JPH0360686A - Sewing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make operation of function selectivity easily, accurately, and effectively by furnishing a means to register the desired function to be selected, and selectively controlling only the registered function by an input means when a stitch pattern is to be made out. CONSTITUTION:Among the functions 13 programmed, that stored in a ROM 5, which is to be used, is registered in a memory device 6, while the registered program 8 for the function to be implemented by a control circuit 4 is stored in the ROM 5. In case for ex. an advance key 11 is depressed while the function A1 is being selected, referring is made to the flag condition of the memory device 6 corresponding to the subsequent function A2, but because the flag of the function A2 is '0' no indication thereof shall be made, but the next function A3 is indicated on a display 9. Oppositely is performed with depression of a retreat key 12, and the flag of the function A2 is referred in the condition the function A3 is selected, with the next function A1 indicated on the display 9. A subsequent depressing of a select key 7 will select the function under indication currently. This allows the user to register only the function used in the memory device 6 in advance according to the registered setting program 8, which facilitates selecting operation through depressing of the advance key 11 and retreat key 12 in actual functional selection.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a sewing machine, and more particularly to a sewing machine that automatically performs sewing according to a sewing pattern input in advance.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, sewing patterns are stored in advance as coordinate values in a storage device such as a magnetic tape, magnetic card, or floppy disk, and a workpiece holder that holds the workpiece is driven by a pulse motor based on this coordinate value information. A sewing machine is known that moves by a sewing machine to form a sewing pattern.

In addition, with this type of 5-thin device, there are those that draw sewing patterns using an indicator pen on a digitizer (shape creation device) and memorize the coordinate values, and those that use an operation box attached to the digitizer or a separate control device. There is a known method in which a workpiece holder is moved using a jog key on a box, a sewing pattern is drawn, and the coordinate values are stored.

In such sewing machine devices, it is necessary to select a large number of functions for inputting and editing sewing patterns, such as by combining basic sewing patterns stored in advance as described above, in response to user input. It won't happen.

FIG. 4 shows an example of functions selected by the user in a conventional sewing machine input device. Programs for executing these functions are stored, for example, in a ROM and are provided in a fixed manner, or are supplied by a magnetic disk or the like.

Figure 4 shows 54 selectable functions (in list format).
(consists of basic sewing pattern elements, sewing pattern editing functions, etc.). These functions are classified into the categories shown at the top of the figure, and are identified by identification information shown in alphabets and numbers in the figure. For example, the (sewing) pattern erasing function in category A, which is a collection of functions related to sewing machine control, is identified by identification information A7. The user selects the pattern deletion function by key-inputting the character information "A7" or by selecting it from the displayed text.

With such an input method, a user selects a specific function from among these many functions and repeatedly inputs a pattern. For example, if straight line normal stitching and circular normal stitching are required as elements while creating a certain sewing pattern, B1 and B4 will be selected in sequence.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The functions shown in Figure 4 are provided in the sewing machine for various purposes such as labeling, locking, embroidery, shoe sewing, etc. This type of input device for creating an image must have a large number of input functions as shown in the figure in order to satisfy all of these usage types, and must allow the user to select one of them.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when a large number of functions are represented by a combination of alphabets and numbers, such as A7.08, input is relatively easy if there is a keyboard for inputting alphabets and numbers. However, it is virtually impossible to provide such excessive equipment as an input means, considering manufacturing costs and space issues inside and outside the device.
Many devices use hardware such as a display with several digits or lines and a numeric keypad or cursor keys to provide a user interface.

With such hardware, it is possible to enter alphabets by pressing a combination of the numeric keypad and shift key, and numbers by inputting only the numeric keypad.
As mentioned above, it is cumbersome to perform such operations when creating sewing patterns, so use the cursor keys or a predetermined numeric keypad with similar functions to perform the functions displayed on the display. A method is known in which a desired function is selected by scrolling identification information.

Incidentally, the actual situation is that individual users do not use all the functions provided because they are used for applications in specific fields, but rather they often use only a small number of specific functions.

Despite this situation for the user, conventional devices of this type do not have a means to select the necessary functions, so the input method described above scrolls to display all functions, making it difficult to see the actual functions. There was a problem in that the desired function had to be selected from a large number of unused functions. When there are several dozen functions as shown in FIG. 4, it takes time to scroll through these displays and select the desired function, and the operation is also troublesome.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sewing machine device that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention automatically performs sewing according to a sewing pattern input in advance, and selects a function for creating the sewing pattern. In the sewing machine device, the sewing machine device is provided with a means for registering a desired function to be selected in function selection by the input means when creating the sewing pattern, and registering in the registration means when creating the sewing pattern. A configuration is adopted in which only the selected functions are selectably controlled by the input means.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, by registering only the necessary input functions at any time among all the provided input functions, it is possible to select the desired function from only the desired functions.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the example shown in the drawings. In the following embodiments, functions of the sewing machine device that can be selected by the user include A1 to A7 and B shown in FIG.
1 to B7...-Jl to J6 are assumed to be provided.

FIG. 1 shows an input control system of a sewing machine employing the present invention.

The input control system is roughly divided into an input section 1 and a control section 2, which constitute user interface means.

The input section 1 has an operation box 3 for inputting sewing patterns, and this operation box 3 is connected to a control circuit 4 comprised of a microprocessor of the control section 2 and the like. The control circuit 4 stores the operation of the known sewing machine sewing mechanism M in the ROM 5.
control according to a control program stored in the

The operation box 3 includes a forward key 11 and a backward key 12, which are used for the purpose of increasing and decreasing various setting values when inputting a pattern.
It has a selection key 7 for selecting a function code, a cancel key 10 used to cancel the position of an input point, and a display section 9 consisting of an LED or LCD panel for displaying various information.

In the case of this embodiment, the display section 9 has a display area of at least 3 digits x 3 lines, and is used to display functions selectable by the user as described later.

On the other hand, the control circuit 4 of the control section 2 has various functions (as shown in FIG. 4) related to inputting and editing sewing patterns.
Connected is a ROM 5 in which a control program 13 corresponding to (A1~A7, 81~B7...-J1~J6) is stored. The control program in the ROM 5 is selected by input from the input section 1.

In this embodiment, basically, the functions displayed on the display section 9 are scrolled using the forward key 11 and backward key 12, and the selection key 7 is pressed to select the function, or the cancel key 10 is pressed. Instead of scrolling through a function selection through a press that cancels the selection,
To scroll display only functions registered in advance by a user and to select a desired function from among them.

Specifically, it is determined which of the function programs 13 stored in the ROM 5 is to be used.
Register it in the storage device 6. Storage device 6 is EEPROM
It is composed of non-volatile memory elements such as. In addition, the registration program 8 of the functions executed by the control circuit 4 is RO
Stored in M5.

FIG. 2 shows the storage structure of the storage device 6. The storage device 6 has a table structure as shown in the figure, and stores each function A1 to A7 and B.
1 to B7...Stores the registration setting status of J1 to J6.

Each function A1 to A7, 81 to B7...-Jl to J6 is associated with address information that is uniquely determined (or specified by a pointer, etc.) in the storage device 6, and corresponds to each function. At the registered address position, "1" and "0" indicate registered and unregistered status, respectively.
flags are stored. This flag only needs to have a storage area of at least 1 bit.

If a flag of "1" is stored for a certain function, the control circuit 4 causes the display section 9 to scroll and display the function under control to be described later, so that the function can be selected. Further, if the rQJ flag is stored for a certain function, the control circuit 4 does not perform scrolling display on the display section 9, and therefore controls the function so that it cannot be selected.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows the flow of the function registration setting program 8 stored in the ROM 5 of FIG.

When a power switch (not shown) is turned on while pressing the selection key 7 of the operation box 3, the control circuit 4 starts controlling the registration setting program 8 from the ROM 5.

Pressing the selection key 7 at the same time as operating the power switch is a normal power switch only! This is to distinguish between the activation force of the input process of the sewing pattern and the activation force of the registration process described later.

First, in step S1 of FIG. 2, 1 ES is displayed on the display section 9 (the above three lines indicate the display of three digits and three lines on the display section 9; the same applies hereinafter in the specification). This display, especially rYEsJ, shows that in the initial state, the function with the function code A1 is in the registered state, that is, the corresponding flag in the storage device 6 is set to "1", indicating that the function is available (factory In the initial state at the time of shipment, it is assumed that all flags of the storage device 6 are set to "1", and the previous usage state is displayed at the present time). If the user wishes to use this function, he or she presses the forward key 11 or the selection key 7 in step S2.

If the forward key 11 is pressed, the flag corresponding to the function A1 of the storage device 6 is not changed and remains at "1", and the process advances to step S5 to display the next function code. If the selection key 7 is pressed, the process advances to step S3 and the storage device 6 is pressed.
The flag corresponding to the function A1 is set to "1", and the process then proceeds to step S5.

After the registration process for the function A1, in step S5, 2 ES is displayed on the display section 9, indicating that the function A2 is registered in the storage device 6. On the other hand, if the function A2 is unnecessary, the user presses the cancel key 10 in step S2. Thereby, the control circuit 4 proceeds to step S4, sets the flag corresponding to the function A2 to "0", and sets the function A2 to an unregistered state, that is, the function is unavailable. After step S4, the process advances to step S5, where 3 ES and the setting status of function A3 are displayed.

In this state, if the user wants to check the registration status of function A2, press the back key 12 in step S2, and the control circuit 4 will reverse scroll the display on the display section 9 in step S6, 2 N depending on the state of the flag in A2.

If it is felt that this is necessary, the selection key 7 is pressed again to set the corresponding flag in the storage device 6 to "1" (step S3).

By repeating the above operations, the user's selection results for each function (registration/deletion (unregistered) status of each function) are determined, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, and are stored in the storage device 6. Thereafter, the power is turned off and the function setting program is terminated, but the registration/deletion status of each function is retained in the storage device 6.

Thereafter, when the sewing pattern input process is started, in actual function selection, the control circuit 4 inputs data to the memory device 6 each time the forward key 11 and backward key 12 are operated.
, it is determined whether a certain function should be displayed on the display unit 9 and made selectable.

For example, in the setting state of FIG. 2, if the forward key 11 is pressed while function A1 is selected, the next function A1 is pressed.
Referring to the state of the flag of the storage device 6 corresponding to 2,
Since the flag of function A2 is "0", this function is not displayed, and the next function A3 is displayed on the display section 9. When the backward key 12 is pressed, the order of reference is reversed; for example, when function A3 is selected, the flag of function A2 is referred to;
The next function A1 is displayed on the display section 9 without displaying the function. Thereafter, when the selection key 7 is pressed, the function currently being displayed is selected.

According to this embodiment, the user can actually use (
It is possible to register in advance in the storage device 6 only the functions (which are considered to be) by the registration setting program 8, and it is possible to easily perform selection operations by pressing the forward key 11 and backward key 12 in actual function selection. For example, the user no longer needs to stare at a scrolled function display for a long time as in the past, making work more efficient, reducing selection errors, and reducing user fatigue.

The above configuration is not limited to the sewing pattern input method itself, and can be implemented in various sewing machine devices. for example,
A method in which the workpiece holder is moved using a jog key (not shown) on the operation box attached to the sewing machine, a sewing pattern is drawn, and this Fg target value is memorized.A sewing pattern is drawn using an indicator pen on the digitizer. The coordinate values of the lever are stored and this pattern data is transferred to the sewing machine using a medium such as a cable or magnetic disk, or the workpiece holder is moved using a jog key on a control box that is separate from the sewing machine. Needless to say, the above configuration can also be implemented in a method in which a sewing pattern is drawn and the coordinate values are stored. Furthermore, the control program for the combing device does not necessarily need to be stored in the ROM;
RAM for control from magnetic disks, etc.! , : may be loaded.

Further, in this embodiment, the storage device 6 is configured with an EEFROM, etc., but the R
Of course, it may be configured by AM, or may use a storage medium such as a magnetic disk or a memory card.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, sewing is automatically performed according to a sewing pattern input in advance, and the sewing machine has input means for selecting a function for creating the sewing pattern. The sewing machine device is provided with means for registering a desired function to be selected in function selection by the input means when creating the sewing pattern, and only the functions registered in the registration means are selected when creating the sewing pattern. Since a configuration is adopted in which the input means is selectable, it is possible to register in advance only those that the user will actually use out of a large number of input functions, making it easy to select functions by pattern input. It has the excellent effect of being accurate and efficient.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of the input control system of a sewing machine device adopting the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the storage structure of the storage device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. A flowchart showing the flow of the registration setting program, FIG. 4 is a front page showing the functions used in the sewing machine device. 1... Input section 2... Control section 3... Operation box 4... Control circuit 5... ROM 6
...Storage device 7...Selection key 8...Registration setting program 9...Display section 10...Cancel key 11...Forward key 12...Backward key 13...
・Function program M...sewing machine sewing mechanism

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) In a sewing machine device that automatically performs sewing according to a sewing pattern input in advance and has input means for selecting a function for creating the sewing pattern, the sewing pattern is created. means for registering a desired function to be selected when selecting a function by the input means at the time of creation of the sewing pattern, and controlling so that only the functions registered in the registration means can be selected by the input means at the time of creating the sewing pattern. A sewing machine device featuring: