Claims:We Claim:
1. A method for determining particular information of a gemstone (100) from a batch of gemstones, the method comprising steps of:
receiving a batch of rough gemstones for planning and mapping of attributes thereof;
identifying physical attributes of the gemstones;
generating history files of each of the gemstones individually , the history file storing the physical attributes of the gemstones;
generating a common index file containing all the information regarding all the gemstones;
combining all the gemstones in a same pouch, and processing each thereof individually for determining the particular information as a maximum cutting depth of various parts of the gemstone (100);
matching all the cutting depth related parameters of the gemstone (100) with that contained in the index file;
sorting the gemstones based on the cutting depth values thereof by measuring the diameter of the gemstone and crown height;;
extracting cutting depth related parameters from the index file based on the respective crown height;
cutting all the gemstones of the particular batch with the maximum cutting depth value of each particular portion of the gemstone among all the gemstones as a reference thereof; and
repeating the above steps for all of the gemstones of the batch thereof.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the gemstone planner machine (202) determines physical attributes of a rough gemstone (100).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the rough gemstone (100) is selected from a group comprising a diamond, an emerald, a ruby, a sapphire, a crystal, and a pearl.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the cutting depth related parameters comprising: crown cutting depth, pavilion cutting depth, table cutting depth and girdle cutting depth.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein various cutting depths may be obtained from different gemstones rather than a single gemstone.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more physical attributes of the rough gemstone (100) comprising: shape, weight, color grade, cut grade, clarity grade, crown height (108), crown diameter, crown angle, total depth, star length, lower girdle length, girdle thickness, pavilion angle, pavilion depth, pavilion height (106), and so on.

7. A system (200) for determining particular information of a gemstone (100) from a batch of gemstones, the system (200) comprising:
a gemstone planner machine (202) determining physical attributes of the gemstone (100), the machine (202) further comprising:
a receiver receiving a batch of rough gemstones for planning and mapping of attributes thereof by the gemstone planner machine (202);
a planner estimating and planning data based on geometry of a rough gemstone (100);
an identifier identifying physical attributes of the gemstones;
a processor processing each of the gemstone individually and generating history files thereof and generating a common index file comprising all the history files of all the gemstones;
a memory storage for storing all the history files including the physical attributes of the gemstones and the common index file;
a communication protocol means (206) for transferring physical attributes of the gemstones to a gemstone-cutting machine; and
the gemstone-cutting machine (204) obtaining batch of the gemstones for further process of cutting thereof based on the determined particular information, the machine (204) further comprising:
another processor processing each of the gemstones individually for determining the particular information as a maximum cutting depth of various parts of the gemstone (100) by matching all the cutting depth related parameters of the gemstone (100) with that contained in the index file; and
a sorter sorting the gemstones based on the cutting depth values thereof by measuring the diameter of the gemstone and crown height; and
a cutter cutting all the gemstones of the particular batch with the maximum cutting depth value of each particular portion of the gemstone among all the gemstones as a reference thereof..

8. The system (200) of claim 7, wherein the gemstone-planner machine (206) comprising an encoder to encode physical attributes’ information of the rough gemstone (100).

9. The system (200) of claim 7, wherein the gemstone-cutting machine (204) comprising a decoder to decode physical attributes’ information of the gemstone (100) received from the gemstone-planner machine.

10. The system (200) of claim 7, wherein the rough gemstone (100) is selected from a group comprising a diamond, an emerald, a ruby, a sapphire, a crystal, and a pearl.

11. The system (200) of claim 7, wherein the one or more physical attributes of the gemstone (100) comprising: shape, weight, color grade, cut grade, clarity grade, crown height, crown diameter, crown angle, total depth, girdle thickness, pavilion angle, pavilion depth, pavilion height, and so on.

12. The system (200) of claim 7, wherein the communication protocol means (206) is selected from a group comprising a barcode, a One dimensional barcode, a Quick Response (QR) barcode, a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag, and a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tag.

13. The system (200) of claim 7, wherein the gemstone-cutting machine (204) cuts the gemstone (100) up to the maximum reference cutting depth value.

14. The system (200) of claim 7, wherein the cutting depth related parameters comprising: crown cutting depth, pavilion cutting depth, table cutting depth and girdle cutting depth.

15. The system (200) of claim 7, wherein various cutting depths may be obtained from different gemstones rather than a single gemstone.
, Description:FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a system and a method thereof for cutting a gemstone from a batch of gemstones. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and a method for determining particular information of a gemstone from a batch of gemstones.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Rough gemstones are unfinished or unprocessed form of gemstones which has to undergo processing to form a finished gemstone. Usually, rough gemstones are irregular in shape and size and undergo a number of steps such as planning, estimating, measuring physical attributes, sawing, bruting, polishing, and final inspection thereof. Such steps involve a number of machines such as gemstone-planner machine, gemstone cutting machine. Primarily, the gemstone-planner machine scans the rough gemstone to measure basic geometry thereof. For example, shape, dimensions (length, width, and height). Thereafter, the gemstone-planning machine estimates the physical attributes of the gemstone based upon the geometry of the gemstone. While carrying out the process of sorting, determination of gemstone’s diameter is of paramount importance. This is because grouping of gemstones are done on the basis of the measurements of gemstone’s diameter. The physical attributes generated may be transferred further to the gemstone-cutting machine for further cutting process. As discussed hereinabove, the gemstone-planner machine processes only one packet containing only one gemstone at a time. Hence, the gemstone-planner machine estimates, plans, and measures physical attributes of the gemstone one by one. Upon completion of the process of planning, all the gemstones are labeled and kept in same packet which may get mixed up. Hence, it becomes time consuming for the gemstone-cutting machine to cut the gemstone with lots of extra margin as machine does not have any idea about gemstone’s cutting depth. This ultimately affects the production as the time consumption is more in processing the gemstone.

Further in some instances, the data including physical attributes identifying a particular gemstone is transferred onto a label, such as a piece of paper or metal. Other information apart from the physical attributes may include model number of the rough gemstone. Further, the label may be attached to a pouch holding the gemstones. The pouch along with the labels may be handed over to an operator of the gems-cutting machine. The operator records all the received data manually on the label, for example gemstone data onto the label. In another instance, the received data may be imprinted onto the label via a label printer coupled to the gemstone-planning machine. In some instances, the operator may also be required to record the data onto the label after reading there from. For example, the operator may firstly check model number of the gemstone and retrieve the respective physical attributes information accordingly.

Therefore, such a process of planning, and cutting the gemstone involve a human intervention, for example, manual entry of the data may lead to errors further leading to wrong cutting of precious gemstones and mere wastage of resources, time and effort. Even a minor error in reading the gemstone data from the label may result in undesirable finished gemstone. Adding to that, since mapping is done individually for all the rough gemstones, even a slight error in executing the mapping or cutting process can cause the precious stone part being filtered in the form or impurities or vice versa.

Conventionally, certain automated methods and systems developed for planning and cutting the gemstones. Such systems and methods thereof involve generation of history files containing all the information of physical attributes. For example, US patent publication US20140246006A1 discloses indexing unit of a gemstone processing. The indexing unit of the gemstone processing machine includes a base plate having a plurality of axially extending holes. The base plate is mounted on a mounting shaft, and the mounting shaft is coupled to an indexing mechanism for actuating the base plate. Further, the indexing unit includes a plurality of holders. A holder is disposed in each of the plurality of axially extending holes of the base plate, and each holder is configured to hold a gemstone for processing on the gemstone processing machine. In another example, WIPO publication WO2012001698A1 discloses multiple diamond planning and brating machine which can scan the multiple diamond on the single machine, thereby reducing the labor and production cost. The machine mainly comprised in two parts; Flat scanner setup, Multi bruit machine wherein flat scanner setup comprises machine frame (1), camera assembly (2), line laser (3), fixture device (4), X axis (5) and Y axis (6) which is used for the scanning the stone with the help of camera unit capturing images while two different line laser modules throws LASER beams on the stone and generates 3D images of the stone; wherein the multi bruiter machine comprises with frame (14), laser source (15), galvo (16), air & LED holder assembly (17), camera assembly (18), fixture (19), X-axis (20), Y- axis (21) and Z- Axis (22) which used use the data which generated at the time of flat scanner scanning process.

However, generating a large number of history files for all gemstones individually, it is not possible to extract required information from bunch of history files when all the gemstones are collected in one pouch. In some instances, the conventional systems and methods thereof allow the gemstone data to be transferred via communication protocol means such as not limited to a barcode, a NFC tag, RFID tag, and so on. Once the wrong information is transferred to the communication protocol means, the rest of the data transferred may be automatically misleading.

Therefore, there exists a need for alternative system and a method thereof for determining gemstone’s particular information from a batch of gemstones.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in the view of the above problems, and the present invention discloses a method for determining particular information of a gemstone (100) from a batch of gemstones. The method receives a batch of rough gemstones for planning and mapping of attributes thereof. A batch of gemstones basically refers to a bunch of different unprocessed rough gemstones that are grouped together. The method further identifies physical attributes of the gemstones, followed by generating history files of each of the gemstones individually. The history file is configured to store the physical attributes of the gemstones. The method further generates a common index file containing all the information regarding all the gemstones.. All the gemstones are further combined in a same pouch, and processed individually for determining the particular information as a maximum cutting depth of various parts of the gemstone (100). The method then matches all the cutting depth related parameters of the gemstone (100) with that contained in the index file. Thereafter, the gemstones undergo sorting based on the cutting depth values thereof with the gemstone bearing maximum value being used as a benchmark for cutting other gemstones belonging to that particular batch.

Once the diameter based grouping is done, the cutting depth related parameters (viz. crown cutting depth, pavilion cutting depth, girdle cutting depth and table cutting depth) of gemstones are extracted from the index file based on their crown height. Further, the maximum cutting depth values (of each particular portion of the gemstone) among all the gemstones will be set as a benchmark/taken as reference for cutting all the gemstones of that particular batch. It ensures that the number of impurities remains at the minimum and no precious portion is wasted.

Additionally, since the gemstone cutting parameters are predefined, there is no further need to readjust the cutting parameters individually. This not only reduces the chances of weight loss, but also saves a lot of processing time for each gemstone which ultimately enhances the capability of a processing unit to process more number of diamonds in a particular period. All of the above steps are executed for all of the gemstones of the batch thereof.

In yet another embodiment, the present invention discloses a system for determining particular information of a gemstone (100) from a batch of gemstones. The system includes a gemstone planner machine (202) determining physical attributes of the gemstone (100). The machine (202) includes a receiver receiving a batch of rough gemstones for planning and mapping of attributes thereof by a gemstone planner machine. A planner is configured to estimate and plan data based on geometry of a rough gemstone (100). An identifier identifies physical attributes of the gemstones. A processor processes each of the gemstone individually and generates history files thereof and generating a common index file comprising all the history files of all the gemstones. A memory storage is configured to store all the history files including the physical attributes of the gemstones and the common index file. The system further includes a communication protocol means (206) for transferring history file containing physical attributes of the gemstone to a gemstone-cutting machine (204); and the gemstone-cutting machine obtaining batch of the gemstone for further process of cutting thereof based on the determined particular information. The machine (204) includes another processor processing each of the gemstones individually for determining the particular information as a maximum cutting depth of various parts of the gemstone (100) by matching all the cutting depth related parameters of the gemstone (100) with that contained in the index file. In addition, the machine (204) includes a sorter sorting the gemstones based on the cutting depth values thereof derived by measuring the diameter of the gemstone and crown height; and a cutter cutting all the gemstones of the particular batch with the maximum cutting depth value of each particular portion of the gemstone among all the gemstones as a reference thereof

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 illustrates a schematic of a rough gemstone (100) depicting a cutting depth, in accordance with an embodiment of a present invention;

Figure 2 illustrates another schematic of the rough gemstone (100) depicting crown height and pavilion height, in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 3 illustrates a schematic of a system (200) for cutting the rough gemstone (100) , in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those or ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures and/or components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the invention.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of the methods thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the descriptions that follow, like numerals represent like elements in all figures. For example, where the numeral (2) is used to refer to a particular element in one figure, the numeral (2) appearing in any other figure refers to the same element.

Rough gemstones are unfinished or unprocessed form of gemstones which has to undergo processing to form a finished gemstone. Usually, rough gemstones are irregular in shape and size and undergo a number of steps such as planning, estimating, measuring physical attributes, sawing, bruting, polishing, and final inspection thereof. Such steps involve a number of machines such as gemstone-planner machine, gemstone cutting machine. Primarily, the gemstone-planner machine scans the rough gemstone to measure basic geometry thereof. For example, shape, dimensions (length, width, and height). Thereafter, the gemstone-planning machine estimates the physical attributes of the gemstone based upon the geometry of the gemstone. The physical attributes generated may be transferred further to the gemstone-cutting machine for further cutting process. As discussed hereinabove, the gemstone-planner machine processes only one packet containing only one gemstone at a time. Hence, the gemstone-planner machine estimates, plans, and measures physical attributes of the gemstone one by one. Upon completion of the process of planning, all the gemstones are labeled and kept in same packet which may get mixed up. Hence, it becomes difficult for the gemstone-cutting machine to identify which gemstone needs to be cut.

Therefore, the present invention discloses a system (200) for determining information of a gemstone from a batch of gemstones as shown in Figure 3. A batch of gemstones basically refers to a bunch of different unprocessed rough gemstones that are grouped together. The system (200) includes mainly three components- gemstone-planning machine (202); gemstone-cutting machine (204); and a communication protocol means (206) transferring the data from the gemstone-planning machine (202) to the gemstone-cutting machine (204).

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the gemstone-planning machine (202) is configured to plan, estimate and measure the physical attributes of the rough gemstone when received in a means such as a pouch or bag. The rough gemstone may include such as but are not limited to a diamond, an emerald, a ruby, a sapphire, a crystal, and a pearl, and so on. Further, the gemstone-planning machine (202) may estimate physical attributes of the gemstone based upon the measured basis geometry of the rough gemstone (100) as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The physical attributes may include such as but are not limited to shape, weight, color grade, cut grade, clarity grade, crown height (108), crown diameter, crown angle, total depth, star length, cutting depth (104), lower girdle length, girdle thickness, pavilion angle, pavilion depth, pavilion height (106), and so on. The girdle is the widest point of the circumference of a gemstone. It is the perimeter of the stone that separates the gem's pavilion from its crown. It is also usually the point where a stone is held when it is being examined. Girdles may be described as "thin" or "thick", or they may be more precisely specified as a percentage of the stone's diameter. The crown is the upper portion of a gemstone that begins just above the girdle. The term 'table' is used to describe the flat top of the crown. The crown of a gemstone is typically raised, though some crowns may be cut very high, flat or even concave, as shown in Figure 2. The pavilion is the lower portion of a gemstone that begins just below the girdle as shown in Figure 1. Pavilions can be cut and faceted in many different styles. Unlike diamond, most colored stones are cut with mixed styles, such as a step-cut pavilion combined with a scissor-cut crown or a coated pavilion with a concave-cut dome.

The gemstone-cutting machine (204) may be configured to receive the gemstone (100) along with the physical attributes’ data for further processing of cutting via the communication protocol means (206). The communication protocol means (206) may be any wired or wireless sources of communication protocols such as internet, a barcode, a portable storage device, a One dimensional barcode, a Quick Response (QR) barcode, a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag, a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tag, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 2G, 3G, 4G, and so on to transmit information from the gemstone-planning machine (202) to the gemstone-cutting machine (204). In some embodiments, the data may be transferred through wire such as data cable, or USB cable, and so on.

In some embodiments, the gemstone-planning machine (202) includes a number of sub-components such as a receiver, a planner, a processor, memory storage, a matcher, an encoder, a printer, and so on. The receiver is configured to receive an individual rough gemstone (100). In some instances, the receiver can receive a batch of gemstones containing more than one gemstone to be processed for planning and measurement. An identifier in the gemstone-planning machine (202) assigns a model number, a lot number, and type of the gemstone to the gemstone, followed by labeling thereon. The labeling may be printed via the printer. The labeling may be printed on a printable substrate. The printable substrate refers to any type of material onto which text and/or graphics can be printed, for example by a laser printer, label printer, or an inkjet printer. Examples of the printable substrate may include such as but are not limited to a label, a paper, a plastic, a biodegradable paper, and so on. In some embodiments, the printer may also be configured to imprint a barcode on the printing substrate or on the packet or pouch containing gemstones.

In some embodiments, the gemstone-planning machine (202) is configured to plan and estimate physical attributes of the gemstone (100) via the planner. The planning may be solely dependent upon the identified basic geometrical attributes of the rough gemstone (100). The gemstone (100) undergoes processing wherein the processor is configured to generate a history file for each of the gemstone (100). In some embodiments, the history file may be a binary digital file storing all the physical attributes discussed hereinabove of each of the gemstone. On the other hand, another file known as common index file may be generated by the processor. The common index file is configured to index all the physical attributes of all the gemstones. In some embodiments, the index and history files may be stored in the memory storage. Hence, the memory storage may be defined as a database having one or more records of the physical attributes of one or all of the gemstones.

In some embodiments, the gemstone-planner machine (202) includes an encoder encoding all the data of history files and index files and converting thereof into an encoded gemstone data in an acceptable format of the communication protocol means (206). The encoder transfers the encoded data to the communication protocol means (206). Further, the communication protocol means (206) is configured to transfer the data to a decoder of the gemstone-cutting machine (204). The decoder may decode the gemstone data and generate the decoded gemstone data in a data file, for example, comma-separated value (CSV) file. All the decoded gemstone data may be stored in the memory storage of the gemstone-cutting machine (204). After the processing, all the gemstones are mixed in a same pouch and are sent further for cutting process to the gemstone cutting machine (204). The gemstone-cutting machine (204) may further perform a process of cutting the gemstone based upon the received decoded gemstone data automatically.

The gemstone cutting machine (204) includes another processor which is configured to process each of the gemstones of the batch thereof individually. In some embodiments, the processor is configured to determine the particular information of each of the gemstones. In preferred embodiments, the particular information is maximum value of the cutting depth of various parts of the gemstone. The maximum value can be determined by matching all the cutting depth related parameters of the gemstone (100) with that contained in the index file. The cutting depth related parameters include crown cutting depth, pavilion cutting depth, table cutting depth and girdle cutting depth. For such determination, each of the gemstone is processed for the cutting depth related parameter and their information is matched with that contained in the database of the index file. Hence, all of the different gemstones are considered for determining the cutting depth related parameters.
In further embodiments, the gemstone cutting machine (204) includes a sorter configured to sort the gemstones based on their cutting depth values with the gemstone bearing maximum value being used as a benchmark for cutting other gemstones belonging to that particular batch. The maximum cutting depth value found from the batch is considered as a reference.

Once the diameter based grouping is done, the cutting depth related parameters (viz. crown cutting depth, pavilion cutting depth, girdle cutting depth and table cutting depth) of gemstones are extracted from the index file based on their crown height. Further, the maximum cutting depth values (of each particular portion of the gemstone) among all the gemstones will be set as a benchmark/taken as reference for cutting all the gemstones of that particular batch. It ensures that the number of impurities remains at the minimum and no precious portion is wasted.

Additionally, since the gemstone cutting parameters are predefined, there is no further need to readjust the cutting parameters individually. This not only reduces the chances of weight loss, but also saves a lot of processing time for each gemstone which ultimately enhances the capability of a processing unit to process more number of diamonds in a particular period. All of the above steps are executed for all of the gemstones of the batch thereof.

All the gemstones may further undergo cutting maximum up to the reference cutting depth value, thereby reducing weight loss by eliminating unnecessary cut.

In some embodiments, a method for determining information of a particular gemstone (100) from a batch thereof may be disclosed. The sequence of the method steps discussed herein after is contemplated for the sake of understanding of the technical skilled in the art. The method includes receiving a batch of rough gemstones at the gemstone-planner machine (202). The gemstones undergo planning, estimation, and mapping basic geometrical attributes of the gemstones. The physical attributes of the gemstones (100) may be determined through the identifier, followed by processing for generating index and history files of the batch of the gemstones. All the gemstones are mixed in a same pouch for further process of cutting. The communication protocol means (206) further transmits the index file and history files to the gemstone-cutting machine (204) for further process of cutting based upon the determined particular information such as maximum cutting depth of various parts of the gemstone (100). Such a determination may be achieved by matching all the cutting depth related parameters of the gemstone (100) with that contained in the index file. Thereafter, the gemstones may be sorted based on the cutting depth values thereof with the maximum value thereof with the gemstone bearing maximum value being used as a benchmark for cutting other gemstones belonging to that particular batch. The gemstones can be cut up to the reference cutting depth value, eliminating unnecessary weight loss. All of the steps may be repeated for all of the gemstones. All the details of the above method steps have already been discussed hereinabove.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention and its advantages has been disclosed in the above Detailed Description, the invention is not limited there to but only by the scope of the appended claim.
As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the present invention may easily be produced in other specific forms without departing from its essential characteristics. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered as merely illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all changes which come within therefore intended to be embraced therein.