Multiple horizontal needle quilting machine and method

A method of quilting a substrate with a multi-needle quilting machine having at least two rows of stitching elements comprising:

• with stitching elements of the at least two rows activated, stitching a first pattern with the rows of stitching elements while imparting relative longitudinal movement in a net forward direction between the stitching elements and the substrate;
• then
• deactivating a first row of the stitching elements at a first set of final longitudinal positions on the substrate;
• then,
• with the stitching elements of the first row deactivated, further stitching the first pattern with a second row of the stitching elements while imparting additional relative longitudinal movement a first given longitudinal distance in a net forward direction between the stitching elements and the substrate;
• then
• deactivating the second row of the stitching elements at a second set of final longitudinal positions on the substrate having a predetermined relationship to the first set of final longitudinal positions;
• then,
• with the stitching elements of the first and second rows deactivated, imparting relative longitudinal movement in a net backward direction between the stitching elements and the substrate until the stitching elements of the first row are at a first set of starting longitudinal positions less than the given longitudinal distance from the final longitudinal positions of the first set;
• then
• activating the first row of the stitching elements at the first set of starting longitudinal positions on the substrate;
• then,
• with the stitching elements of the first row activated, stitching a second pattern with the first row of the stitching elements while imparting additional relative longitudinal movement a second given distance in a net forward direction between the stitching elements and the substrate;
• then
• activating the second row of the stitching elements at a second set of starting longitudinal positions on the substrate having a predetermined relationship to the first set of starting longitudinal positions;
• then,
• with stitching elements of the first and second rows activated, further stitching the second pattern with the rows of stitching elements while imparting relative longitudinal movement in a net forward direction between the stitching elements and the substrate;
• whereby, the first and second patterns are stitched on the substrate less than the given distance apart.

A method of quilting a substrate with a multi-needle quilting machine having at least two separately actuatable groups of stitching elements, the at least two groups including a first group and a second group that each include a plurality of stitching elements, the method comprising:

• with stitching elements of each of the at least two groups activated, quilting a first pattern on a substrate by stitching a first series of stitches of the first pattern with a plurality of the stitching elements of the first group while stitching a second series of stitches of the first pattern with a plurality of the stitching elements of the second group;
• then
• deactivating the stitching elements of the first group and further stitching a second series of stitches of the first pattern with a plurality of the stitching elements of the second group;
• then,
• deactivating the stitching elements of the second group to complete the quilting of the first pattern on the substrate;
• and
• after deactivating the stitching elements of the first group, activating stitching elements of the first group and beginning quilting a second pattern on the substrate by stitching a first series of stitches of a second pattern with the plurality of the elements of the first group;
• then
• after the deactivating of the stitching elements of the second group to complete the quilting of the first pattern on the substrate, and after the activating of the stitching elements of the first group and the beginning of the quilting of the second pattern on the substrate, activating stitching elements of the second group and further quilting of the second pattern on a substrate by stitching a second series of stitches of the second pattern with the plurality of the stitching elements of the second group.

A multi-needle quilting machine comprising:

• at least two separately actuatable groups of stitching elements, the at least two groups including a first group and a second group that each include a plurality of stitching elements longitudinally spaced from stitching elements of the other group;
• a material drive selectively operable to impart relative longitudinal movement between a substrate and the groups of stitching elements;
• a transverse drive operable to impart relative transverse movement between the substrate and the groups of stitching elements;
• a stitching element drive operable to either sew with the first group without sewing with the second group, or to sew with the second group without sewing with the first group, or to sew simultaneously with both;
• a controller operable to control the operation of the material drive, the transverse drive, and the stitching element drive to stitch a selected pattern as the substrate by sewing with both groups of stitching elements simultaneously or by selectively sewing with stitching elements of one group while without sewing with stitching elements of the other group;
• the controller being programmed to quilt a pattern on a substrate with stitching elements of each of the at least two groups sewing simultaneously, by stitching first series of stitches of the pattern with a plurality of the stitching elements of the first group while stitching second series of stitches of the pattern with a plurality of the stitching elements of the second group a longitudinal distance from the stitching of the first series of stitches;
• and,
• the controller being further programmed to stitch a second series of stitches of the pattern with a plurality of the stitching elements of the second group without sewing with stitching elements of the first group and to thereby begin or end the stitching of the first and second series of stitches closer together than said longitudinal distance.