U.S. patent application number 11/718170 was filed with the patent office on 2009-07-09 for embroidery sewing machine.
This patent application is currently assigned to TOKAI KOGYO MISHIN KABUSHIKI KAISHA. Invention is credited to Ikuo Tajima.
Application Number | 20090173261 11/718170 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36227948 |
Filed Date | 2009-07-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090173261 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tajima; Ikuo |
July 9, 2009 |
EMBROIDERY SEWING MACHINE
Abstract
In a head group comprising two or more machine heads (3, 4)
provided in proximity to each other so that each of the machine
heads can perform embroidery sewing on an embroidering area of an
embroidery frame on which a cylindrically-shaped embroidering
workpiece is set, at least one of the machine heads is a
multi-needle machine head (3). There are also provided a color
change mechanism (20) for selectively positioning a desired needle
at a predetermined operating position in the multi-needle machine
head, a rotary hook bed (5) provided for each of the head group for
shared use between the machine heads. There is provided a
horizontal movement mechanism (30) for disposing the individual
machine heads and the color change mechanism for horizontal
movement relative to the rotary hook beds and horizontally moving
the individual machine heads and the color change mechanism
together to place any one of the machine heads in each of the head
groups in positional correspondence to the rotary hook bed.
Inventors: |
Tajima; Ikuo; (Nagoya-shi,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROSSI, KIMMS & McDOWELL LLP.
20609 Gordon Park Square, Suite 150
Ashburn
VA
20147
US
|
Assignee: |
TOKAI KOGYO MISHIN KABUSHIKI
KAISHA
Kasugai-shi
JP
|
Family ID: |
36227948 |
Appl. No.: |
11/718170 |
Filed: |
October 28, 2005 |
PCT Filed: |
October 28, 2005 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/JP05/19916 |
371 Date: |
February 17, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
112/80.43 ;
112/163 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D05C 11/16 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
112/80.43 ;
112/163 |
International
Class: |
D05C 15/34 20060101
D05C015/34; D05B 1/08 20060101 D05B001/08 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 29, 2004 |
JP |
2004-315990 |
Claims
1. An embroidery sewing machine for a cylindrically-shaped
embroidering workpiece, said embroidery sewing machine comprising:
a head group comprising two or more machine heads disposed in
proximity to each other so that each of the machine heads can
perform embroidery sewing on an embroidering area of an embroidery
frame on which the cylindrically-shaped embroidering workpiece is
set, at least one of the two or more machine heads being a
multi-needle machine head having a plurality of needles; a color
change mechanism for selectively positioning a desired one of the
needles at a predetermined operating position in the multi-needle
machine head; a rotary hook bed provided for each of the head group
for shared use between the machine heads in the head group and
corresponding to one said embroidering workpiece; and a horizontal
movement mechanism for disposing individual ones of the machine
heads and said color change mechanism for horizontal movement
relative to the rotary hook beds and horizontally moving the
individual machine heads and said color change mechanism together
to place any one of the machine heads in each of the head groups in
positional correspondence to said rotary hook bed.
2. An embroidery sewing machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein a
plurality of the head groups are arranged horizontally at
predetermined intervals and a plurality of the rotary hook beds are
arranged horizontally at predetermined intervals in corresponding
relation to the plurality of the head groups, and wherein said
horizontal mechanism moves the plurality of the head groups and
said color change mechanism together horizontally relative to the
rotary hook beds.
3. An embroidery sewing machine as claimed in either claim 1 or 2
wherein each of the multi-needle machine heads in each of the heads
groups includes a slidable needle bar case having a plurality of
sewing needles arranged horizontally, said color change mechanism
includes a slide drive member connected to the needle bar case of
each of the multi-needle machine heads, a drive section for
selectively positioning a desired one of the needles of each of the
needle bar cases at a predetermined operating position by driving
said slide drive member to slide by a predetermined amount, and a
base having said drive section fixed thereto, the machine heads in
each of the head groups are interconnected via a mounting plate,
the mounting plate being mounted for horizontal movement relative
to a machine frame so that each of the machine heads is movable
horizontally relative to the machine frame, and said horizontal
movement mechanism includes an interlocking member interconnecting
the mounting plate and the base of said color change mechanism and
a drive mechanism for horizontally moving the interlocking member,
the interlocking member being horizontally moved by the drive
mechanism so that each of the machine heads and said color change
mechanism are horizontally moved together.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to embroidery sewing machines
for performing sewing on cylindrically-shaped embroidering
workpieces, such as bodies of sweaters and T-shirts.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] In embroidering the body of a T-shirt, for example, it is
necessary to position a cylindrical rotary hook bed, having a
rotary hook provided therein, inside the cylindrically-shaped body
set on an embroidery frame. One example of such a construction is
disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. HEI-1-11751.
When a shirt is set on the embroidery frame with the shirt's front
body positioned over the upper surface of the rotary hook bed, as
clear from the No. HEI-1-11751 publication, the shirt's back body
hangs from the periphery of the embroidery frame down the rotary
hook bed. Further, with the fashion individualization trends in
recent years, there has been an increasing demand for so-called
"combination embroideries" in the embroidery industry as well.
Examples of the combination embroideries include a combination of
an ordinary multi-color embroidery and a decorative embroidery made
by sewing of a tape, string or other material, and an operation for
making such combination embroideries is performed today by a
dedicated combination-embroidery sewing machine provided with two
different types of machine heads intended for multi-color
embroidering and decorative embroidering.
[0003] Although combination embroidery can be performed by a single
embroidery sewing machine as long as it is dedicated to
combination-embroidery, there has so far been no
combination-embroidery sewing machine capable of embroidering a
cylindrically-shaped embroidering workpiece, for the following
reasons. Namely, in order to embroider a cylindrically-shaped
embroidering workpiece, it is necessary to position the rotary hook
bed inside the cylindrically-shaped embroidering workpiece, as
noted above. Thus, in order to embroider such a
cylindrically-shaped embroidering workpiece using two types of
machine heads, it is necessary to position two cylindrical rotary
hook beds, corresponding to the two machine heads, inside the
cylindrically-shaped embroidering workpiece. Therefore, there would
be encountered not only the inconvenience that kinds of
embroidering workpieces that can be embroidered tend to be limited,
but also the inconvenience that, even with an embroiderable
embroidering workpiece, a sufficient embroidering area can not be
secured unless the hanging-down portion of the workpiece has a
sufficient margin. One possible approach for avoiding the above
inconveniences is to position only one of the hook bed,
corresponding to the machine head to be next used for embroidering,
inside the embroidering workpiece; however, when the other machine
head is to be next used for embroidering after completion of
embroidery by the one machine head, it is necessary to deactivate
the embroidery sewing machine to detach and re-attach the
embroidery frame in order to switch the rotary hook bed that is to
be positioned inside the embroidering workpiece, which would
inevitably require extra labor and time. In addition, there are
possibilities of part of the embroidering workpiece, hanging down
the rotary hook bed, interfering with the rotary hook bed and being
stained or impaired. For the foregoing reasons, none of the
conventionally-known embroidery sewing machines can not perform
combination embroidery by itself.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0004] In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present
invention to provide an embroidery sewing machine which can
smoothly perform, without any problem, combination embroidery on a
cylindrically-shaped embroidering workpiece using a plurality of
types of machine heads.
[0005] In order to accomplish the above-mentioned object, the
present invention provides an improved embroidery sewing machine
for a cylindrically-shaped embroidering workpiece, which comprises:
a head group comprising two or more machine heads disposed in
proximity to each other so that each of the machine heads can
perform embroidery sewing on an embroidering area of an embroidery
frame on which the cylindrically-shaped embroidering workpiece is
set, at least one of the two or more machine heads being a
multi-needle machine head having a plurality of needles; a color
change mechanism for selectively positioning a desired one of the
needles at a predetermined operating position in the multi-needle
machine head; a rotary hook bed provided for each of the head group
for shared use between the machine heads in the head group and
corresponding to one embroidering workpiece; and a horizontal
movement mechanism for disposing individual ones of the machine
heads and the color change mechanism for horizontal movement
relative to the rotary hook beds and horizontally moving the
individual machine heads and the color change mechanism together to
place any one of the machine heads in each of the head groups in
positional correspondence to the rotary hook bed.
[0006] By selectively placing either one of the plurality of
machine heads in each of the head groups in positional
correspondence to one rotary hook bed in the aforementioned manner,
the present invention can perform different types of embroidery or
sewing with the respective machine heads although only one rotary
hook bed is to be positioned inside the embroidering workpiece. As
a result, combination embroidery with the plurality of types of
machine heads can be performed by one embroidery sewing machine
smoothly without any problem. Further, with the arrangement that
the color change mechanism for the multi-needle machine heads is
caused to slide together with the horizontal movement mechanism for
the head groups, the present invention can significantly simplify
the construction of the entire horizontal movement mechanism.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a front view of an embroidery sewing machine in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0008] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the embroidery sewing machine
with an upper machine frame and machine heads omitted for
clarity;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a sectional side view taken along the I-I line of
FIG. 1;
[0010] (a) of FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of a color change
mechanism and horizontal movement mechanism of the embroidery
sewing machine, and (b) of FIG. 4 is a plan view of the color
change mechanism and horizontal movement mechanism;
[0011] FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of one of multi-needle
machine heads;
[0012] FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view of one of single-needle
machine heads;
[0013] (a) of FIG. 7 is a front view showing, in further enlarged
scale, an example specific construction of the color change
mechanism, and (b) of FIG. 7 is a sectional side view of the color
change mechanism;
[0014] (a) of FIG. 8 is a front view showing, in further enlarged
scale, an example specific construction of the horizontal movement
mechanism, and (b) of FIG. 8 is a sectional side view of the
horizontal movement mechanism;
[0015] (a) of FIG. 9 is a front view showing, in a further enlarged
scale, an example specific construction of a mechanism for
transmitting rotation of a main shaft motor to a machine's main
shaft disposed in a left region of the front of the sewing machine,
and (b) of FIG. 9 is a sectional side view of the rotation
transmission mechanism;
[0016] (a) of FIG. 10 and (b) of FIG. 10 are a front view and plan
view, respectively, showing an example state in which the
multi-needle machine head has been placed in positional
correspondence to a rotary hook bed; and
[0017] (a) of FIG. 11 and (b) of FIG. 11 are a front view and plan
view, respectively, showing an example state in which a desired
sewing needle (color thread) has been selectively slid via the
color change mechanism of FIG. 10.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[0018] FIG. 1 is a front view of an embroidery sewing machine in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a
plan view showing the embroidery sewing machine with an upper
machine frame 1 and machine heads 3 and 4 omitted for clarity, and
FIG. 3 is a sectional side view taken along the I-I line of FIG. 1.
Reference numeral 1 indicates the machine frame and 2 a machine
table. The table 2 includes a vertically-movable front table 2a.
Six head pairs (groups), each comprising two types of machine heads
3 and 4, are provided on a front surface of the machine frame 1.
One of the machine heads 3 in each of the head pairs (groups) is a
multi-needle lock-stitching machine head having a plurality of
(e.g., nine) sewing needles, while the other machine head 4 is a
single-needle lock-stitching machine head intended for decorative
embroidery and capable of sewing a tape or the like. One rotary
hook bed 5 provided with one rotary hook 6 is disposed under each
of the head pairs (groups). Base sash frame 7 is provided on the
table 2 and driven to move two-dimensionally in X and Y directions
via frame drive sections 8 and 9. A plurality of embroidery frames
10 are supported on the base sash frame 7 in corresponding relation
to the rotary hook beds 5, and a cylindrically-shaped embroidering
workpiece, such as the body of a T-shirt, can be set on each of the
embroidery frames 10.
[0019] (a) of FIG. 4 is a front view showing, in enlarged scale,
parts of a color change mechanism 20 and horizontal movement
mechanism 30, and (b) of FIG. 4 is a plan view of the parts of the
color change mechanism 20 and horizontal movement mechanism 30. As
clearly seen from FIG. 4, a pair of upper and lower guide rails 13,
each composed of a plurality of rails 13a connected in series, are
disposed on the front surface of the machine frame 1. The machine
heads 3 and 4 of each of the head pairs are fixed to a mounting
plate 12 that is in turn fixed to a slider 14 movably provided on
the two guide rails 13. The machine heads 3 and 4 of each of the
head pairs are slidable relative to the machine frame 1. FIG. 5 is
an enlarged side view of one of the multi-needle machine heads 3,
and FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view of one of the single-needle
machine heads 4.
[0020] As shown in FIG. 5, the multi-needle machine head 3 includes
an arm 15 and a needle bar case 16 slidably supported on the arm
15, and the needle bar case 16 includes a plurality of (e.g., nine)
sewing needles 17. As will be later described, the needle bar case
16 is slid horizontally via the color change mechanism 20 so that
any desired one of the sewing needles 17 can be selectively
positioned at a predetermined operating position (selected
position). Machine's main shaft 18 extends through each of the
machine heads 3 and 4, and, through rotation of the machine's main
shaft 18, the sewing needle 17 positioned at the operating position
(selected position) in the multi-needle machine head 3 and the
sewing needle 19 in the machine head 4 are moved up and down.
[0021] The color change mechanism 20 for positioning a desired one
of the plurality of (nine) sewing needles 17 of the machine head 3
at a selected position is provided on the front surface of the
machine frame 1. The color change mechanism 20 too is fixed, via a
mounting plate 21, to the slider 14 slidably provided on the guide
rails 13. Thus, the color change mechanism 20 too is slidable
relative to the machine frame 1. FIG. 7 shows, in a further
enlarged scale, an example specific construction of the color
change mechanism 20, in which (a) is a front view of the color
change mechanism 20 and (b) is a sectional side view of the color
change mechanism 20.
[0022] As shown in FIG. 7, the color change mechanism 20 includes a
frame member (base) 22 of a channel-like sectional shape fixed to
the mounting plate 21, a ball screw 23 rotatably supported on the
frame member 22, and a moving member 26 mounted on a nut member 24
screwed on the ball screw 23 and slidable along guide shafts 25.
Drive motor 27 is fixed to the frame member 22 and has its motor
shaft connected to one end of the ball screw 23, to thereby
constitute a drive section. Thus, by activation of the drive motor
27, the ball screw 23 is rotated so that the moving member 26 is
caused to slide together with the nut member 24. Rod 28 is
connected to the needle bar case 16 of the machine head 3 of each
of the head pairs and has one end connected to the moving member
26, which thereby constitutes a slide drive member. As the moving
member 26 is slid by being driven by the drive motor 27, the needle
bar case 16 is slid in a left-right direction via the rod 28. As
shown in FIG. 6, the machine head 4 has a hole 29 to permit passage
therethrough of the rod 28.
[0023] As shown in FIG. 1 or 4, the horizontal movement mechanism
30 for causing each of the head pairs and color change mechanism 20
to slide together is provided on the front surface of the machine
frame 1. FIG. 8 shows, in a further enlarged scale, an example
specific construction of the horizontal movement mechanism 30, in
which (a) is a front view of the horizontal movement mechanism 30
and (b) is a sectional side view of the horizontal movement
mechanism 30. As shown in FIG. 8, the horizontal movement mechanism
30, which is constructed in a similar manner to the color change
mechanism 20, includes a frame member 31 fixed to the machine frame
1, a ball screw 32 rotatably supported on the frame member 31, and
a moving member 35 mounted on a nut member 33 screwed on the ball
screw 32 and slidable along guide shafts 34. Drive motor 36 is
fixed to the frame member 31 and has its motor shaft connected to
one end of the ball screw 32. The individual mounting plates 12
having the head pairs fixed thereto and the mounting plate 21
having the color change mechanism 20 are interconnected via a
connecting rod 37, and the mounting plate 21 is connected with the
moving member 35 of the horizontal movement mechanism 30 via the
connecting rod 37. Thus, as the drive motor 36 of the horizontal
movement mechanism 30 is driven to cause the moving member 35 to
slide, the individual machine heads 3 and the color change
mechanism 20 are caused to slide together in the horizontal
(leftward or rightward) direction. Then, either one of the machine
heads 3 or 4 is placed in positional correspondence to the rotary
hook bed 5, so that embroidery sewing is performed using the
thus-positioned machine head 3 or 4. At that time, the machine's
main shaft 18 is caused to slide together with the machine heads 3
and 4. FIG. 4 shows a state of the machine in which the
single-needle machine head 4 is in positional correspondence to the
rotary hook bed 5, while FIG. 10 or 11 shows a state of the machine
in which the multi-needle machine head 3 is in positional
correspond to the rotary hook bed 5.
[0024] FIG. 9 shows, in enlarged scale, an example specific
construction of a mechanism for transmitting rotation of a main
shaft motor 43 to the machine's main shaft disposed in a left
region of the front of the machine, in which (a) is a front view of
the rotation transmission mechanism and (b) is a sectional side
view of the rotation transmission mechanism. As clearly seen from
FIG. 9, a spline shaft 38 is connected to the left end of the
machine's main shaft 18. The spline shaft 38 has mounted thereon
bearings 39 slidable along the axis of the spline shaft 38 and
rotatable with the spline shaft 38. Main shaft pulley 40 and driven
pulley 41 are fixed to the bearings 39. The main shaft pulley 40 is
connected, via a timing belt 42, with the main shaft motor 43 fixed
to the rear surface of the machine frame 1. The driven pulley 41 is
connected with a rotary hook shaft pulley 46 via a timing belt 44
and intermediate pulley 45. The rotary hook shaft pulley 46 is
fixed to one end portion of a rotary hook shaft 47. As seen in FIG.
3, the rotary hook shaft 47 extends through the individual rotary
hook beds 5, and the rotary hook 6 in each of the rotary hook beds
5 is rotatable by rotation of the rotary hook shaft 47. Thus,
through activation of the main shaft motor 43, the machine's main
shaft 18 and rotary hook shaft 47 are rotated, so that not only the
sewing needle 17 or 19 is moved up and down but also the rotary
hook 6 is rotated. Via the spline shaft 38 and spline bearings 39,
the driving force of the main shaft motor 43 is transmitted to the
main shaft 18 with axial sliding movement of the shaft 18
permitted. In FIG. 9, a position of the spline shaft 38 when the
machine head 4 is in positional correspondence to the rotary hook
bed 5 (i.e., the state of FIG. 4) is indicated by a solid line,
while a position of the spline shaft 38 when the machine head 3 is
in positional correspondence to the rotary hook bed 5 (see FIG. 10)
is indicated by an imaginary line.
[0025] The following paragraphs describe an example manner in which
combination embroidery sewing is performed in the instant
embodiment.
[0026] First, a cylindrically-shaped embroidering workpiece is set
on the embroidery frame 10, and then the embroidery frame 10 is
mounted on the base sash frame 7. When decorative embroidery
sewing, such as sewing of a tape, is to be performed on the
embroidering workpiece, the single-needle machine head 4 in each of
the head pairs is placed, via the horizontal movement mechanism 30,
in positional correspondence to the associated rotary hook bed 5.
Then, the main shaft motor 43 is activated so that the sewing
needle 19 is moved up and down, the rotary hook 6 is rotated and
the base sash frame 7 is moved on the basis of embroidery data. In
this manner, decorative embroidery sewing, such as sewing of a
tape, is performed by the single-needle machine head 4, during
which time up-and-down movement of any one of the sewing needles 17
in the multi-needle machine head 3 that is not currently in
positional correspondence to the rotary hook bed 5 is inhibited
through the well-known jump control.
[0027] When multi-color embroidery is to be performed, the
multi-needle machine head 3 in each of the head pairs is placed,
via the horizontal movement mechanism 30, in positional
correspondence to the associated rotary hook bed 5, and then the
sewing needle 17 of a desired color thread is selectively
positioned at a predetermined position (selected position) through
driving by the color change mechanism 20. FIG. 11 shows a state in
which the sewing needle 17 of a desired color thread has been
selectively positioned at a predetermined operating position
(selected position) through driving by the color change mechanism
20. Then, the main shaft motor 43 is activated, so that the sewing
needle 17, positioned at the operating position (selected
position), is moved up and down, the rotary hook 6 is rotated and
the base sash frame 7 is moved on the basis of the embroidery data.
In this manner, embroidery sewing, using the desired color thread,
is performed by the multi-needle machine head 3, during which time
up-and-down movement of any one of the sewing needles 19 in the
single-needle machine head 4 that is not currently in positional
correspondence to the rotary hook bed 5 is inhibited through the
well-known jump control.
[0028] By selectively placing, through driving by the horizontal
movement mechanism 30, either one of the two types of machine heads
3 and 4 in positional correspondence to the associated single
rotary hook bed 5 as noted above, the instant embodiment permits
selective embroidery sewing by the two types of machine heads 3 and
4 although only one rotary hook bed 5 is to be positioned inside
the embroidering workpiece. As a result, combination embroidery
sewing on the cylindrically-shaped embroidering workpiece can be
performed by the single embroidery sewing machine smoothly without
any problem. Further, with the arrangement that the color change
mechanism 20 is caused to slide together with the machine heads 3
and 4, the instant embodiment allows a color change operation to be
readily performed in the multi-needle machine head 3 with the
conventional construction and control. If a construction where the
color change mechanism 20 is not caused to slide is employed, then
there arise needs for an extra structure to permit sliding movement
of the machine heads 3 relative to the color change mechanism 20,
control to calculate a sliding movement amount of the machine head
3, etc. which would result in a considerably complicated
construction of the machine. However, the present invention can
eliminate such complexity and thereby achieve a simplified
construction.
[0029] Whereas the slide drive mechanism of the color change
mechanism 20 and the slide drive mechanism of the horizontal
movement mechanism 30 in the embodiment have been described above
as ball-screw-based rotary-to-linear converting structures, the
present invention is not so limited, and the slide drive mechanisms
may be other suitable structures, such as cam-based
rotary-to-linear converting structures or linear-motor-based linear
movement structures. Further, the two types of machine heads in
each of the head pairs (groups) are not limited to a combination of
multi-needle and single-needle machine heads, and alternatively
both of the two machine heads may be multi-needle machine heads. In
the case where the two machine heads are multi-needle machine
heads, it is possible to increase the number of thread colors that
can be used; in this case, one color change mechanism 20 can be
shared between the paired multi-needle machine heads. Further, each
of the head groups may comprise three different types of machine
heads. Furthermore, the present invention is applicable to not only
to multi-head sewing machines but also sewing machines provided
with only one head pair or head group comprising two or more
machine heads.
* * * * *