Vision-Guided Wire Stitching for Unwoven Engineered Textiles

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional methods for manufacturing footwear uppers from multiple sheet elements are time-consuming, costly, and generate significant waste, with recycling becoming increasingly difficult as the number of elements increases, and existing sewing systems are limited to stitching woven fabrics or polymeric sheets.

Innovation Solution

An automated manufacturing system with a vision-guided stitching head and controller-regulated operation is used to precision-lockstitch superposed wires into engineered textiles, eliminating the need for a subjacent support scrim and allowing for unwoven, intercrossed wire windings to be joined with precision and flexibility.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If conventional stitching systems are used to stitch wires in a textile, then the stitching process can be automated, but the system lacks vision guidance resulting in poor positioning accuracy and inability to adapt to variable wire layouts

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvegap positioning accuracyVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by capturing images of the wire textile before stitching begins, identifying all gaps and their positions in advance. This pre-positioning information is stored and used to guide the stitching needle to each gap location, ensuring accurate positioning without requiring complex real-time adjustment mechanisms during the stitching process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

An image capture device and image processing system serve as intermediaries between the wire textile and the stitching mechanism. The image capture device captures the physical layout of wires, the processor converts this visual information into digital gap position data, and this digital information guides the stitching needle. This intermediary system enables precise positioning while keeping the stitching mechanism itself relatively simple.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Productivity

If manual stitching methods are used for engineered textiles, then flexibility in handling variable wire layouts is maintained, but productivity and automation level are insufficient

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestitching speedVSAvoidadaptability to variable layouts

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system employs feedback by capturing images of the actual wire textile, processing these images to identify the real positions of gaps, and using this information to adjust and guide the stitching needle to each gap location. This feedback loop enables the automated system to adapt to variable wire layouts while maintaining high stitching speed and productivity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Adaptability or versatility

If the stitching system uses fixed positioning methods, then the device complexity is reduced, but it cannot accommodate variable wire layouts and gap positions in different textile regions

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadaptability to variable wire layoutsVSAvoidpositioning system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention replaces complex mechanical positioning systems with an optical and computational approach. Instead of using intricate mechanical mechanisms to physically adjust and locate gaps, the system uses an image capture device to optically detect gap positions, a processor to compute the coordinates, and a simple guidance mechanism to move the stitching needle to these computed positions. This substitution achieves high adaptability while keeping the device complexity manageable.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentEP4538442B1Vision-guided stitching systems and logic for fabricating engineered textiles with interstitched superposed wires

Publication Date: 2026.05.13 NIKE INNOVATE CV

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AI summary

An automated manufacturing system (300) for constructing an engineered textile (132) from a workpiece (132') composed of superposed wires (140, 142), the manufacturing system (300) comprising: a movable end effector (302); a stitching head (310) mounted to the movable end effector (302) and including a thread feeder (316) and a sewing needle (320) cooperatively configured to generate stitches; an image capture device (330) mounted to the movable end effector (302) and configured to capture an image of the workpiece (132') and output data indicative thereof; and a system controller (304) operatively connected to the movable end effector (302), the stitching head (310), and the image capture device (330), the system controller (304) being programmed to: receive, from the image capture device (330), the data indicative of the captured image of the workpiece (132'); locate, from the captured image of the workpiece (132'), multiple gaps each defined between a respective quadrangle of the superposed wires (140, 142); command the movable end effector (302) to sequentially move the stitching head (310) to thereby align the sewing needle (320) with each of the gaps; and command the stitching head (310) to insert a succession of stitches within the gaps between the superposed wires (140, 142).