US20070266919A1 - Sewing Machine - Google Patents

Sewing Machine Download PDF

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Publication number
US20070266919A1
US20070266919A1 US11/569,297 US56929705A US2007266919A1 US 20070266919 A1 US20070266919 A1 US 20070266919A1 US 56929705 A US56929705 A US 56929705A US 2007266919 A1 US2007266919 A1 US 2007266919A1
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
machine
illuminating device
illuminating
sewing machine
needle
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US11/569,297
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English (en)
Inventor
Ikuo Tajima
Hideo Hasegawa
Shinya Fujimoto
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Tokai Kogyo Sewing Machine Co Ltd
Original Assignee
Tokai Kogyo Sewing Machine Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Tokai Kogyo Sewing Machine Co Ltd filed Critical Tokai Kogyo Sewing Machine Co Ltd
Assigned to TOKAI KOGYO MISHIN KABUSHIKI KAISHA reassignment TOKAI KOGYO MISHIN KABUSHIKI KAISHA ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: FUJIMOTO, SHINYA, HASEGAWA, HIDEO, TAJIMA, IKUO
Publication of US20070266919A1 publication Critical patent/US20070266919A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D05—SEWING; EMBROIDERING; TUFTING
    • D05B—SEWING
    • D05B79/00—Incorporations or adaptations of lighting equipment
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D05—SEWING; EMBROIDERING; TUFTING
    • D05C—EMBROIDERING; TUFTING
    • D05C13/00—Auxiliary devices incorporated in embroidering machines, not otherwise provided for; Ancillary apparatus for use with embroidering machines

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to sewing machines provided with an illuminating device for illuminating areas around needle points immediately beneath a machine head.
  • Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. HEI-11-253685 discloses a sewing machine which includes a plurality of needle bars provided on a machine head, and an illuminating device for illuminating an area around the point of a needle fixed to the lower end of each needle bar and surface of a sewing fabric.
  • the illuminating device which is capable of emitting a linear light beam generally along an array line along which the needle bars are disposed, comprises, for example, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp or planar light-emitting member formed in a linear shape, or a plurality of high-intensity dot-shaped light-emitting members (e.g., LEDs) disposed in a linear array.
  • a cold cathode fluorescent lamp or planar light-emitting member formed in a linear shape or a plurality of high-intensity dot-shaped light-emitting members (e.g., LEDs) disposed in a linear array.
  • Japanese Patent No. 2900549 discloses a sewing machine which, when an anomaly or abnormal condition has been detected by an abnormal condition detection means that detects false operation, accident (e.g., thread breakage) or the like, changes the color of the light emitted from the illuminating device to inform of the abnormal condition. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No.
  • HEI-6-91085 discloses another type of automatic sewing machine which detects a start and end of automatic sewing so as to deilluminate the illuminating device upon detection of the start of automatic sewing and illuminate the illuminating device upon detection of the end of the automatic sewing; in this way, this sewing machine can spare a human operator the trouble of operating the switch of the illuminating device in order to save power consumption.
  • the present invention provides an improved sewing machine provided with a multi-needle machine head having a plurality of needle bars disposed in a straight or curved linear array, which includes an illuminating device for illuminating an area around a point (needle point) of a sewing needle fixed to the lower end of each of the needle bars.
  • the illuminating device comprises: a plurality of unitary light sources disposed at intervals, or with some gaps therebetween, so as to form a linear array of the light sources generally corresponding to a needle bar array line along which the needle bars are disposed; and a lens provided for covering the plurality of unitary light sources to gather light emitted from the individual unitary light sources, to thereby generate a linear light beam corresponding to the needle bar array line.
  • a sewing machine provided with a plurality of machine heads, which comprises: an illuminating device provided for each of the machine heads for illuminating an area around a point of a sewing needle of the machine head; and a control section for controlling the illuminating device of each of the machine heads in response to an operating state of the machine head.
  • the emitted light from the plurality of the unitary light sources disposed at intervals can be gathered, via the lens, to be converted into a linear light beam so that the areas around the points of the individual sewing needles can be illuminated evenly over a wide range with a small number of the unitary light sources, which can thereby minimize the manufacturing cost of the illuminating device.
  • the necessary manufacturing cost can be reduced synergistically.
  • chip LEDs Light Emitting Diodes
  • the unitary light sources not only can be reduced in size and increased in operating life but also can effectively prevent undesired heat production.
  • each of the machine heads By controlling each of the machine heads in response to an operating state of the machine head, it is possible to perform optimal needle-point illumination control on each of the machine heads, independently of the other machine heads, in the multi-head sewing machine, in response to the operating state of the machine head. For example, when only one or some of the plurality of machine heads are to be caused to operate with the other machine heads in a non-operating state, it is possible to perform control for illuminating the illuminating devices of only the machine heads that are to be caused to operate. Alternatively, when the sewing machine has stopped operating or shut down due to occurrence of a thread breakage, it is possible to perform control for illuminating only the illuminating device of the machine head where the thread breakage has occurred. In this way, a human operator is allowed to advantageously identify, at a glance, each operating or non-operating machine heads, and perform sewing operation and illumination control with no waste.
  • FIG. 1 is a view showing an outer appearance of a multi-head, multi-needle embroidery sewing machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a front view of the machine head in the embodiment
  • FIG. 3 is a side view, partly in section, of the machine head in the embodiment
  • FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of an illuminating device in the embodiment
  • FIG. 5 (A) is a sectional side view of the illuminating device in the embodiment
  • FIG. 5 (B) is a sectional side view showing a modification of the illuminating device
  • FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control system of a control device and illuminating devices in the embodiment of the embroidery sewing machine.
  • FIG. 1 is a view showing an outer appearance of a multi-head, multi-needle embroidery sewing machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, where reference numeral 1 indicates a machine frame, and 2 a table.
  • a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) machine heads 3 are disposed at equal intervals along a left-right horizontal direction of the sewing machine, and a needle plate 4 is disposed immediately beneath each of the machine heads 3 and at generally the same height position as the table 2 .
  • On the upper surface of the table 2 there is placed an embroidery frame 5 that is driven in front-rear and left-right horizontal directions via an X-axis drive mechanism and Y-axis drive mechanism (not shown).
  • FIG. 2 is a front view of the machine head 3
  • FIG. 3 is a side view (partly in section) of the machine head 3
  • each of the machine heads 3 comprises an arm 6 fixed to the machine frame 1 , and a needle bar case 7 slidably supported on the front surface of the arm 6 .
  • a plurality of (nine in the illustrated example) needle bars 8 are vertically-movably provided in the needle bar case 7 , and a sewing needle 9 is fixed to the lower end of each of the needle bars 8 .
  • the needle bar case 7 is caused to slide by a not-shown change mechanism, so that a desired one of the needle bars 8 can be located at a selected position and the thus-selected needle bar 8 is driven vertically via a not-shown needle bar drive mechanism.
  • Sewing is performed in the conventionally-known manner through cooperation between the vertically-driven needle bar 8 (sewing needle 9 ) and a not-shown rotary hook provided beneath the needle plate 4 , and embroidery sewing is performed, on the basis of embroidery data, by the embroidery frame 5 being driven in the front-rear and left-right directions as well as by the cooperation between the vertically-driven needle bar 8 (sewing needle 9 ) and the rotary hook.
  • Illuminating device 10 is provided on a front lower surface portion of the needle bar case 7 . As shown in a perspective view of FIG. 4 and sectional side view of FIG. 5 (A), the illuminating device 10 generally has a semi-cylindrical shape.
  • the illuminating device 10 includes a base plate 12 having a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) chip LEDs 11 provided at equal intervals thereon, a base member 13 fixing the base plate 12 , and a lens 14 provided to cover the base plate 12 .
  • the number of the chip LEDs 11 on the base plate 12 is smaller than the number of the needle bars 8 arranged in the needle bar case 7 , and the chip LEDs 11 are disposed on the base plate 12 at intervals to form a linear array (straight linear array in the illustrated example) substantially corresponding to a needle bar array line along which the needle bars 8 are disposed on the base plate 12 .
  • the lens 14 is in the form of a substantially-semicylindrical lens that can gather incoming light through its flat surface portion and emit a linear light beam through its cylindrical surface portion, and the lens 14 is formed of, for example, an acrylic material.
  • the semicylindrical lens 14 has a total length corresponding to a total length of the needle bar array line along which the needle bars 8 are arrayed in the needle bar case 7 , and the lens 14 has a shape corresponding to the array line (straight line in the illustrated example) along which the needle bars 8 are disposed.
  • This lens 14 gathers respective emitted light from the plurality of chip LEDs 11 to thereby emit a linear light beam that can evenly illuminate areas around the points of the individual sewing needles 9 .
  • the light emission from the small number of (four in this case) chip LEDs 11 of the illuminating device 10 can evenly illuminate the areas around the points of the nine sewing needles 9 greater in number than the four chip LEDs 11 of the illuminating device 10 .
  • the needle bars 8 are disposed in the needle bar case 7 in a straight linear array
  • the needle bars 8 are sometimes disposed in a curved array, such as a circular array, in which case the longitudinal shape of the illuminating device 10 is formed into a curved shape corresponding to the shape of the array of the needle bars 8 ; thus, an array line along which the plurality of chip LEDs 11 are arranged and the longitudinal shape of the semicylindrical lens 14 are also set to a curved line and curved shape, respectively.
  • an illuminating drive control signal is supplied from a control device 20 of the embroidery sewing machine separately to the illuminating device 10 of each of the machine heads 3 (the four machine heads 3 are indicated in the figure by # 1 to # 4 for clearer distinction) via a driver 21 .
  • Illumination and deillumination (i.e., turning-on and turning-off) of each of the illuminating devices 10 is controlled by the control device 20 in accordance with an operating state of the sewing machine and an operating state of the corresponding machine head 3 .
  • the control is performed in such a manner that the illuminating device 10 is deilluminated when the sewing machine is in the operating state because there is no need to illuminate the areas around the needle points, but the illuminating device 10 is illuminated when the sewing machine has stopped operating.
  • the multi-head type sewing machine is operated with only one or some of the machine heads 3 in the operating state with the remaining machine head(s) 3 in the non-operating state. If, in such a case, the sewing machine has stopped operating, the control is performed, independently for each of the machine heads, in such a manner only the illuminating device 3 of each machine head 3 set in the operating state is illuminated with the illuminating device 10 of each machine head 3 set in the non-operating state kept deilluminated.
  • the human operator not only can advantageously identify, at a glance, each machine head 3 to be in the operating state, but also can avoid a waste of, for example, illuminating the illuminating device 10 of any of the non-operating machine heads 3 which does not need to be illuminated.
  • the control can be performed so that, when the sewing machine has stopped operating or shut down due to a thread breakage, only the illuminating device 10 of the machine head 3 where the thread breakage has occurred is illuminated.
  • the human operator when the sewing machine has stopped operating or shut down due to a thread breakage, the human operator not only can easily identify in which of the machine heads the thread breakage has occurred, but also can avoid a waste of illuminating the illuminating device 10 of any of the other machine heads 3 where the thread has not been broken and hence there is no need to illuminate the illuminating device 10 .
  • FIG. 5 (B) shows a modification of the illuminating device.
  • this modified illuminating device 15 functions similarly to the aforementioned illuminating device 10
  • the flat surface portion of the cylindrical lens has a slightly different shape from that of the aforementioned illuminating device 10 .
  • the flat surface portion of the cylindrical lens 14 of the illuminating device 10 shown in FIG. 5 (A) has a groove formed therein for positioning the chip LEDs 11
  • FIG. 5 (B) is formed flat, and a spacer 17 is interposed between the flat surface portion and the base member 13 so that a slight space is formed, by the provision of the spacer 17 , for appropriately positioning the chip LEDs 11 .
  • the cylindrical lens 14 shown in FIG. 5 (A) requires formation of the groove in the flat surface portion
  • the cylindrical lens 16 shown in FIG. 5 (B) does not require formation of such a groove and thus can be simplified in construction.
  • the illuminating device 10 (or 15 ) corresponding to one of the machine heads 3 is constructed as a one-piece unit
  • the present invention is not so limited, and a plurality of units of the illuminating device 10 (or 15 ) may be provided, depending on the number of the needle bars per machine head 3 , by combining the units into a horizontal array along the array line of the needle bars, to thereby provide an illuminating means for the machine head 3 .
  • two chip LEDs 11 may be used to provide an illuminating device unit having about half of the length of the illuminating device 10 shown in FIG.
  • the illuminating device unit having about a quarter of the length of the illuminating device 10 shown in FIG. 4 may be constructed using only one chip LED 11 .
  • one chip LED 11 is positioned centrally in the longitudinal or length direction of the lens 14 (or 16 ), and one or more short illuminating device units, each comprising the one chip LED 11 and corresponding cylindrical lens 14 (or 16 ), may be provided horizontally on the base plate 12 , depending on the number of the needle bars in the machine head 3 . Needless to say, illuminating device units of various different lengths may be provided in a horizontal array on the base plate 12 .
  • the sewing machine of the present invention can also perform various informing functions.
  • the sewing machine of the present invention can warn the human operator that a thread breakage has occurred, by first blinking the illuminating device 10 of the machine head 3 , where a thread breakage has occurred, for several seconds and then illuminating the illuminating device 10 .
  • all of the illuminating devices 10 may be blinked to inform the human operator of the error.
  • the illuminating devices 10 are brought back to the normal state once the human operator clears the error on an operation panel or the like.
  • chip LEDs of a plurality of colors so as to allowing the chip LEDs to perform various informing functions by switching between emitted light colors of the LEDs.
  • each of the unitary light sources may be any other suitable light source than the chip LEDs.
  • the present invention may be applied to any other types of sewing machines than embroidery sewing machines.
  • the emitted light from the chip LEDs 11 disposed at intervals or with some gaps therebetween is gathered via the lens 14 to be converted into a linear light beam so that areas around the points of the plurality of sewing needles 9 disposed in a linear array are illuminated by the linear light beam.
  • the areas around the points of the plurality of sewing needles 9 can be illuminated appropriately by a small number of the chip LEDs 11 , which can thereby minimize the necessary manufacturing cost of the illuminating devices, and the necessary manufacturing cost of the sewing machine of the multi-head, multi-needle type too can be reduced synergistically.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Sewing Machines And Sewing (AREA)
US11/569,297 2004-05-21 2005-05-19 Sewing Machine Abandoned US20070266919A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2004-152177 2004-05-21
JP2004152177A JP2005329155A (ja) 2004-05-21 2004-05-21 ミシン
PCT/JP2005/009195 WO2005113877A1 (ja) 2004-05-21 2005-05-19 ミシン

Publications (1)

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US20070266919A1 true US20070266919A1 (en) 2007-11-22

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ID=35428429

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US11/569,297 Abandoned US20070266919A1 (en) 2004-05-21 2005-05-19 Sewing Machine

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US20070266919A1 (de)
JP (1) JP2005329155A (de)
KR (1) KR20070024486A (de)
CN (1) CN1942621A (de)
DE (1) DE112005001060T5 (de)
WO (1) WO2005113877A1 (de)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2135985A1 (de) * 2008-06-20 2009-12-23 Partner-Unternehmensberatung GmbH LED-Nählicht für Haushaltnähmaschinen
RU2530796C1 (ru) * 2013-04-01 2014-10-10 Чээ Сыан Индастриал Ко., Лтд. Устройство замены игловодителей в швейной машине
CN109722812A (zh) * 2019-02-25 2019-05-07 浙江镨美科智能刺绣设备有限公司 一种用于绣花机的在线绣品检测及组件检修的照明结构

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2008104719A (ja) * 2006-10-26 2008-05-08 Juki Corp ミシンの糸通し装置
CN101718407A (zh) * 2010-01-31 2010-06-02 秦厚敬 一种调整型光源装置

Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4322781A (en) * 1980-07-03 1982-03-30 The Singer Company Uniformly lighted pattern display
US5032960A (en) * 1989-02-15 1991-07-16 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Light source device with arrayed light emitting elements and manufacturing therefor
US5078067A (en) * 1990-07-10 1992-01-07 Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Sewing machine with abnormal condition warning means for warning abnormal condition by changing color of light
US5113324A (en) * 1988-05-05 1992-05-12 Pfaff Industriemaschinen Gmbh Sewing machine with a lamp
US5215020A (en) * 1991-05-17 1993-06-01 Union Special Gmbh Optical detector mounted on a circuit board in a sewing machine needle plate
US6527403B2 (en) * 2000-04-20 2003-03-04 Pfaff Industrie Maschinen Ag Sewing machine with a light barrier
US20040080939A1 (en) * 2001-04-23 2004-04-29 Jules Braddell Illuminator
US6796256B2 (en) * 2002-03-28 2004-09-28 Durkopp Adler Aktiengesellschaft Sewing machine lighting equipment

Family Cites Families (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS62162065A (ja) * 1986-01-09 1987-07-17 東海工業ミシン株式会社 多頭式刺繍ミシン
JPH0594322U (ja) * 1992-05-14 1993-12-24 日本軽金属株式会社 手摺の構造
JPH0691085A (ja) 1992-09-11 1994-04-05 Brother Ind Ltd ミシン
JPH06103802A (ja) * 1992-09-17 1994-04-15 Rohm Co Ltd 灯具およびこれを搭載した車両
JPH11221394A (ja) * 1998-02-10 1999-08-17 Tajima Giken Kk 多色多頭式刺繍機
JPH11253685A (ja) 1998-03-10 1999-09-21 Tokai Ind Sewing Mach Co Ltd ミシン
JP2000308787A (ja) * 1999-04-28 2000-11-07 Juki Corp ミシンの消灯装置
JP2003103083A (ja) * 2001-10-01 2003-04-08 Brother Ind Ltd ミシン制御装置

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4322781A (en) * 1980-07-03 1982-03-30 The Singer Company Uniformly lighted pattern display
US5113324A (en) * 1988-05-05 1992-05-12 Pfaff Industriemaschinen Gmbh Sewing machine with a lamp
US5032960A (en) * 1989-02-15 1991-07-16 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Light source device with arrayed light emitting elements and manufacturing therefor
US5078067A (en) * 1990-07-10 1992-01-07 Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Sewing machine with abnormal condition warning means for warning abnormal condition by changing color of light
US5215020A (en) * 1991-05-17 1993-06-01 Union Special Gmbh Optical detector mounted on a circuit board in a sewing machine needle plate
US6527403B2 (en) * 2000-04-20 2003-03-04 Pfaff Industrie Maschinen Ag Sewing machine with a light barrier
US20040080939A1 (en) * 2001-04-23 2004-04-29 Jules Braddell Illuminator
US6796256B2 (en) * 2002-03-28 2004-09-28 Durkopp Adler Aktiengesellschaft Sewing machine lighting equipment

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2135985A1 (de) * 2008-06-20 2009-12-23 Partner-Unternehmensberatung GmbH LED-Nählicht für Haushaltnähmaschinen
RU2530796C1 (ru) * 2013-04-01 2014-10-10 Чээ Сыан Индастриал Ко., Лтд. Устройство замены игловодителей в швейной машине
CN109722812A (zh) * 2019-02-25 2019-05-07 浙江镨美科智能刺绣设备有限公司 一种用于绣花机的在线绣品检测及组件检修的照明结构

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CN1942621A (zh) 2007-04-04
WO2005113877A1 (ja) 2005-12-01
JP2005329155A (ja) 2005-12-02
DE112005001060T5 (de) 2008-07-17
KR20070024486A (ko) 2007-03-02

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Date Code Title Description
AS Assignment

Owner name: TOKAI KOGYO MISHIN KABUSHIKI KAISHA, JAPAN

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:TAJIMA, IKUO;HASEGAWA, HIDEO;FUJIMOTO, SHINYA;REEL/FRAME:018532/0616

Effective date: 20061101

STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION