JP2010184091A - Pattern selection device for sewing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pattern selection device which has excellent durability, has a simple structure, and is inexpensive. <P>SOLUTION: The pattern selection device (30) includes: a plate (3) on one surface of which a plurality of pattern selection parts (31a-31n) for selecting patterns are arranged; a plurality of touch electrodes (10a-10n) which are disposed correspondingly to each of the plurality of pattern selection parts on the other surface of the plate (3); a detection part (11) for detecting the contact of an object with at least one pattern selection part corresponding to at least one touch electrode on the basis of variation of voltage between at least one touch electrode among the plurality of touch electrodes and a ground; and discrimination parts (72a-72n) for visually discriminating at least one pattern selection part wherein the contact with the object is detected by the detection part (11) from the rest of the pattern selection parts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a pattern selection device for selecting a pattern in a sewing machine, particularly an electronic sewing machine.

  At present, electronic sewing machines having a sewing function are widely used. In such a sewing function, a specific pattern is selected from a plurality of characters and / or patterns and is sewn. When selecting a specific pattern, two types of pattern selection devices are mainly employed.

  One type of pattern selection device includes a substrate on which a plurality of tact switches are mounted, and a key is attached to each of the tact switches. Different patterns are preprinted on the key tops of the keys. Therefore, when the operator presses a desired key, the corresponding tact switch responds and the associated pattern can be selected.

  As disclosed in Patent Document 1, another type of pattern selection device includes a liquid crystal plate and a touch panel laminated on the liquid crystal plate. When a plurality of patterns are displayed on the liquid crystal plate, the operator can select a desired pattern by pressing a specific pattern on the touch panel. Since the pattern selection device adopting the touch panel can scroll the patterns displayed on the liquid crystal plate, it can handle a larger number of patterns than can be displayed on the liquid crystal plate at one time.

JP 2007-61530 A

  However, in the pattern selection apparatus employing the tact switch, it is necessary to individually attach a plurality of keys, so that the structure is complicated and the manufacture thereof is complicated. In addition, when the gap between the key top of the key and the main body is increased, the overall appearance of the sewing machine is deteriorated, and when this gap is reduced, the resistance at the time of key operation increases and the accuracy decreases. There is also. In addition, since the keys and tact switches are mechanically engaged, the life and durability of these contacts is relatively short.

  Further, when a touch panel is employed as in Patent Document 1, the touch panel itself is expensive, so that the price of the entire sewing machine increases and the consumer's willingness to purchase is impaired. Furthermore, since it is complicated to cut a glass substrate used for a liquid crystal plate into a complicated shape, the shape of the pattern selection device is easily limited to the shape of the glass substrate.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an inexpensive pattern selection device having a simple structure and excellent durability.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, according to the first invention, a plate provided with a plurality of pattern selection portions for selecting a pattern on one surface, and the plurality of pattern selection portions on the other surface side of the plate. A plurality of touch electrodes arranged in correspondence with each other, and at least one touch electrode corresponding to the at least one touch electrode based on a change in voltage between at least one of the plurality of touch electrodes and the ground. A detection unit that detects contact of an object with a pattern selection unit; and an identification unit that identifies the at least one pattern selection unit detected by the detection unit from the remaining pattern selection unit. A pattern selection device is provided.

  That is, in the first invention, a plurality of pattern selection portions are provided on one surface of the plate, and the touch electrode is in contact with the other surface of the plate on the other surface side of the plate and corresponds to each pattern selection portion. Placed in. For this reason, a pattern can be selected simply by touching the pattern selection unit. Furthermore, since the tact switch is not employed, the structure of the pattern selection device can be simplified, and there is no need to consider the contact life and durability. Further, since the touch panel is not employed, the pattern selection device can be created at a low cost. Note that one pattern may be determined from one pattern selection unit, or one pattern may be determined from two or more pattern selection units. Further, since a touch panel is unnecessary, a glass substrate is also unnecessary, and as a result, a pattern selection device having a somewhat complicated shape can be created.

According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, the touch electrode is formed from a copper foil of a printed circuit board.
That is, in the second invention, the touch electrode can be made extremely simply and lightly.

According to a third invention, in the first or second invention, the identification unit is a light irradiation unit arranged corresponding to each of the plurality of pattern selection units.
That is, in the third invention, the operator can visually recognize the selected pattern selection section. The light irradiation unit is preferably an LED, for example.

1 is an external view of a sewing machine including a pattern selection device according to the present invention. It is an enlarged view of a decorative board. It is sectional drawing of a pattern selection apparatus. (A) It is a figure which shows the surface of a pattern selection board | substrate. (B) It is an enlarged view of the opening part seen from the surface side of the pattern selection board | substrate. It is a figure which shows the back surface of a pattern selection board | substrate. It is a block diagram of the control part of a pattern selection apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the pattern selection apparatus based on this invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following drawings, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals. In order to facilitate understanding, the scales of these drawings are appropriately changed.
FIG. 1 is an external view of a sewing machine provided with a pattern selection device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the sewing machine M, for example, an electronic sewing machine, is opposed to the bed portion 51, a leg column portion 52 erected from the right end of the bed portion 51, and the bed portion 51 from the upper end of the leg column portion 52. And an arm portion 53 extending leftward. Further, a needle bar 54 to which a sewing needle is attached is attached to the lower end of the arm portion 53 so as to be movable up and down.

  As shown in the figure, the arm portion 53 is provided with a start / stop button 4 for starting and stopping the sewing machine M, and a reverse stitching button 5 for performing reverse stitching when pressed. Further, the arm portion 53 is provided with a speed adjusting knob 6 that is slid in the lateral direction to adjust the sewing speed of the sewing machine M.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the front surface of the sewing machine M is covered with a front cover 1. An operation panel 2 is provided on a part of the front cover 1 corresponding to the pedestal 52. In FIG. 1, the upper part of the operation panel 2 is a pattern selection device 30, and the lower part of the operation panel 2 is a button arrangement unit 58 in which mechanical buttons 55 and 56 and a digital display unit 57 are arranged.

  The button 55 is a deflection amount determination button for swinging the needle bar 14 (in a zigzag direction), and the button 56 is a stitch length determination button for determining the feed amount (corresponding to the stitch length) of the feed dog of the sewing machine M. It is. The shake amount and stitch length determined by operating these buttons 55 and 56 are displayed on the digital display unit 57.

  The pattern selection device 30 includes a flat decorative plate 3 on the front surface thereof. The decorative board 3 is made of, for example, a hard plastic, and is formed of a material that transmits light at least partially. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the decorative board. As shown in FIG. 2, the decorative plate 3 is provided with a plurality of pattern selection units 31 a to 31 n on the surface 3 a thereof.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, these pattern selection units 31 a to 31 n are arranged in 5 rows and 3 columns. These pattern selection units 31 a to 31 n are preferably printed on the surface of the decorative board 3. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, separate patterns are respectively drawn inside the circles indicating the boundary lines of the pattern selection units 31 a to 31 n. When any one of the pattern selection units 31a to 31n is operated, the pattern drawn in the pattern selection unit is selected.

  Although not shown in the drawings, pattern selection units 31a to 31n on which characters or numerical values are drawn may be adopted. In that case, two or more pattern selections among the plurality of pattern selection units 31a to 31n are selected. It is assumed that one pattern is selected by operating the part. In this case, it is possible to select more patterns than the number that can be displayed on the decorative board 3 at one time.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the pattern selection device. In FIG. 3, a pattern selection board 7 (printed circuit board) is attached to the back surface of the decorative board 3 with an adhesive. As illustrated, the pattern selection substrate 7 is fixed to the front cover 1 by screws 8. There may be a gap between the button placement unit 58 and the pattern selection substrate 7.

  FIG. 4A is a diagram showing the front surface of the pattern selection substrate, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the back surface of the pattern selection substrate. As shown in FIG. 4A, the surface 7a of the pattern selection substrate 7 is provided with a plurality of touch electrodes 10a to 10n. These touch electrodes 10a to 10n have the same shape and are arranged at positions corresponding to the pattern selection units 31a to 31n of the decorative board 3, respectively. Accordingly, when the front surface 7a of the pattern selection substrate 7 is attached to the back surface of the decorative plate 3, each of the touch electrodes 10a to 10n is positioned directly below each of the pattern selection units 31a to 31n.

  The pattern selection device 30 is mainly composed of a decorative board 3 and a pattern selection substrate 7, and a glass substrate is not required. Therefore, in the present invention, the decorative board 3 and the pattern selection substrate 7 having a complicated shape can be adopted to make the outer shape of the pattern selection apparatus 30 complicated.

  Here, each of the touch electrodes 10a to 10n is a square having a side length of 10 mm. Further, the touch electrodes 10a to 10n are preferably formed from a copper foil constituting the pattern selection substrate 7, whereby the touch electrodes 10a to 10n can be made extremely simply and lightly. However, the structure which affixes directly the touch electrodes 10a-10n which consist of independent components on the back surface of the decorative board 3 may be sufficient. As can be seen from FIG. 4A, the pattern selection substrate 7 has openings 71a to 71n formed adjacent to the touch electrodes 10a to 10n.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a touch sensor IC 11 is provided on the back surface 7 b of the pattern selection substrate 7, and each of the touch electrodes 10 a to 10 n is electrically connected to the touch sensor IC 11. The touch sensor IC 11 detects which electrode of the touch electrodes 10 a to 10 n is touched by the operator via the decorative plate 3.

  Specifically, a charge capacitor (not shown) associated with the touch electrodes 10a to 10n is charged and gradually discharged. Then, the voltage between the touch electrodes 10a to 10n and the ground is sequentially detected at regular intervals. Since the pattern selection units 31a to 31n of the decorative plate 3 and the touch electrodes 10a to 10n are in direct contact with each other, when the operator's finger or the like touches the pattern selection units 31a to 31n, the corresponding touch electrodes 10a to 10n The capacitance for 10n increases and the discharge time is shortened. For this reason, the voltage between the touch electrodes 10a to 10n and the ground also decreases. Then, the touch sensor IC 11 selects one (or a plurality) of the plurality of touch electrodes 10a to 10n based on whether or not the count value of a counter (not shown) for measuring the discharge time has reached a threshold value. It is detected whether or not the touch electrode is touched via the decorative board 3.

  Furthermore, pattern selection display LEDs 72a to 72n are mounted on the back surface 7b of the pattern selection substrate 7 so as to cross the openings 71a to 71n. Further, an LED driver 13 for lighting the pattern selection display LEDs 72 a to 72 n is provided on the back surface 7 b of the pattern selection substrate 7.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, when viewed from the front surface 7a side of the pattern selection substrate 7, the light emitting portion of the pattern selection display LED 72a on the back surface side can be confirmed through the opening 71a. The other openings have the same configuration. Therefore, the light from the pattern selection display LEDs 72a to 72n can be visually confirmed from the outside of the sewing machine M through the related openings 71a to 71n and the decorative board 3. For this purpose, it is preferable that concave portions (not shown) are formed on the back surface of the decorative board 3 at positions corresponding to the openings 71 a to 71 n of the pattern selection substrate 7. Thereby, the light of pattern selection display LED72a-72n can be confirmed more reliably.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the control unit of the pattern selection device. As shown in FIG. 6, the touch sensor IC 11 to which the touch electrodes 10 a to 10 n are connected and the LED driver 13 to which the pattern selection display LEDs 72 a to 72 n are connected are connected to the input / output device 17. Furthermore, a CPU 14 that executes various programs, a ROM 15 that stores a program of the sewing machine M, pattern data, and the like, and a RAM 16 that reads a program to be operated from the ROM 15 and temporarily stores it are included.

  The input / output device 17 is connected to the pattern forming device 20 via a needle shake pulse motor driver 18 and a needle shake pulse motor 19 for swinging the needle bar 14 in the zigzag direction. Similarly, the input / output device 17 is connected to the pattern forming device 20 via a feed pulse motor driver 21 and a feed pulse motor 22 that drive a feed dog (not shown) of the sewing machine M. The shake amount and the feed amount are determined by the buttons 55 and 56 described above. Further, the input / output device 17 is connected to the pattern forming device 20 via a main motor driver 23 and a main motor 24 for rotating the sewing machine main shaft.

  Here, the needle shake pulse motor 19 is a motor for driving the needle bar 54 in the needle shake direction, the feed pulse motor 22 is a motor for feeding the cloth, and the main motor 24 is a motor for rotating the sewing machine main shaft. is there. The pattern forming apparatus 20 forms a pattern based on the rotation angles of the needle shake pulse motor 19 and the feed pulse motor 22 and the main shaft rotation amount of the main motor 24.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a timing sensor 25 for detecting the rotational phase of the sewing machine spindle is connected to the input / output device 17. The timing sensor 25 determines whether it is the needle swing timing or the feed timing based on the needle height determined according to the rotational phase of the sewing machine spindle. To put it simply, if the needle is high enough to detach from the cloth, it is the needle swing timing, and if the needle is at a height that cannot be detached from the cloth, it is the feed timing. Determined.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the pattern selection apparatus according to the present invention. The flowchart shown in FIG. 7 is executed at predetermined intervals when the sewing machine M is driven. In step 101 of FIG. 7, the contents of the touch sensor IC 11 are read. Then, it is detected which touch electrode of the touch electrodes 10a to 10n is touched via the decorative board 3, that is, which pattern selection unit 31a to 31n is selected by the operator (step 102).

  When at least one touch electrode 10a to 10n is touched, the process proceeds to step 103. In step 103, all the pattern selection display LEDs 72a to 72n are temporarily turned off. This step is performed regardless of whether or not there are currently selected pattern selection display LEDs 72a to 72n.

  Hereinafter, a case where the operator touches the touch electrode 10b via the pattern selection unit 31b will be described. In step 104, only the pattern selection display LED 72b corresponding to the touched touch electrode 10b is turned on. Thereby, the light of the pattern selection display LED 72 b can be confirmed from the outside of the decorative board 3 through the opening 71 b of the pattern selection substrate 7. Therefore, the pattern selection unit 31b selected by the operator can be visually identified from the remaining pattern selection units 31a and 31c to 31n. Therefore, the operator can confirm whether or not the pattern of the pattern selection unit 31b is actually selected correctly.

  When it is necessary to set the amount of needle deflection and / or the stitch length according to the selected pattern, in step 105, the operator operates the buttons 55 and 56 to shake the selected pattern. Determine the amount and stitch length.

  Thereafter, the process returns to step 101, and if another touch electrode is not touched in step 102, the process proceeds to step 106. In step 106, the output of the timing sensor 25, that is, the rotational phase of the sewing machine spindle is read.

  If it is determined in step 107 that it is the needle shake timing, the data of the selected pattern is read from the ROM 15 to the RAM 16 and output to the needle shake pulse motor driver 18 (step 108). On the other hand, if it is determined in step 109 that the feed timing is reached, the data of the selected pattern is read from the ROM 15 to the RAM 16 and output to the feed pulse motor driver 21 (step 110). Thereafter, the pattern data is output to the pattern forming apparatus 20 through the needle shake pulse motor 19 or the feed pulse motor 22, whereby the selected pattern is sewn.

  Thus, in this invention, while the some pattern selection part 31a-31n is provided in one surface of the decorative board 3, in the other surface side of the decorative board 3, the touch electrodes 10a-10n are the pattern selection parts 31a-31n. It is arranged at a position corresponding to each. Therefore, in the present invention, by simply touching the pattern selection units 31a to 31n, the corresponding touch electrode is detected, and it is possible to select a pattern according to the pattern selection unit.

  In the present invention, since the tact switch is not employed, the structure of the pattern selection device 30 can be simplified, and there is no need to consider the contact life and durability. Furthermore, since a touch panel is not employed, a pattern selection device can be created at a low cost. Since a touch panel is unnecessary, a glass substrate is also unnecessary. As a result, in the present invention, it is possible to create a pattern selection device 30 having a somewhat complicated shape.

1 front cover 2 operation panel 3 decorative panel (plate)
3a surface 4 start / stop button 5 reverse stitching button 6 speed adjustment knob 7 pattern selection board 7a surface 7b back surface 8 screw 10a to 10n touch electrode 11 touch sensor IC (detection unit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 LED driver 14 Needle bar 17 Input / output device 18 Needle shake pulse motor driver 19 Needle shake pulse motor 20 Pattern forming device 21 Feed pulse motor driver 22 Feed pulse motor 23 Main motor driver 24 Main motor 25 Timing sensor 30 Pattern selection device 31a- 31n Pattern selection part 51 Bed part 52 Pillar part 53 Arm part 54 Needle bar 55, 56 Button 57 Digital display part 58 Button arrangement part 71a-71n Opening 72a-72n Pattern selection display LED (identification part, light irradiation part)
M sewing machine

Claims (3)

A plate provided with a plurality of pattern selection sections on one side for selecting a pattern;
A plurality of touch electrodes arranged corresponding to each of the plurality of pattern selection portions on the other surface side of the plate;
A detection unit that detects contact of an object with at least one pattern selection unit corresponding to the at least one touch electrode based on a change in voltage between at least one touch electrode of the plurality of touch electrodes and the ground; ,
A pattern selection apparatus comprising: an identification unit that identifies the at least one pattern selection unit in which contact of an object is detected by the detection unit from the remaining pattern selection unit.   The pattern selection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the touch electrode is formed from a copper foil of a printed circuit board.   The pattern selection device according to claim 1, wherein the identification unit is a light irradiation unit arranged corresponding to each of the plurality of pattern selection units.

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