Method and apparatus for facilitating loop take time adjustment in multi-needle quilting machine

An apparatus for manufacturing quilted fabric having an array of discrete identical lock chain stitched patterns sewn therein, the apparatus comprising:

• a cyclically operable stitching mechanism including corresponding pluralities of needles and loopers disposed in an array on opposite sides of a fabric to be stitched;
• a motor linked to the mechanism operable to advance the mechanism to a point in a stitching cycle in response to a positioning command signal;
• a brake operable to lock the mechanism at the point in the cycle in response to a braking command signal;
• a position sensor coupled to the mechanism and operable to generate a loop-take-time position signal when the mechanism is in a loop-take-time position in the cycle;
• a controller programmed to generate the positioning command signal to the motor in response to an initiating signal and to generate the braking command signal to the brake in response to the loop-take-time position signal;
• and
• an actuator operable to send an initiating signal to the controller when activated.

A method of adjusting the stitching elements of a multiple needle double lock chain stitch quilting machine, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a cyclically operable stitch forming mechanism including a plurality of mechanically linked stitch forming elements disposed on opposite sides of a fabric to be sewn and mechanically linked to move cyclically in synchronism, the each element including a needle reciprocable through the fabric from the top thereof and a looper oscillatable into and out of engagement with the needle on the bottom of the fabric;
• generating an adjustment initiation signal;
• providing power to a drive element and therewith advancing the mechanism in response to the adjustment initiation signal;
• sensing the position of the stitching mechanism in its cycle and generating a loop-take-time position signal upon the sensing of the stitching mechanism in a loop-take-time position;
• automatically stopping the drive element and locking the mechanism in the loop-take-time position in response to the loop-take-time position signal;
• adjusting the positions of a looper relative to a needle of at least one of the stitching elements when the mechanism is stopped and locked in the loop-take-time position.