Patent ID: 6823763
Filing Date: 2004-11-30
Classification: B26D,B26F,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
A fabric cutting system for cutting a pre-selected pattern from a fabric stock and transferring the cut fabric piece to a workstation, said system comprising:(a) a cutter assembly for cutting said preselected pattern from said fabric stock; (b) a configurable pickup assembly located between said cutter assembly and said workstation for picking-up and transferring said cut fabric piece to said workstation, said pickup assembly including: (i) a vacuum plenum having at least one generally flat surface; (ii) a plurality of orifices arranged about said surface; (iii) a valve actuator connected to said plenum and to a valve that selectively closes at least a portion of said orifices for generally corresponding to the shape of the cut fabric piece; and (iv) a controller in communication with the valve actuator, whereby said cut fabric piece is picked up and transferred to said workstation; (c) a hold down table adjacent to said cutter assembly to maintain the position of the fabric stock in a determinable relationship to the position of said cutter assembly and said configurable pickup assembly; and (d) a vacuum source positioned within said hold down table for applying a pressure to the fabric stock, said vacuum source having at least one adjusting plate that is substantially parallel to a work support surface of said hold down table and is transversely adjustable along a width dimension of said hold down table so as to be transversely adjustable along a width dimension of said fabric stock thereby controlling the pressure along the edges of the fabric stock, whereby the edges of the fabric stock are subjected to a lower pressure than the remainder of the fabric stock.