Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-Kaisha

Etuzo Nomura

Hiroyuki Mitsui

Yasuo Sakakibara

Tetsuo Kozawa

Hideo Kawaguchi

Yuji Tagawa

Ikuzo Kondo

Yukio Nishida

Shiro Oya

Yoichi Kurahashi

A sewing machine including a needle holding device which holds a sewing needle, a sheet holding device which holds one or more work sheets, and a moving device which moves the sheet holding device relative to the needle holding device, the moving device including a drive source which produces a drive force, one or more cylindrical cams which are connected to the drive source and each of which is rotatable about an axis line by being driven by the drive source, each cylindrical cam having a pair of opposite spiral cam surfaces formed on an outer circumferential surface thereof, and one or more cam followers which are connected to the sheet holding device and each of which is engaged with the spiral cam surfaces of a corresponding cylindrical cam such that the cam follower is movable along the cam surfaces and is substantially immovable in directions perpendicular to the cam surfaces, the cam follower being moved in a drive-force transmitting direction substantially parallel to the axis line of the cylindrical cam when the cam is rotated by the drive source, so that the cam follower transmits the drive force of the drive source to the sheet holding device.

Sewing machine

A sewing machine forms a seam in the form of a series of stitches for a length preset by the operator. The length of the seam formed is computed from feed pitches data each generated when one stitch is formed. The operation of the sewing machine is stopped when the computed seam length coincides with the preset seam length.

A fabric-guiding apparatus for guiding a fabric layer across a line of fabric feed along a side edge of the fabric layer, including a detector sensing the side edge of the fabric layer and generating a detection signal, a guiding wheel rotatable about an axis parallel to the line of fabric feed, a pressure exerting device for exerting a contact pressure urging the guiding wheel into engagement with the fabric layer, and a first drive motor to rotate the guiding wheel for laterally moving the side edge of the layer into position prior to a sewing cycle. The pressure exerting device comprises a pressure adjusting mechanism to adjust the contact pressure, a second drive motor to actuate the adjusting mechanism, a drive circuit responsive to command signals, a memory storing command data relating to the command signals, and a control circuit. The control circuit supplies to the drive circuit a certain number of the command signals for changing the contact pressure in predetermined increments prior to the sewing cycle, updating the memory upon every supply of the command signals to the drive circuit, outputs a rotation signal to operate the first drive motor when the command signals are supplied to the drive circuit, and checks according to the detection signal if the fabric layer has been moved into position by the guiding wheel, whereby an optimum level of the contact pressure is established between the guiding wheel and the surface of the fabric layer before the sewing cycle is initiated.

Automatic work guiding apparatus for sewing machines

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Etuzo Nomura