JPH04282188A - Block data processing method for embroidery sewing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To offer a block data processing method capable of obtaining an ideal contour as the contour of a pattern comprised of plural blocks and forming an attractive embroidery seam. CONSTITUTION:The block data generated in advance is read in (S1), and it is discriminated whether or not the main side of each block comprises the contour of the curve part of a pattern (S6, S8, and S14), and when the former comprises the latter, two pieces of block data setting a point near to the ideal contour as a specified point are generated instead of the block specified by the main side (S18).

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for processing data of a plurality of blocks constituting a pattern, and more particularly to a method for modifying the outline of a pattern constituted by blocks.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art When embroidering a pattern, the pattern may be composed of a plurality of blocks. If you do this,
For example, when performing embroidery that alternately connects two sides of the plurality of sides that define a pattern with a seam line consisting of at least one seam, embroidery is done in blocks to improve the appearance of the seams. can be formed. In this case, the pattern is 2
It is composed of rectangular blocks defined by the main side and sub-side of each book, lined up with the sub-sides shared, and if the two main sides of each block are connected alternately with seam lines, the seam lines will be patterned. It is formed almost perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the. Therefore, even if the lengths of the two connected sides of the entire pattern are considerably different, or if the pattern is bent, the seam line will not be significantly diagonal, and the seam will be formed with a good appearance. It is possible. When a pattern is composed of a plurality of blocks in this way, it is desirable that the blocks are set so that the outline of the pattern composed of them is smooth.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, when a pattern is composed of a plurality of blocks, the outline of the pattern composed of blocks does not match the ideal outline that smoothly defines the pattern, making it difficult to see the seams. It may not be possible to form a good image. If the pattern includes not only straight parts but also curved parts, the ideal contour line that smoothly defines the curved part will be a curved line, but if the blocks are rectangular, the outline of the pattern made up of blocks will be a straight line. Therefore, the actual contour line and the ideal contour line do not match.Especially, when enlarging the pattern for embroidery, this discrepancy is magnified and the pattern obtained as a result of embroidery differs from the originally planned pattern. This increases the discrepancy. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a block data processing method that can obtain block data in which the outline of a pattern made up of a plurality of blocks is close to an ideal outline and can form seams with good appearance. It is.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the block data processing method of the present invention includes the steps of (a) storing block data defining each of a plurality of blocks constituting a pattern in a storage means; and (b) interpolating a plurality of block data to bring the outline of a pattern made up of a plurality of blocks closer to an ideal outline that smoothly defines the outline of the pattern. It is.

[0005]

[Operation] Block data interpolation defines the block to be interpolated, sets a new block definition point between two adjacent block definition points, and creates data for the block defined by the block definition point. This is done by When the blocks forming the pattern are square blocks, at least one block regulation point is set between the two block regulation points defining the main sides of the block, and the block regulation point is defined by the block regulation point. Rectangular block data is created, so that the part of the pattern made up of one block is made up of two or more blocks, and the outline of the pattern made up of blocks approaches the ideal outline. be done. In addition, when the outline of a block forming a pattern is a curve, the block data is composed of block specified points and curve formula data, and interpolation of block data is performed at least between two adjacent block specified points. This is done by setting one block defining point and creating curve formula data that satisfies the block defining point.

[0006]

As described above, according to the block data processing method of the present invention, block data is interpolated, and block data with which stitches can be formed with good appearance can be obtained. Therefore, even when a pattern including curved portions is composed of rectangular blocks, the mismatch between the sides of the blocks and the curved line that is the ideal contour line is reduced, and it is possible to form seams with good appearance.

[0007]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 2, 10 is a sewing machine table, and a bed 12 and a sewing machine frame 14 are provided on this sewing machine table 10. The sewing machine frame 14 includes a pedestal section 16 that stands up from the bed 12, and a pedestal section 16 that stands up from the bed 12.
and an upper arm 18 extending cantilevered from the upper end thereof and substantially parallel to the bed 12. A needle bar 22 is attached to the sewing machine frame 14 so as to be movable in the vertical direction by a needle bar stand (not shown), and a sewing needle 24 is fixed to the lower end thereof. The needle bar 22 is connected to the sewing machine motor 2 via a needle bar holder etc.
6 (see FIG. 3), and when the sewing machine motor 26 is driven, the needle bar 22 and the sewing needle 24 are caused to reciprocate up and down. An opening is formed in the upper surface of the bed 12. Although this opening is closed by the throat plate 30,
A needle hole 38 is formed in the needle hole 38, and the sewing needle 24 enters below the throat plate 30 through this needle hole 38, and forms a stitch in cooperation with a shuttle (not shown).

An embroidery frame 42 is mounted on the sewing machine table 10 and bed 12 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction, which is the left-right direction of the sewing machine, and in the Y-axis direction, which is the front-rear direction. The embroidery frame 42 has an annular outer frame 44 and an inner frame 46 that is fitted inside the outer frame 44.
6 holds the work cloth. A slide portion 48 extending in the X-axis direction is formed on the outer frame 44, and the sewing machine table 10
It is slidably fitted into a pair of guide pipes 50 provided above in the Y-axis direction. Both ends of these guide pipes 50 are supported by support stands 52 and 54. One support stand 52 is moved in the X-axis direction by a feed screw 56 and an X-axis feed motor 58, and the other support stand 54 is spaced apart from the upper surface of the sewing machine table 10. These slide parts 48, support stands 52, 5
4 is engaged with a pair of endless wires 60, and when the wires 60 are moved by a rotation transmission shaft 62 and a Y-axis feed motor 64, the slide portion 48 is moved in the Y-axis direction. The embroidery frame 42 is moved to any position in the horizontal plane by the movement of the support base 52 in the X-axis direction and the movement of the slide part 48 in the Y-axis direction, and this movement and the vertical movement of the sewing needle 24 allow the embroidery frame 42 to be processed. Embroidery is applied to the cloth.

This sewing machine is controlled by a control device 70. The control device 70 includes a CPU 72 as shown in FIG.
, a ROM 74, a RAM 76, a bus 78, and the like. An input interface 80 is connected to the bus 78 .
A keyboard 82 and an external storage device 84 are connected to the . The keyboard 82 is used to input embroidery patterns, thread density, etc., and is provided with various keys necessary for inputting data, including keys for specifying embroidery patterns such as alphabets, numbers, symbols, and kana. There is. Further, the external storage device 84 stores outline data that defines the outline of a pattern to be embroidered. The outline of the pattern is a group of coordinates, a vector,
It is defined by formula etc.

Bus 78 also includes an output interface 10.
0 is connected, and the output interface 100 is connected to motor drive circuits 104, 106, 108 and display drive circuit 11.
0 to the sewing machine motor 26, X-axis feed motor 58, Y
A shaft feed motor 64 and a display device 112 are connected. The display device 112 displays comments to support data input, input data, the shape of the pattern to be embroidered, etc. on the screen. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the RAM 76 is provided with a block data area 116, a thread density data area 118, a sewing order data area 120, a counter 122, etc. together with a working area. Further, the ROM 74 stores various routines necessary for embroidering, such as a block data interpolation routine shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In this embodiment, embroidery is performed by alternately connecting two of the four or three contour line elements that define a quadrilateral or triangle with stitches, and filling the inside of the contour line elements with stitches. The pattern is divided into square or triangular blocks and embroidery is done for each block. Therefore, block data is set for each block. The block data includes coordinate data of a point that defines a block (referred to as a block definition point) and number data attached to the block definition point. Rectangular block 132 shown in FIG.
In the case of , two contour line elements 13 connected to each other by a seam
The two block defining points that define one of the contour elements 134 are labeled with numbers 1 and 3, and the two block defining points that define the other contour element 134 are labeled with numbers 2 and 4. will be attached. At this time, No. 1 and No. 2 are located on one side of the embroidery progress direction (the direction in which the pattern is filled with stitches, indicated by the arrow in the figure), and No. 3 and No. 4 are located on the other side. Number data is assigned so that it is located at . In the case of block 132 for which block data has been created in this manner, seams are formed as shown in FIG. In addition, block 13 shown in FIG.
When forming a triangle as shown in 6, one of the three block defining points is considered to be two overlapping block defining points, and like a quadrilateral, there are four block defining points. number data is attached to each block specified point of two contour line elements 138 alternately connected by a seam. A seam is formed in the block 136 as shown in FIG. Of the four sides of a block, the sides that are connected to each other by seams are called main sides, and the sides that overlap the sides of adjacent blocks are called subsides.

In the case of a pattern formed by a plurality of blocks lined up like the pattern 140 shown in FIG. 9, four points are required to define the first block, but in the case of subsequent blocks, the previous block is It has two points in common with the block, and the block can be defined by setting two points. Therefore, the coordinate data of the block data created for the first block includes four coordinates, and number data from 1 to 4 is attached to these coordinates, whereas the block data created for the following block The coordinate data of the data includes two coordinates, and number data No. 3 and No. 4 are attached to these coordinates. Of the two main sides of the block, the main side with numbers 1 and 3 or number 3 on both ends is the main side number 3, and the main side with numbers 2 and 4 or number 4 on both ends. The side is called the No. 4 principal side.

[0013] Among the patterns in which a plurality of blocks are lined up in a line as described above, there are patterns including curved portions, such as the pattern 140. This pattern 140 is the first to sixth blocks B1 to B
The block data defining each block is stored in the external storage device 84. If this pattern 140 is embroidered in its original size without enlarging the block data, the appearance of the outline obtained by embroidery will not deteriorate. However, since the block is rectangular, the ideal curve L1 that smoothly defines the curved part
(shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 9) does not match the main side of the block, and when enlarging the pattern 140 for embroidery, this mismatch is magnified and embroidery cannot be performed with good appearance. Therefore, in the block data interpolation routine shown in FIG.
The block data of the blocks constituting the curved portion of the pattern is interpolated to obtain block data that can be embroidered with good appearance even when enlarged. Below is pattern 1
Interpolation of block data will be explained using 40 as an example.

First, in step S1 (hereinafter abbreviated as S1; the same applies to other steps), a data group of blocks constituting a pattern to be embroidered is stored in the external storage device 8.
Loaded from 4. The pattern 140 is divided into six blocks, first to sixth blocks B1 to B6, and is stored in advance in the external storage device 84. In S1, block data set for each block is read, and
Data such as the sewing order of the blocks, thread density, embroidery start point and end point of each block, etc. are read and stored in the block data area 116. Next, in S2, the total number of blocks N is set to 6, and then, in S3, the count value C of the counter 122 is set to 2. The reason why C is set to 2 is because for a pattern that has edges, such as pattern 140, the blocks at the edges are not interpolated. Subsequently, S4 is executed, and it is determined whether or not the correction process has been performed for all blocks depending on whether the count value C is greater than or equal to N. However, this determination is NO, and S4 is executed.
5 and S6 are executed, and it is determined whether the third main side of the C-th block constitutes the outline of the curved part of the pattern 140.

This determination is made by finding the intersection n of the extension line of the third main side of the (C-1)th block and the extension line of the third main side of the (C+1)th block in S5, and This is determined depending on whether or not the intersection n is on the third main side of the C-th block. When the third main side of the C-th block constitutes the outline of the straight line part of the pattern 140,
Located on a straight line with the 3rd main side of at least one of the two adjacent blocks, (C-1)
, (C+1)th block is located on the third main side of the Cth block. Note that if the 3rd main sides of the (C-1)th block and the (C+1)th block are on a straight line, an infinite number of intersections will be found, but in this case it is assumed that there are intersections. I will take this into consideration. In the case of pattern 140, when C=2, the third main side of each of the first and third blocks B1 and B3, which are the (C-1)th and (C+1)th blocks, and the Cth block. The intersection n with the No. 3 main side of the second block B2 is on the No. 3 main side of the second block B2, and the No. 3 main side of the second block B2 constitutes the outline of the straight line part of the pattern 140. Therefore, the determination in S6 is YES.

Next, S7 and S8 are executed, and it is determined whether or not the fourth main side of the Cth block constitutes the outline of the curved portion of the pattern 140. This judgment is made in the same way as in the case of the No. 3 main side, when the intersection n' of the extension lines of the No. 4 main sides of the (C-1) and (C+1)th blocks is the No. 4 main side of the C-th block. This is done depending on whether it is on the main side or not. Intersection n of the 4th main side of the 1st and 3rd blocks B1 and B3
' is on the main side number 4 of the second block B2, so S8
The determination is YES, and the count value C becomes 1 in S9.
is increased and execution of the routine returns to S4.

The determination in S4 is NO, and next, it is determined whether or not the main sides of No. 3 and No. 4 constitute the outline of the curved part of the pattern 140 for the third block B3. Since the contour of the straight line portion is constructed, the determinations in S6 and S8 are both YES, and the execution of the routine returns to S4. On the other hand, in the case of the fourth block B4, as shown in FIG. is not on the main side No. 3 of the fourth block B4, so the determination in S6 is NO. The third main side of the fourth block B4 is the side that forms the outline of the curved portion of the pattern 140, and in this case, the block data of the fourth block B4 is interpolated. This interpolation involves finding a dividing point that divides the main side of the curved part of the block pattern into two, moving that dividing point to a position closer to the ideal contour line, and setting it as a new block defining point. This is done by creating block data defined by defined points. Therefore, first, S10 to S12 are executed, and the block specifying point t is determined for the No. 3 main side. After the intersection m of the extension lines of each of the two sub-sides of the fourth block B4, which is the C-th block, is calculated in S10, in S11, the straight line connecting the intersection m and the intersection n obtained in S5 and the third The intersection point s with the main side of is calculated. Then, in S12, on the straight line connecting the intersections s and n, a point that is away from the intersection s toward the intersection n by a distance that is one-fourth of the distance of the line segment ns is determined as the block specifying point t.

Next, S13 and S14 are executed in the same manner as S7 and S8, and it is determined whether or not the fourth main side of the C-th block constitutes the outline of the curved part of the pattern 140. Since the intersection point n' between the extension line of the 4th main side of the third block B3 and the extension line of the 4th main side of the 5th block B5 is not on the 4th main side of the 4th block B4, S
14 is NO, S15 to S17 are executed,
A new block regulation point u is found for the No. 4 main side. In S15, the intersection point m of the extension lines of each of the two sub-sides of the fourth block B4, which is the C-th block, is calculated, and in S16, the intersection point m between the straight line connecting the intersection point m and the intersection point n' is calculated.
The intersection point r with the main side of the number is calculated. Then, in S17, on the straight line connecting the intersections r and n', the line segment n'r
A point that is away from the intersection r toward the intersection n' by a distance of one-fourth of the distance is defined as the block specifying point u.

Once the block specified point u is calculated, S18 is executed, and instead of the data of the C-th block, two block data forming a contour line closer to the ideal contour line L1 are created. This creation is performed on a block (fourth block B
4, the block B41 shown in FIG. 11) and the block defined by the block specifying points t, u and the 3rd and 4th block specifying points of the C-th block (in the case of the 4th block B4, the block B41 shown in FIG. The block B42) shown in FIG. Block data including the coordinate data and number data of the third and fourth block specified points are created and stored in the block data area 116 in place of the block data of the C-th block before interpolation. In this case, since the block data increases due to interpolation, the numbers of blocks after the (C+1)th block are reduced by the increased data. In addition to creating block data for interpolation, sewing order data, embroidery start point and end point data, and thread density data are set. Further, since the number of blocks increases, the count value C of the counter is increased by 1, and the total number of blocks N is increased by 1.

Therefore, when the block data of the fourth block B4 is interpolated, N=7, C
= 5, and by executing S9, C = 6. Next, regarding the fifth block B5, which is the sixth block, it is determined whether the main side thereof constitutes the outline of the curved part of the pattern 140. . Since all of these main sides constitute curved parts, S10 to S12 and S15 to S17 are executed in the same way as in the case of the fourth block B4, and the block specified points t, u
is calculated, and block data for interpolation is created based on these block definition points t and u. The block defined by this created block data is
These are blocks B51 and B52 shown in FIG.

By interpolating the block data of the fifth block B5, the count value C becomes 7 and the total number of blocks N becomes 8 in S18, and C becomes 8 by executing S9. Therefore, the determination in S4 becomes YES, and the execution of the routine ends. In the case of a block at the end of the pattern 140, there is only one adjacent block and it is not possible to determine whether the main side forms a curved part or a straight part of the pattern 140, so the steps from S5 onwards are It is not executed and the routine ends.

In this way, it is determined whether or not the main sides of the six blocks forming the pattern 140 form the outline of the curved part of the pattern 140, and if so, it is defined by the main sides. Instead of a block, two block data are created with the block definition point being a point closer to the ideal contour line than the main side, so that the pattern 140 is the main part of the block forming the curved part, as shown in FIG. The sides are brought closer to the ideal contour line, and even when embroidery is performed with enlargement, the discrepancy between the main side of the block and the ideal contour line is reduced, and the visibility of the stitches can be improved. When the blocks constituting the pattern form a rectangle, the block data may include coordinate data of four points and number data attached to those points to define the direction of embroidery progress, which is easy to set, and However, when forming a curved part of a pattern, the outline of the pattern formed of blocks and the ideal outline will not match. However, if it is possible to interpolate the blocks that make up the curved part of the pattern as in this example and bring the outline of the pattern made up of blocks closer to the ideal outline, then the appearance of the embroidery stitches will be impaired. It is possible to obtain block data that is easy to set, enlarge, and reduce without any trouble.

[0023] Of the two main sides of the block, one main side may form a curved part of the pattern, while the other main side may form a straight part. In the pattern 144 shown in FIG. 12, the No. 3 main side of the Nth block BN constitutes a straight line part of the pattern, but the No. 4 main side forms a curved part of the pattern. Therefore, the determination in S6 is YES, the determination in S8 is NO, and S19 to S21 are executed in the same way as S15 to S17.
A block specification point u is set on the main side of No. 4. After this setting, S22 is executed, and the intersection between the extension line of the straight line mn' and the main side No. 3 is calculated and set as the block specified point t, and two block data are created using these specified points t and u. The block data of the Nth block BN is interpolated. Further, as in the pattern 146 shown in FIG. 13, the No. 4 main side of the Nth block BN constitutes a straight line part of the pattern 146, but when the No. 3 main side forms a curved part, S6 The determination is NO, and the block specified point t is calculated on the third principal side. Then, the determination in S14 becomes YES, and in S23, the intersection between the straight line connecting the intersections m and n and the No. 4 main side is calculated and set as the block specifying point u.

[0024]Although the above embodiment has been explained by taking as an example the case where the blocks are defined by straight lines of the blocks constituting the pattern, the present invention is also applicable to the case where the blocks are defined by curved lines. be able to. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the outline of the Nth block BN constituting the pattern 150 has three block defining points b1 and b.
2, b3 and the circle equation, whereas
If the ideal contour line is a curve as shown by a two-dot chain line, new block defining points b4 and b5 are set between block defining points b1 and b2 and between block defining points b2 and b3, respectively. The contour line of N block BN is defined by a Bezier curve or a spline curve determined by points b1 to b5, and the curve is made closer to the ideal contour line as shown by the dashed line.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the pattern 140
Although the block data is interpolated so that there is less mismatch with the ideal contour line L1 even if the pattern is enlarged, block data interpolation can be performed in cases other than enlarging the pattern. For example, when an operator sets points that define a pattern based on an ideal contour line, if the specified points are insufficient to smoothly define the contour line of the pattern, interpolation of block data can be used to Contour lines can be defined smoothly. In other words, there are fewer points for the operator to set to define the pattern.
This has the effect of reducing the burden on the operator in creating data.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the pattern is 1
Although the explanation has been given by taking as an example the case where the block is composed of a group of blocks, there is also a case where the block is composed of a plurality of groups of blocks. In that case, a block data interpolation routine is executed for the number of block groups to correct the contour.

Furthermore, if a single execution of the block data interpolation routine is not sufficient to interpolate a block, the block data interpolation routine may be repeatedly executed until a sufficiently smooth contour line is obtained.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the block defining points u, t are set at points that are one-fourth of the distance of the line segment n'r, ns from the intersection r, s on the principal sides. However, this distance may be set as appropriate.

Further, the block specifying point may be set on an arc whose chord is the main side of the C-th block.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the pattern has edges, and the blocks at both ends are not interpolated, but these blocks may also be interpolated. If it forms a ring,
For all blocks, it is determined whether the main sides form the outline of a curved part of the pattern or the outline of a straight part, and if they form a curved part, the blocks may be interpolated.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the block data created by interpolation includes vertex coordinate data and number data like data defining other blocks, and the block data at the time of embroidery is can be processed in the same way as other non-interpolated blocks, but may be defined by different types of data.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the pattern 14
The six blocks B1 to B6 that make up 0 are pattern 1
Although it was set by dividing 40, from the beginning it was a quadrilateral (including a quadrilateral where two vertices overlap to form a triangle)
It can also be applied to processing block data when a pattern is set as a set of blocks.

In addition, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the claims.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a block data interpolation routine stored in a ROM of a computer that is the main component of a control device for an embroidery sewing machine equipped with an embroidery data creation device that implements a block data processing method that is an embodiment of the present invention. It is.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the embroidery sewing machine together with the embroidery data creation device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control device.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of the RAM of the computer.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of rectangular blocks formed by dividing a pattern for which embroidery data is created by the embroidery data creation device.

6 is a diagram showing seams formed on the block shown in FIG. 5. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of triangular blocks formed by dividing a pattern for which embroidery data is created by the embroidery data creation device.

8 is a diagram showing seams formed on the block shown in FIG. 7. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a pattern for which embroidery data is created by the embroidery data creation device.

10 is a diagram illustrating interpolation of blocks forming curved portions of the pattern among the blocks forming the pattern shown in FIG. 9; FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state in which interpolation has been performed on blocks forming the pattern shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of block interpolation by the block data interpolation routine.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of block interpolation by the block data interpolation routine.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing another example of block data interpolation.

[Explanation of symbols]

70 Control device 116 Block data area 140 pattern 144 Pattern 146 pattern 150 pattern

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for processing data of a block to be embroidered by an embroidery sewing machine, the method comprising: storing in a storage means block data defining each of a plurality of blocks constituting a pattern; and the steps of: A block data processing method for an embroidery sewing machine, comprising the step of interpolating data to bring the outline of a pattern constituted by the plurality of blocks closer to an ideal outline that smoothly defines the outline of the pattern.