Claims
- 1. A quilting apparatus comprising:a needle plate for supporting a fabric to be quilted; a presser plate parallel to the needle plate and moveably mounted to reciprocate during each of a plurality of stitching cycles, between a material clamping position spaced from and relatively proximate to the needle plate and a material releasing position spaced from and relatively remote from the needle plate; a ganged needle array located opposite the presser plate from the needle plate having thereon a plurality of needles each positioned to pass through aligned arrays of holes in the pressure plate and needle plate to stitch material clamped between the needle plate and the pressure plate when the pressure plate is in its clamping position; a needle rocker shaft linked to the needle array and mounted to oscillate through angular displacements to impart reciprocating motion to the needles of the array; a presser plate rocker shaft linked to the presser plate and mounted to oscillate through angular displacements to impart reciprocating motion to the presser plate in response to the angular displacements of the needle rocker shaft; a drive motor having an output connected to the needle rocker shaft to drive the needles of the array in their reciprocating motion and to thereby drive the presser plate in its reciprocating motion; an adjustable element connected in series with the presser plate rocker shaft between the needle rocker shaft and the presser plate whereby the range of the reciprocating motion of the presser plate can be adjusted; an adjustment motor having an output connected to the adjustable element; and a controller having a control signal output connected to the adjustment motor to control the motor to move the adjustable element to thereby adjust the range of the reciprocating motion of the presser plate.
- 2. A quilting apparatus comprising:a needle plate for supporting a fabric to be quilted; a presser plate parallel to the needle plate and moveably mounted to reciprocate, during each of a plurality of stitching cycles of the apparatus, between a material clamping position spaced from and relatively proximate to the needle plate and a material releasing position spaced from and relatively remote from the needle plate; a drive motor for driving the apparatus through the plurality of cycles; a presser plate drive linkage connecting the presser plate to an output of the drive motor; the linkage having a variable element therein moveable to and from each of a plurality of settings to thereby vary the spacing between the needle plate and the presser plate when in its material clamping position; an actuator having an output connected to the variable element and operable in response to a control signal to selectively move the element to and from each of the settings; and a controller operable to send the control signal to the actuator to change a presser plate setting.
- 3. The quilting apparatus of claim 2 further comprising:a sensor responsive to the thickness or density of the fabric; and the controller having an input connected to the sensor and being programmed to automatically determine a pressure plate setting appropriate for quilting the fabric and being operable to send the control signal to the actuator to change the pressure plate setting to the determined setting.
- 4. The quilting apparatus of claim 2 wherein:the controller has a memory associated therewith having stored therein data of machine parameters for the quilting of a plurality of different quilted fabrics, the data including the presser plate setting appropriate for quilting each respective product; and the controller is operable in response to the data stored in the memory to control parameters of the apparatus to produce each of the different quilted products, including to generate the control signal to the actuator to cause the actuator to effect the pressure plate settings appropriate to respectively quilt each of the products.
- 5. The quilting apparatus of claim 2 wherein:the controller has an input associated therewith for receiving a presser plate setting command from an operator; and the controller is operable in response to a presser plate setting command from received on the input from the operator to generate the control signal to the actuator to cause the actuator to set the pressure plate spacing in accordance with the received command.
- 6. The quilting apparatus of claim 2 wherein:the presser plate drive linkage includes a presser plate rocker shaft having an input link connected thereto and driven by the motor and an output link connected to the presser plate; the presser plate rocker shaft having a coupling therein that is adjustable to vary the phase angle between the input link and the output link to thereby vary the presser plate setting; and the actuator is operably connected to the coupling to vary the coupling in response to the control signal.
- 7. The quilting apparatus of claim 2 wherein:the presser plate drive linkage includes a presser plate rocker shaft having an input link connected thereto and driven by the motor and an output link connected to the presser plate; the input link has a variable element therein that is adjustable to vary the range of oscillation of the presser plate rocker shaft to thereby vary the presser plate setting; and the actuator is operably connected to the variable element to vary the coupling in response to the control signal.
- 8. The quilting apparatus of claim 7 wherein:the apparatus includes a needle rocker shaft having an input connected to and driven by the motor; and the input link of the presser plate rocker shaft is connected to and driven by the needle rocker shaft.
- 9. The quilting apparatus of claim 7 wherein:the actuator includes a two position double acting actuator operable to selectively move the variable element between two settings to effect either of two material clamping positions having different spacing between the presser plate and the needle plate.
- 10. The quilting apparatus of claim 7 wherein:the actuator includes a plurality of two position double acting cylinders each operable to selectively move the variable element between two settings and both in combination operable to move the variable element among a plurality of more than two positions to effect a plurality of more than two material clamping positions having different spacing between the presser plate and the needle plate.
- 11. The quilting apparatus of claim 7 wherein:the actuator includes a linear actuator having more than two discrete positions and operable to selectively move the variable element among the more than two positions to effect a plurality of more than two material clamping positions having different spacing between the presser plate and the needle plate.
- 12. The quilting apparatus of claim 7 wherein:the actuator includes an actuator that is variable continuously over a range of positions and operable to selectively move the variable element to any of a plurality of positions within the range to effect an infinite plurality of material clamping positions having different spacing between the presser plate and the needle plate.
- 13. The quilting apparatus of claim 7 wherein:the presser plate drive linkage is configured to transmit driving force through a series of drive members extending from the motor to the presser plate; and the actuator is located outside of the series of drive members so that the driving force bypasses the actuator.
- 14. A quilting method comprising:setting a presser plate to a first position spaced from a needle plate; loading a first fabric of a first thickness into the quilting machine; reciprocating a needle holder relative to the first fabric while reciprocating the presser plate to and from the first position to cause a synchronized operation of the needle and the presser plate, thereby quilting the first fabric; then loading a second fabric of a second thickness into the quilting machine and generating a control signal to drive an adjustment motor to set the presser plate to a second position spaced from the needle plate; and reciprocating a needle holder relative to the second fabric while reciprocating the presser plate to and from the second position to cause a synchronized operation of the needle and the presser plate, thereby quilting the second fabric.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/306,744, filed May 7, 1999, hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
US Referenced Citations (32)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/306744 |
May 1999 |
US |
Child |
09/517239 |
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US |