Computer generated mold for contoured garment piece formation

Claim 1

A process for the manufacture of garments from shaped three dimensional pattern pieces and comprising the steps of (a) holding the subject to be fitted stationary in the proximity of a robotic device including a manipulator arm, (b) providing a proximity sensing transducer in the manipulator arm, which transducer is capable of generating a signal to a computer when the transducer has been brought into close proximity to the subject to be fitted with a garment, (c) causing the manipulator arm to move the transducer in a predetermined pattern and under the direction of a preprogrammed computer to record in the computer's memory digital data indicative of the three dimensional shape of the object in a predetermined area, (d) providing a workpiece block in the vicinity of a second manipulator arm associated with a computer adapted to process said data defining the three dimensional shape, (e) providing a workpiece shaping tool on said second manipulator arm, (f) shaping the workpiece block to provide a three dimensional suface corresponding to said three dimensional shape, (g) molding a synthetic plastic piece in a mold made from said three dimensional surface to provide a garment pattern piece.