L&p Property Management Company

Jeff A Kaetterhenry

James T Frazer

Terrance L Myers

Michael A James

Glenn E Leavis

David Brian Scott

James F Bondanza

Roland Bulnes

Richard Villacis

Andrew K Schnaufer

Roland Keller

Richard N Codos

Stjepan Vadlja

Ivan Habek

Robert Spencer

A multi-needle chain-stitch quilting machine and method of operation thereof are provided that imparts relative motion between the needles and the material that is controlled so as to pull needle thread tails from the needle side of the quilted material. The feature of controlling thread tails may be optional to provide selection of either a high speed mode of operation without thread tail control or a quality mode of operation with reduction or removal of needle thread tails from the face of the quilted material. Thread trimmers may be included at each needle location on the looper side of the material to cut both needle and looper threads.

Multi-needle chain stitch quilting apparatus and method

Thread control in multi-needle chain stitch quilting

A multi-needle quilting machine is provided with a common drive that drives the needles and loopers. It may also drive the presser foot assembly. In the illustrated embodiment, a drive motor drives a rotating drive shaft. The drive shaft has an off-center drive assembly connected to it that rocks a needle rocker shaft as well as looper rocker shafts, and also a presser foot shaft. The off-center drive includes a pair of eccentrics on the drive shaft at each side of the machine. Each eccentric oscillates a linkage plate that is fixed to a shaft such as the needle rocker shaft and is also linked to the looper rocker shafts and the presser foot shaft. The eccentric thereby reciprocates the needles and oscillates the loopers, as well as reciprocates the presser foot plate, in permanent synchronization.

Multi-needle quilting machine and needle and looper drive mechanism therefor and method of operating same

An apparatus for feeding and slitting soft goods has multiple slitting systems with respective slitting blades mounted on a cross rail. A slitting blade positioning system is movable parallel with the cross rail and operable to move slitting systems along the cross rail. A material feed motor is connected to a feed roller and operable to move the soft goods past the slitting system. A control is first operable to cause the slitting blade positioning system to move identified slitting systems to desired positions on the cross rail. Thereafter, the control operates a drive shaft motor to rotate slitting blades mounted on the drive shaft and the material feed motor, thereby moving the soft goods past the slitting blades.

Programmable border slitter

A quilting machine has at least one needle and looper set for forming chain-stitched patterns on a thick multilayered material such as a mattress ticking, preferably a panel of the continuous web clamped stationary on a frame. The stitch forming elements are mounted on separate heads that move independently transversely relative to the panel on a bridge that moves longitudinally relative to the panel. The bridge is longitudinally moved by a servo and the heads are transversely moved on the bridge by separate linear servos. The needle and looper are each driven by a linear servo having an armature to which the element is directly fixed to reciprocate without intervening mechanical linkage assemblies. A controller drives the servos to chain-stitch patterns, differentially move the heads transversely to account for transverse needle deflection and to phase the needle and looper to compensate for longitudinal needle deflection. The controller determines or predicts needle deflection, either based on stored empirically determined data or optical sensing, and generates deflection compensation signals to drive the servos.

Servo driven quilter

A chain-stitch multi-needle quilting machine and method provide for driving needles and loopers independently or out of phase, particularly during the starting of stitching sequences. Separate drive motors drive needles separately from their loopers. Alternatively, a single motor drives needles and loopers linked through a differential drive or variably-controllable linkage. At the beginning of a stitch sequence, needles and loopers are separately driven in a split start manner by which stitches can be reliably formed by advancing the loopers ahead of the needles so the looper enters a needle thread loop before the needle enters a looper thread loop. Then the needle and looper can be brought into phase later in the first stitch cycle. The split drive can solve other stitch or thread control problems.

Chain-stitch quilting with separate needle and looper drive

A multi-needle quilting machine () and method in which provided bridges () are provided having selectively operable stitching element pairs (). Either the material or the bridges or both may be moved relative to the frame. Control schemes are provided to quilt continuous patterns, discrete patterns, linked multiple patterns, 360 degree patterns, closely spaced patterns. A plurality of small presser feet () are provided, each for one or more needles (), with a wide spacing for material passage between the needle and looper plates. Combinations of intermittent and continuous feed and feed transition are employed during tack sequence sewing and other direction reversals in sewing, as well as double needle guards and thread deflection.

Multiple horizontal needle quilting machine and method

A multi-needle quilting machine () and method are provided, in most embodiments of which needles () reciprocate horizontally through material () supported in a vertical quilting plane (). Two or more bridges () are provided having separate motion control. Each bridge () has a row of selectively operable stitching element pairs (), which may be fixed to or transversely moveable on the bridges (). Either the material or the bridges may be moved relative to the frame. The bridges () each move transversely and vertically with the stitching elements () on each bridge can operate at different speeds. Each of the needle drives () and, in some embodiments the looper drives (), can be selectively activated and deactivated. Control schemes are provided to quilt continuous patterns, discrete patterns, linked multiple patterns, 360 degree patterns, closely spaced patterns. A plurality of small presser feet () are provided, each for one or more needles (). Looper adjustment, thread cutting and thread tension control are provided, as well as other features set forth in the specification. Thread tail wipe and tuck techniques, missed stitch avoidance, stitching element timing, tacking sequences, and other features are disclosed.

A modular material supply system for an automated quilting machine having a variety of fill material supply devices, a cover material tick magazine, a fill laminator, and optionally a digital printer. The system is capable of selecting the desired cover and fill materials and supplying them continuously to a laminator to form a layered material, which is then fed to the quilting machine. The flexibility of the modular system reduces the need for system downtime to changeover component materials for producing different quilted products.

Raw material supply system for quilting machines

An apparatus is provided for feeding and slitting mattress covers, quilts and other soft goods supported on a table. The apparatus has a first slitting wheel rotatable by a motor. A second slitting wheel is rotatable by the motor and contacts the first slitting wheel to provide a cutting action. The apparatus further includes upper and lower conveyors operable by the motor for conveying the soft goods past the slitting wheels. The upper conveyor is resiliently vertically movable and applies a compression force against the soft goods as they are moved between the upper and lower conveyors and past the slitting wheels.

Soft goods slitter and feed system for quilting

A quilting machine is provided having at least one set of single needle stitch forming elements for forming chain stitched patterns on a thick multilayered material such as a mattress cover. The machine is preferably web-fed, with a panel of the continuous web being clamped and held stationary on a frame. The stitch forming elements include a needle and a looper mounted on separate heads that are independently moveable on a bridge transversely relative to the panel, which is moveable longitudinally relative to the frame. The bridge is longitudinally moved by a servo and the heads are transversely moved on the bridge by separate servos. The stitching elements on each head are driven by separate servos. A controller drives the servos to chain stitch patterns and differentially move the heads transversely to account for transverse needle deflection. The drives of the needle and looper are phased to compensate for longitudinal needle deflection. The controller determines or predicts needle deflection. It may store empirically determined data and respond to control signals and/or sensors to determine or predict deflection and to calculate the needle deflection compensation, in response to which it generates deflection compensation signals to drive the servos. Infrared, LED or magnetic deflection sensors are preferred, but many other types are or will become available that will be suitable.

Web-fed chain-stitch single-needle mattress cover quilter with needle deflection compensation

A quilting apparatus is provided with a computer controlled presser plate adjusting mechanism. A presser plate rocker shaft is separate from and mechanically connected to a needle rocker shaft and imparts a reciprocating motion to the presser plate. The presser plate rocker shaft is adjustable to vary the range of its output link to the presser plate, thereby changing the endpoints of its reciprocating path of travel. Certain embodiments have an output end of the presser plate rocker shaft adjustable relative to the input end through a coupling to different angular positions relative to an input end in order to change the upper and lower ends of the range of reciprocation of the pressure plate relative to the needle plate. Alternatively, the length of a link between the needle and pressure plate rocker shafts is variable to make the presser plate adjustment. A motor or other actuator changes the coupling or link in response to a signal from a quilting machine controller, which can be made instantly, either manually by an operator at a controller interface terminal, by a batch mode program run by the controller to set the machine to the parameters required by products on a product schedule, or automatically in response to measurements from sensors that are interpreted by the controller in determining optimal pressure plate setting.

Quilting machine with adjustable presser plate and method of operating the quilting machine

A quilting machine is provided having at least one set of single needle stitch forming elements for forming chain stitched patterns on a thick multilayered material such as a mattress cover. The machine is preferably web fed, with a panel of the continuous web being clamped and held stationary on a frame. The elements include a needle and a looper mounted on separate heads that are independently moveable transversely on a bridge, which is moveable longitudinally on the frame. The bridge is longitudinally moved by a servo and the heads are transversely moved on the bridge by separate servos. Each head is driven by a separate servo. A controller drives the servos to chain stitch patterns and differentially moves the heads transversely to account for transverse needle deflection. The drives of the needle and looper are phased to compensate for longitudinal needle deflection. The controller stores empirically determined data and responds to control signals or sensors to determine deflection and calculate the needle deflection compensation from which it generates deflection compensation signals to drive the servos.

Growing community of inventors

Algonquin, IL, United States of America

Jeff A Kaetterhenry