Abstract:
A device for applying an embroidery material onto a textile fabric including a device for feeding the textile material; an upper sewing organ having a needle bearing bar and a plurality of needles; a lower sewing organ selected from the group consisting of shuttles, rotary crochets and moving hooks cooperating with the upper organ. At least one pressure plate for compressing the material and having embroidery devices thereon and a drive for providing rotational motion to the embroidery devices, wherein the drive device includes a hole for each needle to pass through and a second hole for the embroidery material to pass through, and wherein the rotational motion is in a single direction so as to direct the second hole in a position that is in front of the needle to obtain stitches on the textile fabric and to fix the embroidery material.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention concerns a device to apply cord thread or ribbons onto fabrics, simple or padded, in a quilting machine. 
   The invention also concerns a quilting machine, advantageously but not exclusively a multi-needle machine, equipped with this device. 
   The invention also concerns a method to apply a ribbon or cord thread onto fabrics, simple or padded, both continuously and also alternated with segments of simple sewing, in a quilting machine. 
   The invention is applied in the textile field and refers to the automatic application, by means of stitches suitable to achieve a desired pattern or ornamental design, of a cord thread, ribbon or trimming onto simple, multi-layer or padded fabrics fed continuously from rolls. 
   The invention is applied preferentially, but not exclusively, to multi-needle quilting machines, of the type which makes both knotted stitches and chain stitches. 
   The invention is characterized by the fact that it includes at least one pressure plate, co-operating with the needle-bearing bar, which supports a plurality of devices equipped with at least a rotary element with alternating or simple motion, able to direct the ribbons or trimming into a position which is always in front of the needle with respect to the direction of sewing, or to interweave around the needle and fix cord thread, trimming or ribbons, fed from appropriate reels, so that the cord thread, ribbons or trimmings are fixed onto the fabric by means of stitches, either continuously or alternated with simple stitches according to a defined working program. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   In the field of embroidering machines the state of the art includes the use of devices to automatically apply ribbons or cord thread onto fabrics cut into pieces. 
   These devices serve to make particular types of embossed embroidery; they work on pieces of a limited length, particularly on pieces worked on the tambour frame, in a discontinuous work pattern which gives limited productivity. 
   Moreover, the ornamental designs made by these devices are isolated, considerably distant from each other and discontinuous. 
   When these devices are used the embroidery machines have a very low working speed, in the region of 120 stitches a minute at most. 
   State of the art devices of this type, as they are used at present, are therefore not suitable for use on electronically controlled machines which continuously work fabric supplied from a roll, with speeds of at least 450 stitches a minute and which can reach up to 600+700 stitches a minute. 
   Such conventional devices are used only to apply large section cord thread or ribbons or chenille or embroidery thread (therefore unable to pass through the eye of a needle), on a base fabric. 
   In such devices the ribbons or embroidery threads are not made to pass through the fabric and are not fixed thereon by means of stitches made by needles which perforate them; they are fixed to the fabric by means of the stitches of a thin thread which passes above them and is anchored to the fabric once on one side and once on the opposite side of the embroidery threads (see for example FIG. 1 in CH-A-563.486). 
   In such devices, for this purpose, suitable wheels are provided equipped with an alternate rotary movement, generally produced by rectilinear racks; each wheel is provided with a central hole through which the needle with the fixing thread passes and an eccentric hole of a suitable diameter, through which passes the cord thread or the embroidery thread which has to be attached on the fabric. 
   While the needles carrying the fixing thread perform a normal stitching action, the alternating rotations of the wheels cause the cord threads or embroidery threads to be positioned alternately on one side and the other of the needles, and therefore cause the stitches made thereby to pass alternately from one side to the other above the cord threads or embroidery threads, thus fixing them to the fabric. 
   Among these conventional devices, the one described in CH-A-563.486 describes a device able to modify the position of the eccentric hole though which the embroidery thread passes, according to the orders to move given by an automatic embroidery machine commanded by a perforated belt, according to the rotation of the direction of stitching backwards-forwards-left-right, so that the rotation in one direction and the other of the wheels has its center, on each occasion, in the correlated main direction of stitching backwards-forwards-left-right. 
   In document FR-A-467.481 there are wheels with pins on the outer circumference, commanded by a perforated flexible belt into the holes of which the pins enter, instead of the rectilinear rack. 
   However, these documents refer to embroidery machines, not to multi-needle quilting machines. 
   Quilting machines, as we have said, have a working speed at least in the range of 450 stitches per minute, compared with a maximum speed in embroidery machines of about 120 stitches per minute. 
   Moreover, whereas in embroidery machines the fabric is cut into pieces, attached manually onto appropriate frames before the embroidery operation, and removed always manually when the work is finished, in quilting machines the fabric or the sandwich of material which is to be quilted is unwound continuously from rolls, with a huge saving in time and effort for the workers. 
   In embroidery machines the needles work in a horizontal direction, whereas in quilting machines they work in a substantially vertical direction. 
   In quilting machines there is at least a pressure plate on which the wheels through which the thread passes are mounted, with the respective command organs, whereas in embroidery machines there is no pressure plate whatsoever. 
   The final products obtained from quilting machines are essentially quilted bed-covers which can also be embroidered, whereas in embroidery machines the final products consist of any type of embroidery or decoration on single-layer fabrics of a decorative type. 
   Conventional devices, moreover, do not give the possibility of carrying out step by step, with the position of the wheels, the desired program of embroidery; therefore they do not allow to achieve designs of absolute precision with the cord threads, ribbons or additional threads; nor do they allow to alternate on command segments where the cord thread or ribbon is applied with segments of simple stitching to achieve particular ornamental patterns according to a pre-determined sewing program. 
   In conventional devices, moreover, it is not always possible, at every step of the program, to direct the hole through which the embroidery thread passes perfectly in front of the needle according to the direction of sewing, with discrepancies of a fraction of a degree; nor is it possible to exclude the alternate rotation of the wheels. 
   This does not allow these conventional devices to sew exactly in the center, whatever may be the direction of sewing, ribbons, tapes and flat trimmings and to attach them on the basic fabric, nor to alternate segments where ribbon or cord thread is applied with segments of simple stitching, thus limiting the applications and possibilities. 
   The Applicant has devised and embodied this invention in order to overcome this shortcoming of the state of the art, which has never provided or hypothesised applications of this type on multi-needle quilting machines, given the difficulty of using embroidery techniques previously employed only on machines which were operationally and technologically completely different, and to obtain further advantages as shown hereafter. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention is set forth and characterized in the respective main claims, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the main embodiment. 
   The purpose of the invention is to provide a device, and the relative method, to apply cord thread, ribbons or trimming, suitable to be applied onto a quilting machine, particularly a multi-needle machine, in order to work fabrics fed continuously from a roll with a speed in the region of 450 stitches a minute and which can reach 600 to 700 stitches a minute. 
   A further purpose is to achieve a quilting machine including the device described above, suitable to continuously work fabrics, simple and padded, obtaining any ornamental design whatsoever of the stitches by means of electronic control. 
   A quilting machine on which the device according to the invention is applied comprises at least a needle-bearing bar, on which a plurality of needles are mounted in alignment. 
   The needle-bearing bar is equipped with alternate ascending/descending motion to take every needle to co-operate with a mating lower sewing element, consisting of a shuttle, a rotary crochet or a movable hook also equipped with alternating motion mating with the movement of the needle-bearing bar. 
   The co-operation between the needles, each of which is fed with its own thread called needle thread, and the lower sewing elements causes stitches to be made on the fabric, fed continuously from rolls and located between the sewing organs. 
   The quilting machine according to the invention also comprises at least a pressure plate equipped with movement mating with the movement of the needle-bearing bars. 
   According to the invention, a plurality of devices, able to apply ribbon or cord thread onto the fabric according to a desired ornamental pattern, are mounted on the pressure plate in correspondence with pre-selected specific needles or specific groups of needles. 
   Each of these devices consists of a fixed assembly part, solid with the relative pressure plate, and a movable part suitable to be made to rotate by drive means according to a desired, variable angle. 
   The drive means may be commanded mechanically, electrically, pneumatically, hydraulically, magnetically or otherwise. 
   The movable part is equipped with at least a hole or eyelet through which, according to the individual case, the ribbon or the cord thread to be applied pass, supplied by suitable feeding reels. In a preferential embodiment of the invention, the eyelet is eccentric with respect to the axis of rotation of the movable part. 
   In a preferential embodiment, the movable part consists of a detachable insert, equipped with at least a hole and at least an eyelet which are eccentric with respect to the hole through which the needle passes. 
   According to whether the application concerns ribbon or cord thread, the insert may be detached and re-attached directed in a different manner with respect to the fixed assembly part, so that it is possible to cover both options with a single element. 
   According to a variant, the insert can be replaced according to the diameter of the ribbon and/or the cord thread to be applied. 
   According to a further variant, the insert has a plurality of holes and/or eyelets in order to cover a range of diameters of ribbons and/or cord threads with a single, directable element. 
   During normal sewing operations, made with alternate movements of the needle-bearing bar and the mating pressure plate, the moving part of the application device is made to rotate alternately around its own axis of rotation by alternately activating the respective drive means. 
   The rotation of the movable part, carried out in co-ordination with the vertical, alternating movement of the sewing needles, may take place with angles of different amplitude with reference to the direction of sewing. 
   In the case of ribbons being applied, which are sewn directly onto the fabric by the needle thread, the angles of rotation determined by the command program of the machine are such as to keep the eyelet through which the ribbon passes in a position which is always in front of the needle according to the direction of sewing of the various steps of the pattern to be achieved. 
   In this way the stitching is always made perfectly in the center of the ribbon. 
   In the case of cord threads or yarns of the Lurex® type being applied, the invention not only directs the position of the eyelet, or hole, to a position which is always in front of the needle according to the direction of sewing; it is also possible, with this invention, to impart to the movable part alternate, symmetrical rotations in the two directions with respect to this basic position, with angles which are programmed in such a manner that the cord thread or Lurex® yarn, which pass through the eyelet or hole, wind alternately in a spiral around the relative sewing needle. 
   In this case, the cord thread is not sewn directly by the needle thread but winds around said thread and is attached to the fabric between two consecutive sewing stitches. 
   The angles of alternate rotation of the movable part may be of variable amplitude, for example in the range of about 80°, to ensure that the cord thread winds around the sewing needle. 
   The rotation of the movable part also confers a torsion which binds the needle thread and the cord thread together. 
   The cord thread wound around the needle is sewn in this way, with every sewing cycle, by the needle thread and is fixed to the fabric fed continuously to the machine. 
   A variant of the invention provides that, during the application of the ribbon or cord thread, the rotation of the movable part may be interrupted on command at pre-determined points of the pattern being formed, in a position such that it does not create interference with the sewing needle, and subsequently re-started at other points. In this way, we achieve segments where the ribbon or cord thread is applied in alternation with segments of simple sewing with the needle thread, in order to achieve ornamental designs characterized by such alternation. 
   During the sewing cycle, the fabric is subjected to controlled displacements—to-and-fro, right-left—by the command unit of the sewing machine according to the pattern to be made. 
   By properly programming the movement of the fabric, any type whatsoever of ornamental pattern can be made, from the simplest, with a linear development, to the most complex, substantially comparable to an embroidery. 
   With the device according to the invention it is possible to apply ribbon, cord thread or similar onto continuously fed fabric, according to the pattern made by the machine, with a much higher speed and with much thicker and more continuous patterns compared with those made in any other type of machine known in the state of the art, with an obvious advantage in terms of productivity and variety of application. 
   The machine which adopts the device according to the invention can be used as a normal quilting machine, for example a multi-needle quilting machine, by excluding the device; or as an embroidery machine to apply ribbon, cord thread or similar onto simple or padded fabrics fed continuously; or again as a machine which simultaneously achieves quilts and also the application of the ribbon, cord thread or similar, thus obtaining mixed patterns with innovative and original characteristics. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other characteristics of the invention will become clear from the following description, given as a non-restrictive example, of some preferential forms of embodiment of the invention with reference to the attached drawings wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view of an electronically commanded multi-needle quilting machine of the type suitable to comprise a device to apply a ribbon or cord thread according to the invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic view of four devices to apply a ribbon or cord thread according to the invention suitable to co-operate with two relative needle-bearing bars of the quilting machine shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  shows the device in  FIG. 2  during the working step; 
       FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b  show a plane and a raised view of a possible embodiment of the device according to the invention; 
       FIGS. 5   a – 5   g  show some examples of patterns which can be obtained with the machine according to the invention; 
       FIG. 6  shows in a detail a preferential embodiment of the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1  shows an electronically controlled multi-needle quilting machine  10  of a general type which is substantially known. The quilting machine  10  comprises, as its essential parts, an inlet assembly  10   a , a sewing assembly  10   b  and an outlet assembly  10   c.    
   The inlet assembly  10   a  is used to feed the textile material  11  which has to be worked. The inlet assembly  10   a  is managed and controlled by software and is therefore able to move the textile material  11  in any direction whatsoever, to-and-fro or right-left, in order to achieve any type of pattern, even extremely complex ones. 
   The sewing assembly  10   b  comprises upper sewing organs  12  and lower sewing organs  15  of a conventional type. 
   The upper sewing organs  12  consist, in this case, of two parallel needle-bearing bars  13 , respectively  13   a  and  13   b , on which respective aligned needles  14  are assembled, each co-operating with a respective thread  16 , called the needle thread, fed from respective reels  116  arranged in the upper part of the machine  10 . 
   The needle-bearing bar  13  includes needle-positioning seatings  38  associated with means  39  to clamp the needles  14  into position. For a better understanding of the invention,  FIG. 2  shows only a few needles  14 , as it is obvious that according to the type of stitch to be done all the seatings  38  can house a relative needle  14 . 
   The needle-bearing bars  13   a  and  13   b  are equipped with alternate ascending-descending motion to take the needles  14  into co-operation with the respective lower sewing organs  15 , consisting of shuttles, rotary crochets or alternately moving hooks, in a conventional manner. 
   The co-operation between the sewing organs  14  and  15  causes a plurality of stitches  18  to be made simultaneously on the textile material  11 ; according to the movement imparted to the textile material  11 , the stitches  18  achieve desired patterns to obtain the quilted textile product which is collected by the outlet assembly  10   c.    
   During the sewing cycle the needle-bearing bars  13  co-operate with a pressure plate  19 , also equipped with an alternate ascending-descending motion correlated to the movement of the needle-bearing bars  13 . 
   The function of the pressure plate  19 , in this case, is to descend and compress the padded textile materials  11  as the stitch is being formed, in order to improve the quality of the stitches  18 ; it re-ascends immediately afterwards to allow the material  11  to move. 
   There are a plurality of holes  20  made on the pressure plate  19  and arranged in correspondence with the needles  14  in order to allow them to pass when the needle-bearing bar  13  is in the descending step. 
   In this case, a plurality of devices  24  are mounted on the pressure plate  19  in suitable reciprocal positions and are suitable to apply ribbon  31   a , cord thread  31  or similar onto the textile material  11  subjected to sewing, the ribbon  31   a  or cord thread  31  being fed from their own reels  40  installed on the machine  10 , and controlled by suitable thread-brakes, which are not shown here, able to ensure that they are constantly under tension. 
   Each device  24  consists of a stationary assembly flange  25 , made solid with the pressure plate  19  by means of screws  36 , inside which an annular bearing  26  is mounted on which a ring  27  is suitable to rotate. 
   The ring  27  is solidly connected with a toothed pulley  28  associated with drive means. 
   In this case, the drive means consist of one or more brushless motors  21 , managed by the electronic command program of the quilting machine  10  by means of suitable drives. 
   In this case, the brushless motor  21  is fixed in a central position to the cross-piece of the quilting machine  10  by means of screws  35  and is equipped with a telescopic grooved shaft  42  which makes a rotary toothed pulley  43  rotate, with bearings, on a support  44  attached to the pressure plate  19 , of which the pulley  43  follows the vertical, alternating, ascending-descending movements. 
   Two toothed belts  45  are engaged on the pulley  43 ; in turn, one towards the right and one towards the left in co-operation with appropriate return and tensioning rollers  46 , the toothed belts  45  command two other toothed pulleys  143 , rotating on bearings on relative supports  144  attached to the pressure plate  19 . 
   On each of the pulleys  143  two other toothed belts  145  are engaged, which command, one towards the right and one towards the left, two other toothed pulleys rotating with bearings on relative supports attached to the pressure plate  19  and so on. 
   A toothed pulley  22  is attached to the lower part of each toothed pulley  43 ,  143 , . . . , rotating with bearings on the relative supports  44 ,  144 , . . . attached to the pressure plate  19 . 
   The toothed pulley  22  is able to draw a belt  23  into rotation; the belt  23 , in this case, winds around the respective toothed pulleys  28  of two application devices  24 . 
   There are return and tensioning rollers  33  in co-operation with the belt  23 . 
   A replaceable insert  27   a  is inserted into the rotary ring  27  and has a substantially central through hole  29 , which allows the relative needle  14  to pass when the bar  13  is lowered to make the stitch. An eccentric eyelet  30   a  and an eccentric hole  30  are respectively made on the insert  27   a ; selectively and according to the specific application, these have the function of allowing to pass respectively the ribbon  31   a  or the cord thread  31  which have to be sewn or attached by the thread  16  onto the textile material  11 . 
   In practice, according to the type of application, the insert  27   a  will be assembled on the relative ring  27  in such a manner as to selectively locate either the eyelet  30   a  or the hole  30  in the working position, according to whether the process concerns a ribbon  31   a  or a cord thread  31 . According to the variation in the diameters of said elements  31 ,  31   a , the insert  27   a  can be replaced by another, analogous insert but equipped with holes or eyelets of different diameters. 
   It also comes within the field and scope of the invention to provide the insert  27   a  with a plurality of holes  30  or eyelets  30   a  of different diameter according to the diameter of the element  31 ,  31   a  which is to be applied. 
   During the stitching cycle of the ribbon  31   a , the brushless motor  21  is made to rotate and, by means of the toothed pulleys  43 ,  143 , the toothed belts  45 ,  145 , the toothed pulleys  22 , the belts  23 , the toothed pulleys  28  and the relative rings  27  and inserts  27   a , said eyelets  30   a  in which the ribbons  31   a  pass are directed, with every sewing stitch, into a position which is always in front of the needle with respect to the direction of stitching. 
   In this way, the stitching is always perfectly in the center of the ribbon  31   a.    
   During the stitching cycle of the cord thread  31 , the brushless motor  21  is made to rotate alternately, making the toothed pulleys  43 ,  143 , the toothed belts  45 ,  145 , and the toothed pulleys  22  rotate. 
   The alternate motion of rotation is transmitted through the belt  23  to the toothed pulleys  28  and from them to the relative rings  27  and inserts  27   a.    
   The alternate rotation of the rings  27  and the relative inserts  27   a  causes the cord thread  31  to be wound in a spiral, passing through the eccentric hole  30 , around the relative needle  14  and its thread  16 , through an angle determined by the angle of rotation of the rings  27 . 
   The amplitude of the angle of alternate rotation of the rings  27  is variable and, in this case, is equal to about 80° with a base position at every stitch always in front of the needle  14  with respect to the direction of sewing, to ensure that the cord thread  31  winds around the relative needle  14 . 
   In this condition the cord thread  31  is then drawn downwards by the descending movement of the needle  14 , and sewn onto the textile material  11  together with the needle thread  16 , according to the ornamental pattern or design programmed on the machine  10 . 
     FIGS. 5   a – 5   g  show some possible patterns which can be made with the method and device according to the invention. 
     FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b  refer to simple designs, wherein the needle thread  16  is applied respectively in a zigzag and linearly, and the cord thread  31  is positioned alternately on one side and the other thereof for each stitch  37 . 
     FIGS. 5   c  and  5   d  refer to more complex designs, to create particular ornamental patterns substantially similar to embroidery. 
   As the cord thread  31  is wound in a spiral around the needle  14  and its thread  16 , this causes a torsion which binds the cord thread  31  and the thread  16  closely together. 
     FIGS. 5   e  and  5   f  refer to simple and complex designs wherein the ribbon  31   a  is applied with a stitch by the thread  16  onto the textile material  11 . 
     FIG. 5   g  refers to particular, elaborate designs which can be obtained with the invention wherein, according to the specific ornamentation to be carried out, it is possible to alternate segments wherein the cord thread  31  or the ribbon  31   a  is applied with segments wherein this application is momentarily interrupted to perform simple stitching with sewing thread  16 . 
   This allows, for example, to achieve designs with outer perimeters formed by additional cord thread  31  and inner portions filled with simple stitches made by the sewing thread  16  ( FIG. 5   g ). 
   During the steps of simple sewing with thread  16 , the stop position of the eccentric holes or eyelets  30   a  and  30  of the inserts  27   a  is programmed so that the cord thread  31  or the ribbon  31   a  are always in a position opposite to the direction of sewing, so that they are not sewn or accidentally attached to the fabric. 
   Moreover, the thread-brakes which co-operate with the respective cord threads or ribbons are activated to impart thereto a constant tension; this prevents them from floating freely during the steps of normal sewing, so that they are not accidentally sewn or attached by the sewing thread  16 . 
     FIG. 4   b  is a bird&#39;s eye view of a pressure plate  19  on which two devices as shown in  FIG. 2  are assembled. 
   It is obvious that, according to an evolution of the invention, these devices can be displaced on the plate  19  into the desired positions in relation to the pattern to be made. 
     FIG. 4   b  shows an embodiment wherein a single brushless motor  21  simultaneously commands four devices  24  thanks to the configuration of the belt  23  and the three return and tensioning rollers  33 . 
   It is also obvious that the devices  24  can be driven, instead of by the brushless motor  21 , by any suitable drive means—pneumatic, mechanical, hydraulic or otherwise. 
   For example, a rack may be provided, driven by a pinion provided for the purpose, suitable to co-operate with the respective toothed pulleys  28  of all the devices  24  arranged in a row, there being included another independently driven rack for the devices  24  located in another row. 
   Or, there may be a pneumatic actuator for pairs or fours of devices  24 . Again, the movement may be imparted by alternately activating an electromagnetic device, a hydraulic device or otherwise. 
   Moreover, even though this description refers to two needle-bearing bars  13   a  and  13   b , the invention can also be applied in the case of three or more needle-bearing bars. 
   The machine  10  described above therefore allows to continuously work textile material  11  supplied from rolls at an extremely high speed, up to 600÷700 stitches a minute and more, obtaining the desired ornamental patterns, from the simplest to the most complex. 
   Moreover, the machine  10  is extremely versatile in that it allows to make simple quilting by excluding the devices  24 , to simply apply the ribbon  31   a  or cord thread  31  if only the needles  14 , in correspondence with which the devices  24  are present, are used, applications of ribbon  31   a  or cord thread  31  alternated with simple stitching by alternating on command the rotation and arrest of the devices  24 , and to make combined products if both the needles  14  co-operating with the devices  24 , and also those not co-operating with them, are used. 
   The machine  10  according to the invention is also easy to prepare since, to support and position the devices  24 , it uses elements such as the pressure plate  19  which are already included in a normal quilting machine.