Vision-Guided Stitching of Unwoven Wire Textiles for Footwear Uppers
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional footwear manufacturing processes involving multiple sheet elements result in increased waste, transportation costs, and difficulty in recycling, while existing automated systems are limited to stitching woven fabrics and struggle with assembling unwoven wire structures.
Innovation Solution
An automated manufacturing system with vision-guided stitching and a workpiece frame maintains wire tension and precision, using lockstitches to interconnect unwoven, intercrossed wire windings in engineered textiles, eliminating the need for a subjacent support scrim.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple sheet elements are used to fabricate footwear uppers, then material properties (wear-resistance, moisture control, stretchability) can be optimized for different areas, but waste material accumulates to a greater degree and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple discrete sheet elements into a unified engineered textile structure formed from continuous wire windings. The first and second sets of wire windings are formed in an intercrossed, unwoven configuration to create a single integrated textile that provides area-specific material properties without requiring multiple separate components, thereby reducing waste from cutting and joining operations
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structures by combining different wire windings (first set and second set) with distinct orientations and properties within a single engineered textile. This allows optimization of material properties for different areas through the composite arrangement of wire sets rather than through multiple discrete sheets
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple sheet elements are joined together through stitching or adhesive bonding, then multiple properties can be imparted to individual areas, but the time and expense associated with transporting, stocking, cutting, and joining the elements increases proportionately
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functional wire windings into a single engineered textile structure that is fabricated as one integrated component. This eliminates the need to transport, stock, cut, and join multiple separate sheet elements, thereby improving manufacturing efficiency while maintaining area-specific property optimization through the wire winding configuration
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the engineered textile into different wire winding zones (first set and second set of windings) with distinct properties and orientations, allowing area-specific functionality to be achieved through the internal structure of a single textile rather than through assembly of multiple components
3Productivity
If conventional automated stitching systems are used, then woven fabrics can be stitched efficiently, but the systems struggle with assembling unwoven wire structures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameters of the material structure from woven fabric to unwoven wire windings, and accordingly modifies the stitching approach by using vision-guided automated systems that can detect and stitch along the specific geometric patterns of the wire windings, thereby achieving both high productivity and compatibility with unwoven structures
4Adaptability or versatility
If sheet elements are joined in an overlapping or layered configuration, then multiple properties can be imparted to individual areas, but device complexity and recycling difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple property-providing wire windings into a single integrated engineered textile structure where the first and second sets of windings are intercrossed but form one unified fabric. This reduces construction complexity compared to joining multiple discrete sheets while maintaining the ability to impart multiple properties through the wire winding arrangement
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An article of footwear (110), comprising: a sole structure (114) configured to support thereon a foot of a user; and an upper (112) attached to the sole structure (114) and configured to support thereon the foot of the user, the upper (112) including an upper segment fabricated from an engineered textile (132), the engineered textile (132) including: a first set of wire windings (140) substantially parallel to one another and elongated in a first direction (D1); a second set of wire windings (142) substantially parallel to one another and elongated in a second direction (D2) distinct from the first direction (D1), the second set of wire windings (142) abutting the first set of wire windings (140) in an unwoven, intercrossed pattern; and a plurality of joints located at joint locations within the intercrossed pattern and thereby joining together the first and second sets of wire windings (140, 142).