JP3525680B2 - Automatic sewing machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention can form a desired pattern of stitches on a material to be sewn according to sewing data.
The present invention relates to an automatic sewing machine capable of creating sewing data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, automatic sewing machines have been known which perform a sewing operation in accordance with sewing data in which the sewing operation is sequentially set. In such an automatic sewing machine, a table that is movable in the XY directions along a horizontal plane is provided under the needle, a workpiece is fixed to the table, and a motor that moves the table by a predetermined amount is driven according to the sewing data. , A stitch is formed by performing a sewing operation. Some automatic sewing machines have a sewing data creation function. In such an automatic sewing machine, the sewing data should be created under the condition that the levelness of the table, the verticality of the needle bar (portion supporting the needle) with respect to the table, the error in the amount of movement of the table, etc. are exactly the same as when sewing. You can

When creating sewing data, it is general to sequentially input position information of needle drop points. The needle drop point is a point at which the needle of the automatic sewing machine is pierced into the work when the automatic sewing machine actually performs sewing.
An example of this is shown in FIG. FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a state in which a stitch is formed on a sewing object, and FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an outline of sewing data. As shown in FIG. 6 (a),
In the sewn object, the sewing data is represented as data representing the position of the needle drop point (also referred to as position information). That is, it is expressed by the position of the starting point B, the position of the point S ₁ , the position of the point S ₂ , the position of the point S ₃ , ... The position of the point S _n (Note that these position information are included in the actual sewing data. In addition, attribute information indicating the sewing speed, whether the thread is cut, or the like is added, but it is omitted here).

The position information of each point is usually represented by the amount of movement of the table from the immediately preceding needle drop point. Eg 3
As shown in FIG. 6B, the data of the stitch number is represented by the amount of movement of the table from the previous point, that is, the X coordinate of the data of the second stitch for the X coordinate, and the Y coordinate of the data of the second stitch is also used for the Y coordinate.
It is expressed by the movement of the table from the coordinates. In this way, the data of the points S ₁ , S ₂ , S ₃ , ..., S _n are stored in the memory and further stored in the floppy disk or the like.

The distance between consecutive needle drop points has an upper limit and a lower limit. Therefore, when the position information of the needle drop point is expressed by the movement amount of the table from the previous point, it does not exceed the upper limit or the lower limit. It is easy to manage whether or not Further, if a display device such as a liquid crystal display is provided on the automatic sewing machine and the amount of movement is displayed on the automatic sewing machine, the positional relationship between the position of the stitch to be inputted and the stitch just inputted can be understood very well. .

The automatic sewing machine usually has a function of automatically generating other stitches based on the input position information. For example, when forming a sewing pattern in a straight line, it is possible to input position information of both ends of the line segment and further input a pitch, and divide the both ends at this pitch to form a stitch. (Here, the input method for forming the stitch in this manner is called line input).

In the sewing operation, the sewing pattern previously performed may be formed again at a different place. For example, it is often the case that one line segment is formed by using the function of forming the sewing pattern in a straight line and the line segment parallel to this is formed. Further, in many cases, a line segment has already been formed on the sewing object, and it is often desired to draw some line segments parallel to this line segment.

[0008]

However, according to the above-mentioned prior art, the positional relationship with the stitch just inputted is
Although it is easy to understand, it is difficult to understand the positional relationship with other seams. If the first line segment is also formed by line input when forming the above-mentioned parallel line stitches, when forming the first line segment, the end point of the start point Make a note of the amount of movement, and for the second and subsequent line segments, after leaving the desired interval from the first line segment,
It is possible to input so that the amount of motion at the end point with respect to the start point becomes the same as the recorded amount of motion.

However, when the first line segment is already completed, the amount of movement of the end point with respect to the start point of the line segment is unknown. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to draw the second line segment accurately in parallel. Even if the first line segment is a line input, the same applies when the user forgets to make the above-mentioned memo and inputs the pitch. That is, when the pitch is entered, the point immediately before the end point is
This is because the stitches automatically generated by dividing the start point and the end point instead of the start point by the pitch are the closest points to the end point. In this case, the amount of movement of the end point with respect to the closest point is displayed, but the amount of movement of the end point with respect to the start point is not displayed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the automatic sewing machine according to claim 1 makes it possible to display the movement amount between any two points, thereby making the creation of sewing data more efficient. Is intended. Another object of the automatic sewing machine according to the present invention is to make it easy to grasp the outline of the position information in the sewable area.

[0011]

The automatic sewing machine according to claim 1 of the present invention, which has been made to achieve the above object, has at least a position representing a position where a stitch is formed on a sewing object. An automatic sewing machine that performs a sewing operation by relatively moving a table and a needle to which a workpiece is fixed according to sewing data including information, and inputting position information for inputting the position information for each stitch. Means, and a simulated operation means for moving the table and the needle relative to each other in response to the input of the position information by the position information input means,
In the automatic sewing machine that is capable of creating the sewing data, within a range in which the automatic sewing machine can be sewn,
A reference point input means for designating a reference point, and, in response to the input of the position information by the position information input means, a coordinate of the input position information having the reference point as an origin is calculated and predetermined. Relative coordinate display means for displaying on the image display device,
It is characterized by having.

In this automatic sewing machine, if a reference point is set in advance within a range in which the automatic sewing machine can be sewn (hereinafter referred to as a sewing area) by the reference point inputting means, the position information is input when the position information is input. The coordinates (corresponding to the above-mentioned amount of movement) from the reference point to the position where the user is about to input are displayed on the image display device.

For example, when drawing the above-mentioned parallel lines, the starting point of the line segment already formed is input as a reference point, and the positional information of the end point of the line segment is input. Then, the coordinates of the reference point, that is, the end point with respect to the start point are displayed on the image display device. In addition to the case where parallel lines are formed, when the existing sewing pattern is desired to be moved, the moving amount can be easily known. For example, if you want to move the star-shaped sewing pattern to the right as much as possible, enter the point at the right end of the star as the reference point, and go right from there to hit the right end of the sewing area. Try inputting points. The coordinates displayed at this time are the maximum amount of movement of this star to the right.

Thus, since the coordinates of an arbitrary point with respect to an arbitrary reference point can be known, the sewing data can be created more efficiently. It is to be noted that such a precise parallel line and an accurate maximum movement amount are important, but there are cases where it is desired to know the arrangement in the sewing area. This may be done as in claim 2.

That is, in the automatic sewing machine according to claim 2,
In response to the input of position information by the position information input means,
Absolute coordinate display means for calculating the coordinates of the input position information with the fixed point preset in the range as the origin and displaying the coordinates on the predetermined image display device is further provided.

In this way, it is possible to know where in the sewing area the position information to be input is located. For example,
When the sewing area is rectangular and the X-coordinate is set to -130 to +130 and the Y-coordinate is set to -65 to +65 with the center of gravity as the origin, the coordinates are displayed as (+125, -10) by the absolute coordinate display means. When displayed, it can be seen that the position information is slightly below the vertical center on the right side of the sewing area. Therefore, it becomes easy to understand the outline of the arrangement in the sewing area.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an automatic sewing machine 1 to which the present invention is applied. The automatic sewing machine 1 includes a sewing machine main body that moves the needle 3 up and down, and a table 5 that is located below the needle 3 and that is moved back and forth and left and right. I sew.

This sewing operation is performed according to the sewing data created by the automatic sewing machine 1 (or another sewing data creation device). This sewing data is used by the automatic sewing machine 1
The operation panel 9 (according to a popular name, hereinafter, referred to as a programmer 9) is used when the above is created. The appearance of the programmer 9 is shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the programmer 9 includes a plurality of keys (hereinafter referred to as a key group 11) and a liquid crystal display 13. The key group 11 includes the cursor keys 15,
It is composed of a + key 17, a-key 19, a numeric key 21, a return key 23 and the like. Reference numeral 25 denotes an LED that is turned on or blinks to indicate that the key can be pressed.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the automatic sewing machine 1. In FIG. 3, the programmer 9 and other parts (hereinafter, also referred to as the sewing machine main body 1) are shown separately. First, the sewing machine main body 1 has an X for moving the table 5.
Shaft motor 31, Y-axis motor 33, sewing machine motor 35 for moving needle 3 up and down, switch group 37 for operating sewing machine main body 1, and floppy disk for reading and writing sewing data on a floppy disk. The device 39, a buzzer 41 that sounds to alert the user of the sewing machine main body 1, an LED 43 that is turned on to notify the user of the operating state, and the operation of the sewing machine main body 1 and the creation of sewing data. A ROM 45 storing a necessary program, a RAM 47 temporarily storing data used for executing the program, and a CPU 49 executing the program stored in the ROM 45 are provided.

Actually, the CPU 49 and the sewing machine motor 35 are connected via a motor driver for generating a current according to a command signal from the CPU 49, and the floppy device 39 is connected to the CPU 49 via a disk device controller. Connected to each device, such as
A required interface circuit is inserted between the PU 49 and the PU 49, but it is omitted in this figure. Further, the sewing machine main body 1 and the programmer 9 are connected via the external communication unit 51.

On the other hand, the programmer 9 uses the key group 11 described above.
In addition, the liquid crystal display 13 (denoted as LCD in FIG. 3), the external communication unit 53 that directly exchanges signals with the external communication unit 51 of the sewing machine body 1, the backlight 55 that illuminates the liquid crystal display 13 from the back side, and the buzzer 41. A buzzer 57 that sounds as appropriate for substantially the same purpose, and a programmer 9
ROM5 in which programs to be executed in
9, a RAM 61 for temporarily storing data used for executing the program, and a CPU 63 for executing the program stored in the ROM 59. CPU63
Outputs a command given via the key group 11 to the sewing machine main body 1 side as a predetermined signal, or performs a predetermined display (described later) on the liquid crystal display 13 based on the signal received from the sewing machine main body 1 side. Or

The liquid crystal display 13 by the CPU 63
An example of the displayed information is shown in FIG. Figure 4 (a)
Shows an example output to the liquid crystal display 13 in the trace mode. Here, the trace mode is a mode for checking the sewing data created in advance, so that the X-axis motor 31 and the Y-axis motor 31 are arranged so that the position indicated by the position information for each stitch comes under the needle 3. Three
3 is driven to move the table 5, and the absolute coordinates 71 and the relative coordinates 73 indicated by the position information are displayed on the liquid crystal display 13.

The absolute coordinates 71 are coordinates with respect to the origin set in advance in the sewing area of the automatic sewing machine 1. In the automatic sewing machine 1, the origin is located at the center of gravity of the rectangular sewing area having a length of 130 mm and a width of 260 mm. Has been defined. The absolute coordinates 71 (100.
00, 60.00) indicates a position slightly left of the upper right corner in this sewing area. Here, it is assumed that the coordinates indicate the point B which is the end point of the line segment AB shown in FIG.

One relative coordinate 73 represents a relative position with respect to a preset reference point. Here, it is assumed that the point A is previously input as the reference point, and the point B is located 10 mm to the right and 3 mm upward with respect to the point A. The relative coordinates differ from the conventional display of the amount of movement in the following points. That is, conventionally, the absolute coordinates 71 represent the relative coordinates with respect to the stitch immediately before the point B (here, the point C). On the other hand, the relative coordinate 73 is a relative position displayed with respect to an arbitrary preset point.

In addition to the absolute coordinates 71 and the relative coordinates 73, an icon 75 indicating the input method used at the time of creation (in this figure, stitches are input stitch by stitch) is displayed on the liquid crystal display 13. The number of stitches indicating the position information of the stitch indicated by the absolute coordinate 71, and the total number of stitches forming the sewing data is 7
9. An icon 81 indicating whether or not a signal is output to the outside with respect to the current position information, a sewing speed 83, and an end code 85 indicating whether or not this sewing data is completed are displayed.

The trace mode is advanced by pressing the + key 17 (see FIG. 2). This process is shown in FIG. FIG. 5 shows a process performed when the + key 17 is pressed in the trace mode. In this process, the CPU 63 of the programmer 9 converts the input to the + key 17 into a predetermined signal and sends it to the sewing machine main body 1, or receives the absolute coordinates 71, the relative coordinates 73 and the like from the sewing machine main body 1 to the liquid crystal display 13. The CPU 49 of the sewing machine main body 1 executes the output processing, while the X-axis motor 31 and the Y-axis motor 3 are responsive to the signal from the programmer 9 and the sewing data.
Processing for driving 3 is performed.

The process shown in FIG. 6 is started when the automatic sewing machine 1 is set in the trace mode and the target sewing data is read from the floppy device 39 into the RAM 47 by the CPU 49. It should be noted that the sewing data is similar to that shown in FIG. 6B, in which the drive amount of the X-axis motor 31 and the drive amount of the Y-axis motor 31 from the position information of the previous point are sequentially stored. . When this processing is started, first, in S10, the X-axis motor 31 and the Y-axis motor 33 are driven to move the table 5, and the origin is positioned directly below the needle 3. Then, wait for the + key 17 to be pressed (S20),
When the + key 17 is pressed, the X-axis motor 31 and the Y-axis motor 33 are driven to move the table 5 to the sewing start point (S
30). At this time, the liquid crystal display 13 displays the absolute coordinates 71 and the relative coordinates 73 of the moved position, but if the reference point is not input, the coordinates with the origin as a temporary reference point are displayed. That is, the absolute coordinates 71 and the relative coordinates 73 of the sewing start point are the same.

Then, the process proceeds to S40 and waits until the + key 17 is pressed again. When the + key 17 is pressed, the process proceeds to S50, and one feed stitch is moved in accordance with the sewing data in the RAM 47. That is, the X-axis motor 31 and the Y-axis motor 33 are respectively driven by the driving amounts stored as sewing data to move the table 5. At this time, the liquid crystal display 1
The absolute coordinates 71 displayed in 3 are the absolute coordinates of the immediately preceding point plus the movement amount moved in S40. On the other hand, regarding the relative coordinates 73, if the reference point is set, the above-mentioned relative position is displayed, and if the reference point is not set, the coordinates with the origin as a temporary reference point are displayed.
For the relative coordinates 73 other than the sewing start point, the drive amounts of the X-axis motor 31 and the Y-axis motor 33 are converted into the movement distances in the X and Y directions of the table 5 for each component of the absolute coordinates of the sewing start point. It is calculated by accumulating things.

In subsequent S60, the L key 87 (see FIG. 2)
Wait for whether or not was pressed. When the L key 87 is pressed, S
Proceeding to 70, the position right below the needle 3 is set as the reference point. In S80, it is determined whether or not the tracing of the sewing data has been completed. If YES, the process returns to S10, the table 5 is moved again, and the origin is positioned immediately below the needle 3. If NO, that is, if there is a continuation of the sewing data, the process proceeds to S90, waits again for the + key 17 to be pressed, and if so, returns to S50. Hereafter, each time the + key 17 is pressed,
Read the next position information recorded in the sewing data,
Set the X-axis motor 31 and Y so that the needle 3 is located at that position.
The shaft motor 33 is driven. When the L key 87 is pressed, its position is set as a reference point, and thereafter, the absolute coordinates 71 and the relative coordinates 73 with respect to the set reference point are displayed on the liquid crystal display 13.

According to this processing, the sewing start point cannot be used as the reference point, but when the sewing start point is desired to be the reference point,
-Press the key 19. This will end this process,
A process (not shown) for tracing the sewing data in the reverse direction is started. In this process, trace to the sewing start point,
By pressing the L key 87, the sewing start point can be set as a reference point.

As described above, when the relative coordinates 73 are displayed in the trace mode, it is possible to easily create the sewing data for forming the line segment DE parallel to the line segment AB being traced. First, the point B with respect to the reference point A
Make a note of the relative coordinates (10.00, 3.00) of
The trace mode is ended and the automatic sewing machine 1 is set to the creation mode. Then, the function for performing the line input described above is activated, and the cursor key 15 and the return key 23 are operated.

When the cursor key 15 is operated, the CPU 63 of the programmer 9 sends a signal to the sewing machine main body 1 in response thereto, and the CPU 49 of the sewing machine main body 1 drives the X-axis motor 31 and the Y-axis motor 33 to move the table 5. Let That is, the CPUs 49 and 6 that drive the X-axis motor 31 and the Y-axis motor 33 according to the operation of the cursor key 15.
3 corresponds to the simulated operation means of the present invention.

In this way, when the table 5 is moved to the position of the point D with respect to the needle 3, the return key 23 is pressed. Then, the X-axis motor 3 from the previous point (here, point B) of point D
The driving amounts of the Y-axis motor 33 and the Y-axis motor 33 are stored in the RAM 47, and are further registered as starting points of line segments to be formed. That is, the cursor key 15 and the return key 23
It corresponds to the position information input means of the present invention. Note that, unlike the position information up to that point, no seam is formed between the points B and D, so attribute information indicating this fact is required, but it is omitted here.

At this time, the liquid crystal display 13 displays absolute coordinates 71 in which the drive amounts of the reference point motors 31 and 33 up to that time are converted into moving distances, and relative coordinates 73 with respect to the reference point A. That is, at this time, the process of the CPU 63 for displaying the absolute coordinates 71 on the liquid crystal display 13 corresponds to the process as the absolute coordinate display means of the present invention, and the process of the CPU 63 for displaying the relative coordinates 73 on the liquid crystal display 13 is the relative of the present invention. This corresponds to processing as coordinate display means. The display of the relative coordinates 73 does not have much meaning here.

When the point D is input in this way, the L key 87 is pressed. Then, the point D is set as the reference point instead of the point A (in the creation mode, the return key 23
By pressing the L key 87 without pressing, it is possible to set an arbitrary position other than the seam as the reference point). Here, the cursor key 15 is operated to display the relative coordinates 73 (-10.00, -3.0) on the liquid crystal display 13.
Move the table 5 to the position where 0) is displayed. That position is point E. The relative coordinates are shown in FIG.
The sign is opposite to the relative coordinate 73 shown in (a), but this is because the line segment DE is in the opposite direction to the line segment AB. Here, if the return key 23 is pressed, the point E is registered, and if the number key 21 is used to input the pitch, the line segments DE are divided by the pitch and the stitches are automatically generated. The line segment DE created in this way is
Since the actual line segment AB is created based on the relative position of the point B to the point A, both the parallelism and the length are faithful to the line segment AB. The sewing data of the line segment DE created in this way is stored together with the sewing data of the line segment AB when the creation mode is finished.
Stored in.

As described above, in the automatic sewing machine 1, the relative coordinates 73 of the position information indicated by the sewing data with respect to the reference point are displayed on the liquid crystal display 13 in both the sewing data creation mode and the trace mode. . Therefore, as described above, it is possible to easily create the sewing data of the new sewing pattern based on the existing sewing pattern. Moreover, since the absolute coordinates 71 are also displayed, it is possible to know where in the sewing area the position information is, and also to know the outline of the positional relationship with any stitch that has been input up to that point.

Although the automatic sewing machine 1 has been described as one embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and can be implemented in various modes. For example, in the trace mode, the reference point may be input at any time. Also, a plurality of reference points may be set. Then, the relative coordinates of each of these reference points may be displayed. In FIG. 4A, the coordinates are absolute coordinates 71 and relative coordinates 73.
Although two lines are displayed with and, when two reference points can be set, the absolute coordinates 71 and the two relative coordinates 73 display a total of three lines of coordinates. Of course, other display modes may be used, and for example, only one of the relative coordinates 73 may be displayed on the liquid crystal display 13, and the display may be switched to the other by any key operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an overview of an automatic sewing machine 1 that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a programmer 9 included in the automatic sewing machine 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the automatic sewing machine 1.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of an example of position information displayed on the liquid crystal display 13 of the automatic sewing machine 1 and the position information.

FIG. 5 shows a CP when the automatic sewing machine 1 is in the trace mode.
It is a flowchart of the process performed in U49,63.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of position information and sewing data of stitches formed by the automatic sewing machine.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 ... Automatic sewing machine 3 ... Needle 5 ... Table 7 ... Sewing object 9 ... Programmer 11 ...
Key group 13 ... Liquid crystal display 15 ... Cursor keys 17
… + Key 21… Numeric Key 23… Return Key 87
... L key 31 ... X-axis motor 33 ... Y-axis motor 35
... Sewing machine motor 37 ... Switch group 39 ... Floppy device 41
... Buzzer 49, 63 ... CPU 71 ... Absolute coordinates 73
… Relative coordinates

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Minoru Yamaguchi 15-1 Naedai-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture Brother Industries, Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-59-225095 (JP, A) JP-A-7-194868 (JP, A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) D05B 1/00-97/12

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An automatic sewing operation in which a table and a needle on which a workpiece is fixed are moved relative to each other according to sewing data including at least position information indicating a position where a stitch is formed on the workpiece. A sewing machine, a position information input means for inputting the position information for each stitch, and a simulation operation means for moving the table and the needle relative to each other in response to the position information input by the position information input means. When,
In the automatic sewing machine capable of creating the sewing data, a reference point input means for designating a reference point within a sewing range of the automatic sewing machine, and position information by the position information input means Depending on the input of
An automatic sewing machine comprising: relative coordinate display means for calculating coordinates of the input position information with the reference point as an origin and displaying the coordinates on a predetermined image display device. 2. In accordance with the input of the position information by the position information input means, coordinates of the input position information having a fixed point preset within the range as an origin are calculated, and the predetermined image is calculated. The automatic sewing machine according to claim 1, further comprising: absolute coordinate display means for displaying on a display device.