EP1869240B1 - Shuttle embroidery or stitching machine and needle for such machines - Google Patents

Abstract

The shuttle embroidery or stitching machine works with needles (11) with the axis (22) of the eyes (23) at an acute angle a to the forward direction of displacement (19) of the shuttle (17) on the shuttle track (25). The axis (22) thus runs approximately in the same direction as the needle thread (13), when the shuttle (17) passes through the loop (15) and extends the same. The needle thread is thus more gently handled such that thread breakages on rapidly operating machines are reduced. The needle (11) comprise a surface (29) on the shaft (27) by means of which the eye (23) is forced into the correct angular position to the shuttle track (25) on tensioning.

Description

The invention relates to a Schiffchenstick- or quilting machine with Schiffchenbahnen forward and backward movable boat, needles with an eye for the needle thread, a reciprocable needle ruler or reciprocable needle rams and fasteners for attaching the needles on the needle ruler or the needle rams in a certain orientation of the axis of the eye with respect to the shuttle. Such machines have been manufactured for more than a hundred years and use a stitching process, the principle of which has remained virtually constant throughout this period. Thus, when forming a stitch, the needle penetrates through the fabric to be embroidered, making a short backward movement so that a loop in the needle thread forms behind the fabric. This is detected during the forward movement of the shuttle, in the interior of which the shuttle thread is located, and expanded during passage of the shuttle. After the passage of the shuttle through the loop, the needle thread is withdrawn and with the looping of the needle thread with the shuttle thread thus accomplished, the stitch is completed, so that after the backward movement of the shuttle and the needle, the formation of a new stitch can begin.

Embroidery machines, quilters and sewing machines work according to the two-thread system, ie with needle thread and shuttle thread. For sewing machines one usually speaks of upper and lower thread.

Three of the cited as prior art writings, namely the EP 0 524 353 . US 2,932,268 and US 2,824,533 refer exclusively to sewing machines.

In the EP 0 524 353 a sewing machine is described which has a arranged at an angle to an imaginary horizontal plane needle ram. This has the advantage that the length of the bobbin for the lower thread can be sized larger, so that the coil must be replaced less often.

The US 2,932,268 describes a zigzag sewing machine in which the needle plunger performs a rotational movement during the upward movement and again during the downward movement is turned back so that even during zigzag sewing, so when the needle plunger with the needle is pivoted to the left and to the right, the thread loop is securely detected by the rotating gripper.

The US 2,824,533 discloses a sewing machine needle whose shaft has a flattening so that after insertion of the needle into the sewing machine, the needle eye is properly aligned.

In the DE 294 260 An embroidery machine is described, whose Schiffchenlaufbahn is provided with a recess. This has the advantage that after detecting the needle thread loop through the shuttle, the needle thread loop can be extended by the shuttle without the needle thread comes into frictional contact simultaneously with the running surface of the shuttle and the running surface of the shuttle career. Rather, the needle thread finds in the recess a free receiving space, so that damage to the needle thread is avoided.

FIG. 1 now shows how the needle 11 has formed a small loop 15 with the needle thread 13 in embroidery machines according to the prior art and the boat 17 detects the loop 15 in its forward movement in the direction of the arrow 19, and then slip through the loop by extending the loop ( Fig. 2 ) to allow entanglement of the needle thread 13 with the shuttle thread 21.

It is off FIG. 1 can be seen that the axis 22 of the eye 23 is aligned at a right angle to the shuttle 25, so that the loop 15 projects at a right angle relatively far over the shuttle 25 and thus can be well detected by the tip of the boat 17.

In recent years, the speeds at which shuttle embroidery machines operate have been steadily increased. Only a few years ago, 185 stitches per minute for large machines and 250 stitches per minute for small machines were upper limits, so now more than 600 stitches per minute are being executed, and efforts are underway to increase the speed even further. High embroidery speeds place increased demands on the design of the embroidery machines as well as on the material of the needle thread and the shuttle thread. For these reasons, many design changes have been made in embroidery machines, which had the particular purpose of reducing the moving masses. With regard to the shuttle thread and the needle thread, however, the owners of shuttle embroidery machines want to be able to continue to work with a wide range of previous materials as far as possible. However, it has now been shown that in fast-running machines, especially when using thin cotton yarns, increased yarn breaks occur. This compromised the benefits of high-speed machines.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a Schiffchenstickmaschine- or quilting machine, which allows to process relatively little tear-resistant yarns without the risk of many thread breaks even at high speeds.

According to the invention, this is achieved by aligning the axis of the eye of the needle at an acute angle to the advancing direction of the shuttle on the shuttle track in a boat embroidery machine or quilting machine of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph.

In order to investigate the causes of yarn breaks, high-speed camera images were taken and meticulously examined. It has been found that as the shuttle passes through the loop of the needle thread, the loop is pulled forward ( Fig. 2 ). This creates a kink in the needle thread. It is believed that this weakened the needle thread and therefore it may be easier to break ends. By the inventive Positioning of the eye at an acute angle to the forward direction of movement of the shuttle on the shuttle track buckling is avoided. On the other hand, this oblique position causes the loop formed during the stitching process to protrude less far beyond the shuttle track and thus could run the risk of being deflected by the shuttle. Boat tip is not detected. It has long been known that boats have the tendency to lift something from the shuttle. To avoid this, therefore, measures must be taken, as for example in the US 3,104,635 be proposed, where a lifting of the shuttle is prevented by the shuttle track by a leaf spring. However, such measures are associated with effort and costs. However, it has been shown that in machines with a crank drive of the boat according to the European patent application 04 405 732.1 the boats are no longer lifted off the shuttle at high speeds and thus can also grasp the loop of the thread, if it does not protrude as far as usual on the shuttle because of the inclination of the eye.

Experiments have shown that the angle α of the inclination of the axis of the eye to the advancing direction of the shuttle can be about 55 to 70 degrees, preferably 60 degrees.

Expediently, the needle has means by which the inclination of the axis of the eye to the shuttle track is determined when attaching the needle to the needle ruler or to the needle ram.

Conveniently, the means by which the inclination of the axis of the eye to the ship's path is determined when attaching the needle to the needle ruler or the needle ram, formed by a surface on the needle shaft and the fastening means for the needle are provided with a corresponding contact surface. When clamping the needle, therefore, the needle eye is inevitably brought into the correct inclination to the shuttle.

The invention also relates to a needle which is characterized in that it comprises means by which the inclination of the axis of the eye is determined at an acute angle to the advancing direction of the shuttle on the shuttle in fixing the needle to the needle ruler or to the ram. This angle is about 55 to 70 degrees, preferably 60 degrees.

Fig. 1

die Ausrichtung der Nadel zur Schiffchenbahn beim Stand der Technik und das Schiffchen beim Erfassen der gebildeten Fadenschlaufe,

Fig. 2

das Schiffchen beim Durchgang durch die Fadenschlaufe, wobei diese ausgeweitet wird,

Fig. 3

einen vergrösserten Ausschnitt von Figur 2,

Fig. 4

das Schiffchen beim Durchgang durch die Fadenschlaufe bei einer Anordnung der Schiffchenbahn gemäss System Plauen,

Fig. 5

einen vergrösserten Abschnitt von Figur 4, wobei die Ausrichtung der Achse des Öhrs in einem spitzen Winkel zur Vorwärtsbewegungsrichtung des Schiffchens auf der Schiffchenbahn gemäss der Erfindung ersichtlich ist,

Fig. 6

die Anordnung der Schiffchenbahn gemäss System Saurer,

Fig. 7

die Ausbildung der Nadel für das System Saurer,

Fig. 8

eine perspektivische Darstellung einer Sticknadel,

Fig. 9

eine Ansicht der Nadel von Figur 8,

Fig. 10

ein Schnitt durch die Nadel von Figur 9 entlang der Linie IX - IX,

Fig. 11

die Befestigung der Nadel auf einem Nadlestössel,

Fig. 12

Die Befestigung der Nadel auf einem Nadellineal.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. It shows:

Fig. 1

the orientation of the needle to the shuttle in the prior art and the shuttle in detecting the formed loop of thread,

Fig. 2

the shuttle as it passes through the loop of the thread, widening it,

Fig. 3

an enlarged section of FIG. 2 .

Fig. 4

the shuttle when passing through the thread loop in an arrangement of the shuttle line according to the Plauen system,

Fig. 5

an enlarged section of FIG. 4 wherein the orientation of the axis of the eye is at an acute angle to the advancing direction of the shuttle on the shuttle according to the invention,

Fig. 6

the arrangement of the shuttle according to the Saurer system,

Fig. 7

the training of the needle for the system Saurer,

Fig. 8

a perspective view of an embroidery needle,

Fig. 9

a view of the needle from FIG. 8 .

Fig. 10

a cut through the needle of FIG. 9 along the line IX - IX,

Fig. 11

the attachment of the needle on a Nadlestössel,

Fig. 12

The attachment of the needle on a needle ruler.

Shuttle embroidery machines and quilting machines have on a Schiffchenbahn forward and backward movable shuttle, embroidery needles with an eye for the needle thread, one or more reciprocating needle rulers or a variety of needle tines for receiving the needles. In this case, fastening means for fastening the needles on the needle ruler or the needle rams serve the special orientation of the axis of the eye with respect to the shuttle track.

The invention consists essentially in a different arrangement than previously used for the needle on the shuttle embroidery or quilting machine. Embodiments of the invention are described below using the example of a shuttle embroidery machine with a shuttle arrangement according to the Saurer system and the Plauen system.

The FIGS. 4 and 5 show the needle 11 with the needle thread 13 at a time after the passage of the needle through the fabric to be embroidered when the shuttle 17 slips through the loop 15 of the needle thread 13. In contrast to the known prior art, the axis 22 of the eyelet 23 is aligned at an acute angle α to the forward movement direction 19 of the ship's craft 17 on the shuttle 25.

As the FIGS. 8 to 10 11, the needle 11 has a round shaft 27 with a surface 29 which serves to secure the needle 11 to the needle ruler 31 (FIG. Fig. 12 ) or the needle pusher 33 (FIG. Fig. 11 ) determine the inclination of the axis 22 at an acute angle α to the forward direction 19 of the shuttle 17 ( Fig. 5 ). This angle α is about 55 to 70 degrees, preferably 60 degrees. Accordingly, the angle β of the axis 22 to the horizontal surface 29 is about 35 to 50 degrees.

The FIGS. 6 and 7 , which relate to the arrangement of the shuttle 25 and the needle 11 in the system Saurer, show the corresponding conditions in this system, which is a mirror image arrangement of the system FIGS. 4 and 5 represents. Thus, the needle differs from FIG. 7 from that of the FIG. 5 by the mirror-image arrangement of the axis 22nd

The needle 11 is in the FIGS. 8 to 10 shown in details. It differs from the known embodiments according to the prior art only by the other arrangement of the axis 22 of the eye 23, so that unnecessary detailed explanations.

The FIGS. 11 and 12 show the usual attachment means for the needle on the needle ram or the needle ruler. The fastened with screws 35 terminals 37, 37 'have a horizontal contact surface 39 which cooperates with the surface 29 on the needle shaft 27, so that the axis 22 of the eye 23 is held in the desired position.

Various changes are possible without departing from the spirit. For example, the attachment means could have a vertical abutment surface, in which case also the surface 29 of the needle would have to be displaced by 90 degrees to the described embodiment.

• Die Schiffchenstick- oder Steppmaschine arbeitet mit Nadeln 11, bei welchen die Achse 22 des Öhrs 23 in einem spitzen Winkel α zur Vorwärtsbewegungsrichtung 19 des Schiffchens 17 auf der Schiffchenbahn 25 angeordnet ist. Die Achse 22 verläuft daher nahezu in der gleichen Richtung wie der Nadelfaden 13, wenn das Schiffchen 17 durch die Schlaufe 15 schlüpft und diese ausweitet. Der Nadelfaden wird dabei schonender behandelt, so dass bei schnelllaufenden Maschinen Fadenbrüche reduziert werden. Die Nadel 11 weist am Schaft 27 eine Fläche 29 auf, durch welche das Öhr 23 beim Einspannen zwangsläufig in die richtige Winkelstellung zur Schiffchenbahn 25 gebracht wird.

In summary, the following can be stated:

• The Schiffchenstick- or quilting machine works with needles 11, wherein the axis 22 of the eye 23 is arranged at an acute angle α to Vorwärtsbewegungsrichtung 19 of the shuttle 17 on the shuttle 25. The axis 22 therefore runs in almost the same direction as the needle thread 13 when the boat 17 slips through the loop 15 and expands it. The needle thread is treated more gently so that thread breakages are reduced in high-speed machines. The needle 11 has on the shaft 27 on a surface 29, through which the eye 23 is brought during clamping inevitably in the correct angular position to the shuttle 25.

Claims (8)

1. An shuttle embroidery machine or quilting machine with shuttles (17) which may be moved forwards and rearwards on shuttle races (25), with needles (11) with an eye (23) for the needle thread (13), with a needle arm (31) or needle plunger (33), which may be moved to and fro, and with fastening means (35, 37) for fastening the needles (11) on the needle arms (31) or the needle plungers (33) in a certain alignment of the axis (22) of the eye (23) with respect to the shuttle race (25), characterised in that the axis (22) of the eye (23) of the needle (11) is aligned at an acute angle α to the forwards movement direction (19) of the shuttle (17) on the shuttle race (25).
2. An shuttle embroidery machine or quilting machine according to claim 1, characterised in that the angle α is about 55 to 70 degrees, preferably 60 degrees.
3. An shuttle embroidery machine or quilting machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the needle (11) comprises means (29) by way of which, the inclination of the axis (22) of the eye (23) to the shuttle race (25) is fixed when fastening the needle (11) on the needle arm (31) or on the needle plunger (33).
4. An shuttle embroidery machine or quilting machine according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the means (29) by way of which the inclination of the axis (22) of the eye (23) to the shuttle race (25) is fixed on fastening the needle (11) on the needle arm (31) or on the needle plunger (33), are formed by a surface (29) on the needle shaft (27), and that the fastening means (37, 37') comprise a corresponding contact surface (39).
5. A needle with an eye, for an shuttle embroidery machine or quilting machine, characterised in that it comprises means (29) by way of which the axis (22) of the eye (23) is fixed at an acute angle α to the forwards direction of the shuttle on the shuttle race (25), when fastening the needle (11) on the needle arm (31) or on the needle plunger (33).
6. A needle according to claim 5, characterised in that the angle α is about 55 to 70 degrees, preferably 60 degrees.
7. A needle according to claim 5 to 6, characterised in that the means (29) by way of which the inclination of the axis (22) of the eye (23) to the shuttle race (25) is fixed when fastening the needle (11) on the needle arm (31) or on the needle plunger (33), are formed by a surface (29) on the needle shaft (27).
8. A needle according to claim 7, characterised in that the axis (22) of the eye (22) is arranged at an angle β of 30 to 50 degrees, preferably 45 degrees, to the surface (29) of the needle shaft (27).

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