Sewing machines generally function to form a row of stitches in one or more layers of fabric using a combination of thread from a spool, also known as top thread, and thread from a bobbin, also known as bottom thread. A sewing machine generally operates using a sewing needle threaded with the top thread and a bobbin threaded with the bottom thread. Once threaded, the sewing machine generally forms a row of stitches by repeatedly reciprocating the sewing needle through the one or more layers of fabric while simultaneously rotating a rotary hook connected to the bobbin thread underneath the one or more layers of fabric.
During operation, sewing machines are generally configured either to remain stationary during operation or to be repositioned during operation. Stationary sewing machines (sometimes also referred to as sit-down sewing machines) are generally configured to remain stationary while a user repositions one or more layers of fabric in a desired direction underneath the needle. Maneuverable sewing machines (sometimes also referred to as stand-up sewing machines) are generally configured to be mounted upon a sewing machine carriage, while one or more layers of fabric are mounted in a stationary frame, to allow a user to reposition the sewing machine needle in a desired direction over the fabric.
Like a sewing machine, a felting machine also includes one or more reciprocating needles, but instead of a threaded sewing needle configured to sew a row of stitches, a felting machine includes one or more felting needles configured to mesh layers of fabric together by pressing and pulling fibers between the layers of fabric using barbs on the felting needles. In some applications, the fibers mingle to create new color and texture combinations that cannot be achieved with embroidery, applique, or other kind of needlework. For example, a felting machine may function to incorporate fibers from a first layer of material into a second layer of material by using the barbs on felting needles to press fibers from the first layer into the second layer and/or to pull fibers from the first layer into the second layer.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.
Some embodiments disclosed herein may include a felting assembly for a sewing machine. The felting assembly may include a felting needle clamp including one or more felting needles. The felting assembly may also include a needle plate defining one or more needle openings arranged to allow the one or more felting needles to reciprocate therethrough. The needle plate may be configured to be attached to a sewing machine over a rotary hook of the sewing machine. The felting assembly may also include a connector configured to attach the felting needle clamp to a needle bar of the sewing machine such that the felting needle clamp is offset from the rotary hook of the sewing machine to avoid the one or more felting needles from contacting the rotary hook when the one or more felting needles are reciprocated through the one or more needle openings in the needle plate.
In some embodiments, the felting assembly may also include a hopping foot configured to be attached to a presser bar of the sewing machine. The hopping foot may define a bowl. The hopping foot may be configured to press fabric down against the needle plate. In these embodiments, the bowl may surround and define a felting opening that may be configured to allow the one or more felting needles to reciprocate therethrough. In these embodiments, the bowl may further define an open gap that may be configured such that the hopping foot avoids the connector and the needle bar. In these or other embodiments, an outer edge of the bowl may be configured to flatten a fibrous material against the fabric as the bowl is reciprocated over the fibrous material and the fabric.
In some embodiments, the one or more needle openings defined in the needle plate may include a first set of one or more needle openings arranged to be positioned beneath the one or more felting needles when the needle plate is attached to the sewing machine in a first orientation, and a second set of one or more needle openings arranged to be positioned beneath the one or more felting needles when the needle plate is attached to a second sewing machine in a second orientation.
In some embodiments, the connector may define a first opening configured to receive and attach to the needle bar and a second opening configured to receive and attach to the felting needle clamp.
In some embodiments the sewing machine may be a long-arm quilting machine.
Some embodiments disclosed herein may include a felting assembly for a sewing machine. The felting assembly may include a felting needle clamp including one or more felting needles. The felting needle clamp may be configured to be coupled to a needle bar of a sewing machine. The felting assembly may also include a needle plate defining one or more needle openings arranged to receive the one or more felting needles. The needle plate may be configured to be attached to the sewing machine. The felting assembly may also include a hopping foot defining a felting opening configured to allow the one or more felting needles to reciprocate therethrough. The hopping foot may be configured to be coupled to a presser bar of the sewing machine such that the hopping foot is configured to reciprocate between pressing fabric down against the needle plate before the one or more felting needles have reciprocated into the fabric and lifting off of the fabric after the one or more felting needles have reciprocated out of the fabric.
In some embodiments, the needle plate may be configured to be attached to the sewing machine over a rotary hook of the sewing machine. The felting assembly may further include a connector configured to couple the felting needle clamp to the needle bar of the sewing machine such that the felting needle clamp is offset from the rotary hook of the sewing machine to avoid the one or more felting needles from contacting the rotary hook when the one or more felting needles are reciprocated through the one or more needle openings in the needle plate. In these embodiments, the hopping foot may define a bowl surrounding the felting opening. In these embodiments, the bowl may define an open gap that may be configured such that the hopping foot avoids the connector and the needle bar. In these embodiments, an outer edge of the bowl may be configured to flatten a fibrous material against the fabric as the bowl is reciprocated over the fibrous material and the fabric.
In some embodiments, a sewing machine may include a frame, a needle bar coupled to the frame and configured to reciprocate, a rotary hook coupled to the frame and configured to rotate, and a felting assembly. The felting assembly may include a felting needle clamp including one or more felting needles, a needle plate, and a connector. The needle plate may define one or more needle openings arranged to allow the one or more felting needles to reciprocate therethrough. The needle plate may be attached to the frame over the rotary hook. The connector may attach the felting needle clamp to the needle bar such that the felting needle clamp is offset from the rotary hook to avoid the one or more felting needles from contacting the rotary hook while the one or more felting needles are reciprocated through the one or more needle openings in the needle plate.
In some embodiments, the sewing machine may further include a presser bar coupled to the frame and configured to reciprocate and a hopping foot attached to the presser bar. The hopping foot may define a felting opening configured to allow the one or more felting needles to reciprocate therethrough. The hopping foot may be configured to reciprocate between pressing fabric down against the needle plate before the one or more felting needles have reciprocated into the fabric and lifting off of the fabric after the one or more felting needles have reciprocated out of the fabric. In these embodiments, the hopping foot may define a bowl that surrounds the felting opening, and the bowl may define an open gap configured such that the hopping foot avoids the connector and the needle bar. The hopping foot may include an outer edge of the bowl configured to flatten fibrous material against the fabric as the bowl is reciprocated over the fibrous material and the fabric.
In some embodiments, the one or more needle openings defined in the needle plate may be offset from a plane defined by a center axis of the needle bar and a length of the frame.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.
Example embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
In some applications, it may be advantageous to retrofit a sewing machine with the functionality of a felting machine by generally replacing a reciprocating sewing needle with multiple reciprocating felting needles. However, such a retrofit may be difficult. For example, one difficulty involves felting needles (which may include barbs instead of an eye that is configured to be threaded with a top thread) being clustered in sets of multiple felting needles, and sewing machines may not be configured to accommodate multiple-needle configurations. For example, a typical needle plate of a sewing machine may only include a single hole for a single sewing needle, which may not accommodate multiple felting needles. Also, another difficulty involves a sewing machine typically including a rotary hook under the needle plate that is configured to repeatedly thread bottom thread (from a bobbin) through loops of top thread (threaded on the sewing needle) each time the sewing needle reciprocates below the needle plate. However, when the single sewing needle is replaced with multiple felting needles that also reciprocate below the needle plate, these felting needles may come into contact with the rotary hook unnecessarily (because the rotary hook is only used during sewing and is not used during felting) and thereby damage the felting needles and/or the rotary hook.
Some embodiments disclosed herein include a felting assembly configured to retrofit a sewing machine for felting. In some embodiments, the felting assembly may include a felting needle clamp including one or more felting needles. The felting assembly may also include a needle plate defining one or more needle openings arranged to allow the one or more felting needles to reciprocate therethrough. The needle plate may be configured to be attached to a sewing machine over a rotary hook of the sewing machine. The felting assembly may also include a connector configured to attach the felting needle clamp to a needle bar of the sewing machine such that the felting needle clamp is offset from the rotary hook of the sewing machine to avoid the one or more felting needles from contacting the rotary hook when the one or more felting needles are reciprocated through the one or more needle openings in the needle plate. The felting assembly may also include a hopping foot configured to be attached to a presser bar of the sewing machine. The hopping foot may define a bowl and be configured to press fabric and/or a fibrous material down against the needle plate.
Therefore, some embodiments disclosed herein may enable a sewing machine to function as both a sewing machine and a felting machine, and/or to be retrofitted as a felting machine, by accommodating one or more felting needles instead of only a single sewing needle, and by enabling the one or more felting needles to avoid coming into contact with the rotary hook during felting (e.g., even where the rotary hook is left in place and rotates during felting).
The sewing machine 100 of
As disclosed in
To facilitate use of the sewing machine 100 by a user, the sewing machine 100 may be mounted on a fabric frame 140. The fabric frame 140 may include legs 142 and a table top 144. A sewing machine carriage 146 may be mounted on the table top 144 and the sewing machine 100 may be mounted in the sewing machine carriage 146. This configuration may allow a user to grasp the handlebars 172 that are attached to the frame 102 of the sewing machine 100 and then reposition the sewing machine 100 while sewing over the fabric 150 (such as a backing fabric, a quilt-top fabric, and a batting fabric) spooled on spools of the fabric frame 140. When mounted to the fabric frame 140, the sewing machine 100 is configured as a maneuverable sewing machine (sometimes also referred to as a stand-up sewing machine) in which the user repositions the sewing machine 100 in a desired direction over one or more layers of fabric, such as the fabric 150, which remains stationary due to being mounted in the fabric frame 140. Although three layers of fabric are illustrated in
In some embodiments, a user may periodically replace a typical sewing needle and other components that would typically be employed in the sewing machine 100 with the felting assembly 120, and vice versa, to switch between using the sewing machine 100 as a sewing machine and as a felting machine. The felting assembly 120 may include a connector 122, a needle clamp 124, and felting needles 126. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the felting assembly 120 may include the hopping foot 130, which may replace a typical foot (e.g. replace a typical presser foot or a typical hopping foot). The hopping foot 130 may include a bowl 132, a gap 134 (see
In some embodiments, the needle clamp 124 may be configured to receive and attach to multiple felting needles 126. In some embodiments, the needle clamp 124 may temporarily attach to each of the felting needles 126 such that any one of the felting needles 126 may be replaced. As an example of how the needle clamp 124 may attach to the felting needles 126, the needle clamp 124 may define multiple needle-base openings on the underside of the needle clamp 124 (e.g. with one needle-base opening corresponding to each of the felting needles 126). The needle clamp 124 may further include multiple set screws that may be tightened to retain the felting needles 126 in the needle-base openings, and that may be loosened so that the felting needles 126 can be removed from the needle-base openings. In some embodiments, the arrangement of the needle-base openings on the underside of the needle clamp 124 may correspond to an arrangement of needle openings in the needle plate 116.
In some embodiments, the felting needles 126 may include barbs configured to pull fibers of a material with the felting needles 126 as the felting needles 126 pass through the material.
In some embodiments, the connector 122 may be configured to couple the needle clamp 124 to the needle bar 104. The connector 122 may define a first opening configured to receive and attach to the needle bar 104 and a second opening configured to receive and attach to the needle clamp 124. As an example of how the connector 122 may attach to the needle bar 104, (or the needle clamp 124) the first opening may include an interior rim configured to fit within a groove on the needle bar 104. The connector 122 may split in two parts allowing the needle bar 104, including the grooved portion, to fit into the first opening. Thereafter, the connector 122 may be reassembled such that the interior rim may fit within the groove of the needle bar 104 to retain the needle bar 104. In these or other embodiments, the connector 122 may include screws that may retain the two parts of the connector 122 together and which may be loosened or removed such that the connector 122 may be split into its two parts.
In some embodiments, the connector 122 may be configured to offset the felting needles 126 from the needle bar 104 and/or a rotary hook and/or a bobbin of the sewing machine 100 (see
In some embodiments, the hopping foot 130 may be configured to press the fabric 150 and/or a fibrous material 152 (see
In some embodiments, the hopping foot 130 may include the bowl 132 which may include an outer edge that may be configured to flatten the fibrous material 152 and/or the fabric 150 (see
In some embodiments, the hopping foot 130 may define a multi-needle opening sized and arranged to allow the felting needles 126 to reciprocate through the hopping foot 130.
In some embodiments, the gap 134 may be defined by the bowl 132 such that the hopping foot 130 does not contact the connector 122 or the needle bar 104. For example, while both the needle bar 104 and the presser bar 106 are reciprocated down, pushing the connector 122 and the hopping foot 130 down, the connector 122 and/or an end of the needle bar 104 may fit within the gap 134 such that the connector 122 and the presser bar 106 do not contact (e.g., interfere with) the hopping foot 130, as disclosed in
In some embodiments, the foot connector 136 may be configured to receive and attach to the presser bar 106. As an example of how the hopping foot 130 may be connected to the presser bar 106, the foot connector 136 may include a screw to attach the foot connector 136 to the presser bar 106.
In some embodiments, the needle plate 116 may be configured to sit below the needle bar 104 and the presser bar 106, and to sit above the rotary hook 160 and the bobbin (see
In some embodiments, the needle plate 116 may define a first set of needle openings and a second set of needle openings. Thus, the needle plate 116 may be configured to be attached to the sewing machine 100 (see
The sewing machine 400 of
As disclosed in
To facilitate use of the sewing machine 400 by a user, the sewing machine 400 may be mounted on the table 440. The table 440 may include legs 442 and a table top 444. The table top 444 may include a recess 446 into which the sewing machine 400 may be mounted such that the top surface of the needle plate 416 is generally flush with the top surface of table top 444. When mounted to the table 440, the sewing machine 400 is configured as a stationary sewing machine (sometimes also referred to as a sit-down sewing machine) in which the sewing machine 400 is configured to remain stationary during operation while a user repositions the fabric 450-452 in a desired direction underneath the needle. Although two layers of fabric are illustrated in
In some embodiments, a user may periodically replace a typical sewing needle and other components that would typically be employed in the sewing machine 400 with the felting assembly 420, and vice versa, to switch between using the sewing machine 400 as a sewing machine and as a felting machine. The felting assembly 420 may include the connector 122, the needle clamp 124, the felting needles 126, or the needle plate 116, or some combination thereof, each of which is described above in connection with
Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the felting assembly 420 may include a presser foot 431, which may replace a typical foot. The presser foot 431 may be similar to the hopping foot 130 of
Although a needle clamp is disclosed herein that includes multiple felting needles, in some embodiments a needle clamp may instead include only a single felting needle, or may be replaced by a single felting needle. Further, although a needle plate is disclosed herein that includes multiple openings arranged to allow for multiple felting needles to reciprocate therethrough, in some embodiments a needle plate may instead include only a single needle opening arranged to allow for only a single felting needle to reciprocate therethrough. Also, although a needle plate is disclosed herein that is configured with to be attached to a sewing machine in multiple orientations, in some embodiments a needle plate may instead be configured to be attached to a sewing machine in only a single orientation. Further, a hopping foot is disclosed herein that is bowl shaped, in some embodiments a hopping foot may have another shape.
Embodiments of the motors, controllers, and sensors described herein may be implemented using non-transitory computer-readable media for carrying or having computer-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such computer-readable media may be any available media that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include non-transitory computer-readable storage media including RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other storage medium which may be used to carry or store one or more desired programs having program code in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and which may be accessed and executed by a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or virtual computer such as a virtual machine. Combinations of the above may also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
Computer-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions and data which, when executed by one or more processors, cause a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or virtual computer such as a virtual machine to perform a certain method, function, or group of methods or functions. Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological steps, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or steps described above. Rather, the specific features and steps described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
As used herein, the term “program” may refer to software objects or routines that execute on a computing system. The different programs described herein may be implemented as objects or processes that execute on a computing system (e.g., as separate threads).
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical objects to aid the reader in understanding the example embodiments and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically-recited examples and conditions.