JP3024659B2 - Embroidery data creation device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for creating embroidery data corresponding to a needle drop point or an embroidery area of a design to be applied to a work cloth. The present invention relates to an embroidery data creating apparatus that creates embroidery data while the user sequentially selects an operation menu on a display, such as whether to perform straight stitching.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an embroidery data creating apparatus for displaying an embroidery pattern to be applied to a work cloth on a display, and creating embroidery data such as a needle drop point of the embroidery pattern or a moving amount thereof while watching the display is known. Have been. In that case, many operation menus are stored in the memory of the embroidery data creation device so as to correspond to various embroidery designs,
The user sequentially reads out a series of operation menus from this memory and selects them as appropriate to create embroidery data.

[0003]

However, there are many cases where only similar embroidery data is created for some users. In such a case, it is troublesome and troublesome to repeatedly select the same plurality of menus in the same procedure one by one from a series of operation menus in multiple stages. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problem, and has as its object to provide an embroidery data creating apparatus to which a function of allowing a user to sequentially register a series of operation menus is added. This allows the user to quickly create embroidery data by selecting a registration menu, thereby achieving a significant improvement in the work efficiency of embroidery data creation.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve this object, an embroidery data generating apparatus according to the present invention is provided for performing embroidery sewing on a work cloth as shown in FIG. A menu selection unit for sequentially selecting a plurality of operation menus; a menu storage unit for sequentially storing the operation menus selected by the menu selection unit; and a series of operation menus stored in the menu storage unit. Configuration including menu registration means for registering all at once
It is said. Also, it is registered by the menu registration means.
A series of operation menus that have been
Registration menu storage means for storing
-The predetermined operation menu is selected by the selection means
In the case, a series of operations corresponding to the predetermined operation menu
The menu is configured to be sequentially executed. Further, the operation
It is desirable that the operation menu has a hierarchical structure.

[0005]

In the embroidery data creating apparatus of the present invention having the above-described configuration, when the operator sequentially selects a plurality of operation menus for performing the embroidery stitching on the workpiece cloth by the menu selection means, the The selected operation menu is sequentially stored in the menu storage means. Then , a series of operation menus stored in the menu storage means are registered collectively by the menu registration means. Also,
A series of operation menus registered by the menu registration means
Is a registered menu as a predetermined operation menu
It is stored in the storage means. And the menu selection means
When this predetermined operation menu is selected by
A series of operation menus corresponding to the predetermined operation menu is displayed.
Executed sequentially. Therefore, a series of operations
After registering the menus at once,
If you call the specified operation menu registered with
A series of operation menus corresponding to the specified operation menu
Embroidery data creation work in the same procedure
In addition to this, the embroidery data can be corrected by slightly modifying the data. Change
Since the operation menu has a hierarchical structure,
Select operation menus efficiently using menu selection
It becomes possible.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the embroidery data creating apparatus 10.
External storage device (hard disk) 16, keyboard 1
8, a mouse 20, and a scanner 22 are connected. The keyboard 18 is provided with a registration key 24 and a processing continuation key 26 which are important for the operation of the present invention. The PC body 12 has a floppy disk drive 3
It is well known that 2 is provided.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the personal computer body 12. The keyboard 18 and the external storage device 1 are connected via an input interface 34 and a bus 36.
6. The mouse 20, the scanner 22 is the CPU of the personal computer
38, and to the display 14 via the bus 36, the output interface 40, and the display drive circuit 42. The CPU 38 has a read-only memory ROM 44, a read / write memory RAM 46, a floppy disk drive F
The DDs 32 are connected to each other via the bus 36. Therefore, the ROM 44 stores an embroidery data creation program including the program of the present invention. The RAM 46 stores an embroidery pattern image and a series of operation menus for creating embroidery data described later in order or collectively. The operator takes in the desired embroidery pattern data with the scanner 22 and
Embroidery data is created while viewing the image data on the display 14. The created embroidery data is stored in the hard disk 16 or floppy disk and used for sewing the embroidery sewing machine.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of a series of operation menus of the embroidery data creating apparatus. "Floppy", "Original",
The first column, such as "Outline", is the initial menu,
When the switch of the present apparatus is turned on, the program of the embroidery data creating apparatus is read from the external storage device and the initial menu is displayed on the display 14 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the operator appropriately selects an initial menu with the mouse cursor according to the procedure, and if there is a subordinate menu of the initial menu, selects an additional menu from the subordinate menu. Here, the "subordinate menu" refers to the menu in the second or third column of the menu shown in FIG. 4 (for example, "load", "save", or "closed loop", "open loop", etc.). Say Therefore,
The operation menu has a three-layer hierarchical structure. still,
For each menu, an identification flag indicating whether or not the menu is automatically created is stored. The indications "registration 1" and "registration 2" on the display 14 are selection menus when a series of menus registered by the registration work are registered collectively.

Now, it is assumed that there is a user who creates embroidery data having a character design inside by surrounding the outside with an embroidery frame as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b). For such a user, 1) original picture / load (read the original picture from the scanner 22 and display it on the display) 2) original picture / scale (decide the size of the sewing) 3) outline / create / close loop (display) Use the mouse to specify an arbitrary point sequence along the outline of the original image, and set one continuous outline (outline). 4) Embroidery data / staggered (along with the specified outline) (Embroidery data for staggered stitching is automatically created in block data format.) 5) Embroidery data, blocks, fixed direction (area enclosed by the specified closed loop outline is divided by line segments extending in the specified direction) Embroidery data is automatically created in block data format) 6) A series of menu selections called floppy save (save data to floppy disk) are generally performed. It is. You rarely select other menus. In such a case, it is the present application that such a series of selected menus is registered in the menu “registration 1” or “registration 2”. The specific processing in the staggered menu and the fixed direction menu is described in
These are described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 139387 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-862, respectively.

The registration procedure is shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, it is determined whether to register as “registration 1” or “registration 2” (S701). Then, in the normal operation, the menus to be registered are selected in the order of registration (S7).
02), the registration key 24 is pressed (S703). Then, the menus in that state are temporarily stored in the RAM 46 in order (S
704). For example, if you select the original picture menu load,
It is stored once in the RAM 46. Next, if the processing continuation key 26 is pressed, the process returns to S702 as a further menu is registered. The operation menu is sequentially stored in the RAM 46 by repeating this program. When the registration of the series of menus is completed, the selection of the series of registered menus is completed by pressing the end key (S705). Then, a series of menus once stored in the aforementioned RAM 46 are stored in the external storage device 16 together with the registration numbers in the order of calling (S706). Where
Spray 14, display drive circuit 42, mouse 2
0, keyboard 18, CPU 38, ROM 44, and S
The processing in step 702 corresponds to the menu selection in claim 1.
Configure means. Also, a CPU 38, a RAM 46, and
The processing in S704 is the same as the processing described in the first embodiment.
Configure storage means. In addition, the display 14, the display
Registration of ray drive circuit 42, mouse 20, and keyboard 18
Key 24 and processing continuation key 26, CPU 38, ROM 4
4, and processing in S701, S703 to S705
Constitutes the menu registration means in claim 1. Sa
In addition, the CPU 38, the external storage device 16, and S706
The registration menu storage means according to claim 2
Is configured.

On the other hand, when the registered menu is called, "registration 1" or "registration 2"
Select If "Registration 1" is clicked with the mouse cursor on the assumption that only "Registration 1" has been registered, the program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8 starts running, and a series of registered menus are automatically called one after another.

First, a registration menu of a designated number, here, a series of menus of “registration 1” is read from the external storage device (S801). Next, the number of registered menus is substituted for a variable N (S802), and the value of a counter C indicating the number of the registered menu is set to 1 (S803). Then, the processing routine of the C-th menu is called (S804). For example, in the case of the first menu routine, a floppy load selection processing is executed. If the first menu routine is to be terminated, it is determined in S805 whether or not the routine is to be automatically terminated. In this case, the determination is YES, and the process proceeds to S807. In this S807, the counter C
Is incremented by one, and then it is determined in S808 whether the count value is larger than the variable N. If it is determined that the count value is not larger than the variable N, the process returns to S804, where the processing routine of the next menu, that is, the second menu is called, and the execution by this program is repeated as described above.

If it is determined in step S805 that the C-th routine does not end automatically, for example, if the operation menu is an outline, creation, or closed loop, some processing is performed in the menu routine. In this case, step S8
In step 06, it is determined whether the end flag of the C-th routine has been turned ON. If it is determined in step S806 that the end flag has not been turned ON, it means that the execution of the program of the C-th routine has not yet been completed. Is continued.

If it is determined in S806 that the end flag of the C-th routine has been turned ON, the execution of the program of the menu of the C-th routine has been completed, so the flow proceeds to S807, where the count value is incremented. Then, it is determined whether the value of the count value C is larger than the variable N. If the processing menu is executed for all the menus from the first to the Nth, the count value is larger than the variable N in S808. It is determined that (C = N + 1), and the execution of this program is terminated.

Here, the automatic end routine refers to a routine for performing the next processing once the operation is performed once, such as an original image / load. In the case where the operation is performed several times, such as outline, creation, and closed loop, NO is always determined in S805. It should be noted that a routine that is not performed automatically once only from the beginning and may not be automatically completed may be registered as automatic completion. The end flag may be set when the end switch in the menu is selected. As described in detail above, the function of registering a series of operation menus for creating embroidery data eliminates the operation of the next menu selection for a user who repeats a predetermined operation.

In this embodiment, only two registration menus are prepared, but more registration menus may be created. Further, in this embodiment, a series of operations from the original image loading to the floppy save are registered. However, even if a combination of 2-3 menus frequently used during the work is used as one registered menu, the work efficiency can be improved. It can be planned. In this embodiment, a registration menu is provided for data creation. However, a registration menu for an editing function may be provided, for example, when the sewing machine has an editing function. In addition, various embodiments can be applied without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0017]

As is apparent from the above description, the embroidery data creation apparatus of the present invention has a function of registering a series of operation procedures for creating embroidery data. This is convenient for the user who has created embroidery data by repeating the above steps, and the data creation efficiency is greatly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to claims of an embroidery data creating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of an embroidery data creation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the embroidery data creation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a series of operation menus used in the embroidery data creation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display image of a series of operation menus on a display.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an embroidery pattern.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a registration execution program of a series of operation menus by the embroidery data creation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a call execution program for a series of operation menus registered according to the flowchart of FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 Embroidery data creation device 12 Personal computer body 14 Display 16 External storage device 18 Keyboard 20 Mouse 22 Scanner 24 Registration key 26 Processing continuation key 32 FDD 38 CPU 44 ROM 46 RAM

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A menu selection means for sequentially selecting a plurality of operation menus for advancing embroidery sewing on a work cloth, and an operation menu selected by the menu selection means are sequentially stored. An embroidery data creating apparatus, comprising: a menu storage means; and a menu registration means for collectively registering a series of operation menus stored in the menu storage means. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said information is registered by said menu registration means.
A series of operation menus are collectively converted into a predetermined operation menu.
Registration menu storage means for storing the predetermined operation menu by the menu selection means.
When selected, it corresponds to the predetermined operation menu.
A service that sequentially executes a series of operation menus
An embroidery data creation device according to claim 1. 3. The operation menu has a hierarchical structure.
3. The puncture device according to claim 1, wherein
Embroidery data creation device.