Patent Publication Number: US-4584956-A

Title: Arrangement of pattern indication in a pattern selecting device of a sewing machine

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to arrangement of pattern indications in a pattern selecting device of a sewing machine for selecting stitching patterns by directly finger-pushing a pattern indicator. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Prior art embodiments of arrangements of pattern indications in a pattern selecting device of a sewing machine for selecting stitching patterns by directly finger-pushing the pattern indicator will be explained first. 
     FIG. 1 shows one example of the prior art, in which there are positioned seat switches (not shown) under pattern indicators 1, 1a which are sectioned by partitions 2 being higher than the pattern indicators 1, 1a so that pushing may be correctly made on the pattern indicators 1, 1a. With respect to the long pattern indicator 1a, an auxiliary shape 3 is necessary which indicates a position to be pushed. This shape 3 is formed in concave or convex. If pitches between centers to be finger-pushed of the pattern indicators 1, 1a are assumed as P 1 , P 2  and P 3  respectively, &#34;P 1  P 2  and P 3  &#34; is obtained, since the pattern indicators 1, 1a are lengthy in longitudinal direction, and P 1  should be sized at least the width of finger. Therefore, P 2  and P 3  become large sized, exceeding the operational necessity. 
     FIG. 3 shows another example, in which auxiliary shapes 5 are provided to short pattern indicators 4 and long pattern indicators 4a, and more accurate operation would be possible in comparison with the case shown in FIG. 1. If the pitches between centers to be finger-pushed are assumed as P 4 , P 5  and P 6 , these pitches are the same as in FIG. 1, and wasteful areas will be brought about. 
     FIG. 5 shows a further example, in which if each of pattern indicators 7 is positioned laterally in length, a pitch P 8  may be made small in column with respect to a pitch P 7  in lateral direction, and this pitch P 8  may be made smaller than the pitches P 2  (P 3 ) and P 5  (P 6 ) in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, since the pattern indicator 7 is shown laterally in length, inconvenience will arise in indication for actually formed stitches, and further since the pitch P 7  in the lateral direction requires a certain largeness for easily watching the indicated pattern, its size will exceed the minimum size necessary to the finger-pushing, so that wastefull areas are also brought about. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the above mentioned difficulties, it is an object of the present invention to provide arrangements of pattern indications in a pattern selecting device for selecting stitching patterns by directly finger-pushing the pattern indicator. 
     This object is attained by a pattern indication arrangement for a finger-pushing operated pattern selecting device of a sewing machine, comprising a plurality of shorter rectangular pattern indicators; a plurality of longer rectangular pattern indicators; and means located on each indicator for actuating said indicators when pushed, said means including an element projected from each of said indicators, said shorter rectangular pattern indicators and said longer rectangular pattern indicators being arranged adjacent to each other in longitudinal and transverse directions in such a manner that said elements are arranged in alignment with each other in said longitudinal and transverse directions in the alternating rows. 
     The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIGS. 1 to 6 show conventional embodiments, in which 
     FIG. 1 shows one example of the same, 
     FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view seen from A--A in FIG. 1, 
     FIG. 3 shows another example of the same, 
     FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view seen from B--B in FIG. 4, 
     FIG. 5 shows a further example of the same, 
     FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view seen from C--C in FIG. 5, 
     FIGS. 7 to 10 show embodiments of the invention, in which 
     FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an arrangement of pattern indication, 
     FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an arrangement of convexs provided on the pattern indication, 
     FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view seen from D--D in FIG. 8, 
     FIG. 10 is a perspective view of FIG. 8, and 
     FIG. 11 is a view showing an arrangement of convexs provided on pattern indication relating to the other embodiment than those shown in FIGS. 7 to 10. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Embodiments of the invention will be explained in reference to FIGS. 7 to 11 of the attached drawings. As is seen in FIG. 7, the pattern indication has two embodiments, one of which is an ordinary pattern indication 8 (called &#34;ordinary indication&#34; hereinafter) which is comparatively shorter in length, and the other of which is a longer pattern indication 8a (called &#34;lengthy indication&#34; hereinafter) which is longer than the former 8. It is practically sufficient that the longer indicator 8a is 1.5 times of the ordinary indicator 8. FIG. 7 shows an embodiment where the indicators 8, 8a are arranged longitudinally. 
     The pattern indicators 8, 8a are, as shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, provided thereon with transparent projections or push buttons 9 to be finger-pushed, and switches (not shown) are disposed at corresponding positions under the pattern indicators 8, 8a. 
     According to this embodiment, the longer indicators 8a and the ordinary indicators 8 are arranged alternately in a zig-zag pattern such that a lateral arrangement is a row and a longitudinal arrangement is a column. 
     By making such a zigzag arrangement, a pitch P 9  of each of the columns may be reduced to a size less than the width of a finger, so that the pattern indicators may be more gathered. 
     In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, the lengthy indicators 8a are arranged in an alternate column, and the ordinary indicators 8 are arranged therebetween. Assuming that the number of the ordinary indicators 8 between the lengthy indication 8a is n (n=0, 1, 2, 3 . . . and in the present example n=1), the number of the ordinary indicators is n+3 (in the present example, 4). 
     For making the zigzag arrangement of the projections 9, there will be supposed a manner for arranging the pattern indications as shown in FIG. 11. 
     That is, the lengthy indication 8a is arranged one per one column at the upper or lower part alternately, and the number of the ordinary indication 8 in each column is m (m=1, 2, 3 . . . and in the example shown in FIG. 11, m=2). Thus the projections 9 are arranged in zigzag, and the same effect as in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 10 are brought about. 
     According to the invention, the pattern indications may be more accumulated in the pattern selecting device which selects the stitching patterns by directly finger-pushing the pattern indication. 
     While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a sewing machine, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 
     Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.