Claims
- 1. An apparatus for quilting a multilayered fabric comprising:
a pair of chain stitch forming heads moveable parallel to a fabric to be quilted on opposite sides of the fabric, the heads including a needle head including a needle reciprocatable through the fabric and a looper head including a looper reciprocatable proximate the needle and adjacent the fabric to quilt; a needle drive linear servo motor having a stationary portion fixed to the needle head and a moveable portion mounted to reciprocate on the stationary portion and having a needle fixed thereto to reciprocate therewith through the fabric; a looper drive servo operable including a stationary portion fixed to the looper head and a moveable portion having the looper the looper fixed thereto and operable to reciprocate the looper proximate the needle adjacent the fabric; and a controller programmed to control the linear servo motors to reciprocate the needle and looper in programmed cyclic motion and in synchronized cycles to quilt the fabric with series of chain stitches in accordance with a programmed quilt pattern.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:
the moveable portion of the needle drive linear servo motor reciprocates on an needle drive axis and the needle is fixed to the moveable portion of the needle drive linear servo motor aligned with and centered on the needle drive axis.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein:
the moveable portion of the looper drive linear servo motor reciprocates on a looper drive axis and the looper is fixed to the moveable portion of the looper drive linear servo motor aligned with and centered on the looper drive axis.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
at least two head positioning servo motors each independently operable in response to signals from the controller.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
at least one longitudinal head positioning servo motor operable in response to signals from the controller.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a needle deflection information source connected to an input of the controller; the controller including a program to operate the controller to calculate needle deflection compensation in response to needle deflection information from the source; the controller being operable to send signals to the motors in response to the calculated needle deflection compensation to relatively move the needle and looper to compensate for needle deflection in the formation of the series of stitches.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
the programmed cyclic motion of the needle and looper is a motion caused electrical control signals sent by the controller to the linear servo motors from stored data replicating the conventional motion of cam or rocker driven stitching elements.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
the programmed cyclic motion of the needle and looper is a motion caused electrical control signals sent by the controller to the linear servo motors from stored data replicating the conventional motion of cam or rocker driven stitching elements.
- 9. An apparatus for quilting a thick multilayered material comprising:
means for supporting a multilayered material in a plane; at least two chain stitch forming heads, including a needle head having a reciprocatable needle and a looper head having a reciprocatable looper, the heads being moveable parallel to the plane on opposite sides of the plane; means for separately operating the heads and for independently moving the heads relative to the material to quilt a programmed pattern on the supported material; and means for determining deflection of the needle; programmed means for controlling the separate and independent motion of the operating means in response to the deflection determining means to form series of chain stitches in the shapes of predetermined patterns so as to maintain the needle and looper in alignment during deflection of the needle.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein:
the deflection determining means includes an sensor operable to detect deflection of the needle and to generate a deflection signal to the programmed means in response to the detected deflection.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein:
the deflection determining means includes a memory in which is stored needle deflection compensation data and a program for operating the heads in accordance with the data.
- 12. A method of quilting a thick multilayered material comprising:
supporting a multilayered material in a plane for quilting; providing a pair of chain stitch forming heads, including a needle head having a moveable needle and a looper head having a moveable looper, the heads being moveable parallel to the plane on opposite sides of the plane; providing a plurality of motors to operate and move the heads to quilt the material supported in the plane; determining deflection of the needle; and separately controlling the motors to operate and move the heads to quilt a chain stitched pattern in response to the needle deflection determination so as to maintain the deflected needle and the looper in alignment.
- 13. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of:
differently adjusting the operation of the motors to independently position the heads so as to compensate for needle deflection in the formation of the stitched patterns.
- 14. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of:
differently adjusting the operation of the motors to independently phase the heads so as to compensate for needle deflection in the formation of the stitched patterns.
- 15. The method of claim 12 wherein:
the deflection determining step includes sensing the deflection of the needle.
- 16. The method of claim 12 wherein:
the deflection determining step includes the step of providing an LED array and sensing therewith the deflection of the needle.
- 17. The method of claim 12 wherein:
the deflection determining step includes the step of providing an infrared sensor and sensing therewith the deflection of the needle.
- 18. The method of claim 12 wherein:
the deflection determining step includes the step of providing magnetic sensor and sensing therewith the deflection of the needle.
- 19. The method of claim 12 wherein:
the deflection determining step includes the step of storing a table of needle deflection compensation data; selecting the compensation data in response to operating parameters of the quilting apparatus; and controlling the heads in accordance with the selected data to maintain the needle and looper in alignment.
- 20. An apparatus for quilting a thick multilayered material comprising:
support structure operable to hold the material for quilting in a plane; a bridge extending transversely of the plane and having a pair of rails extending parallel to each other on opposite sides of the plane; a pair of chain stitch forming heads each moveable on one of the rails parallel to the plane on opposite sides of the plane, the heads including a needle head having a needle reciprocatable through the plane and a looper head having a looper reciprocatable proximate the needle and adjacent the plane to quilt the material held by the support structure; a needle drive motor operable to reciprocate the needle through material held in the plane and a looper drive motor operable to reciprocate the looper proximate the needle adjacent the plane; a programmable controller; a needle head positioning linear servo motor fixed to one of the rails and having the needle head supported thereon for transverse movement on the bridge; a looper head positioning linear servo motor fixed to the other of the rails and having the looper head supported thereon for transverse movement on the bridge; each linear servo motor being operable in response to signals from the controller to position each respective head transversely relative to material supported in the plane; and at least one longitudinal head positioning servo motor operable in response to signals from the controller to impart longitudinal movement between material supported in the plane and the rails; the controller being operable to control the motors to position the heads relative to material supported in the plane and to operate the heads in synchronized cycles to quilt the material with series of chain stitches in accordance with a programmed pattern.
- 21. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising:
a needle deflection information source connected to an input of the controller; the controller including a program to operate the controller to calculate needle deflection compensation in response to needle deflection information from the source; the controller being operable to send signals to the motors in response to the calculated needle deflection compensation to relatively move the needle and looper to compensate for needle deflection in the formation of the series of stitches.
- 22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein:
the needle deflection information source includes a memory in which is stored needle deflection data.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein:
the needle deflection information source include a sensor operative to sense deflection of the needle and to send a signal to the controller in response to the sensed deflection of the needle.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising:
a second pair of chain stitch forming heads each moveable on one of the rails parallel to the plane on opposite sides of the plane, the heads including a second needle head having a needle reciprocatable through the plane and a second looper head having a looper reciprocatable proximate the needle of the second needle head and adjacent the plane to quilt the material held by the support structure; a second needle drive motor operable to reciprocate the needle of the second needle head through the material held in the plane and a second looper drive motor operable to reciprocate the looper of the second looper head proximate the needle of the second needle head adjacent the plane; the second needle head being supported on one of the head positioning linear servo motors and the second looper positioning head being supported on the other of the head positioning linear servo motors for transverse movement on the bridge; each linear servo motor having at least two differently moveable and separately controllable armatures on which a different one of the heads is supported whereby the servo is operable in response to separate signals from the controller to differently position each respective head transversely relative to material supported in the plane; the controller being also operable to control the motors to position the second heads relative to material supported in the plane and to operate the second heads in synchronized cycles to quilt the material with series of chain stitches in accordance with a programmed pattern.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising:
a second bridge extending transversely of the plane and having a second pair of rails thereon extending parallel to each other on opposite sides of the plane; the second bridge having a further pair of chain stitch forming heads each moveable on one of the rails thereof parallel to the plane on opposite sides of the plane, the heads of the further pair including a further needle head having a needle reciprocatable through the plane and a further looper head having a looper reciprocatable proximate the needle and adjacent the plane to quilt the material held by the support structure; a further needle drive motor operable to reciprocate the needle of the further needle head through material held in the plane and a further looper drive motor operable to reciprocate the looper of the further looper head proximate the needle adjacent the plane; a further needle head positioning linear servo motor fixed to one of the rails of the second bridge and having the further needle head supported thereon for transverse movement on the second bridge; a further looper head positioning linear servo motor fixed to the other of the rails of the second bridge and having the looper head supported thereon for transverse movement on the second bridge; each further linear servo motor being operable in response to signals from the controller to position each respective further head transversely relative to material supported in the plane; at least one second longitudinal head positioning servo motor operable in response to signals from the controller to impart longitudinal movement between material supported in the plane and the rails of the second bridge; the controller being operable to control the further motors to position the further heads relative to material supported in the plane and to operate the further heads in synchronized cycles to quilt the material with series of chain stitches in accordance with a programmed pattern.
- 26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein:
each bridge has:
a second pair of chain stitch forming heads each moveable on one of the rails thereof parallel to the plane on opposite sides of the plane, the heads of each second pair each including a second needle head having a needle reciprocatable through the plane and a second looper head having a looper reciprocatable proximate the needle of the second needle head and adjacent the plane to quilt the material held by the support structure; a second needle drive motor operable to reciprocate the needle of the second needle head through the material held in the plane and a second looper drive motor operable to reciprocate the looper of the second looper head proximate the needle of the second needle head adjacent the plane; the second needle head being supported on one of the head positioning linear servo motors and the second looper positioning head being supported on the other of the head positioning linear servo motors for transverse movement on the bridge; each linear servo motor of each bridge has at least two differently moveable and separately controllable armatures on which a different one of the heads is supported whereby each servo is operable in response to separate signals from the controller to differently position each respective head transversely relative to material supported in the plane; the controller is also operable to control the motors to position the second heads relative to material supported in the plane and to operate the second heads in synchronized cycles to quilt the material with series of chain stitches in accordance with a programmed pattern.
- 27. A quilting machine for quilting cloth, comprising: a frame composed of a first upper beam, arranged horizontally above a cloth to be quilted, and of a second lower beam arranged below said cloth; at least one stitcher having a sewing head and a hook assembly; carriages for supporting respectively said sewing head and said hook assembly; said carriages being moveable along said beams; guide means provided at said beams for guiding said carriages during movement thereof; and driving linear motors having inductor elements, which are arranged at said upper beam and lower beam respectively, and armature windings which are arranged at said carriages that support said sewing head and said hook assembly respectively, said linear motors driving said carriages for movement along said beams.
- 28. The quilting machine of claim 27, comprising: electrical motors for driving the sewing heads and the hook assemblies; power stages; and a computerized numeric control unit CNC, said armature windings of the linear motors and said electrical motors that drive the sewing head and the hook assembly being powered by way of said power stages which are controlled by said computerized numeric control unit.
- 29. A quilting machine comprising:
a frame having an upper rail arranged horizontally above a fabric to be quilted, and of a lower rail arranged below the fabric to be quilted; at least one stitch former including a needle head and cooperating stitch forming assembly; each rail having a carriage thereon for supporting respectively the needle head and cooperating stitch forming assembly, the carriages being moveable along the rails; and each rail having thereon a linear servo motor having inductor elements arranged on the rail and an armature winding arranged on the carriage, the linear servo motors being operable to drive the carriages for movement along said rails.
- 30. The quilting machine of claim 27 further comprising:
electric motors for driving the needle head and the cooperating stitch forming assembly; power drivers; a programmable controller; and the armature windings of the linear motors and the electrical motors that drive the needle head and the cooperating stitch forming assembly being powered by way of said power drivers which are controlled by the programmable controller.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This is a continuation-in-part of the copending and commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 09/189,656, filed Nov. 10, 1998, which is a continuation in part of commonly assigned and copending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/831,060, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,849, both hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09686041 |
Oct 2000 |
US |
Child |
10107780 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09189656 |
Nov 1998 |
US |
Child |
09686041 |
Oct 2000 |
US |
Parent |
08831060 |
Apr 1997 |
US |
Child |
09189656 |
Nov 1998 |
US |