摘要 |
An upper needle guide (10) and a lower needle guide (40) for guiding a sewing needle during a stitching operation in order to keep the sewing needle laterally aligned along a stitching path so that the thread loop thrown by the sewing needle beneath the material being sewn is in alignment with the path of movement of a thread loop pick-up device (98). The upper needle guide includes a needle hole having a thread relief passageway (22) therein for providing a relief space for the sewing thread (34) as the needle moves through the needle hole. The lower needle guide includes a thread and needle slot (44) having a pair of V-shaped notches (46) therein. The V-shaped notches are aligned with the stitching path (84). In an alternative embodiment, the lower needle guide can comprise a feed dog (52) having a diamond-shaped needle hole (58) therein.
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