Patents by Inventor Akifumi Nakashima

Akifumi Nakashima 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: 8261678
    Abstract: A workpiece processing attachment detachably attached to a sewing machine including a presser foot, a presser bar having the presser foot detachably attached to its lower end, a presser bar vertically moving mechanism, a sewing needle, a needle clamp having the sewing needle detachably attached thereto, a needle bar having the needle clamp attached thereto, and a needle bar vertically moving mechanism, the workpiece processing attachment, including a body detachably attached to the lower end of the presser bar; a connecting element capable of being connected to the needle clamp and movable up and down with the needle bar being moved up and down by the needle bar vertically moving mechanism; a needle penetrating the workpiece to form a hole in the workpiece; and a needle vertically moving mechanism moving the needle up and down by the up and down movement of the connecting element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akifumi Nakashima, Daisuke Ueda
  • Publication number: 20120137943
    Abstract: A bobbin detachably installed into an inner hook of a sewing machine is disclosed. The bobbin includes a bobbin shaft; and a pair of flanges that are provided at both axial ends of the bobbin shaft. The bobbin shaft is cylindrical and includes a first opening and a second opening defined on axial ends thereof, the bobbin shaft being provided with a restriction member in a proximity of either of the first and the second opening to allow attachment of the bobbin to the inner hook through the first opening.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2011
    Publication date: June 7, 2012
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kenichi MIZUNO, Rino NAKAMA, Akifumi NAKASHIMA
  • Publication number: 20100212561
    Abstract: A sewing machine including a presser foot that presses a workpiece, a presser bar that has a lower end allowing detachable attachment of the presser foot; a presser bar vertically moving mechanism that moves the presser bar up and down; a presser bar driver that drives the presser bar vertically moving mechanism; a needle plate that has an upper surface for placing the workpiece; a projecting element that is detachably attached to the presser bar and that is driven up and down with the presser bar as the presser bar is driven up and down by the presser bar driver through the presser bar vertically moving mechanism to form embosses on the workpiece by downwardly pressing the workpiece; and a receiving section that is provided on the upper surface of the needle plate that opposes the projecting element to receive a tip of the projecting element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 21, 2010
    Publication date: August 26, 2010
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Akifumi Nakashima, Daisuke Ueda
  • Publication number: 20100212562
    Abstract: A workpiece processing attachment detachably attached to a sewing machine including a presser foot, a presser bar having the presser foot detachably attached to its lower end, a presser bar vertically moving mechanism, a sewing needle, a needle clamp having the sewing needle detachably attached thereto, a needle bar having the needle clamp attached thereto, and a needle bar vertically moving mechanism, the workpiece processing attachment, including a body detachably attached to the lower end of the presser bar; a connecting element capable of being connected to the needle clamp and movable up and down with the needle bar being moved up and down by the needle bar vertically moving mechanism; a needle penetrating the workpiece to form a hole in the workpiece; and a needle vertically moving mechanism moving the needle up and down by the up and down movement of the connecting element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 21, 2010
    Publication date: August 26, 2010
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Akifumi Nakashima, Daisuke Ueda
  • Patent number: 7171914
    Abstract: A horizontal rotary hook of a sewing machine includes an inner rotary hook made of synthetic resin and housing a bobbin, an outer rotary hook made of synthetic resin and housing the inner rotary hook and rotated in a predetermined direction, an adsorption plate made of a magnetic material and mounted on one of an outer surface of a bottom wall of the inner rotary hook and an inner surface of a bottom wall of the outer rotary hook, a magnet piece formed as a thin plate and mounted in the other of the outer surface of the bottom wall of the inner rotary hook and the inner surface of the bottom wall of the outer rotary hook, and a yoke member made of a magnetic material and housing the magnet piece integrally formed with a bottom wall contacting the magnet piece and a wall surrounding an outer circumferential side of the magnet piece. The yoke member is mounted on the other of the outer surface of the bottom wall of the inner rotary hook and the inner surface of the bottom wall of the outer rotary hook.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2007
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shin Ota, Akifumi Nakashima, Kenichi Mizuno
  • Publication number: 20060065175
    Abstract: A horizontal rotary hook of a sewing machine includes an inner rotary hook made of synthetic resin and housing a bobbin, an outer rotary hook made of synthetic resin and housing the inner rotary hook and rotated in a predetermined direction, an adsorption plate made of a magnetic material and mounted on one of an outer surface of a bottom wall of the inner rotary hook and an inner surface of a bottom wall of the outer rotary hook, a magnet piece formed as a thin plate and mounted in the other of the outer surface of the bottom wall of the inner rotary hook and the inner surface of the bottom wall of the outer rotary hook, and a yoke member made of a magnetic material and housing the magnet piece integrally formed with a bottom wall contacting the magnet piece and a wall surrounding an outer circumferential side of the magnet piece. The yoke member is mounted on the other of the outer surface of the bottom wall of the inner rotary hook and the inner surface of the bottom wall of the outer rotary hook.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2005
    Publication date: March 30, 2006
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shin Ota, Akifumi Nakashima, Kenichi Mizuno
  • Patent number: 5816512
    Abstract: A bobbin thread winding mechanism includes: a rotating member capable of rotating and to which a bobbin can be mounted; a supporter provided to the rotating member and that supports an end of a bobbin thread to be wound around the bobbin; and a positioner that positions the rotating member so that the supporter stops at a predetermined position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 6, 1998
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akifumi Nakashima, Masao Ogawa
  • Patent number: 5195451
    Abstract: When a desired stitch pattern is selected by the operator, stitch pattern data representing the desired stitch pattern and image data representing the image of the stitch pattern to be projected on a workpiece are stored temporarily in a RAM. When the push button of a frame shifting switch is depressed, an embroidery frame holding the workpiece is shifted from a stitching area to an image projecting area. The image of the stitch pattern can be projected without being obstructed by the needle bar, the needle and the presser foot on the workpiece held by the embroidery frame placed in the image projecting area, so that the operator is able to confirm the stitch pattern to be formed easily and correctly. A projector projects the full-sized image of the stitch pattern on the basis of the image data read from the RAM on the workpiece held by the embroidery frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 1992
    Date of Patent: March 23, 1993
    Assignee: Broher Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Akifumi Nakashima
  • Patent number: 5078067
    Abstract: A sewing machine comprising a sewing machine lamp for illuminating an area around an end of a sewing needle, and a plurality of color filters provided on a rotary disk which is rotated by a stepping motor so that the area around the end of the sewing needle is illuminated by light of a selected one of a plurality of different colors. When an abnormal condition detector for detecting an erroneous operation or an abnormal condition such as an accident of the sewing machine detects an abnormal condition, an abnormal condition warning device changes the color of the illuminating light to a color corresponding to a type of the abnormal condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 1991
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1992
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Akifumi Nakashima
  • Patent number: 5072680
    Abstract: To aid in the proper placement of patterns to be sewn on work fabric, a sewing machine includes a pattern projection system for forming pattern images on the fabric. The pattern images are of the same size and orientation as the pattern sewn by the machine. The image projection system includes a light source and a light transmission imaging element for forming images on the fabric. The imaging element can be liquid crystal. The image forming system displays a marker to indicate that portions of the pattern to be sewn are outside a predetermined image area. A memory is provided to store pattern completion data, so that after an interruption in the sewing of a pattern, the unfinished part of the pattern can be imaged on the fabric and the machine can complete the pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 17, 1991
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Akifumi Nakashima
  • Patent number: 5042410
    Abstract: A sewing machine capable of performing a profile sewing in which a stitch is provided at a position spaced away from an edgeline of a workpiece by a predetermined constant distance to provide a predetermined margin. The sewing machine is provided with memory means which stores therein the needle position data. This data is transmitted to a sewing needle swinging mechanism so as to move the sewing needle to a position inwardly spaced away from the edgeline to provide the margin. The sewing machine is also provided with image forming means connected to the memory means for providing a visualized image of a stitching reference line on one of a surface of the bed and the workpiece fabric on the bed in accordance with the needle position data. The stitching reference serves as a guide line along which the edgeline is placed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 1991
    Date of Patent: August 27, 1991
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Akifumi Nakashima
  • Patent number: 4823716
    Abstract: A sewing machine capable of forming a line of stitches along the edge of a workpiece, while the needle is reciprocated by a needle bar relative to the workpiece in a feeding movement. The needle bar is supported by an oscillator which is joggable in a lateral direction substantially perpendicular to the feeding direction. A sensor is provided to detect the fabric edge, by emitting a radiation toward a reflecting surface provided on the work bed of the machine. The sensor determines the position of the fabric edge by detecting an amount of the reflected radiation received. The reflecting surface has a concave shape in cross section taken in a vertical plane parallel to the feeding direction. The lateral jogging movement of the oscillator is controlled according to the amount of the reflected radiation received by the sensor, so that the line of stitches is spaced apart from the edge of the workpiece by a predetermined distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1987
    Date of Patent: April 25, 1989
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Akifumi Nakashima
  • Patent number: 4651660
    Abstract: A sewing machine with an automatic threader comprises a threading hook for threading a needle, a thread carrying member for passing a thread through a thread take-up spring, a thread holding device for extending the thread from a thread take-up lever near to the thread eye of the needle so that the threading hook is able to catch the thread, an actuating lever for moving the thread holding device releasably holding the thread near to the needle and making the thread holding device transfer the thread to the threading hook, and an operating member for operating the thread carrying member and the actuating lever. These components of the automatic threader are interlocked with each other so that the thread is extended to the threading hook and is passed through the thread eye of the needle automatically by the single downward stroke of the operating member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 24, 1987
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuyasu Oshima, Mikio Sato, Katsuhiro Kitajima, Akifumi Nakashima