Patent Application
20170204543
This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No. 105101022, filed on Jan. 14, 2016.
The disclosure relates to a fabric, and more particularly to a data-bearing fabric.
Conventionally, for a common fabric product (e.g., clothes), when it is intended to provide certain information of the fabric product (e.g., a material of the fabric product, a producer of the fabric product, a geographical location in which the fabric product is made, a price of the fabric product, etc.), a physical label containing such information may be attached to the fabric product. However, when the physical label becomes detached from the fabric product, the information would be lost. Additionally, it is possible for a third party selling counterfeit consumer goods to present incorrect information on the physical label, and to proceed to sell fabric products whose information is inconsistent with one on the physical label. For example, the incorrect information may mislead the customer into buying the counterfeit fabric products, thinking the counterfeit fabric products are authentic.
Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a fabric that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.
According to one embodiment of the disclosure, the fabric includes a plurality of open stitches and a plurality of closed stitches, from which at least one portion of the fabric is knitted. The plurality of open stitches and the plurality of closed stitches cooperatively define a data-bearing section which serves as the at least one portion of the fabric.
The data-bearing section contains coded information that is associated with the fabric and that serves as an encoded string.
In defining the data-bearing section, each of the plurality of open stitches and each of the plurality of closed stitches are employed to respectively represent specific symbols of an encoding system.
Each of the plurality of open stitches and the plurality of closed stitches is recognizable from a captured image of the data-bearing section based on image recognition technology, the coded information being extractable by identifying relative locations of the plurality of open stitches and the plurality of closed stitches in the data-bearing section, and by applying the encoding system.
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similar characteristics.
Specifically, the fabric 1 includes a data-bearing section 13 that is cooperatively defined by the plurality of open stitches 11 and the plurality of closed stitches 12, and contains coded information that is associated with the fabric 1. The coded information may include one or more specific attribute of the fabric 1. For example, the attribute of the fabric 1 may include one or more of a material of the fabric, a producer of the fabric, a geographical location in which the fabric is made, a price of the fabric, a client ordering the fabric, a pattern design of the fabric, a color of the fabric, and a product which the fabric is used to produce.
In the embodiment as shown in
The open stitches 11 and the closed stitches 12 may be arranged in one of a one-dimensional arrangement and a two-dimensional arrangement so as to define the data-bearing section 13. In this embodiment, the open stitches 11 and the closed stitches 12 are arranged and linked together in the two-dimensional arrangement, as illustrated in
In defining the data-bearing section 13, an open stitch 11 and a closed stitch 12 are employed to respectively represent specific symbols of an encoding system. In this embodiment, the encoding system is a binary code system, and the open stitch 11 may represent the symbol “0” and the closed stitch 12 may represent the symbol “1”. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the open stitch 11 may represent the symbol “1” and the closed stitch 12 may represent the symbol “0”. Using the above encoding system, information that is intended to be provided to the fabric 1 may be converted into coded information (e.g., binary data that is represented by two digits, ‘0’ and ‘1’), and multiple open stitches 11 and closed stitches 12 may be linked together to constitute an encoded string for representing the coded information.
In this embodiment, when it is intended to obtain the coded information from the data-bearing section 13, an image capturing device may be employed to capture an image containing the data-bearing section 13. Subsequently, a processor of an electronic device may be employed to recognize, from the captured image of the data-bearing section 13, each of the open stitches 11 and the closed stitches 12 using image recognition technology.
Afterward, the processor may extract the coded information by identifying relative locations of the open stitches 11 and the closed stitches 12 in the data-bearing section 13, and applying the encoding system (e.g., to replace an open stitch 11 by the symbol “0” and to replace a close stitch 12 by the symbol “1”).
As shown in
The data portion 132 includes one or more sub-sections, each including an encoded string representing a specific attribute of the fabric 1.
In this embodiment, eight sub-sections 133 to 140 are provided (see
Specifically, the sub-section 133 includes one encoded string “01000001”, indicating that the material of the fabric 1 is one encoded as “A”. The sub-section 134 includes one encoded string “01000010”, indicating that the producer of the fabric 1 is one encoded as “B”. The sub-section 135 includes one encoded string “01000011”, indicating that the geographical location in which the fabric 1 is made is one encoded as “C”. The sub-section 136 includes one encoded string “11001100”, indicating that the price of the fabric 1 is NTD 204. The sub-section 137 includes one encoded string “01000010”, indicating that the client ordering the fabric 1 is one encoded as “B”. The sub-section 138 includes one encoded string “01000010”, indicating that the pattern of the fabric 1 is one encoded as “B”. The sub-section 139 includes one encoded string “01000001”, indicating that the color of the fabric 1 is one encoded as “A”. The sub-section 140 includes one encoded string “01000111”, indicating that the product which the fabric 1 is used to produce is one encoded as “G”.
In extracting the coded information by applying the encoding system, a lookup table may be provided for a user to obtain actual information (i.e., the various attributes of the fabric 1) from the encoded information. In one embodiment, the lookup table may be stored in a database of the electronic device to obtain the actual information automatically.
In some embodiments, the coded information may indicate other data formats, including one of a one-dimensional code and a two-dimensional code. For example, the one-dimensional code may be a barcode, and a number of the close stitches 12 in each encoded string of the data-bearing section 13 may be used to indicate a line/spacing with a particular width. In this way, the processor is capable of producing the barcode from the data-bearing section 13 for an optical reader to read.
Alternatively, the two-dimensional code may be a matrix barcode such as quick response (QR) code. As such, an open stitch 11 in the data-bearing section 13 may be used to indicate a blank (white) portion in the QR code and a close stitch 12 may be used to indicate a square dot (black) portion in the QR code. In this way, the processor is capable of producing the QR code from the data-bearing section 13 for an optical reader to read.
Some advantages of the embodiments are described below. Firstly, it is noted that each of the open stitches 11 and the closed stitches 12 has a certain shape. As a result, even when the captured image is skewed or is upside down, the processor is capable of calibrating the captured image so as to obtain a calibrated image in a correct angle.
Additionally, each of the open stitches 11 and the closed stitches 12 is relatively small in size, so the entire data-bearing section 13 may be constructed to contain the coded information with only a relatively small area required.
Moreover, a difference between the open stitches 11 and the closed stitches 12 is not recognizable by human eyes, so the inclusion of the data-bearing section 13 does not affect the fabric 1 aesthetically, and the coded information cannot be obtained by directly looking at the data-bearing section 13.
To sum up, the disclosure provides a fabric 1 that includes the open stitches 11 and the closed stitches 12, from which at least one portion of the fabric 1 is knitted. The open stitches 11 and the closed stitches 12 cooperatively define the data-bearing section 13 serving as the at least one portion of the fabric 1. As a result, the attributes of the fabric are knitted onto the fabric 1 in the form of the encoded information, and may be obtained by a processor analyzing a captured image of the data-bearing section 13.
This eliminates the need to employ a physical label attached to the fabric 1 for the purpose of presenting the attributes of the fabric 1, since the attributes of the fabric 1 maybe obtained as long as the data-bearing section 13, which is a portion of the fabric 1, exists. Furthermore, since contents of the data-bearing section 13 are encoded and physically knitted onto the fabric 1, it is relatively difficult for a counterfeiter to attempt to reproduce the data-bearing section 13.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment(s). It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding various inventive aspects.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 105101022 | Jan 2016 | TW | national |
