A material supply device includes a supply section that supplies a small piece made of a material containing a fiber, a weight measurement section that detects a weight of the small piece supplied from the supply section to a receiving portion, and a supply amount adjustment section that adjusts a supply amount per unit time of the small piece supplied by the supply section, based on a detection result detected by the weight measurement section. The supply section has a storage portion that stores the small piece, an outlet that discharges the small piece from the storage portion, and a shutter that opens and closes the outlet.

The method of transporting a piece of fabric material using a Morton™ picker comprises the steps of aligning a weight vector of the piece of fabric material being lifted, from the gap between the toothed wheel and the pressing foot of the picker and into a region between a tangent to the toothed wheel and a right angle to the pressing surface of the pressing foot; and lifting and transporting the piece of fabric material while maintaining the alignment of the weight vector in that region. In another aspect, there is provided robotic installation comprising a robotic arm and a Morton™ picker for manipulating pieces of fabric material. The robotic arm is configured for simultaneously rotating an axis of the picker and moving the picker along a hyperbolic trajectory, in a single complex motion without jitter, while maintaining the aforesaid alignment of the weight vector.

The present disclosure relates to a method performed by an alignment system for aligning tethers of a drop stitch fabric prior to feeding the drop stitch fabric to a drop stitch fabric processing machine. The alignment system feeds a drop stitch fabric having a first layer and a second layer tethered by drop stitch tethers, wherein the first layer is moving with a first velocity and the second layer is moving with a second velocity. The disclosure also relates to an alignment system in accordance with to the foregoing.

A thermosetting unit, in particular for a textile printer, includes a pair of stationary supports, a thermosetting roller extending between said stationary supports and rotatably carried by said stationary supports around a longitudinal axis thereof, a stationary infrared lamp extending inside said thermosetting roller and having opposite ends supported by said stationary supports, and a temperature-uniforming device housed inside the thermosetting roller.

Some embodiments include a fabric separator comprising a body, a cylinder, a gas intake, a sensor, and a clamp. In some embodiments, the cylinder has an outer surface, is coupled with the body, and has a cylinder rotatable about an axis. The gas intake may flow gas in a rotational direction of the cylinder such that a low pressure zone is created on at least a portion of the outer surface of the cylinder. The sensor may be coupled with the body. The clamp may be in communication with the sensor and coupled with the body. The clamp having an engaged mode where the clamp is pressed against a portion of the cylinder and a disengaged where the clamp is not pressed against a portion of the cylinder, the clamp transitions from the engaged mode to the disengaged mode based on a signal from the sensor.

A device for positioning a garment on a printing platen for printing, comprises a gripper to controllably grip onto a first edge of the garment at a first side of the platen; and a sliding mechanism connected to the gripper to slide the gripper from the first side of the platen to a second side of the platen opposite the first side, thereby to pull the garment edge to the second side across the platen and position the garment across the platen for printing. The use of the device may prevent back pain related to repeated loading and unloading of platen-based textile printing devices.

A method of preparing a composite article including providing a first bias assembly with a first bias roll; providing a first non-bias assembly with a first non-bias roll; positioning the first bias assembly to a dispensing position; dispensing a bias ply from the first bias roll along a bias path on a mold; cutting the bias ply; positioning the first non-bias assembly to a dispensing position; dispensing a non-bias ply from the first non-bias roll; and cutting the non-bias ply; wherein the bias path and the non-bias path are substantially parallel.

The present invention relates to an apparatus (1) for handling and collecting a plurality of substantially bi-dimensional objects (100) comprises: a conveyor (2), arranged to receive the bi-dimensional object from a source, and configured to provide a holding force (F) to draw and hold the bi-dimensional objects from above; a disengagement device (4), configured to temporarily oppose the holding force on at least a portion of the conveyor, to disengage the bi-dimensional objects from the conveyor, causing the fall of the bi-dimensional objects towards a collecting area (5).

A machine (100) for unstacking objects (10) includes a belt mechanism (110, 120, 121, 130) having a conveyor belt (110), a first drive mechanism (115) for driving the conveyor belt (110), a second drive mechanism (120, 121) for shifting the conveyor belt (110) between a forwarded position and a retracted position, and a third drive mechanism (130) for adjusting a height position of the conveyor belt (110). Further, the machine (100) includes a gripper mechanism (150, 160) having a gripper (150) and a fourth drive mechanism (160) for moving the gripper (150) between different height positions. A controller of the machine (100) is configured to control the gripper mechanism (150, 160) to grip an end portion of an uppermost object (10) of a stack (20) and lift the end of the uppermost object (10), to control the second drive mechanism (120, 121) and the third drive mechanism (130) to position a forward end of the conveyor belt (110) below the lifted end portion of the uppermost object (10), and to control the first drive mechanism (110) and the second drive mechanism (120, 121) to operate in a coordinated manner by shifting the conveyor belt (110) towards the forwarded position while at the same time driving the conveyor belt (110) in a backwards direction to draw the uppermost object (10) onto the conveyor belt (110).

A feed assist apparatus for a flexible sheet material spreader, comprising a first arm attached at a first end to one side of the material spreader, a second arm attached at a first end to another side of the material spreader, and a material retainer attached at a second end of each of the first and second arms, the material retainer having a first configuration for feeding flexible sheet material there-through and a second configuration for retaining flexible sheet material. The first arm and the second arm are moveable together from a first position adjacent a flexible material supply and a second position adjacent entry to the material spreader, and the material retainer is in the second configuration when the moveable arms are in the first position, and the material retainer is in the first configuration when the moveable arms are in the second position.