JP2845063B2 - Multi-head embroidery machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-head embroidery machine.
In particular, the present invention relates to a device in which a needle bar switching mechanism for integrally moving a needle bar case provided in each of a plurality of embroidery sewing machines in the left-right direction is provided in an arm portion of a specific embroidery sewing machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various embroidery sewing machines such as a single-head embroidery sewing machine having only one sewing machine arm and a multi-head embroidery sewing machine having a plurality of sewing machine arms have been used. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
Japanese Patent No. 75689 discloses that a plurality of embroidery sewing machines are arranged side by side, and a needle bar case in which a plurality of needle bars and balances are arranged and stored at the front end of each sewing machine arm is movable in the left-right direction. The needle bar cases are supported and connected to each other by connecting shafts extending in the left-right direction, and the needle bar cases are moved in the left-right direction to the ends of the connecting shafts, that is, outside the plurality of embroidery sewing machines arranged in parallel. A needle bar switching mechanism is provided for moving the plurality of needle bar cases in the left and right directions in synchronization with each other through the movement of the connecting shaft by the needle bar switching mechanism to selectively select a desired needle bar. Describes a multi-head, multi-needle embroidery machine which is simultaneously selected.

[0003]

However, in this type of multi-head multi-needle embroidery machine, a plurality of embroidery sewing machines provided with a needle bar switching mechanism for selectively selecting a needle bar to be driven vertically. The multi-head, multi-needle type embroidery machine has a problem that the size thereof is increased in the lateral direction by an amount corresponding to the provision of the needle bar switching mechanism. Further, since a plurality of needle bar cases are connected to the needle bar switching mechanism only on one side on the left or right side via the connecting shaft, the load acting on the needle bar switching mechanism during needle bar switching is biased to one side. Therefore, there is a problem that the needle bar switching operation cannot be performed smoothly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a needle bar switching mechanism at a substantially central embroidery sewing machine arranged side by side to smoothly perform a needle bar switching operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-head embroidery machine which can be made smaller and smaller.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, a multi-head embroidery machine according to a first aspect of the present invention movably supports a needle bar case having a plurality of needle bars on a front end of an arm portion. A plurality of embroidery sewing machines are arranged in parallel at predetermined intervals, and are provided on an arm portion of the embroidery sewing machine which is located substantially at the center of the plurality of embroidery sewing machines, and vertically move a selected one of the plurality of needle bars. A needle bar switching mechanism for moving the needle bar case, and a connecting mechanism for operatively connecting the needle bar case of another embroidery sewing machine to the needle bar case of the embroidery sewing machine provided with the needle bar switching mechanism. It is provided with.

[0006]

In the multi-head embroidery machine according to the first aspect of the present invention, the needle bar case having the plurality of needle bars is moved to the front end of the arms of the embroidery sewing machines arranged in parallel at predetermined intervals. A needle bar switching mechanism for moving the needle bar case in order to vertically move a selected one of the plurality of needle bars while being supported as possible, is located at a substantially center of the plurality of embroidery sewing machines. It is provided on the arm of the embroidery sewing machine. Further, since the needle bar case of the other embroidery sewing machine is operatively connected to the needle bar case of the embroidery sewing machine provided with the needle bar switching mechanism by the connection mechanism, the plurality of needle bar cases are connected via the connection mechanism. They are simultaneously moved synchronously by the needle bar switching mechanism. At this time, since the needle bar case is connected to the left and right sides of the needle bar switching mechanism substantially equally via the connection mechanism, the needle bar switching operation by the needle bar switching mechanism can be smoothly performed in a well-balanced manner.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a multi-head embroidery machine having three embroidery sewing machines. To explain the multi-head embroidery machine M, as shown in FIG.
On the rear side of the upper surface of the base frame 1 extending in the left-right direction, a substantially rectangular sewing support plate 2 having a predetermined length in the left-right direction is provided. MH1 to MH3 are arranged side by side at predetermined intervals in the left-right direction. At the front ends of the arm portions 3 of these embroidery sewing machines MH1 to MH3, 1
The two needle bars 12 are supported so as to be able to move up and down.
The needle bar cases 7 for swingably supporting the balances 9 are supported by a support mechanism 20 to be described later so as to be movable in the left-right direction.

On the other hand, a bed body 5 at the lower end of a pillar 4 connected to the arm 3 is attached to the sewing machine support plate 2, and a cylinder bed 6 extends forward from a front end of the bed body 5. A thread catcher (not shown) is provided at the tip of the bed 6, and a seam is formed on the work cloth with an embroidery thread of a desired color in cooperation with a sewing needle 8 attached to a selected needle bar 12. It is supposed to be. Here, an upper shaft 18 (see FIG. 3) for vertically moving the needle bar 12 and the balance 9 and a lower shaft (not shown) for rotating the thread catcher are a V-belt connected to a sewing machine motor (not shown). Driven by a drive shaft 11 that is rotated by 10.

A work table 13 is provided at the front side of the sewing machine support plate 2 so as to be flush with the upper surface of the cylinder bed 6, and includes the work table 13.
A rectangular movable frame 16 extending in the left-right direction is mounted on a pair of auxiliary tables 14 and 15 provided on both left and right sides of the work table 13. The drive frame 16a at the right end of the movable frame 16 is driven to move in the X-axis direction (left-right direction) by an X-axis drive mechanism (not shown), and the drive frame 16b at the left end and the drive frame 16b. The part 16a is simultaneously moved and driven in the Y-axis direction (front-back direction) by a Y-axis drive mechanism (not shown). Therefore, the movable frame 1
Numeral 6 is movable on an XY plane by the X-axis drive mechanism and the Y-axis drive mechanism.

Next, the support mechanism 20 will be described with reference to FIGS.
A description will be given based on FIG. However, each embroidery sewing machine MH1-M
Since the support mechanism 20 supporting the needle bar case 7 on H3 is the same, the support mechanism 20 provided on the central embroidery sewing machine MH2 is provided.
Will be described. A base plate 21 is fixed to the upper surface of the front end of the arm 3, and a pair of guide blocks 22 is mounted on the base plate 21.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, slide rails 23 extending in the left-right direction and having V-shaped grooves 23a formed on both front and rear end surfaces are engaged with the pair of guide blocks 22 so as to be movable in the left-right direction. . To the slide rail 23, the vicinity of the front end of a pair of left and right mounting plates 24, 25 extending in the front-rear direction is fixed. The needle bar case 7 has a substantially inverted L-shape when viewed from the side, and is attached to the attachment plates 24 and 25 by bolts 26 at attachment portions 7a integrally formed on both right and left sides near the upper end thereof.

On the other hand, at the lower end of the needle bar storage portion 7b of the needle bar case 7, an engaged member 27 having a hook portion 27a formed over the entire width in the left-right direction as shown in FIG. Installed. An engagement member 28, which is substantially L-shaped in side view and engages with the hook portion 27a from the front side, is attached to a lower end portion of the arm portion 3 with a screw 29, as shown in FIG. A pivot pin 31 to which the eccentric sleeve 30 is fixed is attached.
Is rotatably supported by the lower end of the arm 3 via a spacer 32, and a roller 33 that comes into contact with the hook 27 a from the rear side is fitted on the sleeve 30. Accordingly, when the screw 29 is loosened and the nut member 34 fixed to the pivot pin 31 is rotated, the eccentric sleeve 30 is rotated by the rotation of the pivot pin 31, so that the roller 33 moves eccentrically. Since the engaged member 27 that comes into contact with the roller 33 from the front side moves in the front-rear direction by a very small distance, the needle drop position of the needle bar 12 can be finely adjusted in the front-rear direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, the arm portion 3 of the embroidery sewing machine MH2 located at the center is provided with a needle bar switching mechanism 40 for moving the needle bar case 7 in the left-right direction. Next, regarding the needle bar switching mechanism 40,
This will be described with reference to FIGS. A screw mounting plate 41 extending in the left-right direction is screwed to the rear ends of the pair of mounting plates 24 and 25.
As shown in FIG. 5, twelve engagement bolts 42 corresponding to the twelve needle bars 12 are provided at the same pitch as the pitch between the needle bars 12, and are fixed by nuts 43. A substantially U-shaped support frame 44 in a plan view is fixed to the arm portion 3 immediately behind the screw mounting plate 41. The support frame 44 is rotatably pivoted with a rotation shaft 45 oriented in the left-right direction.
A helical cam 46 engageable with the second gear 2 is fixed, and a bevel gear 47 is fixed.

On the other hand, on the rear side of the support frame 44, a needle bar switching motor 48 composed of a stepping motor is mounted in a forward direction, and a drive shaft 49 of the motor 48 extends forward through the support frame 44 to drive. A bevel gear 50 that meshes with the bevel gear 47 is fixed to the tip of the shaft 49. Therefore, when the needle bar switching motor 48 is driven forward or backward, the bevel gear 47 is simultaneously rotated by the rotation of the bevel gear 50, and the spiral cam 46 is simultaneously rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. The bolt 42 engaged with the cam 46 moves leftward or rightward. This gives 1
The needle bar 12 is alternatively selected so that embroidery stitches can be formed on the work cloth with embroidery threads of a desired color.

Next, a connecting mechanism 55 for operatively connecting the needle bar cases 7 of the other embroidery sewing machines MH1 and MH3 to the needle bar case 7 of the embroidery sewing machine MH2 provided with the needle bar switching mechanism 40 is shown in FIG. -Explanation will be given based on FIG. 3 and FIG. The right mounting plate 25 of the pair of mounting plates 24 and 25 provided on each of the three embroidery sewing machines MH1 to MH3.
3, a connecting member 56 having a pair of connecting portions 56a is attached. A connecting shaft 57 is disposed in the left-right direction through the three connecting members 56, and is fixed to the connecting shaft 57 at these connecting portions 56a. Accordingly, as the needle bar case 7 of the embroidery sewing machine MH2 moves in the left-right direction, the connecting shaft 57 is moved.
Move integrally in the left-right direction, so that the other needle bar cases 7 are simultaneously moved in the left-right direction. That is, the three needle bar cases 7 are integrally moved in the left-right direction in synchronization.

Here, the needle bar vertical drive mechanism 60 for vertically driving the needle bar 12 will be briefly described with reference to FIG. A base needle bar 61 extending in the vertical direction is disposed at the front end of the arm 3, and the base needle bar 61 is supported by the machine frame F at its upper end and lower end. This basic needle bar 61
, A cylindrical vertical moving member 62 is externally fitted to be vertically movable,
One end of a needle bar crank 64 is rotatably supported by a needle bar holder 63 connected to the vertically moving member 62. On the other hand, an upper shaft 18 disposed in the arm portion 3 in the front-rear direction.
A balance crank 65 is fixed to a front end of the needle bar crank 65. The other end of the needle bar crank 64 is rotatably supported by the balance crank 65. A connecting pin 66 is fixed to each of the twelve needle bars 12 at the middle portion in the height direction, and the connecting pin 66 of the needle bar 12 facing the vertical moving member 62 and the vertical moving member 62. Is selectively engaged with the rotating portion 62a. Accordingly, as the vertically moving member 62 moves up and down via the balance crank 65 and the needle bar crank 64 due to the rotation of the upper shaft 18, the needle bar 12 moves up and down via the needle bar holder 63 and the connecting pin 66. The embroidery stitch is formed on the work cloth by the reciprocating drive and the cooperation with the yarn catcher.

When the needle bar switching mechanism 40 is operated to change the thread color of the embroidery thread, the needle bar case 7 of the embroidery sewing machine MH2 moves to the left or right, and the other needle bar 12 moves. Alternatively selected. At this time, the needle bar case 7 of the embroidery sewing machine MH1 located on the left side of the embroidery sewing machine MH2 and the needle bar case 7 of the embroidery sewing machine MH3 located on the right side of the embroidery sewing machine MH2 via the connecting mechanism 55. 7, the embroidery sewing machine MH1
The needle bar case 7 of MH3 is integrally moved to the left or right in synchronization with the needle bar case 7 of the embroidery sewing machine MH2, and another similar needle bar 12 is alternatively selected.

As described in detail above, the needle bar switching mechanism 40 for moving the needle bar case 7 in the left-right direction in order to move the selected needle bar 12 out of the plurality of needle bars 12 up and down.
Is provided on the arm 3 of the embroidery sewing machine MH2 located at the center of the plurality of embroidery sewing machines MH1 to MH3 arranged in parallel. Since the bar case 7 is connected, the needle bar switching operation by the needle bar switching mechanism 40 can be smoothly performed in a well-balanced manner, and an extra space for separately providing the needle bar switching mechanism 40 can be omitted. The embroidery machine M can be downsized.

The needle bar case may have a configuration in which a plurality of needle bars 12 are arranged in an arc shape and are rotatably supported at the front end of the arm 3. The needle bar switching mechanism may be configured using various members.
Of course, the present invention can be applied to various multi-head embroidery machines provided with two or more embroidery sewing machines MH.

[0019]

As described above in detail, according to the multi-head embroidery machine according to the first aspect, the needle bar case is moved in order to vertically move a selected one of the plurality of needle bars. The needle bar switching mechanism is provided on the arm portion of the embroidery sewing machine located substantially at the center of the plurality of embroidery sewing machines arranged side by side. Since the bar case is connected, the needle bar switching operation by the needle bar switching mechanism can be smoothly performed in a well-balanced manner, and an extra space for providing the needle bar switching mechanism can be omitted, and the embroidery machine can be downsized. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a multi-head embroidery machine.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the multi-head embroidery machine.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional side view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a needle bar case and a support mechanism.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial plan view of a main part of an embroidery sewing machine provided with a needle bar switching mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 M Multi-head embroidery machine MH Embroidery sewing machine 3 Arm 7 Needle bar case 20 Support mechanism 40 Needle bar switching mechanism 55 Connection mechanism 56 Connection member 57 Connection shaft

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A multi-head embroidery machine in which a plurality of embroidery sewing machines each having a needle bar case having a plurality of needle bars movably supported at a front end of an arm portion are arranged at predetermined intervals. A needle bar switching mechanism for moving a needle bar case, which is provided on an arm portion of the embroidery sewing machine located substantially at the center of the sewing machine, and drives a selected one of the plurality of needle bars up and down; A coupling mechanism for operatively coupling a needle bar case of another embroidery sewing machine to a needle bar case of the embroidery sewing machine provided with the needle bar switching mechanism.