric modeling, as it directly reproduces the actual manufacturing patterns through image capture and automated processing
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses self-contained reference products with printed markups that automatically provide all necessary geometric information. The reference products serve their own measurement and description functions, eliminating the need for external complex measurement devices or manual geometric descriptions
3Measurement precision
If manufacturers use reference products with printed markups for pattern acquisition, then measurement precision improves, but loss of time and productivity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates printed markups into reference products during the manufacturing process itself, rather than adding them later. This preliminary action integrates the measurement markers into the production flow, allowing pattern acquisition to occur naturally during manufacturing without requiring separate measurement steps
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous useful action by capturing images of reference products at the point of manufacture and immediately processing them to generate digital patterns. This continuous flow from physical manufacturing to digital pattern generation eliminates idle time and keeps the process moving efficiently
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for acquisition, characterization, and application of Manufacturing patterns to the automated production of the digital representation of these patterns as interactive media that gathers a customer's input, and subsequently produces physical product is described.