Indexable, locking hopping foot

A hopping foot assembly for a sewing machine having a needle, the hopping foot assembly comprising:

• a circular hopping foot base shaped to include an outer surface and an inner surface that defines a needle opening that extends axially therethrough relative to an axis to allow the needle to extend into and out of fabric during use of the sewing machine,
• a hopping foot arm that extends axially from the hopping foot base relative to the axis and configured to be coupled to the sewing machine to fix the hopping foot base relative to the sewing machine, and
• a ruler guide coupled to the hopping foot base and configured to change between an unlocked configuration in which the ruler guide is free to rotate about the axis relative to the hopping foot base and a locked configuration in which the ruler guide is blocked from rotating relative to the hopping foot base so that an orientation of the ruler guide is maintained when the ruler guide is engaged with an edge of a ruler to allow a user to follow a path with the needle of the sewing machine during use of the sewing machine,
• wherein the rotating ruler guide comprises:
• a bearing coupled to the outer surface of the hopping foot base and configured to rotate about the axis,
• a rotating guide attachment coupled to the bearing and configured to engage the edge of the ruler so as to align the needle with the path, and
• a locking assembly comprising:
• a lock disk coupled to the hopping foot base, and
• a locking latch coupled to the guide attachment and configured to change between a locked position in which the locking latch mates with the lock disk to block rotation of the guide attachment relative to the hopping foot base and an unlocked position in which the locking latch is spaced apart from the lock disk to allow rotation of the guide attachment relative to the hopping foot base,
• wherein the lock disk is shaped to include a plurality of locking teeth that define a plurality of disk grooves that open radially inward toward the axis,
• wherein the locking latch is shaped to include a plurality of locking teeth that define a plurality of latch grooves that open radially outward away from the axis, and
• wherein the plurality of locking teeth on lock disk extend into the plurality of latch grooves, and the plurality of locking teeth on the locking latch extend into the plurality of disk grooves when the locking latch is in the locked position to block rotation of the guide attachment relative to the hopping foot base.