Method and apparatus for producing clothing patterns

Abstract

 The apparatus provides a method and apparatus for producing a personalised clothing pattern at the point of sale without requiring a large stock of predetermined pattern sizes. The apparatus comprises measuring means 12 for measuring at least the bust/chest, waist and hips of the person to whom the garment is being fitted, inputting 14 said measurements into correlating means 18 in which the measurements taken are compared to predetermined size values comprising inner and outer reference points for each garment pattern, noting the differences between said measured values and the inner and outer reference values and producing a personalised pattern using said variations and printing same on printing and/or plotting means 26 at the point of sale. Preferably the correlation means 18 includes storage means 20 having a selection of various pattern styles which can be provided to the correlation means 22. The printing/plotting means 26 may also include folding and/or cutting means to package the pattern ready for use.

Description

[0001] This invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing clothing patterns, especially cross-graded personalised clothing patterns, preferably utilising no more than five personal measurements.

[0002] Usually a design for a garment, for example, a dress, skirt, jacket etc. is produced by a designer and a draft design is produced in a standard size usually size 12 or 14. A sample may be made up and finishing touches made, for example, gathers, pleats, etc. to produce the finished appearance. This sample is then unpicked and a tracing made to produce a master pattern.

[0003] From this master pattern a series of graded patterns each reduced or enlarged to a specific ratio is produced for the complete range of sizes. These graded patterns are for standard sizes 8, 10, 12, etc. in steps of two through the range 8 to 28. Most designs however are not suitable for grading through the entire range so they might be graded for a restricted range, for example, 8 to 18, 12 to 20, 18 to 26 or some other similar grouping depending on the style of the garment involved.

[0004] The pattern manufacturer then prints the graded patterns as a number of separate pieces. Each of these pieces will need cutting out, placing on to fabric to produce the final garment. It should be noted that such patterns are not printed with cross-grading marks and thus a pattern of a specified size will need to be purchased in order to produce a specific garment. Furthermore, where the measurements of the person for whom the garment is to be fitted do not precisely meet the standard size requirements there is no way of taking this into account on the pattern. It is known for manufacturers to provide multiple outlines for some pieces, each outline corresponding to one standard size. Such multiple outlines are often confusing and are not easily adaptable to all configurations of pattern.

[0005] It will thus be seen that existing patterns for garments are available only in a restricted size range and each size is predetermined. Thus, retail outlets are obliged to carry a large number of patterns in each of the standard sizes and where personal measurements do not fall in the standard size range an adequate fit is not always obtainable.

[0006] In order to minimise the amount of stock that needs to be carried by retail outlets and to improve the fit of clothing patterns it would be an advantage to produce a truly cross-graded pattern which can be adapted so as to conform to the personal measurements required and can be produced at the point of sale, thus overcoming the requirement to carry stocks of a range of pattern sizes.

[0007] It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for producing clothing patterns which are cross-graded according to personal measurements and which are produced at the point of sale.

[0008] With this object in view a first aspect of the invention provides a method of producing a clothing pattern comprising the steps of measuring a person to be fitted with a garment, the measurements being taken around the bust/chest, waist and hips, plotting said measurements as points between inner and outer reference points formed of standard values for each of the bust/chest, waist and hips, noting variations between the reference points and the measured points and interpolating same such that the relative position of any point may be calculated, applying said personal curve to a predetermined clothing pattern, altering that pattern to produce a personalised pattern conforming to the measurement taken and applying the personal pattern to a sheet of paper for use.

[0009] Preferably the method also includes the further step of measuring the nape to waist of a person to be fitted with a garment and using said measurement to adjust the predetermined pattern's length between the inner and outer reference points. This step will not always be needed since the requirement for a nape to waist measurement will depend on the particular garment to which the measurements are to be applied.

[0010] Additionally the method may further include the step of measuring one leg of a person to be fitted with a garment applying same to the predetermined pattern to adjust the overall length thereof. In this way if the garment is, or includes, trousers the pattern can be adjusted for length.

[0011] Preferably the method further includes the step of selecting a predetermined garment pattern from a range of such patterns and applying said variations to the chosen pattern to alter same to produce a personal pattern conforming to the measurements.

[0012] The invention also provides apparatus for producing a personalised garment pattern comprising means for measuring a person's bust/chest, waist and hips, means for inputting said measurements to comparison said comparison means operative to plot the measurements as points between pairs of predetermined inner and outer reference points and to note variations between the inner and outer reference points and the measurements, storage means operative to store at least one predetermined clothing pattern and supplying same to the comparison means, the said comparison means additionally operative to alter the pattern to produce a personalised clothing pattern adapted to the variations in the measurements and plotting means to draw the personalised pattern onto a sheet of paper ready for use.

[0013] Preferably the invention also includes printing means to apply text and instructions on to the sheet of paper adjacent to or separately from the personalised pattern during the plotting thereof. The sheet of paper may conveniently rolled up for storage and use.

[0014] Advantageously the measuring means are also applicable to the measurement of the nape to waist of a person, which measurement is imputted into the comparison means and applied to the personalised pattern to adjust the overall length of the pattern to conform to the measured nape to waist value.

[0015] Preferably the printing and/or plotting means includes a cutter to divide the sheet of paper into the separate patterns or into separate pieces of the pattern for making up the completed garment. Furthermore the printing and/or plotting means may also include folding means to fold the produced pattern into a compact packet.

[0016] Advantageously the means for inputting the measurements, the comparison means and the storage means are all contained in a single unit.

[0017] Preferably the storage means contains a number of different predetermined garment patterns and the storage means includes selection means such that one pattern may be specifically selected to be modified by comparison with the measured variations.

[0018] Preferably the storage means, the comparison means and inputting means are contained in a micro computer such that the necessary correlation can be carried out relatively rapidly.

[0019] The invention will be described further by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing in which the single figure is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

[0020] Referring to the figure apparatus for a first preferred embodiment of the invention is referred to generally by the reference numeral 10 and includes measuring means 12. In its simplest form the measuring means 12 is a tape measure or similar flexible measuring device which can be used to measure the bust/chest, waist and hips of the person to whom the garment is to be fitted. Alternatively any other means of measuring these values is possible.

[0021] In one embodiment of the invention it is also necessary to measure the nape to waist of the person to whom the garment is to be fitted. It will of course be understood that this measurement is not absolutely necessary for all styles of garments and is not therefore always required. Additionally where the garment is, or includes, trousers a leg measurement, inside or outside, may be required to determine the overall length of the garment.

[0022] The values measured by the measuring means 12 are inputted 14 by way of, for example, a keyboard 16, into correlating means referred to generally by the numeral 18. At the same time as a keyboard is used to input the measurements 14 a selection of one pattern is made of the particular pattern which is to be personalised. A number of patterns are pre-stored in storage means 20 and the selection is made by inputting a particular design code number via the keyboard 16.

[0023] The pre-stored patterns in the storage means 20 are stored in digital format in which the outline of each pattern piece is related to one or more of the three points being the bust/chest, waist and hips of the person to whom the garment is to be fitted. Each design is provided with an inner (minimum) and an outer (maximum) reference curve dotted through the standard values for each of these three points. The difference between the inner and the outer reference curves will depend on the particular garment chosen, which garment may only be suitable for a restricted range of sizes. Thus the measurements inputted first may be correlated with the size range applicable and a message displayed if necessary to indicate that the measured values fall outside the acceptable range.

[0024] The selected pattern and the values of bust/chest, waist and hips are supplied to comparison means 22 where they are plotted as points lying between the inner and outer reference curves. The points are then connected by a personalised curve lying between the two reference curves and proportionally related thereto at all points along its length. This curve can be calculated by an algorithm such that the relative position of any specific point along it can be calculated. If the nape to waist or leg measurement is also applicable to the garment pattern chosen the length of the personalised curve is adjusted where necessary to account for differences between the measured value and that carried by the selected pattern on the inner and outer reference curves.

[0025] When the personalised curve between the two reference curves has been plotted the result is applied to the selected predetermined garment pattern and the shape of each piece of the pattern is altered to conform to the measured values.

[0026] The resultant personalised pattern is outputted digitally 24 to a printer/plotter device 26. This device draws the pattern onto a sheet of paper 28 and outputs same for use. Alternatively the device may cut the pieces out of the sheet.

[0027] Preferably the printer/plotter 26 may be supplied with folding and/or cutting means (not shown) such that the pattern is folded into a compact package or alternatively cut into portions ready for use.

[0028] It will be understood that personalised patterns produced according to the invention are adapted precisely for the specific bust/chest, waist and hip measurement of the person to whom the garment is to be fitted. Furthermore this is done without requiring a large number of size possibilities to be stocked and the pattern is produced only when actually required. In this way the proposed system is more flexible than cross-grading systems heretofore known.

[0029] The invention is of course equally applicable to patterns for male or female. However, the style of garment would have to be specified as being suitable either for the male or female form or for both. If a microcomputer is used as correlation means it would of course be possible to include appropriate modifications for male or female type patterns within the programing of the computer which modifications could be taken into account when the modification of the pattern is made according to the measured values.

[0030] An advantage aspect of the invention which is important to its novelty is the identification of the points which need to be adjusted according to the variation in size of the actual measured values of bust/chest, waist and hips. These points will vary according to the precise pattern used and cannot at present be determined by application of a mathematical formulae.

[0031] One particularly pleasing aspect of the invention is that the customer is able to see the pattern being drawn at the point of sale by the printer/plotter and it is of course entirely possible that the whole system could be automated so that the customer can input the necessary details, select the pattern style and receive the finished pattern without requiring a sales assistant. Such an automated apparatus could be made coin-operated so that the entire system can be maintained easily and efficiently. By use of a microcomputer the selection of patterns stored in the storage means can be updated or provided with sufficient information displayed on a visual display unit to permit the customer to select a particular style.

[0032] The invention is not confined to the foregoing details and variations may be made thereto within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A method of producing a personalised clothing pattern comprising the steps of measuring a person to be fitted with a garment, measurements being taken around the bust/chest, waist and hips, plotting said measurements as points between inner and an outer reference points formed of standard values for each of the bust/chest, waist and hips, noting variations between the reference points and the measured points and extrapolating same such that the relative position of any point may be calculated, applying said extrapolation to a predetermined clothing pattern and altering that pattern to produce a personalised pattern conforming to the measurements taken and applying the personal pattern to a sheet of paper for use.

2. A method of producing a personalised garment pattern as claimed in Claim 1 in which the method further includes a step of measuring the nape to waist value for a person to be fitted with a garment, applying same to the predetermined pattern to adjust the overall length thereof.

3. A method of producing a personalised garment pattern as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the method further includes the step of selecting a specific predetermined garment pattern from a plurality of such patterns and applying the specific measured values only to the selected pattern.

4. A method of producing a personalised garment pattern as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 in whiich the method further includes the step of measuring one leg of the person to be fitted with a garment and applying same to the predetermined pattern to adjust the overall length thereof.

5. Apparatus for producing a personalised clothing pattern comprising means (12) for measuring a person's bust/chest, waist and hips, means (16) for inputting said measurements to comparison means (22), said comparison means (22) operative to plot the measurements as points between pairs of predetermined inner and outer reference points and to note variations between the inner and outer reference points and the measurements, storage means (20) storing at least one predetermined clothing pattern for supplying to the comparison means, the comparison means (18) additionally operative to alter the pattern to produce a personalised clothing pattern adapted to the variations and the measurements and to supply same to plotting means (26) operative to draw the pattern onto a sheet of paper (28) for use.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 further including printing means (26) to print textual instructions for use with the personalised pattern.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6 in which the measuring means (12) is also adapted to measure a person's nape to waist, and the comparison means (22) being operative to use that measurement to adjust the overall length of the pattern.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, 6 or 7 in which the sheet of paper (28) is stored as a paper roll and the printing and/or plotting means (26) includes a cutter to divide the paper roll into separate sheets each having at least one part of the pattern thereon for for making up the completed garment.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 in which the printing and/or plotting means (26) also includes folding means to fold the produced pattern into a compact packet.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 5 to 9 in which the means (16) for inputting the measurements, the comparison means (22) and the storage means (20) are all contained in a single correlating unit (18).

11. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 5 to 10 in which the storage means (20) contains a number of different predetermined garment patterns and the storage means includes selection means such that one pattern may be specifically selected to be modified by comparison with the measured variation.

12. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 5 to 11 in which the storage means (20), the comparison means (22) and the inputting means (16) are contained in a micro computer (18) such that the necessary correlation can be carried out relatively rapidly.

Drawing