JPH053978A - External equipment control method in electronic sewing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit a user to prepare a control program for the external equipment in a free short time, when a variety of external equipment is connected with an electronic cycle sewing machine and used. CONSTITUTION:An electronic cycle sewing machine which is controlled according to a sewing machine control program 5 is equipped with the expanded input/output modules 2A and 2B for connecting the external equipment, and is equipped with a memory table in which a variety of operation states of the sewing machine are allowed to correspond to the event variables, and an input/output program 6 for relating the event variables with the input variable and output variable corresponding to each port of the expanded input/output module is prepared, and the external equipment is controlled by the program 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an external device control system for controlling an external device (peripheral device) connected to an electronic cycle sewing machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic cycle sewing machine is also called an electronic cycle machine or an electronic pattern sewing machine. It holds a sewing material (cloth etc.) with a holding plate or a cassette and stores sewing data (patterns) stored in advance on a floppy disk or the like. This is an industrial sewing machine that can read various data and move it freely in the XY directions to sew various patterns such as complicated sewing lines and embroidery.

In such an electronic cycle sewing machine, a rotary cassette changer for automatically exchanging the above cassettes by a rotary system, a stacker device for stacking and discharging sewn products, and a label to be sewn on a sewing material are automatically provided. It is often used by connecting various external devices such as an automatic label supplying device for supplying.

In that case, conventionally, an I / O port (input / output control unit) assumed in advance has been provided as an interface with these external devices, or an I / O port of a remodeling level is requested by a user. By installing and modifying the control program of the entire electronic cycle sewing machine, communication with an external device is performed via the I / O port to control them. Further, some users use a predetermined operation signal output from the main body of the sewing machine to externally control using a programmable controller or the like.

[0005]

However, there are various types of external devices connected to the electronic cycle sewing machine, in addition to those that can be envisioned, and the number of I / O ports fluctuates, reaching a modification level. There were many cases.

Moreover, in order to control the external equipment connected thereto, an internal program (control program for specific specifications) corresponding to the specifications of each equipment is created, or
Alternatively, it is necessary to output the signal requested by the user to the outside so that the user can control it by using a programmable controller or the like, which requires a great deal of effort and specifications for implementation. There is also a problem in that maintenance occurs for individual users.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and when the electronic cycle sewing machine is used by connecting various external devices, the user can freely execute a control program for the external devices in a short time. The purpose is to make it available for use.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention detachably installs an expansion input / output module for connecting an external device to the electronic cycle sewing machine, and also various operating states of the electronic cycle sewing machine are provided. A table corresponding to event variables is stored, and an input / output control program for associating the event variable with a variable corresponding to each port of the expansion input / output module is created, and the expansion input / output module is expanded by the input / output control program. It is characterized by controlling an external device connected to. Furthermore, the created input / output control program and sewing data may be stored in the same storage medium with the same pattern number.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the expansion input / output module corresponding to the external device connected to the electronic cycle sewing machine can be mounted, and the variable corresponding to each port and various operations of the electronic cycle sewing machine stored in advance. The user can easily create an input / output control program that associates with the event variable corresponding to the state in a short time, and reliably control the external equipment according to the operating state of the electronic cycle sewing machine by using the input / output control program. can do.

Further, if the created input / output control program and the sewing data are stored in the same storage medium with the same pattern number, the storage medium can be unified and the program management becomes easy.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. First, an example of an electronic cycle sewing machine that implements an external device control system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
Explained by. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance thereof. The electronic cycle sewing machine 1 includes a sewing machine table 10
A sewing machine head 11, an outer pressing arm 12 for holding a cassette to be described later, a cassette mounting plate 13, an emergency stop switch 14, an operation box 15, a thread stand pole 16 and the like are provided above the table 10, and a power switch 17 and The electrical equipment box 18 is provided.

Furthermore, at a position where the operator can operate with his / her feet,
The outer presser switch 19 and the start switch 20 are integrally arranged. Reference numeral 21 is a sewing machine motor for rotationally driving the main shaft in the sewing machine head 11. Besides, in the sewing machine table 10, the outer pressing arm 12 is orthogonal to two directions (X direction and Y direction) in a plane parallel to the cassette mounting plate 14.
X direction which is moved by X-axis motor and Y-axis motor
A Y table and a solenoid for raising and lowering the outer pressing arm 12 are also provided.

In this electronic cycle sewing machine 1, a cassette holding a sewing material (cloth or the like) is inserted between the frame plates 12a and 12b of the outer pressing arm 12 and the outer pressing switch is turned on to lower the outer pressing arm 12. Then, when the start switch 20 is turned on, the sewing machine motor 21 is driven and the sewing data (pattern data) stored in advance in the floppy disk (not shown) loaded in the electrical equipment box 18 is read out and It is possible to perform complicated pattern sewing such as sewing lines and embroidery while freely moving the presser arm 12 in the XY directions.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control system including the electrical equipment box 18 of the electronic cycle sewing machine 1. In the electrical equipment box 18, the central processing unit CP
U31, ROM32 which is a program memory, and RAM33 which is a data memory are connected to a bus line (data bus,
It incorporates a microcomputer 30 connected via an address bus 34 and a control bus 34.

The sewing machine motor 21, the X-axis motor 22 and the Y-axis motor 23 of the XY table (all of which are pulsed) are supplied to the microcomputer 30 via an I / O (input / output unit) not shown. Sewing machine motor driver 35, X-axis motor driver 36, and Y-axis motor driver 37 for driving respective motors, and a floppy disk drive device (hereinafter abbreviated as "FDD") for reading and writing to floppy disk 39. ) Is connected and is also provided in the electrical equipment box 18.

Further, in the bus line 34 of the microcomputer 30, various types including the external pressing switch 19 and the start switch 20 shown in FIG. 2 and the rotational position sensor of the main shaft are also provided through I / O not shown. Sensor 2
4. Various solenoids 25 including solenoids for lowering the outer pressing arm 12 which is always urged and elevated, and a numeric keypad 26a as shown in FIG.
A keyboard (K / B) 26 including a display 27 and the like are also connected.

Further, as the expansion input / output module 2, the expansion input module 2A, the expansion output module 2B, ... Can be detachably mounted on the electrical equipment box 18, and at the time of mounting, they are connected to the bus line 34 of the microcomputer 30. It is supposed to be done. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the slot 1 is provided on the rear surface of the electrical equipment box 18, for example.
8a is provided, and a guide member 18b for individually guiding the plurality of expansion input / output modules 2 and a connector (not shown) are provided therein.

The extended input / output module 2 is composed of a printed circuit board on which a photo coupler, a signal discriminating circuit, etc. are mounted, and each has about 6 to 12 ports (input port for sensor input, output port for open collector, relay). Output, thyristor output, etc.), a connector terminal 2a inserted into a connector in the electrical equipment box 18 at a front end portion thereof, and a connector 2b for connecting signal lines of various external (peripheral) devices described later at a rear end portion thereof. There is.

In the electrical equipment box 18, the microcomputer 30 operates according to the sewing machine control program stored in the ROM 32, and when sewing is started by turning on the start switch 20 as described above, the sewing machine motor driver 35 operates the sewing machine motor. 21 is driven, and any one of various sewing data stored in the floppy disk 39 is selected according to a selection instruction from the keyboard 26 and read by the FDD 38, and the X-axis motor driver 36 is read according to the sewing data. And Y
The X-axis motor 22 and the Y-axis motor 23 of the XY table are driven and controlled through the axis motor driver, and the sewing material is moved in the XY direction through the outer pressing arm 12 and the set 13 shown in FIG. Sew the pattern.

At this time, when an external device is connected via the expansion input / output module 2 for use, an input / output control program to be described later is created by using the keyboard 26 of the operation box 15 in advance, According to the input / output control program, the microcomputer 30 can control the external device connected via the expansion input / output module 2 in accordance with the operating state of the electronic cycle sewing machine 1. Further, the once created input / output control program is stored in the floppy disk 39 which is the same storage medium with the same pattern number as the corresponding sewing data, and can be used at any time when sewing with the sewing data.

Examples of external equipment connected to the electronic cycle sewing machine include the following. (1) Rotary cassette changer (abbreviated as "RCC") (2) Stacker device (3) Label automatic supply device (4) Additional cylinder for positioning (5) Milling device (cutting grooves according to the sewing pattern on the holding plate Equipment) (6) Drilling equipment (for belt holes, eyelet holes, etc.)

Hereinafter, the electronic cycle sewing machine 1 shown in FIG.
An example of connecting and using the RCC will be described. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the connection state, in which the RCC 4 is arranged on the front side of the electronic cycle sewing machine 1 and the expansion input module 2A and the expansion output module 2B each having an input signal line and an output signal line connected thereto are connected to the electronic cycle. Slot 18a of the electrical equipment box 18 shown in FIG.
To attach.

This RCC 3 is provided with four cassette holding arms 41 at 90 ° intervals on a turntable 40, and each cassette 3 (of a kind of type) mounted on the cassette holding arm 41 by sandwiching a sewing material (not shown). Different ones may be sequentially supplied to the cassette insertion position of the electronic cycle sewing machine 1 by the rotation of the turntable 40. After the start of the sewing operation, prior to the supply of the next cassette 3, the empty cassette holding arm 41 waiting at the position facing the sewing machine head 11 receives the sewn cassette 3 by moving the outer pressing arm 12. Then, the rotary table 40 is rotated to convey it to the sewing material exchange position.

Thus, the electronic cycle sewing machine 1 and RC
Since it is necessary to cooperate with C4, for example, signals such as those shown in FIG. 7 are exchanged via the expansion input module 2A and the expansion input module 2B shown in FIG. Each signal shown in FIG. 3 will be briefly described.
Here, the electronic cycle sewing machine is simply referred to as a sewing machine.

Ready ... The sewing machine reads the sewing data and the ready key (in the operation box 15) is pressed to indicate that the sewing machine is in the sewing state. Sewing completion: The sewing machine is finished sewing and the outer presser foot 12 is raised (a state in which the cassette can be replaced by the RCC 4). Error signal: Indicates that the sewing machine has stopped midway due to thread breakage or the like. Start signal ... Signal pattern NO for lowering the outer presser foot 12 with respect to the sewing machine to start sewing ... Pattern number for specifying sewing data and input / output control program

By the way, according to the present invention, in order to facilitate the preparation of the input / output control program for controlling the external equipment, various operating states of the electronic cycle sewing machine (determined by the signal internally generated) are set in advance. An event variable table as shown in Table 1 corresponding to each event variable is stored in the ROM 32 of FIG. In this example,
A 3-digit number (NO) is used as a variable and is associated with each signal name. R indicates read only, and R / W indicates read and write.

[027]

[Table 1]

Also in the expansion input / output module 2 shown in FIG. 3, the input variable table as shown in Table 2 in which the input variables are made to correspond to the respective input ports, and the output variables are made to the respective output ports. The corresponding output variable table as shown in Table 3 is stored in the ROM 32. These input variables and output variables are determined by assuming the maximum number of input ports and output ports that can be used, but in reality, the number of input / output ports that can be used by the inserted expansion input / output module 2 (hence the input variables and Of course, output variables are limited.

[0029]

[Table 2]

[0030]

[Table 3]

Then, according to the connected external device (RCC4 in the example of FIG. 6) and the expansion input module 2A and expansion output module 2B therefor, the electronic cycle sewing machine 1
By operating the keyboard 26 while looking at the display 27 of the operation box 15 shown in FIG. 4, the user can easily create the input / output control program in advance. The program instructions in that case include the following. XXX is a variable number and YYY is a numerical value of time.

IN XXX Put the contents of the variable in the register OUT XXX Put the contents of the register in the variable AND XXX Take the logical product of the register and the variable and assign it to the register OR XXX Take the logical sum of the variable and assign it to the register XOR XXX Takes the exclusive OR of the register and the variable and assigns it to the NOT XXX Register or inverts the contents of the variable WAIT YYY Waits for time YYY Other than ADD (addition), SUB (subtraction), MUL (multiplication) , DIV (division), etc.

Further, the following output variables and input variables are assigned to the respective signals shown in FIG. [Output] Ready 200 [Input] Error signal 100 Sewing end 201 Pattern NO 101 Error signal 202 (4bit) to 104

An example of the created input / output control program is shown below. 10 IN 100 Start command 20 OUT 000 30 IN 101-4 Pattern NO 40 OUT 014 50 IN 010 Sewing 60 OUT 201 70 IN 005 Preparing 80 OUT 200 90 IN 002 Error occurrence 100 OUT 202 110 END

At the time of sewing machine operation, 10 of this program
Lines 100 to 100 are repeatedly executed. Although this is an example of a simple input / output control program, it is often a longer program in practice. According to this input / output control program, the microcomputer 30 in the electrical equipment box 18 is an external device RCC via the expansion input module 2A and the expansion output module 2B.
4 can be controlled according to the operating state of the electronic cycle sewing machine 1.

That is, according to this embodiment, the sewing machine control program 5 for controlling the sensor group, motor group, operation switch group, auxiliary equipment, etc. inside the electronic cycle sewing machine 1, the expansion input module 2A and the expansion output. Since the input / output control program 6 for controlling the external device such as the RCC 4 via the module 2B is associated with the event variable, the input variable and the output variable, the input / output control program without changing the sewing machine control program 5 If it is created according to the external device to which 6 is connected, the external device can be controlled in cooperation with the operation of the electronic cycle sewing machine 1.

The input / output control program can be easily formed by combining the program command with the event variable or the input / output variable or the time in the manner of forming a simple sequence program by using the programming function of the operation box 15 as described above. Can be created. Therefore, the versatility of the electronic cycle sewing machine is enhanced, and it is possible to flexibly cope with various system configurations.

If the created input / output control program is stored in the same floppy disk with the same pattern NO as the corresponding sewing data, if the sewing data is designated by the pattern NO, the input / output control program is automatically created. Is also specified, and it is not necessary to specify the input / output control program according to the sewing pattern. Moreover,
Since the storage media can be unified, program management becomes easy.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the electronic cycle sewing machine is used by connecting various external devices, the user can freely execute a control program for the external devices in a short time. It can be created and used, and can flexibly support various system configurations.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between a sewing machine control program and an input / output control program according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 2 to 7.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of an example of an electronic cycle sewing machine that implements an external device control system according to the present invention.

3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system including an electrical equipment box 18 and the like in the electronic cycle sewing machine 1 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the operation box 15 of the same.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the electrical equipment box 18 seen from the back side together with the expansion input / output module 2.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state where a rotary cassette changer (RCC) is connected to the electronic cycle sewing machine of FIG. 1 and used.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing exchange of signals and the like between the electronic cycle sewing machine and the rotary cassette changer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Electronic Cycle Sewing Machine 2 Extended Input / Output Module 2A Extended Input Module 2B Extended Output Module 3 Cassette 4 Rotary Cassette Changer (RCC) 5 Sewing Machine Control Program 6 Input / Output Control Program 10 Sewing Machine Table 11 Sewing Machine Head 12 Outer Press Arm 13 Cassette Placement Plate 15 Operation box 17 Power switch 18 Electrical equipment box 19 Outer presser switch 20 Start switch 21 Sewing machine motor 22 X-axis motor 23 Y-axis motor 24 Sensor 25 Solenoid 26 Keyboard 27 Display 30 Microcomputer 31 CPU 32 ROM 33 RAM 34 Bus line 35 Sewing machine Motor driver 36 X-axis motor driver 37 Y-axis motor
Driver 38 Floppy disk drive device (FDD) 39 Floppy disk 40 Turntable 41 Cassette holding arm

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An expansion input / output module for connecting an external device to the electronic cycle sewing machine is detachably provided, and a table in which various operating states of the electronic cycle sewing machine are associated with event variables is stored and the event variables are stored. Create an input / output control program that associates variables corresponding to each input / output port of the expansion input / output module,
An external device control method in an electronic cycle sewing machine, wherein an external device connected via the expansion input / output module is controlled by the input / output control program. 2. The electronic cycle control system for an electronic cycle sewing machine according to claim 1, wherein the created input / output control program and sewing data are stored in the same storage medium with the same pattern number. External device control method in the sewing machine.