Method and apparatus for the production of fabric or leather articles

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for the production of fabric or leather articles, particularly articles to be padded, comprising the steps of: automatic sewing, at an embroidery machine ( 3 ), of superimposed cloths ( 20 d ) according to a stored template that contains a pattern of reference sewing lines (S 1 -S 5 ); applying a plurality of markings in the form of respective additional seams, according to a corresponding arrangement of reference markings (M 1 -M 4 ) provided in the stored template; optically capturing ( 5 ) a sewn portion of the cloths and determining any displacement of the markings applied with respect to the arrangement of the reference markings (M 1 -M 4 ); on the basis of the displacement and of the mutual arrangement of the reference markings (M 1 -M 4 ) and of the pattern of the sewing lines (S 1 -S 5 ) that are stored, determining by interpolation the actual pattern of the sewing lines that is present on the sewn cloths ( 20 d ); automatically cutting ( 53 ) along the sewing lines on the basis of the actual pattern obtained with the interpolation.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A method for the production of fabric or leather articles, particularly articles to be padded, comprising the steps of:
 feeding at least two mutually superimposed cloths to an embroidery machine;   stepwise advancing of said superimposed cloths along a substantially rectilinear direction;   at said embroidery machine, automatic sewing of said at least two cloths along sewing lines according to a template that is stored and contains a pattern of reference sewing lines;   
       further comprising the steps of:
 during said automatic sewing, applying a plurality of markings in the form of respective additional seams, said markings being distributed two-dimensionally on an exposed face of the cloths according to a corresponding arrangement of reference markings provided in said stored template; 
 after said automatic sewing, feeding to a station for the automatic cutting of the sewn portion of said superimposed cloths; 
 optically capturing said sewn portion and determining any displacement of said markings applied to said cloths with respect to the arrangement of the reference markings stored in said template; 
 based on said displacement and on the mutual arrangement of the reference markings and of the pattern of the sewing lines provided in said stored template, determining by interpolation the actual pattern of the sewing lines that is present on said sewn portion of the cloths; 
 automatically cutting said sewn portion, said cutting being performed substantially along said sewing lines on the basis of said actual pattern obtained with said interpolation, so as to automatically adapt said cutting to any relaxations and/or wrinkles of the cloths after said sewing step. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein a thread used to obtain each applied marking preferably has a color that is optically distinguishable with respect to the coloring of the region of said face in which the respective marking is applied. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein said arrangement of reference markings provided in said stored template comprises a plurality of peripheral reference markings and at least one internal reference marking, said at least one internal reference marking being arranged preferably laterally adjacent to a respective curved portion of one of the sewing lines of said pattern. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein, in said automatic sewing step, said superimposed cloths are kept tensioned so as to form at least one substantially rectangle-like and planar sewing area, which is adapted to match up the sewing lines and the markings applied by said embroidery machine with said stored pattern and with said reference arrangement, respectively;
 and wherein the side of said rectangle in the advancement direction of the cloths is substantially equal to, or is a submultiple of, said advancement step.   
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , wherein said automatic sewing step comprises a step of identically reproducing in parallel, by means of respective sewing heads, said sewing lines according to said pattern on a plurality of said rectangular areas arranged side by side along said substantially rectilinear direction, said advancement step being preferably substantially equal to the number of said rectangular areas multiplied by the length of said side. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 11 , furthermore comprising: a step of temporarily accumulating said cloths between said sewing step and said cutting step in order to compensate for any differences in speed between these two steps; and an optional step of labeling the semi-finished products after said cutting step. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein at least one of said sewing lines of said pattern is a substantially closed line, outside of which said reference markings are arranged, said sewing being interrupted along one or more portions of said substantially closed line, said portions being adapted to define a corresponding inlet for access to a respective pocket formed between the superimposed cloths by means of said sewing step, said method further comprising the optional step of inserting down inside said pocket. 
     
     
         18 . An apparatus for the production of fabric or leather articles, particularly of padded articles, adapted to perform the method according to  claim 11 , said apparatus comprising:
 a feeder of a plurality of cloths, said feeder being configured to unwind said cloths from respective rolls in an advancement direction and to mutually superimpose them;   memory means comprising a stored template which contains a pattern of reference sewing lines and a plurality of reference markings arranged, with respect to said pattern, according to a reference arrangement;   an embroidery machine, comprising at least one sewing head and at least one frame adapted to tension and temporarily retain said superimposed cloths during sewing, said embroidery machine being associated with control means configured to perform, by means of relative movements between said at least one sewing head and said frame, an automatic sewing of said superimposed cloths along sewing lines that correspond to said pattern of the stored template;   said embroidery machine being adapted to apply two-dimensionally, on said superimposed cloths, a plurality of markings in the form of seams in positions that correspond to said reference arrangement stored in said template;   downstream of said embroidery machine with respect to said advancement direction, means for the optical capture of the cloths sewn by said embroidery machine and a machine for the automatic cutting of said sewn cloths;   control means comprising stored instructions for:   detecting, by means of said optical capture means, the position of said markings applied on said sewn cloths;   determining any displacement of said applied markings with respect to the reference arrangement stored in said template;   on the basis of said displacement and of the mutual arrangement of the reference markings and of the pattern of the sewing lines provided in said stored template, determining by interpolation the actual pattern of the sewing lines that is present on said sewn cloths, so as to automatically adapt said cutting to any relaxations and/or wrinkles of the sewn cloths after the release of said sewn cloths by the frame of the embroidery machine;   said automatic cutting machine being adapted to perform an automatic cutting of said cloths substantially along said sewing lines on the basis of said actual pattern obtained with said interpolation.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus according to  claim 18 , wherein said embroidery machine comprises a plurality of said sewing heads, arranged side by side along said advancement direction and adapted to replicate in parallel said sewing lines, according to said stored pattern, on a plurality of rectangular areas arranged side by side along said advancement direction;
 and wherein said apparatus comprises, downstream of said embroidery machine and upstream of said automatic cutting machine, a buffer for the temporary accumulation of the sewn cloths in output from said embroidery machine, in order to compensate for any differences in speed between the machines upstream and downstream of said buffer.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus according to  claim 18 , wherein said capture means are arranged at said automatic cutting machine, which comprises:
 an advancement belt adapted to receive, laid thereon, said sewn portion of the superimposed cloths that has exited from the embroidery machine;   a support which can move on command along said belt according to a plurality of axes and is provided with at least one cutting tool, said capture means being preferably mounted in a fixed position above said advancement belt so as to capture an entire rectangular area containing all the markings applied according to said reference arrangement.