JPH08112466A - Embroidery data making device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enable anyone to automatically make data on high-quality and beautiful embroidering sewing by operating data on a line-thinned figure, based on the data on the pattern figure of an inputted embroidery, and the quantity of shape characteristics, and making the embroidery data, based on the operation results. CONSTITUTION: The program of the body of a making device is started, and the original picture of the pattern is read by an image scanner 12, and it is stored as a binary pit map data in a RAM 4. CPU 12 performs the boundary abstracting processing in the first place as to this image data. Next, it performs the line thinning processing, based on this abstracted boundary. This line-thinned image data are processed for making them into vector, and each is converted into the congregation of the line data having proper length and direction. Next, the seam form of the corresponding embroidering data is decided, and according to this seam form, the line data of each figure is converted into each embroidery data so as to make embroidery data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an embroidery data creating apparatus for creating embroidery data necessary for forming embroidery on a sewing machine for forming embroidery on a work cloth.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of industrial embroidery sewing machines, there has been provided an embroidery data creating apparatus which can create highly accurate embroidery data in a short time by utilizing a microcomputer. This embroidery data creation device
For example, in a general-purpose personal computer system body,
It is configured by connecting an image scanner, a keyboard, a hard disk drive, a CRT display, etc., so that desired embroidery data can be easily created from an original image of an arbitrary embroidery pattern.

By the way, in recent years, in the background of various circumstances such as diversification of tastes of consumers, high quality, improvement of performance of embroidery sewing machines, etc., even embroidery sewing machines for home use have previously stored embroidery data. There is a demand for a relatively inexpensive and easy-to-operate embroidery data creation device that is capable of forming an embroidery of a pattern desired by a user as well as forming an embroidery of a pattern based on. In particular, it is desired that it is possible to create corresponding high-quality embroidery stitching data even for a pattern mainly composed of line drawings such as handwritten characters and outlines of paintings.

Conventionally, in this type of embroidery data creating apparatus,
There is no automatic creation function of embroidery data suitable for line drawing, the operator scans the original image of the design with an image scanner and then traces the design image displayed on the display device with a mouse, or uses a digitizer etc. By doing so, the linear design was manually decomposed into a large number of line segments and input directly from the design original image. And at that time,
In order to create embroidery data that enables the formation of beautiful and attractive embroidery, the proper stitch shape is instructed for each of a large number of line segments into which patterns are disassembled, relying on the experience and intuition of a skilled worker. Therefore, it is general that actual embroidery sewing data is created.

Further, as a device having an automatic embroidery data creation function, an embroidery data creation device as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 174669/1992 is described. This embroidery data creation apparatus is configured by connecting a monochrome binary image scanner to a compact main body having a microcomputer, a small display and several operation keys. This is to read the original image using an image scanner, then confirm on the display display that the read result is in the desired form,
If so, the embroidery data corresponding to the design is created. In an embroidery data creation device having an automatic creation function of this kind, data is created in which an area corresponding to the read design is sewn with the stitches of satin stitch or tatami stitch.

[0006]

However, the former one of the above-mentioned conventional embroidery data creating devices is
Since it is necessary for the operator to properly instruct the shape of the embroidery seam, the width of the seam, etc. for a large number of design line segments, as the design pattern becomes complicated and large, it takes a lot of time for the work. It was also troublesome and required unexpected skill.

In the latter embroidery data creation device having an automatic creation function, data for sewing the area corresponding to the read design is created, but satin sewing and tatami sewing have an area having a certain width. It is a sewing method suitable for embroidery to be sewn, and it is not possible to create high-quality and beautiful embroidery sewing data by sewing a region that matches a line drawing (written characters, contour line drawing, etc.) by satin or tatami sewing. That is, the automatic function corresponding to the pattern composed of lines was not provided.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is a simple creation work that can be performed by anyone, even for a pattern mainly composed of line drawings such as handwritten characters and outlines of paintings. An object of the present invention is to provide an embroidery data creation device that can realize high-quality and beautiful automatic creation of beautiful embroidery stitch data by changing the stitches according to the shape of the design.

[0009]

In order to overcome such a problem, an embroidery data creating apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention has an image input means for inputting pattern image data representing a pattern of embroidery, and an image. Thinning means for thinning the pattern based on the pattern image data obtained from the input means to calculate thinned figure data, and shape feature amount related to the thickness of the pattern based on the pattern image data obtained from the image input means And a embroidery data creating means for creating embroidery data for embroidering a design based on the shape feature value and the thinned graphic data.

Further, the embroidery data creation apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises, as the characteristic amount calculation means, means for performing calculation based on the number of times the processing in the successive thinning processing is repeated.

Further, the embroidery data creation apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a means for performing distance conversion on the design as the feature amount calculation means.

Further, the embroidery data creation device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention comprises an embroidery data creation means for setting the stitch width of the zigzag stitch based on the shape feature amount.

[0013]

According to the embroidery data creation apparatus having the above-mentioned structure according to the first aspect of the present invention, the image input means can input the pattern image data representing the embroidery pattern and process the pattern. The thinning means can thin the pattern based on the pattern image data obtained from the image input means to calculate the thinned graphic data, and the pattern can be processed as a line. The feature amount calculation means calculates the shape feature amount related to the thickness of the design based on the design image data obtained from the image input means, and the feature of the design can be processed. The embroidery data creating means creates embroidery data for embroidering the design based on the shape feature amount and the thinned graphic data, and creates the embroidery data relating to the feature of the design.

Further, according to the embroidery data creation apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, the feature quantity computing means computes based on the number of times the processing in the successive thinning processing is repeated.

Further, according to the embroidery data creation device of the third aspect of the present invention, the feature amount computing means sets the value of the result of the distance conversion performed on the symbol as the feature of the symbol.

According to the embroidery data creation device of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the embroidery data creation means creates the embroidery data in which the stitch width of the zigzag stitch is set based on the shape feature amount.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an embroidery data creation device for a domestic embroidery sewing machine will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the operation of the creating apparatus will be described with reference to a specific example in which embroidery data is created for the pattern A of the line drawing illustration "pipe and smoke" as shown in FIG.

First, although not shown, a domestic embroidery sewing machine will be briefly described. The embroidery sewing machine moves the embroidery frame, which is arranged on the sewing machine bed and holds the work cloth, to a predetermined position indicated by the X and Y coordinate system peculiar to the apparatus by the horizontal movement mechanism, while performing the sewing operation by the sewing needle and the hook mechanism. By doing so, the work cloth is embroidered with a predetermined pattern.

In this case, the horizontal moving mechanism and the needle bar are controlled by a control device composed of a microcomputer, and therefore, the work cloth is moved in the X and Y directions for each needle. By giving the amount, that is, the embroidery data (stitch data) indicating the needle drop position, the control device can automatically execute the embroidery operation. Further, in this embodiment, a flash memory device is provided in the embroidery sewing machine, and the embroidery data is given from the outside by a flash memory (card memory) described later. The embroidery data creation device according to this embodiment has a function of creating such embroidery data.

Next, the overall structure of the embroidery data creating apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the embroidery data creation device, and FIG.
Represents its electrical configuration. Here, the creation apparatus main body 1 is mainly composed of a microcomputer, and has a CPU.
2, ROM3, RAM4, flash memory device (FM
D) 5 and an input / output interface 6 are connected to each other via a bus.

A liquid crystal display (LCD) 7 is provided on the upper surface of the main body 1 of the production apparatus for confirming and displaying the read symbols and the like on a screen 7a. The liquid crystal display 7 is controlled by a display control device (LCDC) 8, and a display storage device 9 (VRAM) is connected to the display control device 8. Further, a flash memory 10 as a storage medium is detachably attached to the flash memory device 5. Further, in the creating apparatus main body 1, an operation key 11 for an operator to give various instructions and an image scanner 12 for reading a pattern original image are connected to the CPU 2 via the input / output interface 6. .

The image scanner 12 comprises a so-called hand scanner 12 capable of reading a monochrome pattern original image as binary bit map image data, and an operator holds the upper portion thereof with his / her hand to read the lower surface of the pattern original image paper. The design image is read by moving it in a fixed direction by tracing it along the original image paper while pressing the read button while pointing to the top. The read pattern image data is a raster format bitmap, and each pixel has a value of 0 for white and 1 for black.
It is represented by bit data and stored in the RAM 4.

By the software configuration of the creating apparatus main body 1, for example, an embroidery data creating process is automatically performed based on a design original image of the illustration "pipe and smoke" as shown in FIG. ing. This software is stored in the ROM 3 as program code for controlling the CPU 2. This operation will be described in detail below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When creating the embroidery data, the operator activates the program of the creating apparatus main body 1 and then in step 1, causes the image scanner 12 to read the original image of the design A. The binary bitmap image data of the symbol A read by the image scanner 12 by this operation is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 4.

In step 2, with regard to the image data of the pattern A in the RAM 4 stored in step 1, the effective connection diagram component figure (a group of figures in which black pixels are connected to each other) in the image is individually First, the boundary line extraction processing is performed in order to extract the data. This boundary line extraction processing is realized by applying, for example, a boundary line tracking algorithm, which is a well-known image figure processing technique, and the connectivity determination at that time can be either 4-connected or 8-connected. The detailed description of the algorithm is omitted because it is not an essential part of the present invention. As shown in FIG.
The boundaries of L0 to L9 are automatically extracted as connection diagram component graphics. In FIG. 5, each boundary line is drawn as a continuous line for the sake of easy viewing, but in reality, each boundary line is a closed chain of adjacent pixels.

Here, L0, L2, and L4 are boundary lines that define the outer shape of the line figure of the large, medium, and small connected figure "smoke," and L1, L3, and L5 are the same as the large, medium, and small connected figure "smoke." It is a boundary line that defines the inside (hole) shape of the line drawing. Similarly, L6 and L7 are boundary lines that define the outer shape and the inner shape of the line drawing of the "pipe body", respectively.
8 and L9 are boundary lines that define the outer and inner shapes of the "pipe hole" line drawing, respectively.

Next, in step 3, based on the boundary lines extracted in step 2, the thin lines of the connected component figures they represent (in this case, three "smoke", "pipe body" and "pipe hole"). Conversion processing is performed. For example, in the case of the "pipe body" figure, for the entire collection of pixels between the outer boundary line L6 and the inner boundary line L7 (including the pixels that make up L6 and L7 itself), from the pixels located on the boundary side The thinning process is performed by sequentially repeating the operation of deleting pixels according to a predetermined rule until there are no pixels that can be deleted according to the predetermined rule.

The rules for deciding whether or not to delete a pixel will not be described in detail here, but various techniques have been devised to obtain a fine line figure of good quality. Any known sequential thinning processing method can be adopted as long as it can perform thinning so that the line width of the figure becomes 1. At the same time, this step 3 counts the number of repetitions of the pixel deletion processing step required until the thinning is completed when the above-described successive thinning is performed, and stores the number of times for each figure in a predetermined area in the RAM 4.

Incidentally, also for other figures, the same sequential pixel deletion processing as described above is applied to the collection of pixels between the outer boundary line and the inner boundary line to correspond to the pattern A. Thinning of all figures and calculation of the number of thinning repetitions are performed. FIG. 6 shows a thinned image of the pattern subjected to the thinning processing in this way. Also in FIG. 6, each thin line is drawn as a continuous line for the sake of clarity.
Actually, it is a chain of adjacent pixels. Further, the numerical value shown in parentheses in the figure is the number of times of thinning of each thin line figure calculated in the above process.

Design A which has been subjected to the thinning process in step 3
The thin line image data of each connected component figure is converted into line segment data each having an appropriate length and direction, that is, a set of short vectors, by the vectorization process in the next step 4. The simplest method of vectorization processing is to select an arbitrary pixel (for example,
The pixel located at the upper left is used as a starting point, and the chain of pixels forming the thin line figure is sequentially traced to sample the coordinate values of the pixels forming the thin line figure at appropriate intervals to obtain a set of shape feature points. There is also a method, and it is also realized by a method of obtaining an appropriate feature point by setting a base vector and sequentially evaluating a difference from the base vector. Although a detailed description of the procedure relating to the vectorized graphic data processing is omitted,
FIG. 7 shows an example of the short vector data corresponding to the connected component graphic of the pattern A thus obtained. In the figure,
Black circles represent end points or shape line feature points (where end points of two or more short vectors are connected to each other).

In step 5, the stitch form of the corresponding embroidery data is determined on the basis of the short vector data expressing the pattern A thus generated. Specifically, this is performed according to the following procedure. That is, with respect to each connected component graphic forming the pattern A, the thinning iteration count N calculated in step 3 and stored in the RAM 4 is referred to. Then, based on the size of the thinning repetition number N, the stitch form for converting the corresponding figure into the embroidery data is set according to the following rule.

For example, (1) if 1 ≦ N <3, triple running sewing (2) if 3 ≦ N <5, zigzag stitch with a sewing width of 1.2 mm (3) if 5 ≦ N, sewing width of 1.8 mm Staggered stitch This means that the number N of times of thinning repetition is small, which means that the line width of the original line figure is narrow, and thus the line width is thin even as the stitch form of the corresponding embroidery data. If the number N of times of thinning repetition is large, it means that the line width of the original line figure is thick, so that a wide line shape is used as the stitch form of the corresponding embroidery data. The embroidery sewing is set. By setting an appropriate stitch form for each figure in this way, it is possible to create linear stitch embroidery data that reflects the line width information of the original figure that was lost during the thinning process to some extent. In the case of "Pipe and smoke" of the illustrated pattern A, the largest smoke ring and the main body of the pipe are stitched with a stitch width of 1.8 mm, and the smoke ring of the intermediate size and the hole of the pipe have a stitch width of 1 The stitch shape is set to a zigzag stitch of 2 mm and a small smoke ring to a triple running stitch.

After that, in step 6, the short vector data of each figure created in step 4 is converted into embroidery data in accordance with the stitch form determined in step 5. For example, in the case of creating a zigzag stitch, for each corresponding short vector, with the line segment as the center line, the width determined along this direction (=
By setting a large number of needle drop points on both sides that are apart by 1/2) of the set zigzag stitching width, and when creating stitches for running stitches, the appropriate short vector along each line segment for each corresponding short vector By sequentially setting needle drop points at different intervals, embroidery data corresponding to the graphic shape is generated.

Although not shown in the flow chart of FIG. 1, the embroidery data created in this way is thereafter stored in the flash memory 10 via the flash memory device 5, and the flash memory 10 is stored in the embroidery sewing machine. By mounting it on, it is possible to form an embroidery pattern corresponding to the pattern A. For reference, a state of the embroidery seam finally formed on the work cloth is shown in FIG.

The above is the embodiment in which the feature quantity computing means constituting the present invention is one which counts the number of times of repeating the process in the successive thinning process.
Second when the value based on the distance value obtained by performing the distance conversion on each connected component figure is used as the feature amount calculation means
This embodiment will be described by applying it to an automatic embroidery data creation device for a domestic embroidery sewing machine similar to that described above. In this case, the entire configuration of the creating apparatus and the original image used as the operation example of the processing are the same as those shown above, so refer to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, respectively.

A flowchart relating to the operation in this case is shown in FIG. 9, which will be described below. Here, FIG. 1 and FIG.
Since the same processing name is given to the processing having the same contents among the respective processing steps in, the description thereof will not be repeated here. Also,
Step 14 in FIG. 9 is almost the same as the thinning processing of step 3 in FIG. 1, but here, the number of repetitions of the pixel deletion processing step required until the thinning is completed in performing the successive thinning is counted. The difference is that it does not remember.

Now, after the boundary line extraction for each connected component figure is performed in step 12, in step 13,
Distance conversion processing of connected component graphics is individually performed. Conceptually speaking, the distance conversion is to obtain a value indicating how far apart a pixel forming a graphic is from the nearest boundary pixel of the graphic. Therefore, the pixel located at the edge of the graphic, that is, the boundary, has a distance value of 1, and the pixels closer to the inside of the graphic have a larger distance value. Here, a distance value corresponding to each of a group of pixels surrounded by a boundary line (including pixels forming the boundary line itself), that is, all pixels forming the entire connection diagram component graphic is calculated.

Note that there is a well-known algorithm as an image figure processing technique for performing the distance conversion, and it is realized by applying it. Further, the pixel connectivity at that time can be either 4-connection or 8-connection, but the detailed description of this distance conversion algorithm is omitted because it is not an essential part of the present invention. FIG. 10 shows a part of the result of performing the distance conversion on the smoke ring figure of the pattern A.

In this way, for each figure, the distance values corresponding one-to-one with the pixels forming the figure can be obtained by the number of pixels, and furthermore, for each figure, it is the largest with respect to the set of these distance values. The distance value is taken out and stored in a predetermined area in the RAM 4. The maximum distance value for each figure stored here becomes the figure shape feature amount that plays the same role as the number of times of thinning repetition shown in the first embodiment.

Thereafter, in step 14 and subsequent steps, the fine line image data of the design graphic is created by the same operation as in the flow of FIG. However, what is referred to in step 16 is not the number of thinning iterations, but the maximum distance value obtained in step 13. When using this distance value as the figure shape feature amount, in addition to the maximum distance value shown above, the ratio of pixels having a distance value greater than a certain value, the average value of pixels having a large distance value, etc. It is also conceivable to adopt it and use it as a criterion for the stitch setting means.

As described in detail above, according to the embroidery data creation apparatus of this embodiment, in the steps 5 and 16 described above, the stitches are suppressed according to the shape feature amount of the line segment which constitutes the pattern of the line drawing. Since it is designed to be held, high quality is automatically achieved without the trouble of manually tracing the shape line of each figure and inputting feature points and specifying the stitch width and stitch form. An excellent effect that beautiful embroidery sewing data can be created can be obtained.
Furthermore, since it is created automatically, anyone can operate it easily and no skill is required.

The thinning process in this embodiment is a process for recognizing a pattern as a line regardless of a change in line thickness due to handwriting or the like. For example, even if a part of the line is thick or thin. , The line is thinned to the smallest unit that can be processed without being limited to a part of it.However, if you simply create a thin line in the scanned image and create embroidery data, the line will be thinned regardless of the thickness of the line drawn in the original image. The thickness of all the lines is converted to a constant thickness, resulting in a monotonous embroidery. However, according to the data creation device of the present invention, the zigzag stitches are sewn according to the thickness of the read lines. Since the width and sewing method are automatically set, it is possible to form embroidery rich in intonation.

In step 2 in the above embodiment,
Boundary line extraction processing is used to individually extract valid connection diagram component graphics in an image, but this may be performed by applying area labeling processing, which is a known image graphics processing technique. Further, as the stitch width of the zigzag stitch set in steps 5 and 16, two set values of 1.8 mm and 1.2 mm are used, but these may be arbitrary values. Of course, it is also possible to select a sewing width of 3 or more with reference to a plurality of threshold values, or simply switch the stitch forms of zigzag stitches and running stitches with an appropriate sewing width. Further, in the present embodiment, the sewing width and the sewing method correspond to the preset value and the sewing method,
The corresponding condition may be changed by the operator. In addition, it is also possible to include, for example, a stitch pattern to be used to form a special stitch pattern using a pattern. Further, in steps 6 and 17 for converting to embroidery data, it is also possible to generate block-shaped embroidery data instead of directly generating stitch data as in the present embodiment.

Although the embodiment of the embroidery data creating apparatus including the handy scanner 12 has been described here,
The present invention is not limited to the examples given here, for example, a stationary scanner for reading the pattern image data, an external storage device (FD or flash card) in which graphic data is stored, and Data representing the design may be input from the CAD to the embroidery data creation device. In addition, the hardware configuration of the main body of the creation apparatus can be appropriately modified and implemented without departing from the gist of the invention, such as by adopting a general-purpose personal computer. Further, in the present embodiment, the obtained vector is the center line of the zigzag stitch, but it may be the turn back position of the zigzag stitch.

[0045]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the embroidery data creation apparatus of the present invention, a line drawing is manually performed with respect to a pattern of an original image mainly composed of a line drawing such as a handwritten character or the outline of a painting. The pattern is broken down into a number of line segments and entered,
For each of the line segments, while realizing a simple creation work that does not need to specify the shape of the embroidery seam, the width of the seam, etc., even in the case of the finished embroidery pattern, the seams can be adjusted according to the shape feature amount of the figure. By giving the change to, it is possible to automatically create high quality and beautiful embroidery sewing data, which is an excellent practical effect.

Further, according to the embroidery data creation apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, the feature amount computing means sets the number of times of repeating the process in the successive thinning process as a feature of the design, so that the thickness of the design It has an excellent practical effect of enabling automatic creation of related high-quality and beautiful embroidery sewing data.

Further, according to the embroidery data creation apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, the feature amount calculation means sets the value of the result of the distance conversion performed on the design as the feature of the design, and thus the thick design. It is possible to automatically create high-quality and beautiful embroidery sewing data related to the height, which is an excellent practical effect.

According to the embroidery data creation device of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the embroidery data creation means creates the embroidery data in which the stitch width of the zigzag stitch is set based on the shape feature amount. It has an excellent practical effect of automatically creating high-quality and beautiful embroidery stitch data with a wide variety of stitch widths.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of an embroidery data creation operation by an embroidery data creation device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an embroidery data creation device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an embroidery data creation device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a symbol original image.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a boundary image of a pattern in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a thinned image of a pattern in the example.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a vectorized image of a pattern in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an embroidery seam of a pattern in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation of the embroidery data creation device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a distance conversion result of a partial figure in the second example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Creation Device Main Body 2 CPU 3 RAM 4 ROM 5 Flash Memory Device 10 Flash Memory 12 Image Scanner

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A device for creating embroidery data necessary for forming embroidery for a sewing machine that forms embroidery on a work cloth, and image input means for inputting pattern image data representing a pattern of the embroidery. , Thinning means for thinning the design based on the design image data obtained from the image input means to calculate thinned graphic data, and the thickness of the design based on the design image data obtained from the image input means And a embroidery data creating means for creating embroidery data for embroidering the design based on the shape feature value and the thinned figure data. Characteristic embroidery data creation device. 2. The embroidery data creation device according to claim 1, wherein the feature amount calculation means performs calculation based on the number of times the process in the successive thinning process is repeated. 3. The feature quantity calculation means is for performing a distance conversion on the symbol.
The embroidery data creation device described in. 4. The embroidery data creation device according to claim 1, wherein the embroidery data creation means sets the stitch width of the zigzag stitch based on the shape feature amount.