IE74239B1 - A garment production process - Google Patents

Abstract

A process (1) has a bundling station (6) which receives small and large parts from a store (3) and cutting stations (2). Small parts are sub-assembled in a sub-assembly area (7) in which there is a number of circuits (8). Each circuit (8) has an individual suspended rail system for transfer of the parts between workstations. Large and sub-assembled parts are transferred to a marshalling station (9) having a number of trolleys. A batch of parts for ten garments is transferred in a trolley on a passageway (10) to a relevant circuit (12) of a final assembly area (11). Each circuit (12) has an independent endless rail system and there is a quality control inspection both on mounting onto the rail system (40) and on transfer to a return conveyor (13a, 13b). At each circuit (12), the partially assembled garment is supported individually on a chain having a colour-coded tab to that there is ease of handling an individual garment at a particular workstation and whereby there is also close control of garment production progress.

Description

A garment production process The invention relates to a process for the production of garments, and in particular garments which have a large number of pieces such as overalls and workwear worn by people such as tradesmen.

Production of such garments involves carrying out a large number of individual steps, almost all of these steps being individually straight-forward. These steps are carried out at workstations at which an operator takes in the necessary raw material and performs the particular stitching, sewing, cutting, pressing or other operation. Because of the commercial nature of garment production, it is essential that a production process be carried out efficiently and that there is a very efficient material handling system to optimise the time of skilled personnel.

Each of the individual workstation operations can be carried out efficiently provided the material is at the right place at the right time.

British Patent Specification No. GB 2262268 describes a clothing manufacturing method in which an overhead rail is used for transporting material to a series of workstations. The prior art includes disclosures of several different suspension arrangements such as those described in GB 2164629, WO 91/16487, WO 89/00964 and WO 90/03739.

While the method described in GB 2262268 appears to be quite efficient, problems would arise in utilisation of such a method in production of garments which have a very large number of parts such as buttons, flaps, pockets, holsters, belts and various other appendages which are required for working uniforms or overalls. - 2 Accordingly, the invention is directed towards providing a process which provides for the transport of the correct pieces of raw material in an efficient manner to the relevant workstations for production of garments which have a large number of pieces of raw material.

According to the invention, there is provided a process for the production of garments having a large number of parts, the process comprising the steps of:cutting material at an automatic cutting station; delivering the cut material together with parts retrieved from storage to a bundling station at which all parts for garment production are gathered into units, there being one unit for one garment of one type, and whereby parts for units are sorted into batches of a pre-set number of units; carrying out sub-assembly of garment sections at workstations, wherein the workstations are arranged in circuits each having an endless overhead rail from which containers for small parts are suspended, the arrangement of the containers being such that parts for a single batch are conveyed together and wherein raw material parts are processed at only one subassembly circuit; delivering large parts directly from the bundling station to an appropriate trolley in a marshalling station, each trolley being associated with one batch; delivering completed sub-assemblies directly from a sub-assembly circuit to an appropriate trolley in the marshalling station, whereby the flow of small raw material parts is from the bundling station, to a single sub-assembly circuit and to the appropriate marshalling station trolley; moving each trolley when containing parts for a batch of garments in a passageway to a final assembly area, said area comprising a plurality of final assembly circuits having endless overhead rails and workstations, the trolley being moved to a relevant final assembly circuit, and carrying out final assembly steps of:removing parts from the trolley to a circuit rail; conveying the parts around the circuit to workstations at which final assembly operations are carried out; and transferring the assembled parts comprising an assembled garment to an output rail from the circuit; and conveying assembled garments from all of the final assembly circuits on an overhead return rail to a finishing area at which the production of the garments is completed.

Preferably, the return rail and the overhead rails for the sub-assembly, final assembly areas are mounted on a framework which is itself suspended in an open manner from a fixed roof structure.

In one embodiment, the framework is supported at a plurality of nodes thereof, support at each node being provided by a single chain and a plurality of upwardly and sidewardly-directed stays of lighter cable material.

Ideally, the bundling station, the sub-assembly area and the marshalling area are adjacent each other for ease of transfer of material to the marshalling station.

The process may comprise the further steps of carrying out a quality control inspection on movement of the parts from the marshalling station trolley to a final assembly circuit, and on removal of the assembled garments from the final assembly circuit to the circuit output rail.

In another embodiment, the assembled garments are transferred from each final assembly circuit output rail to the return rail circuits by way of a rail switch device.

Preferably, the final assembly circuits are arranged in sequence whereby a return rail runs adjacent the output rails.

In another embodiment, final assembly circuits are arranged on each side of the trolley passageway, there being one return rail branch associated with circuits on each passageway side.

In a still further embodiment, parts are conveyed in batches at each final assembly circuit, the batches being defined by colour-coded tabs on each of a plurality of chains wherein one chain supports parts for an individual garment.

In another embodiment, assembled garments are conveyed on the return rail by being suspended from a bracket supporting all garments for a single batch and a pouch for batch documentation.

Ideally, cutting takes place at a pair of automatic cutting stations operatively connected to a computer aided design system for maximum yield and efficiency.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:Fig. 1 is a plan view showing a garment production process in overview format; Fig. 2(a) is a plan view showing a sub-assembly part of the process in more detail, and Fig. 2(b) is a side view showing the manner in which raw material is transported in a circuit of that part of the process; Fig. 3 is a side view showing transport of garment raw material in another sub-assembly circuit of the process; Fig. 4(a) is a plan view of marshalling and final assembly parts of the process, and Fig. 4(b) is a perspective view of a trolley used for transporting raw material in that part of the process; Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a final assembly circuit part of the process in more detail; Fig. 6(a) is a diagrammatic plan view showing a final assembly circuit in more detail, and Figs. 6(b) and 6(c) are side views showing in detail the manner in which raw material is transported in that part of the process; and Figs. 7(a) and 7(b) are perspective views showing transporting arrangements in more detail.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to Fig. 1, there is shown a process 1 of the invention. The process 1 is for the production of garments having a large number of raw material parts such as overalls for use by tradesmen. Such garments may include accessory/tool fasteners, holsters, tool cassettes, adjustable shoulder straps, knee pads etc .

A pair of cutting stations 2 cut large lengths of material in sets of ten or twenty sheets at a time, which material comes in rolls from a store 3. The material flow direction is indicated by the arrowed lines. The cutting stations 2 are programmed by a computer aided design (CAD) system 4 which supplies the cutting control instructions for the sheets of material. The system 4 is programmed to automatically minimise waste and to achieve optimum efficiency from the cutting machines 2. The arrowed lines 5 of Fig. 1 illustrate the raw material flow to a bundling station 6. A very important part of the process 1 is carried out at the bundling station 6 as it receives all of the raw material for production of the garments and it is at this station that the raw material is sorted according to colour, size and style. One type of garment is defined by these parameters and raw material for a group of ten individual garments of one particular type are grouped together. Large parts are transferred directly to a marshalling station 9, described in more detail below. Smaller parts are directed to a subassembly area 7 having a number of assembly circuits 8.

Referring additionally to Figs. 2 to 4 inclusive, the manner in which small parts are processed and in which all of the parts for particular garment types are marshalled is now described in more detail. As shown in Fig. 2(a), small parts from the bundling station 6 are delivered to the circuits 8 of the sub-assembly area 7. Each circuit 8 is for carrying out one particular type of operation and may require parts of different sizes, all falling within the definition of small in the overall context. Raw material transporting is carried out by a rail system which is suspended from a framework 21 which is in turn suspended from a fixed roof support structure. The framework 21 is supported from the roof structure at a number of nodes in a grid arrangement over the factory floor. At each node, there is a heavy cable or chain to the node and there are also upwardly and sidewardlydirected lighter cables which act as stays for the node. It has been found that this arrangement is particularly effective and provides for good air circulation within the factory.

At each of the circuits 8, there is an endless rail which transports raw material to a number of workstations arranged in processing sequence adjacent the rail. As shown in Fig. 2(b), in some circuits 8 a tubular rail 23 is suspended by a bracket 22 from the framework 21. Wheels 24 run on the rail 23 and support a bracket 25 of a basket 26. The basket 26 is for carrying some of the larger parts within the small category and has a splitlevel arrangement by use of an intermediate platform 27 which may be opened. In addition, there may be vertically-extending grids which further sub-divide the basket 26. A plurality of the circuits 8 include such a transport arrangement. The remaining circuits 8 of the sub-assembly area 7 have a different transport arrangement as illustrated in Fig. 3. In this case, there is a plastics rail 30 of light construction and which is connected directly to the framework 21. For each garment batch, ten chains 31 hang from the rail 30 and each chain supports an individual transparent plastics bag 32 containing very small parts. It has been found that a series of chains mounted in this manner provides the necessary small parts for a ten-garment batch, whereas a basket 26 provides different raw material for the same batch. The ten chains 31 correlate directly to a single basket 26 in production control terms, each circuit 8 is independent and raw material does not flow from one circuit to another.

The processed raw material may be returned to the bundling station 6 for further sorting and assembly before the small parts are grouped with the large parts which have already been transferred to the marshalling area 9.

The marshalling area 9 is illustrated in more detail in Figs. 4(a) and 4(b). It comprises an area in which there is a large number of trolleys 35, each trolley having a wire mesh 37 supported on a framework 36 which provides an open-construction for easy viewing of contents. Indeed, an important aspect of the whole process is that the suspension arrangement is open both below and above the support framework 21 and further, any of the containers such as the basket 26 and the trolley 35 have a mesh construction to allow viewing and the bags 32 are of transparent plastics material. This has been found to be very important in practice for production control. A single trolley 35 is associated with one batch of ten garments, all garments being of the same size, style and colour. Documentation for the batch is put in a pocket 39 and this accompanies the batch to the next set of workstations .

Referring again to Fig. 1 and to Figs. 4 to 6 inclusive, final assembly of the garments is now described. As shown in Fig. 1, there is a marshalling output passageway 10 for delivery of the marshalled raw material to one of a number of final assembly circuits 12 in a final assembly area 11. Production control is considerably improved by the fact that the final assembly area 11 has a number of different circuits 12 arranged as shown and by the fact that there is easy transportation of raw material to the circuits. As shown in Fig. 4(a), transportation of raw material to the circuits 12 is by way of a passageway 10 for movement of the trolley 35 to the relevant circuit 12. As shown in Fig. 5, the trolley 35 is moved to a position underneath a quality control desk 42 at each of the circuits 12. In more detail, each circuit 12 comprises an endless rail 40 adjacent which there are a number of workstations 41. There is also a separate output rail 43 which is linked to a return rail 13(b). There is also a second return rail 13(a) for the set of circuits 12 on the left-hand side of the passageway 10 as viewed in the drawings.

When the trolley is moved to a position underneath the quality control desk 42, the material is removed by a quality control inspector who carries out a visual inspection of the raw material and mounts the raw material onto the rail 40 so that it may be transported to the relevant workstations 41. As the quality control inspector removes the pieces of raw material from the trolley 35, they are placed on a suspension arrangement as shown in Fig. 6(b). The rail 40 comprises a plastics rail member 50 which is of low-friction construction and which supports sets of ten chains 51, each having a tab. One of the chains 51 has a tab 53 which is colour-coded to be the leading label for the garment batch. The remaining tabs are indicated by the numeral 52 and have a different colour coding. At the end of each chain 51, there is a strong pegging arrangement which holds a partially assembled garment 54 made up of the large parts which have been taken from the trolley 35 and very small parts which are either held in place by the large peg at the end of each chain 51 or are sewn on, depending on the position in the circuit 40. It has been found that this suspension arrangement is particularly suitable as it is possible to view each partially-assembled garment individually in an easy manner and to handle the raw material at the workstations in a convenient manner. While each partially-assembled garment is suspended independently for ease of retrieval from the rail system 40, control is still easily achieved by use of the colour-coded tabs 53 and 52. These features are quite simple, and yet have been found to be extremely useful for final assembly of the garment.

When the garment has traversed the full circuit 12 on the rail 40 and all of the work operations have been completed, the quality control inspector at the table 42 removes each garment in turn and places it on a suspension arrangement on the output rail 43 as shown in Fig. 6(c). The output rail 43 comprises a tubular rail 60 on which runs a set of wheels 61 on a rectangular frame 62 which in turn supports a pegging assembly 63. The pegging assembly 63 supports each garment in a manner similar to that whereby each chain 51 supports each single garment. However, in addition, there is a pouch 64 which accompanies each set of ten garments to hold the relevant documentation. The quality control inspector completes the quality control inspection and mounting of each batch of ten garments. A switch 70 interconnecting the rail output 43 and the return rail 13(b) is operated. The switch 70 comprises a switch member 71 connected by a pivot connector 72 to the rail 43. There is a handle 73 provided for the switch member 71 to allow it to be switched to the on and off positions. Each of the circuits 12 operates independently on a number of batches, one batch being at one workstation 41 at any one time.

This method provides excellent tracking and control, together with very effective quality control.

Referring again to Fig. 1, the assembled garment is transferred on the return rail 13(b) or 13(a) to a finishing area 15 at which final quality control inspection and relatively minor finishing tasks are carried out. Again, because of the frame 62, these tasks are performed in a simple manner. Finally, the completed garment is packed in a packing area 16.

The combination of bundling and marshalling operations carried out in the particular manner described have been found to be extremely effective at ensuring that raw material is accounted for and that all of the necessary parts are at the right place at the right time for the different workstation operations. The layout of the sub20 assembly area 7 provides for sorting and assembly of very small and medium-sized parts and marshalling of all sized parts with maximum control. Final assembly is carried out in a particular manner whereby there can be close monitoring of all of the operations because of the manner in which the area 11 is broken down into a number of different circuits 12. Further, the particular manner in which raw material is handled at each circuit 12 provides for easy handling at workstations, early detection of faults and effective monitoring. Another important aspect is the construction of plant whereby all containers, rails and support frameworks have open construction and there is easy viewing of work progress throughout the plant.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described, but may be varied in construction and detail.

Claims (13)

1. A process for the production of garments having a large number of parts, the process comprising the steps of:cutting material at an automatic cutting station; delivering the cut material together with parts retrieved from storage to a bundling station at which all parts for garment production are gathered into units, there being one unit for one garment of one type, and whereby parts for units are sorted into batches of a pre-set number of units; carrying out sub-assembly of garment sections at workstations, wherein the workstations are arranged in circuits each having an endless overhead rail from which containers for small parts are suspended, the arrangement of the containers being such that parts for a single batch are conveyed together and wherein raw material parts are processed at only one subassembly circuit; delivering large parts directly from the bundling station to an appropriate trolley in a marshalling station, each trolley being associated with one batch; delivering completed sub-assemblies directly from a sub-assembly circuit to an appropriate trolley in the marshalling station, whereby the flow of small raw material parts is from the bundling station, to a single sub-assembly circuit and to the appropriate marshalling station trolley; moving each trolley when containing parts for a batch of garments in a passageway to a final assembly area, said area comprising a plurality of final assembly circuits having endless overhead rails and workstations, the trolley being moved to a relevant final assembly circuit, and carrying out final assembly steps of: removing parts from the trolley to a circuit rail; conveying the parts around the circuit to workstations at which final assembly operations are carried out; and transferring the assembled parts comprising an assembled garment to an output rail from the circuit; and conveying assembled garments from all of the final assembly circuits on an overhead return rail to a finishing area at which the production of the garments is completed.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the return rail and the overhead rails for the sub-assembly, final assembly areas are mounted on a framework which is itself suspended in an open manner from a fixed roof structure.

3. A process as claimed in claim 2, wherein the framework is supported at a plurality of nodes thereof, support at each node being provided by a single chain and a plurality of upwardly and sidewardly-directed stays of lighter cable material.

4. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the bundling station, the sub-assembly area and the marshalling area are adjacent each other for ease of transfer of material to the marshalling station.

5. A process as claimed in any preceding claim comprising the further steps of carrying out a quality control inspection on movement of the parts from the marshalling station trolley to a final assembly circuit, and on removal of the assembled garments from the final assembly circuit to the circuit output rail.

6. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the assembled garments are transferred from each final assembly circuit output rail to the return rail circuits by way of a rail switch device.

7. A process as claimed in claim 6 wherein the final assembly circuits are arranged in sequence whereby a return rail runs adjacent the output rails.

8. A process as claimed in claim 7 wherein final assembly circuits are arranged on each side of the trolley passageway, there being one return rail branch associated with circuits on each passageway side.

9. A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein parts are conveyed in batches at each final assembly circuit, the batches being defined by colour-coded tabs on each of a plurality of chains wherein one chain supports parts for an individual garment.

10. A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein assembled garments are conveyed on the return rail by 5 being suspended from a bracket supporting all garments for a single batch and a pouch for batch documentation.

11. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein cutting takes place at a pair of automatic cutting 10 stations operatively connected to a computer aided design system for maximum yield and efficiency.

12. A process substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

13. A garment whenever produced by a process as claimed in any preceding claim.