Patent Application
20150122683
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally pertains to organizing systems, and more particularly to a sewing needle organizer and tracker.
2. Related Art
The sewing industry is familiar with pin cushions and the like for storing sewing needles. It is difficult, however, to find a particular needle in a pin cushion when one is desired and a lot of time can be wasted looking When dealing with machine sewing needles, care should also be taken that the needle is in good condition and has not been used for too many cycles (or stitches). Accordingly, even when a machine sewing needle is located in a pin cushion or the like, often one does not know whether the needle is spent and should be discarded, and a new needle put into use for the next sewing job. The first indication may come when the needle stops to work properly, e.g., the stitching becomes rough or the thread breaks, for example, but by that time the bad stitching has to be removed and a transition to a new needle can be time consuming. Furthermore, some are so disorganized in terms of tracking sewing needle usage that sewing needles are quickly discarded before being fully used, not wanting to chance using an old needle, costing users a lot of money in continuing to replace sewing needles.
The system may be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments are described with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. In the drawings, like referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.
By way of introduction, this disclosure generally pertains to a book for organizing and tracking sewing needle usage over time, particularly with regards to machine sewing needles that wear out and should be discarded after a certain number of cycles or minutes of use. The book may include a cover and multiple pages. Each of the multiple pages may include a pocket and be made of a material such as fabric adapted for receipt and storage of a sewing needle. The book may further include multiple cards for insertion into the multiple pockets with which to track time periods of usage of the sewing needles stored on respective pages.
The time periods may build with cumulative use over time and indicate, with proper tracking, a total usage time of the sewing needle stored on the page. A user may eliminate time periods at the end of the card so that only those time periods are available that total to the entire useful life of the needle. Once the end of the tracking time periods is reached, e.g., by checking them off consecutively after use, a user should then discard the sewing needle being tracked and replace the sewing needle with a new sewing needle. Concurrently, the user may then insert a new tracking card into the pocket of the page on which the new sewing needle is stored.
Needle choice is an integral part of all types of sewing and embroidering. By pairing the correct needle with a specific thread or fabric, stitching will run smoother and look crisper and cleaner. Furthermore, the smart choice of a needle helps to eliminate thread breaks and thus disruptions to sewing progress.
Needle choice can easily be overwhelming. There are many different types and sizes of needles, including specialty needles, and they all work differently with specific threads and fabrics. It may, therefore, be helpful to take into consideration the different parts of a needle, and how each part works, in deciding which needle to use for a specific project. For example, a larger needle leaves a larger hole in the fabric, and a larger eye may be needed for thicker thread.
Accordingly, machine sewing needles may include, but not be limited to: a sharp needle; a universal needle; a ball point needle; an embroidery needle; a leather needle; a thick thread needle and a metallic needle.
Sharp Needle
Sharp needles have a sharp point that penetrates most fabrics. Sharp needles work well with woven and knit fabrics, and work well penetrating heavier fabrics like denim and canvas. Many prefer this needle, when practical, because the small point leaves a very small perforation in the fabric, and that makes sewing and embroidery look crisp, clean and well-defined. Different sized sharp needles are made for different sizes of thread.
Universal Needle
Similar to sharp needles, universal needles are sharp enough to penetrate most fabrics, and work well with knit and woven fabric. The tips are slightly rounded and tapered so that the needle slips through the weave of the fabric like a ball point needle, rather than cutting through the fibers as a sharp needle does.
Ball Point Needle
Ball point needles have a rounded point, which is designed to slip in between the weave of the fabric, rather than penetrate through it. Ball point needles are designed to be used with knits like T-shirts and sweatshirts. A sharp or universal needle could possibly cause a slight tear or run in the fabric because of the sharp point cutting through the fibers.
Embroidery Needle
Embroidery needles are designed specifically for machine embroidery use, and for use with rayon and polyester embroidery threads. Embroidery needles work well with all fabrics. The eye of these needles is larger and longer than universal needles. And embroidery needles have a special, deep scarf on the front, plus a rounded point, which protects the thread from shredding and breaking
Leather Needle
The leather needle is designed to be used with leather and suede. The leather needle has a wedged point that allows the needle to better penetrate the thickness of suede and leather and leave a smaller perforation. Unlike fabric, leather doesn't have a weave, so the leather needle makes it possible to sew leather layers together.
Thick Thread Needle
Needles for thick thread have extra-large eyes to accommodate the thread size. When working with a thick thread, like a 12 weight wool, consider using a size 110/18 universal needle.
Metallic Needle
Metallic needles are designed to be used specifically with metallic thread. These needles have a larger eye, which allows the thread to pass through with ease.
The card 125 may be made of paper, card stock, plastic or other material capable of being written upon. The card 125 may, therefore in one embodiment, be made of a laminated material over which a non-permanent ink pin may be used so that the card 125 can be used many times without need of replacement.
In one embodiment (
Each card 150 may include a place to record the needle type and an area for tracking time periods of needle usage. In one embodiment, the time periods may accrue cumulatively such that the total amount of approximate time so far used in sewing is reflected on the card at any given moment. In
In yet another embodiment, such as shown in the second card in
The book 100 may further include an elastic band 140 for receipt of a writing implement 150 such as a pencil or pen, which can be used to write on the cards 125 as the needles on corresponding pages are used. The elastic band may be located on some inner part of the book, including the middle pages of the book in one embodiment. The elastic bands, for example, may be sewn into the binding or between pages of the book 100.
The book 100 may also come with instructions for use, which may include charts for suggested useful life span for different types of needles and for sewing different types of fabrics with such needles. That is, if someone expects to sew mostly dense fabrics with a needle, the needle can be expected to wear out more quickly, and the table can account for this by adjusting expected life span. If the useful life span of a needle according to these charts is less than the total cumulative time periods included on a card, the time periods that go beyond the useful life may be deleted (e.g., crossed out) by a user (as seen in the second card in
Once a card 125 is adapted for the useful life of the needle that is going to be tracked on any given page 106, the card 125 may be inserted into a corresponding pocket or just used where directly attached to the page. Once the cumulative time periods have been filled up (e.g., by check marks or the like as the needle is used), the needle has reached approximately the end of its useful life and can be discarded, to avoid the needle becoming spent during a sewing project.
In some embodiments, the card is not used on any given page to track usage, but merely to indicate the type of needle stored there, e.g., with use of hand sewing needles. Furthermore, in embodiments where a card is attached to each page without use of pockets, the method may proceed by tracking usage time on the card directly, without withdrawing the card from and reinserting the card into the pockets.
Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings suggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in another embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matter includes combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part.
The above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall within the true spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the present embodiments are to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description. While various embodiments have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of the above detailed description. Accordingly, the embodiments are not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.
