Interactive system and method for design, customization and manufacture of decorative textile substrates

摘要

A system and method for enabling customer specification of images to be used for decorating textile substrates at the economies of mass customization. An automated patterning apparatus is implemented that comprises a plurality of individual colorant substances that are directed through a set of colorant applicators in accordance with predetermined pattern data, the colorant substances capable of being selectively applied to individual pixels on the substrate in accordance with the predetermined pattern data. The system and method particularly implements a device providing an interface for enabling remote access to an image manipulation design tool that enables user customization of the digitized image to form a target image over a communications network. A digitized image of the user's choice is imported into the image manipulation design tool and that image is manipulated according the user's artistic vision. A dithering algorithm may be implemented for generating a dithered image from the digitized target image using a dithering palette of colors that are able to be generated at specified pixel locations on the textile substrate using the plurality of individual colorants. Finally, an order is generated and electronically communicated to the automated patterning apparatus for initiating transformation of the dithered image into a dyed pattern on the textile substrate. Through the use of the automated patterning apparatus, appropriate firing instructions are generated for each of the color applicators necessary to reproduce the dithered image on the substrate.