Fabric Response Characteristic Function for Laser Finishing

Abstract

Software and lasers are used in finishing apparel to produce a desired wear pattern or other design. A technique includes determining a fabric's response to a laser, capturing an initial image of a wear pattern on a garment, and processing the initial image to obtain a working image in grayscale. The working image is further processed to obtain a difference image by comparing each pixel relative to a dark reference. The difference image is converted to a laser values image by using the previously determined fabric response to the laser.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 a garment template comprising a fabric material, wherein the garment template will be exposed to a laser beam that will create a finishing pattern on a surface of the garment template; and   a laser input file, wherein the laser input file is used by a laser that emits the laser beam, the laser beam will form a finishing pattern on the surface of the fabric material of the garment template based on the laser input file, and the laser input file is obtained by   providing a fabric response characteristic function for the fabric material,   providing an initial finishing pattern, and   generating the laser input file from the initial finishing pattern based on the fabric response characteristic function.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function is derived from a histogram. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function is derived from a plurality of histograms. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function is derived from a distribution of pixels. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function comprises a graph. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function comprises a graph of at least one curve. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function comprises a graph of a plurality of curves. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function comprises a relationship between a gray value difference on fabric versus a programmed grayscale. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function comprises a relationship between a value shift and a grayscale value programmed. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function comprises an equation. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function comprises a lookup table. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function comprises a lookup table, storing values comprising grayscale values and corresponding value shifts. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function comprises a lookup table storing values for a curve. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function comprises a lookup table storing values for a plurality of curves. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the laser input file comprises a negative image. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the garment template comprises fabric panels that have been sewn together using thread to form pants legs, a crotch region for the pants, and pocket openings for the pants. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the finishing pattern on the surface of the fabric material of the garment template is formed by removing a selected amount of material from the surface of the fabric material of the garment template based on the laser input file. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1  wherein laser levels at an output of the laser beam are altered based on the laser input file by varying a characteristic of the laser comprising at least one of a frequency, period, pulse width, power, duty cycle, or burn speed. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the garment template comprises a pair of jeans. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fabric response characteristic function for the fabric material is obtained by
 forming a fabric response pattern on a surface of the fabric material by laser, wherein the fabric response pattern comprises a plurality of color shades, and the color shades are lighter shades relative to an original color of the target fabric material, and 
 based on the fabric response pattern, determining the fabric response characteristic for the fabric material. 
 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20  wherein the plurality of color shades comprises 32 or more color shades. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 20  wherein the plurality of color shades comprises 64 or more color shades. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 20  wherein the plurality of color shades comprises 128 or more color shades.