Serial bus control system for sewing equipment

Details Serial bus control system for sewing equipment Serial bus control system for sewing equipment

1999-03-24

2001-09-25

Nerbun, Peter (Department: 3765)

Data processing: generic control systems or specific application

Specific application, apparatus or process

Product assembly or manufacturing

C112S470050, C112S470070

Reexamination Certificate

active

06295481

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a control system for automated sewing equipment or stations. In particular, the present invention relates to a serial bus control system for controlling an automated sewing station in which a series of modules are provided for controlling various operative assemblies and functions of the automatic sewing station, which modules are connected to a serial bus cable and are detachable for ease of repair and maintenance of the control system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The manufacture of textile articles, and primarily the manufacture of garments, has become highly automated in recent years with sewing machinery or equipment having been developed to automatically cut, fold, sew and stack fabric or textile work pieces to form the work pieces into finished garments and parts of garments for later attachment. As such automated sewing equipment has developed, greater emphasis has been placed on the ability of such equipment to accurately and uniformly process the textile work pieces at greater processing rates with less skilled operators running the equipment without sacrificing or impairing the quality of the garments being produced.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,437,238 and 5,657,711 of Price et al. disclose garment hemming systems in which a garment is placed on a series of spindles. Upon actuation, the machine automatically folds and sews the hem in the body of a T-shirt or sweat shirt. A series of detectors or sensors mounted along a sewing path for the work pieces detect the position of the edge of the garment body and automatically control the operation of edge guides to automatically adjust the position of the edge of the garment body with respect to the sewing path to insure that the proper hem width is maintained during sewing to form a high-quality finished garment. As a result, using such automated equipment, garments and garment parts can be produced with greater reliability and at increased production rates using less skilled workers, enabling a reduction in the costs of manufacturing of such garments and garment parts without detracting from the quality of the garments produced.
To achieve these goals of greater uniformity, quality and production rates for the garments, while at the same time enabling the garments to be produced by less skilled workers, conventional automated sewing machinery or equipment has had to become much more sophisticated and complex in its operation, requiring multiple detectors or sensors and microprocessor based control elements. Consequently, the manufacture, installation, set-up and maintenance such conventional automated sewing equipment also has become increasingly complex, typically requiring extensive point-to-point wiring for electrical connections between components or devices and their controls. In addition, highly trained or skilled personnel, including electricians, generally are necessary for the set-up and maintenance of conventional automated sewing equipment in a customer's plant.
Since many plants, especially those in remote locations, do not have such highly trained or skilled technical personnel on staff, it often is necessary for the manufacturers to send technicians to the field to a customer's plant if maintenance is required or there is a problem with the automated sewing equipment. Such technicians visits are expensive for both the customer in terms of machine down time and for the manufacturer in travel costs and technician time, and are especially costly where the technician must travel out of country, which is increasingly the case given the current trend of much of the garment production shifting to overseas markets such as South America
Under such circumstances, it is often difficult and significantly expensive to get appropriate parts and/or a technician from the manufacturer to the customer's plant on a timely basis to diagnose and then fix the problem with the equipment. Further, with the extensive point-to-point wiring typically found in most automated sewing equipment where there are sometimes hundreds of individual wires and connections that must be checked, to diagnose problems with the equipment. The complexity of the equipment thus further complicates the repair and troubleshooting of problems with the equipment, often making it impractical to perform diagnostics and repair of equipment accurately from long distance.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need exists for a control system for automated sewing equipment that is simple and easy to install and to perform diagnostics on both remotely and on-site, and to maintain, and which does not require skilled technicians for its maintenance and repair, thus enabling customers in the field to repair and make modifications to the equipment as needed to expand its capabilities.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly described, the present invention comprises a serial bus control system for automated sewing equipment such as, by way of example, an automated sewing or hemming station as is conventionally known in the art, for processing textile work pieces such as by folding, trimming and sewing the edges of such work pieces to form garment parts and/or finished garments. Generally, the automated sewing equipment or station includes a sewing machine or sewing head as conventionally known, positioned along a sewing path for the work pieces and having at least one sewing needle that engages and sews a line of stitching in the work pieces as the work pieces are moved along the sewing path. The automated sewing equipment further typically includes a drive system or mechanism, such as series of puller rollers, over which the work pieces such as a shirt body or pants body are received. The puller rollers generally include at least one or more drive rollers and at least one idler roller that can be movable longitudinally along the sewing path for applying tension to the work pieces, and which pull or move the work pieces about the sewing path and beneath the needle.
The automated sewing equipment also can include a folder assembly having a movable folder tongue and stationary folder plate for engaging and folding an edge of the work piece onto trio a portion of the body of the work piece in order to form a fold or hem that is sewn by the sewing needles. Sensors generally are positioned along the upper and lower runs of the sewing path to monitor the position and movement of the work piece and the raw and unfolded edges thereof and transmit this information back to a system controller or computer for the sewing equipment. In response, edge assemblies are operated to cause the work piece to be moved laterally across the sewing path as needed to align the edges of the work pieces for sewing.
The serial bus control system of the present invention generally includes a system controller that comprises a computer or microprocessor based control and a user interface or display such as a keypad, touch-screen or a conventional personal computer type interface having a display screen and keyboard for entry of instructions. The computer provides the interface through which the operator inputs production information and for control of the operation of the automated sewing equipment according to programmed operation instructions. A serial bus cable is connected to the controller via an adapter module and to a power supply. The serial bus control cable normally is a four conductor ribbon type cable having four wires or conductor lines at least one of which is used for power and at least two of which are used for data transmission. The adapter module filters the bus power and provides over current protection for the controller and passes data signals from the controller to the bus cable. The serial bus cable provides for the transmission of data and operation instructions and power between the system controller and the various automatically operated or functioning devices or attachments for the sewing equipment, such as the sewing machine, drive rollers and folder assembly, without requiring extensive point-to-point wiring

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