IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,444,212
Granted Patent B2
US 12,444,212 · App. 18/495,472 · Granted Oct 14, 2025

Systems and method for textile fabric definition

Inventor: Keith Hoover (Oxford, OH)
Assignee: BLACK SWAN TEXTILES
G06V20/647D04B15/66
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,444,212
App. No.
18/495,472
Granted
Oct 14, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems and methods that allow an image of a fabric sample to be captured. The image may be analyzed to extract features, sometimes referred to as a stitch parameter, of the fabric's construction, such the use of one or more stitch types. Using the stitch parameters, a build specification can be selected from a plurality of build specification. Each of the plurality of build specifications may be associated with at least one of a plurality of known fabric constructions. The build specification may be exported and then used to construct a fabric similar to the fabric sample captured in the received image.

Claims (32)

1. A method for analyzing a fabric to determine a construction thereof. the method comprising:

receiving a digital image of at least a portion of a fabric sample;

using a computer-based process, performing an image analysis using digital image processing technology to identify stitch parameters from the digital image, wherein the stitch parameters include determining of: a stitch type, a courses per inch parameter a wales per inch parameter and/or a yarn thickness for at least one strand of yarn;

comparing identified stitch parameters to parameters stored in a database of a plurality of digital build specifications, each of the plurality of digital build specifications associated with at least one of a plurality of known fabric constructions; associating one or more fabrics with the digital image based on the comparing; and

generating a digital build specification that is based at least partly on a loop map that is a sequence of stitch types, wherein the digital build specification objectively identifies the construction of the portion of the fabric sample for further use including for: search by fabric designers, digital export as a file for use in setting up a fabric knitting machine, and construction of the fabric at another location.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stitch type includes at least one of a knit stitch, a tuck stitch, and a miss stitch.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the comparing is performed by a machine learning model by mapping the stitch parameters to a variable of the machine learning model.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the machine learning model is trained using at least a first subset of training images with a known fabric construction.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the image analysis includes image subtracting utilizing the digital image of the fabric sample and an image of a known fabric sample.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the image analysis includes extracting a vertical and horizontal dimension from the digital image of the fabric sample.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising exporting the digital build specification for use in setting up the fabric knitting machine.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising constructing the fabric based on the digital build specification.

9. A system for digitizing a construction of a fabric, the system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform actions comprising:

receive a digital image of the fabric,

perform an image analysis using digital image processing technology to identify stitch parameters from the digital image, wherein the stitch parameters include determining of: a stitch type, a courses per inch parameter, a wales per inch parameter and/or a yarn thickness for at least one strand of yarn,

compare identified stitch parameters to parameters stored in a database of a plurality of digital build specifications, each of the plurality of digital build specifications associated with at least one of a plurality of known fabric constructions,

associate one or more fabrics with the digital image based on the identified stitch parameters, and

generate a digital build specification or select the digital build specification from the plurality of digital build specifications using the stitch parameters, wherein digital build specification is based at least partly on a loop map that is a sequence of stitch types, wherein the digital build specification objectively identifies the construction of the fabric for further use including for: search by fabric designers, digital export as a file for use in setting up a fabric knitting machine, and construction of the fabric at another location.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the the digital build specification includes using a machine learning model to map the stitch parameters.

11. A method for analyzing a fabric to determine a construction thereof, the method comprising:

receiving a digital image of at least a portion of a fabric sample;

using a computer-based process, performing an image analysis using digital image processing technology to identify stitch parameters from the digital image, wherein the stitch parameters include determining of: a stitch type, a courses per inch parameter, a wales per inch parameter and a yarn thickness for at least one strand of yarn;

comparing identified stitch parameters to parameters stored in a database of a plurality of digital build specifications, each of the plurality of digital build specifications associated with at least one of a plurality of known fabric constructions;

associating one or more fabrics with the digital image based on the comparing; and

generating a digital build specification that is based at least partly on a loop map that is a sequence of stitch types, wherein the digital build specification objectively identifies the construction of the portion of the fabric sample for further use including for: search by fabric designers, digital export as a file for use in setting up a fabric knitting machine, and/or construction of the fabric at another location.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the stitch type includes at least one of a knit stitch, a tuck stitch, and a miss stitch.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the comparing is performed by a machine learning model by mapping the stitch parameters to a variable of the machine learning model.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the machine learning model is trained using at least a first subset of training images with a known fabric construction.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising exporting the digital build specification for use in setting up the fabric knitting machine.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising constructing the fabric based on the digital build specification.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 26, 2023
From: HOOVER, KEITH
To: BLACK SWAN TEXTILES
Reel/Frame 065361/0018 →
Continuity (3)
Division 17453976 · Nov 8, 2021
Provisional Application 63112814 · Nov 12, 2020
Related Publication 20240054796A1 · Feb 15, 2024
References Cited (32)
US 11847842B2 · Hoover · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 11913149B2 · Karmon · 2024 [cited by examiner]
US 20170011551A1 · Jeong · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20180225993A1 · Buras et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190188446A1 · Wu et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20200126316A1 · Sharma et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200402126A1 · Choche et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20220147734A1 · Hoover · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 20220180066A1 · Wu · 2022 [cited by applicant]
CN 108026677 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
CN 111177929 · 2020 [cited by applicant]
CN 115667606A · 2023 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2022104322A1 · 2022 [cited by applicant]
Kaspar et al. Neural Inverse Knitting: From Images to Manufacturing Instructions, ARXIV ID: 1902.02752 Publication Date: Feb. 7, 2019 (Year: 2019). [cited by examiner]
“Chinese Application Serial No. 202180033931.X, Office Action mailed Dec. 5, 2024”, with English translation, 12 pages. [cited by applicant]
Trunz, Elena, “Inver Procadural Modeling of Knitwear”, IEEE CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), (Jun. 15, 2019), 10 pages. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 63/112,814, filed Nov. 12, 2020, Frabric Information System and Methods of Use. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 17/453,976, filed Nov. 8, 2021, Systems and Method for Textile Fabric Construction. [cited by applicant]
“Chinese Application Serial No. 202180033931.X, Office Action mailed Feb. 20, 2025”, with English translation, 15 pages. [cited by applicant]
“Chinese Application Serial No. 202180033931.X, Response filed Mar. 19, 2025 to Office Action mailed Feb. 20, 2025”, with English claims, 17 pages. [cited by applicant]
“Chinese Application Serial No. 202180033931.X, Office Action mailed Mar. 29, 2025”, with English translation, 12 pages. [cited by applicant]
“Chinese Application Serial No. 202180033931.X, Response filed Apr. 24, 2025 to Office Action mailed Mar. 29, 2025”, with English claims, 8 pages. [cited by applicant]
“Chinese Application Serial No. 202180033931.X, Decision of Rejection mailed May 9, 2025”, with English translation, 13 pages. [cited by applicant]
“U.S. Appl. No. 17/453,976, Examiner Interview Summary mailed Jun. 1, 2023”, 2 pgs. [cited by applicant]
“U.S. Appl. No. 17/453,976, Non Final Office Action mailed Mar. 10, 2023”, 15 pgs. [cited by applicant]
“U.S. Appl. No. 17/453,976, Notice of Allowance mailed Aug. 16, 2023”, 8 pgs. [cited by applicant]
“International Application Serial No. PCT/US2021/072284, International Preliminary Report on Patentability mailed May 25, 2023”, 15 pgs. [cited by applicant]
“International Application Serial No. PCT/US2021/072284, International Search Report mailed Apr. 7, 2022”, 5 pgs. [cited by applicant]
“International Application Serial No. PCT/US2021/072284, Invitation to Pay Additional Fees mailed Feb. 16, 2022”, 13 pgs. [cited by applicant]
“International Application Serial No. PCT/US2021/072284, Written Opinion mailed Apr. 7, 2022”, 13 pgs. [cited by applicant]
Kaspar, et al., “Neural Inverse Knitting: From Images to Manufacturing Instructions”, ARXIV ID: 1902.02752, (Feb. 7, 2019). [cited by applicant]
Trunz, Elena, et al., “Inverse Procedural Modeling of Knitwear”, 2019 IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), Los Alamitos, CA, USA, (Jun. 15, 2019), 8622-8631. [cited by applicant]