EP0220368B1 - Process and device to make quilted articles - Google Patents

Abstract

1. Method for the automatic sewing of quilted patterns on fabric webs, in particular ticking for quilt beds, by quilting the pattern during and with the aid of a freely programmable relative movement of an automatic sewing machine on a fabric web, whereby the sewing head thereof, performing program-controlled movements while the fabric web is temporarily held tight, quilts a field of the fabric web which is limited with respect to length and width in one operating step in each case while moving back and forth, and the fabric web is transported further in the longitudinal direction cyclically by one field in the sewing area each time after each operating step, and the fabric web is transported through or across the sewing area at least once each time both in the longitudinal direction and also if necessary in the opposite direction using mechanical means, at least two automatic sewing machines are used for quilting the pattern, which machines can be moved laterally outwards out of the sewing area, that is, out of the area covered by the fabric web, and which are guided, able to be moved independently of each other, in the longitudinal (X) and transverse directions (Y) using freely programmable drive controls, with the foot of a sewing head being guided slidingly over the fabric web without pressure during sewing, whereas it is raised from the fabric web during the further transportation thereof, during quilting while at a standstill and optionally also during an advance movement the fabric web or the edge regions thereof are stretched or flattened, preferably close to the automatic sewing machines, outwards transversely to the direction of the advance of the fabric, whereby means which have a pulling or flattening action on the edge regions are used for this purpose, the fabric web is held tight in each case directly in the region of a sewing head close to the presser feet of the sewing heads by means of flat grippers, and the fabric web or the edges thereof is pressed against the support on the left and right at a short distance in front of each sewing head using pressing means when the sewing heads are brought into the sewing area.

Description

The invention relates to a method and a device for the automatic sewing of quilting patterns on fabric webs, in particular quilted bed inlets, by topstitching the pattern during and with the aid of a freely programmable relative movement of an automatic sewing machine on a fabric web, the sewing head of which executes program-controlled movements when the web is temporarily held quilting the length and width of the limited area of the fabric back and forth in one work step, and after each work step the fabric is cyclically transported by one field in the sewing area in the longitudinal direction and the fabric at least once in both the longitudinal direction and, if necessary, in the opposite direction is transported through or over the sewing area using mechanical means.

EP-A 129 043 already describes such a method and also a device for the automatic sewing of quilting patterns on fabric webs, in particular inlets of quilted beds.

The quilting of quilting patterns on fabric webs was then carried out in such a way that a sewing head moves back and forth freely programmably within a strip of the fabric web that is limited in the longitudinal direction and the material to be sewn is pulled forward by the strip width for processing the next strip. The sewing material clamped to a clamp bar on its front side in the direction of transport was pulled over a table with the aid of the clamp beam, which was automatically moved gradually in the side guides, which had an opening at least in the sewing area of the sewing heads and a vacuum bar in front of the head on the fabric feed side to guide the fabric under longitudinal tension into the working area of the sewing head or heads and to keep it under tension during the sewing process.

A further improvement is achieved in the method of the type mentioned at the outset in that the fabric web is transported at least once both in the longitudinal direction and in the opposite direction using mechanical means through or over the sewing area. This results in an improvement to the extent that it is no longer necessary to manually feed the sewing material to a second sewing process in the case of longer work interruptions, for example for making longitudinally stitching.

EP-A 87 395 describes a method for automatically quilting bedding, in which a sewing head works automatically with the aid of templates. The disadvantage here, however, is that longer changeover times occur when the template is changed, only one sewing head is present and the goods to be sewn are only fixed at the edges lying transversely in the transport direction.

The invention has for its object to further develop and improve the above-mentioned method and the device in order to overcome still existing technical limits and difficulties and thus to expand the scope of the known method and to increase the quality of the finished product by increased work accuracy, and to increase productivity due to the elimination of dead times or unnecessary handouts. The improvements are aimed in particular at making it easier to retract the sewing heads over the edge area of the fabric web, to keep the sewing field of the fabric web to be quilted smooth and thus to achieve a high precision of the patterns to be quilted. The improvements should be easy to integrate in the known quilting machines, which means that the additional parts should be straightforward and easy to retrofit into them.

This object is achieved in a method of the type mentioned at the beginning by an improved method with the features according to the present claim 1.

With this improved method according to the invention, a substantial increase in flexibility in the automatic sewing of quilting patterns on quilting tracks is achieved. For example, when using this method, several sewing heads can be used simultaneously to execute different program parts on a quilting pattern, for example if this program provides for the use of sewing threads of different colors and / or different quality and thickness within a pattern. In order to have several sewing machines programmed independently and independently of each other to produce a quilt, it is particularly advantageous that the sewing machines can be completely moved out of the side of the sewing field, that is to say from the area occupied by the fabric. Mutual hindrance of individual functional elements of the automatic quilting device is thus advantageously avoided and the freedom to design a program is thus facilitated.

In this case, the formation of folds of the fabric in the area of the working sewing heads is advantageously avoided, in that the foot of a sewing head is slid without pressure over the fabric while sewing, while it is lifted off the fabric during further transport. Surprisingly, a further improvement in the production process is achieved in that, according to a further advantageous measure of the method, the fabric web or its edge regions are preferably stretched or smoothed outward in addition to the sewing machines, transversely to the direction of the fabric feed, when the stitching is at a standstill and possibly also during a feed movement are used for this purpose, pulling or brushing agents on the edge regions.

Another advantageous feature of the method according to the invention is that the fabric web is held directly in the area of a sewing head close to the step feet of the sewing heads using flat grippers, and that the fabric web or the edges thereof when the sewing heads are moved into the sewing area under Ver using pressure means on the left and right at a short distance in front of each sewing head against the surface.

One embodiment advantageously provides that one of the sewing heads can be carried in the program temporarily empty, that is to say without producing a seam.

Furthermore, one embodiment provides that during the quilting process the fabric web is fixed in a web area transversely to the direction of flow next to the quilted work areas, the definition being carried out using suction strips extending transversely to the direction of transport, and that the optimum width of the fabric web area to be determined is determined of the quilting pattern in progress is set under program control.

This ensures that the distance between the suction strips can be changed depending on the size of the sewing figure, and this distance can thus be set as small as possible in order to optimally define the fabric in the sewing area. The integration of this width setting in the automatically controlled program also ensures a safe process without colliding with the sewing heads.

A very advantageous embodiment further provides that the working paths of two sewing machine heads facing each other in a straight line are extended from the edge of the fabric web to the center and each way over the middle, and the control programs of the two sewing machines are coupled with one another in such a way that they collide between the two sewing heads prevented.

This advantageously achieves a relative enlargement of the sewing field and expansion of the area of application of the quilting system insofar as, for example, continuous transverse seams can now be stitched due to the possible overlap of the working paths of the sewing heads.

Another very advantageous embodiment provides that each sewing machine head is initially guided to the edge of the fabric web from the outside by the control program at the beginning of a quilting work and its position is determined and signaled to the control, and that the lengths of the individual work paths required to produce a quilting pattern are directed in the vertical direction for the fabric edge by the program of the control, starting from the fabric edge as the reference line zero, are automatically calculated and specified.

With this embodiment of the method, there is the great advantage that the web to be quilted no longer has to be inserted exactly in the middle of the automatic quilting machine, because the sewing heads now recognize the fabric edge and then the program can be used to electronically precisely define both the center of the web , and the quilting edge as a reference line for the positioning of the quilting pattern on the fabric can be precisely defined by the program.

The previously required handling of manual centering of the fabric on the sewing table can thus be dispensed with.

An automatic quilting device for carrying out the method according to the invention with a machine frame extending over the sewing area and associated sewing automats, each with an arm and a machine head arranged thereon, the arm being guided by two mutually transverse supports and by freely programmable controlled drives in longitudinal and is designed to be movable in the transverse direction, and the machine frame has lateral guides, in which a clamp beam, which extends across the surface of the machine frame and has a driving device with drive for moving and transporting the fabric web in the longitudinal direction of the machine frame, and on the material feed side is guided Means of the machine frame are provided in order to grasp the material web at the rear end and, after the longitudinal transport has ended, to pull it in the opposite direction across the sewing area of the quilting device, with two of each assigned sewing heads controlled independently of each other by programmable program units is designed according to the characterizing features of claim 6.

In order to be able to successfully pre-sew so-called webbed single panels, it is provided that a tape dispenser and cutter is arranged on the sewing head, and that the head and the presser foot are equipped with a tape guide. This known tape dispenser can either run intermittently short pieces of tape under the presser foot, which are then sewn with a short seam, or feed continuous tapes, which are sewn along the entire length of the plate. In order to also be able to produce plates with tapes arranged rotated by 90 ° to one another, it is provided that the tape dispenser, cutter and guide are arranged to be pivotable about at least 90 _° about an approximately vertical axis running through the needle insertion point. Advantageously, the swiveling of the tape dispenser, cutter and guide takes place pneumatically, preferably program-controlled, via a piston-cylinder unit acting on a swivel lever. In this way it is achieved that a web bed single plate with bands running in different directions can be produced in a single operation.

Further expedient configurations of the quilting device are provided in accordance with the features of the further subclaims.

• Figur 1 eine automatische Steppeinrichtung in Draufsicht;
• Figur 2 ein Klammerelement mit storchschnabelartig flach und spitz zulaufend ausgebildeten Greifelementen, in Seitenansicht;
• Figur 3 eine Saugleiste mit Unterteilung in mehrere einzeln evakuierbare Kammern, sowie mit mitgehörigen Leitungen und Betätigungsventilen, rein schematisch in Draufsicht;
• Figur 4 eine Seitenansicht eines Nähkopfes mit Niederhalterollen;
• Figur 5 einen Teilausschnitt aus der automatischen Steppeinrichtung mit in seitlichem Abstand vom Nähkopf angeordneten Saugleisten, in Blickrichtung quer zum Maschinengestell;
• Figur 6 eine Seitenansicht eines Nähkopfes mit daran um 90_° verschwenkbar angeordnetem Bandspender sowie Bandführung mit Bandabschneider;
• Figur 7 a,b,c unterschiedliche Elemente zum Glattstreichen der Stoffbahn.

The invention is shown in drawings in a preferred embodiment, further advantageous details of the invention being apparent from the drawings. The drawings show in detail:

• Figure 1 shows an automatic quilting device in plan view;
• Figure 2 is a side view of a clip element with cranesbill-like flat and tapered gripping elements;
• Figure 3 is a suction bar with subdivision into several individually evacuable chambers, and with associated lines and actuating valves, purely schematically in plan view;
• Figure 4 is a side view of a sewing head with hold-down rollers;
• 5 shows a partial section of the automatic quilting device with suction strips arranged at a lateral distance from the sewing head, in the viewing direction transverse to the machine frame;
• FIG. 6 shows a side view of a sewing head with a tape dispenser arranged thereon such that it can be pivoted through 90 _° and a tape guide with a tape cutter;
• Figure 7 a, b, c different elements for smoothing the fabric.

The quilting machine in FIG. 1 has a machine frame 1 with a table 53. At the head end 18, this has a storage trough 34 and a clamp beam 9 with a displacement device, which is described in detail in the main patent. On the opposite side 54, the machine frame 1 has a clamp beam 29 with a driving device 30 in lateral longitudinal guides 31, as also described and shown in detail in the main patent. An embodiment of the automatic quilting device that is essential to the invention is that it has at least two sewing heads 14, 4 ′, 14 ″, 14 ″, each controlled by an associated program unit 55, 55 ′ and 56, 56 ′ that is independently programmable from one another. These program units have individual program inputs, which are indicated purely schematically by the arrows 57 and 58. From the program units 55, 55 ', 56, 56', individual control lines, as indicated by dashed lines, lead to the individual drives of the sewing heads 14 to 14 "'. As can be seen from the illustration, each individual sewing head 14, 14', 14 can thus ", 14" 'automatically run an individual program independently of the others. This considerably improves the flexibility of the production and, for example, patterns with different colored yarn can be stitched at different points on the fabric at the same time, or odd numbered patterns, etc

A further improvement of the quilting device is that the individual sewing machines have means for moving the sewing heads 14 to 14 "'laterally out of the area of the fabric web 2, specifically the supports 28 to 28"' with extended guideways 59 to for this purpose 59 "'trained.

The equipment of a clamp bar 19, which can be moved with a driving device 30 on the lateral longitudinal guide 31 in a known manner, with a clamp element 23, which has flat-pointed, gripping elements 40, 40 ', is shown in FIG.

In this case, the lower gripping element 40 is stationary and, in the hinge 41, pivots on the upper gripping element 40 'with a lever arm 42 which is angled upwards. This carries a roller 43 which is actuated by means of a continuous tilting bar 45. The tilting bar is articulated on upwardly projecting arms 44 of the lower gripping elements 40 and can be actuated, for example, with a pneumatic drive element 60.

Because the tilting bar 45 is arranged continuously on a plurality of arms 44, all the clamp elements 23 of the clamp beam 29 are in turn actuated when actuated by the drive element 60. When the drive element 60 relaxes, a return element in the form of a spring ensures the opening of the clamp element or elements.

In order to be able to decorate the surface of the fabric web 2 as far as possible up to the side edges with quilting patterns, the clamp elements 23 of the clamp beam 29 must be laterally displaceable.

Such a shift is given by the inventive design of the actuator with a common tilting bar 45 without difficulty.

Essential to the invention, therefore, for optimal use of the quilting device, it is provided that the clamp elements 23 are arranged on the clamp beams 9 and 29 independently of one another and laterally displaceable.

The lateral displacement of the clamp elements 23 preferably takes place by means of one servomotor each with an adjusting spindle, these being preferably program-controlled.

Another very advantageous embodiment is that the driving device 30 of the clamp beam 29 has an additional device which lifts the clamp beam 29 from the fabric web 2 or from the fabric support surface 48 of the machine frame 1 during the movement in the opposite direction 4 of the workflow.

This avoids, on the one hand, that the clamp beam 29 pushes away parts of the fabric web 2 when it runs back, and, on the other hand, that it can cause damage to the surface 48 of the machine frame 1.

At the same time, however, this measure is very advantageous for the smooth running of the quilting device.

FIG. 4 shows the design of the quilting device with a hold-down roller 46. This is formed on the table 53 with a preferably pneumatically actuable actuating device 47, which, for example, always comes into action when the sewing head moves over a fabric edge 61 in the direction 62.

In Figure 5 it is shown that a flat suction bar 49, 49 'is arranged on the top 48 of the machine frame 1 below the fabric web 2 transversely to the transport direction 4 at a distance in front of and behind the sewing head 14. The distance A between the suction strips depends on the size of the sewing figures or on the lateral movement of the sewing head 14 required for this.

By moving at least the rear suction bar 49 'according to the double arrow 63, this distance can be changed and can be controlled very advantageously by the program, for example.

A movement device required for this is at the discretion of the person skilled in the art and is therefore not shown in detail for reasons of clarity. In any case, the distance A is always set as small as possible in accordance with the quilted pattern. Because the suction strips 49, 49 'are wedge-shaped in section are pointed, they result in a smooth transition to the sewing machine bed 64.

The position of the suction strips 49, 49 'within the automatic quilting device can also be seen very clearly from FIG. 1. Advantageously, the front suction bar 49, as shown in detail in FIG. 3, is divided by partition walls 52, 52 ', 52 "into separately evacuable suction chambers 50, 50', 50".

A control valve 51, 51 ', 51 ", which can preferably be operated by foot, is provided for controlling each chamber. As FIG. 3 further shows, these valves are connected to a common manifold 65, which establishes the connection to the suction pump 66.

While the above configuration of the quilting device is aimed only at the very advantageous and economical manufacture of quilted beds or their quilted decorations, in which two flat fabric parts 2 are quilted together, a further comparatively uncomplicated additional configuration or equipment and thus a further improvement can be achieved The quilting device can also be pre-sewn with individual advantages.

For this purpose, an additional embodiment is provided according to the invention, in which one or more or all sewing heads 14 are each equipped with an automatic tape dispenser 70 (FIG. 6) attached above the sewing foot.

This known tape dispenser 70 runs short pieces of tape under the presser foot 78 at each cycle, which are then sewn to the single-bed plates with a short fastening seam.

In a further variant, continuous strips are also fed.

Since the tapes are offset from one another by 90 _° , it is necessary to design and arrange the tape dispenser 70 so that it can be pivoted about the needle insertion point.

Such a tape dispenser device 70 with a swivel device 71 is shown in FIG. This swivel device 71 has a swivel axis x approximately in the longitudinal direction of the needle. As mentioned above, the actuation is carried out by program control and is preferably carried out with a pneumatic piston / cylinder unit 72.

Furthermore, the tape dispenser device 70 has a first transport device with guide 73 and a second transport device with guide 74. A cutter for the band 75 and a length counter device 76 are also arranged on this.

All of these devices 70 to 76 are indicated purely schematically in the drawing according to FIG. 6. The tape itself is rolled up on an easily rotatable tape reel 77 and is unwound from it.

A further embodiment of the quilting device, which is essential to the invention, provides that the necks 80 to the sewing heads 14 to 14 "'as well as carriages 81 and the associated guideways 59 of the sewing machines (FIG. 4) are dimensioned in relation to the width of the machine frame 1 such that the sewing heads are movable up to about the central axis yy of the machine frame 1.

Furthermore, it is provided that in order to reliably avoid a collision of the sewing heads, each sewing head 14 to 14 "'has a stop switch 82 on its end face, which stops the feed movements of the sewing heads 14, 14' upon contact with a stop switch 82 'of an opposing sewing head 14'.

In a further embodiment of the quilting device, which is essential to the invention, it is provided that each sewing head is assigned means for recognizing the fabric web edges 61, 61 ', preferably a light barrier 84 (FIG. 4) and this with a movable signal line 85 guided by the sewing head with the associated program unit 55, 55 '; 56.56' is connected.

And finally, in a further embodiment of the quilting device according to the invention, means 88 to 91 are provided on both sides of the machine frame 1 for stretching or smoothing the edge regions 61, 61 ′ of the fabric web 2.

These means 88 to 91 can be designed so that they run along the side of the work table 53 when the fabric web 2 is advanced. (see Figure 7)

However, they can also be designed in such a way that these means 88 to 91 are arranged in a stationary manner on both edge regions 61, 61 'of the machine frame (1) and preferably laterally next to the automatic sewing machines.

These are rotating or sweeping means acting on the surface of the fabric 2, which are preferably in the form of rotating brushes 88 with radial brushing elements 89 made of plastic or rubber or as an endless belt sweeping along the lower strand 90 on the surface of the fabric 91 or the like coating element.

It is very expedient here that these means 88 to 91 can be lifted off the fabric web 2 and can be moved outwards from the edge regions 61, 61 'of the machine frame.

This is particularly expedient or necessary in order not to hinder the undisturbed passage of the bracket beams 29.

The improvements according to the invention advantageously result in a significant increase in working precision and thus in product quality with comparatively uncomplicated and therefore inexpensive means.

The work capacity is also increased in the same way by eliminating unnecessary dead times. In so far, one can speak of an ideal solution to the task at the beginning.

It is essential according to the invention that the material web is stretched transversely to its direction of movement at the edge regions. In addition to the rotating brushes 88 or a belt 91 mentioned, there can also be a clamp bar arranged along the length of the material flow, which can, for example, pretension up to 6% generated transversely to the direction of movement of the fabric. For this purpose, vacuum strips or other suitable means can also be provided. The clamp bars are designed so that they can be brought out in order not, as already described, to hinder a movement of the “main” clamp bar 29. Due to the lateral tensioning of the fabric, it is possible to omit the longitudinal tensioning during the actual sewing processes.

Claims (12)

1. Method for the automatic sewing of quilted patterns on fabric webs, in particular ticking for quilt beds, by quilting the pattern during and with the aid of a freely programmable relative movement of an automatic sewing machine on a fabric web, whereby the sewing head thereof, performing program-controlled movements while the fabric web is temporarily held tight, quilts a field of the fabric web which is limited with respect to length and width in one operating step in each case while moving back and forth, and the fabric web is transported further in the longitudinal direction cyclically by one field in the sewing area each time after each operating step, and the fabric web is transported through or across the sewing area at least once each time both in the longitudinal direction and also if necessary in the opposite direction using mechanical means, at least two automatic sewing machines are used for quilting the pattern, which machines can be moved laterally outwards out of the sewing area, that is, out of the area covered by the fabric web, and which are guided, able to be moved independently of each other, in the longitudinal (X) and transverse directions (Y) using freely programmable drive controls, with the foot of a sewing head being guided slidingly over the fabric web without pressure during sewing, whereas it is raised from the fabric web during the further transportation thereof, during quilting while at a standstill and optionally also during an advance movement the fabric web or the edge regions thereof are stretched or flattened, preferably close to the automatic sewing machines, outwards transversely to the direction of the advance of the fabric, whereby means which have a pulling or flattening action on the edge regions are used for this purpose, the fabric web is held tight in each case directly in the region of a sewing head close to the presser feet of the sewing heads by means of flat grippers, and the fabric web or the edges thereof is pressed against the support on the left and right at a short distance in front of each sewing head using pressing means when the sewing heads are brought into the sewing area.

2. Method according to Claim 1, characterised in that in each case one of the sewing heads is temporarily guided along empty, i.e. without producing a seam, during the program operation.

3. Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the fabric web during the quilting operation in a web area transverse to the direction of passage is fixed next to the quilted operating areas, the fixing being carried out using suction strips extending transversely to the direction of transportation, and that the optimum width of the area of the fabric web which is to be fixed is set by program- control, according to the quilted pattern which is being worked at the time.

4. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the working paths of two automatic sewing machine heads which are located opposite each other in a straight line are extended from the edge of the fabric web towards the centre to past the centre in each case and the control programs of the two automatic sewing machines are coupled together and programmed in such a manner that they prevent a collision of the two sewing heads.

5. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterised in that each automatic sewing machine head at the beginning of a quilting operation is first brought up to the edge of the fabric web from outside by the control program and the position thereof is determined and signalled to the program, and that the lengths of the individual working paths of a quilted pattern in a direction perpendicular to the edge of the fabric web, starting from the edge of the fabric web as the reference line zero, are automatically calculated and preset by the program control.

6. Automatic quilting apparatus for performing the method according to Claims 1 to 5, with a machine frame extending across the sewing area and at least one automatic, sewing machine allocated thereto with an arm is guided by two supports positioned transversely to each other and designed to be moveable in the longitudinal and transverse directions by freely programmably controlled drives, and the machine frame having lateral guides in which is guided at least one clamping bar extending transversely across the surface of the machine frame, which bar has a transport mechanism with a drive for transporting the fabric web in the longitudinal direction of the machine frame, and means being provided on the material supply side of the machine frame to grip the fabric web at the rear end and to transport it in the opposite direction over the sewing area of the quilting apparatus after the longitudinal transportation has ended, with two sewing heads which are each controlled by one associated program unit, which units are programmable independently of each other, characterised in that

- said heads have means for laterally moving the sewing heads (14, 14') out of the area of the fabric web (2), with the support (28) being designed with a guideway (59) which is extended towards the side,

- means (88 to 91) for stretching or flattening the edge regions (86, 86') of the fabric web (2) are provided laterally close to the automatic sewing machines on both sides on the edge regions (87, 87') of the machine frame (1), with the means (88 to 91) being designed as means which rotate or smooth along acting on the surface of the fabric web (2), such as rotating brushes (88) or endless belts (91) which smooth along the surface of the fabric web (2) with their lower sides (90) or mobile smoothing elements and are designed to be able to be lifted away from the fabric web (2) and/or movable outwards away from the edge areas (61, 62) of the machine frame (1) or entrained upon the advance of the fabric web (2),

- the clamping bars (9 or 29) have clamping elements (23) with gripper elements (40, 40') which are designed flat and end in a point like a stork's beak, to which gripper elements is allocated a continuous tilting strip (45) for joint actuation, and the clamping elements (23) are attached, laterally displaceable independently of each other, to the clamping bar (9 or 29) and the lateral displacement of the clamping elements (23) takes place by means of one servomotor with a spindle in each case, the motors being program-controlled, and

- the transport mechanism (30) of the clamping bar (29) has means which lift away from the fabric web (2) or from the fabric-supporting surface of the machine frame (1) upon the travelling movement of the clamping bar in the direction (4) opposite that of the course of operation.

7. Quilting apparatus according to Claim 6, characterised in that a holding-down roller (46) is arranged in the region of the edges (61) of the fabric web (2) on the machine frame (1) on both the right and left at a short distance in front of each sewing head (14, 14') and is designed with a preferably pneumatically operable actuation device (47).

8. Quilting apparatus according to Claim 6, characterised in that one flat suction strip (49, 49') in each case is arranged on the upper side (48) of the machine frame (1) beneath the fabric web (2) transversely to the direction of transportation (4) at a distance in front of and behind the sewing heads (14, 14'), and that at least one of the suction strips (49, 49') has means (63) for distance-changing displacement in or counter to the direction of transportation (4), these means preferably being connected to one of the program control units for the purpose of automatic setting of the suction strip distance according to the size of the quilted pattern (32).

9. Quilting apparatus according to one of Claims 6 to 8, characterised in that the suction strip (49) which is closest to the front side (18) of the machine frame (1) is subdivided section-wise in its longitudinal extent by partitions (52, 52', 52") into suction chambers (50, 50', 50") which can be evacuated separately and preferably foot-operable control valves (51, 51', 51") are provided for controlling each chamber.

10. Quilting apparatus according to one of Claims 6 to 9, characterised in that a ribbon dispenser (70) and cutter (75) is located on the sewing head (14, 14'), and that the sewing head (14, 14') and the sewing foot (78) are equipped with a ribbon guide (73, 74), that the ribbon dispenser (70), cutter (75) and guide (73, 74) are pivotable by at least 90_° about an approximately vertical axis (x-x) passing through the point of insertion of the needle and are equipped with a preferably program-controlled pivoting device (71, 72), said device having a piston/cylinder unit (71, 72) acting on a pivoted lever (79).

11. Quilting apparatus according to one of Claims 6 to 10, characterised in that the necks (80) bearing the sewing heads (14) and also the travelling gear (81) and the associated guideways (59) of the automatic sewing machines are dimensioned relative to the width of the machine frame (1) in such a manner that the sewing heads (14) are movable past the centre line (y-y) of the machine frame (1) or the fabric web (2), that each sewing head (14, 14') has on its end a stop switch (82) which upon contact with a stop switch (82) of the approaching sewing head interrupts the advance movements of the sewing heads, and that each sewing head (14, 14') is allocated means, preferably a light barrier (84), for recognising the edges of the fabric web ( 61, 61') and said barrier is connected via the sewing head (14, 14') by means of one movable signalling line (85) in each case to the associated program unit (55, 55'; 46, 56').

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