Sewing Machine Spool Holder With Swingable Thread Guide
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sewing machines with spool holders face design restrictions due to bulky thread guide mechanisms that protrude upward, making them unsuitable for size reduction and potentially causing thread guide displacement, which can lead to improper thread guidance.
Innovation Solution
A spool holder with a thread guide mechanism featuring a divided support pillar system that allows the thread guide member to be swung between an upper position for use and a bent accommodation position, ensuring compact storage and maintaining thread guidance accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the thread guide mechanism is positioned at a high location to prevent thread entanglement, then thread guidance reliability is improved, but the device becomes bulky and difficult to accommodate
Solution Approach 1:
The support pillar is designed to be movable between a raised position (for thread guiding) and a lowered position (for compact accommodation). This dynamic positioning allows the thread guide mechanism to switch between operational and storage states, resolving the contradiction between maintaining high thread guidance reliability and reducing device volume when not in use
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of reducing the vertical height of the thread guide mechanism, the invention utilizes horizontal movement of the support pillar to achieve compact accommodation. The pillar can be extended horizontally during operation and retracted horizontally during storage, transforming the problem from vertical space management to horizontal space management
2Volume of moving object
If the support pillar is made telescopic to reduce accommodation space, then device volume is reduced, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The support pillar is divided into multiple telescopic segments that can extend and retract relative to each other. This segmentation allows the pillar to achieve variable length without requiring complex mechanical structures, as each segment independently contributes to the overall extension or retraction movement
3Ease of operation
If the rod is made telescopic to enable compact storage, then ease of operation is improved, but manufacturing precision becomes more difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
Guide grooves are pre-formed on the surface of the rod to prevent inadvertent turning during telescopic extension and retraction. These grooves act as preventive measures that constrain the rod's rotational movement before misalignment can occur, ensuring manufacturing precision is maintained throughout the operation cycle
Solution Approach 2:
The guide grooves serve as an intermediary element between the rod and the cylindrical members. They mediate the interaction by providing a physical constraint that prevents direct contact-induced turning, thereby protecting the rod's alignment precision while still allowing smooth telescopic movement
Data Source
AI summary
A spool holder includes a spool base and a thread guide mechanism including a thread guide member having thread guide portions guiding the threads extending from thread spools, respectively and a divided support pillar disposed so as to support the guide member on the spool base and including an upper support pillar having an upper end swingably mounted on the guide member and a lower support pillar having a lower end which is swingably mounted on the spool base, and a holding unit which holds the divided support pillar so that the pillar is switchable between a first position where both pillars are substantially vertically lined so that the guide member is located at an upper position in its use and a second position where both support pillars are bent at the connecting part so that the guide member is located at an accommodation position in its non-use.