SBIR Phase I: An additive method for manufacturing customized textile products

SBIR第一阶段项目将展示一种用于增材制造纺织品的新方法。目前，服装制造业仍然依赖于一百七十多年前发明的手动缝纫机。该系统限制了制造过程和纺织能力;大量的步骤导致浪费、效率低下和产品分割。此外，由于外国劳动力成本低，美国纺织业基本上停滞不前，2015年美国销售的所有服装中有97.3%是进口的。该项目旨在通过采用增材制造方法来自动化生产过程，同时实现完整的定制和按需生产，开发一种制造纺织产品的新方法。这项技术将使优质和有竞争力的纺织品制造业从海外回流，在美国创造高附加值的就业机会和设计师社区，同时也创造税收。3D打印技术已经彻底改变了硬物制造工艺，该项目旨在创造一个全新的增材制造纺织品行业，为未来的创新提供重要机会。该项目开发了一种新技术，用于制造近净形三维纺织品。为了开发这项技术，该项目将首先通过创建具有3D地形的非标准形状的组成纺织品面板来证明其可行性，为继续开发成现场生产的全三维无缝成品奠定基础。通过从独特的3D模型中添加生产服装，可以大规模地为每个消费者提供完全的定制-尽管这在以前从未实现过。此外，通过按需生产为个人消费者定制的服装，消除了大量库存积累的需要。通过这种方式，增材制造的纺织品对消费者来说更理想，对生产商来说更经济。因此，美国境内自动化和按需纺织品制造的社会和环境效益是显著的，包括消除典型的裁剪和缝纫制造技术中的大量废物，改造陷入困境的美国制造业，并最大限度地减少美国目前对复杂的全球供应链的依赖所带来的经济，环境和地缘政治影响。

This SBIR Phase I project will demonstrate a novel method for additively manufacturing textile products. Presently, the clothing manufacturing industry still relies on manual sewing machines that were invented over one hundred and seventy years ago. This system limits the manufacturing process and textile capability; an abundance of steps leads to waste, inefficiencies, and segmented products. Further, due to the low cost of foreign labor, the US textile industry has essentially stalled, as 97.3 percent of all clothing sold in the United States in 2015 was imported. This project seeks to develop a novel method for manufacturing textile products by employing additive manufacturing methodologies to automate the production process, while simultaneously enabling complete customization and on-demand production. This technology will enable premium and competitive textile manufacturing to return from overseas, creating high value-added jobs and a designer community in the United States while also generating tax revenue. In the same way that 3D Printing technology has revolutionized the hard goods manufacturing process, this project seeks to create an entire new industry of additively manufactured textile products, enabling significant opportunities for future innovation.This project develops a novel technology to manufacture near-net-shape three dimensional textile products. To develop this technology, this project will first prove feasibility through creating constituent textile panels of non-standard shapes with 3D topography, laying the foundation for continued development into fully three-dimensional, seamless, finished products produced in-situ. By additively producing garments from a unique 3D model, complete customization to each individual consumer is possible on a large scale- though this has never before been accomplished. Further, through the on-demand production of clothing customized to individual consumers, the need for substantial inventory buildup is eliminated. In this way, additively manufactured textile products are both more desirable to consumers and more economical to producers. As such, the societal and environmental benefits of automated and on-demand textile manufacturing within the United States are significant, including eliminating massive amounts of waste from typical cut-and-sew manufacturing techniques, revamping a struggling American manufacturing industry, and minimizing the economical, environmental, and geopolitical implications of the United States' current dependence on a convoluted global supply chain.