Quilting method and apparatus
First Claim
1. An apparatus for stitching together two or more stacked planar layers, said apparatus including:
- a stitch head mounted at a fixed location and actuatable to insert a stitch through a stack of two or more planar layers located beneath said stitch head;
a substantially horizontally oriented bed for supporting said stack of planar layers for manually guided movement across said bed beneath said stitch head;
detector means for detecting movement of a surface of said stack proximate to said stitch head for producing signals representing the magnitude of stack surface movement; and
control circuit means responsive to said signals indicating stack surface movement exceeding a certain threshold for actuating said stitch head to insert a stitch through said stack.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A quilting apparatus for enabling a user to freely move a stack of fabric layers across a planar bed relative to an actuatable stitch head. The apparatus includes a motion detector which detects the movement of the stack and controls the actuation of the stitch head. Consequently, the apparatus functions to synchronize the delivery of stitch strokes by the head with the manually controlled movement of the quilt material stack. This frees the user to move the stack over a wide range of speeds, to start or stop movement at will, and to guide the stack in any direction across the planar bed.
62 Citations
34 Claims
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1. An apparatus for stitching together two or more stacked planar layers, said apparatus including:
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a stitch head mounted at a fixed location and actuatable to insert a stitch through a stack of two or more planar layers located beneath said stitch head;
a substantially horizontally oriented bed for supporting said stack of planar layers for manually guided movement across said bed beneath said stitch head;
detector means for detecting movement of a surface of said stack proximate to said stitch head for producing signals representing the magnitude of stack surface movement; and
control circuit means responsive to said signals indicating stack surface movement exceeding a certain threshold for actuating said stitch head to insert a stitch through said stack. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A machine for stitching at least one fabric layer, said machine comprising:
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an upper arm and a lower arm mounted in vertically spaced substantially parallel relationship to define a throat space therebetween;
a substantially horizontally oriented plate on said lower arm for supporting said fabric layer for guided movement in said throat space;
a needle arm supported from said upper arm above said plate actuatable to insert a stitch into said fabric layer;
a detector for detecting movement of a surface of said fabric layer in said throat space; and
control circuitry responsive to detected movement of said fabric layer surface for controlling actuation of said needle arm. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A quilting apparatus for inserting stitches of uniform length through a stack of one or more fabric layers, said apparatus comprising:
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a stitch head;
a bed defining a substantially horizontally oriented planar surface mounted opposite to said stitch head, said planar surface being configured to support said stack for guided movement across said planar surface;
said stitch head including a needle operable to execute a cyclic movement from an up position remote from said planar surface to a down position piercing said stack on said planar surface, and back to said up position;
a detector defining a window for collecting energy from a target area substantially coincident with a surface of said stack; and
signal processing means responsive to said collected energy for indicating the magnitude of stack translational movement across said planar surface; and
control means responsive to a translational movement of said stack of a magnitude exceeding a certain threshold for causing said needle to execute said cyclic movement. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A method of forming successive stitches of uniform length through a stack of fabric layers having top and bottom surfaces, said method comprising:
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mounting an actuatable stitch head at a fixed location;
manually moving said stack of fabric layers across a horizontal planar surface under said stitch head;
detecting the movement of at least one of said stack surfaces proximate to said stitch head; and
actuating said stitch head in response to a certain magnitude of detected stack movement to insert a stitch through said stack of fabric layers. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of forming successive stitches of uniform length through a stack of one or more fabric layers having top and bottom surfaces, said method comprising:
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providing a horizontally oriented planar surface for supporting said stack for guided movement across said planar surface;
mounting a stitch head opposite to said planar surface where said stitch head is selectively actuatable to insert a stitch through said stack layers;
manually moving said stack across said planar surface;
optically observing a target area coincident with one of said stack surfaces to determine the magnitude of stack movement proximate to said planar surface; and
responding to a magnitude of movement greater than a certain threshold for actuating said stitch head to insert a stitch into said stack. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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31. A quilting apparatus for inserting stitches into a stack of one or more fabric layers, said apparatus comprising:
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a stitch head;
a bed defining a substantially horizontally oriented planar surface mounted opposite to said stitch head, said planar surface being configured to support said stack for guided movement of said stack across said planar surface;
said stitch head including a needle operable to insert a stitch into said stack by executing a cyclic movement including a needle-up position remote from said planar surface and a needle-down position piercing said stack proximate to said planar surface;
a detector for measuring the movement of said stack across said planar surface proximate to said stitch head; and
control means for causing said needle to execute cyclic movements at a rate substantially proportional to the rate of stack movement measured by said detector. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34)
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Specification