Patent ID: 6135040
Filing Date: 2000-10-24
Classification: D05B

Abstract:
A felling machine for sewing a thread in a material, the felling machine comprising:a base;a sewing head stand extending away from and fixedly positioned with respect to said base;a sewing head mounted on said sewing head stand and including:a sewing motor;a needle drive mechanism driven by said sewing motor;a needle driven reciprocally by said drive mechanism; anda first encoder for producing first data corresponding to movement of the needle, needle drive mechanism and sewing motor;a looper stand extending away from said base and fixedly positioned with respect to said sewing head;a looper head mounted on said looper stand and including:an elongate looper arm having a relatively large longitudinal length and a relatively small transverse width and extending longitudinally from the looper stand toward the looper head, a distal end of said looper arm being disposed proximate said needle;a looper disposed in the distal end of said looper arm proximate said needle;a looper drive mechanism disposed in said looper arm for reciprocally driving said looper;a looper motor for driving said looper drive mechanism; anda second encoder for producing second data corresponding to movement of the looper, looper drive mechanism and looper motor;a data acquisition and control system receiving said first and second data and controlling said sewing and looper motors to electronically gear said looper to said needle so that said needle and looper travel in substantial unison to produce stitches; anda user interface connected to said data acquisition and control system for inputting commands to control operation of the felling machine.