Sewing Machine for Sewing Continuous Pattern Consisting of Plurality of Partial Patterns

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a pattern sewing machine and, more particularly, to a sewing machine which can resume, when a trouble occurs during sewing of a continuous pattern consisting of a plurality of partial patterns, sewing from the head of the partially completed pattern at the point where sewing was interrupted.

2. Description of Related Art

Embroidery sewing machines, as pattern sewing machines manufactured in recent years, include an embroidery frame for removably mounting a workpiece thereon, a driving apparatus for driving the embroidery frame to move in the X and Y directions independently of each other, a controlling apparatus for controlling the driving mechanism in accordance with embroidery stitch data, and a ROM card in which embroidery stitch data of a large number of embroidery patterns are stored. Embroidery stitch data of a selected embroidery pattern are read from the ROM card and the driving mechanism is controlled in accordance with the embroidery stitch data thus read to sew the selected embroidery pattern. Each of the embroidery patterns is normally composed of a plurality of partial embroidery patterns, each of which is sewn in the same color with the same thread. Therefore, in the embroidery data of each embroidery pattern, a sewing order of the plurality of partial embroidery patterns is set in advance.

For example, an embroidery pattern of an elephant caricature, as shown in FIG. 11, is composed of 5 partial embroidery patterns comprising a face part 100, a pair of ears 102, a cap 102, a top portion 103 of the cap and a pair of eyes and eyebrows and a profile line 104. The embroidery stitch data for the embroidery pattern includes data for the parts 100 to 104. The sewing order of the embroidery pattern is such that the partial embroidery patterns 100, 101, 102, 103 and 104 are successively sewn in order from the left to the right as shown in FIG. 11. In the case of an embroidery pattern of a large size, up to 30 to 60 minutes are required for sewing the pattern. If the needle thread is broken during sewing on such an embroidery sewing machine, a thread break detector operates so that the sewing machine is stopped automatically. However, sewing proceeds by 10 stitches or so before the sewing machine is stopped.

A stitch pattern sewing machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,574 wherein, when the needle thread is broken and sewing is to be resumed after re-threading of the needle thread, sewing is resumed from the embroidery data at a stitch a predetermined number of stitches (for example, about 100 stitches) prior to the stitch at which the sewing machine was stopped.

In addition, an electronically controlled stitch pattern sewing machine is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 57-25882 wherein, in order to eliminate a pattern selecting operation upon the interruption of sewing, sewing is resumed from the head of the continuous pattern, the sewing of which was interrupted, in response to a one-point signal designating a continuous pattern, a rest signal representative of a rest condition of the sewing machine and a starting instruction signal.

A further stitch pattern sewing machine is also known wherein, when the operator comes aware of an error in the color of the thread or the consumption of the bobbin thread and operates a start/stop switch to stop the sewing machine and later resumes sewing, sewing is either resumed from the embroidery stitch data at a stitch a predetermined number of stitches prior to the stitch at which the sewing was stopped, as described above, or sewing is resumed, in response to operation of a head search key, from the head of the embroidery pattern.

When sewing is to be resumed after interruption of sewing due to a break of the needle thread or the like, it does not substantially matter if sewing is resumed, based on embroidery stitch data, at a stitch that is a predetermined number of stitches prior to the stitch where sewing stopped. However, in such a case wherein consumption of the bobbin thread has been overlooked for a few minutes, incomplete sewing may proceed by 100 stitches or more. In this case, the embroidery pattern cannot be completed even if sewing is resumed based on the embroidery stitch data at the stitch that is the predetermined number of stitches prior to the stitch where sewing stopped.

Accordingly, the head search key must be operated to resume sewing from the head of the embroidery pattern, and consequently, the embroidery pattern portion sewn prior to the interruption is quite wasteful as those stitches must be removed by hand. The loss is particularly serious when sewing is interrupted after sewing of more than one half the embroidery pattern.

Further, also with the stitch pattern sewing machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 57-25885, when sewing is to be resumed after interruption of pattern sewing, sewing is only resumed from the head of the continuous pattern. Sewing cannot be resumed from the head of one of the partial patterns that constitute the continuous pattern. Also in this instance, sewing is resumed from the head of the continuous pattern in a manner similar to the operation in response to the head search key described above, and consequently, the pattern portion sewn prior to the interruption is quite wasteful.

It is an object of the invention to provide a sewing machine which can resume, when sewing is interrupted, sewing from the head of a partial pattern which was being sewn at the time of interruption.

According to the invention, a sewing machine comprises stitch forming means for forming stitches on a workpiece, the stitch forming means including a sewing needle movable in upward and downward directions and a needle thread catcher for cooperating with the sewing needle, driving means for driving the stitch forming means, stitch data storage means in which stitch data of a continuous pattern composed of a plurality of partial patterns are stored separately for the partial patterns, controlling means for reading out the stitch data stored in the stitch data storage means and controlling driving of the driving means in accordance with the stitch data thus read, stopping means for stopping the driving means, and supplying means for supplying to the controlling means stitch data at the head of the partial pattern which the controlling means had most recently read from the stitch data storage means prior to when the driving means was stopped by the stopping means.

In the sewing machine, the driving means for driving the stitch forming means is controlled in accordance with stitch data by the controlling means so that a pattern is sewn on a workpiece. The stitch data storage means stores therein stitch data of a continuous pattern, which is composed of a plurality of partial patterns, separately from the partial patterns. When the driving means is stopped by the stopping means, the supplying means supplies to the controlling means stitch data at the head of the partial pattern which the controlling means had most recently read from the stitch data storage means prior to when the driving means was stopped by the stopping means.

When the driving means is stopped, since the supplying means supplies to the controlling means stitch data at the head of the partial pattern which the controlling means had read, sewing can be resumed from the head of the partial pattern which was being sewn at the time of stopping.

Therefore, sewing can be resumed from a partial pattern, which was being sewn at the time of stopping, after the incomplete stitches are removed, and consequently, the loss involved in the interruption of sewing can be minimized and the operating efficiency in sewing can be raised remarkably.

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of an electronically controlled embroidery sewing machine;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a controlling system of the embroidery sewing machine;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an exemplary display when an embroidery pattern is to be selected;

FIG. 4 is a similar view but showing an exemplary display of a plurality of partial embroidery patterns of a selected embroidery pattern;

FIG. 5 is a similar view but showing an exemplary display of a plurality of partial embroidery patterns when a head search key is operated;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the configuration of embroidery stitch data in a ROM card;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a head address memory of a RAM;

FIG. 8A is a flow chart illustrating part of a routine for partial embroidery pattern designating control;

FIG. 8B is table of labels for the flowchart of FIG. 8A;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the remaining part of the routine for partial embroidery pattern designating control;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart similar to FIG. 9 but illustrating a modification to the part of the routine shown in FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing partial embroidery patterns of an embroidery pattern of the prior art.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the embodiment, the invention is applied to an electronically controlled embroidery sewing machine with a removably mounted embroidery apparatus by which various embroidery pattern stitches can be sewn.

Referring to FIG. 1, an electronically controlled embroidery sewing machine M includes a sewing machine bed 1, a column 2 extending uprightly from a right end portion of the bed 1 and an arm 3 extending leftwardly from the top end of the column 2 (as viewed in the Figure) in an opposing relationship to the bed 1. The bed 1 includes a feed dog vertically moving mechanism (not shown) for moving a feed dog upwardly and downwardly, a feed dog forwardly and backwardly moving mechanism (not shown) for moving the feed dog forwardly and backwardly, and a needle thread catcher (for example, a horizontal cylinder) which accommodates a thread bobbin therein and cooperates with a sewing needle 6. The arm 3 includes a needle bar driving mechanism for moving a needle bar 5, which can mount the sewing needle 6 at the lower end thereof, upwardly and downwardly, a needle bar rocking mechanism for rocking the needle bar 5 in a direction perpendicular to the workpiece feeding direction, and a thread take-up lever driving mechanism (not shown) for moving a thread take-up lever 7 upwardly and downwardly in a timed relationship with the upward and downward movement of the needle bar 5. It is to be noted that the feed dog vertically moving mechanism, the needle bar driving mechanism and the thread take-up lever driving mechanism are driven by a sewing machine motor 17. The feed dog forwardly and backwardly moving mechanism is driven by a feed dog driving stepping motor 19 while the needle bar rocking mechanism is driven by a needle bar rocking stepping motor 18.

A large size liquid crystal display 10 is provided on the front face of the arm 3. Various stitch patterns, such as utility patterns and embroidery patterns, figures and various messages are displayed on the display 10. A total of 30 touch keys 11, formed of transparent electrodes are provided overlaying the front face of the display 10, so as to divide the display into 30 selection zones or points, in a relationship that provides at least one touch key 11 corresponding to each of the plurality of displayed stitch patterns and other display items so that a desired stitch pattern can be selected by depressing an appropriate one of the touch keys 11 corresponding to and overlaying the pattern. A start/stop switch 12 for instructing starting and stopping a sewing operation is provided on the head 4.

A card slot for mounting a ROM card (pattern card) 7 onto a card connector 13 in the inside of the column 2 is formed in the column 2. The ROM card 27 has stored therein embroidery stitch data of a plurality of embroidery patterns for embroidery sewing of various figurative patterns, characters, marks and one point marks. Further, an operation panel 9 is provided on the front face of an upper end portion of the column 2 with nine function keys provided on the operation panel 9. The function keys include a utility sewing key for causing a utility pattern to be displayed, a character sewing key for causing a character pattern to be displayed, a card key for starting embroidery pattern sewing, and a head search key 9a.

A free arm 1a is formed at a left end portion of the bed 1 (as viewed in the FIG.), and an embroidery apparatus 30 is removably mounted on the free arm 1a. An embroidery table 31 is provided on the embroidery apparatus 30 for movement in the Y direction parallel to the workpiece feeding direction (forward and backward direction) and the X direction (leftward and rightward direction) perpendicular to the Y direction. An embroidery frame (not shown) for removably mounting a workpiece thereon is removably mounted on the embroidery table 31.

A first stepping motor 32 (refer to FIG. 2) for feeding the embroidery table 31 in the X direction and a second stepping motor 33 (refer to FIG. 2) for moving the embroidery table 31 in the Y direction are disposed in the body frame of the embroidery apparatus 30. Accordingly, various embroidery patterns can be formed on a workpiece mounted on the embroidery frame by cooperation between the driving movements of the stepping motors 32 and 33, and upward and downward movement of the needle bar 5, in response to driving signals supplied to them from the sewing machine M by way of a connector 14.

The controlling system of the sewing machine M will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

The start/stop switch 12, the touch keys 11, the operation panel 9, a timing signal generator 16 and a thread break detector 8 are connected to an input interface 21 of a controlling apparatus C. The head search key 9a, on the operation panel 9, is operated when embroidery sewing is to be resumed after the interruption of embroidery sewing. The thread break detector 8 detects breaking of the needle thread or consumption of the bobbin thread. The sewing machine motor 17, the needle bar rocking stepping motor 18, the feed dog driving stepping motor 19 and a display controller (LCDC) 20 for the display (LCD) 10 are connected to an output interface 26 of the controlling apparatus C. Further, the first and second stepping motors 32 and 33 of the embroidery apparatus 30 are connected to the output interface 26 by way of the connector 14.

The controlling apparatus C includes a CPU 23, the input interface 21, the output interface 26, a ROM 24 and a RAM 25 all connected to the CPU 23 by way of a bus 22, such as a data bus. A ROM 28 of the ROM card 27, described above, is connected to the bus 22 by way of a connector 13.

Embroidery stitch data of the plurality of embroidery patterns described above are stored in the ROM 28 of the ROM card 27 in a corresponding relationship to pattern code numbers for different kinds of patterns. Each of the embroidery patterns is composed of a plurality of partial embroidery patterns. Embroidery stitch data of each of the embroidery patterns are stored in a manner such as illustrated in FIG. 6, wherein they are arranged in the predetermined order of a first partial embroidery pattern, a second partial embroidery pattern, a third partial embroidery pattern and so on. The embroidery stitch data of each partial embroidery pattern is composed of a plurality of coordinate data representative of positions to which the embroidery frame is to be successively moved and a stop code designating the end of the partial embroidery pattern.

The ROM 24 has stored therein a driving controlling program for driving the motors 17 to 19, a display controlling program for causing the display 10 to display various display items, a control program for embroidery sewing control for controlling the first and second stepping motors 32 and 33 in accordance with the embroidery stitch data, and another control program for partial embroidery pattern designating control, which will be hereinafter described, incidental to the control program for embroidery sewing control and peculiar to the invention. However, since the controls, except the partial embroidery pattern designating control which is peculiar to the invention, are conventional controls, description of them is omitted. The RAM 25 has pointers, counters, buffers and so forth for temporarily storing results of calculations by the CPU 23.

Subsequently, the partial embroidery pattern designating control which is executed by the controlling apparatus C of the sewing machine M will be described.

Prior to executing control, the sewing machine M must receive power, i.e., be turned on. Then the card key of the operation panel 9 will be operated after a ROM card 27, containing embroidery stitch data of a large number of embroidery patterns, is set in position. Consequently, the first five embroidery patterns are displayed on the display 10 as shown in FIG. 3. The displayed contents of the display 10 may be changed by manual operation of one of the appropriate ones of the touch keys 11 overlaying the indications of "PRECEDING PAGE" or "NEXT PAGE". When a desired embroidery pattern is displayed, at least one of the appropriate touch keys 11 overlaying the indication of the desired embroidery pattern will be manually to select the embroidery pattern. Thus, if it is assumed that, for example, an embroidery pattern 40 representing an elephant is selected in the displayed condition of FIG. 3, then the five partial embroidery patterns that comprise the embroidery pattern 40, that is, a face 41, ears 42, a cap 43, a top portion 44 of the cap and eyes, eyebrows and profile lines 45, are displayed on the display 10 as shown in FIG. 4.

There may be more than the five partial embroidery patterns of this example. In that case a display similar to FIG. 3 is provided allowing the operator to go to the next page of partial embroidery patterns or return to the preceding page if at a partial embroidery pattern greater than five. The number of partial embroidery patterns may also be less than five.

Subsequently, the start/stop switch 12 will be operated after a needle thread of the same color as the first partial embroidery pattern (face 41) is threaded. In response to such operation, embroidery sewing of the first partial embroidery pattern is started on the embroidery sewing machine M. When the embroidery sewing is completed, the embroidery sewing machine M is stopped in response to the stop code and the needle thread will be changed to that required for the next partial pattern. After that, embroidery sewing will be performed successively for the second and subsequent partial embroidery patterns in the same way.

Here, in the case of trouble, such as a breakage of the needle or the thread or consumption of the bobbin thread, taking place during the embroidery sewing such that the embroidery sewing is interrupted, the head search key 9a will be operated. Consequently, all of the partial embroidery patterns of the embroidery pattern being sewn and the indication of "HEAD SEARCH" are displayed on the display 10 as shown in FIG. 5. In this condition, the touch key for indicating the partial embroidery pattern, for which embroidery sewing should be performed again, will be operated to designate the desired partial embroidery pattern so that the embroidery sewing may be resumed from the head of the desired partial embroidery pattern.

The routine for partial embroidery pattern designating control mentioned above will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 8 and 9. It is to be noted that reference characters Si (i=10, 11, 12, . . . ) in FIGS. 8 and 9 denote each step.

As shown FIG. 7, a head address memory 25a, a pointer P specifying an address of the memory 25a and another pointer I specifying an address of embroidery stitch data of the ROM card 27, are provided in the RAM 25. The controlling operation is started, in response to operation of the card key of the operation panel 9, with the process of selecting an embroidery pattern (S10). After selection, all of the partial embroidery patterns of the selected embroidery pattern are displayed on the display 10 (S11). Subsequently, head addresses of all of the partial embroidery patterns are read from the embroidery data of the selected embroidery pattern in the embroidery stitch data of the ROM card 27 and are stored into the head address memory 25a (S12). Next, an address Ad (first address of the memory 25a, FIG. 7) is placed into the pointer P (S13).

Subsequently, when the start/stop switch 12 is operated (S14, Yes), the sewing machine motor 17 is energized (S15) and a head address (first, AD1) indicated by the pointer P is placed into the pointer I (S16). Then, when a stopping instruction has not been input from the start/stop switch 12 (S18, No), the first and second stepping motors 32 and 33 are controlled in accordance with the embroidery stitch data read in at step S17 to perform embroidery sewing processing (S19). If the embroidery stitch data are not the stop code (S20, No), the pointer I is incremented by one (S21), whereafter the control sequence returns to step S17 so that the steps S17 to S21 are repeated. Embroidery sewing proceeds successively in this manner. Embroidery sewing of the first partial embroidery pattern comes to an end when the stop code is read (S20, Yes) and the control sequence advances from step S20 to step S22, at which time the sewing machine motor 17 is stopped and the pointer P is incremented by one (S23).

Subsequently at step S24, it is judged whether or not there is a next head address (such as AD1 to AD5 in the example being described) indicated by the pointer P. Before embroidery sewing of all of the partial embroidery patterns is completed, the judgment at step S24 is Yes and, consequently, the control sequence advances from step S24 to step S14 so that the operations beginning with step S14 are repeated. In this instance, since the pointer P is incremented by one and now indicates the new address (Ad+1, FIG. 7) of the memory 25a, embroidery sewing of the second partial embroidery pattern is performed in the same manner as described above.

The sequence of operations is repeated until embroidery sewing of all of the partial embroidery patterns is completed. At that time, the judgment at step S24 is changed to No and, consequently, the control sequence comes to an end. It is to be noted that, while a display, as shown in FIG. 4, is displayed on the display 10 during embroidery sewing, the partial embroidery patterns beginning with the first partial embroidery pattern may scroll so that the partial embroidery pattern being sewn may be positioned at the leftmost position among them.

When a trouble occurs, such as breaking of the needle thread or consumption of the bobbin thread, a stopping instruction will be input from the thread break detector. Also an interruption could result from operating the start/stop switch 12. In such a case, the judgment at step S18 is Yes and the control sequence advances from step S18 to S25, where the sewing machine motor 17 is stopped (FIG. 9). While stopped, the operator corrects the cause of the trouble, removes the incomplete embroidery stitches and then manually operates the head search key 9a (S26, Yes). At that time, a set of five partial embroidery patterns, including the partial embroidery pattern being sown, of the selected embroidery pattern are displayed on the display 10 (in our example, all of the five partial embroidery patterns) and the message of "HEAD SEARCH" is displayed at the top stage of the display 10 as shown in FIG. 5 (S27). It is to be noted that data for the display are stored in the display control program.

Subsequently, in order to designate the desired partial embroidery pattern for which embroidery sewing is to be tried again, the operator will operate an appropriate one of the touch keys 11 overlaying the desired partial embroidery pattern (S28, Yes). Consequently, the pointer P is set in response to the designation of the partial embroidery pattern (S29).

In this instance, if, for example, the third partial embroidery pattern is designated, then Ad+2 is placed into the pointer P. Then, processing to restore the displayed contents is executed (S30), whereafter the control sequence returns to step S14. Here, in case no partial embroidery pattern is designated after operation of the head search key 9a, the judgment at step S28 is No, and the control sequence advances to step S30. In this case, the pointer P is not changed and accordingly remains indicating the address of the partial embroidery pattern at which sewing was interrupted. For example, when sewing is interrupted during sewing of the third partial embroidery pattern, the pointer P will be maintained at Ad+2.

Further, when the head search key 9a is not operated after stopping of the sewing machine motor 17 at step S25, the judgment at step S26 is No, and consequently, the control sequence advances to step S13 where the pointer P is set to the address Ad. In short, embroidery embroidery sewing will be resumed from the head of the selected embroidery pattern (i.e., from the head of the first partial embroidery pattern).

The pointer P and the memory 25a make it possible, when embroidery sewing is interrupted, to designate the head address of the first partial embroidery pattern of an embroidery pattern in the case where the head search key 9a is not operated, to designate the head address of a partial embroidery pattern at which sewing was interrupted in the case where the head search key 9a is operated but no partial embroidery pattern is designated subsequently, and to designate the head address of a desired partial embroidery pattern from which sewing is to be resumed in case where the head search key 9a is operated first and then the touch key 11 at the indication of a desired one of the partial embroidery patterns displayed on the display 10 is operated, for embroidery sewing to be resumed from a desired partial embroidery pattern when sewing is interrupted, and consequently, when embroidery sewing is interrupted, the operator need only remove the stitches of the incompletely sewn partial embroidery pattern and then resume embroidery sewing from that partial embroidery pattern.

Consequently, the loss of time, upon interruption of embroidery sewing, and the operational efficiency can be increased remarkably. This is particularly true since the touch key 11, at the indication of any one of partial embroidery patterns displayed on the display 10 can be operated to designate a desired partial embroidery pattern thereby simplifying designation of a partial embroidery pattern.

A modification to steps S25 to S30, described above, will be described with reference to FIG. 10. In the modified control, the sewing machine motor 17 is stopped in response to an input of a stopping instruction (S40). Then, the number N of times the head search key 9a is operated by the operator is counted (S41), whereafter the pointer P is set to P-(N-1). At that time, the control sequence returns to step S14.

In short, the head address of the partial embroidery pattern at which embroidery sewing was interrupted can be indicated by operating the head search key 9a once or the head address of a partial embroidery pattern, N-1 partial embroidery patterns prior to the partial embroidery pattern interrupted, can be designated by operating the head search key 9a N times. It is to be noted that the pointer P changes cyclically within the range from Ad to Ad+4 (of our example) and the displayed contents on the display 10 are changed so that the partial embroidery pattern indicated by the pointer P may be positioned at the leftmost position in the same manner as during embroidery sewing previously discussed.

In this manner, by operating the head search key 9a once or a plurality of times, the head address of a desired partial embroidery pattern can be designated by means of the pointer P and the memory 25a, and embroidery sewing can be resumed from the head of the designated partial embroidery pattern. It is to be noted that, where ten keys are provided in addition to the head search key 9a, a desired partial embroidery pattern from which embroidery sewing is to be resumed may be designated by designating the number (1, 2, . . . , 5) of the desired partial embroidery pattern by means of the ten keys after operation of the head search key 9a.

Also, although the sewing machine of the embodiment is described above wherein embroidery stitch data of embroidery patterns are stored in a ROM card, such embroidery data may be stored other than in the ROM 24 of the controlling apparatus C or another ROM. Further, the display 10 may be a color display on which partial embroidery patterns are displayed in the colors designated for the individual partial embroidery patterns.

Further, while the embroidery patterns formed on an embroidery sewing machine provided with the embroidery apparatus 30 are described as an example of pattern stitches, the present invention can be applied to a zigzag sewing machine which is not provided with such an embroidery apparatus 30 but forms a pattern stitch by changing the relative positions of the sewing needle 6 and the workpiece. In the invention, a pattern is defined to include an embroidery pattern formed by an embroidery sewing machine and another pattern formed by a zigzag sewing machine.

It is to be noted that the partial embroidery pattern designating control in the embodiment described above is illustrated as a mere example. Many changes and modifications can be made to the embodiment described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth herein.