JP3333579B2 - Embroidery data generator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an embroidery data generating apparatus for generating one embroidery data by combining a plurality of sketches with a sewing machine or the like having an embroidery function. The present invention relates to an embroidery data generation device capable of reducing thread breaks that occur during actual sewing and improving the quality of completed embroidery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various kinds of automation related to sewing, such as various forms of sewing and thread trimming, have been realized in industrial sewing machines, and have become more multifunctional. For example, there is a type that performs embroidery according to embroidery data stored in advance.

For example, in a conventional embroidery data generating apparatus for an industrial sewing machine, for example, a pattern of a sketch to be embroidered is directly generated using a computer system. For example, while confirming the display on a graphic CRT (cathode ray tube) of a computer system, a picture of an embroidery draft is drawn using a digitizer or the like and input. In addition, a handy scanner or the like is not used, and a stationary scanner that can be provided while scanning a two-dimensional image with high accuracy is used in industrial use.

For example, some home sewing machines can perform relatively complicated embroidery. In order to generate embroidery pattern sewing data used for a sewing machine having such an embroidery function, for example, an embroidery draft drawn on paper with a felt-tip pen or the like is read as a two-dimensional image by a handy scanner or the like, and based on this, There is also provided an embroidery sketch reading device capable of performing embroidery on a desired one. According to such a sewing machine or an embroidery sketch reading device, a design to be embroidered can be easily designed by writing on paper.

When it is desired to perform, for example, four-color stitching embroidery by the above-described conventional embroidery sketch reading device, generally, the embroidery sketch is read by a handy scanner or the like as described above. Is performed a total of four times for each color. For example, first, a total of four embroidery sketches for each color are drawn on paper with a felt-tip pen or the like. Thereafter, the embroidery sketches thus drawn are individually read by the handy scanner or the like as described above.
When reading each color with the handy scanner or the like, the user specifies and inputs the color of the embroidery thread in which the obtained two-dimensional image is to be embroidered.

As described above, the embroidery pattern sewing data used for embroidering with the embroidery threads of a plurality of colors is obtained by reading the embroidery sketch as many times as the required number of colors as described above. It is possible to cope with embroidery using. That is, the embroidery sketches for the required number of colors are created, and each is read as a monochrome two-dimensional image by a handy scanner or the like as described above, so that the embroidery pattern sewing data used for embroidering with embroidery threads of a plurality of colors is obtained. Can be generated.

[0007]

According to observations made while performing many embroideries, such thread breaks are prepared for each embroidery thread (for each thread type such as color or thickness of each embroidery thread). It was found to occur more frequently in the overlapping portions of the sketches in the sketch.

In the embroidery data generating apparatus using a handy scanner or the like, such a plurality of sketches are likely to cause relative displacement of the sketches. However, there is a high possibility that the patterns will be duplicated. In addition, if the pattern overlaps among a plurality of sketches, the quality of the finished embroidery may be reduced depending on the degree of the overlap.

During the actual embroidery by the sewing machine, for example, if a thread break occurs at the overlapping portion of the pattern as described above, a new embroidery thread is used instead of the broken embroidery thread. It is extremely difficult to continue the embroidery even if the embroidery is changed. In addition, even if the embroidery that has been cut once can be continued after the embroidery thread is replaced, the quality of the finished product is low. For example,
Unevenness occurs. Further, the overlapping portion of the pattern between the plurality of sketches as described above may reduce the quality of the completed embroidery even if the thread break does not occur during the embroidery. For example, the overlapping portion becomes higher than its surroundings, causing irregularities. When the thread breaks as described above or when the quality of the overlapping portion of the pattern of the embroidery thread is not favorable, it is very difficult to loosen the thread from the cloth. Therefore, the dough generally has to be discarded. This is a major problem when embroidering on important handkerchiefs and clothes. In addition, once an important thing fails, the user may not use it again.

In addition to solving the problem of thread breakage as described above and improving the quality of the finished embroidery, the present invention
It was also studied and made to obtain patterns of various designs efficiently. In many cases, designs of embroidered sketches are simplified, and many of them are abstractions of people, animals, and the like. Therefore, the inventor can disassemble the design of the embroidered sketch pattern into several design elements, or obtain various designs by freely combining such disassembled design elements. We pay attention to. For example, by selecting and combining various hat design elements, various clothes design elements, and the like with the design elements of characters and animal characters, it is possible to obtain embroidery sketches of various designs. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is possible to reduce thread breaks that occur during actual sewing of embroidery by a sewing machine and to further improve the quality of completed embroidery. An object of the present invention is to provide an embroidery data generation device which can make it possible to combine a plurality of sketches more easily and thereby obtain a more diverse design pattern by combining the plurality of sketches. And

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an embroidery data generating apparatus for generating embroidery data of a sewing machine which performs multicolor sewing while changing different threads, wherein data of a plurality of different embroidered sketches is generated. An underlay memory that is stored separately for each underlay, and an overlap area that calculates the overlap area for each overlapping portion while detecting overlap between the patterns of these underlays when at least two different underlays are combined. A calculating unit, comparing the calculated overlapping area with a predetermined threshold value for each of the overlapping portions, and determining an overlapping error by the overlapping error determining unit; and removing the overlapping portion determined by the overlapping error determining unit as the overlapping error. The above-described object is achieved by providing a duplicated portion deletion unit that generates the data of the drawn sketch.

In the embroidery data generating device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the sketch memory stores data of each sketch.
The later the embroidery order, the higher the priority information is provided for each sketch, and the overlapping portion deletion unit deletes the overlapping information between different sketches, the overlapping information is deleted. The above-mentioned problem is achieved by deleting the overlapping part of the sketch with the lower priority.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an embroidery data generating apparatus for generating embroidery data of a sewing machine which performs embroidery sewing while changing different types of threads, wherein the data of the draft to be embroidered is distinguished for each thread. An overlapping area calculating unit for calculating an overlapping area for each overlapping portion while detecting an overlap between the patterns of the sketches when the sketches to be stored and the sketches of at least two different types of threads are combined; And comparing the calculated overlapping area with a predetermined threshold value for each of the overlapping portions, and determining an overlapping error by the overlapping error determining unit, and removing the overlapping portion determined by the overlapping error determining unit as the overlapping error. The object has been achieved by including a duplicated portion deletion unit that generates sketch data.

In the embroidery data generating apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the embroidery memory stores the embroidery data for each embroidery thread, the data of the embroidery being distinguished for each embroidery thread. Each embroidery thread is provided with the priority information of which the priority order becomes higher, and the overlapping part deletion unit uses the priority information when deleting the overlapping part between the sketches embroidered by different embroidery threads. Thus, the above-described problem is achieved by deleting the overlapping portion of the sketch having the lower priority.

[0016]

The first invention and the second invention of the present application have both found a problem relating to the overlapping portion of the pattern as described above, which has not been found in the past and has not been noticed, and focused on its importance. It was made. Further, the present invention has been made by finding a configuration capable of detecting such an overlapping portion of the pattern more effectively and more accurately.

The overlapping portion of the pattern as described above is, for example,
While displaying the sketch to be embroidered on the LCD display etc.
Visual confirmation is also conceivable. However, it is difficult to visually confirm such an overlapping portion is small. For example, if the ratio of the size of the overlapping portion, that is, the ratio of the draft to the entire embroidery pattern is relatively small, and there is a possibility that thread breakage will occur as described above, find this. It is difficult. It is also conceivable to increase the display magnification to confirm the overlap of small pictures. However, in this case, since the range to be displayed is limited, it is necessary to sequentially check the target sketch, which requires a lot of labor and a lot of time.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the gist of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the embroidery data generating devices of the first and second inventions each include at least a sketch memory 12, an overlapping area calculating unit 14,
The system includes a duplicate error determination unit 16 and a duplicate location deletion unit 18. Further, if necessary, the first threshold value setting unit 22 and the second
A threshold setting unit 24.

First, the sketch memory 12 can store data of a sketch to be embroidered for each embroidery thread.

For example, the sketch memory 1 shown in FIG.
In No. 2, a storage area for storing the sketch data for each embroidery thread is provided for each sketch data as indicated by reference numerals D1 to Dn. These sketch data correspond to, for example, each embroidery thread. Since these storage areas are independent, it is possible to write and read each sketch data independently. However, the present invention does not limit the specific configuration of such a sketch memory 12.

The overlap area calculating section 14 has at least two
The overlap area is calculated for each overlapping portion while detecting the overlap between the patterns of these sketches when two different sketches are combined. The overlapping area calculation unit 14
When the sketch data stored in the sketch memory 12 stores the picture as pixel data of a bitmap type, the number of pixels of the sewn pixels of the overlapping embroidery is determined by the planar continuity of the overlap. The counting may be performed while making the determination. The present invention does not specifically limit the overlapping area calculation unit 14 as long as such calculation of the overlapping area is performed according to the adjacency or continuity of the overlapping portion of each sewn item. Good.

The duplication error judgment unit 16 compares the duplication area calculated by the duplication area calculation unit 14 with a predetermined threshold value for each duplication point, thereby judging duplication errors. For example, even if the overlapping area of a certain sketch and a certain sketch is relatively large, if the overlapping portion is divided into small ones, the present invention compares the overlapping portion with the predetermined threshold for each overlapping portion. So
In some cases, a duplicate error is not determined.

The duplication portion deletion unit 18 generates the sketch data from which the duplication portion determined by the duplication error determination unit 16 as a duplication error has been deleted. For example, even if a certain part of the sketch picture and a certain part of the sketch picture overlap, for the overlapping part that is not determined to have a duplicate error by the duplicate error determination unit 16, the overlapping part It is not deleted by the deletion unit 18. On the other hand, the duplication portion which is judged to have a duplication error by the duplication error judgment unit 16 is deleted by the duplication portion deletion unit 18 so as to improve the taste of the entire design. Can be. For example, by combining a plurality of different sketches as described above, a plurality of design elements can be arbitrarily combined as described above to obtain more effectively what the user expects even when obtaining various designs of the sketches. be able to.

As described above, in the present invention, by effectively using each of the components having the above-described features, the possibility of actually causing thread breakage is reduced. It is possible to detect the overlapping portion of the picture between the sketches according to the possibility of lowering the quality.

Further, according to the present invention, the design of the design of the draft to be embroidered can be decomposed into several design elements,
Also, various designs can be obtained more easily while freely combining such disassembled design elements. For example, by selecting and combining various hat design elements, various clothing design elements, etc. with the design elements of characters and animal characters, it is easier to create embroidery drafts of various designs. Obtainable.

Although the present invention is not limited to this, the inventor has found that the overlapping area calculator 14 is more excellent. That is, in the overlapping area calculation unit 14, when calculating the overlapping area, as shown in FIG. 2, for the overlapping reduced diameter part whose width is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold, it is assumed that the overlapping reduced diameter part has no overlap. The overlap area is calculated as described above.

In FIG. 2, a portion where the patterns of two different sketches overlap each other, that is, an overlapping portion W0 of a certain sketch pattern Da and a different sketch pattern Db different therefrom is an overlapping portion W1 and an overlapping portion. W2 and an overlapping reduced diameter portion N connecting these overlapping portions W1 and W2 can be considered separately. Further, the width of the overlap reduced diameter portion N is smaller than that of the overlap portion W1 or W2. As described above, the inventor has found that the above-mentioned problem of thread breakage and embroidery quality deterioration is unlikely to occur even in the case of the overlapping reduced diameter portion N where the width of the overlapping portion is small, even when the overlapping reduced diameter portion N is large. I have. For example, when the width of the overlapping reduced diameter portion N is relatively narrow with respect to the embroidery stitch pitch,
Thread breakage and embroidery quality degradation tend to be reduced. Therefore, the overlapping area calculation unit 14 calculates the overlapping area as described above, assuming that such overlapping reduced diameter portion N does not have the overlapping.

Accordingly, when the overlapping reduced diameter portion N and the like are ignored in the present invention, for example, in FIG. 2, the overlapping portion W0 is divided into two overlapping portions W1a and W2a. And the area of the overlapping reduced diameter portion N is ignored.

Although the present invention is not limited to this, as shown in FIG. 1, for example, a first threshold setting unit 22 or a second threshold setting unit 24 may be provided. The first threshold value setting unit 22 sets a threshold value used in the duplication error determination unit 16 and used to determine a duplication error based on the duplication area. On the other hand, the second threshold value setting unit 24 sets the predetermined threshold value when the overlap area calculation unit 14 compares the width of the overlap reduced diameter portion with a predetermined threshold value as described above. It is. Each of the first threshold value setting unit 22 and the second threshold value setting unit 24 sets the threshold value set in accordance with the embroidery sewing pitch input.

The inventors have found that, for example, the value of the predetermined threshold value used for the duplicate error determination in the duplicate error determination section 16 is affected by the embroidery stitch pitch when embroidering with a sewing machine. . For example, it has been found that if the embroidery stitch pitch is coarse, even if there is a relatively large overlap of patterns between sketches, thread breakage as described above is unlikely to occur. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to this, but if the predetermined threshold value of the overlapping area calculation unit 14 is determined according to the size of the embroidery sewing pitch, the possibility of actual thread breakage may occur. , It is possible to judge an overlapping error according to the size of the overlapping area.

Also, when the overlap area calculating section 14 compares the width of the overlap reduced diameter section with the predetermined threshold value as described above, the predetermined threshold value used for this is determined in accordance with the embroidery stitch pitch input. The inventor has found that it is preferable to set the threshold value. That is, when the embroidery stitch pitch at the time of actual embroidery by the sewing machine is coarse, it can be determined that the overlapping reduced diameter portion does not overlap even if its width becomes wider. ing.

Although the present invention is not limited to this, the overlapping portion deletion section 18 is provided with predetermined priority information when deleting overlapping portions between sketches embroidered by different embroidery threads. It may be used to delete the overlapping part of the sketch with the lower priority. In this case, the priority information is of a priority in which the lower the order of the embroidery with each embroidery thread, the higher the priority of the data of the embroidery sketch distinguished for each embroidery thread. . In this case, the priority information may be stored in the sketch memory 12 together with data of the sketch to be embroidered, which is distinguished for each embroidery thread, or may be held in some form. For example, the sketch memory 12
Underlay data areas D1 to Dn corresponding to each embroidery thread
A priority relationship may be assigned to each of them in advance.

It is to be noted that the output destination of the duplication portion deletion unit 18 of the present invention, that is, the output of the data of the embroidered sketch, which is generated by the duplication portion deletion unit 18 and whose duplication portion determined as the duplication error has been deleted, is deleted. The destination is not particularly limited,
As shown in FIG. 1, the final output may be output to another processing device, for example, another processing device that generates sewing data based on the output. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, the duplication portion deletion unit 18 updates (rewrites) the sketch data D1 to Dn in the sketch memory 12 and determines that the sketch data D1 to Dn are duplicate errors. The overlapped portion may be data of the embroidered sketch that has been deleted.

[0035]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the embroidery data generating apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 4, the embroidery data generating apparatus 10 of the present embodiment uses a handy pattern D of a plurality of sketches P drawn corresponding to each embroidery thread of multicolor sewing performed while changing different embroidery threads. The scanner 40 reads the data and performs a series of internal processing and the like to generate embroidery data used in a sewing machine having an embroidery function. The generated embroidery data is written to the memory card 68. The embroidery data written in the memory card 68 is read out by a predetermined memory card I / F (interface) built in the sewing machine (not shown). The sewing machine performs embroidery of the multicolor sewing of the pattern D of the sketch P based on the embroidery data read in this manner.

The embroidery data generator 10 is mainly composed of a handy scanner 40 and an embroidery data generator main body 11. The embroidery data generation device main body 11 mainly includes a scanner control circuit 44 and a CPU.
46, a ROM 48, a RAM 52, a liquid crystal display controller 54, and a VRAM (video random access memory).
y) 56, liquid crystal display device 58, key switch 62
, A memory card I / F 64 and connectors 42 and 6
6, and a system bus 60. The system bus 60 is used to transfer data and the like among the scanner control circuit 44, the CPU 46, the ROM 48, the RAM 52, the liquid crystal display controller 54, the key switch 62, and the memory card I / F 64. Used.

The handy scanner 40 is controlled by the scanner control circuit 44 and reads the picture D of the sketch P by manually scanning the sketch P in a fixed direction and at a constant speed. is there. In such manual reading, after setting the degree of resolution with the setting switch 40b, scanning is performed manually while pressing the reading switch 40a. The range of reading the sketch P by the handy scanner 40 is a range of 50 mm × 50 mm, which is read as an image of 100 × 100 pixels. That is, one pixel corresponds to the sketch P to be read.
The size is 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm. Each of the read pixels is “1 (black or a predetermined color)” or “0 (white)”
Are two gradations. The image read in this way is stored in the RAM at each reading corresponding to each embroidery thread.
52 is read. The RAM 52 has the CPU
The values used in the program executed at 46 may be changed, for example, various thresholds are also stored.

On the other hand, in FIG.
Stores programs to be executed by the CPU 46 for realizing functions and the like to which the present invention is applied. The ROM 48 also stores various thresholds used in such a program.

The key switch 62 is connected to the CPU
The operation state is read by the program executed in 46. The liquid crystal display controller 5
4 is accessed from the CPU 46 via the system bus 60. Further, the CPU 46 writes an image to be displayed on the liquid crystal display device 58 to the VRAM 56 via the liquid crystal display controller 54. The liquid crystal display controller 54 uses the VRAM 56 to perform display in a bitmap system.
8 is controlled.

FIG. 5 is a time chart of signals output from the handy scanner 40.

FIG. 5 shows a time chart of signals output from the handy scanner 40 to the scanner control circuit 44 via the connector 42. That is, a time chart of the reference clock WG, the sub-scanning synchronization signal ST, the main scanning synchronization signal AU, and the image signal VD is shown. Each of these signals
From the handy scanner 40 to the scanner control circuit 4
4 is output.

First, the reference clock WG is a clock signal having a constant period (constant frequency). The cycle of the reference clock WG corresponds to the maximum scanning speed when manually scanning with the handy scanner. In particular, the period is the same as the main scanning period of one line corresponding to the maximum scanning speed.

The sub-scanning synchronization signal ST is a signal for synchronizing the sub-scanning when the handy scanner 40 is manually scanned. That is, it is a signal that is output every time the main scanning of one line of image is started, which is sequentially output according to the manual scanning. On the other hand, the main scanning synchronization signal AU is a signal for synchronizing the image signal VD for each pixel to be main-scanned when the handy scanner 40 performs manual scanning. Therefore, the main scanning synchronization signal AU is output for each pixel of the image signal VD.

In FIG. 5, the reference clock WG
The periods between times t ₁ , t ₂ , t ₄ , and t ₅ are the same. In addition, t ₃ from the time t ₁
Compared to the period until, in the period from time t ₃ to t _6, manual reading speed of the handy scanner 40 is slower. Therefore, the time t from the time t ₁
Compared to the time period of up to _three, more of the time period from the time t ₃ to t ₆ is longer.

[0047] Further, spacing the sub-scan sync signal ST is output, for example, in the periods from time t ₁ to t ₃ when shown in this FIG. 5, also from time t ₃ to t ₆ is the one line The image signal VD is output. Accordingly, the image signals VD for 100 pixels are output, and 100 main scanning synchronization signals AU for synchronizing the image signals VD are output.

FIG. 6 is performed in this embodiment. It is a flowchart of an embroidery data generation process.

The embroidery data generation process shown in FIG. 6 is realized by the CPU 46 executing a program stored in the ROM 48.
In performing the embroidery data generation process, a threshold value to be used is set in the RAM 52 in advance.

In the flowchart of FIG. 6, first, in steps 102 and 104, the pattern D of the sketch P to be embroidered created for each embroidery thread is processed by the handy scanner 40 for each embroidery thread. read. Further, the data of the sketch P read for each embroidery thread thus read is stored in the RAM 52 for each embroidery thread. That is, after reading the sketch P corresponding to one embroidery thread in the step 102, the process proceeds to step 104.
Then, it is determined whether or not to read an underlay P of another embroidery thread.
In step 104, when reading is further performed, the process branches forward to step 102. When it is determined that reading of all the sketches P has been completed, the process proceeds to the next step 106.

Next, at step 106, it is checked whether or not there is an overlap between a plurality of sketches to which the present invention is applied. This duplication check is performed by a program described later with reference to FIGS. The duplication check corresponds to the configuration of FIG. 1 or FIG.
This is realized as a program written in the ROM 48 executed by the PU 46. The result of the duplication check in step 106 is set as a duplication flag Fe.

Subsequently, in step 107, the result of the duplication check in step 106, that is, the judgment of the presence or absence of duplication is performed. This is in accordance with the presence or absence of the setting of the overlap flag Fe. In step 107, if it is determined that there is no overlap, the process proceeds to step 109.
On the other hand, if it is determined that there is an overlap, the next step 1
Proceed to 08.

In step 108, step 10
6 and the data of the embroidered sketch from which the duplicate portion determined to be the duplicate error in step 107 is deleted. In the case where the present embodiment realizes, for example, the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the step 108 corresponding to the one performed by the duplicated portion deletion unit 18 is performed.
Is to generate the data of the embroidered sketch from which the duplicated portion determined as the duplicated error has been deleted, and sequentially output the data. On the other hand, if the present embodiment realizes, for example, a configuration as shown in FIG. 3, the processing in step 108 corresponding to that performed by the overlapping portion deletion unit 18 is , And deletes (or updates to delete) data corresponding to the duplicated portion determined to be a duplicate error, corresponding to the sketch data D1 to Dn stored in the sketch memory 12.

In the following step 109, for the combination between any two of the required sketch data D1 to Dn, the determination of the overlapping portion and the deletion of the overlapping portion in steps 106 to 108 are performed. It is determined whether the process has been completed. If it is determined in step 109 that the check is not completed, that is, if the sketch data D
If it is determined that there is still a need to determine a duplicated portion or delete a duplicated portion for any two combinations of 1 to Dn, the process branches forward to step 106. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 109 that such a check has been completed, the process proceeds to step 110.

In step 110, step 1
Based on the sketches P read at 02 and 104, embroidery sewing data of multicolor sewing is generated. In the following step 112, the sewing data generated in step 110 is written to the memory card 68.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a first example of the duplication check performed in the embroidery data generation processing of this embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a second example of the duplication check. The processes shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 and 8 are all performed in the step 10 of FIG.
6 is performed.

First, as a first example of the duplication check,
In the flowchart of FIG. 7, first, at step 132, the overlapping area between a plurality of sketches corresponding to each embroidery thread is calculated. In this method, two sketches are sequentially selected from a plurality of sketches corresponding to the respective embroidery threads, and the overlapping area of the patterns between the selected sketches is calculated. or,
The calculation of the overlapping area is performed by the bitmap method.
The corresponding pixels between the target sketches stored in M52 are compared, and if both of the corresponding pixels are “1 (embroidery)”, the overlap is determined. The area is determined sequentially. In such an overlap area calculation, the overlap area is determined as having no overlap with respect to the overlap reduced diameter portion whose width is equal to or less than the overlap area calculation threshold, and the overlap area is detected while detecting the overlap between the two sketches. The calculation is performed for each overlapping portion. The overlap area calculation threshold is stored in the ROM 48 in advance in the overlap check of the first example.

Subsequently, in step 134, the overlapping area calculated for each overlapping portion in step 132 is
Each overlapping portion is compared with a predetermined threshold value to determine an overlapping error. The threshold used at this time is a duplication determination threshold, and in the duplication check of the first example, the ROM 4
8 is stored in advance. In this embodiment, at least one
If it is determined that the overlapping area of the two overlapping portions is equal to or larger than the predetermined threshold, it is determined that there is an overlapping error between the target sketches.

If it is determined in step 134 that there is a duplicate error, then in step 136, the duplicate flag F
Set e. After the end of the step 136, the process returns to the step in which the duplication check process shown in FIG. On the other hand, if it is not determined in step 134 that there is a duplication error, after step 134, the flow returns to the step in which the duplication check shown in the flowchart of FIG.

Next, in the overlap check of the second example shown in FIG. 8, first, at step 160, an overlap area calculation threshold is set. The overlap area calculation threshold corresponds to the one set by the second threshold setting unit 24 in FIG. In step 162, an overlap determination threshold value is set. The overlap determination threshold corresponds to the one set by the first threshold setting unit 22 in FIG. The set overlap area calculation threshold value and the set overlap determination threshold value are stored in the RAM 52 in the overlap check of the second example.

After such setting, in step 164, two sketches are sequentially taken out from among a plurality of sketches corresponding to each embroidery thread, and the overlapping area of the two sketches is calculated. In the overlap area calculation, regarding the overlap reduced diameter portion whose width is equal to or less than the overlap area calculation threshold, the overlap area is determined as having no overlap, and the overlap area is determined while detecting the overlap between the two sketches. The calculation is performed for each overlapping portion.

Subsequently, in step 166, the overlapping area determined for each of the overlapping portions in step 164 is compared with the overlapping determination threshold value for each of the overlapping portions to determine an overlapping error. In this embodiment, when the overlapping area of at least one overlapping portion is equal to or greater than the overlapping determination threshold value, the sketch is determined to be an overlapping error.

If it is determined in step 166 that a duplicate error has occurred, then in step 168, the duplicate flag Fe is set. After step 168, or when it is not determined in step 166 that there is a duplicate error, the process proceeds to the step of reading the duplicate check process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, that is, to step 106 in FIG. Return.

Hereinafter, the operation of the embroidery data generating apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to a specific example of a sketch.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an underlay for this embodiment.

In FIG. 9, the sketches S1 and S2 are:
Each is a draft corresponding to the one embroidered with each embroidery thread for embroidery which performs multicolor sewing while changing different embroidery threads. In the sketch S1, a pattern P1 embroidered with a yellow embroidery thread is drawn. The picture P1 is, in particular, the face of the picture to be embroidered. In the underlaying picture S2, a picture P2 to be embroidered with red embroidery thread is drawn. The picture P2 is a picture of a hat part.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are diagrams showing an example of a composite of the sketch of the present embodiment in which multicolor sewing is performed while changing different embroidery threads.

First, in FIG. 10, the sketches S3 and S4 are the same as the sketches S shown in FIG.
1 and the sketch S2. That is, the picture P3a in FIG. 10 is based on the picture P1. The pattern P3b is based on the pattern P2.
The pattern P4a is based on the pattern P1. Picture P
4b is based on the pattern P2.

As described above, the two sketches S1 and S2 are synthesized. The sketches S3 and S4 have different overlapping portions due to the synthesis. That is, the sketch S3
In the above, the picture P1 of the sketch S1 and the sketch S
2 with respect to the overlapping portion with the pattern P2,
Side has been removed. Therefore, the pattern P3a is designed to cover the hat of the pattern P3b.

On the other hand, as for the sketch S4, when the picture P1 of the sketch S1 and the picture P2 of the sketch S2 are combined, the overlapping portion of the picture P1 and the picture P2 remains as it is. Therefore, the design is different from the sketch S3. Further, with respect to such an overlapped portion, thread breakage may occur during actual sewing of embroidery by the sewing machine.

Further, the sketch S5 shown in FIG.
9 is a composite of one underpainting corresponding to the one embroidered with the blue embroidery thread, that is, one underpainting with a picture P5b, on the underpainting S1 of FIG. This sketch S
As shown in FIG. 5, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to easily obtain different Zadein by synthesizing the pattern P5b of the different hat portion even if the pattern P1 of the same face as the synthesized sketch S3 is synthesized. Can be. At this time, as for the overlapping portion, the overlapping portion on the side of the face is deleted, and the pattern P of the face is removed.
5a is a preferable design in which the hat pattern P5b is covered. In addition, by removing the overlapping portion in this manner, thread breaks that occur during actual sewing of embroidery by the sewing machine can be reduced.

Also, in the synthesized sketch S6 of FIG. 11, the pattern P2 of the sketch S2 corresponding to the red embroidery thread is different from the face of the pattern P1 of the sketch S1. A certain sketch pattern P6a is synthesized. Also in the synthesized sketch S6, the overlapping portions are deleted in the present embodiment, and the design is preferable.

As described above, in this embodiment, when generating embroidery data for embroidery for performing multicolor sewing while changing different embroidery threads, a plurality of sketches corresponding to each embroidery thread are synthesized. , The overlapped portion generated by the synthesis is combined with the synthesized sketch S shown in FIG.
3 and the combined sketch S5 and the combined sketch S6 in FIG. 11, the overlapping portion can be appropriately deleted. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the embroidery is performed with two embroidery threads in the overlapped portion and the design becomes unfavorable, or the thread breaks during sewing.

For example, when the present invention is not applied, in the synthesized sketch S4 shown in FIG. 10, in the overlapping portion, different embroidery threads may be mixed in color, or thread breakage may occur during actual sewing. There is a risk that it will. Even if such color mixing or thread breakage does not occur, there is a step in the finish of embroidery sewing at the overlapping portion, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of aesthetics.

In the present embodiment, when calculating the overlapping area in step 132 in FIG. 7 or step 164 in FIG. 8, as described above with reference to FIG. The overlap area calculation is performed on the following overlapping reduced diameter portions assuming that there is no overlap. For this reason, even if the pattern is actually in the overlapping state, the overlapping area is calculated for the outline portion of the picture on the assumption that there is no overlap. This is because it is assumed that, after embroidering a picture of a certain sketch, a picture of a different sketch is embroidered only on the outline portion and then overlaid thereon. In such a case, for the lower pattern where the outline part is overlapped on it,
It is generally unnecessary to delete the duplicated portion regarding this duplication.

In this embodiment, by doing so, it is possible to perform a higher quality duplicate error determination in accordance with the degree of actual thread breakage, the degree of the influence of the quality of the finished embroidery, and the like. In particular, in the present embodiment, as described above, since the outline of the picture is excluded from the overlapping error range, it is determined that there is an overlapping error based on intentional duplication required for the actual sketch design. I won't. In addition, even if such an intentional overlap in design, for example, an overlap portion having a relatively large area other than a contour portion can be determined as an overlap error,
It is possible to further reduce the risk of thread breakage.

In using the embroidery data generation device of this embodiment, for example, even if it is determined that a duplicate error has occurred, the duplicated portion is not deleted by a predetermined operation of the user. May be continued, and writing of the generated sewing data to the memory card 68 may be continued. This is because, for example, there is a case where it is necessary to intentionally overlap, such as the edge of an emblem, without deleting a duplicated portion or the like by a predetermined operation of the user. Therefore, the user may be allowed to select whether or not to use the duplicate error determination function of the present embodiment.

[0078]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By reducing thread breaks that occur during actual sewing of embroidery by the sewing machine, improving the quality of the finished embroidery, and making it easier to combine multiple sketches, It is possible to obtain an excellent effect that it is possible to obtain a picture of a more various design by a combination of the sketch.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the gist of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of calculating an overlap area performed in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a second block diagram showing the gist of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embroidery data generation device according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 5 is a time chart of a signal at a connection portion between the handy scanner 40 and the embroidery data generation device main body in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing embroidery data generation processing performed in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a first example of a duplication check performed during the embroidery data generation processing;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a second example of the duplication check.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of an embroidery sketch for performing multicolor sewing while changing different embroidery threads targeted by the present embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a first example in which a draft for each embroidery thread targeted by the present embodiment is synthesized.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a second example in which a draft for each embroidery thread targeted by the present embodiment is synthesized.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Embroidery data generation apparatus 11 ... Embroidery data generation apparatus main body 12 ... Sketch memory 12a ... Sketch data (each storage area of sketch data) 14 ... Overlap area calculation part 16 ... Duplication error judgment part 18 ... Duplication part deletion part 22 ... 1 threshold setting unit 24 second threshold setting unit 40 handy scanner 40a reading switch 40b setting switch 42, 66 connector 44 scanner control circuit 46 CPU 48 ROM 52 RAM 54 liquid crystal display controller 56 VRAM 58: liquid crystal display device 60: system bus 62: key switch 64: memory card I / F 68: memory card P, P0 to P3: sketch D, Da, Db, D0, D1, D2a, D2b: picture W0, W1, W1a, W2, W2a, W3 ... the overlapped portions N ... overlapping the reduced diameter portion t ₁ ~ t ₆ ... time

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] An embroidery data generating apparatus for generating embroidery data of a sewing machine for performing multicolor sewing while changing different threads, comprising: a rough picture memory for separately storing a plurality of different embroidered rough pictures for each rough picture; An overlapping area calculating unit that calculates an overlapping area for each overlapping portion while detecting an overlap between the patterns of the sketches when at least two different sketches are synthesized; and calculating the calculated overlapping area. A duplication error determining unit that compares each duplication position with a predetermined threshold to determine a duplication error; and a duplication position deletion unit that generates data of a sketch from which the duplication position determined by the duplication error determination unit is deleted. And an embroidery data generating apparatus. 2. The under-drawing memory according to claim 1, wherein the under-drawing memory includes, for each under-drawing, priority information for each of the under-drawing data, the priority order of which becomes higher as the order of embroidery becomes later. An embroidery data generating apparatus, wherein the deleting unit deletes an overlapping portion of a lower-priority sketch using the priority information when deleting a duplicated portion between different sketches. . 3. An embroidery data generating apparatus for generating embroidery data of a sewing machine which performs embroidery sewing while changing different types of threads, comprising: a draft memory for storing data of a draft to be embroidered for each thread; An overlap area calculation unit that calculates an overlap area for each overlapping portion while detecting overlap between the patterns of the sketches when the sketches of two different types of yarns are combined; A duplication error determination unit that compares the area with a predetermined threshold value for each duplication point to determine duplication errors; and a duplication that generates data of a sketch from which the duplication position determined by the duplication error determination unit to be a duplication error is deleted. An embroidery data generation device comprising a location deletion unit. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, in the sketch memory, the priority of the data of the sketch to be embroidered, which is distinguished for each embroidery thread, increases as the order of embroidery by each embroidery thread becomes later. Priority information is provided for each embroidery thread, and the overlapping portion deletion unit uses the priority information when deleting overlapping portions between sketches embroidered by different embroidery threads. An embroidery data generation device for deleting an overlapping portion of a lower sketch.