Patents by Inventor Akie Ukai
Akie Ukai has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
-
Patent number: 8220402Abstract: A sewing machine capable of mode switching between a normal sewing mode and a free motion sewing mode including a feed dog switcher that switches a feed dog between an active state in which the feed dog is moved above and below a needle plate and an inactive state in which the feed dog is lowered below the needle plate, a first instruction issuer that instructs execution of fastening stitching at a beginning of pattern sewing sequence, a second instruction issuer that instructs execution of fastening stitching at an end of pattern sewing sequence, and a controller that, when in the free motion sewing mode, activates the feed dog by the feed dog switcher in response to an incoming instruction signal from the first or the second instruction issuer to execute fastening stitching through control of feed dog based on fastening stitching data to longitudinally feed a workpiece cloth.Type: GrantFiled: October 14, 2008Date of Patent: July 17, 2012Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Akie Ukai, Masaki Shimizu, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshinori Nakamura, Yoshio Nishimura, Satoru Makino, Kazumi Sai
-
Patent number: 8191492Abstract: A sewing machine that sews a work cloth being moved by a user includes a detection device that detects the work cloth, a movement calculation device that calculates movement data of the work cloth, a movement data storage device that stores the movement data, a movement data creation device that causes the detection device and the movement calculation device to respectively detect the work cloth and calculate the movement data for each stitch, and that stores the movement data into the movement data storage device, a line segment specification device that specifies a line segment based on the movement data, a determination device that determines whether a stitch to be formed next will overlap with an already formed stitch corresponding to the specified line segment, and an error control device that performs an error correction operation based on a determination result.Type: GrantFiled: February 20, 2008Date of Patent: June 5, 2012Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshinori Nakamura, Akie Ukai, Masaki Shimizu, Yoshio Nishimura, Kazumi Sai, Satoru Makino
-
Patent number: 8186290Abstract: A sewing machine for a user to perform sewing while moving a work cloth includes: a detecting device that detects the work cloth; a movement calculating device that calculates, by two-dimensional coordinate data, a movement direction and a movement quantity of the work cloth between previous detection and current detection of the work cloth when the work cloth is detected; a movement data storage device that stores movement data serving as two-dimensional coordinate data indicative of the movement direction and the movement quantity; a movement data creating device that detects the work cloth on a one by one needle basis of sewing, calculates the movement data, and stores the calculated data in the movement data storage device; a cloth feed mechanism that moves the work cloth; and a reproduction sewing control device that performs sewing while moving the work cloth based on the movement data stored in the movement data storage device.Type: GrantFiled: March 18, 2008Date of Patent: May 29, 2012Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Satoru Makino, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshio Nishimura, Masaki Shimizu, Akie Ukai, Yoshinori Nakamura, Kazumi Sai
-
Patent number: 8146521Abstract: A sewing machine that enables a user to perform sewing while moving a piece of work cloth, the sewing machine including: a main shaft that drives a needle bar equipped with a sewing needle, a sewing machine motor that rotary-drives the main shaft, a detection device that detects an actual movement distance of the piece of work cloth, a target pitch storage device that stores a predetermined length as a target pitch, which is a target value of stitch pitches of the piece of work cloth, an agreement degree calculation device that calculates an agreement degree between the target pitch and a stitch pitch in actual sewing that is to be determined based on the actual movement distance of the piece of work cloth which is detected by the detection device; and a notification device that notifies of the agreement degree calculated by the agreement degree calculation device.Type: GrantFiled: March 20, 2008Date of Patent: April 3, 2012Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Yoshinori Nakamura, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshio Nishimura, Akie Ukai, Satoru Makino, Masaki Shimizu, Kazumi Sai
-
Patent number: 8082866Abstract: A sewing machine capable of sewing a manually moved workpiece cloth in free motion includes a carrier that carries the workpiece cloth and being manually moved to move the workpiece cloth; a support element that movably supports the carrier; a movement amount detector that detects an amount of carrier movement; a specifier that specifies a stitch pitch; a comparator that produces a comparison of the amount of carrier movement with the stitch pitch; a regulator provided at the support element and that regulates carrier movement; and a controller that controls the regulator such that the amount of carrier movement does not exceed the stitch pitch based on the comparison produced by the comparator.Type: GrantFiled: February 12, 2009Date of Patent: December 27, 2011Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Hirokazu Hirose, Akie Ukai, Yoshio Nishimura, Yoshinori Nakamura, Masaki Shimizu, Kazumi Sai, Satoru Makino
-
Patent number: 7836838Abstract: A sewing machine includes a needle bar that is equipped with a sewing needle at a lower end of the needle bar, a presser bar that is equipped with a presser foot at a lower end of the presser bar, which holds down a work cloth, a sewing machine motor which is a driving source that drives the needle bar in an up and down direction, and a switching device that switches between a normal mode in which the needle bar is driven in the up and down direction to form stitches and a practice mode in which the sewing machine is operated in a condition where at least the needle bar is not driven.Type: GrantFiled: February 20, 2008Date of Patent: November 23, 2010Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Satoru Makino, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshio Nishimura, Masaki Shimizu, Akie Ukai, Yoshinori Nakamura, Kazumi Sai
-
Publication number: 20090205549Abstract: A sewing machine capable of sewing a manually moved workpiece cloth in free motion includes a carrier that carries the workpiece cloth and being manually moved to move the workpiece cloth; a support element that movably supports the carrier; a movement amount detector that detects an amount of carrier movement; a specifier that specifies a stitch pitch; a comparator that produces a comparison of the amount of carrier movement with the stitch pitch; a regulator provided at the support element and that regulates carrier movement; and a controller that controls the regulator such that the amount of carrier movement does not exceed the stitch pitch based on the comparison produced by the comparator.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 12, 2009Publication date: August 20, 2009Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hirokazu Hirose, Akie Ukai, Yoshio Nishimura, Yoshinori Nakamura, Masaki Shimizu, Kazumi Sai, Satoru Makino
-
Publication number: 20090107374Abstract: A sewing machine capable of mode switching between a normal sewing mode and a free motion sewing mode including a feed dog switcher that switches a feed dog between an active state in which the feed dog is moved above and below a needle plate and an inactive state in which the feed dog is lowered below the needle plate, a first instruction issuer that instructs execution of fastening stitching at a beginning of pattern sewing sequence, a second instruction issuer that instructs execution of fastening stitching at an end of pattern sewing sequence, and a controller that, when in the free motion sewing mode, activates the feed dog by the feed dog switcher in response to an incoming instruction signal from the first or the second instruction issuer to execute fastening stitching through control of feed dog based on fastening stitching data to longitudinally feed a workpiece cloth.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 14, 2008Publication date: April 30, 2009Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Akie Ukai, Masaki Shimizu, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshinori Nakamura, Yoshio Nishimura, Satoru Makino, Kazumi Sai
-
Publication number: 20090101053Abstract: A sewing machine including a main shaft; a motor driving the main shaft; a needle bar; a sewing needle attached to a lower end of the needle bar; a needle-bar drive mechanism driven by the main shaft and vertically moving the needle bar; a speed setter setting a rotational speed of the main shaft; a needle-position detector detecting a vertical position of the sewing needle or the needle bar; a main shaft speed detector; a motor controller; and a needle plate; wherein the motor controller executes at least either of a first control decelerating the main shaft below the set rotational speed when the lower end of the sewing needle is above the needle plate, or a second control accelerating the main shaft above the set speed when the lower end of the sewing needle is positioned below the needle plate based on detected results provided by the detectors.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 2, 2008Publication date: April 23, 2009Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Yoshio Nishimura, Hirokazu Hirose, Akie Ukai, Yoshinori Nakamura, Masaki Shimizu, Satoru Makino, Kazumi Sai
-
Publication number: 20080229992Abstract: A sewing machine that enables a user to perform sewing while moving a piece of work cloth, the sewing machine including: a main shaft that drives a needle bar equipped with a sewing needle, a sewing machine motor that rotary-drives the main shaft, a detection device that detects an actual movement distance of the piece of work cloth, a target pitch storage device that stores a predetermined length as a target pitch, which is a target value of stitch pitches of the piece of work cloth, an agreement degree calculation device that calculates an agreement degree between the target pitch and a stitch pitch in actual sewing that is to be determined based on the actual movement distance of the piece of work cloth which is detected by the detection device; and a notification device that notifies of the agreement degree calculated by the agreement degree calculation device.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 20, 2008Publication date: September 25, 2008Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Yoshinori Nakamura, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshio Nishimura, Akie Ukai, Satoru Makino, Masaki Shimizu, Kazumi Sai
-
Publication number: 20080229991Abstract: A sewing machine for a user to perform sewing while moving a work cloth includes: a detecting device that detects the work cloth; a movement calculating device that calculates, by two-dimensional coordinate data, a movement direction and a movement quantity of the work cloth between previous detection and current detection of the work cloth when the work cloth is detected; a movement data storage device that stores movement data serving as two-dimensional coordinate data indicative of the movement direction and the movement quantity; a movement data creating device that detects the work cloth on a one by one needle basis of sewing, calculates the movement data, and stores the calculated data in the movement data storage device; a cloth feed mechanism that moves the work cloth; and a reproduction sewing control device that performs sewing while moving the work cloth based on the movement data stored in the movement data storage device.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 18, 2008Publication date: September 25, 2008Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Satoru Makino, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshio Nishimura, Masaki Shimizu, Akie Ukai, Yoshinori Nakamura, Kazumi Sai
-
Publication number: 20080210147Abstract: A sewing machine that sews a work cloth being moved by a user includes a detection device that detects the work cloth, a movement calculation device that calculates movement data of the work cloth, a movement data storage device that stores the movement data, a movement data creation device that causes the detection device and the movement calculation device to respectively detect the work cloth and calculate the movement data for each stitch, and that stores the movement data into the movement data storage device, a line segment specification device that specifies a line segment based on the movement data, a determination device that determines whether a stitch to be formed next will overlap with an already formed stitch corresponding to the specified line segment, and an error control device that performs an error correction operation based on a determination result.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 20, 2008Publication date: September 4, 2008Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshinori Nakamura, Akie Ukai, Masaki Shimizu, Yoshio Nishimura, Kazumi Sai, Satoru Makino
-
Patent number: 7418910Abstract: An embroidery unit including a first switch mechanism rotating a Y-direction drive mechanism driving a carriage having a detachable embroidery frame holding a workpiece cloth connected thereto from the embroidery position to the upright position taking a vertical disposition, a second switch mechanism switching the Y-direction drive mechanism from the upright position to the stored position situated along a side surface of the unit body 31. Further, the upper surface of the exterior cover of the Y-direction cover and the upper surface of the bed are arranged to be substantially at level when the Y-direction drive mechanism is switched to the stored position.Type: GrantFiled: November 14, 2006Date of Patent: September 2, 2008Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Akie Ukai, Hiroaki Fukao, Masayuki Hori
-
Publication number: 20080196646Abstract: A sewing machine includes a needle bar that is equipped with a sewing needle at a lower end of the needle bar, a presser bar that is equipped with a presser foot at a lower end of the presser bar, which holds down a work cloth, a sewing machine motor which is a driving source that drives the needle bar in an up and down direction, and a switching device that switches between a normal mode in which the needle bar is driven in the up and down direction to form stitches and a practice mode in which the sewing machine is operated in a condition where at least the needle bar is not driven.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 20, 2008Publication date: August 21, 2008Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Satoru Makino, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshio Nishimura, Masaki Shimizu, Akie Ukai, Yoshinori Nakamura, Kazumi Sai
-
Publication number: 20070119354Abstract: An embroidery unit including a first switch mechanism rotating a Y-direction drive mechanism driving a carriage having a detachable embroidery frame holding a workpiece cloth connected thereto from the embroidery position to the upright position taking a vertical disposition, a second switch mechanism switching the Y-direction drive mechanism from the upright position to the stored position situated along a side surface of the unit body 31. Further, the upper surface of the exterior cover of the Y-direction cover and the upper surface of the bed are arranged to be substantially at level when the Y-direction drive mechanism is switched to the stored position.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 14, 2006Publication date: May 31, 2007Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Akie Ukai, Hiroaki Fukao, Masayuki Hori