EP0193625A1 - Embroidering machine with shuttles - Google Patents

Abstract

1. An embroidery machine having a number of embroidery needles disposed in at least one row on a common needle bar or on individually displaceable needle bars of a common needle bar carrier, there being associated with each needle : a shuttle for the back yarn, such shuttle being disposed on the opposite side of the material for embroidery, such material being clamped in an embroidery frame, and being driven in dependence upon needle movement ; and at least one yarn giver which supplies the front yarn to the associated needle and which is also driven in dependence upon needle movement, the movement pattern of the shuttles, which are reciprocated in guides by drive pins disposed on a common drive beam, and the movement pattern of the yarn givers differing from one another and from the needle movement, characterised in that a respective driving motor (46, 47, 48) is provided to drive the embroidery needles (15), shuttle drive beam (27) and yarn givers (16, 17) and the driving movement of each such motor to either hand is adapted to the respective required movement pattern for the needles (15), shuttles (18) and givers (16, 17) and is variable in accordance with the embroidery program as regards both its own movement pattern and also in relation to the movement pattern of the other motors by a central control unit.

Description

The invention relates to a shuttle embroidery machine with a plurality of embroidery needles arranged in at least one row on a common needle ruler or on individually displaceable needle bars of a common needle bar carrier, each of which has an embroidery material arranged on the opposite side of the embroidery frame and depending on the needle movement Driven shuttle for the rear thread and at least one thread feeder which causes the feed of the front thread to the respective needle and is also driven as a function of the needle movement are assigned, the sequence of movements of the shuttle moving back and forth in shuttle guides by driver pins arranged on a common driver bar and the sequence of movements the thread take-up is different from each other and from the needle movement.

In the shuttle embroidery machines of the type described above, the different movement sequences for the needles, shuttle and thread feeder are derived from the central main shaft of the shuttle machine via different cam mechanisms. The control cams are in the known prior art cams on which cam rollers roll and the drive movement via intermediate gears on the needles, the shuttle and transfer the thread take-up. Roller switches that are operated mechanically or electro-pneumatically are used to switch the cam gear on and off.

By using such cam gear, the motion sequences for the needles, shuttle and thread take-up are fixed in the respective cam. It is possible and necessary for the assembly of shuttle embroidery machines to change or adjust the temporal assignment of the movement sequences for the needles, shuttle and thread feeder by adjusting the cam disc. An adaptation to different embroidery programs is not provided, however, or can only be carried out with great expenditure of time by adjusting the cams to one another.

The known cam disk drives on shuttle embroidery machines have the disadvantage that their relatively large masses prevent an increase in the speed of the shuttle embroidery machine. The roller shifts also limit the machine speed and, moreover, usually require speed reductions during the switching operations. Furthermore, the cam disk gearboxes not only require a large amount of machine elements, but also a high level of maintenance and repair work. After all, they contribute to the fact that the sound level of a shuttle embroidery machine is very high.

The invention has for its object to develop a shuttle embroidery machine of the type described in such a way that a considerable increase in performance of the machine can be achieved with a simultaneous reduction in the design and maintenance effort and the noise level.

The solution to this problem by the invention is characterized in that for driving the needles, the Trei Abberbalkens the shuttle and for the thread feeder each has its own drive motor, the right and left rotating drive movement is coordinated with the required movement sequence for the needles or shuttle or thread feeder and according to the respective embroidery program both with regard to its own movement sequence and in relation the movements of the other motors can be changed by a central control unit.

With the proposal of the invention, not only is the construction cost for driving the needles, the shuttle and the thread take-up significantly reduced and the noise of the shuttle embroidery machine is reduced, but for the first time the possibility is created of the respective movements of the needles, the shuttle and the thread feeder To change depending on the respective embroidery program both in their own characteristics and in their assignment to the other movement sequences, since the required movement sequences of the stitch and pattern-forming elements are carried out directly or indirectly by the drive motors. This results in a significant increase in the machine speed, since not only drives with less mass and reacting more spontaneously are used, but dead times which have been inevitable up to now can be avoided by adapting the movement sequences to the respective embroidery program. Maintenance costs are also significantly reduced. The main advantage, however, is the fact that for the first time it is possible to achieve an improvement in the end product while at the same time increasing the output by individually adapting the stitch formation processes to the materials, embroidery types and stitch sizes used in each case.

According to a further feature of the invention, in a shuttle embroidery machine with drills arranged parallel to the needles, a separate drive motor can also be provided for the drills with a drive movement which is clockwise and counter-clockwise and which is adapted to the axial movement sequence of the drills including depth adjustment. In addition to the stitch-forming elements, namely Needles, boats and thread feeders can thus also adapt the movement of the drills, which are part of the pattern-forming elements, to the respective embroidery program.

According to the invention, highly dynamic, electronically controlled electric motors are used as motors for driving the needles, boats, thread feeders and optionally drills, such as, for example, stepper motors, DC motors or permanently excited AC and three-phase motors. In a further development according to the invention, the electric motors are controlled by a computer.

According to further features of the invention, the motor drives the shaft to be driven in each case for driving the needles, shuttle, thread take-up or drill either directly or with the interposition of a transmission gear. Furthermore, it is possible to arrange a common motor for the movement of the needles and drills, including drill depth adjustment.

Finally, with the invention it is proposed to assign a large and a small thread feeder to each needle, each of which is driven by a separate motor, so that the thread feed divided into a large and small thread feeder can also be adapted exactly to the respective requirements.

• Fig. 1 eine perspektivische Teilansicht der Steuerungsseite einer bekannten Schiffchenstickmaschine,
• Fig. 2 einen senkrechten Schnitt durch diejenigen Teile der Schiffchenstickmaschine nach Fig. 1, die dem Antrieb der Nadelbewegung dienen,
• Fig. 3 einen Teilschnitt gemäß der Schnittlinie III-III in Fig. 2,
• Fig. 4 einen senkrechten Schnitt durch diejenigen Teile der Schiffchenstickmaschine gemäß Fig. l, die den Antrieb der Schiffchen bewirken,
• Fig. 5 ein Diagramm, das den Bewegungsablauf und die Zuordnung des Nadelhubes und Schiffchenhubes zeigt,
• Fig. 6 einen senkrechten Schnitt durch diejenigen Teile der Schiffchenstickmaschine gemäß Fig. 1, die die Zufuhr des Vorderfadens bewirken,
• Fig. 7 einen weiteren senkrechten Schnitt durch diejenigen Teile der bekannten Schiffchenstickmaschine gemäß Fig. 1, die den Antrieb der Bohrer bewirken,
• Fig. 8 einen senkrechten Schnitt durch denjenigen Teil einer erfindungsgemässen Schiffchenstickmaschine, der den Antrieb der Nadeln bewirkt,
• Fig. 9 einen senkrechten Schnitt durch denjenigen Teil einer erfindungsgemäßen Schiffchenstickmaschine, der den Antrieb der Schiffchen bewirkt,
• Fig. 10 einen der Fig. 8 entsprechenden Schnitt zur Darstellung des erfindungsgemäßen Antriebes der Fadengeber,
• Fig. 11 einen weiteren Schnitt durch denjenigen Teil der erfindungsgemäßen Schiffchenstickmaschine, der die Bewegung der Bohrer erzeugt,
• Fig. 12 einen der Fig. 8 entsprechenden Schnitt durch eine alternative Ausführungsform zur Erzeugung der Nadelbewegung,
• Fig. 13 einen der Fig. 9 entsprechenden Schnitt durch eine ebenfalls alternative Ausführungsform zur Erzeugung der Schiffchenbewegung,
• Fig. 14 eine alternative Ausführungsform entsprechend Fig. 10 für den Antrieb der Fadengeber und
• Fig. 15 eine Alternative zu Fig. 11 für den Antrieb der Bohrer.

In addition to an embodiment of the known prior art, the drawing shows several exemplary embodiments of the invention, namely:

• 1 is a partial perspective view of the control side of a known shuttle embroidery machine,
• Fig. 2 shows a vertical section through those Parts of the shuttle embroidery machine according to FIG. 1, which serve to drive the needle movement,
• 3 shows a partial section along the section line III-III in FIG. 2,
• 4 shows a vertical section through those parts of the shuttle embroidery machine according to FIG. 1 which drive the shuttle,
• 5 is a diagram showing the sequence of movements and the assignment of the needle stroke and shuttle stroke,
• 6 shows a vertical section through those parts of the shuttle embroidery machine according to FIG. 1 which bring about the feeding of the front thread,
• 7 shows a further vertical section through those parts of the known shuttle embroidery machine according to FIG. 1 which drive the drill,
• 8 shows a vertical section through that part of a shuttle embroidery machine according to the invention which drives the needles,
• 9 is a vertical section through that part of a shuttle embroidery machine according to the invention which drives the shuttle,
• 10 shows a section corresponding to FIG. 8 to illustrate the drive of the thread feeder according to the invention,
• 11 shows a further section through that part of the shuttle embroidery machine according to the invention which generates the movement of the drill,
• 12 shows a section corresponding to FIG. 8 through an alternative embodiment for generating the needle movement,
• 13 shows a section corresponding to FIG. 9 through a likewise alternative embodiment for generating the shuttle movement,
• Fig. 14 shows an alternative embodiment corresponding to Fig. 10 for driving the thread transmitter and
• Fig. 15 shows an alternative to Fig. 11 for driving the drill.

With the representation of a known shuttle embroidery machine in FIGS. 1 to 7, it is to be shown what construction effort has previously been necessary to drive the needles, shuttle, thread feeder and possibly drill of a shuttle embroidery machine. Fig. 1 shows a partial view of the control side of a two-day shuttle embroidery machine of a known type, which has a machine main shaft 1 driven by a motor, not shown, from which the movements for the needles, shuttle, thread take-up and drill are derived. For this purpose there are several cams on this main machine shaft 1 ben 2 attached. The course of movement is determined by the shape of these cams 2 and the type of operation connected downstream. The assignment of the cams 2 to each other results in the assignment of the different movements. As a result, both the sequence of movements as such and its assignment to the other sequences of movements are defined. A change is only possible either by exchanging cams 2 or by rotating the cams 2 relative to one another on the machine main shaft 1.

2 and 3, the cam mechanism for the needle movement is shown. The drawings show the machine main shaft 1 with the cam disk 2a for the needle drive. The movement is taken off by two cam rollers 3, which are rotatably mounted on a roller lever 4. This roller lever 4 is pivotally mounted on an axis 5 which is arranged on the frame of the shuttle embroidery machine. In order to be able to switch off the needle movement, the upper cam roller 3 is slidably mounted on a roller pin 4a arranged on the roller lever 4, so that it can be moved from the cam disc 2a to an adjacent, circular cam disc 6. As a result, despite the rotation of the machine main shaft 1, no more pivoting movement is exerted on the roller lever 4.

The top view according to FIG. 3 drawn according to the section line III-III in FIG. 3 shows an embodiment in which the displacement of the upper cam roller on the roller bolt 4a is carried out by a shift fork 7, which is guided on an extension of the axis 5a and by a Air cylinder 8 is operated.

As shown in FIG. 2, a connecting rod 9 is articulated on the roller lever 4, which in turn engages a drive lever 10 which is arranged on a needle shaft 11 in a rotationally fixed manner. This needle shaft 11 runs over the entire length of the shuttle embroidery machine and in turn carries a plurality of needle levers 12 which are connected to a so-called needle ruler 14 by means of push rods 13 which are guided in a stationary manner. The needle ruler 14 in turn runs over the entire length of the shuttle embroidery machine and carries all the embroidery needles 15 arranged in an embroidery story.

Each of the embroidery needles 15 is provided with a front thread V, which is inserted into the fabric S with the aid of the embroidery needles 15. In the exemplary embodiment shown, this front thread V is fed by a large thread feeder 16 and a small thread feeder 17, the drive of which will be described later. On the back of the fabric S, the front thread V is linked with a rear thread, which is arranged in a boat 18. The drive of the shuttle 18 is described below.

4 shows this drive of the shuttle 18 in a known shuttle embroidery machine. The illustration shows the cam disk transmission, which comprises a cam disk 2b fastened on the main machine shaft I. The drive movement is in turn derived from this cam disc 2b via two cam rollers 19 which are rotatably mounted on a roller lever 20 which in turn is arranged on an axis 21 fixed to the frame. The pivoting movement of the roller lever 20 is transmitted through a connecting rod 22 and a link lever 23 to a shuttle shaft 24 which is rotatably mounted on the frame of the shuttle embroidery machine. The back and forth movement of this shuttle shaft 24 is transmitted via drive lever 25 and connecting rod 26 to a driver bar 27, which thus carries out an up and down movement in accordance with the design of the cam plate 2b.

The driver bar 27 running over the entire length of the shuttle embroidery machine is provided with driver pins 28 for the shuttle 18, each of which is guided in a shuttle guide 29.

In the diagram of FIG. 5, the sequence of movements is plotted on the embroidery needles 15 over one revolution of the machine main shaft 1 in the upper part. The movement sequence As of the shuttle 18 is shown in the lower part of the diagram. The illustrations show that the two motion sequences An and As are different due to the different design of the cam disk gear enclosing the cam disk 2a or 2b, but have a specific correlation to one another. When moving. supply of the boats 18 moved by the driver pins 28, these are pushed through the loops of the front thread V formed on the back of the fabric S, so that a link between the respective front thread V and the rear thread arranged in the boat 18 takes place. The rear thread cannot be seen on the drawing.

In Fig. 6, the cam mechanism for driving the two thread transmitters 16 and 17 is shown in a known shuttle embroidery machine. Here, too, the drive movement is derived from the machine main shaft 1 via cam disks 2c and 2d. Cam rollers 30, which are arranged on a roller lever 31, whose pivoting movement is transmitted via a plurality of articulated levers 32 to a thread take-up shaft 33, run on the cam disc 2c. This thread feed shaft 33, which runs over the entire length of the shuttle embroidery machine, carries a plurality of large thread feeders 16, which are connected to one another by rods 16 a, over which the front threads V are guided. The front threads V continue to run over rods 17 a, which connect the free end of the small thread feeder 17. These thread take-up devices 17 are also firmly seated on a thread take-up shaft 34 which executes a back-and-forth movement. This movement is generated by the cam disc 2d, on which a cam roller 35 rolls, which is arranged on a roller lever 36 which drives the thread take-up shaft 34 with the small thread take-ups 17 via two articulated levers 37. The back and forth movement of the thread take-up shafts 33 and 34 and thus the pivoting movement of the small and large thread feeders 16 and 17 is due to the shape of the juries disks 2c and 2d and the downstream cam gear predetermined and matched to the movements of the embroidery needles 15. The movement sequences can only be changed by replacing the cams 2c and 2d.

7 finally shows the cam mechanism of a known shuttle embroidery machine for the movement of drills 38 which are arranged below the embroidery needles 15 on a drill ruler 39 which is movable parallel to the needle ruler 14. The movement takes place by means of a plurality of thrust cranks 40 which are arranged on a continuous drill shaft 41 distributed over the length. This drill shaft 41 is driven back and forth by a cam disc 2e arranged on the main machine shaft 1, on which a cam roller 42 runs, which acts on the drill shaft 41 via an articulated lever system 43 - with stroke adjustment for different drilling depths. The movement of the drills 38 can be switched on and off via a roller switching mechanism 44 which, if necessary, shifts the cam roller 42 between the cam plate 2e and a circular cam plate 45 as a rest curve.

From the above description it can be seen that considerable effort is required in order to derive the rather complicated movement sequences and their mutual assignment from the machine main shaft 1 via cam disk drives. It is also understandable that these cam disk transmissions are not only subject to high wear, but also cause considerable noise.

8 to 15 different embodiments of the various drives of a shuttle embroidery machine according to the invention are now shown. A comparison with the drives of known design described above shows that these designs not only require considerably less construction effort and significantly reduce noise but offer the possibility to adapt the respective movement sequence to the current embroidery program and to change the assignment of the individual movement sequences to each other.

8 shows an exemplary embodiment of a drive according to the invention for the embroidery needles 15 arranged on a needle ruler 14. The needle ruler 14 is in turn driven by the reciprocating movement of a needle shaft 11 via needle levers 12 and push rods 13. 8, a highly dynamic, electronically controlled electric motor 46 is flanged directly onto the needle shaft 11. The required sequence of movements for the embroidery needles 15 is generated by a corresponding drive movement of the electric motor 46, which is controlled electronically for this purpose, preferably using a computer. A stepper motor, DC motor or permanently excited AC or three-phase motor can be used as the electric motor 46.

A comparison of FIGS. 8 and 2 shows that almost all of the mechanics are dispensed with in the embodiment according to the invention. In an alternative embodiment according to FIG. 12, the needle shaft 11 can also be driven by the electric motor 46 with the interposition of a gear 46a.

According to FIG. 9, the shuttle 18 guided in shuttle guides 29 is likewise driven by its own electric motor 47. This electronically controlled electric motor 47 is flanged directly to the shuttle shaft 24 and generates a reciprocating movement of this shuttle shaft 24 in accordance with the respective movement sequence. The rotary movement of the shuttle shaft 24 is transmitted in a known manner via drive lever 25 and connecting rod 26 to the driver bar 27, which takes the shuttle 18 with it via driver pins 28.

By correspondingly controlling the electric motor 47, the sequence of movements of the shuttle 18 can be varied, as can the assignment of the shuttle movement to the movement of the embroidery needles 15, depending on the particular embroidery program. Such a change in the movement sequence and change in the assignment is also possible in an alternative embodiment for the shuttle drive according to FIG. 13. In this embodiment, the electric motor 47 is not flanged directly to the shuttle shaft 24, but is connected to this shuttle shaft 24 via a gear 47a.

10 shows an embodiment of a drive according to the invention for feeding the front thread V. In this embodiment, the previous small thread feeder has been replaced by a thread deflector 17b which is fixed to the frame and around which the front thread V is guided. The drive movement for feeding the front thread V is carried out exclusively by the large thread take-up device 16, which is fastened together with other thread take-up devices 16 on the thread take-up shaft 33 and carries a continuous rod 16 a. The thread take-up shaft 33 is driven back and forth by an electric motor 48. Since this highly dynamic and electronically controlled electric motor 48 can carry out a superimposed movement characteristic for the feed of the front thread V, which required a large and a small thread take-up in the known mechanical gearboxes, in the embodiment according to the invention according to FIG. 10 a second (small) thread take-up can be used to be dispensed with. Of course, it is also possible to maintain a large thread take-up device 16 and a small thread take-up device 17 and to drive both of them with their own electric motor. According to FIG. 14, when the thread take-up shaft 33 is driven, there is also the possibility not to flange the electric motor 48 directly onto the thread take-up shaft 33, but to interpose a gear 48 a according to the alternative in FIG. 14.

11 and 15 finally show two alternative embodiments for a drive according to the invention of the drills 38 arranged on a drill ruler 39. In both cases, the drill ruler 39 is driven by pushing cranks 40 from a reciprocating drill shaft 41. While in the embodiment according to FIG. 11 this drill shaft 41 is driven by a directly flanged electric motor 49 in accordance with the desired sequence of movements, the alternative embodiment according to FIG. 15 shows that a gear 49a is interposed between the electric motor 49 and the drill shaft 41. In both cases, by appropriately controlling the electric motor 49, the movement sequence of the drills 38 can be adapted to the respective embroidery program without any problems. The electric motor 49 not only executes the movement sequence, but at the same time also adjusts the drilling depth.

A comparison of the embodiments according to the invention according to FIGS. 8 to 15 with the prior art described at the outset and shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 shows that the construction effort for driving the embroidery needles 15, the shuttle 18, the Thread feeder 16 and 17 and the drill 38 are considerably reduced and at the same time the noise of the shuttle embroidery machine is reduced. In addition, the possibility is created for the first time to change the respective movement sequences of the embroidery needles 15, shuttle 18, thread feeder 16 and 17 and drill 38 depending on the respective embroidery program, both in their own characteristics and in their assignment to the other movement sequences, because these movement sequences are stitch and pattern-forming elements are carried out by electronically controlled electric motors. A considerable increase in the machine speed is thus achieved, since not only drives with a lower mass and a much more spontaneous reaction are used, but dead times which were previously inevitable are avoided by adapting the movement sequences to the respective embroidery program.

Claims (8)

1. shuttle embroidery machine with a plurality of needles arranged in at least one row on a common needle ruler or on individually displaceable needle bars of a common needle bar carrier, each of which has a shuttle arranged on the opposite side of the embroidery material clamped in an embroidery frame and driven depending on the needle movement is assigned for the rear thread and at least one thread feeder which causes the feed of the front thread to the respective needle and is also driven as a function of the needle movement, the movement sequence of the shuttles moving back and forth in shuttle guides by driver pins arranged on a common driver bar, and the movement sequence of the thread feeders is different from each other and from the needle movement,
characterized,
that for the drive of the embroidery needles (15), the driver bar (27) of the shuttle (18) and for the thread feeder (16, 17) a separate drive motor (46, 47, 48) is arranged, the right and left rotating drive movement the movement sequence required for the embroidery needles (15) or shuttle (18) or thread take-up device (16, 17) is coordinated and according to the respective embroidery program both with regard to its own movement sequence and in relation to the movement sequence of the other motors by a central control unit is changeable. 2. shuttle embroidery machine according to claim 1 with drills arranged parallel to the needles, characterized in that also for the drills (38) a separate drive motor (49) with an axial movement sequence of the drills (38) including depth adjustment, right- and left-handed drive movement is provided. 3. shuttle embroidery machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that highly dynamic, electronically controlled electric motors (46, 47, 48, 49) are used as motors. 4. shuttle embroidery machine according to claim 3, characterized in that the electric motors (46, 47, 48, 49) are computer-controlled. 5. shuttle embroidery machine according to at least one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the electric motor (46, 47, 48, 49) each shaft to be driven (11, 24, 33, 41) for driving the embroidery needles (15), shuttle (18), thread feeder (16, 17) or drill (38) drives directly. 6. shuttle embroidery machine according to at least one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the motor (46, 47, 48, 49) each shaft to be driven (11, 24, 33, 41) for driving the embroidery needles (15), shuttle (18), thread take-up (16, 17) or drill (38) via a gear (46a, 47a, 48a, 49a). 7. shuttle embroidery machine according to at least one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that for the movement of the embroidery needles (15) and drill (38) - including drill depth adjustment - a common motor is arranged. 8. shuttle embroidery machine according to at least one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that each embroidery needle (15) is associated with a large and a small thread transmitter (16, 17), each of which is driven by a separate motor.

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