Control apparatus for embroidery sewing machine
AssigneeBrother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsYoshikazu Kurono, Tomoo Hattori
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A control apparatus for an embroidery sewing machine performs thread trimming with certainty after a thread is cut upon replacing of the thread in the course of an embroidery sewing operation or upon completion of an embroidery sewing operation. The control apparatus detects the position of a movable frame and determines the thread trimming moving direction in which the movable frame is to be moved for thread trimming in accordance with the position of the movable frame and a movable area of the movable frame. In thread trimming, the control apparatus moves the movable frame in accordance with the moving direction and a movement distance for thread trimming.
Claims15
A control apparatus for a sewing machine, the sewing machine including a sewing needle, a frame driving means for driving a movable frame means for mounting a workpiece thereon within a limited movable area, and a thread cutting means for cutting a thread supplied to the sewing needle, comprising:
- a position detection means for detecting a current position of the movable frame means;
- a moving direction determination means coupled to a position detection means for determining the thread trimming direction for moving the movable frame means for thread trimming based on the current position of the movable frame means detected by the position detection means and the limited movable area of the movable frame means;
- and
- a controlling means coupled to the moving direction determination means for controlling the frame driving means to move the movable frame means in the thread trimming direction determined by the moving direction determination means during a thread trimming operation.
A sewing machine comprising:
- a needle sewing mechanism;
- a movable frame for supporting a workpiece located beneath the needle sewing mechanism;
- a thread cutting mechanism located adjacent the needle sewing mechanism;
- a drive mechanism coupled to the movable frame for moving the frame with respect to the needle sewing mechanism;
- and
- a controller coupled to the needle sewing mechanism, the movable frame, the thread cutting mechanism and the drive mechanism, comprising
- a memory that stores position data for the movable frame including a maximum distance the frame can move with respect to the needle sewing mechanism,
- a position detector coupled to the movable frame that detects a position of the movable frame upon commencement of a thread trimming operation,
- a determiner coupled to the position detector and the memory that determines a thread trimming direction and distance for the movable frame based on the detected position and the stored position data of the movable frame, and
- a drive controller coupled to the determiner that controls the drive mechanism to drive the movable frame in the determined thread trimming direction and distance during the thread trimming operation.
A method of controlling an embroidery sewing machine having a needle, a movable frame and a thread trimming mechanism, comprising the steps of:
- storing data including distance data for the movable frame corresponding to a maximum distance the frame can be moved with respect to the needle;
- detecting a position of the movable frame upon commencement of a thread trimming operation;
- determining a thread trimming direction and distance based on the detected position of the movable frame and the distance data for the movable frame;
- and
- controlling movement of the frame during the thread trimming operation based on the determined thread trimming direction and distance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.