What is claimed is:
1. A sewing machine capable of tracing an embroidery area that includes an embroidery pattern before embroidering onto a cloth held by an embroidery frame, by moving a needle and a presser foot, which are away from the cloth, relative to the embroidery frame along an outline of the embroidery area, while stopping at one or more stop points, the sewing machine comprising:
an actuator that lowers the presser foot; and
a lowering device that controls the actuator to lower the presser foot at the one or more stop points during a trace operation.
2. The sewing machine according to claim 1, further comprising a measuring device that measures time elapsing while the presser foot is lowered at the one or more stop points, wherein the needle and the presser foot are relatively moved to a next stop point when the time measured by the measuring device has reached a predetermined time.
3. The sewing machine according to claim 2, further comprising a point selecting device that selects at least one of the one or more stop points as a lowering point where the presser foot is lowered.
4. The sewing machine according to claim 3, wherein the point selecting device selects the at least one of the one or more stop points as the lowering point during the trace operation.
5. The sewing machine according to claim 1, further comprising a point selecting device that selects at least one of the one or more stop points as a lowering point where the presser foot is lowered.
6. The sewing machine according to claim 5, wherein the point selecting device selects the at least one of the one or more stop points as the lowering point during the trace operation.
7. The sewing machine according to claim 1, further comprising:
a memory;
a setting device that stores, in the memory, the one or more stop points and one or more lowering points where the presser foot is lowered; and
a measuring device that measures time elapsing while the presser foot is lowered at the one or more lowering points, wherein the needle and the presser foot relatively move while stopping at the one or more stop points based on settings in the memory, the presser foot is lowered by the lowering device at the one or more lowering points based on the settings in the memory, and the needle and the presser foot relatively move to a next stop point when the time measured by the measuring device has reached a predetermined time.
8. A method of tracing an embroidery area that covers an embroidery pattern before embroidering onto a cloth held by an embroidery frame by moving a needle and a presser foot, which are away from the cloth, relative to the embroidery frame along an outline of the embroidery area, while stopping at one or more stop points, comprising the steps of:
lowering the presser foot by an actuator at the one or more stop points during a trace operation.
9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the steps of:
measuring time elapsing while the presser foot is lowered at the one or more stop points; and
moving the needle and the presser foot relatively to a next stop point when the time measured by the measuring device has reached a predetermined time.
10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the step of selecting at least one of the one or more stop points as a lowering point where the presser foot is lowered.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the at least one of the one or more stop points is selected as the lowering point during the trace operation.
12. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of selecting at least one of the one or more stop points as a lowering point where the presser foot is lowered.
13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the at least one of the one or more stop points is selected as the lowering point during the trace operation.
14. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:
storing, in the memory, the one or more stop points and one or more lowering points where the presser foot is lowered; and
measuring time elapsing while the presser foot is lowered at the one or more stop points, wherein the needle and the presser foot are relatively moved while stopping at the one or more stop points based on settings in the memory, the presser foot is lowered at the one or more lowering points based on the settings in the memory, and the needle and the presser foot are relatively moved to a next stop point when the time measured by the measuring device has reached a predetermined time.
15. A computer-readable storage medium that stores a program for tracing an embroidery area that covers an embroidery pattern before embroidering onto a cloth held by an embroidery frame by moving a needle and a presser foot, which are away from the cloth, relative to the embroidery frame along an outline of the embroidery area, while stopping at one or more stop points, the program comprising:
a routine for lowering the presser foot by an actuator at the one or more stop points during a trace operation.
16. A method for checking the sewability of an embroidery pattern on a work cloth held by an embroidery frame, comprising the steps of:
defining a pattern trace that encloses the embroidery pattern;
designating checkpoints on the pattern trace for checking clearance between the embroidery frame and a needle and a presser foot of a machine for embroidering;
moving the needle and pressure foot relative to the embroidery frame along the pattern trace;
selectively stopping the relative movement at a checkpoint; and
selectively lowering the presser foot at a checkpoint, where the presser foot need not be lowered at each checkpoint where the relative movement is stopped.
17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the selective stopping of the relative movement is directed during the relative movement along the pattern trace.
18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising the step of instructing lowering of the presser foot when the relative movement is stopped.
19. The method according to claim 16, wherein the selectively stepping step comprises the steps of designating at least one checkpoint for stopping prior to commencing the relative movement; and
storing the selected at least one checkpoint in a relative movement memory.
20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the selectively lowering step comprises the steps of:
designating a checkpoint for lowering the presser from the at least one checkpoint selected for stepping; and
storing the selected checkpoint in the memory.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An attaching device comprising:
a process chamber;
a first and a second substrate supporters that are positioned inside the process chamber to load and fix a first and a second substrates, respectively;
a substrate detachable part that is positioned inside the second substrate supporter, and moves down to instantaneously apply a physical pressure to the second substrate to push and detach the second substrate from the second substrate supporter, wherein the second substrate free-falls down onto the first substrate; and
an open-close valve that is positioned on a portion of the process chamber, and opens and closes the process chamber to control a pressure inside the process chamber,
wherein the open-close valve is closed to maintain inside of the process chamber in a vacuum state for attaching the first and second substrates, and
the open-valve is configured to make inside of the process chamber in an atmospheric pressure state for closely attaching the first and second substrates.
2. The attaching device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first substrate supporter or the second substrate supporter comprises an electrostatic chuck (ESC) that applies an electrostatic force to the inside of at least one of the first substrate supporter or the second substrate supporter to fix the substrates.
3. The attaching device of claim 2, wherein the second substrate supporter comprises a ground part for removing an electrostatic force.
4. The attaching device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first substrate supporter or the second substrate supporter comprises a moving part.
5. The attaching device of claim 1, wherein the substrate detachable part is one of a pusher, a press, and an air cylinder.
6. The attaching device of claim 1 or 5, wherein the substrate detachable part is formed of a non-conductive material.
7. The attaching device of claim 1, wherein the open-close valve is connected to a pressure controller.