Unwoven Wire Textile Assembly Using Vision-Guided Gap Stitching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional footwear manufacturing processes involving multiple sheet elements result in increased waste, transportation costs, and difficulty in recycling, particularly for uppers with complex designs, due to the use of woven or knitted textiles that require intricate stitching and bonding.
Innovation Solution
An automated manufacturing system employing a vision-guided stitching process to interconnect unwoven, superposed wires in a crisscross pattern, using a robot arm with a stitching head and image capture device to precision locate and stitch gaps between wire windings, eliminating the need for a subjacent support scrim and allowing for relative wire movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional woven or knitted textiles with multiple sheet elements are used, then the upper can provide multiple properties (wear-resistance, moisture-control, stretchability), but the manufacturing complexity and waste increase proportionately
Solution Approach 1:
The textile is divided into discrete wire elements that can be independently positioned and joined, allowing different sections to provide different properties without requiring multiple separate sheet elements. Each wire can be tailored with specific characteristics and assembled into a composite structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite construction by joining multiple wire elements together to create a textile with multiple functional properties. Different wires with varying characteristics (stretchability, rigidity, moisture-wicking) are combined in a single integrated structure, eliminating the need for multiple layered sheets.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple sheet elements are joined together through stitching and bonding, then the upper can achieve complex designs, but waste material accumulates to a greater degree
Solution Approach 1:
The design is segmented into individual wire components that can be precisely cut and positioned. This allows for near-net-shape manufacturing where waste is minimized, as wires can be cut to exact lengths and joined only where needed, rather than cutting and joining large sheet elements with significant offcuts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables easier material recovery and recycling by using discrete wire elements that can be separated and reused. Unlike bonded sheet assemblies where materials are permanently combined, the wire elements can be disassembled, sorted by material type, and recovered for recycling with minimal contamination.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple sheet elements are used in overlapping or layered configuration, then multiple properties can be imparted to individual areas, but the time and expense associated with transporting, stocking, and joining elements increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functional properties are merged into a single integrated wire assembly process. Instead of transporting, stocking, and joining separate sheet elements, all wire components are positioned and joined in a single manufacturing step, reducing handling time and logistics complexity while maintaining the ability to provide different properties in different areas.
Solution Approach 2:
Wires are pre-positioned and pre-shaped into their final configuration before joining occurs. This preliminary arrangement allows for efficient assembly where wires are already in their correct positions and orientations, eliminating the need for complex positioning and adjustment during the joining process.
4Strength
If conventional textiles require intricate stitching and bonding, then the upper can achieve full coverage and structural integrity, but recycling becomes increasingly more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The textile is constructed from discrete, separable wire elements rather than permanently bonded sheets. This segmentation allows the textile to maintain structural integrity through the mechanical interconnection of individual wires, while enabling easy disassembly for recycling by simply separating the wire components without requiring dissolution of bonds or complex deconstruction processes.
Data Source
AI summary
Presented are automated manufacturing systems for fabricating engineered textiles, footwear and apparel formed with such engineered textiles, methods for making such engineered textiles, and memory-stored, processor-executable instructions for operating such manufacturing systems. An automated manufacturing system constructs engineered textiles from workpieces composed of superposed, unwoven wires. The system includes a movable end effector bearing a stitching head and an image capture device. The stitching head has a thread feeder and sewing needle to generate stitches. The image capture device captures images of the workpiece and outputs data indicative thereof. A system controller receives this image capture device data and locates, from the captured image of the workpiece, gaps defined between quadrangles of the superposed wires. The controller commands the end effector to sequentially move the stitching head and thereby align the sewing needle with the gaps, and commands the stitching head to insert a succession of stitches within these gaps.