Yousef Ebraheem, Emilie Drean and Dominique Charles Adolphe
The paper aims to present the design, validation and integration of a universal fabric gripper. Flexible material handling is one of the most challenging problems occurring in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to present the design, validation and integration of a universal fabric gripper. Flexible material handling is one of the most challenging problems occurring in the field of manipulator robots. Because textile products shape and properties can widely vary, each textile and each technological operation should have its own specialized gripper. The objective of the work described here is therefore to design a universal gripper able to grip and transfer every kind of textile.
Design/methodology/approach
The design objectives are the ability to handle panels of varying shapes and sizes without material deformation and/or folding, and the easy integration with commercially available manipulator robots. To answer initial requirements and increase the textile gripping reliability, we opted to combine three different gripping technologies: vacuum, intrusion and pinch.
Findings
Each system was first validated independently through static tests. The vacuum technology offers a high reliability to handle impermeable materials. The intrusion technology is reliable for the manipulation of high porosity materials, while the pinch technology shows good results for all soft fabrics when combined with the vacuum technology. Then, the limits of the new gripper in terms of gripping capacity, compressed air consumption and characteristics and limitations of the flexible material handled were put in evidence using a robot arm. An automated selection program of the gripper based on the material characteristics has also been developed and implemented.
Originality/value
This paper fulfills an identified need to design a universal gripper able to grip and transfer every different kind of cut textile.
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Mouna Gazzah, Boubaker Jaouachi, Laurence Schacher, Dominique Charles Adolphe and Faouzi Sakli
The purpose of this paper is to predict the appearance of denim fabric after repetitive uses judging the denim cloth behavior and performance in viewpoint of bagging ability…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to predict the appearance of denim fabric after repetitive uses judging the denim cloth behavior and performance in viewpoint of bagging ability. Hence, it attempts to carry out the significant inputs and outputs that have an influence on the bagging behaviors using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique. In this study, the Kawabata Evaluation System parameters such as the frictional characteristics, the bending, compression, tensile and shear parameters are investigated to propose a model highlighting and explaining their impacts on the different bagging properties. To improve the obtained results, the selected significant inputs are also analyzed within their bagging properties using Taguchi experimental design. The linear regressive models prove the effectiveness of the PCA method and the obtained findings.
Design/methodology/approach
To investigate the mechanical properties and their contributions on the bagging characteristics, some denim fabrics were collected and measured thanks to the Kawabata evaluation systems (KES-FB1, KES-FB2, KES-FB3 and KES-FB4). These bagging properties were further analyzed applying the method of PCA to acquire factor patterns that indicate the most important fabric properties for characterizing the bagging behaviors of different studied denim fabric samples. An experimental design type Taguchi was, hence, applied to improve the results. Regarding the obtained results, it may be concluded that the PCA method remained a powerful and flawless technique to select the main influential inputs and significant outputs, able to define objectively the bagging phenomenon and which should be considered from the next researches.
Findings
According to the results, there are good relationships between the Kawabata input parameters and the analyzed bagging properties of studied denim fabrics. Indeed, thanks to the PCA, it is probably easy to reduce the number of the influent parameters for three reasons. First, applying this technique of selection can help to select objectively the most influential inputs which affect enormously the bagged fabrics. Second, knowing these significant parameters, the prediction of denim fabric bagging seems fruitful and can undoubtedly help researchers explain widely this complex phenomenon. Third, regarding the findings mentioned, it seems that the prevention of this aesthetic phenomenon appearing in some specific zones of denim fabrics will be more and more accurate.
Practical implications
This study is interesting for denim consumers and industrial applications during long and repetitive uses. Undoubtedly, the denim garments remained the largely used and consumed, hence, this particularity proves the necessity to study it in order to evaluate the bagging phenomenon which occurs as function of number of uses. Although it is fashionable to have bagging, the denim fabric remains, in contrast with the worsted ones, the most popular fabric to produce garments. Moreover, regarding this characteristic, the large uses and the acceptable value of denim fabrics, their aesthetic appearance behavior due to bagging phenomenon can be analyzed accurately because compared to worsted fabrics, they have a high value and the repetitive tests to investigate widely bagged zones may fall the industrial. The paper has practical implications in the clothing appearance and other textile industry, especially in the weaving process when friction forms (yarn-to-yarn, yarn-to-metal frictions) and stresses are drastic. This can help understanding why residual bagging behavior remained after garment uses due to the internal stress and excessive extensions. Regarding the selected influential inputs and outputs relative to bagging behaviors, there are some practical implications that have an impact on the industrial and researchers to study objectively the occurrence of this aesthetic phenomenon. Indeed, this study discusses the significance of the overall inputs; their contributions on the denim fabric bagged zones aims to prevent their ability to appear after uses. Moreover, the results obtained regarding the fabric mechanical properties can be useful to fabric and garment producers, designers and consumers in specifying and categorizing denim fabric products, insuring more denim cloth use and controlling fabric value. For applications where the subjective view of the consumer is of primary importance, the KES-FB system yields data that can be used for evaluating fabric properties objectively and prejudge the consumer satisfaction in viewpoint of the bagging ability. Therefore, this study shows that by measuring shear, tensile and frictional parameters of KES-FB, it may be possible to evaluate bagging properties. However, it highlights the importance and the significance of some inputs considered influential or the contrast (non-significant) in other researches.
Originality/value
This work presents the first study analyzing the bagged denim fabric applying the PCA technique to remove the all input parameters which are not significant. Besides, it deals with the relationship developed between the mechanical fabric properties (tensile, shear and frictional stresses) and the bagging properties behavior. To improve these obtained relationships, for the first time, the regression technique and experimental design type Taguchi analysis were both applied. Moreover, it is notable to mention that the originality of this study is to let researchers and industrials investigate the most influential inputs only which have a bearing on the bagging phenomenon.
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Examines the tenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects…
Abstract
Examines the tenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.
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The chapter is concerned with the policy led by Paris and London towards the visual artists during the XXth century up to the present day. It examines in detail the evolution of…
Abstract
The chapter is concerned with the policy led by Paris and London towards the visual artists during the XXth century up to the present day. It examines in detail the evolution of the political system developed in France – as Paris was the center of artistic culture – from philanthropic initiatives, the “cités d’artistes,” to the introduction of painters and sculptors in social lodgings in the 1920s by the City of Paris. This impulse was supported by the Ministry of Culture. The expression of welfare state promoting artists in Paris is opposed to the emergence of “arts infrastructure” in the former industrial buildings of London through various artists’ associations, such as Space and Acme. From an historical research and a sociological analysis concentrated on Paris and its suburbs, our fieldwork, we studied an emblematic example, Montmarte-aux-artists, located in the 18th arrondissement the evolution of the welfare politics concerning artists’ studios in the urban renovation of Paris up to the present day. In contrast, the social support concerning the artists living in London is opposite and the effects on the urban area are different. Our research is inspired from the School of Chicago methodology. The main results of our research underline how the introduction of artists’ studios in social lodgings reveals an utopian dimension linked to the artist. So, the artist is considered as a singular inhabitant who can encourage the empowerment in the social housings or who can contribute to the phenomenon of gentrification in an area. However, the utopian role given to the artists is limited to the social and political system.
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Francine Richer and Louis Jacques Filion
Shortly before the Second World War, a woman who had never accepted her orphan status, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, nicknamed ‘Little Coco’ by her father and known as ‘Coco’ to her…
Abstract
Shortly before the Second World War, a woman who had never accepted her orphan status, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, nicknamed ‘Little Coco’ by her father and known as ‘Coco’ to her relatives, became the first women in history to build a world-class industrial empire. By 1935, Coco, a fashion designer and industry captain, was employing more than 4,000 workers and had sold more than 28,000 dresses, tailored jackets and women's suits. Born into a poor family and raised in an orphanage, she enjoyed an intense social life in Paris in the 1920s, rubbing shoulders with artists, creators and the rising stars of her time.
Thanks to her entrepreneurial skills, she was able to innovate in her methods and in her trendsetting approach to fashion design and promotion. Coco Chanel was committed and creative, had the soul of an entrepreneur and went on to become a world leader in a brand new sector combining fashion, accessories and perfumes that she would help shape. By the end of her life, she had redefined French elegance and revolutionized the way people dressed.
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Examines the sixteenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects…
Abstract
Examines the sixteenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.
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Howard Thomas, Michelle Lee, Lynne Thomas and Alexander Wilson