JPH05137863A - Embroidery sewing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an embroidery sewing machine which allows a worker to clearly judge the position where embroidery is to be performed on a worked cloth in a short time and carries out sewing work efficiently. CONSTITUTION:A demountable type luminous device 30 is installed on the bed of an embroidery sewing machine. The luminous means 30 consists of the arrangement of a number of LEDs 31 in the longitudinal and lateral directions, and a worked cloth W held on an embroidery frame 11 positioned over the display means 30 is allowed to pass, and the outer shape line of an embroidery pattern is displayed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an embroidery sewing machine for performing embroidery on a work cloth set on a sewing machine table while relatively moving a sewing needle based on embroidery data designating a needle drop position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of embroidery sewing machine, an embroidery frame for supporting a work cloth in a stretched state is provided on a sewing machine table, and a horizontal movement mechanism moves the embroidery frame in the XY directions. It is configured. Then, the control device of the sewing machine controls the horizontal movement mechanism based on, for example, the embroidery data indicating the coordinates of the needle drop point for each stitch, and the sewing machine provided in the arm portion and the sewing machine table. The drive mechanism for synchronously driving the thread catcher is controlled to automatically execute the embroidery operation on the work cloth set on the embroidery frame.

In recent years, in this type of embroidery sewing machine, in order to improve the convenience of the operator, the position of the set work cloth is embroidered before starting the sewing work. Some have been provided with a function of notifying the operator of whether or not. This one calculates a quadrangular range (referred to as a mask area) surrounding an area to be embroidered on a work cloth from embroidery data, and a sewing needle located above the work cloth relatively moves to this mask area. It was to move the embroidery frame so as to trace.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional device has the following drawbacks. That is, first
Since the sewing needle separates from the work cloth and moves above the work cloth, the operator can only know the approximate embroidery range. Since the sewing needle sequentially traces along the periphery of the mask area, the operator had to keep his eyes on the entire embroidery range during the tracing. In addition, it takes a long time for tracing, resulting in a large loss of work time.

In particular, when creating a patch,
Multiple embroidery areas are set on one piece of work cloth, multiple embroidery areas are applied, and then the embroidery area is cut off. In this case, tracing takes a long time and the embroidery area can be identified. Since it becomes more difficult, there was a mistake in the positioning of the sewing due to misidentification, and if positioning was performed in anticipation of safety, the work cloth was wasted a lot.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to enable a worker to clearly recognize in a short time which position on a work cloth is to be embroidered, which leads to efficiency improvement. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an embroidery sewing machine that can perform various sewing operations.

[0007]

The embroidery sewing machine of the present invention comprises:
Embroidering is performed on the work cloth set on the sewing machine table while relatively moving the sewing needles based on the embroidery data designating the needle drop position, and storage means for storing the embroidery data. Setting means for setting a position to be embroidered in the work cloth set on the sewing machine table, and an area to be embroidered by shining light on the work cloth based on the embroidery data and the embroidery position. Is characterized in that it is provided with a display means for displaying.

[0008]

According to the above means, the display means, based on the embroidery data stored in the storage means and the embroidery position set by the setting means, displays the area where the work cloth is to be embroidered. Display by shining light on. Therefore, the operator can know which position of the work cloth is to be embroidered by looking at the light applied to the set work cloth.

In this case, since the area to be embroidered is directly displayed on the work cloth, the operator can clearly recognize the embroidered area in the actual size, and the operator can use the light. Since it is a display, the whole display can be performed in a short time, and the operator can instantaneously recognize the embroidery area without paying particular attention.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, the overall configuration of the embroidery sewing machine according to this embodiment will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sewing machine main body is constructed by integrally forming an arm portion 2 extending from the back side to the front side on a sewing machine table 1. A support case 4 having a plurality of needle bars 3 in this case, 6 in this case, is provided at the tip of the arm 2.
Is provided. The needle bars 3 are supported in a support case 4 side by side in a lateral direction so as to be vertically movable, and sewing needles 5 are attached to lower end portions protruding from the support case 4, respectively. For each sewing needle 5, embroidery threads of different colors, for example, are supplied from a thread supply source (not shown) to the thread tension machine 6 and the balance 7.
It is designed to be supplied via.

The support case 4 is attached to the arm portion 2 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction shown in FIG. 3, and is moved by the needle bar selection motor 8. A drive mechanism for transmitting the driving force of the sewing machine motor 9 to the needle bar 3 to drive it vertically is provided in the arm portion 2. This driving force is applied to one needle bar 3 located at a predetermined use position.
Therefore, when the support case 4 is moved by the needle bar selection motor 8, the needle bar 3 to be driven, in other words, the color type of the embroidery thread is changed. Has become.

On the other hand, the sewing machine table 1 is provided with a bed portion 10 located below the needle bar 3, and although not shown, the bed portion 10 is driven by the sewing machine motor 9. A thread catcher or the like is provided.
This thread catcher is driven in synchronization with the needle bar 3 and cooperates with the sewing needle 5 to form embroidery stitches on the work cloth W.

The work cloth W is placed on the bed portion 10,
The embroidery frame 11 supports and sets it. Although not shown in detail, in this case, the embroidery frame 11
Is composed of a rectangular frame-shaped outer frame and an inner frame 11a that is detachably fitted into the outer frame. As shown in FIG. 2, the work cloth is provided between the outer frame and the inner frame 11a. By sandwiching W, the work cloth W is supported in a state of being stretched tightly inside the inner frame 11a.

The embroidery frame 11 can be freely moved in the X-axis and Y-axis directions by the horizontal moving mechanism 12. The horizontal moving mechanism 12 moves the Y-axis direction moving frame 13 in the Y-axis direction on the sewing machine table 1 by a Y-axis feed motor 14 (see FIG. 4) and is connected to the embroidery frame 11 (outer frame). X-axis direction moving frame 15,
The X-axis feed motor 16 (see FIG. 4) is configured to move in the X-axis direction along the Y-axis direction moving frame 13.

Each mechanism configured as described above is controlled by a control device 17 which is a microcomputer built in the sewing machine table 1. As shown in FIG. 4, the control device 17 includes a CPU 18, RO
An M19 and a RAM 20 are connected to each other via a bus 21, and an input / output interface 22 is connected to the bus 21.

The input / output interface 22 is provided with motor drive circuits 23, 24, 25 and 26 for driving the sewing machine motor 9, the X-axis feed motor 16, the Y-axis feed motor 14 and the needle bar selection motor 8, respectively. It is connected. Thus, the control device 17 uses the sewing machine motor 9, the X-axis feed motor 16, the Y-axis feed motor 14, and the needle bar based on the embroidery data described later stored in the RAM 20, the control program stored in the ROM 19, and the like. The selection motor 8 is controlled to automatically execute the embroidery sewing operation on the work cloth W.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3 as well, a control board 2 is provided at a rear side portion of the sewing machine table 1.
7, a display device 28 such as an LCD display and a floppy disk drive 29 are provided and connected to the input / output interface 22. Although not shown in detail, the control board 27 is provided with a start switch for executing a sewing operation and various input keys for reading embroidery data and setting embroidery positions. In this case, the control board 27 functions as the setting means according to the present invention. The floppy disk drive 29 reads necessary embroidery data from a floppy disk (not shown) storing a large number of embroidery data.

Here, the embroidery data will be briefly described. Now, as shown in FIG. 9, a substantially T-shaped figure A
An example is the case where embroidery is performed such that the inside of the item is filled with stitches. In order to execute the embroidery operation, one stitch data indicating a needle drop point for each stitch (movement amount of the work cloth W in the X-axis and Y-axis directions) is required. So-called block data is used as the data.
This block data consists of a set of coordinates (positioned on the outline of the figure A) of the vertices of each block when the figure A is divided into a plurality of rectangular blocks.

Such embroidery data (block data)
Is created by an embroidery data creation device and stored in a floppy disk.
9 is read into the RAM 20. As shown in FIG. 5, a counter 20a, an embroidery data area 20b, and an embroidery position data area 20c, which will be described later, are provided in the RAM 20 together with a working area 20d. In this embodiment, the control device 1
In the sewing operation, the embroidery operation is advanced while reading the embroidery data block by block and performing an operation to develop it into one stitch data. It should be noted that the needle bar 3 is automatically changed by the needle bar selection motor 8 by including color change data in the embroidery data.

Now, as shown in FIG. 2, the bed portion 1
Reference numeral 0 indicates a light emitting device 3 which is located on the lower surface of the embroidery frame 11 and serves as display means for displaying an area to be embroidered.
0 is provided. The light emitting device 30 has a thin plate shape which is slightly larger than the embroidery frame 11 as a whole.
As shown in FIG. 5, a large number of LEDs 31 are arranged vertically and horizontally on the upper surface regularly (for example, at intervals of 5 mm). The light emitting device 30 is detachably attached to the upper surface of the bed portion 10 and is detachable when, for example, sewing a tubular object.

As shown in FIG. 4, the light emitting device 30 is controlled by the control device 17 so that each LED 31 is independently turned on and off. As a result, as will be described later, only the LED 31 corresponding to the outline of the embroidery pattern is turned on before the start of the sewing work, and the embroidery frame 11
By illuminating the work cloth W set in the above from below, the transmitted light displays an area to be embroidered by the operator. A central hole 30a is formed in the central portion of the light emitting device 30 in correspondence with a needle hole (not shown) of the bed portion 10 for the sewing needle 5 to pass through. There is.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
Here, a case where a large number of the embroidery of the above-mentioned T-shaped figure A is formed on one work cloth W will be described as an example. When starting the sewing work, the worker puts the work cloth W on the embroidery frame 1
At the same time, the floppy disk in which the embroidery data is stored is set in the floppy disk drive 29, and the key operation for starting the sewing operation is performed on the control board 27. Then, the control device 17 executes the processing of the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 1 by its software configuration.

First, in step S1, the file names of all the embroidery data stored in the floppy disk are read by the floppy disk drive 29. In the next step S2, it is asked whether or not the positioning operation for arranging the embroidery on the work cloth W is performed.
If es, the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, the operator selects the embroidery data of the embroidery to be formed. This selection is performed, for example, by operating a key on the control board 27 to select a desired embroidery data name from all the file names. When this selection is made, the embroidery data selected from the floppy disk in step S4 becomes R.
Read in AM20.

In the next step S5, the selected embroidery data is edited. Here, the editing is to create new embroidery data by enlarging, reducing, rotating, etc., the embroidery pattern formed by the original embroidery data. Again, the operator operates the key on the control board 27. Done by.

Then, in step S6, a region corresponding to the size of the actual embroidery to be embodied by the embroidery data, in this case, a portion corresponding to the outline of the embroidery figure A is calculated. This is to obtain the light emitting position of the light emitting device 30, and the calculation is performed by extracting the outline of the embroidery figure A (the outline of each block in this case) from the embroidery data (block data). As shown in FIG. 7, the outline (thick solid line) indicates the LED of the light emitting device 30.
It is determined by which point in the XY coordinate system (one set of 5 mm square dots) intersected by 31 rows is crossed.

When this calculation is performed, the embroidery area is displayed on the work cloth W by the light emitting device 30 in step S7. This display is performed by turning on the LED 31 at the light emitting position obtained in step S6 so that the center of the embroidery pattern A is located at the reference position. When passing through step S7 for the first time, The reference position is set, for example, at the center of the light emitting device 30 (the center of the work cloth W held by the embroidery frame 11). In FIG. 7, the position where the LED 31 is turned on is shown by hatching for convenience.

By the light emission of the light emitting device 30, the work cloth W is
In addition, light is applied from below only to the portion along the outline of the area to be embroidered, and the operator sees through this from above to determine which position of the work cloth W is to be embroidered. You can know. By the way, according to the experiment of the present inventor, it was confirmed that the worker can sufficiently recognize the display by the light emitting device 30 unless the work cloth W is very thick and dark. Also, L
As for the density of DE31, a sufficiently clear display could be performed at 5 mm intervals.

When this display is made, it is next asked in step S8 whether or not the position to be embroidered is moved from the position shown above. When the operator performs a key operation to move the embroidery formation position (Yes
s), in the next step S9, the control board 27
An operation of moving the embroidery area is performed by using the front, rear, left, and right movement keys. Thus, in step S10, the reference position is changed based on the operation of the move key.

Then, in the next step S11, the display of the embroidery area before movement, which has been emitting light, is erased, and the process returns to step S7 to display the embroidery area on the work cloth W at the new reference position. Of. If the operator sees this display and finds that the position is acceptable, the operator performs a key operation in step S8 to the effect that the embroidery formation position is acceptable (N
o). Then, in step S8, the reference position is stored in the RAM 20 in association with the embroidery data. At this point, the display is continued.

Thereafter, the process returns to step S2 again, and it is asked whether or not to perform a positioning operation for deciding which position on the work cloth W the embroidery should be placed on. Here, when it is sufficient to form the embroidery only in the currently displayed area, the operator performs a key operation indicating that no further operation is performed (No), and the display is erased, Proceed to the sewing process. Although not shown, in the sewing process, the embroidery operation is executed based on the embroidery data stored in the RAM 20 and the reference position thereof, and the work cloth W is embroidered at the position indicated above. is there.

On the other hand, when a large number of embroidery is to be applied to one work cloth W, in step S2, when the operator performs a key operation to perform the positioning operation again (Yes), steps S3 to S3 are repeated. The process of S6 is performed. At this stage, it is possible to edit the embroidery graphic or select a different embroidery graphic.

In step S7, the embroidery area of the work cloth W is displayed.
In this case, if the step S10 has been performed last time, the display based on the reference position is performed. Therefore, in this case, it is always moved (Yes in step S8).
In this case, since the new embroidery area is often arranged in the vicinity of the embroidery area that was previously arranged, it is possible to reduce the input of the movement amount in step S9.

By repeating such processing, as shown in FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b), for example, one work cloth W can be obtained.
A large number of displays (for convenience, the display part by light is shown by a solid line)
By doing so, it is possible to apply a large number of embroidery to the work cloth W at a time in a state in which the intervals between them are narrowed. In this case, if different embroidery data is selected in step S4, not only the same embroidery but also a large number of different embroidery can be arranged in a close state.

According to this embodiment, the light emitting device 3
When 0, the area to be embroidered is displayed on the work cloth W by lighting the LED 31. Therefore, the operator looks at the display and determines which position of the work cloth W is embroidered. You can easily know. In this case, unlike the conventional sewing needle tracing the mask area, the outer shape of the embroidery is directly displayed on the work cloth W.
The operator can clearly recognize the embroidery area in the actual size, and since the display is performed by light, the entire display can be performed in a short time and the operator does not need to pay attention to the moment. The embroidery area can be recognized.

As a result, mistakes in sewing positioning are eliminated, and at the same time, the waste of the work cloth W can be suppressed and the number of times of exchanging work cloth W can be reduced, so that efficient sewing work can be performed. Can be done.

Further, in particular, in this embodiment, since the outer shape of the embroidery figure is displayed, as shown in FIG. 8, the work cloth W can be formed with the space as close as possible to the embroidery. It is possible to perform more efficient sewing work, and in addition to this, the operator can also check the embroidery pattern. Furthermore, since the configuration is also provided with an editing function, desired editing can be easily performed, and the benefit of the operator can be achieved.

In the above embodiment, the outline of the embroidery graphic A is displayed. However, as the embroidery area, a rectangular mask area (shown by a broken line in FIG. 9) surrounding the embroidery graphic A is displayed. Even in this case, as shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to arrange the work cloth W in a state in which a large number of embroidery regions are packed (the display portion by light is shown by a broken line for convenience). Even with such a configuration, the intended purpose of the present invention can be sufficiently achieved.

Further, in the above embodiment, as the display means,
Although the light emitting device 30 including a large number of LEDs 31 is used,
For example, a so-called liquid crystal shutter or the like in which a lamp is combined with a transmissive liquid crystal panel may be used. Further, light is not applied from the lower surface side of the work cloth W, but light is applied to the work cloth W from the upper surface side. The reflected light may be displayed to the operator.

In addition, as the embroidery data, one stitch data for designating all the needle drop points may be used instead of the block data, and the inside of the embroidery area may be displayed instead of the outer shape. The present invention can be carried out by appropriately changing it without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0042]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the embroidery sewing machine of the present invention, the area to be embroidered is displayed by shining light on the work cloth. This is a very excellent practical effect in which the operator can clearly recognize in which position the embroidery will be applied in a short time, and in turn, the efficient sewing work can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for displaying an embroidery area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part.

FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the contents of RAM

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a light emitting device.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged plan view of the light emitting device for explaining the operation.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example in which a plurality of embroidery is arranged.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an embroidery figure.

FIG. 10 is a view corresponding to FIG. 8 showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

In the drawings, 1 is a sewing table, 3 is a needle bar, 5 is a sewing needle, 1
0 is a bed, 11 is an embroidery frame, 12 is a horizontal movement mechanism, 1
7 is a control device, 18 is a CPU, 19 is a ROM, and 20 is an R
AM (storage means), 27 is a control board (setting means), 28 is a display device, 29 is a floppy disk drive, 30 is a light emitting device (display means), and 31 is an LED.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A work cloth set on a sewing machine table, based on embroidery data designating a needle drop position,
In an embroidery sewing machine that performs embroidery while relatively moving a sewing needle, a storage unit that stores the embroidery data, and a setting unit that sets a position to be embroidered in the work cloth set on the sewing machine table. An embroidery sewing machine comprising: display means for displaying an area to be embroidered by shining light on a work cloth based on the embroidery data and the embroidery position.