A method for gripping, moving and releasing a piece of cloth with a gripper that is initially placed with opposed, movable, coherent, flexible surface parts in contact with the piece of cloth, and the surface parts are moved with respect to each other and with respect to the gripper in a gripping action, in order to pinch and hold on to the piece of cloth. The gripper with the piece of cloth pinched between the surface parts is moved to a different location, wherein the surface parts move in a reverse direction in order to release the piece of cloth. While in contact with the piece of cloth, the opposed surface parts are moved along a path which brings the surface parts both closer to each other and moves them in a direction away from the piece of cloth.

Described is a system for managing and controlling fabrics comprising: a first station for moving a fabric, a second station for moving said fabric operatively connected to said first station, a light source positioned in an intermediate position between said first station and said second station configured for illuminating from the bottom upwards a predetermined portion of said fabric, an optical device for acquiring an image or a video of said predetermined portion of said fabric, a data processing and storage unit connected to said optical device and configured to associate with said image or video of said predetermined portion of said fabric identification information of said fabric.

A nonwoven fabric dispenser is provided with fixation elements attached to the body of the dispenser and a cutter assembly attached to a lid of the dispenser. Nonwoven fabric stock is secured by the fabric engagement structures when the lid of the dispenser is in a closed configuration and the cutter assembly is configured to separate a sheet of the nonwoven fabric stock of a desired length.

Disclosed is a cutting apparatus for a roll zebra. The cutting apparatus includes: a main body portion; a mounting portion provided at one side of the main body portion to wind or unwind a fabric; a cutting portion provided at one side of the main body portion to cut the fabric with a required length; and a discharge portion provided at one side of the main body portion to convey the fabric cut by the cutting portion to the outside. The cutting portion includes a longitudinal cutting portion cutting the fabric in a longitudinal direction, and a transverse cutting portion cutting the fabric in a transverse direction.

An apparatus may include a housing, a power-supply, a user-interface, a wrap-roller, a dispenser. In one embodiment, the apparatus is configured to roll an unwound hand-wrap after a workout. In another embodiment, a vending machine includes the housing, the power-supply, the user-interface, the wrap-roller, and the dispenser. In this embodiment, the housing includes a plurality of items that may aid in a users' workout and may selectively dispensed from the vending machine. The vending and use of the apparatus may be monetized for profit at sports-related establishments.

A slit device including a first transport section which transports a web in a transport direction while nipping the web, a second transport section which is disposed in parallel with a direction intersecting the transport direction of the first transport section and which transports the web in the transport direction while nipping the web, and a cutting section which is disposed between the first transport section and the second transport section in a direction intersecting the transport direction and which cuts the web along the transport direction, in which a cutting position at which the web is cut by the cutting section is a position within a nipping area where the first transport section nips the web along the transport direction, or is a position downstream of the nipping area in the transport direction.

Apparatus for picking a garment having a front and a back and placing the garment over a pallet such that the front and the back of the garment are on the front and the back sides respectively of the pallet. The apparatus comprises a picking arm to approach the garment and then withdraw towards the pallet; and one or more adherence locations on the picking arm, the adherence location being smaller than the first side, the adherence location for contacting the garment and causing adherence of the garment at the contact location, thereby causing the picking arm to pull the front of the garment over the front of the pallet, the back of the garment sliding under the first side onto the back of the pallet. Adherence may involve freezing.

Material moving apparatus, systems and methods are presented which can include an air material mover. Airflow through orifices can create a localized vacuum such that the uppermost or top layer of material can be separated from the stack of material. The airflow can interact with the material to produce flutter, which assists in separating lower layers from the uppermost layer. A material gripper can grip the uppermost or top layer of material for removal from the stack and repositioning in a work area.

A nonwoven fabric dispenser is provided with fixation elements attached to the body of the dispenser and a cutter assembly attached to a lid of the dispenser. Nonwoven fabric stock is secured by the fabric engagement structures when the lid of the dispenser is in a closed configuration and the cutter assembly is configured to separate a sheet of the nonwoven fabric stock of a desired length.

Due to rapid advancement in computing technology of both hardware and software, the labor intensive sewing process has been transformed into a technology-intensive automated process. During an automated process, product materials may become wrinkled or folded, which can slow down the automated process or result in human intervention. Various examples are provided related to the automation of sewing robots, and removal of wrinkles from products. Images of material on a work table can be captured and analyzed to determine if there are wrinkles or folds in the product. The robot can remove the wrinkle or fold by manipulating the material through the use of end effectors such as, e.g., budgers.