JP2756694B2 - Automatic embroidery machine with sewing area confirmation function - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to an automatic embroidery machine controlled by a microcomputer that performs name embroidery and the like, and particularly has a function of confirming a sewing range including a sewing start point of a stitch pattern and correcting and confirming the position of the sewing range itself. Automatic embroidery machine.

2. Description of the Related Art

Originally, the embroidery position and the range of the character string are determined based on the sewing start point, from which the characters are arranged and the position and the range are determined. In the case of the “head sewing method”, the current needle drop point is the sewing start point. In the case of the "centering sewing method", the character string is
The divided start point is the sewing start point. As a conventional technique for confirming a sewing range, there is a technique described in Japanese Patent Application No. 61-33791 by the same applicant as the present application. To summarize the prior art, the needle is moved up and down in order to make the operator recognize the sewing range with respect to the embroidery frame at the first operation of the start key for the purpose of improving safety in the embroidery operation and accuracy of the embroidery position. In this technique, the embroidery frame is moved in a stopped state to perform a sewing range confirmation operation. However, according to this conventional technique, for example, when it is desired to finely adjust the positional relationship between a character string to be embroidered and another mark, pattern, picture, etc., which are to be embroidered, all steps of the sewing range confirmation operation are performed, After the confirmation operation, it is necessary to move and adjust the embroidery frame with the manual frame movement key, repeat the entire process of the sewing range confirmation operation, and clarify the sewing range including the sewing start point and the position of the sewing range itself. There was a lot of trouble and time for adjustment.

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention

The present invention includes a stitch forming means, an embroidery frame, a driving means for driving the embroidery frame to change a relative position between the two, and an information storage means in which a large number of embroidery pattern information groups are stored. In an automatic embroidery machine that moves the embroidery frame while stopping the vertical movement of the needle and follows the outer range of the pattern group to confirm the sewing range, the operation is stopped halfway during the sewing range confirmation operation. Means for temporarily confirming a sewing range to be stopped, position correction control means for enabling the relative position to be changed with respect to the stopped stop point, and correction calculation for correcting the position of the entire sewing range based on the correction movement amount of the stop point. According to the present invention, an automatic embroidery machine having a means is provided.According to the present invention, the embroidery frame is temporarily stopped during the sewing range confirmation operation, and the embroidery frame is moved by a manual operation, so that the embroidery frame can be moved more quickly than before. Move The position correction of the stitch which themselves string including sewing start point based on, there is effect that confirmation is made. More specifically, for example, first, when it is desired to delicately adjust the positional relationship between a character string to be embroidered and another mark, pattern, picture, or the like, which is to be embroidered, the operation of checking the sewing range of the character string is The sewing area confirmation operation is temporarily stopped when approaching these existing marks or the like before the entire process is completed, so that the positional relationship can be quickly and finely adjusted. Secondly, if the range check key is operated during a pause during the sewing range check operation, the sewing range check operation is restarted from the needle drop point position. Has an effect that it is possible to approach a position for correcting a position which is most preferable for a mark or the like. Third, if the clear key is operated during a pause during the sewing range confirmation operation, the needle entry point returns to the start point of the sewing range. When the operation is completed and when it is determined that the position does not need to be corrected, the sewing range checking operation can be quickly completed, and thereby the position of the character string sewing range itself can be quickly corrected and confirmed. is there.

【Example】

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to examples. First, the configuration of the embroidery machine will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, the embroidery machine includes a sewing machine main body 10 and a control box 30, and these are connected by a connection cable 20 for transmitting and receiving signals and the like. The sewing machine main body 10 has a needle 11 that moves up and down, and a thread catching means (not shown) that cooperates with the needle. An embroidery frame 12 for holding a work cloth is provided with an XY drive mechanism section.
Attached to a support unit 14 that is driven and controlled by 13, and XY-controlled in synchronization with the needle 11 that moves up and down, embroidery is performed on the work cloth. An XY drive mechanism 13 includes an X-axis drive stepping motor SM1 and a Y-axis drive stepping motor S, which will be described later.
The M2 and its associated mechanism, power switch, power transformer, power circuit, stepper motor driver circuits DVX, DVY, etc. are built-in. The control box 30 controls and manages all operations of the sewing machine main body 10, and includes a floppy disk drive unit FDD, a keyboard unit KEY, and a display unit DISPLAY.
Built-in various control circuits. Power for the electronic control circuit is received from a power supply circuit in the XY drive mechanism 13 and various signals are transmitted and received to and from the main body via a connection cable 20. The compressed original data for embroidery is written to a floppy disk FD by a data input device (not shown) at the stage of creating the original data, and inserted by a user of the computer embroidery machine into the floppy disk drive FDD.
The required data is read. Next, an outline of the keyboard unit KEY will be described with reference to FIG. The MODE key 31 is used to switch between a mode of directly selecting an embroidery pattern by a key operation from a full keyboard or a mode of indirectly selecting from a numeric code using numeric keys. Numeric keys 0 to 9 are used for inputting an embroidery pattern code number, for directly selecting a number as an embroidery pattern, and for setting a manual space. CLEAR key 3
Reference numeral 2 denotes a release key, which is used to release an erroneous input using the numeric keys and to return to the sewing origin while the sewing is being stopped. The ReadData key 33 is operated after the selection and registration of the pattern to be embroidered is completed, whereby the data of the embroidery pattern selected from the floppy disk FD is read into the random access memory RAM. The jog key 34 as the manual frame moving key
With this manual feed key, only the embroidery frame 12 can be moved to a desired position by this key without moving the sewing machine needle 11 up and down at the time of initial setting of the embroidery frame. The JOG key 34 is used to move only the embroidery frame 12 to a desired position by using this key without moving the needle 11 of the sewing machine up and down even when the range check is temporarily stopped during the sewing range check operation described later. Can be. The START key 35 is operated, for example, when starting embroidery sewing. The SEWING / SCOPE key 38 (hereinafter referred to as the range confirmation key 38) is used to start the sewing range confirmation operation program shown in FIG. 1, and the outline of the embroidery range of the embroidery pattern to be embroidered is indicated by the needle point of the needle 11 of the sewing machine. Therefore, only the embroidery frame 12 is moved with respect to the needle drop point without moving the needle 11 of the sewing machine up and down. This allows the embroidery frame to be sewn
You can check if it falls within the range of 12. This range confirmation movement data is created by the calculating means 50 (see FIG. 2) based on the character frame data held for each embroidery character. The calculation means 50 includes a correction calculation means ST9 as a function realization means by a program described later. When the sewing range confirmation operation is performed, if a calculation result that exceeds the movement limit of the XY mechanism of the sewing machine comes out,
The sewing range confirmation operation is not performed, and a warning display for this over-limit is displayed on the display section DISPLAY. The STOP key 36 is operated when the operating embroidery machine is stopped halfway. Further, the STOP key acts on a later-described range confirmation temporary stop unit ST4 as a function realizing unit by a program by the operation thereof, and temporarily stops the sewing range confirmation operation. The SKIP SEWING SCOPE key 37 is for designating that the sewing area confirmation operation is omitted when the selected embroidery pattern is embroidered once and then embroidered again. Next, the schematic configuration of the apparatus will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The general-purpose microprocessor CPU has an address bus terminal for supplying address information, a data bus terminal for transferring instructions and data by bidirectional communication with a memory or an I / O device, and various control line terminals. Has an instruction register, an arithmetic unit, an accumulator, and the like. The control memory ROM stores programs for controlling embroidery and for controlling the sewing range confirmation operation of the present invention. The random access memory RAM temporarily stores pattern data and the like read from the floppy disk FD. The input / output interface I / O exchanges data between the peripheral device and the microprocessor. The control memory ROM, the random access memory RAM, and the input / output interface I / O are connected by an address, data, and a control bus as shown in the figure, and constitute a main microcomputer system of the present system. doing. The external storage medium FD is a floppy disk in the present embodiment, and a large amount of pattern information groups in the present system are stored in a magnetic manner. The floppy disk drive FDD rotates the floppy disk FD and can perform data writing and reading while performing random access. SVM1 is a one-chip microcomputer for X-axis control, and in this system, plays a role as a slave computer to the main microcomputer system. That is, in accordance with a command from the main computer, X
The drive control of the required amount of the shaft driving motor SM1 is performed via the driving driver DVX. SVM2 is a one-chip type microcomputer for Y-axis control, and its function is the same as that of a one-chip type slave computer for X-axis control. The motor SM2 for Y-axis drive is driven via a drive driver DVY according to a command from the main computer. The required amount of driving control is performed. SVM3 is a one-chip type slave computer for driving the main shaft of the sewing machine. The SVM3 starts, stops, and controls the speed of the sewing machine motor M via a control circuit SC of the sewing machine motor in accordance with a command from the main. The key panel unit KEY forms a key matrix, which is connected to the main computer. The display unit DISPLAY includes a light emitting diode LED and a liquid crystal display device LCD. ○ Control of sewing range confirmation Next, the control of the sewing range confirmation will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, STn (n = 1, 2, 3,...) Indicates each control step. When a character is selected by the pattern selection key and the pattern data is read from the floppy disk FD, and the range confirmation key 38 is pressed, a program for the sewing range confirmation operation is started. The sewing range confirmation operation starts in ST1. ST2 is a step for determining whether or not all the steps of the checking operation have been completed. If the end is determined here, the needle drop point relatively returns to the starting point of the range checking operation, and then the RET is executed in this flowchart. Get out of. ST3 if end at ST2
Proceed to. Here, as long as there is no pressing operation of the stop key 36, the sewing range confirmation operation is continued while circulating through LOOP1. If the stop operation of the stop key 36 is determined in ST3, ST4
And the sewing range confirmation operation is temporarily stopped. Then, when none of the manual frame moving key 34 of ST5, the range confirmation key 38 of ST6, and the clear key 32 of ST7 are operated, the loop 2 is circulated, and the embroidery frame 12 is kept stopped at that position. . In this state, for example, when it is desired to finely adjust the interval S of the character [moon star] with respect to the mark M shown in FIG. 6, the operation is performed by operating the manual frame moving key 34. By this operation, LOOP3 as the position correction control means is executed. When the manual frame moving key 34 is operated in ST5, the embroidery frame 12 moves in the direction of the manual frame moving key 34 pressed in ST8. When the operation of the manual frame movement key 34 is released, the position of the sewing range itself is corrected and calculated based on the movement amount in ST9. Further, if the clear key 32 is operated in ST7 while circulating in LOOP2, the process proceeds to ST10, where the needle drop point relatively returns to the start point of the range checking operation, and then exits from this flowchart by RET. This makes it possible to quickly return to the starting point of the sewing range confirmation operation when it is confirmed that the sewing range itself is at the target position after the position correction and during the sewing range confirmation operation. Further, the embroidery frame 12 is temporarily stopped by operating the stop key, and while the position is not yet corrected, the loop
When the range confirmation key 38 is operated at T6, the process returns to ST1 again, the pause state of the sewing range confirmation operation is released, and the sewing range confirmation operation is resumed from the needle drop point position. In the process of fine adjustment of the relationship, the position for the position correction with respect to the mark or the like is brought close to the most preferable position. Also, while circulating LOOP2, the position correction control means LOOP3
When the position confirmation key 38 is operated in ST6 when the position has been corrected, the process returns to ST1 again, the pause state of the sewing range confirmation operation is released, and the sewing range is changed from the corrected needle drop point position. The confirmation operation continues. That is, when the sewing is temporarily stopped at the point P in the operation diagram of the sewing range indicated by the solid line in FIG. 7 and the needle entry point is relatively moved to the point P 'and corrected, the sewing at the restarted time after the correction is performed The position of the range itself is corrected to the position indicated by the dotted line.

【The invention's effect】

As described above, according to the present invention, the embroidery frame is temporarily stopped during the sewing range confirmation operation, and the embroidery frame is moved by manual operation. The effect is obtained that the position of the sewing range itself of the character string including the character string is corrected and confirmed. More specifically, for example, first, when it is desired to delicately adjust the positional relationship between a character string to be embroidered and another mark, pattern, picture, or the like, which is to be embroidered, the operation of confirming the sewing range of the character string is performed. While the entire process is not completed, the sewing range checking operation is temporarily stopped when approaching these existing marks and the like, and the positional relationship can be quickly and finely adjusted. Secondly, if the range check key is operated during a pause during the sewing range check operation, the sewing range check operation is restarted from the needle drop point position. In this case, it is possible to obtain an effect that a position for correcting a position or the like which is most preferable for a mark or the like can be approached. Third, if the clear key is operated during a pause during the sewing range confirmation operation, the needle entry point returns to the start point of the sewing range. When it is determined that there is no need, for example, the sewing range checking operation can be quickly terminated, and thereby, the position of the character string sewing range itself can be quickly corrected and checked.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a flowchart corresponding to a sewing range confirmation operation, FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of control, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an outline of a sewing machine main body and a control unit, FIG. 4 is an operation panel section of a control box, FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control circuit, FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a positional relationship adjustment between an existing mark M and a sewing range of a character string to be sewn from now on, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the sewing range before and after the correction. 10 is a stitch forming means, 11 is a needle, 12 is an embroidery frame, 13 is a driving means, FD is an information storage means, and LOOP3 which is a part of the arithmetic means 50.
Is a position correction control unit, ST4 is a sewing range confirmation temporary stop unit, and ST9 is a correction calculation unit.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A stitch forming means for forming a stitch having a needle moving up and down, a thread catching means cooperating with the needle, an embroidery frame for holding a work cloth, and changing a relative position between the two. A driving means for driving the embroidery frame, and an information storage means for storing a large number of embroidery pattern information groups. In the automatic embroidery machine that performs the sewing range confirmation operation by following the outer shape range, a sewing range confirmation temporary stop means for stopping the operation halfway during the sewing range confirmation operation, and changing the relative position with respect to the stopped stop point. An automatic embroidery machine having a sewing range confirmation function, comprising: position correction control means for enabling a sewing range, and correction calculation means for correcting the position of the entire sewing range based on the correction movement amount of the stop point.