Footwear designing tool

• US 10,021,939 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2015
• Issued: 07/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nike, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Nike, Inc.
• Inventors: Andon, Christopher L., Clarkson, Brad N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Thangavelu, Kandasamy
• Application Number:
  US14/747,517
• Publication Number:
  US 20150366293A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,120 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 1/0027 made at least partially from a material having special colours
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 1/04 braided, knotted, knitted or crocheted
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 23/0205 characterised by the material material of the lining A43B23/07, material of toe stiffeners or heel stiffeners A43B23/08
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 7/08 with air-holes, with or without closures
• CPC Class Codes: A43D 2200/60 Computer aided manufacture of footwear, e.g. CAD or CAM
• CPC Class Codes: D04B 37/02 with weft knitting machines
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2501/043 Footwear
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2113/12 Cloth
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

Computer based systems and methods for designing (e.g., customization) of consumer products, articles of footwear, knit footwear uppers, and the like. In some embodiments, a user may generate and/or modify footwear designs using a footwear design interface. Additionally or alternatively, the footwear design interface may be configured to simulate the layout and/or operation of a knitting machine to provide the user with the impression of physically designing and/or manufacturing an article of footwear. In other embodiments, the system may disallow prospective footwear design changes based on limitations associated with inventory availability and the footwear design characteristics.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving input data indicating selection of a knit footwear upper design;

generating, by a computing device, a graphical representation of the knit footwear upper design in a first interface;

receiving design input for the knit footwear upper design;

visually updating, based on the received design input, an appearance of the graphical representation of the knit footwear upper design;

recommending, by the computing device, based on determining that the received design input does not satisfy a first structural integrity characteristic associated with the selected knit footwear upper design, one or more design modifications to have the selected knit footwear upper design conform with the first structural integrity characteristic; and

providing, by the computing device, to one or more other computing devices, manufacturing data created based at least on the one or more recommended design modifications,

wherein the one or more other computing devices control one or more knitting machines, based on the manufacturing data, to manufacture a knit footwear upper.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving input data indicating selection of the knit footwear upper design further comprises:

determining a footwear last associated with the selected knit footwear upper design.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on a plurality of predetermined structural integrity characteristics associated with the selected knit footwear upper design, a number of available design choices for the knit footwear upper design.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of predetermined structural integrity characteristics comprises at least the first structural integrity characteristic.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more other computing devices comprise at least a first computing device associated with a manufacturer of the knit footwear upper.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving design input for the knit footwear upper design further comprises:

receiving design input assigning a first knit structure to the selected knit footwear upper design.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving design input modifying a heather pattern associated with the first knit structure.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

applying, to a first zone of the selected knit footwear upper design and based on user input, a plurality of design characteristics associated with the first knit structure.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

moving the first knit structure from a first location in the first interface to a second location in the first interface; and

in response to the moving, applying the plurality of design characteristics associated with the first knit structure to a second zone of the selected knit footwear upper design.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second location in the first interface is associated with a grayscale for mapping knit structures to various zones of the selected knit footwear upper design.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on the selected knit footwear upper design, an estimated amount of time to manufacture a knit footwear upper corresponding to the knit footwear upper design; and

displaying, in a sub interface of the first interface, the estimated amount of time.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of the first interface comprises a graphical representation of a knitting machine.

13. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a computing device to:

receive input data indicating selection of a knit footwear upper design;

generate, in a first interface, a graphical representation of the knit footwear upper design;

receive design input for the knit footwear upper design;

visually update, based on the received design input, an appearance of the graphical representation of the knit footwear upper design;

recommend, based on determining that the received design input does not satisfy a first structural integrity characteristic associated with the selected knit footwear upper design, one or more design modifications to have the selected knit footwear upper design conform with the first structural integrity characteristic; and

provide, to one or more other computing devices, manufacturing data created based at least on the one or more recommended design modifications,

wherein the one or more other computing devices control one or more knitting machines, based on the manufacturing data, to manufacture a knit footwear upper.

14. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to:

determine, based on a plurality of predetermined structural integrity characteristics associated with the selected knit footwear upper design, a number of available design choices for the knit footwear upper design.

15. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 14, wherein the plurality of predetermined structural integrity characteristics comprises at least the first structural integrity characteristic.

16. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to:

associate a first knit structure with the selected knit footwear upper design.

17. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to:

modify one or more colors associated with the first knit structure in response to receiving input data indicating an assignment of a new color vector to the first knit structure.

18. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the appearance of the knit footwear upper comprises a two-dimensional flat image.

19. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the appearance of the knit footwear upper comprises a three-dimensional image.

20. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus to;

receive input data indicating selection of a knit footwear upper design;

generate, in a first interface, an appearance of the knit footwear upper design;

receive design input for a plurality of knit structures associated with the selected knit footwear upper design;

for each knit structure in the plurality of knit structures;

determine a zone of the selected knit footwear upper design associated with the knit structure; and

apply a plurality of design characteristics associated the knit structure to a corresponding zone of the selected knit footwear upper design;

visually update, based on the received design input, an appearance of the knit footwear upper design;

recommend, based on determining that the received design input does not satisfy a first structural integrity characteristic associated with the selected knit footwear upper design, one or more design modifications to have the selected knit footwear upper design conform with the first structural integrity characteristic; and

provide, to one or more other computing devices, manufacturing data created based at least on the one or more recommended design modifications,

wherein the one or more other computing devices control one or more knitting machines, based on the manufacturing data, to manufacture a knit footwear upper.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:

modify, based on a location of the plurality of knit structures in the first interface, the appearance of the knit footwear upper design.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:

determine, based on a type of footwear associated with that knit footwear upper design, one or more physical integrity characteristics for the selected knit footwear upper design.