Extended post sewing machine

Abstract

A sewing machine, capable of at least partial automatic operation, performs a second stitched seam, e.g. a deck seam, about joined ends of a pair of fabric panels which are components of an air bag. The machine features a vertically extended pedestal supporting the sewing head and a corresponding veritcally extended post supporting the plate beneath the head. The post supports the joined bag panels draped around it with the joint of the draped panels located between the sewing head and plate for stitching the edges of the panels to one of the panels while the remainder of the panels hang vertically around the post. A fixed lower guide plate and retractable upper guides are provided which will move a previously made stitched perimeter joint in the panels into precise spaced relation with a sewing head, so as to stitch the materials outside the first seam to each other and to one of the panels, forming the deck seam. The lower guide plates and upper guide members align the previously made joint with the sewing head, and fold the edges of the material onto one of the fabric panels before the materials enter the sewing head. The upper guide members are positioned and retracted under power to facilitate the process of setting a job into the machine, and to assure precise alignment of the guides. The machine also includes a powered feed device which pulls the guided materials through the sewing head, and a programmable controller device to allow measurement of and control over the extent of the deck seam formed by the machine.