Aspects provide methods and systems for feeding a rolled material to a processing station with the material tensioned by an unsupported portion of the material.
Manufacturing systems that process rolled materials, such as textiles, convey the material through the system. Tension may be applied by pulling the material in a first direction and resisting the pulling force by a resisted unrolling of the material. However, depending on the size of the roll at different phases of the manufacturing process, the resistance provided to generate tension on the material may change as the mass of the material about the roll changes. Additionally, in batch processes, the material may be cut into discrete lengths and then tensioned in a frame or other maintaining device.
Aspects hereof provide systems and methods for tensioning a material in a manufacturing process. The method includes positioning, with a tensioning device, a roll of material above a processing station in a first position and unrolling the material until the material engages with the processing station. The roll is then positioned longitudinally spaced from the processing station in a second position wherein the material is unrolled to form a material sag portion between the roll and the processing station. The material sag portion uses the mass of the material that is self-supporting between the tensioning device and the process station to resist being fed through the process station. This resistance results in a tension force being applied to the material as it passes through the processes station. The amount of tension can be maintained by detecting an amount of material forming the sag portion and adjusting a rotational velocity of the roll to maintain the amount of material forming the sag portion within a range for the material as the material feeds through the processing station. By maintaining an amount of material in the sag portion a relatively consistent resistance and resulting tension is self-supplied by the material as it is fed through the process station.
This summary is provided to enlighten and not limit the scope of methods and systems provided hereafter in complete detail.
The present invention is described in detail herein with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
Flexible materials, such as textiles, leather, films, and the like, may be stored and transported in a rolled configuration. The flexible material may be fed into one or more processing station to manufacture an article, such as clothing, footwear, outerwear, and the like. During the processing (e.g., cutting, painting, adhering, stitching, texturizing, punching) by the processing station, the material is maintained taut to prevent processing errors. For example, if the material bunches, shifts, or skews, as it is being processed, the resulting product may not conform to standards. To prevent this unintentional presentation of the material to the process station, the material may be kept under a defined amount of tension as the material advances through the process station.
Maintaining an appropriate amount of tension on the material can be challenging with a rolled good. For example, if a resistive element, such as a friction brake, resists an unrolling of a material roll, as the diameter of the material roll changes with use of the material, the amount of tension experienced by the material in the processing station may also change with a constant resistive force. For example, as the roll diameter decreases, the amount of force applied to the material to maintain a constant feed rate may increase causing an increased tension. If the material has stretch characteristics, the tension applied to the material may cause the material to exceed an amount of deformation for the process operation to be performed. For example, if the material is elongated because of the tension applied and the material is cut into discrete elements while under tension, the resulting discrete elements may not be an intended dimension or size.
Further, consistent tension may be maintained by dividing material from a roll into discrete portions that may be maintained in tension by frames that pass through the processing stations. This results in a batch processing of the material and introduces edges as the continuous material is cut into discrete portions capable of being maintained by a frame. The batch processing and introduction of edges may insert processing inefficiencies into the system.
Aspects hereof provide systems and methods for tensioning a material in a manufacturing process. The method includes positioning, with a tensioning device, a roll of material above a processing station in a first position and unrolling the material until the material engages with the processing station. The roll is then positioned longitudinally spaced from the processing station in a second position wherein the material is unrolled to form a material sag portion between the roll and the processing station. The material sag portion uses the mass of the material that is self-supporting between the tensioning device and the process station to resist being fed through the process station. This resistance results in a tension force being applied to the material as it passes through the processes station. The amount of tension can be maintained by detecting an amount of material forming the sag portion and adjusting a rotational velocity of the roll to maintain the amount of material forming the sag portion within a range for the material as the material feeds through the processing station. By maintain an amount of material in the sag portion a relatively consistent resistance and resulting tension is self-supplied by the material as it is fed through the process station.
Aspects may be accomplished with a material tensioning system that is used in a manufacturing process. The system may include a tensioning device, a shuttle, and a material, storage retrieval (“MSR”) system, and a processing station, in an exemplary aspect. The tensioning device may include a longitudinal position movement mechanism, such as a pneumatic drive, a hydraulic drive, a linear actuator, a stepper motor, or the like. The longitudinal position movement mechanism adjusts a position of a roll of the material between a first position and a second position in a longitudinal direction of the system that corresponds with a material flow direction. A material flow direction is a direction in which the material extends through the system. The tensioning device also includes a material sag sensor, such as a caliper, a laser measuring device, an optical detector, a vision system, and the like. The material sag sensor is able to determine a nadir distance of the material as it extends between the roll and a processing station in the longitudinal direction. The nadir distance is a measurement of the nadir, a low point of the material as it sags between the roll and the process station. The tensioning device also includes a roll rotator, such as a stepper motor, a rotational actuator, a pneumatic motor, a hydraulic motor, and the like. The roll rotator rotates the roll about an axis that is perpendicular to the material flow direction. A rotational velocity of the roll rotator is adjusted based on information from the material sag sensor to maintain a nadir distance range for the material extending between the roll and the processing station.
Additional aspects contemplate systems and methods for determining an apron of material is present on the roll, for forming an apron on the roll, and for transferring the apron of the material to the process station to initiate the feeding of the material through the process station. As used herein, an apron is a portion of the material extending away from the roll, such as a tangential extension of the material. As the material may have a memory for shape and/or an adhesive attraction to an underlying layer of rolled material, some materials remain wound about a roll even when the roll is rotated in a direction to cause an unrolling of the material thereof. However, when an apron is present or formed, the material may be more easily unrolled from the roll in an automated and consistent manner.
As such, aspects provided herein contemplate automating the retrieval, loading, tensioning, feeding, and processing of a rolled material in a manufacturing system. This automated approach may allow for a single production line to process a variety of materials and components with minimal intervention. For example, a roll of material may be exchanged for another roll of material midway through using the material on the initial roll. The transferring of rolls allows for a variety of materials to be used in varied amounts without dedicated human intervention to cause the transition between materials, which may save human resources and increase efficiencies.
Turning to
The MSR system 104 is comprised of a frame structure configured to maintain one or more material rolls. As depicted in
The shuttle 106 is comprised of a longitudinal movement mechanism (i.e., in the X axial direction of
The tensioning device 102 is effective to maintain a level of tension as the material extends through the process station 108. For example, a roll 110 having material 112 thereon extends across a longitudinal space, the material 112 forms a sag portion having a nadir 114 before returning up to a roller 116. The material 112 passes over the roller 116 and is fed through the process station 108 on a conveyance mechanism 120. As the material 112 is fed at various rates through the process station 108, a roll rotator 111 of the tensioning device rotates the roll 110 to unroll the material 112. The roll rotator may be a rotational mechanism powered by an electric motor, pneumatic power, or hydraulic power. For example, the roll rotator may be an electric motor mechanically engaged with a spindle of the roll 110 to cause a rotational motion of the roll in an axis (e.g., Y axis of
The sag sensor 122 measures the nadir 114 position. The sag sensor 122 may use a laser to gauge a distance between the nadir 114 and another point, such as the sag sensor itself. The sag sensor 122 may alternatively or additionally be a vision system, an optical sensor, or other device and technology to determine a position of the nadir 114. In an exemplary aspect, the tensioning device 102 includes additional position sensors so that a distance between the roll 110 and the roller 116 may be determined and combined with the nadir 114 position from the sag sensor, an amount of material 112 forming the sag portion between the roll 110 and the roller 116 may be calculated. As will be provided hereinafter, a computing device may include a known density or other measure for a material to control an amount of sag portion to achieve a range of resulting tension to material extending through the process station 108. Therefore, the system 100 is effective to adjust a tension experienced by a material passing through a process station by manipulating an amount of material that is unsupported and therefore sagging. This unsupported material provides an effective amount of tension for controlling quality during a process step without overly tensioning the material 112. The material sag portion may be calculated as extending between the roll 110 and another supporting structure, such as the roller 116.
The tensioning device may be comprised of additional sensors, such as positional sensors. The positional sensors may be effective to determine a lateral, longitudinal, and vertical position of the roll 110 as maintained by the tensioning device. With this positional data and information from the sag sensor 122, a computing device can calculate an amount of material forming a sag portion and therefore an amount of tension formed by the sag portion. Further, it is contemplated that the computing device, as provided above, may also maintain information related to the density and/or weight of the material held by the tensioning device 102 so as to adjust a sag portion for a given material. Further, it is contemplated that the computing device maintains one or more recipes or instructions that prescribe an amount of tension and therefore sag portion a given material should have for a given operation to be performed on the material. Additionally, it is contemplated that a tension sensor is provided that measures an amount of tension experienced by a portion of the material and adjusts the sag portion to adjust the detected tension.
The sag sensor 122 may be of a number of sensor types. For example, it is contemplated that the sag sensor is a laser-based sensor for determine a distance from the nadir 114 to one or more points, such as the sag sensor 122 itself. In another aspect, it is contemplated that the sag sensor 122 is vision system the is effective to capture an image of the material 112 in the sag portion to calculate the nadir 114 and/or an amount of material 112 forming the sag portion. Additionally, it is contemplated that the sag sensor is a mechanical sensor, such as a caliper, that is effective to determine distance to the nadir 114. In general, the sag sensor is a sensor that is able to capture information useable for determining an amount of material forming the sag portion, which may be calculated based on the nadir 114 and additional information and/or calculated based on a measure of material itself (e.g., length of material forming the sag portion). Further, while the sag sensor 122 is depicted below the material 112 proximate the nadir 114 in the longitudinal direction, the sag sensor 122 may be positioned at alternative locations. For example, the sag sensor 122 may be positioned to capture a profile side perspective (e.g.,
The tensioning device 102 is further comprised of movement mechanisms. Movement mechanism may be of any type. In an exemplary aspect, a movement mechanism is a pneumatic actuator, a hydraulic actuator, an electric linear actuator, a stepper motor, and/or the like. Therefore, it is contemplated that the movement mechanisms may leverage a variety and alternative technologies to cause a movement of one or more components. The movement mechanisms of the tensioning device 102 include a longitudinal movement mechanism 126, as will be discussed hereinafter in
The process station 108 is a device for performing a process on the material 112. The process station 108 performs processes contemplated in association with the manufacture of an article formed with the material 112, such as article of footwear and articles of apparel. Additional article types are contemplated, such as automotive, medical, aerospace, marine, electronics, and the like. For example, the process station 108 may be effective to cut, sew, adhere, texturize, stamp, punch, paint, treat, cure, dry, and the like. In a specific example, the process station 108 is a laser cutting device having a laser for cutting the material 112. In another example, the process station 108 is comprised of a nozzle that is effective to apply a surface treatment, such as a dye, adhesive, paint, coating, and the like to the surface of the material 112. Further, it is contemplated that the process station is comprised of a punch or die that are effective to compress the material 112 to form a stamp, hole, cut, texture, embossment, and the like. As can be appreciated, the process station 108 may be comprised of a variety of tools and components to process the material 112. It is also appreciated that not all components/tools may be present at a common device and some may be omitted altogether.
The conveyance mechanism 120 is a component for conveying the material 112 to and/or through the process station 108. For example, it is contemplated that the conveyance mechanism 120 is a conveyor-like mechanisms that has a belt-like element that is effective to feed the material 112 through the process station 108. Further, it is contemplated that the conveyance mechanism 120 is a vacuum surface that forms a low air pressure region proximate therewith that maintains the material 112 in connection with the conveyance mechanisms 120 as the material 112 is fed through the process station. The vacuum surface may be a conveyor belt or a sliding table. Alternative configurations are also contemplated. As will be provided herein, the conveyance mechanism 120 may serve as an engagement location between the material 112 as provided by the tensioning device 102 and the process station 108.
In an exemplary aspect, it is contemplate that a vacuum surface of the conveyance mechanism 120 is effective to attract and cause an engagement between the material 112 and the conveyance mechanism. For example, as the material 112 may have a shape memory, rigidity, and/or adhesion (e.g., electrostatic) to itself or other elements, the use of vacuum and other techniques may facilitate the automated loading of material from the tensioning device 102 to the process station 108. Other examples include removably coupling a magnetic element to the material, such as at a leading edge of an apron, such that the magnetic element is attracted to a magnetic or ferrous element associated with the conveyance mechanism 120. Therefore, as the material having the magnetic element is brought into proximity with the conveyance mechanism 120 (or the process station 108 generally), a magnetic attraction may assist in the engagement (e.g. positioning, alignment, interaction) of the material and the process station 108. Additionally, it is contemplated that a weighted element that leverages an increase in mass may be removably coupled with the material to overcome the forces of the material that may resist or hinder engagement with the process station 108 from the tensioning device 102.
As previously provided, the system 100 is comprised of a variety of devices/components/elements; however, it is contemplated that additional features may be provided and/or some of the features may be omitted altogether while maintaining aspects contemplated herein.
The computing device 124 has a processor and memory. The computing device 124 may include a variety of computer-readable media. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computing device 124 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.
Computer storage media includes non-transitory RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices. Computer storage media does not comprise a propagated data signal.
Communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
The computing device 124 may include computer-readable media having instruction embodied thereon that are effective to cause one or more elements of the system 100 to perform one or more actions. For example, the instructions may cause a movement mechanism to move, a laser to emit laser energy, a camera to capture an image, a register to register a position of the material, and a processes station to perform an operation, in an exemplary aspect.
In
Also depicted in
The second position includes the roll 110 being spaced apart in the longitudinal direction a distance 1002. The distance 1002 may be adjusted based on a diameter of the roll 110 to maintain a relatively constant longitudinal distance of the sag portion unsupported as the diameter decreases with unrolling of the material 112. Similarly, a vertical distance may be adjusted as the diameter of the roll 110 changes to maintain a constant sag depth 1008 from the roll 110. The sag depth in this example may be measure from the roll 110 to the nadir 114. Another sag depth may be determined from the roller 116 to the nadir 114 as sag depth 1006. A further measurement that may be captured is a distance 1004 measuring the distance before the nadir 114 interferes with a surface as captured by the sag sensor 122, in this example. The combinations of sag depth 1008, sag depth 1006, and/or distance 1004 may be used to determine a nadir distance, which may be represented as a distance extending above or below the nadir 114 depending on the configuration utilized. In general, however, the nadir distance in combination with other measurements may provide for a total amount (e.g., length, volume) of material 112 forming the sag portion, which in turn can be used to determine an amount of tension applied to the material 112 as it is provided to the process station 108. Therefore, it is contemplated that any combination of distance, such as longitudinal, vertical, and sag may be adjusted to achieve an amount of sag portion and/or material tension.
The diameter sensor 130 is a sensor able to determine a diameter of the roll 110. For example, the diameter sensor 130 may use a laser to determine the diameter. Additionally, it is contemplated that the diameter sensor 130 may use of the sensing technologies, such as vision system, optical, mechanical, and the like. A provided above, the diameter sensor 130 may be used, in part, to adjust a rotational velocity of the roll 110 to maintain a sag portion of the material in a determined range (e.g., length range). Further, the diameter sensor 130 may provide indications as to an amount of material 112 remaining or used from the roll 110. For example, to prevent a shortage of material during a processing operation, the diameter sensor 130 may be used to determine if a suitable quantity of the material is present on the roll 110 to complete the request, in an exemplary aspect.
It is also contemplated that the tensioning device 102 positions the roll in lateral directions based on input from one or more sensors. For example, the conveyance mechanism of the process station 108 may include an edge sensor. The edge sensor detects the edge of the material in relation to the conveyance mechanisms or the process station as a whole. Such that if the material moves out of a tolerance position, the tensioning device 102 adjusts the roll 110 laterally to adjust the edge location, in an exemplary aspect.
As provided herein, based on input from sensors, such as positional sensor, diameter sensors, distance sensors, nadir sensors, and the like, one or more instructions may be provided to movement mechanisms, roll rotator, conveyance mechanisms, and the like to adjust a tension provided by a sag portion of a material.
At a block 1106, the roll is transferred from the MSR system to the shuttle. For example, the shuttle may extend receptor arm structures in an upwardly manner to transfer the weight of the roll from the MSR to the shuttle. The shuttle may then move in a longitudinal direction with the roll maintained on the receptor arms. The shuttle continues transporting the roll to the tensioning device to convey the roll to the tensioning device, as provided in a block 1108.
Once the roll has been conveyed, by the shuttle, from the MSR system to the tensioning device, the roll is transferred to the tensioning device, as provided in a block 1110. The transfer of the roll may include the receptor arms of the shuttle descending in a vertical direction such that the roll engages with the tensioning device and is supported by the tensioning device. The tensioning device may then position the roll in a first position, as provided at a block 1112. The first position is a position for the material of the roll to engage with a processing station. In an exemplary aspect, the first position places the roll above the processing station, such as above or proximate a conveyance mechanism servicing the process station.
The roll is unrolled to allow the material of the roll to engage the processing station, as provided in a block 1114. The unrolling may occur by a roll rotator mechanically engaged with the roll to provide rotational movement of the roll. The unrolling may occur until the material, such as the apron portion of the material, engages the processing station. The engagement, as provided hereinabove, may include bringing the material into proximity with the processing station for the material to be fed there through. For example, the processing station may include a vacuum table or other conveyor mechanism to which the material is attracted. Once the material is brought into proximity with the conveyance mechanism, the attractive forces (e.g., vacuum, magnetic, electrostatic) are sufficient to cause the feeding of the material to and/or through the process station. The sufficiency of the unrolling may be determined, in an exemplary aspect, by one or more sensors.
At a block 1116, the roll is positioned longitudinally spaced from the processing station in a second position. Stated differently, in an aspect, an unsupported distance is provided between the roll of material and the processing station at which the material extends and may form a sag portion of the material. The sag portion may be adjusted to achieve a specified amount of material, which may be measured, in part, with a nadir distance. Additional elements that may be measured to determine an appropriate sag portion include, but are not limited to, positional information on the roll, the sag distance relative to one or more portions, the unroll rate, the roll diameter, and the feed rate into the process station. As such, the material is unrolled to form the sag portion between the tensioning device and the process station, as provided in a block 1118. It is understood that the sag portion may be formed between one or more rollers positioned between or relative to the tensioning device and/or the process station, in accordance with aspects hereof.
At a block 1120 a nadir distance of the sag portion is detected. In an exemplary aspect, the nadir distance is measured with a sag sensor. Further yet, the detecting of the nadir distance is a determination of the sag portion length or amount of the material. As such, the detection of the nadir distance is a determination of the amount of material forming the sag portion, which may be determined by maintaining a known nadir distance. As provided above, the nadir distance may be measured from any point to the nadir, such as from the roll height to the nadir, from the process station to the nadir, from the floor to the nadir, and the like. Further, the position of the roll, the process station, and/or one or more supporting rollers may be used in a determination of the nadir distance and/or the determination of a quantity of material forming the sag portion to establish a tension applied by the material as presented to the process station.
At a block 1122 the rotational velocity of the roll is adjusted to maintain the nadir distance within a range for the material. For example, the roll rotator rotating the roll may adjust a rotational speed of the roll to maintain the sag portion within a defined range, which therefore maintains an applied tension on the material from the sag portion within a defined range. The range may vary for a particular material, for a particular process station, for a particular feed rate, and/or for particular ambient conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity). For example, a computing device may receive inputs from one or more sensors as well as retrieve information stored in memory (e.g., material characteristics, process variables) to determine an appropriate nadir distance to maintain and as a result an appropriate material sag portion for the material. If the nadir distance moves outside of the range (e.g., 1 centimeter to 10 meters, 1 meter to 5 meters, 0.5 meters to 3 meters, 2 meter to 6 meters) for that material, then an insufficient amount of tension is provided by the material sag portion to the material. Further, if the rotation speed is insufficient the material may feed into the process station at a faster rate than the material is unrolled from the material. In this situation, the feeding of the material into the process station will eventual cause the unrolling of the material from the roll (e.g., pulling the material from the roll causing the roll to unroll), which then increases the tension applied to the material to include a force used to unroll the roll, which may vary with roll characteristics and volume. Similarly, if the rotational velocity is greater than the feed rate to the process station for an extended time, the material may collect in the material sag portion region between the tensioning device and the process station, which could damage the material (e.g., dirt, oil, snags) or cause complications with the uptake or down take of the material within the system. As such, maintaining the rotational velocity of the roll within a defined range assists in isolating the forces used to unroll the material from the tensioning of the material and it limits damage to the material, in exemplary aspects.
It is understood that the blocks of
From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all the ends and objects hereinabove set forth together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure.
It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.
While specific elements and steps are discussed in connection to one another, it is understood that any element and/or steps provided herein is contemplated as being combinable with any other elements and/or steps regardless of explicit provision of the same while still being within the scope provided herein. Since many possible embodiments may be made of the disclosure without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/365,391, filed Nov. 30, 2016, and entitled “Rolled Material Tensioning And Loading System,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/261,699, entitled “Rolled Material Tensioning And Loading System,” and filed Dec. 1, 2015. The entirety of the aforementioned applications are incorporated by reference herein.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15365391 | Nov 2016 | US |
Child | 16534779 | US |