Gerber’s ContourVision system is designed to cut a variety of products and materials without the need for cut files at a speed of 1.1 metres per second. The system uses a unique scanner that is placed above the conveyor belt of the cutter (e.g. GERBERcutter Z1). This full width scanner acquires an image of the material during transport and sends the image to the ContourVision software. Based on the scanned image the software intelligently decides the cut line automatically. The motif in the fabric can either be repeat prints or of garment components. The cut line is generated either at parallel and equidistance from motif outline or otherwise based on patented software. The cut lines are immediately sent to cutworks which handles the cutting. Because the image is scanned during the belt movement and the image processing is very fast, the cutter can almost immediately start cutting as soon as the belt moves, this makes the system very fast and ideal for automatic operation.
The ContourVision software consists of several modules and each module can be used for a different application. The selected module will process the scanned image of the material and will generate the cut lines. Currently the following modules are available:
1. Contour cutting (grayscale)
2. Contour cutting (colour)
3. Pattern Matching
4. Digitizing
5. Mat cutting
6. Target matching
Contour cutting (grayscale)
The contour cutting module will detect the contours (printed) patterns and will generate a cut file on the fly. To get accurate results, the printed pattern should have a closed border with a colour darker or lighter than the background colour. The user can add negative or positive offsets to the detected border. A typical application is the cutting of printed cycling jerseys. It is also possible to automatically add internal cut lines by matching existing cut files with the detected contour (for e.g., a zipper).
Further, the software also has a feature for automatic notch detection that automatically detect a V-notch and add the notch to the cut.
Image 1 is an example of a processed image. The image shows 6 football jerseys; ContourVision detected the outline of the jerseys (red lines) and generated the yellow cut lines just inside the outline (user defined offset)
Contour cutting (colour)
ContourVision is compatible with a colour scanner. The colour module can be used to detect a specific colour and generate a cutline around this detected colour. The user can define this colour by selecting a part of a scanned image. The software can also select the colour automatically in a predefined region. Besides the main detection colour, the user can also define four different flaw colours.
The solutions is unique when it comes to cutting leather, for example the foil around the edges of a split leather hide has to be trimmed. ContourVision will detect the hide colour and place a cut line (red line) around the outline of the hide. The software also detected 3 different flaw colours. Output (detected hide outlines and flaws) is directly compatible with Cutworks nesting feature and can also be used in automatic mode.
Pattern matching
The pattern recognition algorithm in ContourVision will automatically detect the patterns. Once a part of the design is selected as a pattern by the user, ContourVision will detect all the patterns in each scan and will place the cut lines accordingly. In the pattern matching module the user can also add and position cut files “on the fly”. By right clicking in a scanned image the user can add a cut file and move and rotate the cut lines on the scanned image in order to align them with stripes, plaids, florals, printed or five star fabrics. This feature has basically the same functionality as the Gerber Match Module but the user can position the files on-screen and no projector is needed.
The example in Image 2 shows walk off mats that will be cut directly from a roll. In this example the goal is to cut exactly between the mats. The green rectangles are the pattern identified and red lines are cut lines. If the material is slightly bowed or skewed, the software will automatically compensate for this.
Digitizing & editing patterns
ContourVision can also be used to digitize (large) patterns. The user can place the patterns on the cutting bed. The scanner will scan the cutting bed and the software will use the acquired image to detect the contours of the patterns. Each pattern can be edited before the software generates the cut files. All editing features can be accessed with one mouse click. ContourVision editing tools can generate seams, add offsets (negative/positive) to borders, generate window plot lines and cut files (sprayhoods), straighten and smoothen lines (automatically), mirror parts and output in DXF-files.
ContourVision mat cutting
The mat cutting module is developed to cut entrance door mats that consist of fabric with a PVC or rubber backing. ContourVision will automatically detect the fabric and will generate cut lines around the fabric (using a user-defined offset).
Contour cutting using targets
ContourVision is also equipped with a module to cut printed materials using targets. The targets should be printed along with the printed pattern. The software will scan the printed fabric and will detect the targets. The user should provide a pre-processed cut file corresponding to the printed design and targets. Based on the position of the targets the cut file will be rotated, translated and scaled. This module is similar to the TargetVision system of Gerber, but parts can be positioned randomly, and because the image is already scanned during the belt move, the processing time is much faster. It can use specific tools for different parts, as well.
The Image 3 shows a print-screen of the processing of three cars. All three cars are positioned at a different angle and have four targets (closed and open circles). The software detected the four targets and automatically adjusted the corresponding DXF-files for rotation, scale and position (red line). It’s only one cut file that is used three times).
