Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6370843
-
Patent Number
6,370,843
-
Date Filed
Friday, September 10, 199925 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, April 16, 200222 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Smith; Scott A.
- Paradiso; John
Agents
- Lischer; Dale
- Hanegan; Herbert M.
- Hanson; Eric J.
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 053 405
- 053 429
- 053 432
- 053 436
- 053 447
- 053 450
- 053 466
- 053 477
- 053 510
- 053 526
- 053 550
- 053 1313
- 383 109
- 383 37
- 206 5248
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
Pieces (21) are cut out from a lay-up (20) built up from plies of superposed flexible sheets of material, and the lay-up is then packaged in full inside a covering (70) without separating the cutout pieces from the scrap. The lay-up can thus be transferred from a cutting installation to a workshop for assembling the pieces, and information relating to the layout or layouts of the cutout pieces can be transmitted therewith.
Description
The present invention relates to storing pieces cut out from a lay-up made of superposed plies of flexible sheet material; in particular woven cloth.
A preferred field of application of the invention is that of the clothing industry. In this industry, production is organized in particular around a cutting workshop having at least one automatic cutting machine, and a makeup workshop where articles are assembled, stitched, and finished.
Usually, at the outlet from the cutting machine, operations are performed to separate the pieces that have been cut out from the cutting scrap (lay-up skeleton), to sort the cutout pieces and optionally to mark them, and to package the cutout pieces in packets that are coherent for the makeup workshop.
As a result packets of pieces are handled twice: once in the cutting workshop where they are packaged, and again on being received in the makeup workshop where the packaging is removed. In addition, the cost of packaging is considerable because of the large number of pieces in a lay-up.
Other problems can be encountered, such as packets of pieces becoming lost, particularly packets of smallsized pieces, and accidental breakage of packets that can lead to pieces being lost or damaged. These problems become even more worrying when, as is more and more the case, the operations of cutting-out and making-up are performed on sites that are geographically remote from each other. Thus, there are businesses that perform custom cutting for various clients who are not necessarily located nearby. The same also happens when, for reasons of labor costs, making up is performed remotely, with the cutout pieces being taken to distant countries.
An object of the invention is to solve these problems, and to this end the invention provides a method of storing pieces that have been cut out from a lay-up, in which method, once the pieces have been cut out from the lay-up, the entire lay-up is packaged, without separating the cutout pieces from the scrap.
Thus, and contrary to conventional practice, the cutout pieces are not separated from the remainder or “skeleton” of the lay-up on leaving the cutting machine. The packaged lay-up is taken to a makeup workshop so that the lay-up is taken apart on being received in the makeup workshop. The stacks of cutout pieces or “piles” are not handled twice, and the risk of loss or damage to a pile while it is being transported are eliminated.
Advantageously, the lay-up is packaged in the compressed state inside an air-tight covering, so as to reduce its size as much as possible.
Also advantageously, the lay-up is packaged inside a flexible covering which is rolled up and held in the rolled-up shape, so that the packaged lay-up can be stored and transported inside a rectangular container.
According to a feature of the method, the lay-up is associated with a data medium including at least some of the following information: information identifying the lay-up, information relating to the layout or to the layouts of the pieces cut out from the lay-up, and information relating to how the pieces are to be assembled. The information relating to the layout of pieces in the lay-up comprises information relating to the locations of the pieces and information identifying the pieces.
At least some of the information can appear on a label that is stuck to the lay-up or the covering in which it is packaged, and/or on a digital data medium such as a diskette which is packaged together with the lay-up or which is sent separately to the makeup workshop. It is also possible to use a telecommunications network to transfer digital information relating to a lay-up that has been shipped.
A particular implementation of the invention is described below by way of non-limiting indication with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1
is a flow chart showing the steps of a method of the invention;
FIG. 2
(
FIGS. 2A and 2B
) is a perspective diagram showing a cutting machine and a packaging installation enabling the method to be implemented; and
FIG. 3
is a diagrammatic view of a packaged cutout lay-up as delivered by the installation of FIG.
2
.
References A and B in
FIG. 1
respectively designate an automatic cutting-out and packaging workshop, and a making-up workshop. These workshop can be located at sites that are geographically remote from each other.
Upstream from an automatic cutting-out station, a lay-up operation
1
is performed which consists in superposing layers or plies of a flexible sheet material, e.g. plies of cloth that are to be cut simultaneously.
The lay-up obtained in this way is subjected to an automatic cutting operation
2
by means of a tool which is moved along paths that correspond to the outlines of the pieces to be cut out, with all of the pieces being cut out in full.
The cutup lay-up is packaged as a whole, without separating the pieces that have been cut out and the corresponding scrap or waste cuttings, i.e. the skeleton. Packaging
3
is performed by inserting the lay-up into a flexible covering. The covering is preferably leakproof and the lay-up is preferably compressed so as to reduce its size.
By way of example, the packaged lay-up
4
is prepared by rolling it up and holding it rolled up so as to insert it into a container of rectangular shape. The packaged lay-up can be stored and transported
5
to the makeup workshop B.
The operations of building the lay-up, automatically cutting it up, and then packaging it are performed under the control of a control unit
100
. Tool displacement is controlled as a function of information stored in the control unit defining the or each layout of the pieces to be cut out from the lay-up. As is well known, layout is performed in such a manner as to minimize the amount of scrap material.
Various items of information are associated with the lay-up, for example information identifying the lay-up and its destination, information identifying the layout of the pieces, and information relating to how the pieces cut out in the lay-up are subsequently to be made up.
Information identifying the lay-up and its destination can be printed by means of the control unit
100
on one or more labels
101
that are stuck to the packaged lay-up and/or to its packaging.
Information identifying the or each layout of the pieces, such as information identifying the cutout pieces and information relating to the locations of said pieces as stored in the memory of the control unit
100
is recorded in digital form on a data medium
102
, e.g. a diskette, by means of the control unit
100
. Information relating to how the pieces are to be made up, for example identifying which pieces need to be assembled to one another and their relative positions, can also be recorded on the diskette
102
. The diskette
102
is packaged together with the lay-up or is shipped to the makeup workshop B by any other shipping means
5
a.
In a variant, the digital information relating to the layout of the pieces and how they are to be made up can be sent to the makeup workshop B by being transmitted over a telecommunications network
5
b.
The lay-up as received in the makeup workshop is subjected to an unpacking operation
6
, and is then taken apart
7
. This consists in removing the stacks or piles of cutout pieces from the remainder of the lay-up or “skeleton”.
The information read from the diskette
102
or received after being transmitted over the network
5
b
is processed by a central unit
110
so that, where appropriate, it can assist operators while they are taking the lay-up
7
apart and assembling the pieces
8
. Thus, each stack of pieces to be removed can be identified more easily by projecting a light onto the lay-up at the location of the stack, thereby identifying the stack and/or its location, with this being done by making use of the information relating to layout.
Another method of identifying pieces before or after they have been cut out is described in document FR-A-2 710 432.
The pieces taken from the identified stacks of pieces are made up on the basis of makeup instructions that appear in the information as received.
In a variant, the information identifying the pieces and possibly also specifying how they are to be made up, can be carried by labels put on the stacks of pieces or at the locations thereof after, during, or before automatic cutting. Labeling methods associated with automatic cutting machines or devices for building lay-ups are known, in particular from documents U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,514,246, 5,092,829, and 5,230,765.
After being assembled, the pieces are subjected to operations
9
of stitching and finishing.
A more detailed description of a cutting machine and an installation for packaging the cut lay-up is given below with reference to FIG.
2
.
The cutting machine comprises a cutting table
10
constituted by a horizontal top length of an endless conveyor
12
. Apart from its top surface defining the table
10
, the conveyor is housed inside a box
14
. Suction means are disposed inside the box in order to establish suction therein.
The conveyor
12
is made up of support blocks
12
a
having or leaving between them passages that enable the inside of the box to communicate with surface of the table
10
. The blocks which may be made of plastics material, for example, have bases from which there project a plurality of thread-like elements. As a result, a blade can penetrate into the surface of the table
10
and can move horizontally in any direction, without itself being damaged and without damaging the support blocks
12
a.
Flexible sheet material for cutting out is brought onto the table
10
in the form of superposed plies making up a lay-up
20
. The lay-up is built on a lay-up table
22
upstream from the cutting table, and it is advanced onto the cutting table in a direction X under drive from the drive motor (not shown) of the conveyor
12
.
A film of air-tight plastics material
30
, e.g. a film of polyethylene drawn from a roll
32
, is placed on the lay-up
20
so as to cover it completely.
The lay-up
20
carried by the table
10
and covered by the film
30
is cut out by means of a cutting head
40
. The cutting head can be taken to any position over the table
10
by controlling its displacement horizontally parallel to the longitudinal direction X of the conveyor
12
and in a transverse direction Y perpendicular to X.
The cutting head
40
is mounted on a block
42
which is movable in the direction Y along a transverse beam
44
under the control of a motor
46
. The ends of the beam
44
are guided along the longitudinal edges of the conveyor
12
and the beam is driven in the direction X under the control of the a motor
48
. The block
42
is driven in conventional manner by cables, or as shown by a wormscrew
47
. The beam
44
can also be driven by means of cables or a wormscrew, or as shown, by gear wheels and racks
49
, mounted in the top longitudinal edges of the box
14
.
The cutting head
40
carries a cutting blade
50
that is suspended vertically beneath a rotary support
52
. On top, the support
52
is fixed to the end of a connecting rod of a rod-and-crank system coupled to a motor
54
for imparting vertical reciprocating motion to the support
52
and to the blade
50
. The orientation of the cutting blade
50
is controlled by a motor
58
situated beneath the support
52
.
The displacement and the actuation of the cutting head
40
are under the control of a computer
100
. The computer also controls advance of the conveyor
12
and the application of suction to the box
14
, whereby the lay-up
20
covered in the air-tight film
30
is held securely on the table
10
.
An installation of the kind described above is well known to the person skilled in the art. For example, reference can be made to document U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,490. The X,Y displacements of the cutting head are controlled so as to cut out pieces
21
(a few outlines of which are shown in
FIG. 2A
) in the lay-up
20
in a predetermined placement or possibly in a plurality of placements. The pieces
21
can be constituted, for example, by the component elements of garments, and their placement is determined in particular so as to minimize wastage of material. During cutting, the orientation of the cutting blade is controlled so that it remains tangential or substantially tangential to the outline of the piece being cut out. When a section of the lay-up
20
on the table
10
has been cut, together with the film
30
, the conveyor
12
is caused to advance so as to bring a new section of the lay-up or a new lay-up into position. It is also possible to advance the lay-up continuously without interrupting cutting, successive lengths of the lay-up being brought onto the cutting table as the cutting operation progresses. A method enabling the layup to be advanced simultaneously with cutting taking place is described in document EP-A-0 708 700.
In accordance with the invention, means are organized downstream from the cutting table
10
to package the cut-up lay-up
20
as a whole, without separating the pieces
21
therefrom.
By way of example, packaging of the lay-up comprises the following steps:
surrounding the lay-up in a strip of plastics film which covers each of the faces of the lay-up and one of its longitudinal ends;
compressing the lay-up with its strip of plastics film;
heat-sealing the strip of plastics film together along the longitudinal edges thereof;
optionally, after further compressing the lay-up and/or placing it under vacuum, closing the ends of the strip of plastics film at the opposite longitudinal end of the lay-up so that it is packaged in sealed manner while in the compressed state; and
rolling up the packaged lay-up so as to be able to place it inside a container of rectangular shape.
At the outlet from the cutting table
10
, and in line therewith, the lay-up
20
is received on a table
60
constituted by the horizontal top portion of an endless band of a conveyor
62
. So long as the lay-up
20
has not been fully extracted from the cutting table
10
, the conveyor
62
can be declutched so that the lay-up
20
is not subjected to stresses as it is advanced onto the conveyor.
A flexible plastics film
70
drawn from a storage roll
72
surrounds the conveyor
62
, passing over a first return roller
74
at the upstream end of the table
60
, over the table, over two return rollers
76
a
and
76
b
of the downstream end of the conveyor
62
, and is secured at its end to a bar
68
situated at the upstream end of the conveyor
62
, and beneath it.
When the lay-up
20
has left the cutting table
10
, the film
70
is cut transversely to its part between the storage roll
72
and the return rollers
74
. The film can be cut manually or automatically, by means of a blade
64
mounted on a block which is secured to a cable
66
extending transversely over the path of the film
70
. The cable
66
forms an endless loop passing over a drive wheel
66
a
at one end and over a return wheel (not shown) at the other end. The wheel
66
a
is driven by a reversible motor
68
so as to cause the blade
64
to describe a path extending over the entire width of the film
70
from a rest position situated on one side of the film.
After the film
70
has been cut, the conveyor
62
is driven so as to bring the lay-up onto a transfer table
80
whose surface is constituted, for example, by freely-rotatable rollers. In this position, the lay-up
20
is surrounded by a strip of plastics film which covers the top and bottom faces of the lay-up and also its downstream edge
20
c.
The strip of plastics film, which is wider than the lay-up, projects beyond each side of the lay-up along its longitudinal edges
70
a
and
70
b.
At its ends
70
d,
the strip of plastics film projects beyond the lay-up, beyond the upstream edge
20
d
thereof.
The lay-up thus surrounded by the strip of plastics film is brought between the two plates of a press
82
, respectively a stationary bottom plate
82
a
and a moving top plate
82
b.
The lay-up is initially compressed by means of the press and the longitudinal edges of the strip of plastics film are heat-sealed together. Heat-sealing is performed along each side of the lay-up by means of a hot tool
84
, within which the two facing portions of a longitudinal edge of the film
70
are clamped together and then bonded together.
Additional compression can then be applied to the lay-up prior to the strip of plastics film being fully closed at its ends
70
d.
This additional compression can be accompanied by being put under a vacuum, or at least a partial vacuum. The strip of plastics film is closed by heat-sealing using a hot tool
86
within which the ends
70
d
are clamped together so as to be bonded together. This provides a compressed lay-up that is packaged in sealed manner within a covering
90
formed by a flexible plastics film.
The purpose of compressing the lay-up
20
is to reduce its size, but it must not be excessive in order to avoid damaging the pieces
21
.
By way of example, the plastics film can be made of polyethylene. It will be observed that in a variant the lay-up can be compressed at least in part by using a plastic film of heat-shrink material.
The packaged and compressed lay-up is removed onto a transfer table
88
from which it can be taken so as to be rolled up on a rotary mandrel
92
. The lay-up is rolled up together with a supporting film
94
taken from a storage roll
96
and having one end initially fixed on the mandrel
92
. The film
94
can be made of polyethylene, for example.
After being rolled up, the film
94
is cut and the lay-up is held in this state, e.g. by means of adhesive tape
89
holding down the cut end
94
a
of the film
94
(FIG.
3
). In this state, the lay-up can be packaged within a container of rectangular shape, e.g. a cardboard box. A label can be placed on the rolled-up lay-up and on the container, and a diskette can be packaged together with the lay-up inside the container. The label(s) is/are produced by a printer
103
associated with the control unit
100
, while the diskette
102
is supplied by a disk drive
104
likewise connected to the control unit
100
.
It will be observed that the above-described packaging installation is of a type that is known per se for packaging a mattress. Reference can be made in particular to document U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,067. Other packaging techniques can be used for packaging the cutout lay-up whether it is compressed or not. For example, the lay-up from the cutting table can be inserted into a sheath of flexible plastics material that can then be closed at its ends, possibly after compressing the lay-up, or while said compression is being applied by mechanical means, and/or by using a heat-shrink sheath.
Claims
- 1. A method of storing pieces cut from a lay-up, wherein the lay-up is formed of superposed plies of flexible sheet material and the lay-up is cut into the pieces with surrounding scrap, the method comprising the step of packaging the entire lay-up without separating the pieces from the surrounding scrap.
- 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the lay-up is packaged in a compressed state inside an air-tight covering.
- 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the airtight covering is a flexible covering which is rolled-up and held in the rolled-up shape.
- 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the lay-up is associated with a data medium including at least some of the following information: information identifying the lay-up, information relating to a layout or layouts of the pieces cut from the lay-up, and information relating to how the pieces are to be assembled.
- 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the information relating to the layout of pieces in the lay-up comprises information relating to locations of the pieces and information identifying the pieces.
- 6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the data medium comprises a digital data medium.
- 7. A method of transferring pieces cut from a lay-up from a cutting installation to a workshop for assembling the pieces, wherein the lay-up is formed of superposed plies of flexible sheet material and the lay-up is cut into the pieces with surrounding scrap, the method comprising the steps of packaging the entire lay-up without separating the pieces from the surrounding scrap, shipping the stored lay-up, and transmitting information relating to a layout or layouts of the pieces cut in the lay-up.
- 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the lay-up is packaged in a compressed state inside an air-tight covering.
- 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the airtight covering is a flexible covering which is rolled-up and held in the rolled-up shape.
- 10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the lay-up is associated with a data medium including at least some of the following information: information identifying the lay-up, information relating to a layout or layouts of the pieces cut from the lay-up, and information relating to how the pieces are to be assembled.
- 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the information relating to the layout of pieces in the lay-up comprises information relating to locations of the pieces and information identifying the pieces.
- 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the data medium comprises a digital data medium.
- 13. The method according to claim 7, wherein the information relating to the layout or layouts of the pieces cut in the lay-up is transmitted in digital form independently of the packaged lay-up.
- 14. A lay-up package comprising a lay-up of plies of superposed flexible sheet material including pieces that have been cut out in one or more layouts and surrounding scrap and a covering wherein the lay-up is contained within the covering without separating the pieces from the surrounding scrap.
- 15. The lay-up package according to claim 14, wherein the covering is air-tight and the lay-up including the pieces and surrounding scrap is stored in a compressed state inside the air-tight covering.
- 16. The lay-up packaged according to claim 15, wherein the lay-up package is rolled-up.
- 17. A method for storing pieces cut from a lay-up comprising:a. forming a lay-up of superposed plies from a flexible sheet material; b. cutting pieces into the superposed plies, wherein the pieces are fully detached and unseparated from the surrounding scrap; c. packaging the lay-up of superposed plies into a package wherein the package includes the pieces and unseparated surrounding scrap.
- 18. The method of claim 17 further comprising covering the lay-up with a film prior to cutting pieces into the superposed plies.
- 19. The method of claim 17 wherein the package includes an air-tight covering.
- 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the package is held in a rolled-up shape.
- 21. The method of claim 17 further comprising associating the lay-up with a data medium, the data medium including information relating to how the pieces are to be assembled.
- 22. The method of claim 17 further comprising associating the lay-up with a data medium, the data medium including information identifying the lay-up.
- 23. The method of claim 17 further comprising associating the lay-up with a data medium, the data medium including information relating to a layout or layouts of the pieces cut from the lay-up.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
97 02002 |
Feb 1997 |
FR |
|
PCT Information
Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
PCT/FR98/00332 |
|
WO |
00 |
Publishing Document |
Publishing Date |
Country |
Kind |
WO98/36971 |
8/27/1998 |
WO |
A |
US Referenced Citations (13)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
WO 9502489 |
Jan 1995 |
FR |
2 710 432 |
Mar 1995 |
FR |
2124580 |
Feb 1984 |
GB |