JPH05146573A - Data processor for embroidering machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an embroidering data processor in which the embroidering data can be corrected on a screen by changing the seam direction in each of individual embroidering regions so that the finish or appearance of embroidery is changed as viewed from the user side. CONSTITUTION:A divisional pattern divided automatically into partial embroidering regions is indicated on a display unit to be viewed by a user (S21). The respective seam directions of the individual divided partial embroidering reasions are next indicated (S22). Then, the partial embroidering region desired to change is selected (S23), and the seam direction is corrected at will (S24). Then, embroidering data is corrected according to the corrected seam direction (S25).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data processing device for an embroidery sewing machine, and more particularly to an embroidery data processing device for modifying embroidery data by changing the stitch direction for each partial embroidery sewing area. ..

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a method of automatically creating embroidery data from embroidery sewing outline data representing an outline of an entire embroidery sewing area to be filled with stitches by an embroidery sewing machine has been proposed by the applicant. Japanese Patent Application 1-
It is proposed by the description and drawings attached to the application of 1365651, Japanese Patent Application No. 1-266546.

In this method, an embroidery stitching area to be filled with a stitch in a designated arbitrary direction is formed as a partial embroidery stitching area which is composed of two partial contour lines which can alternately become needle drop points, or two partial contours. It is divided into a partial embroidery sewing area composed of a line and one or two line segments that connect both ends of the partial outline to each other. Then, one stitch data indicating a needle drop point for each partial embroidery sewing area or embroidery data which is block data composed of three or four points on the outline of the embroidery sewing area is created.

[0004]

However, according to such an embroidery stitching data processing device or method, one
Since one stitch direction is applied to one contour line, for example, embroidery data for creating embroidery such as that shown in FIG. 15 for the contour line “E” of the alphabet shown in FIG. In order to create, it is necessary for the user to previously create four partial embroidery sewing areas and to specify the stitch directions for all the partial embroidery sewing areas, as shown in FIG. Further, once the stitch direction is specified, it is necessary to correct the data in order to change the stitch direction. Therefore, it takes a lot of time and effort for the user to create the embroidery data,
There was a problem that the burden was heavy.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to change the stitch direction for each partial embroidery stitching area on the screen in the embroidery data processing device. It is possible to modify the embroidery data so that the user can change the finish or appearance of the embroidery stitch.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, a data processing device for an embroidery sewing machine according to the present invention has a whole structure to be filled with a seam by the embroidery sewing machine as shown in FIG. An embroidery stitch area contour line storage means 1 for storing embroidery stitch contour data representing the contour line of the embroidery stitch area; and an embroidery stitch area stitch direction designating means 2 for designating a direction of a seam to fill the entire embroidery stitch area. An embroidery sewing area dividing means 3 for dividing the entire embroidery sewing area into a plurality of partial embroidery sewing areas based on the embroidery sewing outline data, and each partial embroidery sewing area divided by the embroidery sewing area dividing means. An embroidery sewing machine including an embroidery data creating unit 4 for creating embroidery data to be filled with the seams in the seam direction specified by the embroidery sewing area seam direction specifying unit. In the data processing device for displaying the divided pattern of the partial embroidery sewing area divided by the embroidery sewing area dividing means 3 and the embroidery data created by the embroidery data creating means 4. Stitch direction display means 6 for displaying the stitch direction for each partial embroidery stitch area, stitch direction changing means 7 for changing the stitch direction for each partial embroidery stitch area displayed by the stitch direction display means 6, and Embroidery data correction means 8 is provided for correcting the partial embroidery stitch area whose stitch direction has been changed by the stitch direction changing means 7 into embroidery data to be filled with the stitches in the changed stitch direction.

[0007]

According to the data processing device for the embroidery sewing machine of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the embroidery sewing dividing means 3 is used to perform the whole operation based on the embroidery sewing contour line data stored in the embroidery sewing area contour line storage means 1. The embroidery stitching area is divided into a plurality of partial embroidery stitching areas, and the embroidery data for each of the above partial embroidery stitching areas is created in accordance with the stitch direction designated by the embroidery stitching area stitch direction designating means 2.
The division pattern display means 5 displays the division pattern of the embroidery stitching area divided into the partial embroidery stitching areas, which can be visually checked by the user. Next, the seam direction display means 6 displays the seam direction of the seam to fill the individual partial embroidery sewing area displayed by the divided pattern display means. Then, the stitch direction changing means 7 changes the stitch direction of the corresponding partial embroidery stitching area in accordance with a user's instruction. With the change in the stitch direction by the stitch direction changing means, the embroidery data correcting means 8 corrects the embroidery data to be filled with the stitch corresponding to the changed stitch direction. As a result, embroidery data different from the embroidery data originally created by the embroidery data creating means can be obtained. That is, the stitch direction of the embroidery data that is different for each partial area can be obtained according to the user's preference. The "stitch direction" includes not only the X and Y directions, the arbitrarily designated direction, the long side and the short side of the totally closed region, but also the shape corresponding direction. The shape-corresponding direction means, for example, a direction in which the seam changes for each closed region when the longitudinal direction of a character drawn with a curve such as the alphabet "S" is divided into blocks.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an automatic sewing machine that performs embroidery based on embroidery data created by a data processing device for an embroidery sewing machine according to the present invention. A sewing machine arm 12 is disposed on the table 10, and a needle bar support case 14 is attached to the front end of the sewing machine arm 12 so as to be movable in the left-right direction. The needle bar support case 14 supports five needle bars 16 so as to be vertically movable, and a needle 18 is attached to the lower end of each needle bar 16. Threads of different types are supplied to the respective needles 18 from a thread supply source (not shown) via the thread tensioner 20 and the balance 22 on the needle bar support case 14. The needle bar support case 14 is driven and moved by a needle selection motor 24 attached to the sewing machine arm 12 to position any one of the five needle bars 16 and 18 at a use position. The needle bar 16 positioned at the use position is connected to the sewing machine motor 26 via a power transmission mechanism (not shown) and moved up and down. A sewing machine bed 10 has a sewing machine bed 28 projecting from the sewing machine table 10 at a position facing the needle bar 16 in the use position. The sewing machine bed 28 cooperates with the needle 18 to form a stitch on the work cloth W. A trap (not shown) is provided.

Two Ys are provided on both sides of the sewing machine table 10.
A directional movement frame 30 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 2) is provided so as to be movable in the direction of arrow Y, and can be moved by an arbitrary distance in both forward and reverse directions by a Y-axis drive motor (not shown). A support frame 32 is installed between both Y-direction moving frames 30, and the X-direction moving frame 34 is indicated by an arrow X by the support frame 32.
It is supported so as to be movable in the directions of and, and is moved by an X-axis drive motor (not shown) in both forward and backward directions by an arbitrary distance. A work cloth holding frame 36 that detachably holds the work cloth W is attached to the X-direction moving frame 34.
The work cloth holding frame 36 can be moved to any position on the XY plane. As described above, the Y-direction moving frame 30, the Y-axis drive motor,
X-direction moving frame 34, X-axis drive motor, work cloth holding frame 36
Etc. constitute the work cloth feeding device 38.

The control unit of the automatic sewing machine is shown in FIG. This control unit is mainly composed of a computer including a CPU 40, a ROM 42, and a RAM 44, and the CPU 40 has an input / output port 46, drive circuits 48, 50 and 52, and the needle selection motor 24, the sewing machine motor 26 and the machining. The cloth feeding device 38 is connected. An external storage device 54 for storing data on a magnetic disk, a magnetic tape or the like is further connected to the CPU 40, an input device 58 is provided via an input control circuit 56, and a display device 62 is provided via a display control circuit 60. It is connected.

The input device 58 allows the operator to instruct the creation of embroidery sewing area outline data representing the outline of the embroidery sewing area, start of embroidery, select a plurality of embroidery sewing areas, and change the stitch direction. It is for performing an input operation such as instructing, and includes a keyboard and a pointing device such as a mouse. Here, the "stitch direction" is conceptualized as the direction of the sewing thread line.

The display device 62 displays the outline of the embroidery sewing area and the partial embroidery sewing area composed of two partial outlines that can alternately become needle drop points, or two partial outlines and both ends of the partial outline. It is a means for displaying a divided pattern divided into partial embroidery sewing areas composed of one or two line segments connected to each other, created embroidery data, and the like so that the operator can visually observe them, and is constituted by a cathode ray tube or the like. It

Various information is stored in the RAM 44 in order to perform processing such as creation and modification of embroidery data, and reading and writing are performed as the program is executed. The ROM 42 stores various programs for controlling the operation of the sewing machine and processing embroidery data.

First, the procedure for creating embroidery data will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. As an example of this embroidery data creation procedure, the alphabetic character "E" shown in FIG. 5 is given. It is assumed that the embroidery sewing contour line data representing the contour line of the entire "E" embroidery stitching area is stored in the external storage device 54 in advance.

In creating the embroidery data, first, in step S1 of FIG. 4 (hereinafter referred to simply as S1; other steps are the same), the external storage device 54 is used to outline the embroidery sewing area as shown in FIG. Is read out and stored in the RAM 44, and an image showing the outline of the embroidery sewing area is displayed on the display device 62. The embroidery sewing area contour line data includes points Pi (i = 1) having x and y values in an xy two-dimensional coordinate system at both ends of each contour line.
12 to 12), is input by the operator from the input device 58, and is stored in the external storage device 54. The outline data may be data obtained by reading an original image for embroidery sewing from an image scanner and extracting a contour line.

At S2, the user specifies the direction of the seam to fill the embroidery sewing area on the screen. For example, the vertical direction (y direction of the two-dimensional coordinate system) or the horizontal direction (x direction of the two-dimensional coordinate system) is designated. The designation of any other oblique direction, the long side, the short side, or the shape corresponding direction of the totally closed region is also included here. The shape-corresponding direction is, for example, in the case of the above-mentioned "S" shape, a direction in which the direction (seam direction) orthogonal to the longitudinal direction (sewing direction) gradually changes.

Next, in step S3, a partial embroidery sewing area composed of two partial contour lines that can alternately become needle drop points, or two partial contour lines and both ends of the partial contour line are connected to each other 1 It is divided into a partial embroidery sewing area composed of one or two line segments.

The method of dividing the embroidery sewing area in S3 will be briefly described. The maximum / minimum vertices in the seam direction designated in S2 are searched for, and the maximum and minimum points are searched for.
Set as the min point. For example, if the specified stitch direction is the vertical direction (y direction), the x value of each vertex Pi is compared,
The vertex having the maximum x value and the minimum x value is max point · m
It is the in point. In this embodiment, if the stitch direction is specified in the vertical direction (y direction), P2 shown in FIG.
Point, and P1 becomes the min point. If there are multiple vertices having the minimum x value and the maximum x value,
Any one of them shall be selected.

By setting the max and min points, the outline of the embroidery sewing area is divided into two partial outlines. Each partial outline is traced from the min point to the max point and from the max point to the min point, and all the vertices that are flipped outward are searched. The outward reversal means that the traveling direction is reversed and the reversal direction is bent to the outside of the embroidery area. In FIG. 6 (a), the vertex inverted outward,
(B) shows a specific example of the vertex that is inverted inward. In FIG. 5, points P4, P5, P8, and P9 are searched respectively.

In this embodiment, P4, P5 and P8
, And P9 have the same x value, the two vertices are regarded as vertices that are outwardly inverted. Then, the embroidery sewing area is divided by the straight line that passes through the retrieved outwardly inverted vertex and is parallel to the stitch direction specified in S2. In this embodiment, the embroidery sewing area A1 surrounded by the outline L of the embroidery sewing area in FIG. 5 is the four partial embroidery sewing area A2 shown in FIG.
It is divided into A3, A4, and A5.

Next, in S4, two partial contour lines that cause needle drop are set for each of the partial embroidery sewing areas A2 to A5, and a point that internally divides the partial contour line at a preset stitch pitch is determined. Then, the embroidery data as shown in FIG. 8 is created. When the block composed of three or four vertices is used as the embroidery data, each partial embroidery sewing area passes through the vertices on the partial outline as shown in FIG. 9 and is parallel to the stitch direction designated in S2. By drawing a straight line, block B2 composed of each vertex
To B5, and each block is used as embroidery data.

The embroidery data created in this way is
It is stored in the external storage device 54 as S5. It goes without saying that the embroidery data stored in the external storage device 54 can be read out at any time.

A method of displaying the embroidery data created by the above method on the screen and correcting the embroidery data in units of the partial embroidery sewing area will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, in S11 of the flowchart of FIG. 10, the display screen 1 shown in FIG.
When the operator selects the edit menu 103 from each menu 102 at the top of 01, each selection item 104 of the edit menu 103 is displayed as shown in FIG.

Next, in S12, the operator selects one of the displayed edit menu items. Then S1
In 3, the selected item is "Change stitch direction"
It is determined whether the menu is a menu or another menu. If, for example, one of the items in the edit menu of the display screen, "Change stitch direction" 105, is selected, in step S14, the embroidery data is corrected in units of the partial embroidery stitch area by changing the stitch direction. Is performed. On the other hand, if another selection item is selected, S
In step 15, a corresponding process is performed, but it is omitted because it is not particularly related to the present invention.

The embroidery data correction processing step in the partial embroidery sewing area unit by changing the stitch direction in S14 includes the steps shown in FIG. First, S
At 21, the division pattern 106 of the partial embroidery sewing area of the embroidery sewing area to be corrected is displayed on the display screen 101. In S22, a partial embroidery stitch area-specific stitch direction table 107 indicating the current status of the stitch direction set in each partial embroidery stitch area is displayed. S21 and S
The state displayed by 22 is shown in FIG.

In S23, the operator selects the partial embroidery sewing area to be changed. This selection method may be, for example, a method of directly specifying the partial embroidery sewing area with a mouse as a pointing device, or a method of specifying the corresponding item in the partial embroidery sewing area-specific stitch direction table 107. Then, a seam direction menu showing seam directions (x direction, y direction, user direction, vertical direction in the longitudinal direction, etc.) is displayed on the screen, and the operator selects a desired seam direction from the menu with a mouse or the like.

At S24, the stitch direction of the partial embroidery stitching area selected by the operator is changed. For example, with respect to the partial embroidery sewing area A2, the stitch direction is changed to the horizontal direction (x direction of the two-dimensional plane). In S25, the embroidery data shown in FIG. 12 is corrected to the embroidery data shown in FIG. 15 in accordance with the designated and changed stitch direction. This corrected data is naturally displayed on the screen.

When the block composed of three or four vertices is used as the embroidery data, the embroidery data is corrected into the blocks shown in FIG. If the end menu 108 is selected in S26, this process is ended, and if not selected, the process is repeated from S21.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, the data processing device for the embroidery sewing machine of the present invention embroiders by changing the stitch direction for each divided partial embroidery sewing area on the screen. The data can be modified, and the desired embroidery finish or the desired embroidery data can be created for the user. Further, since such an operation is performed on the screen, there is an effect that the work efficiency of creating embroidery data is significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to the claims of a data processing device for an embroidery sewing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an automatic sewing machine that performs embroidery based on embroidery data created by a data processing device for an embroidery sewing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control unit of the automatic sewing machine.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an overall flow from creating contour data of an embroidery sewing area to creating embroidery data.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an embroidery sewing area to be filled with a seam by an embroidery sewing machine.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing whether or not the outer shape line of the embroidery sewing area is reversed outward.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a division pattern in which the embroidery stitching area shown in FIG. 5 is divided into partial embroidery stitching areas.

8 is an explanatory view showing a case where the embroidery sewing area shown in FIG. 5 is embroidered with seams in a vertical direction (y direction of a two-dimensional coordinate system).

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the embroidery sewing area shown in FIG. 5 is divided into blocks composed of three or four vertices in order to embroider with stitches in the vertical direction (y direction of the two-dimensional coordinate system). Is.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the overall processing of a method for correcting embroidery data in units of partial embroidery sewing areas.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of an embroidery data correction processing step for each partial embroidery sewing area by changing the stitch direction.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing each menu displayed on the display screen in the data processing device for the embroidery sewing machine of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing selection items of an edit menu displayed on the display screen in the data processing device for the embroidery sewing machine which is the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a stitch direction table for each partial embroidery stitching area, which shows the situation in the stitching direction set in each partial embroidery stitching area.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a case where a modified embroidery sewing area is embroidered.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the modified embroidery sewing area is divided into blocks composed of three or four vertices.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Embroidery stitch area contour line storage means 2 Stitch direction designating means 3 Embroidery stitch area dividing means 4 Embroidery data creating means 5 Divided pattern display means 6 Stitch direction displaying means 7 Stitch direction changing means 8 Embroidery data correcting means 40 CPU 42 ROM 44 RAM 54 external storage device 58 input device 62 display device 101 display screen 102 each menu at the top of the display screen 103 edit menu 104 edit menu selection item 105 edit menu selection item "seam direction change" 106 partial embroidery sewing area division pattern 107 partial embroidery sewing Seam direction table by area

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An embroidery stitch area contour line storing means for storing embroidery stitch contour line data representing a contour line of a whole embroidery stitch area to be filled with stitches by an embroidery sewing machine, and a direction of a stitch to fill the whole embroidery stitch area. An embroidery sewing area stitching direction designating means for designating the embroidery sewing area, an embroidery sewing area dividing means for dividing the entire embroidery sewing area into a plurality of partial embroidery sewing areas, and the embroidery sewing area dividing means. A data processing device for an embroidery sewing machine including an embroidery data creating means for creating embroidery data to be filled in each of the partial embroidery sewing areas divided by the embroidery sewing area with the seam direction specified by the seam direction specifying means. In the division pattern, the division pattern for displaying the division pattern of the partial embroidery sewing area divided by the embroidery sewing area dividing means. Display means, stitch direction display means for displaying the stitch direction for each partial embroidery sewing area based on the embroidery data created by the embroidery data creating means, and each partial embroidery stitch displayed by the stitch direction display means Stitch direction changing means for changing the stitch direction for each area, and embroidery data correction for correcting the partial embroidery stitch area in which the stitch direction is changed by the stitch direction changing means to the embroidery data to be filled with the stitch in the changed stitch direction And a data processing device for an embroidery sewing machine.