Making a decorative design with decorative elements arranged in freely movable fashion

Abstract

Decorative elements are sewn, with a first-type sewing thread, to a base member in accordance with a first pattern. One surface of the base member is covered with a see-through cover member, and an embroidery sewing operation is performed on the superposed base member and cover member. Then, the sewing thread, sewing the decorative elements on the base member, is removed from the base member. The embroidery sewing operation is performed in accordance with a second pattern surrounding the decorative elements sewn on the base member in accordance with the first pattern. Thus, the decorative elements are freely movably accommodated in a space defined between the base member and the cover member, so that they can freely move within the space in response to movement of the base member. Such a decorative design with the movable decorative elements can be made on the base member easily and efficiently.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]The present invention relates to decorative-design making methods and apparatus for providing or decorating a to-be-decorated base member with a decorative design using decorative elements, such as sequins or beads. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for making, on a to-be-decorated base member, a decorative design comprising decorative elements attached or arranged in a freely movable fashion.[0002]It has heretofore been known to provide a to-be-decorated base member with a decorative design, comprising a variety of patterns and figures, by using decorative elements, such as sequins and / or beads. Among the conventionally-known methods for attaching such decorative elements to the to-be-decorated base member is one in accordance with which decorative elements, such as sequins and / or beads, are sequentially fed out one by one to a to-be-decorated base member (also referred to as “to-be-embroidered member”), set on an embroidery ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0005]In view of the foregoing prior art problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved decorative-design making method and apparatus which allow a human operator to easily and efficiently make, on a to-be-decorated base member, a decorative design that can create an interesting esthetic effect by attaching one more decorative elements to the base member in such a manner that the decorative elements can freely move in response to movement of the base member.

[0007]According to the present invention, one or more decorative elements are temporarily attached to the to-be-decorated base member in such a manner that the decorative elements are arranged on the to-be-decorated base member in the first pattern, and then the cover member is sewn to the base member in the second pattern including the closed pattern surrounding the decorative elements temporarily attached to the base member. Such a closed pattern allows the one or more decorative elements to be easily enclosed in a closed space defined between the to-be-decorated base member and the cover member. After such enclosing operation, the temporary attachment, to the to-be-decorated base member, of the decorative elements is removed so that the decorative elements are freely movable within the closed space. Thus, according to the present invention, there can be provided a unique decorative design where a figure, pattern, etc., comprising the decorative elements freely movable within the closed space, can be visually recognized via the see-through cover member. Further, the present invention allows a user or human operator to readily and efficiently make, on the to-be-decorated base member, such a unique decorative design. Besides, because, in the thus-made decorative design, the decorative elements are freely movably accommodated in the closed space, the decorative elements can move freely within the space in response to movement of the base member. Such a moving decorative design can achieve a more interesting esthetic effect.

[0009]Thus, the present invention can provide an apparatus which can automatically perform the operation for temporarily attaching the one or decorative elements to the to-be-decorated base member in such a manner that the decorative elements are arranged on the to-be-decorated base member in the first pattern and the operation of sewing the see-through cover member to the to-be-decorated base member in the second pattern. In this case, an operation for removing the temporary attachment, to the to-be-decorated base member, of the decorative elements may be performed manually by the human operator or automatically by a particular device added for that purpose.

[0010]As an example, the operation for temporarily attaching the one or decorative elements to the to-be-decorated base member in such a manner that the decorative elements are arranged on the to-be-decorated base member in the first pattern may comprise temporarily sewing, with a soluble thread, the one or decorative elements to the to-be-decorated base member. In such a case, the operation for removing the temporary attachment, to the to-be-decorated base member, of the decorative elements can be performed with ease by dissolving the soluble thread.

Problems solved by technology

However, because the individual decorative elements, such as sequins and / or beads, made of a light-reflecting substance are fixedly attached to the to-be-decorated base member and thus are not movable from their respective attached positions, they can always achieve only a limited esthetic effect by light reflection etc. and hence cannot provide an interesting effect.

With this proposed method, a user or human operator has to manually sew together the to-be-decorated base members with the one or more decorative elements sandwiched therebetween; however, such a manual sewing operation cannot be performed efficiently because the decorative elements tend to scatter.

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