Technique of Laser Finishing Jeans and Other Apparel

Abstract

Software and lasers are used in finishing apparel to produce a desired wear pattern or other design. A technique includes determining a fabric's response to a laser, capturing an initial image of a wear pattern on a garment, and processing the initial image to obtain a working image in grayscale. The working image is further processed to obtain a difference image by comparing each pixel relative to a dark reference. The difference image is converted to a laser values image by using the previously determined fabric response to the laser.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 providing an assembled garment made from fabric panels of a woven first material comprising a warp comprising indigo ring-dyed cotton yarn, wherein the fabric panels are sewn together using thread; and   obtaining a laser input file that is representative of a finishing pattern from an existing garment made from a second material, wherein the finishing pattern on the existing garment was not created by a laser, and the obtaining comprises   capturing a target image of the finishing pattern from the existing garment of the second material, and   determining values for the laser input file that will result in a finishing pattern on the first material to obtain an appearance similar to the target image of the finishing pattern from the existing garment of the second material.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  comprising
 using a laser to form a finishing pattern on an outer surface of the assembled garment based on the laser input file, 
 wherein based on the laser input file, the laser removes selected amounts of material from the surface of the first material at different pixel locations of the assembled garment, 
 for lighter pixel locations of the finishing pattern, a greater amount of the indigo ring-dyed cotton warp yarn is removed, while for darker pixel locations of the finishing pattern, a lesser amount of the indigo ring-dyed cotton warp yarn is removed, and 
 the finishing pattern created can extend across portions of the assembled garment where two or more fabric panels are joined together by thread by exposing these portions to the laser. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first material comprises a denim and the second material comprises a denim, the garment and the existing garment comprise jeans, and the finishing pattern created by the laser on the garment includes wear patterns comprising at least one of combs or honeycombs, whiskers, stacks, or train tracks, or a combination. 
     
     
         4 . A method comprising:
 providing a garment made from fabric panels of a woven first material comprising a warp comprising indigo ring-dyed cotton yarn, wherein the fabric panels are sewn together using thread;   on an outer surface of the garment, providing a finishing pattern created by a laser based on a laser input file, wherein the finishing pattern created by laser on the outer surface of the garment comprises   at a first location on the outer surface of the garment, a first amount of material has been removed by the laser,   at a second location on the outer surface of the garment, a second amount of material has been removed by the laser,   at a third location on the outer surface of the garment, a third amount of material has been removed by the laser, and   the first amount of material removed is less than the second amount of material removed, and the third amount of material removed is less than the first amount of material removed and less than the second amount of material removed;   capturing a target image of the finishing pattern from the existing garment of a second material, wherein the second material comprises a different fabric characteristic from the first material; and   using the target image, determining values for a laser input file that will result in a finishing pattern on the first material having an appearance of the target image of the finishing pattern from the existing garment of the second material.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  comprising:
 using a laser to create a finishing pattern on an outer surface of the garment based on a laser input file; 
 based on the laser input file, using the laser to remove selected amounts of material from the surface of the first material at different pixel locations of the garment, 
 wherein for lighter pixel locations of the finishing pattern, a greater amount of the indigo ring-dyed cotton warp yarn is removed, while for darker pixel locations of the finishing pattern, a lesser amount of the indigo ring-dyed cotton warp yarn is removed, and 
 the finishing pattern created can extend across portions of the garment where two or more fabric panels are joined together by the thread by exposing these portions to the laser. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the first material comprises a different fabric characteristic from the second material. a laser input file that is representative of a finishing pattern from an existing garment 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the first material comprises a denim and the second material comprises a denim. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the garment comprises at least one of jeans, shirts, shorts, jackets, vests, or skirts. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the garment and the existing garment are of the same type of garment. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the finishing pattern created by the laser on the garment includes wear patterns comprising at least one of combs or honeycombs, whiskers, stacks, or train tracks, or a combination. 
     
     
         11 . A method comprising:
 providing a pair of jeans made from fabric panels of a woven first denim material comprising a warp comprising indigo ring-dyed cotton yarn, wherein the fabric panels are sewn together using thread;   providing a laser input file that is representative of a finishing pattern from an existing jeans made from a second denim material, wherein the first denim material comprises a different fabric characteristic from the second denim material, and the laser input file is obtained by capturing a target image of the finishing pattern from the existing jeans of the second denim material, and   determining values for the laser input file that will result in a finishing pattern on the first denim material to obtain an appearance similar to the target image of the finishing pattern from the existing jeans of the second denim material.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  comprising:
 transferring the laser input file from a computer to a laser machine over a network connection; and 
 using the laser input file to form a finishing pattern on an outer surface of the jeans, 
 wherein based on the laser input file, the laser removes selected amounts of material from the surface of the first material at different pixel locations of the jeans, 
 for lighter pixel locations of the finishing pattern, a greater amount of the indigo ring-dyed cotton warp yarn is removed, while for darker pixel locations of the finishing pattern, a lesser amount of the indigo ring-dyed cotton warp yarn is removed, and 
 the finishing pattern created can extend across portions of the jeans where two or more fabric panels are joined together by the thread by exposing these portions to the laser. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the first denim material comprises a weft comprising yarn that has not been indigo dyed. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11  wherein for the portions of the jeans exposed to the laser where the fabric panels are joined, the fabric panels are joined together using a thread comprising cotton. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the determining values for the laser input file comprises:
 selecting a dark reference in the target image of the finishing pattern from the existing jeans of the second denim material; 
 for each pixel in the target image, calculating a difference value between a pixel value and the dark reference; and 
 storing each difference value in the laser input file, wherein the laser input file comprises a reverse image compared to target image. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the using a laser to create a finishing pattern on an outer surface of the jeans comprises a single pass of the laser. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the using a laser to create a finishing pattern on an outer surface of the jeans comprises a multiple passes of the laser. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the determining values for the laser input file comprises:
 forming a first pattern on a surface of a first denim material, wherein the first pattern comprises a plurality of color shades, the color shades are lighter shades relative to an original color of the target fabric material, and the first pattern is formed by exposing the target fabric material to a laser beam at a variety of laser levels, 
 the first pattern comprises a first region comprising a first shade, a second region comprising a second shade, and a third region comprising a third shade, each first, second, and third regions comprise the same polygon shape, and 
 a difference between the first shade and second shade is determined by a first incremental value in a laser input value, a difference between the second shade and third shade is determined by a second incremental value in the laser input value, and the second incremental value is the same as the first incremental value. 
 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the determining values for the laser input file comprises obtaining a fabric response characteristic for the first denim material in response to the laser comprising:
 for the first region, generating a first histogram for a distribution of pixels in the first region; 
 for the second region, generating a second histogram for a distribution of pixels in the second region; and 
 for the third region, generating a second histogram for a distribution of pixels in the second region. 
 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the capturing a target image of the finishing pattern from the existing jeans of the second denim material comprises using contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization image processing. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the determining values for the laser input file comprises:
 providing a fabric response characteristic function for the first denim material in response to the laser; and 
 converting the target image of the finishing pattern from the existing jeans of the second denim material based on the fabric response characteristic function for the first denim material into values for the laser input file, and the laser input file comprises a reverse image, compared to target image. 
 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the first denim material comprises a first base fabric color characteristic which is different from a second base fabric color characteristic of the second denim material.