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US4635574A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Automatic sewing apparatus

Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
•
Filing: 1985-09-25
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Granted: 1987-01-13
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Expires: 2005-09-25
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Abstract

Abstract An automatic sewing apparatus in which automatic sewing operations can be performed merely upon placing cassettes into which have been loaded cloth pieces to be sewn onto a first carrier unit and in which a variety of sewing operations can be performed. The apparatus includes plural sewing machines, each having a table movable according to a programmed sewing pattern, with the cassettes being receivable on this table. The first carrier units transport the cassettes in a predetermined direction, while second carrier units transport the cassettes received from the first carrier unit to corresponding ones of the sewing machines. The various sewing machines perform predetermined designated sewing operations on the cloth pieces held in the cassettes.

Inventors

  • 👤 Jiro Fujita
  • 👤 Iwao Yamane

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-03 03:49
CPC Classifications
D; D05; D05B; D05B25/00; D05B39/00; D05D; D05D2203/00

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim 156 words
An automatic sewing apparatus comprising: at least one cassette for positioning and holding materials to be sewn, a plurality of sewing machines each having a table movable according to a program of a sewing pattern, said cassette being selectively mounted on said table, a plurality of first carrier units each for transporting said cassette in a predetermined direction, and a plurality of second carrier units each for transporting said cassette transported by said first carrier unit to a corresponding one of said sewing machines and then for transporting said cassette in a predetermined direction, a plurality of sewing units thereby being formed each including one of said sewing machines, one of said first carrier units and one of said second carrier units, said sewing units being arranged in series, said sewing machines having different programs of sewing patterns, respectively, so that said sewing machines perform different sewing operations on said materials held in said cassette sequentially.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 156 words
An automatic sewing apparatus comprising: at least one cassette for positioning and holding materials to be sewn, a plurality of sewing machines each having a table movable according to a program of a sewing pattern, said cassette being selectively mounted on said table, a plurality of first carrier units each for transporting said cassette in a predetermined direction, and a plurality of second carrier units each for transporting said cassette transported by said first carrier unit to a corresponding one of said sewing machines and then for transporting said cassette in a predetermined direction, a plurality of sewing units thereby being formed each including one of said sewing machines, one of said first carrier units and one of said second carrier units, said sewing units being arranged in series, said sewing machines having different programs of sewing patterns, respectively, so that said sewing machines perform different sewing operations on said materials held in said cassette sequentially.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 25 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a control unit for controlling said transportation of said cassette and operations of said sewing machines.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 38 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cassette comprises a pair of flaps between which said materials are pinched, said flaps having openings in positions corresponding to positions to which sewing operation are to be performed.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 14 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said flaps have edges hinged together.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 28 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cassette has at least one window through which a separate material to be sewn to said materials is insertable.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 43 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first carrier unit comprises a conveyor belt for transporting said cassette and an engaging member provided on said conveyor belt selectively engageable with said cassette to extract ones of said cassette one by one.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 34 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising pusher means provided at a downstream side of said first carrier unit pushing ones of said cassette to said second carrier unit one by one.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 40 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sewing machine comprises means having a memory element for storing a different sewing pattern and means for positioning said cassette on said table for a sewing operation of the stored pattern.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 26 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, whrein said table comprises a movable nail selectively engageable with said cassette and means for driving said movable nail.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 61 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second carrier unit comprises a conveyor for transporting said cassette from said first carrier unit, means for moving said cassette upwardly from said conveyor when said cassette reaches a predetermined position on said conveyor, means for holding said cassette moved upwardly and driving means for moving said holding means to said table.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 46 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein said second carrier unit comprises means for moving said holding means to said table again after a sewing operation of said sewing machine has been completed and separating and returning said cassette from said table to said conveyor.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 54 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cassette comprises an indentification portion, and said second carrier unit comprises means responsive to a status of said identification portion to distinguish whether said cassette is to be moved to said table for a sewing operation or to be transported downstream without a sewing operation.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 73 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a cassette feeding unit disposed at an upstream side of said first carrier unit of a most upstream one of said sewing units for storing a plurality of said cassettes, and wherein said first carrier unit comprises an engaging member selectively engageable with said cassettes in said cassette feeding portion to extract ones of said cassette from said cassette feeding portion one by one.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 26 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising label feeding means for feeding small-sized label materials to be sewn on said materials to said cassettes.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 28 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein said cassette has at least one window through which a separate material to be sewn to said material is insertable.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 51 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein said cassette has at least one window through which a separate material to be sewn to said materials is insertable and positioning holes for recieving engaging members provided on a label holding portion of said label feeding means during a label feeding period.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 43 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a cassette recovering unit provided at a downstream side of a most downstream one of said sewing units for storing in a stack ones of said cassette moved from said second carrier unit successively.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 39 words
The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said control unit comprises display means for displaying at least one of operating conditions of said sewing units and a number of products produced by sewing operations in said sewing units.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4089279A Cited
US4337881A Cited
US4305338A Cited
US4425858A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1990-01-12 1990-07-14 1991-01-13 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1994-01-12 1994-07-14 1995-01-13 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1998-01-12 1998-07-14 1999-01-13 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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