JPH10328453A - Automatic sewing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily know an operable key at each step of preparing sewing data at an automating sewing machine. SOLUTION: At the time of starting the automatic sewing machine, an icon and operable keys 65 are displayed on a liquid crystal display 13 (a). The keys 65 express 'a key for moving to left', 'a key for moving to right', 'enter key', and 'escape key' from left. The four keys of these are four among 27 keys provided for an operation panel. At the time of pressing the key for moving to right, the frame of 'sewing' is thickened and at the time of further pressing the key for moving to left, the frame of 'program' returns to a thickened state. Then, at the time of pressing the enter key, a picture is displayed on the display 13 (b). As only an operable key is displayed on 13 from among many keys like this, a sewing data is efficiently prepared.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention can form a desired pattern of stitches on a workpiece according to sewing data.
The present invention relates to an automatic sewing machine capable of creating sewing data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an automatic sewing machine which performs a sewing operation in accordance with sewing data in which sewing operations are sequentially set. In such an automatic sewing machine, a frame is provided that is movable in the X and Y directions along a horizontal plane under a needle, a sewing object is fixed to the frame, and a motor that moves the frame by a predetermined amount according to the sewing data is driven. Then, a stitch is formed by performing a sewing operation. Some automatic sewing machines have a function of creating sewing data. In such an automatic sewing machine, sewing data is created under conditions that the horizontality of a frame, the verticality of a needle bar (a portion supporting a needle) with respect to the frame, and an error in the amount of movement of the frame are exactly the same as those at the time of sewing. Can be.

When creating sewing data, it is common to sequentially input positional information of needle entry points. The needle drop point is a point at which the needle of the automatic sewing machine is inserted into the workpiece when the automatic sewing machine actually performs sewing.
This example is shown in FIG. FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating a state in which a stitch is formed on a workpiece, and FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating an outline of sewing data. As shown in FIG.
In the sewing object, the sewing data is represented as data (also referred to as position information) indicating the position of the needle drop point. That is, the position of the start point B, the position of the point S _1, the position of the point S _2, the position of the point S _3, it is expressed by the position of the ...... point S _n.

[0004] The position information of each point is usually represented by the amount of movement of the frame from the immediately preceding needle drop point. For example, 3
As shown in FIG. 6B, the data of the stitches is represented by the movement amount of the frame from the X point of the previous point, that is, the data of the second stitch, and the Y coordinate of the data of the data of the second stitches is also shown.
It is represented by the moving amount of the frame from the coordinates. Thus, the data of the points S ₁ , S ₂ , S ₃ ,..., And S _n are stored in the memory and further stored on a floppy disk or the like.

An automatic sewing machine usually has a function of automatically generating other stitches based on input position information. For example, when forming a stitch pattern in a straight line, the user inputs the position information of both ends of the line segment, inputs a pitch, and divides both ends at this pitch to form a stitch (here, the stitch is formed). An input method for automatically forming a stitch in this manner can also be referred to as a straight line input).

[0006]

However, according to the above prior art, various operations are required at the time of creation.
That is, first, the automatic sewing machine is set not in the sewing mode but in the sewing data creating mode, and the needle drop point is input by one point or the straight line input is selected. Before entering the points, it is necessary to perform various step-by-step operations.

In order to perform such an operation, various switches and buttons (herein called keys) are inevitably used.
Are required, and the number is as large as about 20 to 50 pieces. In addition, an appropriate key operation is required for each of the steps. For this reason, the user of the automatic sewing machine needs to understand which key is effective among many keys at each stage,
Skill is required to be able to create sewing data in a short time.

Further, automatic sewing machines include a high-performance model having a mode for confirming sewing data once created and a mode for editing sewing data. The presence of these modes makes operation more complicated. I have. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily identify operable keys at each stage of creating sewing data.

An automatic sewing machine according to a second aspect of the present invention is directed to the automatic sewing machine according to the first aspect, in which the operation of creating sewing data is further facilitated. Still another object of the automatic sewing machine according to the present invention is to further simplify creation of sewing data by reducing the number of keys.

An object of the automatic sewing machine according to the present invention is to enable a function other than creation of sewing data to be easily activated and operated.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention An automatic sewing machine according to a first aspect of the present invention, which has been made to achieve the above object, performs a sewing operation in accordance with sewing data created in advance. An automatic sewing machine comprising an input unit having a plurality of keys, and the sewing data can be created by appropriately operating the plurality of keys of the input unit in a predetermined order. When creating the sewing data, at each stage of the creation,
Key display control means for outputting only operable keys of the plurality of keys to the image output means.

Therefore, according to the automatic sewing machine of the present invention, when creating the sewing data, if the image output means is viewed, only the operable keys among the plurality of keys are displayed. Key is not selected, and the time required to select a key to be input can be reduced. Therefore, no skill is required to create sewing data in a short time.

If the key to be operated and the image output means are far from each other, the user's viewpoint becomes large between when the operable key is confirmed by the image output means and when the key is actually operated. The eyes are likely to move, and this is repeated many times during the creation of the sewing data.

Therefore, in the automatic sewing machine according to the present invention, the image output means is provided near the plurality of keys. In this case, the sewing data can be created without greatly moving the viewpoint, so that the eyes are hardly tired. It should be noted that although the linear input has been described above, there is also an automatic sewing machine that has various input functions such as inputting a circle and performing curve interpolation to facilitate creation of sewing data. As these functions are incorporated, the number of keys of the input means increases, and even if operable keys are displayed, it may take time to search for the keys. This can be solved by the present invention described in claim 3.

That is, in the automatic sewing machine according to the third aspect, an operation necessary for creating the sewing data is further performed by:
An icon display means for converting the icon corresponding to the operation to the image output means when the operation is necessary, wherein the input means includes at least one of the plurality of keys. A key for shifting the creation of the sewing data to the next stage, a pointer for pointing to the icon output by the icon display means, and a numerical value output to the image output means are increased or decreased. And a key for canceling the immediately preceding operation.

Here, as an embodiment of the pointer, it is possible to change only the color of the arrow displayed on the image output means or the icon pointed to. In the former mode, when the arrow key is operated, the arrow moves around on the screen of the image output unit, and in the latter mode, the icon to be discolored is changed to the icon in the direction indicated by the arrow key.

That is, as for the various operations and functions described above, since the icon display means displays the icons on the image output means, it is not necessary to provide a key corresponding to the operation in the input means. Instead, the input means includes a key (hereinafter referred to as an enter key) for moving the creation of sewing data to the next stage, a pointer for pointing to an icon output by the icon display means, and an image output. An arrow key for increasing / decreasing a numerical value output to the means and a key for canceling a previous operation (hereinafter referred to as an escape key) are provided.

That is, to activate a desired operation (function), the user simply operates the arrow keys to move the pointer, selects the operation from the icons displayed by the icon display means, and presses the enter key. Good. If you accidentally specify another icon at this time, press the escape key to cancel and start over. By pressing the enter key, the process shifts to the next stage, and the operation (function) can be designated by repeating the same operation.

Therefore, in the automatic sewing machine according to the third aspect, even if the number of functions is increased, it can be basically designated by three types of keys, an enter key, an arrow key, and an escape key.
An increase in the number of keys of the input means can be suppressed. In the automatic sewing machine according to claim 4, the automatic sewing machine is capable of performing a preliminary operation of sequentially operating the automatic sewing machine along a graphic represented by the sewing data without performing a sewing operation. The input means further includes, as the plurality of keys, keys for performing an operation required in the preliminary operation, and the key display control means generates the sewing data by the automatic sewing machine. Is performed, or only the operable key among the plurality of keys is output to the image output means, depending on whether the operation is performed or during the preliminary operation.

That is, in the automatic sewing machine according to the fourth aspect, the effect exerted during the creation of the sewing data in the automatic sewing machine according to the first to third aspects can be exerted also in the preliminary operation. Therefore, according to the automatic sewing machine of the present invention, even during the preliminary operation, only the operable keys are displayed on the image output means, so that an invalid key is not selected.

Here, it has been described that the operable keys are displayed on the image output means for the sewing data creation and the pre-operation, but in addition to these, the operable keys can be similarly operated in other operation situations. A key may be displayed. Examples of such an operation state include editing of sewing data during a sewing operation.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an automatic sewing machine 1 to which the present invention is applied. The automatic sewing machine 1 includes a sewing machine body that moves the needle 3 up and down, and a frame 5 that is located below the needle 3 and that is moved back and forth and right and left, and sewn on a sewing object 7 such as a cloth fixed to the frame 5. Go.

This sewing operation is performed according to the sewing data created by the automatic sewing machine 1 (or another sewing data creating device). Automatic sewing machine 1
The operation panel 9 (to be referred to as a programmer 9 hereinafter) is used to create the operation panel. FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the programmer 9.

As shown in FIG. 2, the programmer 9 has a plurality of keys (hereinafter, referred to as a key group 11) as input means of the present invention and a liquid crystal display 13 as image output means. The key group 11 includes an arrow key 15 and a + key 1
7, a-key 19, a numeric key 21, an enter key 23, an escape key 24, and the like.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the automatic sewing machine 1. Note that FIG. 3 shows the programmer 9 and other parts (hereinafter, also referred to as the sewing machine main body 1) separately. First, the sewing machine body 1 has an X for moving the frame 5.
A shaft motor 31, a Y-axis motor 33, a sewing machine motor 35 used for moving the needle 3 up and down, a switch group 37 for operating the sewing machine main body 1, and reading and writing of sewing data from / to a floppy disk. , A buzzer 41 that sounds to alert the user of the sewing machine main body 1, an LED 43 that is lit to inform the user of the operating state and the like, and the operation and sewing data of the sewing machine main body 1. A ROM 45 storing a program required for creation, a RAM 47 for temporarily storing data used for executing the program, and a CPU 49 for executing a program stored in the ROM 45 are provided.

Actually, the CPU 49 and the sewing machine motor 35 are connected via a motor driver for generating a current according to a command signal from the CPU 49, and the floppy device 39 is connected to the CPU 49 via a disk device controller. Connected to each device, etc.
A necessary interface circuit is inserted between the PU 49 and the PU 49, but is omitted in the drawing. The sewing machine main body 1 and the programmer 9 are connected via an external communication unit 51.

On the other hand, the programmer 9 operates the key group 11 described above.
A liquid crystal display 13 (denoted as LCD in FIG. 3), an external communication unit 53 for directly transmitting / receiving a signal to / from the external communication unit 51 of the sewing machine body 1, a backlight 55 for illuminating the liquid crystal display 13 from behind, and a buzzer 41. A buzzer 57 that is appropriately sounded for substantially the same purpose and a programmer 9
ROM5 in which programs to be executed by
9, a RAM 61 for temporarily storing data used for executing the program, and a CPU 63 for executing a program built in the ROM 59. CPU63
Converts the instruction given via the key group 11 into a predetermined signal and outputs the signal to the sewing machine main body 1 side, or performs a predetermined display (described later) on the liquid crystal display 13 based on the signal received from the sewing machine main body 1 side. Or

FIG. 4 shows menu display processing performed by the CPU 49 and the CPU 63. The menu display process is obtained by extracting a rough flow and a portion for displaying an image on the liquid crystal display 13 from a main program executed by the automatic sewing machine 1. When the power of the automatic sewing machine 1 is turned on. Is activated.

When the present process is started, first, at step (hereinafter simply referred to as S) 10, a main menu screen is displayed on the liquid crystal display 13. The main menu screen is the one shown in FIG. 5 (a), in which a rectangular icon "Program" and "Sewing" is displayed in the upper row of the liquid crystal display 13, and only the rectangle that is displayed as the program is displayed. , The frame is thicker. LCD 13
The lower part of the key group 11 of the key group 11 of the programmer 9 that can be operated when the main menu screen is displayed is displayed.
Only are displayed. That is, according to this figure, since the left and right arrow keys 15, the enter key 23, and the escape key 24 are displayed, it can be understood that these keys are effective.

When the right of the arrow key 15 is pressed in this state, the rectangle indicated by the thick frame changes from "program" to "sewing". Here, when the enter key 23 is pressed, it is regarded that the instruction to perform the sewing operation is given (S20: NO in FIG. 4), and the process proceeds to S3.
The routine proceeds to 0, where sewing processing is performed. In the sewing process, predetermined sewing data is read from the floppy device 39, and in accordance with the sewing data, the CPU 49 issues a command to the X-axis motor 31, the Y-axis motor 33, the sewing machine motor 35, etc. This is a forming process, but the description is omitted here.

On the other hand, when creating sewing data, the left side of the arrow key 15 is pressed to make the rectangle of “program” a thick frame, and the enter key 23 is pressed. Then YES at S20
The process proceeds to S40, and a program menu screen is displayed on the liquid crystal display 13. The program menu screen is shown in FIG. 5B, and six icons are displayed in the upper part of the liquid crystal display 13. At the bottom,
Similar to the main menu screen, key group 11 of programmer 9
Only the operable keys 65 are displayed. 6 icons are created 67, edited 69, trace 7 from left
1, new creation 73, additional reading 75, image display 7
7 is represented. Although not shown in FIG. 5B, in the initial state where the program menu screen is displayed, the icon of the creation 67 is shown in an inverted state. This corresponds to the bold frame shown on the main menu screen. When the enter key 23 is pressed in this state, it is regarded that the creation is selected (S50 in FIG. 4: YES). Here, if the escape key 24 is pressed instead of the enter key 23, the screen returns to the screen of FIG.

When creation is selected, the process proceeds to S60, and FIG.
A screen as shown in (c) is displayed on the liquid crystal display 13, requesting input of start point data. On this screen, an icon indicating that the needle drop point is to be input is displayed in the upper row, and the coordinates 79 currently indicated by the needle 3 are displayed at the time of interruption. At the bottom, keys 65 operable at this stage are displayed as in the main menu screen and the program menu screen. Here, in addition to the keys shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, up and down arrow keys 15 are also displayed. When the arrow key 15 is pressed, the frame 5 (see FIG. 1) is moved to the front, and the value of Y at the coordinate 79 increases. Conversely, when the user presses the lower part of the arrow key 15, the frame 5 is moved in the depth direction, and the value of Y decreases. To change the value of X, the user operates the left and right arrow keys 15. In this manner, the frame 5 is moved so that a desired position is located immediately below the needle 3, and when the enter key 23 is pressed, the position is input as a needle drop point.

When the starting point data is input in this way, the process goes to S70.
To execute the corresponding processing. In S70, a screen as shown in FIG. 5D is first displayed on the liquid crystal display 13. On this screen, seven icons are displayed on the upper and middle rows of the liquid crystal display 13, respectively. These are mainly for instructing the input method. For example, the icons in the upper row indicate stitch input 8 from the left.
1, feed 83, straight line 85, smoothing 87, circle 8
9, an arc 91 and a semicircle 93 are shown. Stitch input 8
Reference numeral 1 denotes the input of the needle drop points described above one by one, the feed 83 indicates the skipping without forming a stitch, and the straight line 85 indicates the aforementioned straight line input. This screen also
Initially, the icon of the stitch input 81 is displayed in an inverted state.

In the screen shown in FIG. 5D, since there are two icons, the up and down arrow keys 15 are also displayed at the bottom so that the inverted icon can be changed up and down. Here, when the arrow key 15 is appropriately pressed so that the desired icon is inverted and the enter key 23 is pressed, the corresponding process is started.

Although the details of the subsequent processing will not be described, when the creation of the sewing data is completed, the sewing data is stored in the floppy disk of the floppy device 39.
It returns to S10. On the other hand, if an icon other than the creation 67 is selected in S50, the process proceeds to S80. If the edit 69 is selected, an edit process is performed. If the trace 71 is selected, a trace process is performed. Processing and the like are performed.

The numeric keys 21 of the programmer 9 are used for inputting a pitch when the straight line 85 is selected in FIG. 5D. For example, when it is desired to set the pitch to 2 mm, when a pitch input request screen (not shown) is displayed, “2” of the numeric key 21 is pressed, and the enter key 23 is pressed. In the pitch input request screen, numerical keys 21, 0, 1, 2, ..., 9 of the liquid crystal display 13, an enter key 23, and an escape key 24 are displayed as valid keys.

As described above, in the automatic sewing machine 1, complicated sewing data can be created only by operating the arrow keys 15, the enter key 23, and the escape key 24 of the programmer 9. In addition, since only valid keys are displayed on the liquid crystal display 13 at each stage of the creation,
Less typing mistakes. For example, on the program menu screen shown in FIG. 5B, the up and down arrow keys 15 which are invalid keys are not displayed. Since the liquid crystal display 13 and the key group 11 are integrated as the programmer 9, the amount of movement of the viewpoint when checking valid keys is small, and eyes are hardly tired.

The automatic sewing machine 1 is provided at least in FIG.
Despite having various functions as indicated by icons in FIG. 5B and FIG.
1 is sufficient with 27 pieces. Therefore, the programmer 9 can be configured simply. As can be understood from the above description, the processing of S10, the processing of S40, the processing of S60, and the processing of FIG. 5D of S70 correspond to the processing as the key display control means and the icon display means.

As described above, the automatic sewing machine 1 has been described as one embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and can be implemented in various modes. For example, in the above description, in order to identify the indicated icon, the frame of the icon is thickened,
Although it was inverted, other methods may be used.
For example, a character such as an arrow may be displayed, and the character may move on the screen of the liquid crystal display 13 in response to the operation of the arrow key 15. And enter key 23
When is pressed, the function corresponding to the icon pointed by the arrow is activated. When inputting a pitch, an icon indicating a number from 0 to 9 is displayed on the liquid crystal display 1.
3 and may be selected by the arrow keys.
In this way, the number keys 21 can be eliminated from the programmer 9.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an overview of an automatic sewing machine 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a programmer 9 provided in the automatic sewing machine 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the automatic sewing machine 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a menu display process executed by CPUs 49 and 63;

FIG. 5 shows a liquid crystal display 13 in a menu display process.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a menu screen displayed in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of stitch position information and sewing data formed by the automatic sewing machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Automatic sewing machine (sewing machine body) 3: Needle
5 ... frame 7 ... sewing object 9 ... programmer 11 ...
Key group 13: LCD display 15: Arrow keys 21
... Number keys 23 ... Enter key 24 ... Escape key 31 ... X-axis motor 33 ... Y-axis motor 35
… Sewing machine motor 39… Floppy device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Minoru Yamaguchi 15-1 Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An automatic sewing machine for performing a sewing operation in accordance with sewing data created in advance, comprising: input means having a plurality of keys, wherein a plurality of keys of the input means are appropriately operated in a predetermined order. In the automatic sewing machine in which the creation of the sewing data is made possible, an image output unit, and at the time of creating the sewing data, in each stage of the creation, only the operable key among the plurality of keys is used. An automatic sewing machine comprising: key display control means for outputting to an image output means. 2. The automatic sewing machine according to claim 1, wherein said image output means is provided near said plurality of keys. 3. An operation necessary for creating the sewing data is iconified in advance for each operation, and when the operation is required, the icon corresponding to the operation is transmitted to the image output means. An icon display unit for outputting, wherein the input unit includes at least a key for shifting the creation of the sewing data to a next stage as the plurality of keys, and an icon output by the icon display unit. And an arrow key for moving the pointer of, increasing or decreasing a numerical value output to the image output means, and a key for canceling a previous operation. 3. The automatic sewing machine according to 1 or 2. 4. The automatic sewing machine according to claim 1, wherein a preliminary operation of sequentially operating the automatic sewing machine along a graphic represented by the sewing data without performing a sewing operation is enabled. A key for performing an operation required in the pre-operation as described above, wherein the key display control means generates the sewing data by the automatic sewing machine; 2. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein only the operable key of the plurality of keys is output to the image output unit, depending on whether the preliminary operation is being performed.
4. The automatic sewing machine according to any one of items 1 to 3.