JP2747997B2 - Embroidery data creation device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an embroidery stitch
The present invention relates to forming an embroidery pattern on an object to be sewn such as cloth or clothing. In particular, the present invention relates to an embroidery data creating apparatus for creating embroidery data indicating a relative position between an embroidery needle moved up and down for embroidery and a workpiece, and the embroidery data is used for controlling an embroidery sewing machine, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a prior art, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
An apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H05-212171 is known.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 3-861 discloses an embroidery data creating apparatus for an embroidery sewing machine. Where,
The first calculating means divides the embroidery pattern into a plurality of closed regions by a line segment parallel to the embroidery direction based on the contour of the embroidery pattern and the direction of the input embroidery line. Then, contour data indicating the contour of each closed region is calculated. The second calculating means calculates needle position data and the like for embroidering the closed area based on the contour data and the embroidery direction data of the closed area calculated by the first calculating means.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-212171,
The embroidery area dividing means divides the embroidery area in the contour specified by the contour specifying means into a plurality of closed cells. When dividing the embroidery area, the dividing means considers predetermined characteristic points on the contour extracted by the characteristic point extracting means and the reference direction specified by the reference direction providing means. The embroidery path determining means determines an embroidery path over the entire closed area based on the closed cell, the outline, and the reference direction.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-86 is disclosed.
The embroidery data creation device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H05-212171 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-212171 performs data input of a large number of embroidery lines for a closed area by using an algorithm called a fill operation instead of manual input by an operator. Automatically fill the closed area with embroidery lines. For example, when the fill operation of the embroidery area D shown in FIG. 8 is performed, the embroidery directions EF
, The closed area of the embroidery area D is divided by the dividing line ab into 2
And embroidery direction EF
Embroidery data is created so as to be filled with embroidery lines along the line. However, the embroidery data created by these devices has a single direction of the embroidery line over the entire closed area, so that the appearance is not good and the merchantability is low.

It is necessary to create embroidery data in which an embroidery line is formed in accordance with the direction of the embroidery area instead of a single embroidery direction as in the data obtained by the above-described fill operation. For this purpose, in the conventional embroidery data creation device, the operator must input a plurality of embroidery directions Gn-Hn as shown in FIG. Further, division of the closed area is impossible only in the embroidery direction, and the area must be divided into a plurality of areas in consideration of the direction of the area.

However, the operation of dividing the closed area and inputting the embroidery direction requires a lot of time, is extremely inefficient, and requires skill.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to automatically fill an embroidery area with an embroidery line corresponding to the shape of the embroidery area. In particular, when the embroidery area branches, the direction of the embroidery line depends on the branch. That is, the embroidery direction is changed, and the direction of the embroidery line is determined so as to reflect the shape of the contour in each part of the embroidery area. The secondary problems of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

[0009]

An embroidery data creating apparatus according to the present invention determines a needle drop point of an embroidery line to an embroidery area, and includes a contour calculating means for obtaining an outline of the embroidery area. Means for calculating a characteristic line that is present inside the contour and interpolates the direction of the opposing part of the contour,
A search unit for searching for a branch point and an end point on the obtained feature line, and a dividing line for dividing the embroidery area near the branch point with respect to the searched branch point, the embroidery area is divided into a plurality of closed cells. Dividing means for dividing, embroidery direction calculating means for calculating an embroidery direction, at least partially at a position, for example, substantially perpendicular to the characteristic line, and the obtained embroidery direction; A needle drop point determining means for determining a needle drop point of an embroidery line based on the dividing line is provided.

Preferably, the means for calculating the characteristic line calculates a center line of the contour.

Preferably, the dividing means obtains a bisector between the center lines near the branch point, and sets this as a dividing line.

Preferably, the dividing means further calculates an intersection between the dividing line and the contour.

Preferably, the dividing means obtains the dividing line so as to start from the branch point and obtains an intersection with another graphic feature along the dividing line from the branch point. If, the dividing line is rotated around the branch point until the first intersection is a contour. For this reason, the dividing line starting from the branch point intersects the outline first, and it is possible to avoid dividing the area by the intersection of the dividing line and the dividing line or the intersection of the dividing line and the characteristic line. This is important for complex and divergent embroidery patterns.

Preferably, the embroidery direction calculating means determines the direction of the embroidery line at at least two points on the characteristic line in the closed cell, and determines at least one of the points based on the direction of the characteristic line near the point. To determine the embroidery direction, and determine the direction of the embroidery line at another position so as to interpolate the determined at least two embroidery directions.

[0015] More preferably, the embroidery direction calculating means includes:
The embroidery direction at the at least one point is determined substantially perpendicular to the characteristic line.

[0016] Preferably, the embroidery direction calculating means includes at least one point on the characteristic line in the closed cell, for example, near the end point.
A first embroidery direction is determined substantially perpendicular to the characteristic line. In addition, two intersections between the dividing line and the contour are obtained near the branch point, a direction connecting the two intersections is determined as a second embroidery direction, and another is performed so as to interpolate the first and second embroidery directions. The direction of the embroidery line at the position is determined.

The operation of the present invention will be described. The purpose of creating embroidery data is to control the needles in the embroidery sewing machine, and to specify the points where the stitches are formed by the embroidery needles, ie, the needle drop points, in order. It is assumed that the positioning of the cloth, clothing, and the like with respect to the embroidery sewing machine is performed separately.

The input of the embroidery pattern, that is, the embroidery area, is performed by reading a pattern on which the embroidery pattern is written by a scanner, or by writing the embroidery pattern on a screen using a digitizer and a stylus. Therefore, the contour of the embroidery pattern can be easily determined. Next, in the present invention, a characteristic line is obtained from the contour. The feature lines are limited to those existing inside the contour. The contour parts of the embroidery area face each other, and the direction of the characteristic line is determined so as to interpolate these directions. The preferred feature line is the center line of the contour. The center line is obtained, for example, by repeatedly thinning the region from the contour toward the inside of the region until they come into contact with each other. in this way,
The center line is located at the center between the opposing contours, and its direction is the average of the directions of the opposing contours. By using the center line to determine the embroidery direction, the direction of the contour can be automatically reflected in the direction of the embroidery line. Naturally, if the contour is a curve, the direction of the embroidery line automatically changes accordingly.

The feature line may have various variations other than the center line. For example, the pitch of thinning from one contour is designated as a relative value of 2 and the pitch of thinning from the other contour is designated as a relative value of 1. Then, a characteristic line appears at a position where the two contours are internally divided at approximately 2: 1. In this way, the feature line does not need to be at the center of the contour, and it is not necessary to interpolate the direction of the opposing contour 1: 1. However, for feature lines other than the center line, it is necessary to specify a thinning ratio or the like for each region. If these specifications are neglected, a center line is obtained. That is, feature lines other than the center line are variations of the center line.

When the area is a perfect circle, the center line is theoretically reduced to one point at the center of the circle. In this case, the embroidery direction is the direction from the center of the circle to each part of the contour, that is, the radial direction, and the needle drop points are, for example, the center of the circle and each point on the circumference. In the embodiment described later, a perfect circle is ignored as the outline of the embroidery area. However, when a perfect circle is a contour, the center line is reduced to one point, so that it is detected as a perfect circle, and a needle drop point is defined as one point on the circumference from two points on the opposite contour. You can change it to the center.

Here, there are three types of vertices on the characteristic line: a branch point, an end point, and a bend point, and particularly important are the branch point and the end point. These points are obtained by tracking the feature line starting from one vertex, the algorithm of which is shown, for example, in FIG. What is particularly important here is the branch point, where the embroidery area branches, and the embroidery direction needs to be changed discontinuously, for example. For example, the problem in FIG. 8 is that the embroidery direction is common in all areas even though the embroidery area is branched. Therefore, when a branch is detected, the embroidery area is divided into a plurality of closed cells by a dividing line, and the direction of the embroidery line is changed. In this specification, the closed cell means a small area after the embroidery area is divided by the dividing line.

As a supplementary explanation about the turning point, for example, in the case of the letter F, the characteristic line has three end points, one branch point, and one turning point. In this case, the turning point may be treated as a branch point in a broad sense, and a dividing line may be generated at the turning point, or the turning point may be designated to the user as the embroidery direction determining point as in the embodiment.

Next, a needle drop point is determined on the contour or the like with reference to the direction of the characteristic line for each closed cell. For example, for one or more points on the characteristic line in the closed cell, the embroidery direction is determined preferably substantially perpendicular to the direction of the characteristic line near that point.
Note that the actual embroidery line is a jagged pattern, and there is no meaning in strictly determining the direction perpendicular to the feature line.
A change of about 0 degrees is allowed. Considering the case where there is no branch for simplicity, for example, the embroidery direction is determined almost perpendicular to the characteristic line at two end points. Then, for the other positions, the above two directions are interpolated, for example, smoothly. Further, outside the end point or the like, interpolation is performed so that the change in the embroidery direction between the two points is extrapolated outside the end point. Many of the actual embroidery areas have branches. In this case, the first embroidery direction is determined, for example, almost perpendicular to the characteristic line at the end point of the characteristic line in the closed cell. Next, in the vicinity of the branch, a direction connecting two intersections between the dividing line and the contour is determined, and a second embroidery direction is determined, for example, substantially parallel to the direction. For other positions, the direction of the embroidery line is similarly interpolated. Here, the needle drop points are obtained, for example, on the contour and on the dividing line. The needle drop point near the branch point is
In principle, it is closer to the characteristic line than the dividing line and the contour. In order to detect which is closer, the coordinates of the intersection of the dividing line and the contour point may be calculated, for example.

The dividing line is not limited to the one passing through the branch point, but is preferably set so as to pass through the branch point, and preferably to bisect the branched center line or characteristic line at an angle. The dividing line is a straight line in principle. A variation in this case is to allow the user to specify the start position of the division line other than the branch point, and if not specified, the branch point will be the start point of the division line. Such designation allows the shape of the cyst to be changed according to the user's preference.
To make this possible, step s7 in the embodiment
In FIG. 2, an inquiry about the departure line starting position may be made to the user.

Now, for a complex embroidery shape, before the dividing line intersects the contour, it intersects another dividing line or another center line.
That is, it is considered that the collision occurs. Since such division impairs the beauty of embroidery, when a collision is detected, it is preferable to rotate the direction of the division line to eliminate the collision. For this purpose, as described above, it is preferable to calculate the intersection coordinates of the dividing line and the contour for convenience of processing.

In the vicinity of the branch, it is preferable to determine the embroidery direction based on the intersection between the dividing line and the contour. There are two intersections near one branch for one closed cell. For example, the direction connecting these intersections is the embroidery direction in the vicinity. For one or more other positions, for example, near the end point of the characteristic line at the closed cell, the embroidery direction is determined, for example, substantially perpendicular to the characteristic line at that position, and these two directions are interpolated. Determine the direction of each embroidery line.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain embroidery data in which the direction changes smoothly, for example, according to the shape of the embroidery area, and in which branching of the area is considered.

[0028]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embroidery data creation device according to the present invention. Reference numeral 10 denotes an embroidery data creation device, which includes a CPU 12 for performing various data processing, a ROM 14 for storing various programs, a RAM 16 having a work memory that can be read and written, an I / O device 18, a bus 20, and the like. Consists of a computer. The I / O device 18 also includes a scanner 22 for reading an original image of an embroidery pattern, a stylus pen 24 and a tablet 26 for inputting various instructions and data input, a CRT 28, a floppy disk and a magneto-optical disk. The external storage means 30 of the drive and the embroidery sewing machine 32 are connected.

Using the ROM 14 or the like of the embroidery data creating apparatus 10, a contour calculating means 40 and a center line calculating means 4 to be described later are used.
2, searching means 44, dividing means 46, embroidery direction calculating means 4
8, needle drop point determining means 5 for determining a needle drop point
0 or the like is formed. Similarly, the ROM 14 stores, in addition to these programs, an editing program 52 for retouching embroidery data and the like.
Do each job with the help of 2. These means can be realized not only as a program but also as a dedicated IC such as a digital signal processor.

The RAM 16 stores data obtained by processing by the CPU 12 using various means and programs provided in the ROM 14. Here, there is a storage area for each area, and in addition to an area 60 for storing image data of the embroidery pattern read by a scanner or the like, a storage area 62 for the contour of the embroidery pattern, a storage area 64 for the center line data, a branch. point·
Storage area 66 for end point data, storage area 6 for closed cell data
8, a storage area 70 for direction line data and a storage area 72 for embroidery data. Alternatively, the information may be stored in a floppy or the like of the external storage means 30.

Next, in the fill operation of the embroidery data creating apparatus of the present invention, embroidery data is created so that the embroidery area is filled with embroidery lines corresponding to the shape. The fill operation will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
FIG. 2 is an overall flowchart of the fill operation of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a detailed flowchart of the search of FIG.

First, the process is started in step s1, and in step s2, the operator scans the original image of the embroidery pattern with the scanner 22.
And read the image data of the embroidery pattern
The information is stored in the area 60 of 16 and displayed on the CRT 28. In this embodiment, the original image of the embroidery pattern is
However, the embroidery pattern may be drawn using the stylus pen 24 and the tablet 26.

In step s3, the contour calculating means 4 calculates the embroidery pattern image data read in step s2.
The contour is calculated based on 0 and stored in the RAM 16.

In step s4, the center line M of the embroidery area is calculated by the center line calculating means 42 based on the contour obtained in step s3, and stored in the RAM 16 as center line data.

In step s5, the search means 44 searches the center line data obtained in step s4 for a branch point P or an end point, and stores the data as branch point / end point data. Then, in step s6, it is determined whether or not the center line data has the branch point P. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step s7.

Here, the search means 44 in step s5
This process will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 3, first, a search process is started in step t1. At step t2, one of the branch point P and the end point is obtained for the center line M. Then, in step t3, it is determined whether the point obtained in step t2 is the end point or the branch point P, and if it is the end point, the process proceeds to step t4 and proceeds to step t4.
The point obtained in 2 is defined as the end point A. Then follow the center line M,
The branch point P or the end point is obtained. In step t5, it is determined whether the point obtained in step t4 is the end point or the branch point P. As a result of the determination, if it is the end point, the process proceeds to step t6, the point is set as the end point B, it is determined that the area does not have the branch point P, and the search processing is ended in step t12.

If it is determined in step t5 that the point obtained in step t4 is not the end point but the branch point P, the process proceeds to step t7. If it is determined in step t3 that the point obtained in step t2 is not the end point but the branch point P, the process proceeds to step t7.

In step t7, the point obtained in step t3 or step t5 is set as the first branch point P1. In step t8, the center line M branched at the branch point P1 is searched, and points are obtained by the number of branches. At step t9, it is determined whether the point obtained at step t8 is a branch point P or an end point. If it is a branch point P, the process proceeds to step t10, that point is set as a second branch point P2, and step t10 is performed again.
Return to 8. At step t10, if it is the third branch point, it becomes P3, and if it is the fourth branch point, it becomes P4. If it is determined at step t9 that the current point is not the branch point P but the end point, then at step t11, it is determined whether or not the processing has been performed on all of the branched center lines M. If there still remains a center line M to be processed, the process returns to step t8 again.
Proceeding to step t12, the search process ends.

Referring back to FIG. 2, step s7 will be described. As a result of the search by the search unit 44 in FIG. 3, when it is determined that the branch point P exists on the center line M, the division unit 46 sets the dividing line at which the branch of the embroidery area is bisected at the branch point P of the center line. An intersection with the contour is calculated, and a closed region formed from the contour is divided into a plurality of closed cells by a dividing line connecting the calculated intersection and the branch point P. Each cyst is stored in the RAM 16 as cyst data.

In step s6, if it is determined that there is no branch point P on the center line M, it is determined that the area is a non-branched area, and the dividing process by the dividing means 46 is omitted.

In step s8, the embroidery direction calculating means 48
Considers a dividing line that bisects the angle between the branches of the center line M at the branch point P. The line connecting the two intersections between the dividing line and the contour is defined as one embroidery direction in the closed cell. The direction of the embroidery line is determined so that the perpendicular to the center line at the end point of the cyst is the other embroidery direction and the embroidery direction is interpolated. The obtained embroidery line is stored in the RAM 16. In the present embodiment, the embroidery direction near the branch point is parallel to the line connecting the two intersections of the dividing line and the contour in order to obtain consistency between the closed cells near the branch point. However, instead of this, the embroidery direction may be determined based on a perpendicular from the branch point P to the contour. Further, in the present embodiment, the embroidery direction at the end point of the closing is determined to be perpendicular to the center line, but the embroidery direction may be inclined from a perpendicular to the center line. The same applies to a line connecting two intersections near a branch point. Further, the number of embroidery direction lines may be increased from two in accordance with the shape of the embroidery area, and perpendicular lines at several places on the center line may be determined as the embroidery direction lines. Then, a large number of embroidery lines are generated by the fill operation, and their directions are determined so as to interpolate the embroidery directions.

Next, in step s9, the needle drop point determining means 50 determines the needle drop point at each cyst for the embroidery sewing machine 32 based on the embroidery density data (not shown) stored in the RAM 16. For this, using the division into closed cells in step s7 and the embroidery direction line obtained in step s8,
The needle drop point is stored in the RAM 16.

In step s10, it is determined whether or not there is another closed cell for which the filling operation is performed. If there is another closed cell, the process returns to step s5. Proceeding to step s11, the fill process ends.
In this way, the closed area can be filled with the embroidery line corresponding to the contour.

Next, the processing of the fill operation will be described for the actual embroidery area A shown in FIG. First, the image data of the original image in the embroidery area A is read by the scanner 22. Then, the read image data is output to the contour calculating means 4.
0 is used to calculate the contour shown in FIG. Then, based on the contour, the center line calculating means 42 calculates the center line M of the embroidery area.
Ask for A. The search means 44 processes the obtained center line data, and first, an end point or a branch point P on the center line MA.
One of the following points. Here, it is assumed that the point AA on the center line MA is obtained first. The point AA is the end point, and is labeled as the end point AA, and follows the center line MA from the end point AA to obtain the branch point P1. At the branch point P1, each branch of the center line MA is searched to obtain end points AB and AC.

The dividing means 46 finds a dividing line that bisects each branch line at the branch point P1 as shown in FIG.
Next, intersections AD, AE, and AF between them and the contour U are obtained. The closed area includes the branch AA-P1 and is divided by the division line AD-P1-AF by the division lines P1-AD, P1-AE, and P1-AF connecting the intersections AD, AE, AF and the branch point P1. A1, dividing line AD-P1 including branch AB-P1
The cell is divided into three closed cells A1, A2 and A3, that is, closed cell A2 divided by AE and closed cell A3 including branch AC-P1 and divided by dividing line AE-P1-AF.

The embroidery direction calculating means 48 includes, for example, a branch AA
The embroidery direction of the closed cell A1 divided by the division line AD-P1-AF including P1 is calculated. End point A to branch AA-P1
The perpendicular line AG-AH at A is taken as the embroidery direction line in the vicinity.
The embroidery direction line near the branch point is divided into two division lines AD-P1 and AF-P1 at the branch point P1.
And a straight line AD-AF connecting two intersections of the contour U
The direction of the embroidery line in the closed cell A1 is determined so as to interpolate the directions of the two embroidery direction lines AG-AH and AD-AF. Then, the needle drop point determining means 50 determines the needle drop point in the closed cell A1 based on the closed cell and the embroidery direction line as shown in FIG. 4D, and creates embroidery data. Remaining cyst A
The same processing is performed for A2 and A3, and a fill operation is performed on the entire area as shown in FIG.

As a second embodiment, when the center line M of the closed area formed from the contour of the embroidery area has two or more branch points P, the filling operation of the embroidery area B in FIG. explain. As in the case of the embroidery area shown in FIG. 4A, the contour V is calculated by the contour calculation means 40 for the embroidery area B shown in FIG.
Calculate B. Then, by the search means 44, FIG.
Embroidery area B, two branch points P on the center line MB
1, P2 and four end points BA, BB, BC, BD are determined. As shown in FIG. 5 (B), the dividing unit 46 first branches P1-BA, P1-BB, P1-P at the branch point P1.
A dividing line that bisects the two is determined, and intersection points BF, BG, and BE where the dividing line intersects the contour V are determined. Each intersection BF, BG,
Division lines P1-BF, P1-B connecting BE and branch point P1
According to G, P1-BE, the embroidery area includes the branch P1-BA and is divided by the division line BF-P1-BE, and the embroidery area is divided by the division line BF-P1-BG. B2, branch line BE-P1-B including branch P2-P1
Three closed cells B1, B2, B3 of closed cell B3 divided by G
Is divided into

Since the area including the branches P1-P2-BC and BD includes the branch point P2, the branch P2 at the branch point P2
The intersection points BH, BI, and BJ at which the dividing lines that bisect each of 2-P1, P2-BC, and P2-BD intersect with the contour V are obtained. The closed cell B is formed by dividing lines P2-BH, P2-BI, and P2-BJ connecting the intersections BH, BI, BJ and the branch point P2.
3 includes branches P2-P1, P2-BC, P2-BD
It is further divided into two closed cells B31, B32, B33.

Among the closed cells, closed cells B1, B2, B32, B3
For No. 3, the embroidery direction is calculated in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and the needle drop point for the cyst is determined. Branch P1-P
The two ends of the closed cell B31 containing No. 2 are the branch points P1 and P2. For this reason, the first embroidery direction is BE-BG connecting the intersections of the contours V with the dividing lines P1-BE, P1-BG dividing the branch into two, and the other embroidery directions are BH-BJ. The direction of the embroidery line is determined so that the two embroidery directions BE-BG and BH-BJ are interpolated, and the embroidery line in the closed cell B31 is determined. Then, the needle drop point is determined by the needle drop point determining means 50. FIG. 5C shows the result of performing a fill operation on the entire embroidery area B.

In these filling operations, when there is a hole inside the figure as shown in FIG. 6, the center line MX draws a ring. In this case, when the embroidery direction calculating means 48 calculates the embroidery direction line at a plurality of appropriate locations on the center line MX, the embroidery line can be filled with the embroidery line according to the shape of the embroidery area. Here, the position for designating the embroidery direction line may be designated by the user with the stylus 24 or the like. Alternatively, the direction of the center line MX may be monitored by the embroidery direction calculation means 48, and an embroidery direction line may be generated every time the direction changes by about several tens of degrees.

As a third embodiment, a case where a fill operation is performed on the embroidery area C shown in FIG. 7A will be described. In the embroidery area used for the above-described filling operation, the dividing line bisecting the interval between the branches first intersected the contour. However, if the interval between the branch points P1 of the center line MC in the embroidery area C in FIG. 7A is bisected, the division line intersects with another division line P2-CA before intersecting with the outline W, and the closed area is appropriately set. Cannot be split into Therefore, the dividing means 46 rotates the dividing line P1-CB obtained by bisecting the interval between the branches right and left around the branch point P1.
The dividing lines P1-CC and P1-CD are obtained. And the dividing line P
1-CC intersects the contour W1 at the intersection D. Therefore, the branch point P
The division line at 1 is assumed to be a line segment P1-D. FIG. 7B shows that the fill operation is performed on the entire embroidery area C in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment.

Although the image data of the embroidery area is input by the scanner 22 in the embodiment, the image data may be input by picking up an image with a television camera or the like instead of the scanner 22. Alternatively, the image data of the embroidery area stored on a floppy disk or the like may be input using the external storage unit 30.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described,
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be implemented without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0054]

The present invention is embodied in the form described above and has the following effects.

According to the present invention, the contour of the embroidery area is obtained,
A feature line existing inside the obtained contour and interpolating the direction of the opposing part of the contour is calculated. Then, the branch point and the end point on the obtained feature line are searched, and for the searched branch point,
The embroidery area is divided into a plurality of closed cells by a dividing line that divides the embroidery area near the branch point. An embroidery direction is calculated based on the direction of the characteristic line for at least a part of the positions, and a needle drop point of the embroidery line is determined based on the obtained embroidery direction, the outline, and the division line. For this reason, the direction can be changed smoothly, for example, according to the shape of the embroidery area, and embroidery data can be obtained in consideration of branching of the area.

According to the present invention, the direction of the contour can be automatically reflected in the direction of the embroidery line by using the center line of the contour for determining the embroidery direction.

Further, according to the present invention, the bisecting line between the center lines near the branch point is obtained and used as the dividing line, so that the embroidery area can be satisfactorily divided near the branch point. .

Further, according to the present invention, the embroidery area can be satisfactorily divided in the vicinity of the branch point by calculating the intersection between the dividing line and the contour.

According to the present invention, the dividing line is determined so as to start from the branch point, and the intersection with the other graphic feature is determined along the dividing line from the branch point. In the case of, since the dividing line is rotated around the branch point until the first intersection becomes a contour, the embroidery area can be satisfactorily divided in any shape of the embroidery area.

According to the present invention, the direction of the embroidery line is determined at at least two points on the characteristic line in the closed cell, and at least one of the points is embroidered based on the direction of the characteristic line near the point. The direction is determined, and the direction of the embroidery line at another position is determined so as to interpolate the determined at least two embroidery directions. This makes it possible to obtain embroidery data in which the direction changes smoothly, for example, according to the shape of the embroidery area.

According to the present invention, the embroidery direction at at least one point on the characteristic line in the closed cell is determined almost perpendicular to the characteristic line, so that the embroidery data whose direction changes according to the shape of the embroidery area is determined. Obtainable.

According to the present invention, the direction of the first embroidery line is determined at least at one point on the characteristic line in the cyst substantially perpendicular to the characteristic line, and the dividing line, the contour, and 2
The two intersections are found, and the second is almost parallel to the direction connecting the two intersections.
The embroidery direction is determined, and the direction of the embroidery line at another position is determined so as to interpolate the first and second embroidery directions.
For this reason, the direction can be changed smoothly, for example, according to the shape of the embroidery area, and embroidery data can be obtained in consideration of branching of the area.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embroidery data creation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart generally showing a filling operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a search process.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an embroidery area for explaining a fill operation in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an embroidery area for describing a fill operation in the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an embroidery area having a hole inside the embroidery area.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a fill operation in the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing creation of embroidery data in a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing input of an embroidery direction line in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... embroidery data creation device, 12 ... CPU, 1
4 ROM, 16 RAM, 18 I / O device, 20 bus, 22 scanner, 24
Stylus pen, 26 ... Tablet, 28 ... C
RT, 30: external storage means, 32: embroidery sewing machine, 40: contour calculating means, 42: center line calculating means, 44: searching means, 46: dividing means, 48
... embroidery direction calculation means 50 ... needle drop point determination means
52: Editing program, M: Center line, P:
branch point

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. An embroidery data creating apparatus for determining a needle drop point of an embroidery line to an embroidery area, an outline calculating means for obtaining an outline of the embroidery area, Means for calculating a characteristic line for interpolating the direction of the opposite part of the contour; searching means for searching for a branch point and an end point on the obtained characteristic line; Dividing means for dividing the embroidery area into a plurality of closed cells by a dividing line for dividing the embroidery area in the vicinity, and calculating an embroidery direction based on the direction of the characteristic line at least at a part of the position. Embroidery direction calculating means, and needle drop point determining means for determining a needle drop point of the embroidery line based on the obtained embroidery direction, the outline and the dividing line. Embroidery data creation device. 2. The embroidery data creating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for calculating the characteristic line calculates a center line of the contour. 3. The embroidery data creating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said dividing means obtains a bisector between center lines near the branch point and sets the bisecting line as the dividing line. 4. The embroidery data creating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said dividing means further calculates an intersection between the dividing line and the contour. 5. The dividing means determines that a dividing line starts from a branch point, and determines an intersection with another graphic feature along the dividing line from the branch point. 5. The embroidery data creating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, if, the dividing line is rotated around the branch point until the first intersection becomes a contour. 6. The embroidery direction calculating means determines the direction of the embroidery line at at least two points on the characteristic line in the closed cell, and determines at least one of the points based on the direction of the characteristic line near the point. 2. The embroidery data creating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the embroidery direction is determined at a different position so as to interpolate the determined at least two embroidery directions. 7. An embroidery data creating apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said embroidery direction calculating means determines an embroidery direction at said at least one point substantially perpendicular to a characteristic line. 8. The embroidery direction calculating means determines a direction of a first embroidery line substantially perpendicular to the characteristic line at at least one point on the characteristic line in the closed cell, and determines a direction of the dividing line near the branch point. Finding two intersections with the contour, determining a second embroidery direction substantially parallel to the direction connecting the two intersections, and embroidering lines at other positions so as to interpolate the first and second embroidery directions. The embroidery data creating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the direction of the embroidery data is determined.