Importance

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Abstract

An adaptive semiautomatic sewing system (10) comprises a sewing machine (12), a drive unit (42) including a variable speed motor and encoder for counting stitches sewn, at least one material edge sensor (40) mounted ahead of the needle (22) of the sewing machine, and a microprocessor controller (51) coupled to the sewing machine controls. The system (10) has manual, teach and auto modes of operation. In the teach mode, control parameters for each seam are stored as the operator sews the initial piece. Accurate control of seam lengths and end points is achieved by initiating countdown of a variable number of final stitches responsive to detection of the material edges by the sensors (40). In one embodiment, a window is set up around the stitch count at which terminal countdown initiates to avoid spurious signals. In another embodiment, momentary toggles of the sensors (40) are ignored so that an even wider range of sizes can be sewn with the same taught program.

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First Claim