Granted Patent B2

US 7,513,203 · App. 11/443,294 · Granted Apr 7, 2009

Abstract

Claims (42)

1. A sewing machine, comprising:

a needle which is supplied with an upper thread;

a drive element which drives the needle to perform a reciprocating movement in order to carry the upper thread through a sewing material which is advanced between the upper thread and the lower thread, so that the upper thread forms a loop beneath the sewing material;

a shuttle which houses a lower bobbin for the lower thread;

a shuttle arm on the shuttle which catches in the loop of the upper thread and carries the upper thread around the lower bobbin, so that a stitch is executed on the sewing material; and

a thread tensioning and take-up lever which on each stitch draws tight a knot that is formed in the sewing material by interaction of the upper thread and the lower thread;

a thread feeder for feeding the upper thread to the needle;

a control element which controls the advance of the thread from the thread feeder, so that the thread feeder on each stitch:

advances a predetermined length of upper thread, including an excess thread at the beginning of a stitch and

corrects the length of the upper thread on completion of the stitch in order that the thread tensioning and take-up lever will receive the correct length of the upper thread when the knot in the stitch is drawn tight, in that the thread feeder either retracts the excess upper thread, or advances the further upper thread required.

2. The sewing machine according to claim 1 , wherein the excess thread lies in the interval 0.5 mm<d<20 mm.

3. The sewing machine according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a sewing machine processor operative to calculate a thread consumption for a stitch.

4. The sewing machine according to claim 3 , wherein a deviation from the calculated thread consumption for a stitch can be adjusted manually.

5. The sewing machine according to claim 3 , wherein the thread feeder during a stitch is made to feed out the excess thread in a direction F during the time when the thread tensioning and take-up lever is descending towards the sewing material.

6. The sewing machine according to claim 3 , wherein during a stitch a thread length d−x is retracted, when the thread tensioning and take-up lever is ascending from the sewing material.

7. The sewing machine according to claim 3 , wherein during a stitch a thread length x−d is fed out, during the time when the thread tensioning and take-up lever is ascending from the sewing material.

8. The sewing machine according to claim 3 , wherein the thread feeder during a stitch is made to feed out the excess thread in the direction F during the time when the shuttle is carrying the upper thread around the lower bobbin.

9. The sewing machine according to claim 3 , wherein during a stitch a thread length d−x is retracted, after the point when the loop of the upper thread has been taken around the lower bobbin and begins to be drawn tight.

10. The sewing machine according to claim 3 , wherein during a stitch a thread length x−d is fed out, after the point when the loop of the upper thread has been taken around the lower bobbin and begins to be drawn tight.

11. A method in a sewing machine for advancing more thread during a stitch than is consumed in said stitch, the sewing machine comprising:

a needle which is supplied with an upper thread,

a drive element which drives the needle to perform a reciprocating movement in order to carry the upper thread through a sewing material which is advanced between the upper thread and the lower thread, so that the upper thread forms a loop beneath the sewing material,

a shuttle which houses a lower bobbin for the lower thread,

a shuttle arm on the shuttle which catches in the loop of the upper thread and carries the upper thread around the lower bobbin, so that a stitch is executed on the sewing material, and

a thread tensioning and take-up lever which on each stitch draws tight a knot that is formed in the sewing material by interaction of the upper thread and the lower thread, the method comprising:

feeding the upper thread to the needle with a thread feeder,

advancing the thread with a control element which controls the thread feeder,

advancing a predetermined length of upper thread including an excess thread with the thread feeder on each stitch; and

correcting the length of the upper thread during the stitch in order that the thread tensioning and take-up lever will receive the correct length of the upper thread when the knot in the stitch is drawn tight, either by retracting an excess upper thread, or advancing the further upper thread required.

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

feeding out the predetermined thread length, which is advanced by the thread feeder during a stitch, during a time interval during which the thread tensioning and take-up lever is descending toward the sewing material.

13. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

retracting in a direction B thread that is not consumed during a stitch, during a time interval during which the thread tensioning and take-up lever is ascending from the sewing material.

14. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

feeding out an extra thread length, which is the difference between a thread consumption for a stitch and the excess thread, in a direction F during a time interval during which the thread tensioning and take-up lever is ascending from the sewing material.

15. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

during a stitch making the thread feeder feed out the excess thread in a direction F during the time when the shuttle carries the upper thread around the lower bobbin.

16. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

during a stitch retracting a thread length after a point when the loop of the upper thread has been taken around the lower bobbin and is beginning to be drawn tight.

17. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

during a stitch feeing out a thread length after a point when the loop of the upper thread has been taken around the lower bobbin and is beginning to be drawn tight.

Assignments (16)