Feed mechanism that advances fabric

A feed mechanism that advances fabric comprising:

• at least one dog that mechanically advances the fabric toward a sewing head;
• at least one actuator that is coupled to and actuates the at least one dog in a servo controlled motion so that the sewing head sews the fabric at a desirable position;
• and
• a thread-level vision module that monitors the movement of the fabric near the sewing head and facilitates controlling the movement of the at least one dog on a stitch by stitch basis.

A feed mechanism that advances fabric comprising:

• at least one dog that mechanically advances the fabric toward a sewing head;
• and
• at least one actuator that is coupled to and actuates the at least one dog in a servo controlled motion so that the sewing head sews the fabric at a desirable position,
• wherein the at least one dog includes at least one pair of dogs that are positioned above and/or below a table surface so as to be able to control more than three (3) degrees of freedom in the motion of the fabric.

A feed mechanism that advances fabric comprising:

• at least one dog that mechanically advances the fabric toward a sewing head;
• and
• at least one actuator that is coupled to and actuates the at least one dog in a servo controlled motion so that the sewing head sews the fabric at a desirable position,
• wherein the at least one rotates on a vertical cylindrical pin.

A feed mechanism that advances fabric comprising:

• at least one dog that mechanically advances the fabric toward a sewing head;
• and
• at least one actuator that is coupled to and actuates the at least one dog in a servo controlled motion so that the sewing head sews the fabric at a desirable position,
• wherein the at least one dog is driven by the at least one actuator that is stationary while the at least one dog moves up and down.

A feed mechanism that advances fabric comprising:

• at least one dog that mechanically advances the fabric toward a sewing head;
• and
• at least one actuator that is coupled to and actuates the at least one dog in a servo controlled motion so that the sewing head sews the fabric at a desirable position,
• wherein the at least one actuator includes moving coil motors that are used to drive the at least one dog.

A feed mechanism that advances fabric comprising:

• at least one dog that mechanically advances the fabric toward a sewing head;
• and
• at least one actuator that is coupled to and actuates the at least one dog in a servo controlled motion so that the sewing head sews the fabric at a desirable position,
• a sensor that measures the tangential force at the dogs to allow an evaluation of the sewing conditions.

A sewing machine comprising:

• a sewing head;
• and
• a feed mechanism that advances fabric to a sewing head, the feed mechanism comprising:
• at least one dog that mechanically advances the fabric;
• and
• at least one actuator that is coupled to and actuates the at least one dog in a servo controlled motion so that the sewing head sews the fabric at a desirable position, wherein the at least one actuator actuates the at least one dog based on the thread count of the fabric.

A sewing machine comprising:

• a sewing head;
• and
• a feed mechanism that advances fabric to a sewing head, the feed mechanism comprising:
• at least one dog that mechanically advances the fabric;
• at least one actuator that is coupled to and actuates the at least one dog in a servo controlled motion so that the sewing head sews the fabric at a desirable position, and
• a thread-level vision module that monitors the movement of the fabric near the sewing head and facilitates controlling the movement of the at least one dog on a stitch by stitch basis.

A sewing machine comprising:

• a sewing head;
• a conveyance system that transports fabric;
• and
• a feed mechanism that receives the fabric transported by the conveyance system and advances the fabric to the sewing head, the feed mechanism comprising:
• at least one dog that mechanically advances the fabric;
• and
• at least one actuator that is coupled to and actuates the at least one dog in a servo controlled motion so that the sewing head sews the fabric at a desirable position, wherein the at least one actuator actuates the at least one dog based on thread count of the fabric.