Patent ID: 7469649

Claim:
A sewing machine comprising: a needle bar vertically driven to perform a sewing operation; a sewing needle fixed to a lower end of said needle bar; a material holder holding a string-shaped material; a drive section that directly applies a rotational force to the material holder in order to pay out the string-shaped material; a guide member for guiding the string-shaped material, paid out from said material holder, to a sewing position of said sewing needle in accordance with a sewing-progressing direction, the string-shaped material being sewn onto a sewing workpiece through lock stitching in the sewing position; a consumed amount detection section for detecting a consumed amount of the string-shaped material that is consumed as sewing of the string-shaped material progresses; a support section, provided between said material holder and said guide member, for movably supporting the string-shaped material, paid out from said material holder while contacting the material, wherein said support section supports the string-shaped material in a slackened condition at a first location to prevent tensile force from being applied to the material holder, and applies a constant tensile force to the string-shaped material at a second location prior to the string-shaped material being directed to said guide member; and a control section that controls, in accordance with the consumed amount of the string-shaped material detected by said consumed amount detection section, an amount of paying-out of the string-shaped material from said material holder, to be effected by said drive section.