JP3741381B2 - Embroidery data creation device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
The present invention relates to an embroidery data creating apparatus for creating embroidery data necessary for forming an embroidery for a sewing machine for forming an embroidery on a work cloth.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of industrial embroidery sewing machines, there has been provided an embroidery data creation device that can create highly accurate embroidery data in a short time using a microcomputer. This embroidery data creation apparatus is configured by connecting an image scanner, a keyboard, a hard disk drive, a CRT display, etc. to a general-purpose personal computer system main body, for example, and desired embroidery data can be easily obtained from an original image of an arbitrary embroidery pattern. Can be created.
[0003]
By the way, in recent years, against the backdrop of various circumstances such as diversification of consumer preferences, upgrading, and improvement in performance of embroidery sewing machines, even a home embroidery sewing machine is based on pre-stored embroidery data. There is a demand for a relatively inexpensive and easy-to-operate embroidery data creation apparatus that can form not only the embroidery formation but also the embroidery of the pattern desired by the user. In particular, it is desired that corresponding high-quality embroidery sewing data can be created for a pattern mainly composed of line drawings such as written characters and outlines of painted paintings.
[0004]
Conventionally, this type of embroidery data creation device does not have an automatic creation function of embroidery data suitable for line drawing, and an operator scans the original image of the design with an image scanner and then displays the design image displayed on the display device with a mouse or the like. It is used to manually input a linear design by dividing it into a large number of line segments directly from the original design by using a digitizer or the like. And in that case, in order to create embroidery data that can form beautiful and good-looking embroidery, each of the many line segments obtained by disassembling the design is appropriate one by one depending on the experience and intuition of skilled workers. In general, it is possible to create actual embroidery stitching data by instructing the form of the stitches.
[0005]
For an apparatus having an automatic embroidery data creation function, for example, an embroidery data creation apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-174699 is described. This embroidery data creation apparatus is constructed by connecting a monochrome binary image scanner to a compact main body with a built-in microcomputer and having a small display and several operation keys. This is done by reading an original image using an image scanner, then confirming on the display that the read result is in the desired form, and if possible, embroidery data corresponding to the design is created. It is configured. In an embroidery data creation apparatus having this type of automatic creation function, data for creating a region that matches the read pattern with seams of satin stitches or tatami stitches is created.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the former one of the conventional embroidery data creation devices described above, it is necessary for the operator to appropriately specify the form of the embroidery stitches, the width of the stitches, etc. for each of a large number of design line segments. As the design of the pattern becomes more complex and larger, it takes a lot of time for the work, and it is cumbersome and surprisingly skillful.
[0007]
Further, in the embroidery data creation device having the latter automatic creation function, data is created to sew the area that matches the read pattern. This is a sewing method that is suitable for sewing, and it is impossible to create high-quality and beautiful embroidery sewing data by sewing areas that match line drawings (written characters, contour line drawings, etc.) by satin stitching or tatami stitching. In other words, there was no automatic function corresponding to a pattern composed of lines.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the purpose thereof is a simple creation work that can be performed by anyone with respect to a pattern mainly composed of line drawings such as written characters and outlines of painted paintings. An object of the present invention is to provide an embroidery data creation device that can automatically create high-quality and beautiful embroidery sewing data by changing the stitches according to the shape.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to overcome such problems, an embroidery data creating apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention includes an image input means for inputting symbol image data representing an embroidery symbol, and symbol image data obtained from the image input means. A thinning means for thinning a pattern based on the figure and calculating thinned figure data, and a shape feature amount related to the thickness of the pattern based on the pattern image data obtained from the image input means. Based on the number of iterations in the sequential thinning process, or the distance value of the result of distance conversion on the pattern And a feature quantity computing means for computing, and embroidery data creating means for creating embroidery data for embroidering the design based on the shape feature quantity and the thinned figure data.
[0010]
An embroidery data creation device according to claim 2 of the present invention is The embroidery data creation means Feature amount calculation means The embroidery data is created by setting the stitch form on the basis of the number of repetitions of the thinning process obtained by .
[0011]
Also, in the embroidery data creation device according to claim 3 of the present invention, the feature amount calculation means performs distance conversion on the symbol. It is configured to calculate the shape feature amount based on the maximum distance obtained by applying .
[0012]
Furthermore, the embroidery data creating apparatus according to claim 4 of the present invention comprises embroidery data creating means for setting the stitch width of the staggered stitch based on the shape feature amount.
[0013]
[Action]
According to the embroidery data generating apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the image input means inputs the symbol image data representing the embroidery symbol, and the symbol can be processed. The thinning means can process the symbol as a line by thinning the symbol based on the symbol image data obtained from the image input means and calculating the thinned graphic data. The feature amount calculating means calculates the shape feature amount related to the thickness of the pattern based on the pattern image data obtained from the image input means. Based on the number of iterations in the sequential thinning process, or the distance value of the result of distance conversion on the pattern By calculating, the feature of the symbol can be processed. The embroidery data creating means creates embroidery data for embroidering the design based on the shape feature quantity and the thinned graphic data, and creates embroidery data related to the feature of the design.
[0014]
Moreover, according to the embroidery data creation device according to claim 2 of the present invention, Embroidery data creation means Feature amount calculation means Creates embroidery data by setting the stitch form based on the number of times the thinning process is repeated To do.
[0015]
Furthermore, according to the embroidery data creation apparatus according to claim 3 of the present invention, the feature amount calculation means performs distance conversion on the symbol. Calculate shape feature based on maximum distance obtained by applying To do.
[0016]
According to the embroidery data creation apparatus of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the embroidery data creation means creates embroidery data in which the stitch width of the staggered stitch is set based on the shape feature amount.
[0017]
【Example】
Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an embroidery data creation apparatus for a home embroidery sewing machine will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the operation of the creating apparatus will be described with a specific example of the case where embroidery data is created for the pattern A of the line drawing illustration “pipe and smoke” as shown in FIG.
[0018]
First of all, although not shown, a home embroidery sewing machine will be briefly described. An embroidery sewing machine performs a sewing operation by a sewing needle and a shuttle mechanism while moving an embroidery frame arranged on a sewing machine bed and holding a work cloth to a predetermined position indicated by an X and Y coordinate system unique to the apparatus by a horizontal movement mechanism. By doing so, the work cloth is embroidered with a predetermined pattern.
[0019]
In this case, the horizontal movement mechanism, the needle bar, and the like are controlled by a control device constituted by a microcomputer or the like, and accordingly, the movement amount of the work cloth in each of the needles in the X and Y directions, that is, When the embroidery data (stitch data) instructing the needle drop position is given, the control device can automatically execute the embroidery operation. In this embodiment, the embroidery sewing machine is provided with a flash memory device, and embroidery data is provided from the outside by a flash memory (card memory) described later. The embroidery data creation apparatus according to this embodiment has a function of creating such embroidery data.
[0020]
Next, the overall configuration of the embroidery data creation apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the embroidery data creation apparatus, and FIG. 3 shows the electrical configuration thereof. Here, the creation apparatus main body 1 is mainly composed of a microcomputer, and is configured such that a CPU 2, a ROM 3, a RAM 4, a flash memory device (FMD) 5, and an input / output interface 6 are connected to each other via a bus.
[0021]
A liquid crystal display (LCD) 7 for confirming and displaying the read symbols and the like on the screen 7 a is provided on the upper surface portion of the creating apparatus main body 1. The liquid crystal display 7 is controlled by a display control device (LCDC) 8, and a display storage device 9 (VRAM) is connected to the display control device 8. The flash memory device 5 is detachably mounted with a flash memory 10 as a storage medium. An operation key 11 for an operator to give various instructions and an image scanner 12 for reading a pattern original image are connected to the CPU 2 via the input / output interface 6 in the creating apparatus main body 1. .
[0022]
This image scanner 12 comprises a so-called hand scanner 12 capable of reading a monochrome pattern original image as binary bitmap image data. The operator holds the upper part by hand and the lower surface reading part is addressed to the pattern original image paper. On the other hand, the design image is read by moving in a certain direction so as to trace along the original image paper while pressing the reading button. The read symbol image data is expressed as 1-bit data having a value of 0 if white for each pixel and 1 if black for each pixel, and is stored in the RAM 4.
[0023]
The creation apparatus body 1 is configured to automatically perform embroidery data creation processing based on the design original picture of the illustration “pipe and smoke” as shown in FIG. This software is stored in the ROM 3 as program code for controlling the CPU 2. This operation will be described in detail below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0024]
In creating the embroidery data, the operator starts the program of the creating apparatus main body 1, and first causes the image scanner 12 to read the original image of the pattern A in step 1. The binary bitmap image data of the pattern A read by the image scanner 12 by this operation is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 4.
[0025]
In step 2, in order to individually retrieve effective connected diagram component figures (a group of figures in which black pixels are connected to each other) in the image with respect to the image data of the pattern A stored in the RAM 4 stored in step 1. First, boundary line extraction processing is performed. This boundary line extraction processing is realized by applying, for example, a boundary line tracking algorithm that is a well-known image graphic processing technique, and connectivity determination at that time can be either 4-connected or 8-connected. A detailed description of the algorithm is omitted because it is not an essential part of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the boundary lines L0 to L9 are automatically extracted as the connected diagram component graphic. In FIG. 5, each boundary line is drawn as a continuous line for convenience of viewing, but in reality, it is a closed chain of adjacent pixels.
[0026]
Here, L0, L2, and L4 are boundary lines that define the outer shape of the line figure of the large, medium, and small connected figure “smoke”, and L1, L3, and L5 are line figures of the large, medium, and small connected figure “smoke”. It is a boundary line that defines each inner (hole) shape. Similarly, L6 and L7 respectively define the boundary lines that define the outer and inner shapes of the “pipe body” line graphic, and L8 and L9 define the outer and inner shapes of the “pipe hole” line graphic, respectively. It is a boundary line.
[0027]
Next, in step 3, based on the boundary line extracted in step 2, thinning processing of connected component figures (in this case, three “smoke”, “pipe body” and “pipe hole”) represented by them is performed. To be implemented. For example, regarding the “pipe main body” figure, the entire pixel group (including pixels constituting L6 and L7 itself) between the outer boundary line L6 and the inner boundary line L7 is determined from the pixels located on the boundary side. The thinning process is performed by sequentially repeating the operation of deleting pixels according to a predetermined rule until there is no pixel that can be deleted according to the predetermined rule.
[0028]
The rules for determining whether or not to delete a pixel are not described in detail here, but various techniques have been devised to obtain a fine line figure with good quality. As long as thinning can be performed so that the line width becomes 1, any known sequential thinning processing technique can be adopted. At the same time, in Step 3, the number of repetitions of the pixel deletion processing steps required until the thinning is completed at the time of performing the above thinning is counted and stored in a predetermined area in the RAM 4 for each figure.
[0029]
For other figures, all the figures corresponding to the pattern A can be obtained by performing the same sequential pixel deletion processing as described above on the collection of pixels between the outer boundary line and the inner boundary line. Thinning and the number of thinning repetitions are calculated. FIG. 6 shows a thinned image of the design subjected to the thinning process in this way. In FIG. 6, each thin line is drawn as a continuous line for ease of viewing, but in actuality, it is a chain of adjacent pixels. Also, the numerical value shown in parentheses in the figure is the number of thinning repetitions of each thin line figure calculated in the above process.
[0030]
The thin line image data of each connected component figure of the pattern A subjected to the thinning process in step 3 is further converted into line segment data each having an appropriate length and direction by the vectorization process in the next step 4, that is, a short vector. Is converted into a set of As a vectorization processing method, the simplest method is to sequentially follow a chain of pixels constituting a thin line figure, starting from an arbitrary pixel in the thin line image data (for example, the pixel located at the upper left). However, there is a method to obtain the set of shape feature points by sampling the coordinate values of the pixels that make up the thin line figure at appropriate intervals, and appropriate feature points by setting the base vector and sequentially evaluating the difference between them It is also realized by the method of obtaining Although a specific description of the procedure relating to the vectorization graphic data processing is omitted, FIG. 7 shows an example of short vector data corresponding to the connected component graphic of the pattern A obtained in this way. In the drawing, black circles represent end points or shape line feature points (where two or more short vector end points are connected to each other).
[0031]
Based on the short vector data representing the pattern A generated in this way, the stitch form of the corresponding embroidery data is determined in step 5. Specifically, this is performed according to the following procedure. That is, the thinning repetition number N calculated in step 3 and stored in the RAM 4 is referred to for each connected component graphic constituting the pattern A. Based on the number N of thinning repetitions, a stitch form for converting a corresponding figure into embroidery data is set according to the following rules.
[0032]
For example,
(1) If 1 ≦ N <3, triple running sewing
(2) If 3 ≦ N <5, staggered stitch with a sewing width of 1.2 mm
(3) If 5 ≦ N, staggered stitch with a sewing width of 1.8 mm
This means that the thinning repetition number N is small, that is, the line width of the line figure that is the basis thereof is narrow, so that the stitch shape of the corresponding embroidery data is also a thin line shape. When the number N of thinning repetitions is large, it means that the line width of the original line figure is thick, so that a wide line embroidery is used as the stitch form of the corresponding embroidery data. It is set to be sewn. In this way, by setting an appropriate stitch form for each figure, it is possible to create linear stitching embroidery data that reflects the line width information of the original figure lost during the thinning process to some extent. In “Pipe and Smoke” of the illustrated pattern A, the largest smoke ring and the pipe body are staggered with a stitch width of 1.8 mm, and the middle smoke ring and the hole portion of the pipe are the stitch width 1 .2mm staggered stitches, small smoke rings are set for triple-running stitches, and the stitch form is set respectively.
[0033]
Thereafter, in step 6, the short vector data of each figure created in step 4 is converted into embroidery data according to the stitch form determined in step 5. For example, in the case of creating a staggered stitch, for each corresponding short vector, the line segment is set as the center line, and a predetermined width (= 1/2 of the set staggered width) is separated. In addition, by setting a large number of needle drop points on both sides, and if creating stitches for running stitches, sequentially set needle drop points at appropriate intervals along the line segment for each corresponding short vector. Thus, embroidery data corresponding to the figure shape is generated.
[0034]
Although not shown in the flowchart of FIG. 1, the embroidery data created in this way is thereafter stored in the flash memory 10 via the flash memory device 5, and the flash memory 10 is attached to the embroidery machine. Thus, an embroidery pattern corresponding to the pattern A can be formed. As a reference, an embroidery stitch finally formed on the work cloth is shown in FIG.
[0035]
The above is an embodiment using the feature amount calculation means constituting the present invention that counts the number of repetitions of processing in the sequential thinning process. Next, each connected component is used as the feature amount calculation means. A second embodiment in the case of using a value based on a distance value obtained by performing distance conversion on a figure is applied to an embroidery data automatic creation device for a home embroidery machine similar to that described above. explain. In this case, since the original configuration used as an example of the overall configuration of the creating apparatus and the processing is the same as that shown above, refer to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 respectively.
[0036]
A flowchart regarding the operation in this case is shown in FIG. 9 and will be described below. Here, among the processing steps in FIG. 1 and FIG. 9, the same processing names are given to the processing having the same contents, so that the description thereof will not be repeated here again. Further, step 14 in FIG. 9 is almost the same as the thinning process of step 3 in FIG. 1, but here, the number of repetitions of the pixel deletion processing steps required until the thinning is completed in the successive thinning process. The difference is that no counting or storage is performed.
[0037]
Now, after boundary line extraction regarding individual connected component graphics is performed in step 12, in step 13, distance conversion processing of the connected component graphics is performed individually. Conceptually speaking, the distance conversion is to obtain a value indicating how far a pixel constituting a figure is from the nearest pixel among the border pixels of the figure. Therefore, the distance value is 1 at the edge of the graphic, that is, the pixel located at the boundary, and the pixel located closer to the inside of the graphic has a larger distance value. Here, corresponding distance values are calculated for a group of pixels surrounded by the boundary line (including pixels constituting the boundary line itself), that is, for all pixels constituting the entire connected diagram component graphic.
[0038]
Note that there is an algorithm known as an image graphic processing technique for performing the distance conversion, and this is realized by applying it. In addition, the pixel connectivity at that time can be either 4-connected or 8-connected, but a detailed description of the distance conversion algorithm is not an essential part of the present invention, and is therefore omitted. FIG. 10 shows a part of the result of the distance conversion performed on the figure of the smoke ring of the pattern A.
[0039]
In this way, for each figure, distance values corresponding to the pixels constituting the figure in a one-to-one correspondence are obtained by the number of pixels. Further, for each figure, the largest distance value with respect to the set of these distance values is obtained. The data is taken out and stored in a predetermined area in the RAM 4. The maximum distance value for each figure stored here is a figure shape feature amount that plays the same role as the number of thinning repetitions shown in the first embodiment.
[0040]
Thereafter, in step 14 and subsequent steps, the thin line image data of the design figure is created by the same operation as in the flow of FIG. However, what is referred to in step 16 is not the number of thinning repetitions but the maximum distance value obtained in step 13. In addition, when using this distance value as a figure shape feature amount, in addition to the maximum distance value shown above, the ratio of pixels having a distance value greater than a certain value, the average value of pixels having a large distance value, etc. It is also conceivable to adopt the configuration so as to be used as a criterion for the seam setting means.
[0041]
As described in detail above, according to the embroidery data creation apparatus of the present embodiment, in steps 5 and 16 described above, an inflection is given to the seam according to the shape feature amount of the line segment constituting the line drawing pattern. Therefore, high-quality and beautiful embroidery is automatically performed without the hassle of manually inputting the feature points by tracing the shape line of each figure and specifying the stitch width and stitch form. An excellent effect that sewing data can be created can be obtained. Furthermore, since it is automatically created, it can be easily operated by anyone and does not require skill.
[0042]
The thinning process in this embodiment is a process of recognizing a pattern as a line regardless of a change in the thickness of the line due to handwriting or the like. For example, even if a part of the line is thick or thin, a part thereof Although the image is thinned to the smallest unit that can be processed without being restricted by the process, if the scanned image is simply thinned to create the embroidery data, all lines will be thinned regardless of the thickness of the line drawn in the original image. However, according to the data creation device of the present invention, the width of the zigzag stitch and the stitching are changed according to the thickness of the read line. Since the direction is set automatically, embroidery rich in inflection can be formed.
[0043]
In step 2 in the above-described embodiment, boundary line extraction processing is used to individually extract effective connected diagram component graphics in the image. This is also known as region labeling as an image graphics processing technique. You may apply and apply a process. In addition, as the stitch width of the staggered stitch set in steps 5 and 16, two set values of 1.8 mm and 1.2 mm are used, but these may be arbitrary values, respectively. Of course, it is also possible to select a stitch width of 3 or more based on a plurality of threshold values, or to simply switch the stitch form between the staggered stitch and the running stitch having an appropriate stitch width. Further, in the present embodiment, the sewing width and the sewing method are associated with the preset values and the sewing method, but the corresponding conditions may be changed by the operator. Also, the stitch form to be set may include, for example, one that forms a special stitch pattern using a pattern. Further, in steps 6 and 17 for converting to embroidery data, it is possible to generate block embroidery data instead of directly generating stitch data as in the present embodiment.
[0044]
In addition, although the embodiment of the embroidery data creation apparatus including the handy scanner 12 has been described here, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described here. Data representing a symbol may be input to the embroidery data creation device from a type scanner, an external storage device (FD or flash card) storing graphic data, and CAD. In addition, the hardware configuration of the main body of the creating apparatus can be implemented by appropriately changing it within a range that does not depart from the gist, such as adopting a general-purpose personal computer. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the obtained vector is the center line of the staggered stitch, but it may be the folding position of the staggered stitch.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
As is clear from the above description, according to the embroidery data creation apparatus of the present invention, a large number of linear designs are manually created with respect to an original design mainly composed of line drawings such as handwritten characters and outlines of painted paintings. While disassembling into line segments and inputting them, it is possible to create simple embroidery patterns that do not require instructions such as embroidery stitch form and stitch width for each line segment. By giving the seam a change according to the shape feature amount of the figure, there is an excellent practical effect that it is possible to automatically create high-quality and beautiful embroidery sewing data.
[0046]
According to the embroidery data creation device of the second aspect of the present invention, based on the number of repetitions of the processing in the sequential thinning process. The stitch form is set Therefore, an excellent practical effect is achieved in that automatic creation of high-quality and beautiful embroidery sewing data related to the thickness of the pattern becomes possible.
[0047]
Furthermore, according to the embroidery data creation device of the third aspect of the present invention, the feature amount calculation means performs distance conversion on the symbol. Maximum distance of the result Since the value is a characteristic of the design, it has an excellent practical effect that it is possible to automatically create high-quality and beautiful embroidery sewing data related to the thickness of the design.
[0048]
According to the embroidery data creation device of claim 4 of the present invention, the embroidery data creation means creates the embroidery data in which the stitch width of the staggered stitch is set based on the shape feature amount. It has an excellent practical effect that can automatically create high quality and beautiful embroidery sewing data that is varied.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of an embroidery data creation operation by an embroidery data creation device of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an embroidery data creation apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the embroidery data creation apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a pattern original image.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a pattern boundary line image in the embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a thinned image of a pattern in an example.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a vectorized image of symbols in the embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an embroidery stitch having a pattern in the embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embroidery data creation apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a distance conversion result of a partial graphic in the second embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Production device
2 CPU
3 RAM
4 ROM
5 Flash memory device
10 Flash memory
12 Image scanner

Claims (4)

An apparatus for creating embroidery data necessary for forming an embroidery for a sewing machine that forms an embroidery on a work cloth,
Image input means for inputting symbol image data representing the embroidery symbol;
Thinning means for thinning the symbol based on the symbol image data obtained from the image input means and calculating thinned figure data;
Based on the pattern image data obtained from the image input means, the shape feature quantity related to the thickness of the pattern is the number of repetitions of the processing in the successive thinning process, or the distance value as a result of distance conversion on the pattern And an embroidery data creating means for creating embroidery data for embroidering the design on the basis of the shape feature quantity and the thinned figure data. Data creation device. 2. The embroidery data creation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the embroidery data creation unit sets a stitch form and creates embroidery data based on the number of repetitions of the thinning process obtained by the feature amount computation unit. Data creation device. 2. The embroidery data creation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feature amount calculation means calculates a shape feature amount based on a maximum distance obtained by performing distance conversion on the symbol.  4. The embroidery data creation device according to claim 1, wherein the embroidery data creation means sets a stitch width of staggered stitches based on the shape feature amount.

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