Patent Application
20090256898
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a printing device, more particularly to a device for printing a picture onto a piece of cloth to be embroidered, and an embroidering machine having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
However, since the piece of cloth is tensioned by the cloth-holding frame 320 with a tension degree suitable for the embroidering operation and different from that suitable for the color pressing operation, the picture presented on the piece of cloth may differ slightly from that formed on the piece of cloth through the color pressing operation due to different tension degrees, thereby resulting in picture distortion.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a device for printing a picture onto a piece of cloth to be embroidered that includes a cloth-holding frame unit suitable for an embroidering machine and that that can overcome the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for printing a picture onto a piece of cloth. The device comprises:
a base having a top surface formed with a receiving groove;
a cover connected pivotally to the base, disposed on the top surface of the base for covering the receiving groove, and configured with an inner accommodating space in spatial communication with the receiving groove in the base;
a cloth-holding frame unit adapted for holding the piece of cloth thereon, and mounted fittingly and detachably in the receiving groove in the base, the cloth-holding frame unit having an outer frame disposed in the receiving groove in the top surface of the base, a looped inner frame disposed on and surrounded by the outer frame, and a lock bolt for locking the outer frame on the looped inner frame such that the piece of cloth is held tensionally between the looped inner frame and the outer frame; and
a coloring unit mounted on the cover, disposed movably in the inner accommodating space in the cover and above the piece of cloth, and operable so as to spray a coloring material onto the piece of cloth, thereby printing the picture onto the piece of cloth with the coloring material sprayed from the coloring unit.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for printing a picture onto a piece of cloth. The device comprises:
a base having a top surface;
a coloring mechanism mounted on the top surface of the base, and including a coloring unit disposed above the top surface of the base and movable relative to the base in a first direction;
a slide seat mounted on the top surface of the base, and movable relative to the base in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and
a cloth-holding frame unit adapted for holding the piece of cloth thereon, mounted on the slide seat, and disposed below the coloring unit, the cloth-holding frame unit having an outer frame mounted on the slide seat, a looped inner frame disposed on and surrounded by the outer frame, and a lock bolt for locking the outer frame on the looped inner frame such that the piece of cloth is held tensionally between the looped inner frame and the outer frame.
The coloring unit is operable so as to spray a coloring material onto the piece of cloth, thereby printing the picture onto the piece of cloth with the coloring material sprayed from the coloring unit.
According to a further aspect of present invention, an embroidering machine comprises:
a housing unit including a bed portion having a top surface, an upright column portion extending upwardly from the top surface of the bed portion and having a top end, and an arm portion extending laterally from the top end of the column portion to confront the bed portion and having a head disposed above the bed portion;
a stitching unit mounted on the head of the arm portion of the housing unit; and
a device for printing a picture onto a piece of cloth, the device including
The coloring unit is operable so as to spray a coloring material onto the piece of cloth when the slide seat is disposed in the printing area, thereby printing the picture onto the piece of cloth with the coloring material sprayed from the coloring unit.
The stitching unit is operable so as to perform embroidery operation on the piece of cloth held on the cloth-holding frame unit and printed with the picture thereon after the slide seat is moved from the printing area into the stitching area.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.
Referring to
The base 3 has a top surface 30 formed with a receiving groove 31.
The cover 2 is connected pivotally to the base 3, is disposed on the top surface 30 of the base 3 for covering the receiving groove 31, and is configured with an inner accommodating space 20 in spatial communication with the receiving groove 31 in the base 3.
The cloth-holding frame unit 4 is adapted for holding the piece of cloth 10 thereon, and is mounted fittingly and detachably in the receiving groove 31 in the base 3. The cloth-holding frame 4 has an outer frame 41 disposed in the receiving groove 31 in the top surface 30 of the base 3, a looped inner frame 42 disposed on and surrounded by the outer frame 41, and a lock bolt 43 for locking the outer frame 41 on the looped inner frame 42 such that the piece of cloth is held tensionally between the looped inner frame 42 and the outer frame 41. In this embodiment, referring further to
The coloring unit 1 is mounted on the cover 2, is disposed movably in the inner accommodating space 20 in the cover 2 and above the piece of cloth 10, and is operable so as to spray a coloring material onto the piece of cloth 10, thereby printing the picture onto the piece of cloth 10 with the coloring material sprayed from the coloring unit 1. Since the feature of the invention does not reside in the configuration of the coloring unit 1, which is conventional, details of the same are omitted herein for the sake of brevity.
It is noted that, after the printing operation, an assembly of the cloth-holding frame unit 4, and the piece of cloth 10 printed with the picture can be detached from the base 3, and can be then installed on an embroidering machine, such as the conventional embroidering machine shown in
Referring to
The base 5 has a top surface 50. In this embodiment, the top surface 50 is formed with two parallel slide slots 50 opposite to each other in a first direction (X) and extending in a second direction (Y) perpendicular to the first direction (X).
The coloring mechanism 6 is mounted on the top surface 50 of the base 5, and includes an inverted U-shaped mounting frame 61 and a coloring unit 62. The inverted U-shaped mounting frame 61 is mounted fixedly on the top surface 50 of the base 5, and is disposed across the slide slots 50. The coloring unit 62 is mounted on the mounting frame 61, is disposed above the top surface 50 of the base 5, and is movable relative to the base 5 in the first direction (X).
The slide seat 7 is mounted on the top surface 50 of the base 5, and is movable relative to the base 5 in the second direction (Y). In this embodiment, referring further to
The cloth-holding frame unit 4′ is adapted for holding the piece of cloth 10 thereon, and is mounted on the slide seat 7. In this embodiment, the cloth-holding frame unit 4′ has a configuration similar to that of the cloth-holding frame unit 4 of the first preferred embodiment except that the outer frame 41′ further has two wings 410 extending respectively and outwardly from two sides of the bottom frame portion 412 of the outer frame 41′ that are opposite to each other in the first direction (X). Each wing 410 is clamped between the two inverted L-shaped plates 72 of a corresponding clamp unit and the plate body 71 of the slide seat 7, as shown in
The coloring unit 62 is operable so as to spray a coloring material onto the piece of cloth 10, thereby printing the picture onto the piece of cloth 10 with the coloring material sprayed from the coloring unit 62.
Referring further to
In use, the slide seat 7 is operable so as to move in the second direction (Y) within one of a printing area, where the slide seat 7 is disposed on the top surface 50 of the base 5, and a stitching area, where the slide seat 7 is disposed on the bed portion 110 of the housing unit 100 and below the stitching unit 140. During printing operation, the coloring unit 62 is operated as described above while the slide seat 7 is disposed in the printing area. After the printing operation, the slide seat 7 is moved from the printing area into the stitching area. Thereafter, the stitching unit 140 is operable so as to perform embroidering operation on the piece of cloth 10 held on the cloth-holding frame unit 4′ and printed with the picture thereon. As a result, an assembly of the device of this invention and the embroidering machine can successively carry out the printing and stitching operations for the piece of cloth 10, thereby resulting in convenience during use.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
