Sewing machine having balance

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6568338
  • Patent Number
    6,568,338
  • Date Filed
    Monday, November 19, 2001
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 27, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
A sewing machine capable of preventing formation of no first stitch (skipping stitch), which is readily caused immediately after the sewing machine starts to operate, is obtained. In this sewing machine, a motor is so stopped as to locate a thread engaging part of a balance in the vicinity of a forward movement starting point leftward beyond a thread receiving opening of a thread guide plate. Thus, the thread engaging part of the balance reliably captures and pulls a needle thread immediately after the sewing machine starts to operate. Consequently, formation of no first stitch (skipping stitch), which is readily caused immediately after the sewing machine starts to operate, is prevented.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a sewing machine, and more particularly, it relates to a sewing machine having a balance.




2. Description of the Prior Art




A sewing machine having a balance is known in general. This balance has a thread engaging part. The balance is so structured that the thread engaging part captures and pulls a needle thread when forwardly moving from left to right. In this case, the thread engaging part of the balance engages with the needle thread passing through thread receiving openings of a pair of thread guide plates for pulling the same.




When a sewing machine operating switch of the conventional sewing machine having the aforementioned structure is moved to OFF for stopping the sewing machine, however, a motor is generally stopped when a needle is located on a top dead center. When the needle is located on the top dead center, the thread engaging part of the balance is generally located on an intermediate position of the passage for the forward movement beyond the thread guide plates. In other words, the motor is generally stopped regardless of the position of the thread engaging part of the balance.




Therefore, when the sewing machine operating switch is moved to ON after the needle thread is exchanged, for example, the sewing machine starts the first operating cycle without capturing and pulling the needle thread by the thread engaging part of the balance. Thus, the needle thread has no prescribed slack in the first operating cycle of the sewing machine and hence a slack portion formed on a lower portion of cloth for engaging with the forward end of a shuttle body disappears following an operation of a thread take-up spring pulling up the needle thread when the needle passes through the cloth. This may disadvantageously result in formation of no first stitch (the so-called skipping stitch).




When the sewing machine operating switch is moved to ON without exchanging the needle thread, the needle thread may be in a state disengaging from the thread engaging part of the balance due to slacking during the unused state of the sewing machine. In this case, inconvenience similar to the above takes place to disadvantageously result in the so-called skipping stitch.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




An object of the present invention is to provide a sewing machine capable of preventing formation of no first stitch (skipping stitch), which is readily caused immediately after the sewing machine starts to operate.




Another object of the present invention is to readily stop a motor when a needle thread is broken in the aforementioned sewing machine.




A sewing machine according to an aspect of the present invention comprises a thread guide plate having a thread receiving opening, a balance having a thread engaging part and reciprocating through the thread guide plate so that the thread engaging part captures and pulls a needle thread when forwardly moving from left to right and a motor for driving the balance, while the motor is so stopped as to locate the thread engaging part of the balance in the vicinity of a forward movement starting point leftward beyond the thread receiving opening of the thread guide plate.




In the sewing machine according to this aspect, the motor is so stopped as to locate the thread engaging part of the balance in the vicinity of the forward movement starting point leftward beyond the thread receiving opening of the thread guide plate as described above, whereby the thread engaging part of the balance can reliably capture and pull a thread needle also immediately after the sewing machine starts to operate. Therefore, formation of no first stitch (skipping stitch), which is readily caused immediately after the sewing machine starts to operate, can be prevented.




The sewing machine according to the aforementioned aspect preferably further comprises an upper shaft set between the motor and the balance so that the balance reciprocates in association with rotation thereof and an upper shaft rotation detection part detecting rotation of the upper shaft, and the motor is preferably stopped on the basis of a result of detection by the upper shaft rotation detection part. According to this structure, the motor can be readily stopped to locate the thread engaging part of the balance in the vicinity of the forward movement starting point leftward beyond the thread receiving opening of the thread guide plate. In this case, the upper shaft rotation detection part preferably includes a first detected element provided on the upper shaft and a first photoelectric switch detecting the first detected element.




The sewing machine according to the aforementioned aspect preferably further comprises a thread breakage detection part detecting breakage of the needle thread, and the motor is preferably stopped in response to a signal from the thread breakage detection part. According to this structure, the motor can be readily stopped when the needle thread is broken. Thus, the needle thread can be prevented from disadvantageously twining around the thread engaging part of the balance. In this case, the thread breakage detection part preferably includes a rotary part rotating following movement of the needle thread and a rotation detection part detecting rotation of the rotary part. More preferably, the rotary part includes an upper rotator and a lower rotator, the sewing machine further comprises a second detected element provided on a peripheral edge portion of either the upper rotator or the lower rotator, and the rotation detection part includes a second photoelectric switch detecting the second detected element. According to this structure, the rotary part stops rotating when the needle thread is broken, whereby the breakage of the needle thread can be readily detected.




The sewing machine having the aforementioned thread breakage detection part preferably further comprises an upper shaft set between the motor and the balance so that the balance reciprocates in association with rotation thereof and an upper shaft rotation detection part for detecting rotation of the upper shaft, for determining breakage of the needle thread and stopping the motor when the rotation detection part of the thread breakage detection part detects no rotation of the rotary part while the upper shaft rotates by a prescribed number of revolutions. According to this structure, the thread breakage detection part can be prevented from erroneously detecting breakage of the needle thread when the needle thread is not broken. If the needle thread is inferiorly in contact with the rotary part of the thread breakage detection part, the rotary part of the thread breakage detection part may not rotate also when the needle thread is not broken. According to the present invention, such erroneous determination can be effectively prevented by determining breakage of the needle thread when the rotation detection part of the thread breakage detection part detects no rotation of the rotary part while the upper shaft rotates by the prescribed number of revolutions.




In this case, the prescribed number of revolutions is previously set, and the sewing machine preferably further comprises a counter counting up the number of revolutions of the upper shaft and responsively outputting a signal for stopping the motor when the number of revolutions of the upper shaft reaches the prescribed number of revolutions. According to this structure, the motor can be readily stopped in response to the upper shaft reaching the prescribed number of revolutions. In this case, the prescribed number of revolutions is preferably eight.




In the sewing machine including the aforementioned counter, the counter is preferably reset when the rotation detection part of the thread breakage detection part detects rotation of the rotary part. Further, the counter is reset when the motor is stopped.




A sewing machine according to another aspect of the present invention comprises a motor for driving a needle and a thread breakage detection part detecting breakage of a needle thread, while the thread breakage detection part includes a rotary part rotating following movement of the needle thread and a rotation detection part detecting rotation of the rotary part and the motor is stopped in response to a signal from the thread breakage detection part.




The sewing machine according to this aspect is provided with the thread breakage detection part detecting breakage of the needle thread as described above, whereby the motor can be readily stopped when the needle thread is broken. Thus, the needle thread can be prevented from disadvantageously twining around a thread engaging part of a balance when the same is broken.




The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a partial plan view of a sewing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a sectional view of the sewing machine according to the embodiment taken along the line


100





100


in

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a sectional view of the sewing machine according to the embodiment taken along the line


200





200


in

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 4

is a sectional view of the sewing machine according to the embodiment taken along the line


300





300


in

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 5

is a sectional view of the sewing machine according to the embodiment taken along the line


400





400


in

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 6

is a plan view showing a thread engaging part of a balance located on a forward movement starting point in the structure of the sewing machine according to the embodiment shown in

FIG. 1

; and





FIG. 7

is a schematic diagram for illustrating a control system for the sewing machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




An embodiment of the present invention is now described with reference to the drawings.




Referring to a plan view of

FIG. 1

, the lower side shows a front part of a sewing machine according to the embodiment, and the upper side shows a rear part of the sewing machine. The left side shows a left part of the sewing machine, and the right side shows a right part of the sewing machine.




In the sewing machine according to this embodiment, a needle thread receiving groove (not shown) opening frontward, upward and downward is provided on a left front portion of a sewing machine body arm (not shown). This needle thread receiving groove is formed to overlap with a virtual vertical plane horizontally dividing the sewing machine body arm including a needle (not shown). A thread guide part


2


is mounted on the sewing machine body arm (not shown) to be opposed to the needle thread receiving groove.




The thread guide part


2


includes a pair of thread guide plates


5


and a coupling plate


6


. The pair of thread guide plates


5


are opposed to each other through a balance passage clearance


4


allowing passage of a thread engaging part


30


of a balance


28


. The coupling plate


6


is provided on front edges of the thread guide plates


5


to couple the pair of thread guide plates


5


with each other. The pair of thread guide plates


5


are provided with thread receiving openings


7


and slits


8


for guiding a needle thread


1


into the thread receiving openings


7


respectively. The coupling plate


6


is formed with a slit


9


communicating with the slits


8


.




The sewing machine body arm (not shown) is provided with a balance guide body


13


. The balance guide body


13


has a vertical pair of horizontal plates


15


opposed to each other through a balance passage clearance


14


allowing passage of the thread engaging part


30


of the balance


28


. The horizontal plates


15


are arranged not to block the thread receiving openings


7


and the slits


8


of the thread guide plates


5


. Further, the balance guide body


13


is arranged to define clearances


12


between the same and the upper and lower thread guide plates


5


respectively.




A bracket


17


is provided on a left portion of the upper horizontal plate


15


. A thread tension guide


18


is mounted on the bracket


17


. The thread tension guide


18


includes a spindle


19


, a thread holding element


20


, another thread holding element


21


, a thread take-up spring


22


, urging means (not shown), a dial


23


and a thread guide


24


. The spindle


19


is mounted on the bracket


17


to horizontally direct its shaft center. The thread holding element


20


is fixed to the spindle


19


. The other thread holding element


21


is engaged with the spindle


19


to be horizontally movable but not rotatable.




The thread take-up spring


22


is mounted on the spindle


19


to be vertically swingable within a prescribed angular range. This thread take-up spring


22


swings upward in an ordinary state receiving no force. The urging means (not shown) is formed to urge the horizontally movable left thread holding element


21


toward the right thread holding element


20


. This urging means (not shown) is structured not to inhibit the thread take-up spring


22


from vertical swinging. The dial


23


is provided for controlling the force of the urging means. The thread guide


24


, provided on a front edge portion of the right thread holding element


20


, has a thread guide groove


25


on its lower portion.




The balance


28


has the thread engaging part


30


horizontally passing through the balance passage clearance


4


defined between the thread guide plates


5


. The thread engaging part


30


has an engaging edge


30




a


. An end of a body


29


of the balance


28


is mounted on a peripheral edge portion of a turntable


32


through a shaft


34


. An intermediate portion of the body


29


of the balance


28


is mounted on a connecting bar


35


through a shaft


34


. The other end of the connecting bar


35


is mounted on the sewing machine arm (not shown) through a shaft


36


.




In the aforementioned structure, the thread engaging part


30


of the balance


28


moves (forward) from a forward movement starting point


38


located on the leftmost side shown in

FIG. 6

to a forward movement end point


39


located on the rightmost side shown in FIG.


1


. Thereafter the thread engaging part


30


moves (backward) from the forward movement end point


39


to the forward movement starting point


38


. In other words, the passage from the forward movement starting point


38


to the forward movement end point


39


is for the forward movement, and the passage from the forward movement end point


39


to the forward movement starting point


38


is for the backward movement.




At the forward movement starting point


38


shown in

FIG. 6

, the engaging edge


30




a


of the thread engaging part


30


is located leftward beyond the thread receiving openings


7


. According to this embodiment, a motor


58


(see

FIG. 7

) is so stopped as to locate the thread engaging part


30


of the balance


28


in the vicinity of the forward movement starting point


38


leftward beyond the thread receiving openings


7


of the thread guide plates


5


. Thus, the motor


58


is stopped on a position not projecting the engaging edge


30




a


provided on the right portion of the thread engaging part


30


into the thread receiving openings


7


.




The positional relation between the needle (not shown) and the thread engaging part


30


is now described. When the needle is located on a top dead center, the thread engaging part


30


is located on an intermediate position of the forward movement. When the needle is located on a bottom dead center, the thread engaging part


30


is located on a position slightly closer to the forward movement starting point


38


than an intermediate position of the backward movement.




According to this embodiment, a thread breakage detector


42


is provided on the sewing machine body arm (not shown). This thread breakage detector


42


is located at the back of the thread holding elements


20


and


21


of the thread tension guide


18


. As shown in

FIG. 5

, the thread breakage detector


42


includes a bracket


43


, a shaft


44


, a lower rotator


45


, an upper rotator


46


, a spring


47


, a plurality of detected elements


48


and a transmission type photoelectric switch


49


. The shaft


44


is mounted on the bracket


43


. The lower rotator


45


is rotatably provided on the shaft


44


. The upper rotator


46


is vertically movably provided on the lower rotator


45


and urged toward the lower rotator


45


by the spring


47


. The plurality of detected elements


48


are provided on the peripheral edge portion of the lower rotator


45


to protrude at prescribed angles. The photoelectric switch


49


detects the detected elements


48


.




The thread breakage detector


42


is an example of the “thread breakage detection part” according to the present invention, and the detected elements


48


are examples of the “second detected element” according to the present invention. The photoelectric switch


49


is an example of the “second photoelectric switch” according to the present invention.




The needle thread


1


is arranged between the lower rotator


45


and the upper rotator


46


. The lower rotator


45


and the upper rotator


46


rotate following movement of the needle thread


1


.




A thread holder


51


is provided on the sewing machine body arm (not shown) to be located rightward beyond the thread breakage detector


42


. As shown in

FIG. 4

, the thread holder


51


has a bracket


52


, a shaft


53


, a pair of holding elements


54


and a spring


55


. The shaft


53


, mounted on the bracket


52


, has a stopper on its upper portion. The pair of holding elements


54


are provided on the shaft


53


to be vertically movable but not rotatable. The spring


55


urges the holding elements


54


upward. The needle thread


1


passes through the clearance between the upper and lower holding elements


54


.




The way of extending the needle thread


1


delivered from a spool (not shown) to the needle (not shown) is now described. The needle thread


1


delivered from the spool (not shown) passes through the clearances between the holding elements


54


of the thread holder


51


, between the lower rotator


45


and the upper rotator


46


of the thread breakage detector


42


and between the thread holding elements


20


and


21


of the thread tension guide


18


, the lower side of the thread guide


24


, the upper side of the thread take-up spring


22


and the thread receiving openings


7


of the upper and lower thread guides


5


, to reach the eye of the needle.




A control system for the sewing machine according to this embodiment is now described with reference to FIG.


7


. According to this embodiment, the motor


58


rotates an upper shaft


57


of the sewing machine. The upper shaft


57


rotates the turntable


32


(see

FIG. 1

) while vertically moving the needle (not shown).




The upper shaft


57


is provided with a rotation detector


61


for detecting the number of revolutions and the rotating position of the upper shaft


57


. The rotation detector


61


has a detected element


62


mounted on the upper shaft


57


and a transmission type photoelectric switch


63


detecting the detected element


62


. The rotation detector


61


is an example of the “upper shaft rotation detection part” according to the present invention, and the detected element


62


is an example of the “first detected element” according to the present invention. The photoelectric switch


63


is an example of the “first photoelectric switch” according to the present invention.




The motor


58


is provided with a speed detector


66


detecting the speed of rotation of the motor


58


. The speed detector


66


has a detected disc


67


and a transmission type photoelectric switch


68


. The detected disc


67


, mounted on the rotary shaft of the motor


58


, has a plurality of detected elements on its peripheral edge portion at prescribed intervals. The photoelectric switch


68


detects the detected elements of the detected disc


67


.




A computer


59


including a counter


60


and a CPU


64


controls the motor


58


. A sewing machine operating switch


69


, the photoelectric switch


68


of the speed detector


66


and the photoelectric switch


63


of the rotation detector


61


are connected to the CPU


64


. Further, a motor control part


65


controlling an input voltage for the motor


58


is connected to the CPU


64


.




Control operations made by the control system for the sewing machine according to this embodiment having the aforementioned structure are now described.




When the sewing machine operating switch


69


is moved to OFF, the CPU


64


receives an OFF signal therefor and transmits a deceleration signal to the motor control part


65


. The motor control part


65


receiving the deceleration signal reduces the input voltage for the motor


58


. Thus, the motor


58


is decelerated to enter a stoppage setup state. After the motor


58


is decelerated to a speed sufficient for stoppage, the photoelectric switch


63


of the rotation detector


61


for the upper shaft


57


is moved from OFF (for cutting off light) to ON (for passing light), so that the CPU


64


outputs a stop signal to the motor control part


65


. Thus, the motor


58


is stopped. The CPU


64


detects sufficient deceleration of the speed of the motor


58


by receiving a speed signal indicating that the motor


58


reaches the speed sufficient for stoppage from the speed detector


66


.




When the photoelectric switch


63


of the rotation detector


61


for the upper shaft


57


is moved from OFF to ON, the thread engaging part


30


of the balance


28


is located in the vicinity of the forward movement starting point


38


leftward beyond the thread receiving openings


7


of the thread guide plates


5


.




When the photoelectric switch


63


is moved from OFF to ON to stop the motor


58


as described above, the upper shaft


57


is stopped thereby stopping the turntable


32


(FIG.


1


). Consequently, the thread engaging part


30


of the balance


28


is stopped in the vicinity of the forward movement starting point


38


leftward beyond the thread receiving openings


7


of the thread guide plates


5


, as described above.




The photoelectric switch


49


of the thread breakage detector


42


and the photoelectric switch


63


of the rotation detector


61


for the upper shaft


57


are connected to the counter


60


. The photoelectric switch


63


outputs a signal to the counter


60


every time the upper shaft


57


rotates. Thus, the counter


60


counts up by 1 every time the upper shaft


57


rotates. In this case, a set number (numeral “8”, for example) is previously input in the counter


60


. When the photoelectric switch


49


is moved from OFF (for cutting off light) to ON (for passing light) or from ON to OFF once, the count of the counter


60


is reset.




When the count (number of revolutions of the upper shaft


57


) reaches the set number 8, the counter


60


outputs a signal instructing the CPU


64


to stop the motor


58


. The CPU


64


receiving the stop signal immediately outputs a deceleration signal to the motor control part


65


. The photoelectric switch


63


detecting rotation of the upper shaft


57


is moved from OFF (for cutting off light) to ON (for passing light) similarly to the above, so that the CPU


64


outputs a stop signal to the motor control part


65


for stopping the motor


58


. In this case, the thread engaging part


30


of the balance


28


is stopped in the vicinity of the forward movement starting point


38


leftward beyond the thread receiving openings


7


of the thread guide plates


5


. Thereafter the CPU


64


acquires information indicating complete stoppage of the motor


58


and outputs a reset signal to the counter


60


. Thus, the counter


60


is reset.




As to control of the thread breakage detector


42


, the needle thread


1


successively fed toward the needle rotates the lower rotator


45


and hence the photoelectric switch


49


outputs an OFF-ON or ON-OFF signal to the counter


60


. Thus, the counter


60


is reset. When the needle thread


1


is broken, the photoelectric switch


49


outputs no OFF-ON or ON-OFF signal to the counter


60


, and hence the counter


60


is not reset. In this state, the motor


58


is stopped after the upper shaft


57


rotates eight times.




The motor


58


is stopped after the upper shaft


57


rotates eight times for the following reason: If the needle thread


1


is inferiorly in contact with the lower rotator


45


or the upper rotator


46


of the thread breakage detector


42


, the lower rotator


45


of the needle thread detector


42


may not rotate also when the needle thread is not broken. If rotation of the motor


58


is immediately stopped in this case, the thread breakage detector


42


disadvantageously erroneously determines the needle thread


1


as broken although the same is not broken. According to this embodiment, such erroneous determination can be effectively prevented by determining that the needle thread


1


is broken when the photoelectric switch


49


of the thread breakage detector


42


detects no rotation of the lower rotator


45


while the upper shaft


57


rotates eight times.




According to this embodiment, the motor


58


is so stopped as to locate the thread engaging part


30


of the balance


28


in the vicinity of the forward movement starting point


38


leftward beyond the thread receiving openings


7


of the thread guide plates


5


as described above, whereby the thread engaging part


30


of the balance


28


can reliably capture and pull the needle thread


1


also immediately after the sewing machine starts to operate. Consequently, formation of no first stitch (skipping stitch), which is readily caused immediately after the sewing machine starts to operate, can be prevented.




According to this embodiment, the thread breakage detector


42


is provided for detecting breakage of the needle thread


1


while the motor


58


is stopped in response to the signal from the thread breakage detector


42


, whereby the motor


58


can be readily stopped when the needle thread


1


is broken. Thus, the needle thread


1


can be prevented from disadvantageously twining around the thread engaging part


30


of the balance


28


. Further, the detected elements


48


are provided on the peripheral edge portion of the lower rotator


45


of the thread breakage detector


42


while the photoelectric switch


49


is provided for detecting the detected elements


48


, so that the lower rotator


45


stops rotating and the photoelectric switch


49


detects no detected elements


48


when the needle thread


1


is broken. Thus, breakage of the needle thread


1


can be readily detected.




Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.




For example, while the rotating position of the upper shaft


57


and the operating position of the balance


28


are adjusted for stopping the motor


58


to locate the thread engaging part


30


of the balance


28


in the vicinity of the forward movement starting point


38


leftward beyond the thread receiving openings


7


of the thread guide plates


5


in the aforementioned embodiment, the present invention is not restricted to this but another method may alternatively be employed for stopping the motor


58


to locate the thread engaging part


30


of the balance


28


in the vicinity of the forward movement starting point


38


leftward beyond the thread receiving openings


7


of the thread guide plates


5


.




While the counter


60


is set to eight in the aforementioned embodiment, the present invention is not restricted to this but a similar effect can be attained by setting the counter


60


to another value.




While the operation of the needle thread


1


is converted to rotation so that the thread breakage detector


62


detects this rotation with the photoelectric switch


49


thereby detecting breakage of the needle thread


1


in the aforementioned embodiment, the present invention is not restricted to this but breakage of the needle thread


1


may alternatively be detected by another method.




In the aforementioned embodiment, the motor


58


may be stopped when the count of the counter


60


reaches a prescribed number (at least 20, for example) within a constant time (10 msec., for example). In this case, the motor


58


can be stopped also when the needle thread


1


is abruptly delivered from the spool beyond necessity due to twining around an internal driving part of the balance


28


or the like.



Claims
  • 1. A sewing machine comprising:a thread guide plate having a thread receiving opening; a balance having a thread engaging part and reciprocating through said thread guide plate so that said thread engaging part captures and pulls a needle thread when forwardly moving from left to right; and a motor for driving said balance, wherein said motor is so stopped as to locate said thread engaging part of said balance in the vicinity of a forward movement starting point leftward beyond said thread receiving opening of said thread guide plate.
  • 2. The sewing machine according to claim 1, further comprising:an upper shaft set between said motor and said balance so that said balance reciprocates in association with rotation thereof, and an upper shaft rotation detection part detecting rotation of said upper shaft, wherein said motor is stopped on the basis of a result of detection by said upper shaft rotation detection part.
  • 3. The sewing machine according to claim 2, whereinsaid upper shaft rotation detection part includes: a first detected element provided on said upper shaft, and a first photoelectric switch detecting said first detected element.
  • 4. The sewing machine according to claim 1, further comprising a thread breakage detection part detecting breakage of said needle thread, whereinsaid motor is stopped in response to a signal from said thread breakage detection part.
  • 5. The sewing machine according to claim 4, whereinsaid thread breakage detection part includes: a rotary part rotating following movement of said needle thread, and a rotation detection part detecting rotation of said rotary part.
  • 6. The sewing machine according to claim 5, whereinsaid rotary part includes an upper rotator and a lower rotator, said sewing machine further comprises a second detected element provided on a peripheral edge portion of either said upper rotator or said lower rotator, and said rotation detection part includes a second photoelectric switch detecting said second detected element.
  • 7. The sewing machine according to claim 4, further comprising:an upper shaft set between said motor and said balance so that said balance reciprocates in association with rotation thereof, and an upper shaft rotation detection part for detecting rotation of said upper shaft, for determining breakage of said needle thread and stopping said motor when said rotation detection part of said thread breakage detection part detects no rotation of said rotary part while said upper shaft rotates by a prescribed number of revolutions.
  • 8. The sewing machine according to claim 7, whereinsaid prescribed number of revolutions is previously set, and said sewing machine further comprises a counter counting up the number of revolutions of said upper shaft and responsively outputting a signal for stopping said motor when the number of revolutions of said upper shaft reaches said prescribed number of revolutions.
  • 9. The sewing machine according to claim 8, whereinsaid prescribed number of revolutions is eight.
  • 10. The sewing machine according to claim 8, whereinsaid counter is reset when said rotation detection part of said thread breakage detection part detects rotation of said rotary part.
  • 11. The sewing machine according to claim 8, whereinsaid counter is reset when said motor is stopped.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
2001-025255 Feb 2001 JP
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number Name Date Kind
3843883 DeVita et al. Oct 1974 A
4192243 Blessing et al. Mar 1980 A
4817545 Mikuni et al. Apr 1989 A
5295451 Takenoya Mar 1994 A
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number Date Country
2-111392 Apr 1990 JP