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WO-2026095988-A1 - METHODS FOR UPDATING KNITTING INSTRUCTIONS BASED ON PHYSICAL MEASUREMENT OF KNITTED ARTICLE

WO2026095988A1WO 2026095988 A1WO2026095988 A1WO 2026095988A1WO-2026095988-A1

Abstract

A method for updating knitting instructions begins by defining virtual reference indicators on a surface of a three-dimensional (3D) model of an article to be knitted by a knitting machine, the virtual reference indicators partitioning the surface of the 3D model into one or more regions. Then, knitting instructions that specify the virtual reference indicators defined on the surface of the 3D model are to be knitted as physical reference indicators that form part of the knitted article are generated. These knitting instructions are subsequently updated by adjusting a number of courses and/or wales within the one or more regions of the 3D model based on a compensation factor that accounts for differences between a physical measurement that specifies a distance along a path defined by one or more of the physical reference indicators that form part of the knitted article, and an intended dimension of the distance.

Inventors

  • SAMOSIR, William
  • PANOZZO, Lawrence
  • GERSON, Garrett, Li

Assignees

  • Global Apparel Partners Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20250501
Priority Date
20241029

Claims (20)

  1. CLAIMS
  2. What is claimed is:
  3. 1. A computer-implemented method for updating knitting instructions, the method comprising:
  4. defining one or more virtual reference indicators (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e) on a surface of a three-dimensional (3D) model (100) of an article (43) to be knitted by a computer-controlled flatbed knitting machine (694), wherein the 3D model (100) is defined in a 3D space represented in an application running on a computer system (601) and is displayed on a display (614) of the computer system (601) within a user interface (400) of the application, and wherein the one or more virtual reference indicators (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e) define one or more regions (21);
  5. generating knitting instructions for the computer-controlled flatbed knitting machine (694), wherein the knitting instructions specify that the one or more virtual reference indicators (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e) defined on the surface of the 3D model (100) are to be knitted as one or more physical reference indicators (38, 40, 60a, 60b, 66a, 66b) that form part of the knitted article (43);
  6. knitting the knitted article (43) using the knitting instructions; and
  7. updating the knitting instructions by adjusting at least one of a number of courses or a number of wales within the one or more regions of the 3D model (100) by dividing the number of courses or the number of wales by a compensation factor that accounts for differences between a physical measurement (64, 68) that specifies a first distance along a first path along the knitted article (43), the first path being defined by the one or more physical reference indicators (38, 40, 60a, 60b, 66a, 66b) that form part of the knitted article (43), and an intended dimension of said first distance,
  8. wherein the updating of the knitting instructions by the adjusting of the at least one of the number of courses or the number of wales within the one or more regions of the 3D model (100) comprises using a ratio between the physical measurement (64, 68) and a virtual measurement corresponding to the physical measurement (64, 68) as the compensation factor, wherein the virtual measurement specifies a second distance along a second path on the surface of the 3D model (100), the second path being defined by the one or more virtual reference indicators (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e).
  9. 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the physical measurement (64, 68) is received via the user interface (400) of the application.
  10. 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising displaying, on the user interface (400) of the application, the virtual measurement corresponding to the phy sical measurement (64, 68).
  11. 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the knitting instructions for the computer-controlled flatbed knitting machine (694) comprises generating a 3D knit mesh (200) from the 3D model (100), the 3D knit mesh (200) comprising a plurality of poly gons, each of the poly gons representing one or more stitches of the knitted article (43), and wherein the one or more virtual reference indicators (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e) are represented by a subset of the plurality of polygons of the 3D knit mesh (200).
  12. 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising displaying, on the user interface (400) of the application, the 3D knit mesh (200).
  13. 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the generating of the knitting instructions for the computer-controlled flatbed knitting machine (694) further comprises: generating a two-dimensional (2D) knitting map (300) from the 3D knit mesh (200), the 2D knitting map (300) comprising a plurality of pixels arranged within a 2D plane, each of the pixels representing the one or more stitches of the knitted article (43), and wherein the one or more virtual reference indicators (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e) are represented by a subset of the plurality of pixels of the 2D knitting map (300); and generating the knitting instructions from the 2D knitting map (300).
  14. 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising displaying, on the user interface (400) of the application, the 2D knitting map (300).
  15. 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the updated knitting instructions include instructions to generate the knitted article (43) without the physical reference indicators (38, 40, 60a, 60b, 66a, 66b).
  16. 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more phy sical reference indicators (38, 40, 60a, 60b, 66a, 66b) includes a physical reference line (38, 40, 60a, 60b, 66a, 66b), and the first path extends along the physical reference line (38, 40, 60a, 60b, 66a, 66b).
  17. 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more virtual reference indicators (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e) includes a virtual reference line (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e), and the second path extends along the virtual reference line (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e).
  18. 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more phy sical reference indicators (38, 40, 60a, 60b, 66a, 66b) includes a physical reference line (38, 40, 60a, 60b, 66a, 66b) that extends along a course or a wale of the knitted article.
  19. 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more virtual reference indicators (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e) on the surface of the 3D model (100) are specified (i) automatically by the application running on the computer system (601), (ii) manually by a user, or by a combination of (i) and (ii). 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the application automatically allocates more virtual reference lines (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e) to regions of the 3D model (100) with greater curvature, and fewer virtual reference lines (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e) to regions of the 3D model (100) with less curvature.
  20. 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising defining one or more isolines (12a, 12b, 12c, 12d), on the surface of the 3D model (100), wherein the one or more virtual reference indicators (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e) comprise a plurality of virtual reference lines (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e), and wherein the virtual reference lines (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e) segment the one or more isolines (12a, 12b, 12c, 12d) into one or more isoline segments (16a, 16b, 16c, 16d, 16e, 16f).

Description

METHODS FOR UPDATING KNITTING INSTRUCTIONS BASED ON PHYSICAL MEASUREMENT OF KNITTED ARTICLE RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority to U. S. Application No. 18/930,904, filed 29 October 2024. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to methods for updating knitting instructions based on a physical measurement of a knitted article, and more particularly relates to knitting the knitted article with physical reference indicators which correspond to virtual reference indicators of a three-dimensional (3D) model of the knitted article. BACKGROUND [0003] In a general process for knitting a knitted article, a three-dimensional (3D) model is created of the knitted article, knitting instructions are generated based on the 3D model, and the knitted article is knitted in accordance with the knitting instructions. However, due to various factors, the dimensions of the knitted article may not match the desired (or designed) dimensions specified in the 3D model. The techniques described hereinbelow provide solutions to address such challenge. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0004] In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a method for updating knitting instructions may include defining one or more virtual reference indicators on a surface of a three-dimensional (3D) model of an article to be knitted by a knitting machine. The 3D model may be defined in a 3D space represented in an application running on a computer system and may be displayed on a display of the computer system within a user interface of the application. The one or more virtual reference indicators may partition the surface of the 3D model into one or more regions. In one embodiment, the one or more virtual reference indicators may include section lines which partition the surface of the 3D model into sections. In one embodiment, the one or more virtual reference indicators may include virtual reference lines or virtual reference points. [0005] The method may include generating knitting instructions for the knitting machine, the knitting instructions specifying that the virtual reference indicators defined on the surface of the 3D model are to be knitted as physical reference indicators that are visible on a surface of the knitted article. The generating of the knitting instructions may include generating a 3D knit mesh from the 3D model, the 3D knit mesh including polygons which represent one or more stitches of the knitted article. In one embodiment, a subset of the polygons may be selected to represent the one or more virtual reference indicators on the 3D knit mesh. The generating of the knitting instructions may further include generating a two-dimensional (2D) knitting map from the 3D knit mesh, the 2D knitting map including a subset of pixels which represent the one or more virtual reference indicators on the 3D knit mesh and/or the selected subset of the polygons of the 3D knit mesh. The generating of the knitting instructions may further include generating knitting instructions from the 2D knitting map. [0006] The method may include updating the knitting instructions by adjusting at least one of a number of courses or a number of wales within the one or more regions of the 3D model based on a physical measurement that specifies a first distance along a first path defined by one or more of the physical reference indicators. More specifically, a compensation factor may be formed as a ratio between the physical measurement and a length along a virtual reference line which corresponds to the physical measurement. The number of courses or a number of wales within the one or more regions of the 3D model may be adjusted based on the compensation factor (which may be provided by the user as an input to the application running on the computer system, e.g., via a user interface thereof that is displayed to the user via the display). If additional evaluation of the shape of the knitted article is desired, the updated knitting instructions may maintain instructions specifying that the knitted article should be knitted with the physical reference indicators. If additional evaluation of the shape of the knitted article is not desired, the updated knitting instructions may include instructions specifying that the knitted article should be knitted without the physical reference indicators. [0007] These and other embodiments of the invention are described in more detail in the description below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0008] The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which: [0009] Figure 1 A depicts a three-dimensional (3D) model of a knitted article, in which isolines and a first set of virtual reference lines are depicted on a surface of the 3D model, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. [0010] Figure IB indicates example isoline segments on the 3D model of Figure 1 A, in accordance with one embodiment of th