Footwear designing tool

• US 10,993,502 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2018
• Issued: 05/04/2021
• 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:
  US16/001,080
• Publication Number:
  US 20180279719A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,063 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:

obtaining, by a first computing device, a data file comprising data for a knit footwear design;

determining, by the first computing device, a plurality of zones of the knit footwear design,

obtaining, by the first computing device, input data assigning one or more knit structures to one or more zones of the knit footwear design;

determining, by the first computing device, that the assignment of the one or more knit structures to the one or more zones of the knit footwear design does not satisfy a structural integrity characteristic associated with the knit footwear design;

recommending, based on the determining that the assignment does not satisfy the structural integrity characteristic, one or more modifications to the assignment of the one or more knit structures to have the knit footwear design conform with the structural integrity characteristic;

generating, based on the input data, a rendering of the knit footwear design; and

providing, by the first computing device, to one or more other computing devices, manufacturing instructions created based at least on the knit footwear design,

wherein the one or more other computing devices control one or more knitting machines, based on the manufacturing instructions, to manufacture a knitted footwear product.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data file comprises at least one of visual attributes or physical attributes associated with the knit footwear design.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

validating, by the first computing device and based on the physical attributes associated with the knit footwear design, the assignment of the one or more knit structures.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on the physical attributes associated with the base knit footwear design, a number of available design choices for the knit footwear design.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the data file comprises a plurality of structural integrity characteristics associated with the knit footwear design.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

validating, by the first computing device and based on one or more of the plurality of structural integrity characteristics associated with the knit footwear design, the assignment of the one or more knit structures.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the validating the assignment of the one or more knit structures further comprises:

determining a zone of the knit footwear design associated with the assignment of the one or more knit structures; and

comparing, by the first computing device, knit structure information for the determined zone of the knit footwear design to at least a first structural integrity characteristic associated with the knit footwear design.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining, by the first computing device, at least in part from the data file, one or more design characteristics associated with the knit footwear design, wherein the one or more design characteristics comprises at least one of grading information, last information, or color information.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning, to a corresponding zone of the knit footwear design, design properties for a first knit structure of the one or more knit structures.

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

obtain a data file comprising data for a knit footwear design;

determine a plurality of zones of the knit footwear design,

obtain input data assigning one or more knit structures to one or more zones of the knit footwear design;

determine that the assignment of the one or more knit structures to the one or more zones of the knit footwear design does not satisfy a structural integrity characteristic associated with the knit footwear design;

recommend, based on the determining that the assignment does not satisfy the structural integrity characteristic, one or more modifications to the assignment of the one or more knit structures to have the knit footwear design conform with the structural integrity characteristic;

generate, based on the input data, a rendering of the knit footwear design; and

providing to one or more other computing devices, manufacturing instructions created based at least on the knit footwear design,

wherein the one or more other computing devices control one or more knitting machines, based on the manufacturing instructions, to manufacture a knitted footwear product.

11. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 10, wherein the data file comprises at least one of visual attributes or physical attributes associated with the knit footwear design.

12. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to:

determine, based on the physical attributes associated with the knit footwear design, a number of available design choices for the knit footwear design.

13. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to:

assign, to a corresponding zone of the knit footwear design, design properties for a first knit structure of the one or more knit structures.

14. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 10, wherein the data file comprises a plurality of structural integrity characteristics associated with the knit footwear design.

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

validate, based on one or more of the plurality of structural integrity characteristics associated with the knit footwear design, the assignment of the one or more knit structures.

16. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to validate the assignment of the one or more knit structures by:

determining a zone of the knit footwear design associated with the assignment of the one or more knit structures; and

comparing knit structure information for the determined zone of the knit footwear design to at least a first structural integrity characteristic associated with the knit footwear design.

17. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

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

obtain a data file comprising data for a knit footwear design;

determine a plurality of zones of the knit footwear design,

obtain input data assigning one or more knit structures to one or more zones of the knit footwear design;

determine that the assignment of the one or more knit structures to the one or more zones of the knit footwear design does not satisfy a structural integrity characteristic associated with the knit footwear design;

recommend, based on the determining that the assignment does not satisfy the structural integrity characteristic, one or more modifications to the assignment of the one or more knit structures to have the knit footwear design conform with the structural integrity characteristic;

generate, via an interface and based on the input data, a rendering of the knit footwear design; and

providing to one or more other computing devices, manufacturing instructions created based at least on the knit footwear design,

wherein the one or more other computing devices control one or more knitting machines, based on the manufacturing instructions, to manufacture a knitted footwear product.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein a portion of the interface comprises a graphical representation of a knitting machine.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:

determine, based on physical attributes associated with the knit footwear design, a number of available design choices for the knit footwear design.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:

assign, to a corresponding zone of the knit footwear design, design properties for a first knit structure of the one or more knit structures.