Long Arm Quilt Machine Overload Coupling Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Long arm quilt and lockstitch machine assemblies face the risk of operator injury and mechanical damage due to the potential for body parts or clothing to be caught in moving parts during automatic operation, as existing systems lack effective overload protection mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
The integration of a mechanical coupling element that disconnects drive motors from travel-capable elements upon overload detection, ensuring deactivation of drive belts and preventing injury or damage, while allowing for manual operation mode switching and easy removal of caught objects, with additional overload couplings on drive motors and belts for enhanced safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the sewing machine is moved automatically by drive motors during quilting operation, then productivity is improved, but the risk of operator injury and mechanical damage increases due to potential contact with moving parts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements overload couplings that act as mechanical safety devices positioned between the drive motors and the travel-capable elements. These couplings are designed to disconnect automatically when excessive forces are detected, preventing injury to operators and damage to mechanical parts. The electrical monitoring system also provides advance warning by detecting abnormal drive currents before mechanical failure occurs, allowing the system to stop before damage happens.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If mechanical overload protection is implemented through coupling elements, then operator safety is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The overload coupling elements serve as intermediary components positioned between the drive motors and the travel-capable elements. These couplings mechanically mediate the power transmission while providing inherent overload protection through their design - they naturally disconnect when excessive forces are applied, without requiring complex control systems or sensors. This intermediary approach adds minimal complexity while effectively addressing safety concerns.
3Ease of operation
If the coupling elements are positioned on the drive belts and travel-capable elements, then ease of operation is improved by allowing manual movement without resistance, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling system is segmented into multiple independent components: overload couplings on the drive belts and corresponding coupling elements on the travel-capable elements. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured and assembled separately with standard tolerances, reducing the overall manufacturing precision requirements. The modular design enables easy installation and maintenance while maintaining the ability to move travel-capable elements manually when decoupled.
Data Source
AI summary
A long arm quilt and lockstitch machine assembly (1) having a framework having two rail tracks, disposed orthogonally on top of one another, wherein the sewing machine (19) is disposed so as to be displaceable on the rail track lying above. The connections between the drive belt (33, 43) to which the rail track (9) lying below and the sewing machine (19) are connected by way of an electronic control system via drive motors, include overload couplings which in the case of overloading by body parts or items of clothing that are caught between the movable elements separate the movable elements from the drive belts. Advantageously, the overload coupling is simultaneously a connection element and in the case of overloading separates the connection between the elements.