Thread Printer Image-Based Feedback for Pattern Alignment Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing woven fabrics with varied colors and patterns are limited by the number of spools required, lead to increased spatial requirements and manufacturing costs, and suffer from ink wicking issues and image distortion due to single-sided printing.
Innovation Solution
A system that includes a thread printer with colored coating reservoirs and a camera for real-time image processing to adjust thread color application, ensuring accurate placement and distribution of colors across the fabric, allowing for multi-color weft threads to be woven with warp threads for enhanced pattern precision and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If numerous spools of different colored threads are used to achieve varied colors and patterns, then color variety is improved, but spatial requirements and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
A single spool of white thread is used instead of multiple spools of different colored threads. The thread printer applies different colored coatings to the same thread, making the single thread serve multiple color functions. This reduces the number of spools needed while maintaining the ability to produce varied colors and patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The thread printer acts as an intermediary between the single white thread spool and the fabric production. It applies colored coatings to the thread, enabling color variety without requiring multiple colored spools. This intermediary device simplifies the overall system while achieving the desired color diversity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If thread color changes are made frequently to achieve varied patterns, then color variety is improved, but production speed decreases due to shuttle interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The thread printer continuously applies colored coatings to the thread as it passes through, without interrupting the weaving process. This eliminates the need to stop the shuttle for color changes, maintaining continuous production while achieving varied patterns through the printed thread itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The colored patterns are pre-applied to the thread before weaving occurs. This preliminary coloring action allows the thread to carry its own color information, eliminating the need for real-time color changes during the weaving process and maintaining production speed.
3Adaptability or versatility
If ink is printed directly on the surface of woven fabric, then color variety is improved, but image quality degrades due to ink wicking along fibers
Solution Approach 1:
The colored coatings are applied to the thread before weaving, not after. This preliminary action ensures that the color is embedded in the thread structure itself, preventing ink wicking issues that occur when ink is applied to the finished fabric surface. The color becomes an integral part of the thread rather than a surface coating.
4Ease of manufacture
If images are printed only on one side of the fabric, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but image durability decreases due to fiber movement and stretching
Solution Approach 1:
The colored patterns are applied to the thread before weaving, embedding the color within the fabric structure during the weaving process itself. This ensures that both sides of the fabric receive the color treatment simultaneously as the thread is interwoven, improving durability without requiring complex post-weaving printing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The coloring is applied at the thread level rather than the fabric surface level. This local application ensures that each individual thread carries the color information, and when woven, the color is distributed throughout the fabric structure, making it resistant to degradation from fiber movement or stretching.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for treatment of thread includes a thread printer that applies colored coatings to thread. A camera is positioned to capture images of the treated thread after it passes through an outlet of the thread printer. The system processes the images to determine whether the location of a selected segment of the treated thread corresponds to an expected location. If the actual location of the selected segment corresponds to the expected location, the system will continue instructing the thread printer to selectively apply the colored coatings to the thread according to the pattern. However, if the actual location does not correspond to the expected location, the system will modify the pattern so that thread printer adjusts the size of one or more segment to automatically account for the misalignment.