Patent ID: 8468962

Claim:
A sewing machine comprising: a sewing head; a needle bar mounted on said sewing head to be reciprocally movable upward and downward, and having a needle-bar thread guide through which a needle thread is passed; a thread take-up lever mounted on said sewing head and upwardly of said needle bar to be swung upward and downward in synchronization with said needle bar, and having a lever threading portion through which the needle thread is passed and which is disposed upstream of said needle-bar thread guide in terms of a threading path of the needle thread; a thread guide frame mounted on said sewing head and between said needle bar and said thread take-up lever; and a thread holding device including: a first disc fixed to said thread guide frame, and having a first holding surface which faces the threading path and upstream of said needle-bar thread guide, a second disc movable relative to said first disc between holding and releasing positions, where said second disc is closer to and remote from said first disc, respectively, and having a second holding surface which confronts and cooperates with said first holding surface to define a thread holding clearance so as to permit passage of the needle thread therethrough such that, in the releasing position, the needle thread is permitted to continue on running from said lever threading portion to said needle-bar thread guide, and such that, in the holding position, the needle thread is arrested from moving along the threading path, an electromechanical unit disposed to be actuated to thrust said second disc to the holding position, and a biasing member disposed to bias said second disc toward the releasing position.