Electronically geared sewing machine
First Claim
1. A sewing apparatus for sewing a thread through a material, comprising:
- a plurality of sewing parts, each sewing part being movable through a range of positions in a sewing motion for sewing the thread in the material;
a plurality of servo motors connected to said sewing parts for driving said sewing parts in the sewing motion;
monitors for producing monitor signals substantially continuously corresponding to the positions of said sewing parts;
data acquisition and control means connected to said servo motors and receiving said monitor signals for electronically gearing the movements of said sewing parts so that said sewing parts move in concert with each other, said data acquisition and control means including at least one motion controller having multiple control axes for receiving monitor signals from a plurality of said monitors and for responding to said plurality of monitor signals to produce motion commands for each servo motor; and
a user interface connected to said data acquisition and control means for inputting commands to control the operation of the apparatus.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for electronically gearing the sewing parts of a sewing machine, and more particularly it relates to electronically gearing the bobbin to the needle to eliminate the necessity of their physical coupling through mechanical linkages and drive shafts. Servo motors provide torque to the needle, bobbin, and various other sewing parts of the sewing machine which require concerted movement. A computer uses servo motor positional information to calculate motion commands that are sent to the needle and bobbin servo motors, thereby enabling electronic gearing of the bobbin to the needle so that each moves substantially in unison. Motion commands sent to servo motors attached to various other sewing parts of the sewing machine are based on servo motor positional information to enable the sewing parts to move in concert with the needle and bobbin. Servo motors move the fabric in two dimensions during stitching, and each move of the fabric is calculated to consume the maximum amount of time available between stitches in order to dampen acceleration and deceleration of sewing parts and eliminate problems associated with machine jerk.
105 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A sewing apparatus for sewing a thread through a material, comprising:
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a plurality of sewing parts, each sewing part being movable through a range of positions in a sewing motion for sewing the thread in the material; a plurality of servo motors connected to said sewing parts for driving said sewing parts in the sewing motion; monitors for producing monitor signals substantially continuously corresponding to the positions of said sewing parts; data acquisition and control means connected to said servo motors and receiving said monitor signals for electronically gearing the movements of said sewing parts so that said sewing parts move in concert with each other, said data acquisition and control means including at least one motion controller having multiple control axes for receiving monitor signals from a plurality of said monitors and for responding to said plurality of monitor signals to produce motion commands for each servo motor; and a user interface connected to said data acquisition and control means for inputting commands to control the operation of the apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 27, 28)
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9. A sewing apparatus comprising:
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a needle; a needle drive unit for moving the needle in a sewing motion; a bobbin; a bobbin drive unit for moving the bobbin in a sewing motion; a first servo motor connected to drive the needle drive unit; a second servo motor connected to drive the bobbin drive unit; a needle monitor for producing a needle monitor signal substantially continuously corresponding to the position of said needle; a bobbin monitor for producing a bobbin monitor signal substantially continuously corresponding to the position of said bobbin; said needle, needle drive unit, bobbin, bobbin drive unit, first servo motor, second servo motor, needle monitor, and bobbin monitor comprising a first sewing head; data acquisition and control means including a motion controller having multiple axes of control for receiving and responding to said needle and bobbin monitor signals for electronically gearing said bobbin to said needle so that said needle and bobbin travel in positional unison sufficient to produce a stitch; and input means connected to said data acquisition and control means for inputting commands to control the operation of the sewing apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 29, 30)
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23. A method for electronically gearing a plurality of sewing parts on a sewing machine wherein said plurality of sewing parts comprises at least one needle and one bobbin, said method comprising the steps of:
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designating one of said sewing parts as a master part; designating all nonmaster sewing parts as slave parts; initializing said sewing parts to a home position; monitoring the positions of said sewing parts to produce monitor signals substantially continuously corresponding to the positions of said sewing parts; directing said monitor signals to a controller having multiple control axes; producing master commands and slave commands in said controller, said master commands being based upon a desired movement of the master part and said slave commands being based upon the monitor signals representing the position of said master part; commanding movement of said master part in response to said master commands; and commanding movement of said slave parts in response to said slave commands moving said slave parts as a function of the monitored position of said master part so that said master and slave parts operate substantially in unison. - View Dependent Claims (24, 31)
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25. A sewing apparatus for sewing a thread through a material, comprising:
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a sewing needle for sewing the thread through the material; a needle motor drivingly connected to the needle for driving the needle through a range of needle positions in a reciprocating motion to sew the thread in the material; a needle drive connected to the needle motor for providing power to the needle motor; a bobbin for hooking the thread as the needle sews the thread in the material; a bobbin motor drivingly connected to the bobbin for driving the bobbin through a range of bobbin positions in a reciprocating motion to sew the thread in the material; a bobbin drive connected to the bobbin motor for providing power to the bobbin motor; a handwheel; a needle monitor for producing needle monitor signals substantially continuously corresponding to the position of the needle; a bobbin monitor for producing bobbin monitor signals substantially continuously corresponding to the position of the bobbin; a handwheel monitor for producing handwheel monitor signals substantially continuously corresponding to the position of the handwheel; and a controller responsive to the handwheel, needle, and bobbin monitor signals to control the needle and bobbin motors to move the needle and bobbin in their range of reciprocating motion in response to motions of the handwheel. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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32. A sewing apparatus for sewing thread in material, said sewing apparatus including a frame having a needle mount positioned adjacent to but spaced apart from a sewing base, said sewing apparatus comprising:
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a stationary needle unit fixedly mounted on the needle mount of the frame in a spaced apart relationship with the sewing base for sewing a thread in material that is presented at the base, said needle unit comprising; a needle for carrying the thread; a needle drive unit for moving the needle in a sewing motion; a stationary bobbin unit fixedly mounted on the frame adjacent to the frame in a spaced apart relationship with said stationary needle unit, said bobbin unit comprising; a bobbin including a hook for engaging the thread carried by the needle; a bobbin drive unit for moving the bobbin in a sewing motion; a first servo motor fixedly mounted on the needle mount of the sewing apparatus frame proximate to the needle drive unit and connected to drive the needle drive unit and move the needle in a reciprocating motion along the longitudinal axis of the needle to pierce and penetrate material positioned adjacent to the sewing base and carry the thread through the material to a position adjacent to the bobbin; a second servo motor mounted on the sewing apparatus frame proximate to the bobbin drive unit and connected to drive the bobbin drive unit in a sewing motion causing the hook on the bobbin to engage the thread carried by the needle through the material; a needle monitor substantially continuously monitoring the needle position and for producing a needle monitor signal substantially continuously corresponding to the position of said needle; a bobbin monitor substantially continuously monitoring the bobbin position and for producing a bobbin monitor signal substantially continuously corresponding to the position of said bobbin; wherein said needle unit, bobbin unit, first servo motor, second servo motor, needle monitor, and bobbin monitor comprise a first sewing head; data acquisition and control means including a base computer interfaced with at least one controller, said base computer for controlling the operation of said controller and downloading instructions into the controller corresponding to a stitch pattern and speed of stitching, said controller being responsive to the downloaded instructions to control the first sewing head to sew the downloaded stitch pattern at the downloaded speed, said controller being responsive to the substantially continuous monitor signals to electronically gear the first and second servo motors to move the needle and bobbin in unison sufficient to stitch; and means for moving the material relative to the fixed sewing base, needle and bobbin while the material is being sewn by said first sewing head including means to control the movement of said material so that the movement of the material is substantially stopped while the needle is penetrating the material so that movement of the material does not interfere with the sewing action of the needle and bobbin; and a user interface connected to said data acquisition and control means for inputting user commands. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification