Electronic care and content clothing label
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Solution Overview
Problem
The current methods for creating clothing item labels are inefficient, prone to errors, and wasteful due to the use of unsustainable materials, as they require printing complex care and content information in multiple languages and lack effective communication among manufacturers, leading to costly recalls and slow production processes.
Innovation Solution
The technology encodes a clothing item ID as an alphanumeric code within the item, such as in a radio-frequency identification tag, allowing a cell phone or washing machine to retrieve care and content information from a cloud database, enabling automated washing and sorting, reducing material usage, and facilitating language translation and updates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If care and content information is printed on clothing item labels in multiple languages, then the information is accessible to users across the globe, but the consumption of unsustainable materials increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces physical printed labels with digital copies of care and content information stored in a cloud database. Instead of printing information on unsustainable materials, the system creates digital replicas accessible through RFID tags and mobile devices, eliminating material consumption while maintaining global accessibility through translation services.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary system consisting of RFID tags, mobile devices, and cloud databases that mediate between the clothing item and the user. This intermediary provides access to care information without requiring physical printed labels, thereby reducing material consumption while maintaining information accessibility.
2Loss of information
If care and content information is printed on clothing item labels, then the information is immediately available to users, but the process is slow and prone to errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where care and content information is stored in a centralized cloud database that can be updated and corrected. When errors are identified, the information can be corrected in the database and automatically updated across all RFID tags, providing immediate feedback and correction without manual reprinting.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-storing care and content information in a cloud database before it is needed by users. This allows for efficient retrieval through RFID tags and mobile devices, eliminating the slow process of printing and distributing physical labels while ensuring information is immediately available.
3Reliability
If care and content information is printed on clothing item labels, then the information is fixed at production, but updates require costly recalls
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the static printed label into a dynamic system where care and content information can be updated remotely. The RFID tags store references to information in a cloud database, allowing manufacturers to update care instructions, content information, or correct errors without recalling physical items, thereby maintaining reliability while reducing update costs.
4Loss of information
If a large label is used to contain all care and content information, then all information can be displayed, but the label size increases material consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional physical label to a multi-dimensional digital information system. Care and content information is stored in a cloud database and accessed through RFID tags and mobile devices, utilizing the digital dimension to provide complete information without increasing physical label size or material consumption.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces material waste by at least 50%, increases accuracy through frequent updates and error correction, enhances border transport efficiency, and allows visually impaired users to utilize cleaning appliances, while enabling direct communication between apparel companies and customers for better product management and recycling.
Implementation Method 1
a radio-frequency identification tag
Data Source
AI summary
The technology disclosed here encodes a clothing item ID as an alphanumeric code within the clothing item, such as within a radio-frequency identification tag. A clothing item cleaning appliance, such as a cell phone, or a washing machine reads the clothing item ID from the clothing item, and retrieves the care and content information from a database maintained on a cloud. For example, the care and content information can include operating settings of the washing machine. The washing machine can adjust its settings and wash the clothing item in accordance with the care and content information of the clothing item. The care and content information stored in the database can be organized in optimized data structures enabling efficient responses to received queries, and efficient updates to the information stored in the data structures.