A New Sewing Experience

Jozy Klupar

the Newsewingmachine

The history of the sewing machine dates back to 1755.

But the history of the act of sewing started as long as 20,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age. It was over 1500 years later in 1790, that the first workable sewing machine was patented by the British inventor Thomas Saint.

From that time the function of the machine has changed very little and the main functioning elements have remained the same until quite recently with advancements in technology.

How it works First, the motor is activated by the foot pedal. The motor turns the gears which do two things at once, rotate the main drive shaft and the lower drive shaft and the feed gears. The bottom driveshaft then moves the shuttle hook on the bottom of the machine.

The main shaft simultaneously moves the needle bar which moves the needle up and down while the shuttle hook is spinning the bobbin under the needle which hooks the thread from the needle.

13.1.2006

TING STARTED - HOW A SEWING MACHINE WORKS

of a sewing ided into the

Rotating driveshaft

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Hook Ring

Needle bar

Hook Ring Crank

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MATION

Rotating driveshaft

These levers convert the revolution of the drive shaft ...into the up and down movement of the needle bar.

1

How to use it

Turn machine on

Thread machine

Thread bobbin

Thread needle

Align fabric to be sewn

Put bobbin in

Push presser foot down

Press pedal for speed

Guide fabric

VoilĂ !

WHAT’S INSIDE needle shaft thread guide

hand wheel

The hand wheel is found on the side and adjusts needle height.

The reverse sewing button is a lever or button allowing reverse stitching.

feed dogs cover case

presser foot

motor

shuttle/bobbin case plug to foot pedal Inside the machine is the bobbin case. It holds the bobbin controlling lower tension. The bobbin holds a small spool of thread and is located below the presser-foot plate. This feeds a second thread which locks with the upper thread when sewing.

Thread is fed into the bobbin from the shuttle hook which then will be stitched underneath the stitch fabric.

connection to power supply

length adjuster battery case

Most modern sewing machines have a foot control that you step on using varying degrees of pressure to make the machine run faster or slower(make the motor go faster). The foot control is attached to an adapter that plugs into this part of the machine.

BRAIN DUMP

swot analysis

Strength

*Bonds clothing together *Fast and effective method *Has been used for hundreds of years *Thread is inexpensive *Fairly easy to thread *Display screen describes problems

Weakness Opportunity

*Could be compacted *Could be retractable *Could be exposed to allow for easier replacement and threading *DIY market opportunity

*Takes up a lot of space *Time consuming(threading bobbins) *Difficult to fix if parts are broken *Difficult to get bobbin thread to catch

Threat

*Glue *Serging *Big sewing factories *Low market demand

mARKET

Basic The basic machines vary in complexity and price. They range from $100 - $325 but are mostly uncomplicated and are fairly easy to use with basic features.

Industrial The industrial machines are aggressive and can be difficult to use. They are to be used with heavier duty fabric and are usually connected to a table.

Mini The mini sewing machine has fewer features and is extremely compact. They tend to be cheaper and not to last as long.

Opportunity While doing market research I found many complaints on machines that have parts that are hard to replace. I saw this as an opportunity to find a way to have more access to parts or create less parts to be replaced.

PacesetterÂŽ PS3700 $325

XL-2610 $120

lots of functions 2277 Tradition $129.99

1507WC $102

No access to internal parts

Acess to internal parts LX-3125E $80

Pixie Plus $60

few functions

opportunity Another observation lead to an opportunity; all sewing machines look the same! They also are almost all made out of white plastic.

PacesetterÂŽ PS3700 $325

2277 Tradition $129.99

$$$

XL-2610 $120

Pixie Plus $60

Attractive

1507WC $102

Unattractive

LX-3125E $80

$

New materials & technologies

Liquid Metal

Apple bought the right to use materials created by LiquidMetal. They recently made a metal which is a fast cooling alloy mix twice as strong as titanium.

Newspaper Wood

These are just stacks of newspapers meticulously and individually glued together, rolled into a tight ‘log’ and left to dry, deform and harden just like living trees would do.

After they ‘cure’ these building blocks can be cut, carved, routed, mortised and so forth as one would with normal wood.

New Type of Organic Inflatable Steel Light Emitting Diode The people at Full Blown Metals have just developed (OLED) Just mix carbon, oxygen, chlorine and bromine together, expose the material to ultraviolet light… to make this new light-emitting material.

It’s cheaper simply because the organic material wouldn’t need any metal to glow.

a manufacturing technique that allows steel to be “inflatable”.

Still patent pending, they have developed a technique of bending, forming and twisting steel that contradicts the preconceived nature of a material’s qualities.

New materials & technologies

LiTraCon

LiTraCon, short for light transmitting concrete, is an innovative new combination of optical fibers and light concrete.

The resulting concrete is just as strong as conventional concrete, but it transmits light like glass.

Color Changing TIles

There is virtually no limit to what you can decorate with color-changing tiles (from Inventables). Daytime cityscapes turn into urban night scenes as the temperature in a room shifts.

Super Glass

A new kind of ceramic material has been discovered by the Swedish chemist Saeid Esmaeilzadeh. This is a kind of “super glass� with unexpected properties such as extreme hardness (harder than steel) and high index of refraction.

Cork

Carbon fiber (carbon fibre), alternatively graphite fiber, carbon graphite or CF, is a material consisting of extremely thin fibers about 0.005–0.010 mm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms.

who is she

moderate income 25 - 35 years old woman

busy lifestyle

costume designer

My persona is a woman in her late 20’s early 30’s who is a costume designer. She is a workaholic and will not put her name on something that is not worthy of it whatever the cost. She needs a machine that....

* * * * * * *

is durable easily changable-thread, needle easy to replace parts does not waste time looks elegant inspires her work is enjoyable to use

User Scenario

My persona is a woman in her late 20’s early 30’s who is a costume designer. She is frequently in the costume shop using the sewing machines. The machines in the shop are older and some of them are industrial sewing machines. They are aggressive and frustrating to use, the threads constantly snapping, the bobbins are always running out, and they seem to always be breaking. She could be working on a machine for an hour take a break to eat and come back and someone would be using the machine she was just on. Now she has to re-thread a new machine and re-thread a bobbin with the appropriate color. When she gets home all she wants to do is relax and have a good time. So she goes to her own sewing machine which always runs smoothly. Every piece she does on this machine looks amazing and she has fun using it. It takes her to paradise how easy it is to use and how long the bobbin thread lasts she doesn’t have to change it for hours. It inspires her, and fuels her creativity. She can hear the sound of the motor and see the movement of the gears and belts and it no longer feels like she is doing any work, the machine does it all for her. When she is done she leaves it out for everyone to admire.

User Scenario

Bobbin runs out of thread quickly Hard to replace bobbin

Difficult to replace parts Time consuming to change thread color

Common Problems *Bobbin runs out of thread often *Thread gets tangled w/o user knowledge

*Difficult/time consuming to replace bobbin/parts *Difficult to fix thread build-up

*Annoying to use back stitch button *Foot pedal cord gets in the way

User Survey Summary

The main problems that surfaced from the user surveys were * * * * *

It is difficult to replace parts that are broken It can be difficult to put the bobbin in (visibility & too complicated) The bobbin does not hold enough thread A moderate amount of time is wasted on re-threading (bobbin or needle) Most people thought the machine was not aesthetically pleasing

How much time is wasted?

little How much time is wasted threading the machine/bobbin?

How much time is wasted?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

beautiful

How aesthetically pleasing is your sewing machine?

How aesthetically pleasing is it?

How aesthetically pleasing is it?

a lot

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

ugly

User 8 User 7 User 6 User 5 How aesthetically pleasing is it?

User 4 User 3 User 2 User 1

“It looks like your sewing machine is sewing a birds nest of looping, knotted thread on the bottom or bobbin side of your sewing.”

“I wish it was easy to replace the parts in my machine.”

“Threading and replacing the bobbin takes too much time.”

“I would want to change the position/orientation of the bobbin.” little

a lot

hate it

pleased

never

often

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

How do you like the size of your sewing machine?

How do you like the size?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

How pleased are you of the functions of your sewing machine?

How pleased are you with the functions?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

How often do you use a sewing machine?

How often do you use a sewing machine?

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Dependable

Inspirational

Timeless sophisticated

elegant

Aesthetic Dependable

Timeless Requirements

sophisticated

Her machine must have a back stitch, bobbin threader, speed wheel, foot pedal, stitch length and width adjustment.

elegant

Easy to use

efficient

Functional

Inspirational

Ideation functions

thread placement

compactable

Ideation

adjustable surface board

Initial Mock ups

Compactability

Belt Mechanism

Form/scale study

Moving from the ideation, while still developing concepts I moved into 3-D to better understand and develop the form. I wanted to play with the idea of using different mechanisms in which the first mock up experimented.

I could use belts instead of drive shafts to power the needle shaft. With the second mock up I wanted to play with the idea of allowing the machine to be compacted. The third mock up was mostly to get an idea of real scale but it lead me to the concept which inspired the next three. It allowed me to look at the machine in a different way and realize that the best way to sew is not with a horizontal surface board but a vertical one.

Final Three concepts The next concept played off of the idea generated from the last mock up, sewing on a vertical surface board.

After that I tried to eliminate the top piece that constantly gets in the way of the fabric but having it hang on the wall. This concept also experimented with a rotating surface board to enhance stability. The third concept I combined the ideas from the last two in a new interesting shape.

Lazy susan surface board

Accessability to parts Verticle surface board

verticle board Concept

Verticle surface board

With this concept I rotated sewing surface. This allows you to have more room to set up what you are going to sew. When sewing you focus on the fabric before it gets sewn. You do not focus on the needle, so this way you have more room to line up your stitch.

lazy susan concept

With this mock up I wanted to give the user more room to move the fabric.

After that I tried to eliminate the top piece that constantly gets in the way of the fabric by having it hang on the wall. This concept also experimented with a rotating surface board to enhance stability.

ribbon concept ic br on fa cti ed ire Fe is d th

The third concept combined the verticle surface board idea and experimented with a form that mimiced the shapes found in fabric.

Decision Matrix

Criteria Inside Out Aesthetics Adjustability Portfolio Ability to make it Persona Durable Gut feel

Concept

Concept

Concept

Weight 25% 15% 10% 10% 5%

1

2

3

10 8 5 7 8

7 6 10 7 8

10 9 8 7 6

10% 15% 10%

8 8 8

5 8 6

8 7 10

8.1

7.05

8.5

Concept three won by a few points, so moving forward I will consider taking the best aspects of each concept and merging them into one.

Continued Development

I decided to take elements from all three designs and intigrate them into a new concept. I took the vertical board from the first, swivle board or “lazy susan� from the second and the shape from the third. I used a list of criteria to come up with this decision.

The criteria included

Inside-out Adjustability Persona Ability to make

Aesthetics Portfolio Gut feel Durable

Continued development Once I decided the path of the general form of the sewing machine, I played around in Solidworks and with more mock ups to finalize the details..

Final Design This design meets the requirements I sent up earlier in the process. This machine has a back stitch(built into the foot pedal), foot pedal, bobbin threader, speed wheel, stitch length and width adjustment.

tension wheel

presser foot lever hand wheel

stitch length adjuster Eliminates the need for a bobin threader by using a whole spool foot pedal forward and back stitch

Orthographics

Features Vertical surface board that rotates to get that perfect stitch.

Foot pedal that does a forward stitch as well as a backward stitch.

Fabric cord that easily rolls up to help prevent tangling.

Full spool for the bobbin eliminates the need to thread the bobbin. This way the bobbin lasts longer and no time is wasted threading the bobbin.

Exposed interior allows for easier access to tangled thread.

features The surface board swivels right and left around the needle.

There is a circular piece that stays stationary to keep the needle in place and the board swivels around the circular piece. This allows for more control of accurate stitches so one does not have to move the fabric around.

Once the surface board is rotated the user can slide a sleeve around the board and through the sleeve slots to sew a sleeve. or pant leg

belt vs. drive shaft

4

This works almost exactly like a usual sewing machine which uses a drive shaft but instead of powering gears it powers belts. Attached to the main belt is a scottish yoke which is attached to the needle shaft and powers it up and down. At the same time that the belt is moving to power the needle shaft the motor is also moving a drive shaft which moves the bobbin case under the needle.

3

5

2 1

The belt is made of Kevlar, which almost never needs to be replaced and has an extremely high strength-to-weight ratio.

The benefit of the belt allows for more freedom with the form and significantly decreases the amount of parts needed.

How the belt works

One of the bearings that the belt pivots on has a shaft that connects with a Scottish yoke.

While the belt moves so does the bearing thus moving the shaft which catches on the yoke and pushes it up and down.

Color/material study I began experimenting with various materials and colors. What I decided on was that it would look nice if I had a collection of sewing machines with the main body being wood, metal, or frosted glass(or at least look like it). From there the rest of the machine would have wood, metal, or ceramic details. So the metal body could have a wood surface board and cermaic details, or the wood body could have a a ceramic surface board and metal details. The model I decided to make has a body of frosted glass, a ceramic surface board and metal details.

Manufacturing

There are many manufacturing methods that could work. vacuum bag molding: Fiberglass

For the model that I made (frosted glass version) it could have a metal frame inside and the outside be made of fiberglass using the vaccum bag molding method. This would keep the ribbon-like shape and allow for channels for the power cable and belt to fit in but is expensive

injection molding: Polypropylene

Another option is injection molded, but if this is the case the main body would have to be split (horizontally) into 2 pieces, a top piece and a bottom piece.

injection molding: Arboform

machined metal

The wood version could be made using Arboform, a new technology that uses Lingin (an often-discarded element of regular wood) and natural resins, flax and fibers that can be injected into molds and form extremely complex, precision-shaped objects normally made of conventional,nonbiodegradable petroleum-based plastics.

The metal version could be machined. It would need to be in 2 pieces but it could be split along the curve. This allows for hollowed channels to fit the cable but has a cover to keep the internals safe.

How it works

How it works

How it works