JP2002035462A - Sewing machine with automatic change of sewing string color - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a partial color change of a string at a position extremely close to a string seaming position formed on cloth by coloring an upper string 3 immediately before it is sewn for embroidery. SOLUTION: A main body 36 having an ink-jet head 32 is fixed at the lower end of a holding rod 2 of an embroidering sewing machine through a fixing adapter 31. At the top of the main body 36, there is a vertically bored-through needle hole 36a which a sewing needle 6 and an upper string 3 go through. On the side face of the needle hole 36a, ink-jetting nozzles 37a of an ink-jet head 32 are lined vertically. When a balance reaches at the top position of the main axis position of about 30 deg., an ink is jetted out to color the upper string 3, which is about vertical at that time, while the string is going from a seam crossing point on the cloth and a diamond-shaped guide-needle hole 36g of a cloth holding face 36i to a needle hole 6a of the sewing needle 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sewing machine (embroidery sewing machine) that partially changes the color of a needle thread and forms a stitch pattern with the color-changed needle thread. The present invention relates to a configuration of an embroidery sewing machine provided with a device for coloring (including dyeing) an upper thread.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to change the color of a sewing thread in a sewing machine, it has been necessary to replace a thread previously wound on a thread spool in order to change the thread itself to another color. At this time, the running machine is stopped each time, the upper thread is removed, the thread is replaced with a desired thread spool, and a predetermined threading and threading operation determined by the sewing machine is performed. Particularly in the case of an embroidery sewing machine, the color needs to be frequently changed, and the operation of changing the thread is troublesome and time-consuming. Various proposals have been made to simplify this thread hooking operation. Among them, there is a concept of performing sewing while dyeing a sewing thread (upper thread) of a sewing machine. In the old days, a "sewing thread color automatic conversion device in a sewing machine" disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 46-016545 uses a dyeing instruction data. A system is disclosed in which a plurality of dyeing machines are operated by electromagnetic operation from a piece to a needle hole, and sewing is performed while dyeing white yarn.

[0003] In recent years, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-304359,
As shown in JP-B-5-25519, JP-B3-68718, etc., a color changing means for dyeing one upper thread into various colors is provided, and the upper thread is dyed by the color changing means. An embroidery sewing machine in which an upper thread is supplied to a seam forming means has been proposed.

[0004] The applicant has also disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-137.
No. 096, "Electronic sewing machine" proposes that an ink jet method is used to spray a liquid coloring liquid such as a coloring material (hereinafter simply referred to as ink) to dye a desired length of a sewing thread. In addition, regardless of dyeing, as shown in JP-A-5-179560, a plurality of upper threads having different colors are automatically cut and connected to form one upper thread, and then the upper thread is formed. Is supplied to the seam forming means to perform embroidery sewing.

[0005]

However, the above prior arts have the following problems. In any of the above-mentioned proposals, since the color changing means is provided at a stage before the yarn is supplied to the sewing machine including the thread tensioner, the balance, the needle bar and the like which are the seam forming means, the color change portion is provided with the thread tension. Even if it was just before the vessel, there was a shift of 30 to 40 cm to the actual seam formation position. Therefore, there is a need for a processing function of winding and removing an extra thread in order to process the extra thread, and consuming the thread as a lower stitch irrespective of a pattern to be sewn.

Further, an accurate thread consumption predicting function has been proposed as a thread tensioner, which employs an upper thread pay-out system using a roller or the like without using a thread tension tray. Even with such an automatic thread tension sewing machine, the actual problem is that the sewing thread or cloth is an uncertain factor and changes in elasticity, thickness, thickness, etc. The thread tension pressure applied to the thread must be appropriately changed depending on the elasticity of the material, and the amount of thread consumed by feeding the upper thread is set by, for example, collecting data by trial sewing.

When a dyeing means which requires post-processing such as coloring, washing and drying is provided, the position where the color is changed in the upper thread path is further away from the stitch forming position. This distance depends on the dyeing capacity of the device, but in order to correspond to the sewing capacity, a deviation of at least several tens of centimeters is expected, and it is not possible to accurately predict this and change the color at the desired pattern position It was quite difficult. When a sewing thread is dyed, physical properties such as a friction coefficient of the thread are different before and after the dyeing, or depending on a colored color, and a problem such as a change in thread condition has been a concern.

Further, in order to minimize the correction amount (corresponding to the distance between the dyeing position and the seam forming position) in the above-described dyeing method, the color change position, that is, the dyeing position is assumed to be close to the seam forming mechanism. Since the upper thread remains wet with the ink and the ink easily adheres to the components of the stitch forming mechanism, there has been a problem that the life of the apparatus is shortened or the color mixing at the border of color change is adversely affected.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and post-processing such as coloring, washing, and drying is separately performed after sewing, and the sewing machine is determined from the entanglement point of the seam. By changing the color (coloring) of the upper thread at a position very close to the cloth up to the eye hole of the sewing needle, there is no excess thread generated at the transition of the color of the upper thread, and the thread of the sewing mechanism Prevents the wet parts of the thread caused by the coloring from touching the mechanical parts such as the tensioner, the balance, and the shuttle, thereby reducing the durability of the machine, changing the thread tension pressure due to the change in the physical properties of the thread, and forming the upper thread loop. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic color conversion sewing machine that does not cause a large amount of color mixture due to defective sewing and color change.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic color conversion sewing machine according to the first aspect of the present invention.
A stitch forming means for reciprocating a needle bar equipped with a sewing needle with respect to a material to be sewn to form a required seam with a sewing thread in cooperation with a louver or a shuttle, a cloth feed mechanism, and a predetermined sewing pattern can be sewn. A sewing pattern instruction control means for instructing, a sewing thread coloring means for partially changing the upper thread of the sewing thread, and a color change instruction control means for the sewing thread coloring means. The sewing thread coloring means is arranged toward the upper thread which is substantially upright between the upper surface of the cloth and the approximate needle point at the uppermost position of the sewing needle, and the sewing thread coloring means is operated by a command from the color change instruction control means to perform sewing. The upper thread is colored from the vicinity of the knot of the thread formed on the material to the length required for the next seam to be formed next.

The invention described in claim 2 is the first invention.
In the sewing thread color automatic conversion sewing machine described in the above, the printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means is formed with a needle hole through which the sewing needle and the sewing thread are inserted, and prevents the cloth from floating on the lower surface, and performs cloth feeding. It has a presser foot that enables it.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the sewing machine according to the second aspect, the printing timing of the sewing thread coloring means is such that the position of the sewing needle is shorter than the position of the cloth presser. It is a high position, and the thread tightening member of the sewing machine is located within a range of the upper axis phase which is a position near the uppermost position.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the sewing machine according to any one of the first to third aspects, the printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means is detachable from a presser bar of the sewing machine. It is fixed to.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the sewing machine according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the means for positioning the thread to be colored in the sewing thread coloring means includes a needle for a cloth presser. Holes and eye holes for sewing needles.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the sewing machine according to the fifth aspect, the means for positioning the thread to be colored in the sewing thread coloring means is formed at the lower end of the cloth presser. The needle holes are formed in a substantially rhombic shape in which the yarn to be colored is gathered in the direction of ink-jet ejection by cloth feeding.

The invention described in claim 7 is the first invention.
7. The sewing machine according to claim 6, wherein said sewing thread coloring means includes a thread rotating means.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the sewing machine according to the seventh aspect, the thread rotating means is a needle bar rotating means.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the sewing machine according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, the sewing needle or the needle bar is provided with a printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means. The sewing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising a cleaning member for covering or wiping the sewing thread. Is provided with a collecting means for adsorbing and collecting the ink after ejection.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embroidery sewing machine main body according to the present embodiment;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sewing unit provided with a coloring unit 30 as a sewing thread coloring means. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the embroidery apparatus 16, FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the embroidery apparatus 16, and FIG. Enlarged side view, partially cutaway of the printing section,
FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway plan view of the printing unit, and FIG. 7 is a front view of an ink ejection surface in the printing unit.

An embroidery operation and a thread coloring operation are performed under the control of a control device 25 (see FIG. 9), which will be described later, including a microcomputer built in the sewing machine according to the present invention.

An embroidery sewing machine to which the present invention is applied has a conventionally known structure. A coloring unit 29 as a sewing thread coloring means according to the present invention, which will be described in detail later, will be described with reference to FIGS. The overall configuration of the provided embroidery sewing machine will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a free arm portion 1a is formed at the left end of the bet portion of the machine frame 1, and the embroidery device 16 shown in FIGS. Embroidery table 20
An embroidery frame 18 for supporting the sewing material 17 can be detachably mounted. An X-direction stepping motor 115 for driving the embroidery table 20 in the X direction and a Y-direction stepping motor 116 for driving the embroidery table 20 in the Y direction are provided in the main body frame 19 of the embroidery device 16. The main body frame 19 of the device 16 is provided with a connector 22 for receiving drive signals for driving these stepping motors 115 and 116 via a connector 21 on the sewing machine side.

A cloth retainer is usually attached to the lower end of a retainer rod 2 which is supported on the machine frame 1 of the main body of the sewing machine so as to be vertically movable, and is pressed downward by a retainer spring (not shown). The presser foot can be moved up and down to an ascending position and a descending position by manual operation and automatic control by motor drive by an arbitrary operation of an operator.

Usually, the feed dog 4 arranged opposite to the presser feeds the cloth in cooperation with the presser by vertical movement and forward and backward movement, and vertical movement and left and right movement. However, at the time of embroidery sewing driven by the embroidery frame 18, the feed dog 4 is selectively kept lower than the needle plate 8, and each time one stitch is sewn, the presser bar 2 is moved by the automatic presser lifting mechanism 7 of the sewing machine. 5 moves up and down in synchronization with the up and down movement of 5, and holds and releases the cloth.

A sewing needle 6 is attached to the lower end of the needle bar 5 by a needle holder 5a and moves up and down, and cooperates with a shuttle (not shown) provided below the needle plate 8 to attach the lower thread and the sewing needle 6 in the shuttle. A stitch is formed on the material 17 to be sewn by the inserted upper thread 3. Needle plate 8
Is formed with a feed hole (not shown) for receiving the cloth (not shown) on its upper surface and allowing the feed dog 4 to enter and exit vertically and a needle hole of a needle plate 8 through which the sewing needle 6 is inserted.

The head of the machine frame 1 is provided with a start / stop switch 12 for instructing start and stop of a sewing operation, and a pillar 13 is provided with a ROM storing sewing data for sewing an embroidery pattern. Connect the card 54 to the internal card connector 5
5 is formed with a card slot. Then, the control device 25 (see FIG. 8), which will be described later, cooperates the driving of the two stepping motors 115 and 116 for moving the embroidery frame 18 and the vertical movement of the needle bar 5 in accordance with the sewing data, thereby forming the embroidery frame Material 17 stretched over
, Various embroidery patterns are formed. The figure of the colored part of this embroidery pattern is always made into a figure composed of front and back or diagonal feed. I do.

Next, the configuration of the sewing thread coloring means according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 5 to 7. The coloring unit 29 as the sewing thread coloring means includes a printing unit 30 and an ink supply / recovery device 33. In the present embodiment, the printing unit 30 is replaced with a cloth presser normally used at the lower end of the presser bar 2. Attached.

[0027] As shown in FIG.
3 is a slot 41 for setting the ink cassette 40
And a collection tank 51 and an air compressor 42 for flowing an air flow through the collection tube 39 and collecting excess ink in the collection tank 51. The power supply of the compressor 42 is connected to the connector 23 on the sewing machine side by the connector 24. Is done. Similarly, the electric wiring from the ink jet head 32 described later is also connected to the ink supply tube 3.
8 or connected along the collection tube 39 to the sewing machine main body via a connection terminal provided at the lower end of the ink collection and collection device 33.

An ink slot 4 for mounting a four-color ink cassette 40 of black, magenta, yellow, and cyan.
1 is formed in the ink supply / recovery device 33, and the ink supply / recovery device 33 sets a cheese winding upper thread (a cheese winding type having a larger amount of yarn is used because a large amount of the same color upper thread is used). May also be used as a thread stand. The tubes 38 and 39 and the wiring for driving the ink jet 32 are collectively fixed once to a stop provided at the rear of the sewing machine, and are connected to the ink supply / recovery device 33, respectively. The power is supplied by connecting the leading end connector 24 of the wiring connected to the connection terminal of the ink supply / recovery device 33 to the connector 23 on the sewing machine main body side.

Next, the configuration of the printing unit 30 is shown in FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 (b), 6 and 7. In the present embodiment, the printing unit 30 in the coloring unit 29 is used.
Is fixed to the lower end of the presser bar 2 with a tightening screw 9 as a substitute for the cloth presser, and is configured to be detachable.

As shown in FIG. 5 (a) and the like, the printing portion 30 is attached to the holding rod 2, a main body 36 made of synthetic resin, and is attached to the main body 36 so as to be exchangeable (detachable). And an ink jet head 32 to be used.

The mounting body 31 has an upper mounting groove 31b having the same cross-sectional shape as the D-shaped cross-section at the lower end of the presser bar 2, and a U-shaped notch opening in the D-shaped flat surface. The part is provided upward. At the lower end of the attachment body 31, there is provided a flange portion 31a provided with a concave portion for fitting the upper surface of the main body 36. The main body 36 is fixed to the mounting body 31 by screws 26 from the rear as shown in FIG. 5A. Body 3
6 is formed on its lower surface side with a recess for holding the substantially rectangular parallelepiped inkjet head 32 from above and fixing it by means (not shown). Presser foot surface 36 equivalent to the presser foot of
i. The front portion of the main body 36 is provided with a needle hole 36e vertically inserted from the upper end thereof to the cloth pressing surface 36i. The needle hole 36e is attached to the rear part of the lower surface recess of the main body 36 in the middle of the needle hole 36e. It has an opening formed on the front end surface of the inkjet head 32 so that a large number of upper and lower ejection nozzles 37a can face.

On the left and right sides of the main body 36, comb-shaped ink chamber portions 34a to 34 in the ink jet head 32 are supplied with inks of respective colors from the ink supply tubes 38 connected to the ink cassette 40 in the ink supply and recovery device 33.
d (see FIG. 6) are provided with four ink receiving ports 36a to 36d (two on each side) (see FIG. 7).

The ink-jet head 32 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped sheet 37 forming discharge nozzles 37a vertically arranged in a line at the front surface, and a comb-toothed shape formed by a number of slits from the center to the right in the rectangular electrostrictive element block. Ink chamber 34
a to 34d, and an ink distribution sheet 35 or the like disposed on the right side of the ink chamber so as to close the comb-shaped opening, and the surface of an electrostrictive element block such as a piezo element in the inkjet head 32. Have ink chambers 34a-3
Electrodes for ejecting droplets by enlarging and contracting 4d are printed at predetermined positions, and the coloring control device on the sewing machine main body controls which color is ejected and how much color is ejected in synchronization with the sewing machine driving timing. .

That is, the sheet 37 provided with the discharge nozzles 37a is a substantially rectangular synthetic resin flat plate, and is adhered to the front side (needle side) of the substantially rectangular parallelepiped electrostrictive element block portion, and the ink Small holes connected to the chambers 34a to 34d are formed so as to penetrate and correspond to the positions of the ink chambers 34a to 34d, and serve as ejection nozzles 37a. Approximately the right half of the substantially rectangular parallelepiped electrostrictive element block has a slit-shaped ink chamber 34.
a to 34d penetrate in a comb shape from the front to the rear. A sheet-shaped, substantially rectangular synthetic resin ink distribution sheet 35 is adhered to and adhered to the right opening side of the ink chambers 34a to 34d. The ink distribution sheet 35 includes a group of ink chambers 34a of the same color row and the ink receiving port 3.
6a and a group of ink chambers 34b of the same color and ink receiving port 3
Each row of small holes (not shown) connecting 6b is opened in two rows. The remaining two color ink chambers 34c, 34d are connected to the left and right ink receiving ports 36c, 36d by connecting grooves 34x, 34d formed in the front and rear surfaces of the substantially rectangular parallelepiped electrostrictive element block.
34y.

The four color ink chambers 34a to 34d are arranged vertically in a predetermined arrangement of four colors of black, magenta, yellow and cyan. (See FIG. 6) Inkjet head 3
2 are substantially parallel to the sewing thread 3 (upper thread) from the intertwining point of the seam of the cloth to the eye of the sewing needle, are aligned slightly apart, and are ejected toward the upper thread 3. It is arranged so that it can drip.

The needle hole 36e in the main body 36 is a tapered hole having different diameters at the top and bottom, and is wide at the top. The needle hole 36e forms a D-shape in a cross section perpendicular to the hole with the plate surface of the sheet 37 of the ink jet head 32 where the ejection nozzles 37b are formed, and moves back and forth at the lower end of the cloth pressing surface 36i (parallel to the ink ejection direction). ) Is formed in a long diamond-shaped guide needle hole 36g. Due to the guide needle hole 36g, the thread tightening member (balance, not shown) of the sewing machine becomes near the uppermost position during the embroidery sewing, and the upper thread 3 is all pulled out from the knot (entanglement point) between the upper thread and the lower thread. The upper thread 3 (the thread to be colored), which is substantially upright between the sewing needle 5 at the ascending position and the corner of the guide needle hole 36g close to the front surface of the ink jet head 32, is moved by the discharge nozzle Positioning can be performed so as to substantially coincide with the upper and lower straight lines of 37a. Accordingly, the guide needle hole 36g having a diamond shape in plan view constitutes the positioning means in the present invention.

A vertically long groove-shaped ink reservoir 36h is formed on the side surface of the needle hole 36e opposite to the vertically arranged ejection nozzles 37a, and a felt or sponge is formed so as to fill the ink reservoir 36h. The ink suction member 52 is stored. A through hole is formed from the lower portion of the ink reservoir 36h toward the outside, and an ink outlet 36f is formed. A collection tube 39 is connected to the ink discharge port 36f, and is sucked and discharged by an air flow from an air source (compressor) 42 provided in the ink supply / collection device 33, and collected in a collection tank 51 provided in the ink supply / collection device 33. It is configured to be.

Next, the needle bar rotating means as the thread rotating means will be described with reference to FIG. The yarn rotating means according to the present invention means that ink for coloring is ejected from the upper and lower rows of ejection nozzles 37a of the ink jet head 32 as the yarn coloring means onto the substantially upright upper thread 3 (colored thread). Means for rotating the upper thread 3 about its upper and lower axes during the coloring operation so that the ink spreads over the entire outer periphery of the upper thread 3, in other words, so that only one side of the upper thread 3 is not colored. It is.

The needle bar rotating means in this embodiment is shown in FIG.
, From a balance crank 101 fixed to the left end of the well-known main shaft 100, through a needle bar crank 102, a needle bar crank rod 103, and a needle bar holder 105.
It moves up and down with the rotation of 0. Needle bar 5 in the device of the present application
Is provided with a needle bar 5a for detachably fixing a sewing needle 6 at a lower end thereof, and a needle bar gear portion 5b for forming a spur gear portion at an upper end.

The needle bar holder 105 is, as shown in FIG.
A bifurcated needle bar hugging 105a provided on a horizontally extending shaft attached to the tip of the needle bar crank rod 103, and a laterally cylindrical needle bar hugging both ends rotatably supported by the needle bar hugging 105a. 105b, a cylindrical needle bar holder 105b is inserted in the vicinity of the center of the needle bar 5 so as to be rotatable crosswise in a direction perpendicular to the axis, and a pair of set collars is further sandwiched between the needle bar holder 105b. 106 is inserted. The set collar 106 vertically sandwiches an outer diameter portion formed at the tip of the needle bar holder 105a without play, and is fixed to the needle bar 5 with screws. And needle bar hugging 10
Both ends of 5b are inserted into the inner circular portion of the bifurcated tip of the needle bar holder 105a. With the above configuration, the needle bar 5 is rotatable by itself, and is driven up and down via the needle bar holder 105 by the rotation of the upper shaft regardless of the needle position due to the zigzag needle swinging motion. It is pivotable. The intermediate gear 1 is adjacent to and behind the needle bar gear portion 5b.
07 is a shaft 1 erected on the needle bar base 108 in parallel with the needle bar 5.
09 is rotatably supported. The intermediate gear 107 includes a needle bar gear portion 5b, a spur gear portion 107a that meshes with the needle bar in the entire range of the needle bar stroke, and a helical gear portion 10 at the lower end.
7b. An idle gear 110 is rotatably fitted to the support shaft 111 of the needle bar base 108 so as to be orthogonal to and adjacent to the left of the helical gear portion 107b. In addition, the spindle 1 of the needle bar base 108
Reference numeral 11 denotes one end rotatably supported by the machine frame, and the other end supports a needle bar base 108 by a pin 112 so as to be able to swing back and forth. Right below the idle gear 110, the machine frame 1
Gear 114 of the stepping motor 113 fixed to the
Is arranged, and by driving the stepping motor 113,
The needle bar 5 can be rotated via the idle gear 110 and the intermediate gear 107. With this configuration, when the stepping motor 113 is stopped, the spindle 11
The needle bar base 108 can freely swing about 1 as the swing center, and the needle bar 5 does not rotate.

Therefore, even in a zigzag sewing machine, the rotating operation of the needle bar 5 is generated by driving the stepping motor 113. In the automatic coloring sewing machine of the present invention, a straight line pattern is selected and a frame embroidery sewing is performed at a predetermined timing. By rotating the needle bar 5 to rotate the sewing thread (upper thread) 3 passed through the eye of the sewing needle 6, the outer periphery of the upper thread 3 can be uniformly colored.

In the present embodiment, in a zigzag sewing machine in which the needle bar 5 swings, the needle is driven via an idle gear 110 disposed on the swing center by the power of a stepping motor 113 fixed to the machine frame 1 side. Although the rod 5 is rotated, the intermediate gear 107 may be driven directly by the stepping motor 113 fixed to the machine frame 1 because the needle bar 5 does not swing in the linear sewing machine.

The tip of the needle bar 5 or the sewing needle 6 attached to the tip of the needle bar 5 has an ink in a shape that can be inserted from above into the needle hole 36e of the printing section 30 at the base of the needle stem. A cleaning member 50 using a resilient material such as silicon rubber having a durable characteristic is mounted on the cleaning member 50. When the presser bar 2 is at the raised position, the needle bar 5 is moved to a predetermined position near the raised position. At a time, the ink enters the needle hole 36e of the
In FIG. 2, the small holes of the discharge nozzle 37a are closed, or the small holes are slid in contact with the surface of the discharge nozzle 37a so that the ink attached to the surface can be wiped and cleaned.

Next, an outline of a control system of the sewing machine will be described. 1 and 9, the pattern selecting means includes an operation panel 10 fixed to the front surface of the machine frame 1 of the sewing machine, and selects a desired pattern by operating a push switch. 3 also serves as the color selection support means. The operation panel 10 is provided with a liquid crystal display, on which various messages, such as practical patterns and embroidery patterns, are displayed, along with various messages. An operation panel switch composed of a transparent electrode is provided for each of the display positions, and a selection key group 11x that can be selected by a pressing operation is provided. Color adjustment switch 11b, overall ink droplet ejection adjustment switch 11c for adjusting the degree of thread wetting or color shading, coloring length adjustment switch 11d, head cleaning drive switch 11
e (see FIG. 5).

A start / stop switch 12, a selection key group 11x on the operation panel, a coloring execution switch 11a which is a switch group relating to coloring, a color adjustment switch 11b for adjusting the discharge amount of each color, the degree of wetting of the thread or the shading of the color. And an ink drop ejection amount adjustment switch 11c, a coloring length adjustment switch 11d, a head cleaning drive switch 11e, and the like, and a needle upper position and a needle lower position which are provided close to the sewing machine main shaft rotated by the sewing machine motor 117. The timing signal generator 43 for generating various timing signals including
4 respectively.

The control device 25 comprises an input interface 44 connected to a CPU 46 of a microcomputer via a bus 45 such as a data bus, an output interface 49, a ROM 47, a RAM 48 and the like. In the ROM 47, a sewing machine motor 117, stepping motors 113, 115, 116, 118, 119,
Ink recovery compressor 42, inkjet head 3
2, a display control program for displaying on the display 10 in accordance with display data, a control program for displaying various warning messages on the display 10 when sewing an embroidery pattern, display data, and an embroidery ROM card 54. And a plurality of identification data similar to the identification data stored in each of them. R
The AM 48 is provided with a pointer, a counter, a buffer, and the like for temporarily storing the calculation result calculated by the CPU 46.

Next, the coloring effect on the upper thread 3 when embroidery sewing is performed by using the automatic color sewing sewing machine of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG. . It is assumed that the sewing material 17 is set on the embroidery frame 18 and set on the embroidery device 16. The upper thread 3 is a white thread that can be colored and is passed through the eye of the sewing needle 6 from a thread spool 14 as a supply source through a predetermined threading path. When the power of the sewing machine is turned on, the position of the embroidery frame 18 is initially set to a pattern sewing start position on condition that the presser bar 2 is at a predetermined raised position and the sewing needle 6 is at the raised position. If the predetermined condition is not satisfied, a warning is displayed on the display 10 which is an operation panel to set the condition,
Subsequently, a message indicating that the pattern is to be selected is displayed. When the operator operates the selection key group 11x to select a pattern, a display as to whether or not to execute coloring sewing is displayed depending on the selected sewing pattern. For example, the coloring execution switch 11a is pressed to select. Then, initial preparation for coloring is performed. As an initial preparation, the surplus ink recovery air compressor 42 is driven.

Next, the cloth presser position (printing portion 30) is detected by the height of the presser bar 2 and moves to the predetermined position when it is not at the predetermined position. While the sewing machine is stopped, the presser foot (printing portion 30) is at the head closing position described below, and is lowered to the upper surface of the needle plate 8. Next, the needle bar position is detected, and the sewing needle 6 is moved to the cleaning position (the cleaning member 50 attached to the needle bar 5 is moved to a predetermined position slightly lowered from the uppermost position of the needle bar. (The cleaning position is normally maintained at this position.)

Next, the presser bar 2 is moved to the cleaning position (raised to the closing position). Presser bar 2 (printing section 3
0) Repeat the rise and fall program several times,
Idling of the inkjet head 32 (a predetermined amount of ink /
The clogging of the nozzle is released by discharging for a predetermined time. The nozzles are cleaned by rubbing the surface of the ejection nozzle 37a of the ink jet head 32 with the flat surface of the cleaning member 50 by repeating the lowering and rising of the presser rod 2. However, when the ink jet head 32 is idled, the presser rod 2 descends. The sewing needle 6 is in the needle hole 3 of the printing unit 30
The timing is executed at a timing at which it is pulled upward from 6e.

Next, when the start / stop switch 12 is pressed, the needle bar 5 is driven, colored, and the embroidery frame is driven on condition that the vertical movement of the presser bar 2 is completed and the presser bar 2 is down. Preparatory stitching of a slight uncolored portion near the leading end of the upper thread is performed near the sewing pattern start position. Subsequently, the sewing of the embroidery pattern is started, but the sewing is advanced while the color is automatically colored without the necessity of replacing the upper thread 3. Even if there is a color change in the middle, the operation is completed and stopped continuously without interruption. The uncolored portion at the start and the mixed color portion at the time of color change are equivalent to one or two stitches, and color change with very few errors is performed. A control mechanism for displaying a warning or stopping the sewing machine by various sensors such as shortage of upper thread, shortage of lower thread, thread breakage, and insufficient ink during sewing is also provided, but will not be described in detail because it is out of the spirit of the present invention. .

Next, the timing at which the ink droplets of the coloring unit 29 are executed with respect to the operation of the main elements of the sewing machine to enable the above-described coloring will be described. FIG. 10 shows a balance (corresponding to a thread tightening member), a vertical movement of the needle bar 5, a rotation of the needle bar 5 (a twisting motion of the thread), an embroidery frame 18 (cloth feed),
This is a graph (timing chart) showing the ink ejection timing for each operation of the feed dog (cloth feed) with respect to 360 ° for one rotation of the upper axis. Hereinafter, all the angles described are rotation angles (phases) of the main shaft 100 with the uppermost position of the needle bar being 0 °. The balance has a main shaft 100 rotation angle of 28 °
It stops near the uppermost position in the range from to 105 °. The needle bar 5 draws a substantially sinusoidal trajectory by the crank motion accompanying the rotation of the main shaft 100, so that the eye 6 a of the sewing needle 6 reaches the upper surface of the needle plate 8 when the rotation angle of the main shaft 100 is around 115 °. Has become. The cloth feed is executed by driving either the feed dog 4 or the embroidery frame 18. The cloth feed by the embroidery frame 18 starts in the horizontal direction at a rotation angle of the main shaft 100 of about 345 °, and the cloth feed is started 75 times.
Finish near °. Depending on the type of sewing machine (for example, a half-turn hook sewing machine and a full-turn hook sewing machine), these operation curves may be different, but a substantially similar timing curve is drawn for a lockstitch sewing machine that forms a seam using a lower thread. .

Now, when the needle thread 3 is passed through the eye 6a of the needle of the sewing needle 6 and the needle bar 5 reciprocates from the uppermost position to the lowermost point and returns to the original position, one lower material is added to the material 17 to be sewn. A entanglement point with the yarn is formed.
Then, a seam is formed with the next confounding point. When this stitch is traced by the movement of the needle thread 3 from the uppermost position of the needle bar 5, the needle thread 3 is pulled out from under the cloth while the sewing needle 6 is descending and while the balance is rising, and the eye hole of the needle is opened. It is thread spool 1 in 6a
It flows backward to the 4th side and rises. The balance is about 30 ° spindle position
When the uppermost point is reached, the pin is stretched from the entanglement point of the seam on the cloth, and stands substantially vertically from the diamond-shaped guide needle hole 36g of the cloth pressing surface 36i to the eye hole 6a of the sewing needle 6. Since the cloth feeding is being executed, the cloth extends horizontally from the entanglement point of the previous seam to the mouth below the diamond-shaped guide needle hole 36g of the cloth pressing surface 36i from the entanglement point of the previous seam, and vertically reaches the eye hole 6a from there. . As described above, since the cloth feed of the sewing pattern portion is programmed so as to be sent back and forth or obliquely, the upper thread 3 is brought closer to the front or rear acute angle portion by the diamond shape of the guide needle hole 36g and positioned. Here, according to the instruction of the above-described coloring control program from the discharge nozzle 37a of the ink jet head 32 of the coloring unit 29 toward the upper thread 3, ink of an appropriate and appropriate thread length is sprayed toward the upper thread 3. . At this time, the needle bar 5 is rotated by the rotation of the stepping motor 113 for rotating the needle bar, and the thread passing through the eye 6a of the sewing needle 6 is twisted and colored all around the thread.
The needle bar 5 rotates forward during a main shaft phase of approximately 30 ° to 80 °, reversely rotates to 180 ° which is the needle bar lowest point phase, and returns to the original position.

The printing portion 31 which also functions as a cloth presser is usually provided with the needle plate 8 for feeding the material 17 in cooperation with the feed dog 4.
It is always pressed by the spring (not shown) toward the upper surface,
The vertical movement is repeated every time the feed dog 4 moves up and down across the sewing material 17. However, during embroidery stitching by driving the embroidery frame 18, the feed dog 4 is kept selectively lowered, and every time one stitch is sewn, the presser bar 2 moves up and down of the needle bar 5 by an automatic presser lifting mechanism (not shown) of the sewing machine. It moves up and down in time to hold or release the cloth. The cloth feed is executed until the main shaft phase reaches about 75 °.
Since the upper thread 3 is consumed during the cloth feeding, the upper thread in the needle hole 36e being colored is moving toward the cloth side. Therefore, the ink (droplets) sprayed from the discharge nozzles 37a of each color is moved up and down by the discharge nozzles 37a and the upper thread 3 by the cloth feed.
And the torsion rotation of the needle 6 causes the needle thread 3 to land on the upper thread 3 at random, so as to appropriately stain the fiber of the overlapping thread and to be colored in a desired color.

The cloth pressing surface 36i presses the cloth around the main shaft phase 90 ° before the sewing needle 6 pierces the material 17 to be sewn.
To prevent the cloth from getting into the needle hole 8a of the needle plate 8 when the cloth pierces the cloth. From the above, the coloring timing is about 30 °
And within 90 °.
In the embodiment, since the coloring period extends from the top of the needle plate 8 to 6 mm from the upper surface of the needle plate 8, the angle is set to 28 ° to 80 °. In such a setting, coloring from the second half of the stitch pitch from the intertwining point of the previous stitch to the next intertwining point or more can be performed for the next stitch.

The discharge method of the ink jet head 32 is a piezo method, and the discharge amount of the ink can be controlled very finely by controlling the current of the element, and it can be controlled for each ink chamber. The ink amount is controlled so that the ink amount does not adhere to the cloth pressing surface and does not greatly permeate the cloth of the sewing material 17. When the sewing needle 6 is further lowered and the eye hole 6e pierces the material 17 to be sewn, a part of the thread of the colored portion is pulled under the cloth while sliding in the eye hole 6a of the sewing needle 6, but the colored portion is stitch pitched. It is about a minute long and does not reach the blade point of the shuttle provided below the needle plate 8 and does not touch it. In addition, since the colored portion of the sewing needle 6 that has been dried is slipped inside the eye 6a, a small amount of ink may adhere to the sewing needle 6, but only a small amount of the non-colored portion of the thread is colored. It doesn't matter much as a whole.

When a small amount of ink attached to the outside of the sewing needle 6 penetrates the material 17 to be sewn, the small amount of ink is wiped off with the cloth of the material 17 to be sewn, and the eye 6a of the sewing needle 6 is uncolored at the thread. Always cleaned. When the sewing needle 6 reverses from the lowest point and moves upward, a loop is formed at the uncolored portion of the upper thread 3, and the hook of the shuttle hooks this loop. The shuttle rotates and winds the upper thread 3 around the lower thread bobbin. At this time, the colored portion of the upper thread 3 is only the next stitch of several mm below the cloth and does not contact the shuttle at all, which affects sewing. Never. When the sewing needle 6 further rises and comes out of the material 17 to be sewn, the main shaft phase is 270 °.
In the vicinity, the cloth holding surface 36i also starts to rise, and is in a state where the cloth can be fed. At around 300 °, the balance is inverted from the lowest point of the balance, and the upper thread 3 drawn into the shuttle is collected. At the next 30 °, all the thread amount excluding the consumed amount is collected. During this time, the upper thread 3 consumed for sewing is pulled out or manipulated through the thread tensioner.

The thread twisting movement by the needle bar rotating stepping motor 113 does not have to depend on the nature of the ink, but is proposed as a means for making coloring more uniform. This yarn rotating means corrects the needle bar 5 for each coloring operation.
This operation is performed by rotating in the reverse direction and returning to the original posture. At least at the timing when the hook point of the shuttle hooks the upper thread loop, the sewing needle 6 is returned to the normal posture and the upper thread loop is formed normally. The coloring while twisting the upper thread 3 may be performed in such a manner that when the discharge nozzles 37a are arranged in one direction and coloring is to be performed on the back side of the upper thread 3 as in the present embodiment in which the sewing space is prioritized. This has the effect of preventing the occurrence of.

[0058]

As is clear from the above description,
An automatic color conversion sewing machine according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a stitch forming means for forming a required stitch with a sewing thread in cooperation with a louver or a shuttle by reciprocating a needle bar equipped with a sewing needle with respect to a material to be sewn. A cloth feeding mechanism, a sewing pattern instruction control means for instructing a predetermined sewing pattern to be sewable, a sewing thread coloring means for partially changing the color of the upper thread of the sewing threads, and a color change instruction control for the sewing thread coloring means. Means, the printing portion in the sewing thread coloring means is disposed toward the upper thread substantially upright from the upper surface of the cloth to the approximate needle point at the uppermost position of the sewing needle, from the color change instruction control means The sewing thread coloring means is actuated in accordance with the instruction of (1) to color the upper thread from the vicinity of the knot of the thread formed on the material to be sewn to the thread length required for the next seam to be formed. .

According to this construction, in particular, the printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means is arranged toward the sewing thread which stands upright from the upper surface of the cloth to the approximate needle point at the uppermost position of the sewing needle, and is formed on the sewing material. From the vicinity of the knot of the thread, the sewing thread is colored by the stitch thread length of several stitches to be formed next. Therefore, since only the upper thread necessary for the stitch is colored and sewn and consumed, the method of coloring at a position far from the stitch is compared with the method of processing the surplus thread during color change (collecting and deleting And consumption as a sewing under the pattern). Further, since the colored upper thread does not touch the balance and the shuttle which are the components of the sewing machine, the life of the apparatus is not shortened. Further, since there is no influence of drying due to coloring at the time of forming the thread loop at the time of sewing, there is an excellent effect that the sewing conditions according to the data of the conventional sewing machine can be used.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the embroidery operation is interrupted and the multi-color embroidery which has been performed by the thread change is changed from the previous stitch to the required stitch for each stitch of one kind of white upper thread. By performing sewing while coloring only a portion, a remarkable effect that sewing can be completed without performing thread replacement work is achieved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means is provided with a needle hole through which the sewing needle and the sewing thread are inserted, and prevents the cloth from floating on the lower surface. Since it has the cloth presser which enables the cloth feed, in addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 1, a partial press at a position very close to the knot of the thread formed on the material to be sewn is provided. In addition to enabling color change, there is an effect that a space-saving design that does not hinder sewing space can be achieved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the sewing thread coloring means has the positioning means for the thread to be colored, and the printing timing is set near the uppermost position of the thread tightening member of the sewing machine. In addition to the effects of the invention described in claim 1 and claim 2, the colored yarn can be positioned in the cloth presser in a state where the upper thread is pulled out onto the cloth from the knot of the previous seam. In other words, it is possible to maintain a state in which the yarn is stretched upright just before the ejection nozzle row of the substantially ink jet, and it is possible to perform an accurate coloring.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means can be detachably fixed to the presser bar of the sewing machine in the same manner as a general cloth presser, and can be attached to the sewing attachment of the embroidery sewing machine. Since it is replaceable, in the case of non-colored embroidery, only the printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means can be easily removed, and maintenance such as removal and cleaning becomes easy.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the means for positioning the thread to be colored of the sewing thread coloring means is the needle hole of the presser foot and the eye of the sewing needle, and the thread to be colored is stable at the coloring timing. Since the positioning of the sewing material can be performed, a new positioning member is not required and space is saved. This has the effect that coloring can be performed.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the means for positioning the yarn to be colored is a needle hole formed at the lower end portion of the cloth presser, and the needle hole is moved in the ink-jet discharge direction by the cloth feed. Since it is formed in a substantially rhombic shape that collects colored threads, it is possible to accurately position the upper thread in the ink jet discharge direction at the timing of coloring, and it is possible to perform reliable and accurate coloring and waste ink. The effect which can prevent is produced.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the thread can be rotated in one ink discharge direction of the sewing thread coloring means, and uniform coloring can be performed. In addition, there is no need to move the ink ejection direction or to provide a plurality of ink ejection locations around the outer periphery of the upper thread. This has a remarkable effect that the printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means can be made compact.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the thread rotating means can be achieved by rotating the needle bar of the sewing machine. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the seventh aspect of the present invention, the sewing thread is colored. There is an effect that the structure of the printing part of the means can be extremely simplified.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the sewing needle or the needle bar is provided with a cleaning member for covering or wiping the printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means. When the bar is at the raised position, at a predetermined position near the raised position, the cleaning member enters the needle hole of the printing unit to seal off the ink ejection portion,
Or, as a result of sliding on the surface with the discharge part and wiping and cleaning the ink attached to that surface, when the color embroidery work is temporarily suspended, the ink discharge part dries,
This has the effect of reliably preventing inconveniences such as defective ink droplets when the work is resumed. Also, there is an effect that the inkjet head can be cleaned using the vertical movement of the presser bar.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the sewing machine according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, the printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means includes:
Since it is equipped with a collecting means for sucking and collecting the ink after ejection, it is ensured that excess ink ejected to color the upper thread adheres to the surface of the sewing material and becomes dirty. This has the effect of being able to be eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a sewing machine main body capable of performing embroidery sewing.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where the printing unit of the embodiment is mounted on a sewing machine.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the embroidery device 16;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the embroidery device 16;

FIG. 5A is a partially cut-away enlarged side view of a printing portion of the present embodiment, and FIG. 5B is a bottom view showing a cloth presser.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view taken along line VII-VII VI-VI of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8A is a perspective view of the configuration of a needle bar mechanism of an embroidery sewing machine according to the present invention, and FIG. 8B is an exploded perspective view of parts of a needle bar holder.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of a control device.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart illustrating coloring timing for mechanical elements of the embroidery sewing machine according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Pressing bar 3 Sewing thread (upper thread) 5 Needle bar 6 Sewing needle 8 Needle plate 29 Sewing thread coloring means 30 Printing part 31 Attachment body 32 Inkjet head 36 Main body 36e Needle hole 36g Diamond guide needle hole as positioning means 36i Cloth press Surface 37a Ink ejection nozzle 50 Cleaning member

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3B150 AA15 CB04 CC07 CD01 CE02 CE09 CE23 CE25 CE27 DB03 FB00 GG04 JA02 JA07 LA29 LA50 LA57 LA59 LA73 LA90 LB01 NA28 NA46 NA53 NA55 NA77 NA80 NB09 NB14 NB18 NC06 QA04 QA06

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A stitch forming means for reciprocating a needle bar equipped with a sewing needle with respect to a material to be sewn to form a required seam with a sewing thread in cooperation with a louver or a shuttle, a cloth feeding mechanism, and a predetermined sewing operation. Sewing pattern instruction control means for instructing a pattern to be sewable; sewing thread coloring means for partially changing the upper thread of the sewing thread; and color change instruction control means for the sewing thread coloring means. Is arranged toward the upper thread substantially upright between the upper surface of the cloth and the approximate needle point at the uppermost position of the sewing needle, and operates the sewing thread coloring means according to a command from the color change instruction control means. An automatic sewing thread color conversion sewing machine characterized in that the upper thread is colored from the vicinity of the knot of the thread formed on the material to be sewn to the length required for the next seam to be formed next. 2. The printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means is provided with a needle hole through which the sewing needle and the sewing thread are inserted, and a cloth presser which prevents the cloth from floating on the lower surface and enables the cloth feed. The sewing color automatic conversion sewing machine according to claim 1, wherein the sewing machine has a sewing thread. 3. The printing timing by the sewing thread coloring means is such that the position of the sewing needle is higher than the position of the presser foot and the upper shaft phase where the thread tightening member of the sewing machine is located near the uppermost position. The sewing machine according to claim 2, wherein the sewing color is within the range of (1). 4. The automatic color conversion of a sewing thread according to claim 1, wherein the printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means is detachably fixed to a presser bar of a sewing machine. sewing machine. 5. The sewing thread according to claim 2, wherein the means for positioning the thread to be colored in the sewing thread coloring means is a needle hole of a presser foot and an eye hole of a sewing needle. Automatic color conversion sewing machine. 6. The means for positioning the thread to be colored in the sewing thread coloring means is a needle hole formed at the lower end of the presser foot, and the needle hole collects the thread to be colored in the ink jet discharge direction by feeding the cloth. The sewing machine according to claim 5, wherein the sewing machine is formed in a substantially diamond shape. 7. The sewing color automatic conversion sewing machine according to claim 1, wherein said sewing thread coloring means includes a thread rotating means. 8. The sewing machine according to claim 7, wherein said thread rotating means is a needle bar rotating means. 9. The sewing needle or the needle bar according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaning member for covering or wiping a printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means. Automatic sewing color conversion sewing machine described in 1. 10. The sewing thread according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the printing portion of the sewing thread coloring means is provided with a collecting means for sucking and collecting the discharged ink. Automatic color conversion sewing machine.