MODULABLE SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING AND CERTIFYING GARMENTS

Abstract

Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, suitable to analyze a garment or an accessory inside a tunnel in which a common movement mechanism transports the garments. The tunnel has image capturing devices, light source and a common automatic gripping mechanism. Each garment has an identification device recognized by an identification sensor in the tunnel. The analysis is performed by software and includes: identification, by associating the garment with a wearer; entry, in which the garment is introduced inside the tunnel; acquisition of the images, in which image capturing devices take at least one pair of photographs; analysis, in which the software analyzes the images; assessment, in which the common dedicated software processes the data and indicates whether the garment meets the pre-set parameters; saving in a memory; sorting the approved garments from those that have been rejected. The assessment parameters are changeable through a special adjustment device.

Claims

1. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, suitable to analyze the morphological, metrical and colorimetric state of a given garment or a given accessory, according to pre-set parameters, and suitable to provide, at the end of said analysis, an assessment on whether said garment meets said pre-set parameters, said system being wherein said analysis is carried out in a tunnel (100) in which a common movement mechanism (40) is suitable to transfer the garments to be analyzed along a track divided into an entry area (41), into a second area (43) inside said tunnel (100), up to reaching a third area provided with a pair of exit tracks (42-42′) on which the garments accepted and regularly certified/approved are sorted from rejected garments; said tunnel (100) being constituted by a chamber within which each garment to be analyzed remains, for a predetermined period of time, so as to enable a plurality of devices to detect the colorimetric, metrical and morphological state of the garment to be analyzed; said devices being constituted by at least one light source (10) and a pair of image capturing devices (20-20′), in particular a front image capturing device (20), suitable to take a photograph of the front part of the garment to be analyzed, and a rear image capturing device (20′), suitable to take a photograph of the rear part of the garment to be analyzed; said tunnel (100) also being provided with a common automatic gripping mechanism suitable to grip said garment to be analyzed at a plurality of strips and reversibly arrange said garment to be analyzed in a spread configuration wherein substantially the entire surface of said garment to be analyzed is exposed to the light of said light source (10) and it can be photographed by said image capturing devices (20-20′); each of said garments to be analyzed being provided with an identification device (30) suitable to be recognized, by means of any wireless technology, by at least one identification sensor (31); said analysis being carried out thanks to a common dedicated software (70) connected to a relative memory (80) and according to the following steps: (B) identification step; in said identification step (A) each of said garments to be analyzed, provided with the corresponding identification device (30), is arranged at the front part in proximity to the identification sensor (31) by means of said movement mechanism (40), to associate said garment with a given wearer; (C) entry step; in said entry step (B) said garment to be analyzed is introduced into said tunnel (100), by means of said movement mechanism (40), passing through said first entry area (41) to said second internal area (43); (D) image acquisition step; in said second internal area (43) there occurs the image acquisition step (C), wherein the automatic gripping mechanism arranges said garment to be analyzed in said spread configuration and said image capturing devices (20-20′) take at least a couple of photographs, respectively, of the front part and of the rear part of the garment to be analyzed; said image capturing devices (20-20′) being suitable to transmit said images to said dedicated software (70) suitable to process the images; at the end of said image acquisition step (C), said automatic gripping mechanism being suitable to release the previously gripped strips of said garment to be analyzed, returning said garment to the initial configuration; (E) analysis step; in said analysis step (D) said dedicated software (70) analyzes the images of the garment to assess the amount of surface meeting the pre-set parameters; (F) assessment step; in said assessment step (E) said dedicated software (70) processes the data regarding at least the colorimetry and overall reflectance of the garment, with that regarding morphology and size, to give feedback on whether the garment meets the pre-set parameters; (G) saving in memory step; in said saving in memory step (F) said dedicated software (70) saves in said memory (80), in chronological order, the data regarding each analyzed garment, said data regarding at least the identification, the captured images and the assessment result; (H) sorting step; in said sorting step (G) which occurs in said third area of said movement mechanism (40), the garments approved in the assessment step (E) are directed towards the first exit track (42) of said movement mechanism (40), while the garments rejected in the assessment step (E) are directed towards a second exit track (42′) of said movement mechanism (40); said assessment parameters, on which said analysis (D) and assessment (E) steps carried out by said dedicated software (70) are based, being changeable by means of a special adjustment device (60) controlled by an operator.

2. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to claim 1, wherein the system is suitable to analyze a plurality of garments associated to the same wearer, through the following steps: (A) identification step; in said identification step (A) said associated garments to be analyzed, provided with the corresponding identification devices (30) suitably configured to enable said identification sensor (31) to associate said plurality of garments in the subsequent steps, are arranged at the front part in proximity to the identification sensor (31), by means of said movement mechanism (40), to associate said associated garments with the same given wearer so as to perform the subsequent processing steps associating the data of said plurality of associated garments and analysing them globally; (B) entry step; in said entry step (B) said associated garments to be analyzed are introduced into said tunnel (100), by means of said movement mechanism (40), passing through said first entry area (41) to said second internal area (43); (C) image acquisition step; in said second internal area (43) there occurs the image acquisition step (C), wherein the automatic gripping mechanism arranges said associated garments to be analyzed in said spread configuration and said image capturing devices (20-20′) take at least a couple of photographs, respectively, of the front part and of the rear part of each of the associated garments to be analyzed; said image capturing devices (20-20′) being suitable to transmit said images to said dedicated software (70) suitable to process the images; at the end of said image acquisition step (C), said automatic gripping mechanism being suitable to release the previously gripped strips of said associated garments to be analyzed, returning said associated garments to the initial configuration; (D) analysis step; in said analysis step (D) said dedicated software (70) analyzes the images of said associated garments to assess the amount of surface meeting the pre-set parameters; (E) assessment step; in said assessment step (E) said dedicated software (70) processes the data regarding at least the colorimetry and overall reflectance of said garments associated with the same wearer, with that regarding morphology and size, to give feedback on whether the garments as a whole meet the pre-set parameters; (F) saving in memory step; in said saving in memory step (F) said dedicated software (70) saves in said memory (80), in chronological order, the data regarding each analyzed garment, associating it with at least one further garment corresponding to the same wearer, said data regarding at least the identification, the captured images and the assessment result; (G) sorting step; in said sorting step (G) which occurs in said third area of said movement mechanism (40), the associations of garments corresponding to the same wearer approved in the assessment step (E) are directed towards a first exit track (42) of said movement mechanism (40), while the associations of garments rejected in the assessment step (E) are directed towards a second exit track (42′) of said movement mechanism (40).

3. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to the preceding claim 1, wherein said identification step (A) and said entry step (B) are interchangeable depending on the position of said identification sensor (31) inside or outside said tunnel (100).

4. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to claim 1, further comprising a common display (50), suitable to serve as a communication interface between said dedicated software (70) and an operator; said display (50) also being suitable to enable the display of the images captured in said image acquisition step (C) and being suitable to provide a diagram showing which surfaces of said garment, or said plurality of garments corresponding to the same wearer, correspond to said pre-set parameters; said device (60) for adjusting said parameters.

5. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to claim 1, wherein said light source (10) is constituted by at least one lamp.

6. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to claim 1, wherein said image capturing devices (20-20′) are constituted by cameras or video cameras.

7. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to claim 1, wherein said identification devices (30) and said identification sensor (31) for the garments to be analyzed are barcode readers or RFID readers.

8. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to claim 1, wherein said tunnel (100) is constituted by a structure completely closed by opaque walls suitable to prevent any contamination of the interior artificial light by light from outside said tunnel (100).

9. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to claim 8, wherein said tunnel (100) is internally provided with at least one temperature sensor (90) suitable to communicate data regarding the interior temperature of said tunnel (100) to said dedicated software (70); the latter being suitable to reversibly activate a common forced ventilation system (91) when the temperature detected by said temperature sensors (90) exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

10. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to claim 1, wherein said tunnel (100) is provided with a common exposure meter and/or a common luxmeter suitable to detect the data regarding the interior brightness of said tunnel (100) and suitable to send said data to said dedicated software (70); said dedicated software (70) being suitable to reversibly and automatically adjust the brightness of said light source (10), through at least one common adjustment potentiometer connected to said light source (10), to maintain the interior brightness of said tunnel (100) within the pre-established parameters.

11. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to claim 1, wherein said tunnel (100) has a fixed or reversibly disassemblable structure.

12. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to claim 1, further comprising a common App for electronic devices suitable to enable the recognition of each garment, through said identification device (30), and suitable to provide at least the data regarding the most recent assessment obtained from the garment identified by said dedicated software (70).

13. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to preceding claim 12, wherein said App is suitable to enable access to the chronology, present in said memory (80) of said dedicated software (70), of the acquired images and assessments carried out over the entire lifetime of the identified garment and the position of such garment at every instant in the production process.

14. Modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to claim 1, wherein the system is suitable to analyze and assess special high visibility garments including jackets, vests, pants, gloves, hats or any other garment suitable to instantly identify a wearer even under poor visibility conditions.

15. The modulable system of claim 1, wherein the at least one identification sensor (31) is arranged inside said tunnel (100).

16. The modulable system of claim 15, wherein the special adjustment device (60) is located in said tunnel (100).

17. The modulable system for identifying and certifying garments, according to claim 2, wherein said identification step (A) and said entry step (B) are interchangeable depending on the position of said identification sensor (31) inside or outside said tunnel (100).

18. The modulable system of claim 4, wherein the common display (50) is a touch screen device, and wherein said device (60) for adjusting said parameters is maneuverable through said display (50).

19. The modulable system of claim 4, wherein the light source comprises a plurality of the lamps.

20. The modulable system of claim 9, comprising a plurality of the temperature sensors.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0037] The invention will be described hereinbelow in at least one preferred embodiment by way of a non-limiting example with the aid of the enclosed figures, in which:

[0038] FIG. 1 shows a scheme of one of the possible embodiments of the plant according to the present invention. In FIG. 1(a), a section is visible in which the tunnel 100 is seen with the movement mechanism 40 divided into entry track 41, internal track 43 and pair of exit tracks 42-42′. The garments are seen in transit, each of which provided with its identification device 30. Inside the tunnel 100, the light sources 10 are schematized together with the pair of image capturing devices 20-20′ and the identification sensor 31. Outside the tunnel 100, the display 50 is seen, in proximity to which the knob 60 is arranged for adjusting the acceptability parameters. In FIG. 1(b), the tunnel 100 is shown from above, in a manner so as to make the garment movement mechanism 40 more clearly visible, with the entry track 41, the internal track 43 and the pair of exit tracks 42-42′ on which the garments are sorted based on the assessment result.

[0039] FIG. 2 illustrates an operating diagram for the dedicated software 70 connected to the relative memory 80. Said dedicated software, in one of the possible operating schemes, receives information from the identification sensor 31, from the pair of image capturing devices 20-20′, from the possible temperature sensors 90 and is set by the adjusting knob 60. After the processing of the received data, said dedicated software 70 acts on the movement mechanism 40, sorting the garments between those approved and those rejected, and it acts on the possible forced ventilation system 91.

[0040] FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram for the operation of the present system. Step A indicates the identification of the garment; step B regards the entry of the garment in the tunnel 100; step C refers to the acquisition of the images of the garment; step D follows for the colorimetric, morphological and metric analysis of the image; afterwards, there is step E for the global assessment of the garment and the saving of the data in the memory (step F); based on the assessment result, the garment is directed towards the approved garments (step G) or towards the rejected garments (step G′).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0041] The present invention will now be illustrated merely by way of a non-limiting or non-constraining example, with the aid of the figures which illustrate several embodiments with regard to the present inventive concept.

[0042] With reference to FIG. 1, one of the possible schemes is shown for attaining the garment analysis and certification plant that uses the system, object of the present invention. In particular, see a central chamber, conventionally termed tunnel 100, within which a light source 10 illuminates a garment to be analyzed, while the same is photographed by at least one pair of image capturing devices 20-20′.

[0043] The represented garment is a jacket, but the system described in detail hereinbelow is suitable to analyze and to assess any type of garment, even special garments, especially suitable for high visibility such as vests, jackets, pants, gloves, hats or any other garment suitable to instantly identify a wearer even in poor visibility conditions.

[0044] The garments are transported inside the tunnel 100 by a common movement system 40, preferably configured with tracks. In particular, as better represented in FIG. 2, said movement system 40 is constituted by an entry track 41, a track 43 inside the tunnel 100 and a pair of exit tracks 42-42′ on which the garments deemed suitable for certification/approval are separated from those deemed unsuitable. In other words, on a first exit track 42, the garments will be directed which had a positive assessment result, while on a second exit track 42′, the rejected garments will be directed.

[0045] Returning to the technical specifications of the plant according to the present invention, said tunnel 100 can be constituted by a fixed or disassemblable structure and, if the situation required it, it can be completely closed, or made as an actual darkroom in which the light of the external environment cannot in any manner filter inside.

[0046] In this particular embodiment, in order to preserve the correct operation of all the components of the system inside the tunnel 100, at least one temperature sensor 90 is adapted, upon exceeding a predetermined temperature inside the tunnel 100, to reversibly activate a common forced ventilation system 91. As an addition to this embodiment, in order to ensure the constant brightness intensity at the time of acquisition of the images and/or detection of the measurements, the internal space of said tunnel 100 is provided with at least one exposure meter and/or luxmeter, which by interfacing the detected data with said software 70, is used for monitoring the light intensity inside the tunnel 100 and adjusting it through suitable potentiometers.

[0047] The equipment inside the tunnel 100, which allows the correct performance of all the steps necessary for the assessment, includes apparatuses commonly available on the market: said light source 10 is constituted by at least one, preferably two or in any case a plurality of common lamps available on the market, such as halogen lamps, LED lamps led, UV or IR illuminators, laser lights or the like. The image capturing devices 20-20′ must be positioned in a manner such that at least one front image capturing device 20 is suitable to take a photograph of the front part of the garment and at least one rear image capturing device 20′ is suitable to take a photograph of the rear part of the garment. Also with reference to these devices, they are constituted by common CCD video cameras, CMOS video cameras, IR or UV sensors, laser sensors or the like.

[0048] Still inside said tunnel 100, a common automatic gripping mechanism is arranged which is suitable to grip several strips of the garment to be analyzed in order to reversibly arrange it in a spread configuration, in which substantially the entire surface of said garment to be analyzed is exposed to the light of said light source 10, and it can be photographed by said image capturing devices 20-20′. In this manner, the availability of the garment to be analyzed by the image capturing devices 20-20′ and hence by the dedicated software 70 is improved, consequently improving the reliability of the assessment.

[0049] As represented in FIG. 1, each garment is provided with a corresponding identification device 30 uniquely associated therewith and adapted to be recognized by an identification sensor 31 placed at the inlet of or inside the tunnel 100. Such identification device and sensor 30, 31 are preferably constituted by common barcode readers or RFID readers.

[0050] Often, such high visibility garments are worn in a manner associated with other garments (jacket-pants outfit or in association with gloves or hat). In this case, the identification system will be suitably configured to ensure that the identification sensor 31 is able to associate the garments worn by the same wearer. In this case, their analysis and assessment could also be carried out at the same time.

[0051] The procedure of assessment of a garment or of a plurality of garments corresponding to the same wearer are: [0052] (A) identification step; in said identification step (A), one of the garments to be analyzed or a plurality of garments to be analyzed, each of which provided with the corresponding identification device 30, is transported in proximity to the identification sensor 31 by said movement mechanism 40, in order to uniquely associate each of said garments with a wearer; [0053] (B) entry step; in said entry step (B) said garment to be analyzed, or said plurality of garments corresponding to the same wearer, is introduced inside said tunnel 100, passing from said entry track 41 to said internal track 43. Based on the position of the identification sensor 31, the identification step (A) and the entry step (B) can be reversed; [0054] (C) image acquisition step; in said image acquisition step (C), after said automatic gripping mechanism has arranged the garment, or the associated garments to be analyzed, in said spread configuration, said image capturing devices 20-20′ take at least one pair of photographs for each garment, respectively of the front part and of the rear part of the garment to be analyzed. Said images are immediately transmitted to said software 70. At the end of the image acquisition, said automatic gripping mechanism is suitable to release the previously gripped strips of the garment or associated garments to be analyzed, returning the garment or the garments to the initial configuration; [0055] (D) analysis step; in said analysis step (D), said common dedicated software 70 analyzes the images of the garment, or of the plurality of garments corresponding to the same wearer, to assess the amount of surface meeting the pre-set parameters; [0056] (E) assessment step; in said assessment step (E), said common dedicated software 70 processes the data regarding at least the global colorimetry of the garment, or of the plurality of garments corresponding to the same wearer, with that regarding the morphology and size, to provide feedback on whether the garment, or the plurality of garments corresponding to the same wearer, meets the pre-set parameters; [0057] (F) saving in memory step; in said saving in memory step (F), said common dedicated software 70 saves, in the memory 80 connected to the software 70, in chronological order, the data of each analyzed garment, possibly associating it with at least one further garment corresponding to the same wearer, said data regarding at least the identification, the captured images and the assessment result; [0058] (G) sorting step; in said sorting step (G), the garments, or the plurality of garments corresponding to the same wearer which have been approved in assessment step (E), are directed towards a first exit track 42, while the garments, or the plurality of garments corresponding to the wearer which have been rejected in assessment step (E) are directed towards a second exit track 42′.

[0059] Still with reference to FIG. 1, on the side of the tunnel 100, a control column is visible that is provided with a display 50 and with an adjustment device 60, constituted by a knob. This is only one of the possible embodiments of the system according to the present invention. Due to the display 50, in fact, the communication between said software 70 and the operator for managing the system is simplified.

[0060] In addition, said display 50 can be suitable to enable the display of the images captured in said image acquisition step (C) and to provide a scheme of which surfaces of said garment, or of said plurality of garments corresponding to the same wearer, correspond to said pre-set parameters.

[0061] The knob or any other adjustment device 60, finally, has a fundamental role in managing the analysis. Indeed, it is adapted to adjust the colorimetry parameters according to which a garment is approved or rejected, thus making the system extremely flexible and personalizable.

[0062] An additional item that the present invention offers in its preferred embodiment, to all wearers provided with an electronic device such as a smartphone or a tablet, is the possibility to download an App.

[0063] Through this application (App), the recognition of each garment is enabled through said recognition device 30 and the access to the memory 80 regarding the identified garment is also enabled. Among the data that the wearer will be able to consult, by way of a non-limiting example, is that regarding the most recent assessment obtained from the identified garment, the chronology of the images of the garment and of the assessments thereof and the position at every instant of the wearer's garment in the production process.

[0064] Finally, it is clear that modifications, additions or variations can be made to the invention described up to now that are obvious for a man skilled in the art, without departing from the protective scope provided by the enclosed claims.