Embroidery unit cover, side table for sewing machine, and sewing machine
An embroidery unit cover that covers an embroidery unit that is to be attached to a sewing machine for sewing embroidery that includes a planar portion that forms a substantially horizontal surface combined with a bed portion of the sewing machine and a free arm portion provided to the bed portion, a peripheral wall portion that runs continuously along a peripheral border of the planar portion and that extends vertically downward from the planar portion, and a first engagement portion that is disposed on the peripheral wall portion and that is structured to be attached to and detached from a second engagement portion disposed on at least one of the bed portion and the free arm portion. When the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are engaged with each other, the embroidery unit cover forms a side table with the free arm portion.
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This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-180339, filed Jul. 9, 2007, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUNDThe present disclosure relates to an embroidery unit cover that forms a side table attachable to and detachable from a sewing machine, a side table that forms a cover to be disposed over and that covers an embroidery unit, and a sewing machine to which an embroidery unit cover and a side table can be attached to and detached from.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 11-207075 discloses a dedicated cover for an embroidery unit that can be attached to a free arm portion of a sewing machine that is to be used for sewing an embroidery. The dedicated cover is used to prevent dust, etc., from entering the moving portions of the sewing machine when the sewing machine is housed or stored. Further, the dedicated cover has a planer portion and side walls that are formed on the peripheral border of the planer portion and so that the cover can be disposed to cover the embroidery unit from the above.
Another Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-149949, discloses a side table that can be attached to a free arm portion of a sewing machine that is to be used. The side table is equipped with a substantially U-shaped support leg and an engagement portion which can be engaged with the body of the sewing machine, thereby making it possible to secure a large work cloth support surface when combined with a bed portion and the free arm portion.
The above-described dedicated cover for the embroidery unit is removed from the body of the embroidery unit when the embroidery unit is attached to the sewing machine that is to be used. In this configuration, because the removed dedicated cover itself is of no use, a problem arises because a space for the cover may block the work space that is intended for the sewing machine during sewing. Further, the above-described side table is also removed from the body of the sewing machine when the table is not used or when the sewing machine is housed. In this configuration, a problem also arises because a space for the removed side table may block the work space for the sewing machine during sewing.
SUMMARYVarious exemplary examples of the general principles herein provide an embroidery unit cover that forms a side table that is attachable to and detachable from a free arm portion of a sewing machine, a side table that forms a cover for covering an embroidery unit, and a sewing machine to which an embroidery unit cover and a side table can be attached to and detached from.
Exemplary examples provide an embroidery unit cover that covers an embroidery unit to be attached to a sewing machine for sewing an embroidery. The embroidery unit cover includes a planar portion that forms a substantially horizontal surface combined with a bed portion of the sewing machine and a free arm portion provided to the bed portion, a peripheral wall portion that runs continuously along a peripheral border of the planar portion and that extends vertically downward from the planar portion, and a first engagement portion that is disposed on the peripheral wall portion and that is structured to be attached to and detached from a second engagement portion disposed on at least one of the bed portion and the free arm portion. When the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are engaged with each other, the embroidery unit cover forms a side table with the free arm portion.
Exemplary examples provide a side table that is to be attached to a sewing machine. The side table includes a planar portion that forms a substantially horizontal surface combined with a bed portion of the sewing machine and a free arm portion provided to the bed portion, a peripheral wall portion that runs continuously along a peripheral border of the planar portion and that extends vertically downward from the planar portion, a first engagement portion that is disposed on the peripheral wall portion and that is structured to be attached to and detached from a second engagement portion disposed on at least one of the bed portion and the free arm portion, and a first locking portion that locks with an embroidery unit to be attached to the sewing machine for sewing embroidery. The side table forms a cover that can be placed over the embroidery unit.
Exemplary examples provide a sewing machine to which an embroidery unit cover can be attached to and detached from. The sewing machine includes a bed portion, a free arm portion, and a second engagement portion that is provided on at least one of the bed portion and the free arm portion. The embroidery unit cover includes a planar portion that forms a substantially horizontal surface combined with a bed portion of the sewing machine and the free arm portion provided to the bed portion, a peripheral wall portion that runs continuously along a peripheral border of the planar portion and that extends vertically downward from the planar portion, and a first engagement portion that is disposed on the peripheral wall portion and that is structured to be attached to and detached from a second engagement portion disposed on at least one of the bed portion and the free arm portion. When the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are engaged with each other, the embroidery unit cover forms a side table with the free arm portion.
Exemplary examples provide a sewing machine to which a side table can be attached to and detached from. The sewing machine includes a bed portion, a free arm portion, and a second engagement portion that is provided on at least one of the bed portion and the free arm portion. The side table includes a planar portion that forms a substantially horizontal surface combined with the bed portion of the sewing machine and the free arm portion provided to the bed portion, a peripheral wall portion that runs continuously along a peripheral border of the planar portion and that extends vertically downward from the planar portion, a first engagement portion that is disposed on the peripheral wall portion and that is structured to be attached to and detached from a second engagement portion disposed on at least one of the bed portion and the free arm portion, and a first locking portion that locks with an embroidery unit to be attached to the sewing machine for sewing embroidery. The side table forms a cover that can be placed over the embroidery unit.
Exemplary examples of the disclosure will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
The following will describe an example of the present disclosure with reference to
First, an outlined configuration of the body of a sewing machine 1 will be described below with reference to
As shown in
The bed body portion 2 is comprised of a bed portion 3 that extends from the bottom of the pillar 5, and a free arm-portion 4 that is extended a configuration such that one end thereof is supported at a substantially center position of the left end of the bed portion 3. The back-to-forth directional width of the free arm portion 4 is about ⅔ of the width of the bed portion 3. Further, the upper surface of the bed portion 3 is positioned substantially at the same height as the height of the free arm portion 4, so that the upper surfaces of the bed portion 3 and the free arm portion 4 are combined to form a substantially horizontal surface.
Provided on the front surface of the arm portion 6 is a liquid crystal display (LCD) 16 that includes a touch panel. The LCD 16 displays the keys, etc., for inputting sewing pattern and sewing conditions. A user's touch at a position corresponding to any one of those input keys will be detected by the touch panel. Thus, such a configuration enables the user to select a sewing pattern and the sewing conditions. The free arm portion 4 houses a feed dog back-to-forth movement mechanism (not shown) and a feed dog up-and-down movement mechanism (not shown) that drive a feed dog (not shown), a feed adjustment pulse motor (not shown) that adjusts a feed amount of a work cloth by the feed dog, a shuttle (not shown) that contains a bobbin thread, etc. At the lower end of the head portion 7, a sewing needle 8 and a presser foot 9 are provided.
As shown in
At the upper front side of the left side surface of the free arm portion 4, a substantially rectangular recessed portion (hereinafter referred to as “second female engagement portion 21) whose longitudinal direction is in the up-and-down direction is formed over the front side surface.
Next, an outlined configuration of the embroidery unit 30 will be described below with reference to
As shown in
The embroidery unit 30 has a box-shaped structure that includes an upper planar portion 31, a peripheral wall portion 32, and a bottom portion (not shown). The peripheral wall portion 32 runs along the peripheral borders of the upper planar portion 31 and the bottom portion (not shown) and extends perpendicular to the upper planar portion 31 and the bottom portion (not shown). The height of the peripheral wall portion 32 is almost the same as the vertical width of the bed body portion 2 (see
The embroidery unit 30 may be provided with a Y-carriage mechanism 34 that protrudes upward above the upper planar portion 31. The Y-carriage mechanism 34 incorporates a Y-directional transport mechanism that may be used to transport an embroidery frame 33 in the Y-direction, which is the back-to-forth direction of the bed body portion 2(see
Further, the embroidery unit 30 may include two arm portions 47 and 48 that protrude rightward. An engagement wall 35 protrudes from the right side peripheral wall 44 at the end of a front-side arm portion 47. The engagement wall 35 has such a shape that rectangular walls are placed together to form a substantially rectangular frame, as viewed in side plan, whose longitudinal direction is in the up-and-down direction. In a portion enclosed by the engagement wall 35 (hereinafter referred to as “first engagement portion 35”), an electrical connector 37 may be incorporated. The first engagement portion 35 faces the first female engagement portion 20 (see
Further, as shown in
As shown in
Next, an outlined configuration of the sewing machine 1 in a configuration such that the embroidery unit 30 is attached will be described below with reference to
As shown in
In this configuration, the female electrical connector 24 (see
Next, an outlined configuration of the embroidery unit cover 60 will be described below with reference to
As shown in
Among peripheral wall portions 64, 65, 68, and 69 (see
As shown in
On the outer front-side peripheral wall portion 68 and the outer rear-side peripheral wall portion 69, downward protruding locking portions 67 and 66 are respectively provided. At each end of the locking portions 67 and 66, an inward protruding locking portion may be provided. The protruding locking portion may be configured so that it can be locked by the locking portion 41 (see
As shown in
Furthermore, as shown in
The support leg axial portions 77 and 78 may be used to axially support the support legs 72 and 75 on the embroidery unit cover 60. The support leg axial portions 77 and 78 may be respectively provided at the ends of the support leg body portions 70 and 73. The support legs 72 and 75 may be axially supported by the embroidery unit 60 at the corners of the embroidery unit cover 60. The support legs 72 and 75 may be rotated about the support leg axial portions 77 and 78 as their respective base axes to be positioned in a substantially vertical posture and a horizontal posture parallel to the back-to-forth direction. If the embroidery unit cover 60 is used as an embroidery unit cover in a configuration such that the embroidery unit cover 60 is placed over the embroidery unit 30 (see
The support leg tip portions 71 and 74 may be disposed on an end of the support legs 72 and 75 opposite to the support leg axial portions 77 and 78, respectively. The support leg tip portions 71 and 74 may each comprise a semispherical tip portion whose spherical surface faces toward the tip and a screw rod portion that protrudes in the opposite direction to the spherical surface. The screw rod portions may be screwed into respective screw holes in the support leg body portion 70 and the support leg body portion 73.
As shown in
Next, an outlined configuration of the embroidery unit cover 60 in a configuration such that the embroidery unit cover 60 is placed over the embroidery unit 30 will be described below with reference to
As shown in
In a configuration such that the embroidery unit cover 60 is placed over the embroidery unit 30, the third engagement portion 62 that protrudes from the embroidery unit cover 60 and the first engagement portion 35 that protrudes from the embroidery unit 30 may be disposed in parallel to each other in the up-and-down direction. Similarly, the fourth engagement portion 63 provided on the embroidery unit cover 60 and the second engagement portion 43 (see
Next, an outlined configuration of the sewing machine 1 and the embroidery unit cover 60 that are engaged with each other will be described below with reference to
As shown in
With such a configuration, the upper surface 51 of the bed portion 3 and the upper surface 52 of the free arm portion 4 of the sewing machine 1, and the planar portion 61 of the embroidery unit cover 60 are respectively held at positions at almost the same height to form a substantially horizontal surface. Therefore, the substantially horizontal surface can be used as a table surface. In this configuration, because the right-to-left directional width of the planar portion 61 of the embroidery unit cover 60 may be about 1.5 times of the right-to-left directional width of the free arm portion 4 of the sewing machine 1, a substantially horizontal larger surface portion can be used as a side table. The operation mode may be switched halfway through a sewing process by using a sewing machine, from utility stitch sewing that forms stitches while a work cloth is fed with the feed dog, to embroidery sewing that utilizes an embroidery unit. In such a configuration, conventionally, a space for the embroidery unit cover that is removed from the embroidery unit, would block the work space. In contrast, the embroidery unit cover 60 of the present disclosure can be used as a side table, so that the work space can be used effectively. Moreover, the user need not prepare a side table separately, thus improving the economic efficiency.
Further, as shown in
Thus, it is possible to support one end side of the embroidery unit cover 60 with the engagement portions 62 and 63, and support the other end side thereof with the support legs 72 and 75. Therefore, a formed side table surface can be held stably, thereby enabling sewing a large-sized work cloth easily.
Although the above example employs a planar portion having a substantially laterally-placed U-shape as the shape of the embroidery unit cover 60 in plan view, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any other shape may be employed as the shape of the embroidery unit cover 60 so long as the shape is the same as the shape of the embroidery unit 30 in plan view and such that the embroidery unit cover 60 can be placed over the embroidery unit 30 to cover the embroidery unit 30. Further, although the shapes, numbers, and protruding positions of the engagement portions 62 and 63 that protrude from the peripheral wall portions 64 and 65 of the embroidery unit cover 60 are specified in the example, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any other shapes, numbers, and protruding positions may be employed as the engagement portions 62 and 63 so long as they can be engaged with the female engagement portions 20 and 21 of the sewing machine 1 and such that the embroidery unit cover 60 can be held through the engagement. Furthermore, although the shapes, axial supporting positions, and operating postures of the support legs 72 and 75 provided on the embroidery unit cover 60 are specified in the example, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any other shapes, axial supporting positions, and operating postures may be employed as the side table so long as they can be supported when the embroidery unit cover 60 is attached to the sewing machine 1 to be used as the side table.
Although the embroidery unit cover 60 forms a side table in the above example, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Alternatively, a side table may form the embroidery unit cover 60. Although the shape of the side table is substantially U-shape in plan view in the example, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any other shape may be employed as the side table so long as they can be attached to the sewing machine 1. Although the shapes, numbers, and protruding positions of the engagement portions that protrude from the peripheral wall of the side table are specified in the example, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any other shapes, numbers, and protruding positions may be employed as the engagement portions can be engaged with the female engagement portions 20 and 21 of the sewing machine 1 such that the side table can be held through the engagement. Although the shapes, numbers, and protruding portions of the locking portions that protrude from the peripheral wall of the side table are specified in the example, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any other shapes, numbers, and protruding positions maybe employed as far as the locking portions can be locked by the female locking portions. Although the shapes, axial supporting positions, and operating conditions of the support legs provided on-the side table are specified in the example, the present disclosure is not limited thereto; Any other shapes, axial supporting positions, and operating postures may be employed as the side table so long as they can be supported in a configuration such that the side table is attached to the sewing machine.
As explained above, an embroidery unit cover of the present disclosure includes a planar portion that forms a substantially horizontal surface with a bed portion and a free arm portion of a sewing machine, a peripheral wall portion that runs continuously along a peripheral border of the planar portion and that extends vertically downward from the planar portion, and a first engagement portion that is provided to the peripheral wall portion. Therefore, when the embroidery unit cover is attached to the sewing machine, the embroidery unit cover forms a side table having the planar portion as a table surface. Accordingly, a space for the embroidery unit cover to be placed may be unnecessary, thereby enabling effective utilization of a work space.
Further, a side table of the present disclosure includes a planar portion that forms a substantially horizontal surface with a bed portion and a free arm portion of a sewing machine, a peripheral wall portion that runs continuously along a peripheral border of the planar portion and that extends vertically downward from the planar portion, a first engagement portion that is provided to the peripheral wall portion, and a locking portion that locks with an embroidery unit. Therefore, when the side table is placed over the embroidery unit, the side table forms a cover that prevents dust etc. from entering the embroidery unit.
Still further, a sewing machine of the present disclosure includes an engagement portion that can be engaged with an embroidery unit cover or a side table, on at least one of a bed portion and a free arm portion. Therefore, the embroidery unit cover or the side table can be attached to the sewing machine.
While various features have been described in conjunction with the examples outlined above, various alternatives, modifications, combinations, variations, and/or improvements of those features and/or examples may be possible. Accordingly, the examples, as set forth above, are intended to be illustrative. Various changes may be made without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the underlying principles.
Claims
1. An embroidery unit cover that covers an embroidery unit to be attached to a sewing machine for sewing embroidery, the embroidery unit cover comprising:
- a planar portion that forms a substantially horizontal surface combined with a bed portion of the sewing machine and a free arm portion provided to the bed portion;
- a peripheral wall portion that runs continuously along a peripheral border of the planar portion and that extends vertically downward from the planar portion; and
- a first engagement portion that is disposed on the peripheral wall portion and that is structured to be attached to and detached from a second engagement portion disposed on at least one of the bed portion and the free arm portion,
- wherein the embroidery unit cover forms a side table with the free arm portion when the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are engaged with each other.
2. The embroidery unit cover according to claim 1, wherein:
- the first engagement portion has a protruding shape that fits into the second engagement portion of the sewing machine; and
- the planar portion is held at a height that is substantially the same as the bed portion and the free arm portion when the first engagement portion is fitted into the second engagement portion.
3. The embroidery unit cover according to claim 1, further comprising:
- a support leg that supports the embroidery unit cover in a configuration,
- wherein: the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are engaged with each other, and the support leg is positioned so that the support leg is able to be switched between a housing position such that the support leg is in a substantially horizontal posture and a use position such that the support leg is in a substantially vertical posture.
4. The embroidery unit cover according to claim 1, wherein the planar portion has substantially the same shape as an upper surface of the embroidery unit in plan view and can be placed over the entire upper surface of the embroidery unit.
5. A side table to be attached to a sewing machine, comprising:
- a planar portion that forms a substantially horizontal surface combined with a bed portion of the sewing machine and a free arm portion provided to the bed portion;
- a peripheral wall portion that runs continuously along a peripheral border of the planar portion and that extends vertically downward from the planar portion;
- a first engagement portion that is disposed-on the peripheral wall portion and that is structured to be attached to and detached from a second engagement portion disposed on at least one of the bed portion and the free arm portion; and
- a first locking portion that locks with an embroidery unit that is attachable to the sewing machine for sewing an embroidery,
- wherein the side table forms a cover that can be placed over the embroidery unit.
6. The side table according to claim 5, wherein the first locking portion protrudes from the peripheral wall portion and locks with a second locking portion disposed on a peripheral border of the embroidery unit.
7. The side table according to claim 5, wherein a portion surrounded by the planar portion and the peripheral wall portion covers an entire upper surface of the embroidery unit.
8. The side table according to claim 5, further comprising:
- a support leg that supports the side table in a configuration,
- wherein: the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion are engaged with each other, and the support leg is positioned so that the support leg is able be switched between a housing position such that the support leg is in a substantially horizontal posture and a use position such that the support leg is in a substantially vertical posture.
9. A sewing machine with an embroidery unit cover that can be attached to and detached from the sewing machine, the sewing machine comprising:
- a bed portion;
- a free arm portion; and
- a second engagement portion that is disposed on at least one of the bed portion and the free arm portion and that enables the engagement of the embroidery unit cover according to claim 1.
10. A sewing machine with a side table is structured to be attached to and detached from the sewing machine, the sewing machine comprising:
- a bed portion;
- a free arm portion; and
- a second engagement portion that is disposed on at least one of the bed portion and the free arm portion and that enables the engagement of the side table according to claim 5.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 9, 2008
Publication Date: Jan 15, 2009
Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA (NAGOYA-SHI)
Inventors: Fumihiro Nonobe (Ichinomiya-shi), Hiroaki Fukao (Kasugai-shi)
Application Number: 12/216,689