Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-Kaisha

Tomoyuki Fujita

Akira Nishio

Takashi Kondo

Goro Okada

Takao Hyakudome

Minoru Yamaguchi

Yoshihisa Nozaki

Koichi Harada

Motonari Nakano

Ikuzo Kondo

Yoshiharu Higuchi

Koichi Akahane

An ink refilling device including a supply portion to be connected to an ink cartridge and supply ink, an ink tank, a first connecting tube having one end connected to the ink tank, a three-way switching valve including an input end connected to the other end of the first connecting tube, a first output end and a second output end, and adapted to switch between a first flow path from the input end to the first output end and a second flow path from the input end to the second output end, a second connecting tube having one end connected to the first output end and the other end connected to the supply portion, a third connecting tube having one end connected to the second output end and the other end connected to the ink tank, and a feed pump provided along the first connecting tube to feed the ink.

Ink refilling device

A sewing system including a stitch-forming device including at least one sewing needle, for forming stitches on at least one workpiece; a feeding device which feeds at least one of the stitch-forming device and the workpiece relative to the other of the stitch-forming device and the workpiece along a reference plane; a control device which controls, according to at least one set of sewing data corresponding to at least one sewing pattern including a plurality of stitches, the stitch-forming device and the feeding device to form the stitches of the sewing pattern on the workpiece; a dimension-data memory which stores a plurality of sets of dimension data which correspond to a plurality of dimensions, respectively, each of which relates to the set of sewing data; and a selecting device which is operable for selecting one of the sets of dimension data stored in the dimension-data memory.

Electronically controlled sewing system

An apparatus for measuring a remaining amount of a bobbin thread wound on a bobbin accommodated in a shuttle of a sewing machine, including a measurement bar displaceable along a displacement path from outside the shuttle toward an axis line of the bobbin inside the shuttle, a driver which displaces the measurement bar along the displacement path so that a free end of the bar contacts the outer surface of a roll of bobbin thread wound on the bobbin, a sensor which detects the displacement of the measurement bar and generates a displacement signal representative of continuous change in displacement amount of the bar, a signal-characteristic determining and storing device which determines a characteristic of the displacement signal based on respective values of the displacement signal when the measurement bar is located at a plurality of reference positions on the displacement path, and stores data indicative of the determined signal characteristic, and a remaining-amount determining device which determines the remaining amount of the bobbin thread left on the bobbin, based on the stored signal characteristic and a value of the displacement signal when the free end of the measurement bar contacts the outer surface of the roll of bobbin thread.

Remaining bobbin-thread amount measuring apparatus for sewing machine

An apparatus for measuring a remaining amount of a bobbin thread which is wound around a bobbin accommodated in a shuttle of a sewing machine, including a measurement bar which is displaceable along a displacement path from outside the shuttle toward an axis line of the bobbin inside the shuttle, a measurement-bar driver which displaces the measurement bar along the displacement path so that a free end of the measurement bar contacts an outer surface of a roll of the bobbin thread remaining on the bobbin, a displacement-speed control device which controls the measurement-bar driver to displace the measurement bar such that the free end of the measurement bar contacts the outer surface of the roll of the bobbin thread at a speed lower than a highest speed of the displacement of the bar along the displacement path, and a remaining-amount determining device which determines the remaining amount of the bobbin thread on the bobbin, based on an amount of the displacement of the measurement bar along the displacement path when the free end of the measurement bar contacts the outer surface of the roll of the bobbin thread.

A sewing system includes a plurality of sewing machines and a managing apparatus for managing sewing operations of the sewing machines. The managing apparatus determines a type of a work to be sewn by each of the sewing machines and sewing steps for such work, and supplies an identification code thereof to the sewing machines. A controller of the sewing machine reads out sewing data corresponding to the identification code from sewing data storage, and controls the sewing machine in accordance with the sewing data.

Growing community of inventors

Tajimi, Japan

Tomoyuki Fujita