Patent Application
20060247819
The invention relates to a method for producing patterned textile labels and to an installation for carrying out the method.
A method and in installation of the type initially mentioned are known, for example, from DE 36 27 315 A or WO 00/73 559. The labels produced there have, in addition to a regular pattern, individual pattern parts for which spaces provided with basic designs of specific configuration are reserved in a specific region (space holders). Design pattern parts, that is to say finished design parts, are inserted into the space regions automatically from an electronic store. These pattern parts may be variable. The finished design parts already possess all the information for controlling the production machine, for example a Jacquard weaving machine.
It is relatively difficult, however, in the case of a continuous production of labels, to provide each label with a markedly different individual pattern part. At all events, the spaces where variable data can be inserted are fixed and limited. A further difficulty is that the pattern parts have to be prefabricated, therefore it is not possible in a simple way to change, for example, the width, the length or another parameter. There has to be a fundamental redesign, thus incurring high costs. Furthermore, the transitions from one pattern part to another must be coordinated exactly with one another in terms of weave, which is difficult to implement. Moreover, there is no safety against wrongly assigning an individual pattern part many times.
The object of the invention is to improve a method and an installation of the type initially mentioned in such a way that labels having pattern parts individually different from one another can be produced continuously in a simple and reliable way.
Since the virtual label consisting of N individual labels distributed over the width and length of the virtual label and having a pattern and N individual pattern parts different from label to label is produced, and the virtual label thus produced is subdivided into N individual labels, this ensures that the individual labels produced in the batch size N are also actually different from one another.
The width of the virtual label corresponds to the number of warp threads used in a production machine, for example a weaving machine. N may be of any desired size. Preferably, a length is used which corresponds to the length of a cloth web capable of being wound on a winding beam. The batch size N may also depend on the labels capable of being packaged in a packaging unit.
The labels may in each case be provided with at least one second pattern part which may be a continuous numbering which may be distributed continuously, preferably in the longitudinal direction of the virtual label, in rows lying next to one another. The individual pattern parts may also be a bar code or counterfeit-proof additional code which can be generated by a random generator. Pattern parts may also be various graphic figures, such as images, logos or the like. Other individual pattern parts may also be envisaged, such as various forenames and/or family names. The individual pattern part may also consist of a series of objects, plants, animals or the like.
The virtual label is provided at the start and at the end with identifying information, in order, for example, to identify or inscribe a batch size. Pattern-free intermediate zones for subdividing the virtual labeling to individual labels or label webs are provided between the individual labels in the virtual label V in the longitudinal direction and/or in the width direction. These intermediate zones may be formed by a pattern-free ground fabric part. The intermediate zones may also be formed in the longitudinal direction by fabric-free zones, in that the virtual label is produced in longitudinal strips distributed over the width.
The virtual label is first produced in the design mode and only then converted by means of a converter into a pattern mode capable of being processed by the production machine. These individual pattern parts may be generated manually, semiautomatically and fully automatically. Particularly in the latter case, it is advantageous if a computer-controlled pattern device with a CAD system having design software and with at least one generator for generating the individual pattern parts is used for the design mode.
The pattern device may be arranged independently of the production machine, and data transfer to the production machine may take place by means of a data line or preferably by means of a data carrier. In this case, the pattern device may preferably be arranged advantageously even independently of the user of the production machine, on the premises of the manufacturer. The person operating the production machine can then transmit the desired pattern and the desired individual pattern parts as a model to the operator of the pattern device who then sets up the necessary control program, what is known as the master program, the control signals for the production machine, then determines returns it to the user for controlling the production machine.
The production machine may be a printing machine, on which a textile web is printed with the virtual label. It is appreciably more advantageous to use a Jacquard weaving machine for producing the virtual label. The virtual label may be woven with a selvedge on a multi-section Jacquard needle ribbon weaving machine without fabric-width repeat repetition. Higher performances can be achieved by means of a method when the virtual label is produced on a Jacquard broad-weaving machine without fabric-width repeat repetition.
The virtual label, then, may be produced continuously on such a production machine as a ribbon or broad web and subdivided into individual labels, independent of the production machine, and at all events also folded to the final shape in a folding machine. However, it is also possible for the virtual label to be cut in the longitudinal and/or width direction during production on the production machine.
It is advantageous if the virtual label is produced for a production machine which has a production counter, in order to detect the number of labels produced for the most diverse possible applications, such as a check of the batch size produced for a customer for the labels, and/or for license accounting for the machine and/or software manufacturer.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are designed in more detail below with reference to the drawings in which:
The Jacquard broad-weaving machine contains a control device 18 which at all events has a production counter 20. The control device 18 is fed by a pattern device 22 which either may be connected directly to the control device or may be arranged separately from the Jacquard broad-weaving machine, for example in a pattern center. In the latter case, the data of the pattern device 22 may be transmitted via a data carrier, for example a diskette, or via a data line, for example a CAM network.
The pattern device 22 contains a design part 22a with a CAD system 23a, in which a desired pattern is prepared, furthermore first control means 23b and, if appropriate, further control means 23c which are, for example, generators, in order to prepare one or more individual pattern parts T. Furthermore, the pattern device comprises a converter 22b (design device) which converts the virtual label V prepared in a design part 22a into a machine-readable form which can be processed by the control device 18 of the production machine 10, in the present example the Jacquard device of a weaving machine. The control means 23b, 23c may be manually actuated devices, semiautomatic devices or fully automatic devices, the latter, in particular, containing corresponding software.
By means of the control program generated in the pattern device 22, that is known as the master program, the Jacquard broad-weaving machine can be controlled and the cloth web W indicated in
The second pattern part Z of the label of
According to the present method and by means of the present installation, for example, a customer can send the graphics of his label in Tif format to a pattern center, with an indication of the position of the pattern part, for example a numbering. This pattern center prepares, for the arrangement and shape of the pattern part and for the design and arrangement of the individual pattern part, a master program which is then sent back, for example in the form of a programmed diskette, to a customer, for example the weaver, in order to process it in a Jacquard weaving machine.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1145/01 | Jun 2001 | CH | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CH02/00330 | 6/18/2002 | WO | 4/9/2004 |
