JP2565733B2 - Electronic sewing machine power saving device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic sewing machine, and more particularly, to an electric power saving device for an electronic sewing machine that restricts electric power supply to the sewing machine when a sewing machine operator is absent. It is a thing.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, when the sewing machine operator leaves the sewing machine for some reason while operating the sewing machine, the sewing machine continues to be supplied with power or the operator shuts off the power supply to supply power to the sewing machine. It was either totally absent.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, when the sewing machine operator continues to supply power without interrupting the power supply when leaving the sewing machine, the sewing machine consumes unnecessary power as well as the sewing machine. When the operator restarts the sewing machine operation, there is a risk that the operation of the sewing machine may be unexpectedly started by the operation and the sewing machine needle may move up and down, etc.

On the other hand, if the sewing machine operator shuts off the power when he / she leaves the sewing machine, there is a risk that the sewing machine operator may forget to turn off the power and when performing combination memory sewing in which many different sewing patterns are combined. , When you turn off the power, all the memory will be lost, so when you start the sewing machine operation again, you have to memorize the combination pattern from the beginning again. This is not only a troublesome operation but also an erroneous operation. Easy to wake up.

In view of the present situation as described above, the present invention automatically limits the supply of electric power to the sewing machine when the sewing machine operator leaves the sewing machine to reduce the power consumption, and the safety and operation of the sewing machine as described above. It was created with the aim of eliminating the sexual defects.

(Means for Solving the Problem) That is, the present invention relates to a sewing pattern storage unit for storing a plurality of sewing patterns, a pattern selection display unit for the sewing pattern storage unit, and an actuator based on the selected and displayed sewing pattern information. An electronic sewing machine comprising an electronic pattern forming means such as a pattern forming means by swinging a needle by driving and feeding a cloth, and a stitch forming means by vertically moving a needle and rotating a hook by driving a sewing machine motor, A detection unit that detects the presence or absence of the sewing machine operator's operating position, a determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a detection signal from the detection unit, and the electronic system based on the determination signal from the determination unit that the operator is absent A power saving operation for supplying electric power by reducing the operation state at the time of operation interruption to the pattern forming means to a necessary amount for storing and holding the operation state;
And a control operation information output means for outputting operation information related to power saving control such as power saving such as a seam formation prohibiting operation for stopping power supply to the seam forming means, easiness of operation restart and safety. This is a power saving device for electronic sewing machines.

(Operation) The present invention is configured as described above, and automatically detects whether or not the operator of the sewing machine is in the operating position, and a detection signal indicating that the sewing machine operator is away from the operating position and operation is interrupted due to absence. Is output, the electric power to be output to the electronic pattern forming means and the seam forming means that constitute the electronic sewing machine is controlled based on the information regarding the control operation of the power saving output from the control operation information output means. .

In this case, the information regarding the power saving control operation is such that the electronic pattern forming means continues to be supplied with power to the storage means to prevent the memory from being lost, and the actuator of the pattern forming means holds the current position. The display unit stops the power supply to the backlight and supplies the minimum amount of power required to operate the sewing machine. , And information regarding a seam formation prohibiting operation for stopping the supply of electric power to the seam forming means.

As a result, the electronic sewing machine can save power when the operation is interrupted by the power saving operation of the power saving device, and at the same time, it can be easily operated continuously from the operation state at the time of interruption without resetting operation conditions such as pattern selection. Will be able to resume
It is possible to prevent the accident that the sewing machine needle suddenly moves up and down and to cause an accident when the operation is continuously resumed from the interrupted state by the stitch formation prohibiting operation, and the safety can be maintained.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention is as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1. First, the detection means 1 is for detecting whether or not the sewing machine operator is at a predetermined operation position. As shown in FIG. 2, an optical detection device including a light emitting portion 1a and a light receiving portion 1b is mounted at a predetermined position on the front surface of the arm of the sewing machine.

Of course, it is conceivable to use various detecting devices other than the optical detecting device as the detecting means 1 such as detecting the presence or absence of the sewing machine operator from the reflected wave to the sewing machine operator by using radio waves.

Numeral 4 is a detection distance adjusting means built in the sewing machine, and the detecting means 1 is an effective distance adjusting means upon detection of the sewing machine operator, which is usually possible by adjusting the sensitivity level of the light receiving portion 1b. Is.

Reference numeral 2 is a discrimination means, which outputs information for discriminating whether the control means 3 is invalidated or valid based on the information from the detection means 1 regarding the presence or absence of the sewing machine operator at a predetermined operation position. .

Reference numeral 3 is a control operation information output means, which is based on the discrimination information from the discrimination means 2 indicating that the sewing machine operator is absent, and which stops the formation of the stitches of the sewing machine and the storage means and the display means. , And outputs to the microcomputer 6 information regarding a power saving operation for supplying electric power reduced to an amount necessary for storing and holding the operation state at the time of interruption to the electronic pattern forming means such as the pattern forming means. The structure of the electronic sewing machine to which the power saving device having the above-described structure is added will be described below.

Reference numeral 5 is an input device for the sewing machine operator to select a sewing pattern or set sewing conditions, and a pattern selection switch 5a for selecting a sewing pattern mounted on the head of the sewing machine and a stitch width are adjusted. Needle amplitude adjustment switch 5b, cloth feed amount adjustment switch 5c for adjusting the roughness of the stitch, vertical movement of the needle through the upper shaft and rotation of the hook through the lower shaft for stitch formation. It is composed of a motor drive switch 5d and the like for operating or stopping the sewing machine motor 13 for performing.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a microcomputer, which stores a central processing unit (CPU) 8, a memory (RAM) 7, a program for controlling a connected external device, and sewing data for forming a sewing pattern. It is composed of ROM9 and exchanges of data between each component is address line.
14 and data line 15.

Reference numeral 10 is a display means composed of a liquid crystal plate and the back light, which is a sewing pattern display device 10a for displaying the selected sewing pattern, a stitch width display device 10b, and a stitch roughness display device.
It consists of 10c etc. and provides sewing information to the sewing machine operator.

Reference numeral 11 is a needle swing actuator, and 12 is a cloth feed actuator. By the drive control of both actuators 11 and 12 based on sewing pattern information from the ROM 9 of the microcomputer 6, a needle swing device and a cloth feed device are provided. The sewing machine is driven, and at the same time, the sewing machine is driven to perform the stitch forming operation by the vertical movement of the needle and the rotation of the hammer, thereby forming the sewing pattern. A stepping motor or a DC servomotor is used as the actuators 11 and 12.

Next, the operating condition of the electronic sewing machine equipped with the power saving device will be described.

When the sewing machine operator sits at a predetermined operation position in front of the sewing machine and turns on the power of the sewing machine, the microcomputer 6 starts to operate and a preset specific pattern (for example, straight stitch) is automatically selected according to the program in the ROM 9. The specific pattern is displayed on the sewing pattern display device 10a of the display means 10.

Detection light for detecting the sewing machine operator is emitted from the light emitting portion 1a of the detection means 1, the detection light is reflected by the sewing machine operator, and the reflected light is received by the light receiving portion 1b, and the detection light of the light receiving portion 1b is detected. Discrimination means 2 for determining from the signal that the sewing machine operator is present.
Output to.

The discriminating means 2 outputs the information for invalidating the power saving and the stitch formation prohibiting operation of the control operation information output means 3 based on the information from the detecting means 1 that the sewing machine operator exists, so the control operation is performed to the microcomputer 6. The following normal sewing machine operation is performed under the control of the microcomputer 6 without giving information.

The sewing machine operator selects a pattern with the pattern selection switch 5a,
When the input device 5 is operated such as adjusting the stitch width by the needle amplitude adjusting switch 5b and adjusting the stitch roughness by the cloth feed amount adjusting switch 5c, a display corresponding to the input is displayed via the microcomputer 6. 10 sewing pattern display device 10a,
It is displayed on each display device such as the stitch width display device 10b and the stitch roughness display device 10c.

When the motor drive switch 5d of the input device 5 is operated,
The sewing machine motor 13 for forming stitches by moving the needle up and down via the upper shaft and rotating the hook via the lower shaft starts operation via the microcomputer 6.

Needle swing actuator 11 and cloth feed actuator
12 is initially set to a predetermined position determined by the rotation phase of the upper shaft, and then first set to a position determined by the microcomputer 6 according to the sewing data of the ROM 9 and the set values of the stitch width and the stitch roughness by the input device 5. Every time the upper shaft driven and then driven by the sewing machine motor 13 reaches a predetermined rotation phase, the sewing data of the ROM 9 is sequentially read and the microcomputer 6 is operated in accordance with the set values of the stitch width and the stitch roughness.
The sewing pattern is formed by being driven to the position obtained in step 3.

When the motor drive switch 5d of the input device 5 is operated again, the sewing machine motor 13 is stopped via the microcomputer 6.

Next, the operation when the sewing machine operator leaves the operation position of the predetermined sewing machine, the control operation information output means 3 outputs the control operation information related to the power saving control, and the power saving operation and the stitch formation prohibiting operation are activated will be described. .

When the sewing machine operator moves away from the predetermined operating position of the sewing machine, the light receiving section 1b of the detecting means 1 does not receive the reflected light and outputs the information that the sewing machine operator is absent to the determining means 2.

The discrimination means 2 outputs information for validating the operation of the control operation information output means 3 based on the information from the detection means 1 that the sewing machine operator is absent, and the control operation information output means 3 becomes effective. Information about the power saving operation and the stitch formation prohibiting operation is output and executed by the microcomputer 6.

It should be noted that in the discrimination means 2, a time element is added to enable the control operation information output means 3 when the information that the operator is absent for a predetermined time such as several tens of seconds is input. It becomes possible to make a more accurate determination.

The back lighting for the liquid crystal display panel of the display means 10 is turned off by the power saving operation of the microcomputer 6, and the power supplied to the needle swing actuator 11 and the cloth feed actuator 12 is necessary to maintain the current position. The minimum power consumption is reduced.

By executing the stitch formation prohibiting operation of the microcomputer 6, the operation of the motor drive switch 5d is invalidated and the sewing machine motor 13 is stopped.

Incidentally, it is natural that the pattern selection switch 5a, the needle amplitude adjustment switch 5b, the cloth feed amount adjustment switch 5c and the like of the input device 5 are newly operated while the control operation information output means 3 is enabled. You can disable it like this.

Further, in order to inform the sewing machine operator that the control operation information output means 3 is in an effective state, the display means is provided.
It is effective to display using a part of the display device of any one of 10.

Further, if the microcomputer 6 is provided with a standby mode function, it becomes possible to obtain a further power saving effect by enabling the control operation information output means 3 and then setting the standby mode.

When the sewing machine operator returns to the sewing machine operation position again, the detection means 1 detects this and invalidates the control operation information output means 3, so that the state continued from the state interrupted due to leaving the previous operation position. The operation of the sewing machine is started again.

The above is a description of the basic operating condition of the power saving device, but various improvements as described below can be added.

First, an optical sensor is used as the detecting means 1 in the embodiment, but a sensor using a radio wave or other higher precision sensor is used, or the detecting distance adjusting means 4 is provided to improve the detecting sensitivity. By doing so, it becomes possible to more accurately detect the presence or absence of the sewing machine operator.

Next, when the sewing machine operator returns to the sewing machine operating position, the control operation information output means 3 is not automatically invalidated, but any switch operation of the input device 5 is also invalidated. More reliable operation can be obtained if required for.

Further, as a method for further improving the power saving effect, when the sewing machine operator leaves the sewing machine operating position and the determination means 2 inputs from the detection means 1 information that the determination means 2 is absent for a long time, for example, several tens of minutes. In addition to the power saving operation as described above, after storing information on the current position coordinates of the needle swing actuator 11 and the cloth feed actuator 12 in the memory RAM 7, the actuators 11 and 12 are
Shut off the power supply to the.

When the sewing machine operator returns to the sewing machine operation position, power supply to both the actuators 11 and 12 is started, and at the same time, the actuators are set to the initial positions, and the information about the position coordinates stored in the memory RAM 7 is read and driven to that position. There is also a method in which the sewing machine operation is started from the state that is a continuation of the state in which it was interrupted first.

By adopting the control method as described above, it is possible to obtain an effective power saving effect even if the sewing machine operator is absent from the operating position for a long time.

(Effects) The present invention has the above-described configuration and operation, and a power saving control operation that causes a power saving operation and a stitch formation prohibiting operation when the sewing machine operator is away from the sewing machine operating position. By outputting information on the control operation information from the control operation information output means, the power supply can be saved while maintaining the continuity of the sewing machine operation, and the up and down movement of the needle is prohibited to ensure safety as well. (EN) An electronic sewing machine with an improved power saving effect and a large power saving effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic sewing machine to which a power saving device is added, and FIG. 2 is an external view of the sewing machine main body. 1 ... Detecting means, 2 ... discriminating means, 3 ... control operation information output means, 6 ... microcomputer, 10 ... display means, 11 ... needle swing actuator, 12 ... cloth feed actuator, 13 ...... Sewing machine motor.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sewing pattern storage means for storing a plurality of sewing patterns,
Pattern selection display means for the sewing pattern storage means, electronic pattern formation means such as pattern formation means by needle swing and cloth feed by actuator drive based on the selected and displayed pattern information, and drive of sewing machine motor In the electronic sewing machine including the stitch forming means by the vertical movement of the needle and the rotation of the hammer by the sewing machine, the detection means for detecting the presence or absence of the sewing machine operator's operation position and the presence or absence of the detection signal from the detection means are determined. A discriminating means and a power saving operation for supplying electric power by reducing the operating state when the operation of the electronic pattern forming means is interrupted based on a discriminating signal indicating that the operator is absent from the discriminating means. And an operation related to power saving control that measures power saving such as a seam formation prohibiting operation of stopping power supply to the seam forming means, easiness of operation restart, and safety. Power saving apparatus for an electronic sewing machine, characterized in that a control operation information output means for outputting information.