JPH1119367A - Sewing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the movement of a holding frame to a desired position by single operation. SOLUTION: The sewing machine is equipped with a position entry means 10 which enters a destination position for movement to which a holding frame 20 is moved and a means 24 for controlling the movement of the frame 20 which moves the holding frame 20 to the destination position for movement using a frame moving means 22 according to a command for moving the holding frame 20. Under this construction, when a command for moving the holding frame 20 is given, the means 24 for controlling the movement of the frame 20 moves the holding frame 20 to the destination position for movement entered by the position entry means 10. Consequently, it is possible to move the holding frame 20 to a desired position by one finger touch.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a sewing machine and, more particularly, to a technique for quickly moving a holding frame.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional sewing machine, an operator (operator) issues a command from a control panel 200 as shown in FIG. That is, the holding frame moves only while the moving keys 208 provided in the control panel 200 in the up, down, left, and right directions (four directions) are pressed. When the holding frame is moved by one touch, a dedicated key assigned to each type of movement, such as the origin position key 204 and the manual offset key 206, may be pressed. Note that the origin position of the holding frame and the like are displayed in the window 202 on the control panel 200. To end the manual frame movement, the end key 210 may be pressed.

[0003]

However, the movement of the holding frame with one touch is limited to a preset position in the sewing machine. Therefore, when the operator attempts to move the holding frame to a desired position, the operator must keep pressing a predetermined key, and cannot move the holding frame with one touch. Therefore, there is a problem that operability is poor and rapid movement cannot be performed. The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sewing machine in which a holding frame is moved to a desired position with a single touch.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, as shown schematically in FIG. 1, a holding frame 20 for holding an object to be sewn and a frame for moving the holding frame 20 are provided. In the sewing machine having the moving means 22, the holding frame 20 is provided.
Input means 10 for inputting a destination position for moving
And a frame movement control means 24 for moving the holding frame 20 to the destination position by the frame moving means 22 when the movement of the holding frame 20 is instructed. According to the first aspect, when the movement of the holding frame 20 is commanded, the frame movement control unit 24 moves the holding frame 20 to the destination position. Therefore, the holding frame 20 can be moved to a desired position with one touch.

[0005]

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sewing machine according to the first aspect, wherein a display unit for displaying a position of the holding frame and a position input unit for the sewing machine. The input destination positions 18a, 18b,...
And a position display means 12 for displaying the planar positional relationship between the holding frame 20 and the current position 16 on the display 14. According to the second aspect of the present invention, for the holding frame 20, the input destination position 18
.. and the current position 16 are displayed on the display 14. Therefore, the operator uses the display 1
By looking at the planar positional relationship between the destination positions 18a, 18b,... Displayed in FIG. 4 and the current position 16, it is possible to determine at a glance what kind of operation command should be given. Therefore, the operation command can be promptly issued, and as a result, the holding frame 20 can be quickly moved to the destination positions 18a, 18b,.

[0006]

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the sewing machine according to the first aspect, when the holding frame moves, the position display means 12 displays the moved position at the current position. Is displayed on the display unit 14 as According to the third aspect of the present invention, as the holding frame moves, the current position 16 of the holding frame displayed on the display 14 changes, and the position of the destination frame 18a, 18b,. The planar positional relationship also changes. for that reason,
.. Can be accurately grasped how far to be moved to the destination positions 18a, 18b,.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to an embroidery sewing machine (a sewing machine suitable for performing embroidery), and will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embroidery sewing machine. 3 shows a main process, FIG. 4 shows a sewing machine spindle stop process, FIG. 5 shows a frame moving process, FIG. 6 shows a speed control process, and FIG. FIG. 8 shows an example of an arbitrary position setting screen and a frame moving screen displayed on the display. In these drawings, the same elements as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the present specification, regarding the position of the holding frame for holding the sewing object,
The position to move the holding frame toward the near side from the stop position when the holding frame is stopped during embroidery is called “manual offset position”, and the position to move the holding frame for frame replacement etc. is called “offset start position”. The position where the embroidery starts will be referred to as the "pattern start position". In addition, as an operation example of instructing each position, the pseudo button displayed on the display is clicked with a mouse or the like.

In FIG. 2, the embroidery sewing machine is
0, sewing machine main body 132, motor 120, motor 124,
It comprises a drive circuit 126, a motor 128, and the holding frame 20. First, the configuration of the control unit 100 will be described. The control unit 100 includes a CPU (processor) 11
0, ROM 102, RAM 104, operation panel 106, bus 108, display control circuit 112, display 14, output processing circuit 114, and input processing circuit 116. The CPU 110 controls the entire embroidery sewing machine according to a sewing machine control program stored in the ROM 102. The sewing machine control program includes various programs for performing manual frame movement shown in a flowchart described later. Although an EPROM is used as the ROM 102, an EEPROM, a flash memory, or the like may be used. The RAM 104 stores various data of the holding frame 20, such as a current position, a destination position, a manual offset position, and a pattern start position. This RAM1
Although a DRAM or an SRAM is used for 04, a flash memory, an external storage device, or the like may be used. In the case of an external storage device, the various data can be temporarily recorded on a replaceable recording medium (for example, a hard disk, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, etc.).

The output processing circuit 114 outputs an operation signal to the drive circuit 126 in accordance with output data sent from the CPU 110 via the bus 108. The drive circuit 126 having received the operation signal outputs the motors 120, 124, 128
And the like are converted into voltages / currents necessary to drive the motors and output to each motor and the like. Here, the drive circuit 126 and the motors 124 and 128 embody the frame moving means 22. When the motor 124 operates in this manner, the holding frame 20 becomes X
When the motor 128 operates in the axial direction (the direction of the arrow D2), the holding frame 20 moves in the Y-axis direction (the direction of the arrow D4). The input processing circuit 116 receives pulse signals output from the encoder 134 provided in the motor 124, the encoder 130 provided in the motor 128, and the like, and stores them in the CPU 110, the RAM 104, and the like. The CPU 110 counts the pulse signal to determine the current position of the holding frame 20.

The operation panel 106 is a device for inputting various commands issued by the operator to the control unit 100 and numerical values set in advance. The operation panel 106 includes, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, in addition to a touch panel or a keyboard which is mounted (or built-in) on the display 14 and instructs an operator by touching the surface thereof. The operation panel 106 forms a control panel together with the display 14. Display control circuit 1
Reference numeral 12 denotes the current position of the holding frame 20 according to the display data sent from the CPU 110 or the like via the bus 108.
The destination position and the like are displayed on the display 14. Although a liquid crystal display device is used for the display device 14, a CRT, an LED display device (that is, a display device in which a plurality of LEDs are arranged adjacent to each other in a grid), or the like may be used. Each of the above-mentioned components is connected to the bus 108.

In the embroidery sewing machine having the above-described configuration, when the holding frame 20 is moved, the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. All of these processes are realized by the CPU 110 executing the sewing machine control program. First, in the main processing shown in FIG. 3, an initial routine is executed [Step S10]. In this routine, microcomputer initialization and RAM 104
Clear the work area (frame movement flag, etc.) in. Thereafter, the sewing machine spindle stop routine is executed [Step S
12]. FIG. 4 shows specific processing contents of this routine.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, first, a sewing machine spindle stop initial routine is executed [Step S20]. In this routine, the microcomputer clears the work area in the RAM 104 when the sewing machine spindle is stopped. Next, it is determined whether or not the operator has instructed the setting of an arbitrary position from the operation panel 106 (Step S22). Specifically, the determination is made based on whether or not an arbitrary position setting key on the operation panel 106 is pressed. When the arbitrary position setting key is pressed (YES in step S22), an arbitrary position setting screen is displayed on the display 14 [step S24], and one or more arbitrary positions are set [step S26]. This step S26 is processing that embodies the position input means 10.
For example, a window 14j as shown in FIG. 8B is displayed on the display 14, and an arbitrary position is set. That is, the current position is numerically displayed as position information in the window 14j, and the X-axis position is set by the increase / decrease button 14k in the X-axis direction (an increase command is issued by the illustrated ▲ button, and a decrease command is issued by the ▼ button). Similarly, the increase / decrease button 14 in the Y-axis direction.
1 sets the Y-axis position. If the values set in this way are acceptable, the user clicks the enter button 14m and ends the arbitrary position setting screen. In addition, offset start position,
If necessary, the start position of the pattern can be set by performing the above operation. If the arbitrary position setting key is not pressed in step S22, the process proceeds to step S28 without doing anything.

Then, it is determined whether or not the operator has issued a command to manually move the frame from the operation panel 106 [Step S]
28]. Specifically, the determination is made based on whether or not the manual frame moving key on the operation panel 106 has been pressed. When the manual frame moving key is pressed (YES in step S28), a manual frame moving screen is displayed on the display 14 [step S30], and the frame is manually moved [step S32]. Here, step S30 is processing that embodies the position display unit 12. For example, as shown in FIG.
14b is displayed, the operator can use the window 14a,
While looking at 14b, the position and direction of the movement of the holding frame 20 are instructed. That is, the holding frame 2 is displayed in the window 14a.
The planar positional relationship between the current position of 0 and the destination position (ie, the pattern start position 18a, the manual offset position 18b, the offset start position 18c, the arbitrary position 18d, etc.) is displayed. In the display of this positional relationship, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the mode in which each position is represented by a combination of a character and a graphic such as """, a design composed of different characters or a design that differs only by a graphic (specifically, only a graphic, Characters only, combinations of figures and characters, symbols,
(Pictures, colors, etc.), symbols (including symbols), pictures, colors, etc. can be represented by different designs. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to different designs, and may be the same design in which each position can be identified. In the example of FIG. 1, the pattern at the current position 16 is made thicker so as to stand out. In this way, by displaying each position on the display 14 with a different symbol,
Which display position is the destination position 18a, 18b,... Or the current position 16 can be identified at a glance.

In the window 14b, the positions of the current position and the destination position are numerically displayed as position information. An appropriate destination position for moving the holding frame 20 is commanded based on the two-dimensional positional relationship between the current position and the destination position displayed in this manner. The command is issued by clicking any one of the pattern start position button 14d, offset start position button 14e, manual offset button 14f, and arbitrary position button 14g with a mouse. The moving speed of the holding frame 20 is changed by switching to any one of high speed, medium speed and low speed by the speed change button 14h. The move buttons 14c in the up, down, left, right, and diagonal directions (eight directions in all) move the holding frame 20 in that direction only while being clicked with the mouse. If the manual frame moving key is not pressed in step S28, the process proceeds to step S34 without doing anything.

Here, in step S32, processing as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 is performed depending on whether or not the operator has clicked any of the buttons displayed on the display unit 14.
That is, it is determined whether or not the manual frame moving key is pressed in FIG. 5 (step S40). Specifically, FIG.
Move button 14c and speed change button 14h shown in FIG.
Is determined by whether or not is clicked with the mouse. If the manual frame moving key has not been pressed (NO), the process proceeds to step S44 without doing anything. On the other hand, when the manual frame moving key is pressed (YES), a process of changing the moving speed of the holding frame 20 or moving the holding frame 20 in the designated direction is performed [Step S42]. The specific contents of this processing will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 6, it is first determined whether or not the moving speed of the holding frame 20 has been changed (step S60). Specifically, it is determined whether or not the speed change button 14h shown in FIG. 8A has been clicked with the mouse. if,
When the moving speed of the holding frame 20 is switched (YES)
Is changed to the changed moving speed [Steps S70 and S72]. That is, when the mode is switched to “high speed” (YES in step S70), the holding frame 20
Is changed to a high speed [Step S74]. When switched to "medium speed" (YES in step S72)
In step S78, the moving speed of the holding frame 20 is changed to the medium speed. If it is switched to "low speed" (NO in step S72), the moving speed of the holding frame 20 is changed to low speed (step S76).

If the moving speed of the holding frame 20 is not changed in step S60 (NO), the holding frame 20 is moved in the direction specified by the move button 14c [step S62]. Along with the movement of the holding frame 20, the current position of the holding frame 20 is numerically displayed as position information in the window 14b [Step S64], and the window 14a showing the planar positional relationship with the movement destination position is also displayed. The display position is changed [Step S66]. Here, steps S64 and S66 are processes that embody the position display unit 12. Since the current position 16 of the holding frame 20 displayed on the display 14 changes as the holding frame 20 moves as described above, the planar positional relationship between the movement destination position and the current position also changes. Therefore, if the operator views the positional relationship after the change on the display 14, it is possible to grasp at a glance exactly how much the holding frame 20 should be moved to the destination position.

The processing in steps S62 to S66 is repeatedly executed only while the manual frame moving key is continuously pressed (step S68). Therefore, when the manual frame moving key is no longer depressed, the present process ends,
It returns to the processing of FIG. Returning to FIG. 5, step S4
In step 4, it is determined whether the destination position key has been pressed. Specifically, the start position button 1 of the pattern shown in FIG.
4d, the offset start position button 14e, the manual offset button 14f, and the arbitrary position button 14g are determined based on whether or not the mouse is clicked. If the destination position key has not been pressed (NO), the process proceeds to step S48 without doing anything. On the other hand, when the destination position key is pressed (YES), a process of moving the holding frame 20 to the specified position is performed [Step S46]. The specific contents of this processing will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 7, it is determined whether or not movement has been instructed to the start position of the design, that is, whether or not the start position button 14d of the design shown in FIG. 8A has been clicked with a mouse (step S80). When movement to the start position of the design is instructed (YES), the holding frame 20 is moved to the start position of the design [step S82]. When the movement is not commanded to the start position of the pattern (step S80)
NO), it is determined whether or not movement to an arbitrary position has been instructed, that is, whether or not the arbitrary position button 14g shown in FIG. 8A has been clicked with a mouse (step S90). When the movement to the arbitrary position is instructed (YES), the holding frame 20 is moved to the arbitrary position set in step S26 shown in FIG. 4 (or one selected position if a plurality of positions are set) [step S94]. ]. Specifically, the CPU 11 of FIG.
From 0, an operation signal is output to the drive circuit 126 through the output processing circuit 114, and the motors 124 and 128 are driven to move the holding frame 20 to the arbitrary position. This step S94 is processing that embodies the frame movement control means 24. If the movement has not been commanded to the arbitrary position (NO in step S90), it is determined whether or not the movement has been commanded to the offset start position, that is, whether or not the offset start position button 14e shown in FIG. It is determined whether or not [Step S92]. When the movement is commanded to the offset start position (YES),
The holding frame 20 is moved to the offset start position [Step S96].

If the movement has not been commanded to the offset start position (NO in step S92), it is determined whether or not the movement has been commanded to the manual offset position, ie, as shown in FIG.
It is determined whether or not the manual offset button 14f shown in (A) has been clicked with a mouse (step S98). When movement to the manual offset position is commanded (YE
S), the holding frame 20 is moved to the manual offset [Step S102]. On the other hand, when the movement to the manual offset position is not instructed (NO), the processing is performed when the embroidery sewing machine or another movement destination is specified [Step S10].
0]. Since this process is generally performed, the description is omitted. Then, the current position of the holding frame 20 is numerically displayed as position information in the window 14b shown in FIG. 8A [Step S84], and is also displayed in the window 14a showing the planar positional relationship with the destination position. The position is changed [Step S86]. Here, step S84,
S86 is processing that embodies the position display means 12. Thereafter, the present process is terminated, and the process returns to the process of FIG.

Returning to FIG. 5, in step S48, it is determined whether or not the operation switch on the operation panel 106 is turned on (ON). If the operation switch is off (NO in step S48), another manual frame moving process is performed [step S50], and it is determined whether or not the manual frame moving is to be terminated [step S52]. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the end key is pressed, that is, whether or not the end button 14i displayed on the manual frame moving screen in FIG. 8A is clicked with the mouse. If the manual frame movement is not completed (NO), steps S40 to S40 shown in FIG.
S50 is repeatedly executed. On the other hand, when the operation switch is on (YES in step S48) or when the manual frame movement is ended (YES in step S52),
In either case, the manual frame moving screen shown in FIG. 8A is ended (step S54), and this processing is ended to return to the processing in FIG.

Returning to FIG. 4, control processing of the embroidery sewing machine (embroidery machine) and other stop processing are executed [Step S3].
4]. The stop processing includes, for example, a color change control and a holding frame 20 when a forced stop key on the operation panel 106 is pressed.
Is forcibly stopped. After that, the operation panel 106
It is determined whether or not the upper operation switch is ON (step S36). If the operation switch is off, steps S22 to S34 are repeatedly executed. On the other hand, if the operation switch has been turned on, the present process is terminated and the process returns to the process of FIG. FIG.
Then, after ending the sewing machine spindle stop routine of step S12, the sewing machine spindle operation routine is executed [step S14]. In the sewing machine spindle operation routine, embroidery is performed by driving the motor 120 and the motors 124 and 128 shown in FIG. 2, but the details of the processing are omitted because they are general. After executing step S14, the process returns to step S12 and is repeatedly executed.

According to the above embodiment, when the arbitrary position button 14g is pressed and the movement of the holding frame 20 is commanded, the execution of step S94 (the frame movement control means 24) causes
The holding frame 20 is moved to the movement destination position set in step S26 (input by the position input means 10).
Therefore, the holding frame 20 can be moved to a desired position with one touch. In addition, the input destination position 18
., and the current position 16 are displayed on the display 14 in different symbols. Therefore, the operator moves the destination positions 18a, 18b,... Displayed on the display.
By looking at the two-dimensional positional relationship between and the current position 16, it is possible to immediately determine what kind of operation command should be issued. Moreover, which display is which destination position 1
8a, 18b,... Or the current position 16 can be identified at a glance. Further, as the holding frame 20 moves, the current position 16 of the holding frame 20 displayed on the display 14 changes, so that the movement destination positions 18a, 18b,
.. Can be accurately grasped to what extent the holding frame 20 should be moved. Therefore, the operation command can be promptly issued, and as a result, the holding frame 20 can be quickly moved to the destination positions 18a, 18b,.

[Other Embodiments] The structure, shape, size, material, number, arrangement, operating conditions, and the like of other parts of the above-described sewing machine are not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, each of the following embodiments to which the above embodiment is applied may be implemented. (1) In the above-described embodiment, the setting of the destination position such as an arbitrary position is performed by inputting a numerical value as shown in FIG. 8B. Instead of this mode, the destination position may be set by moving the symbol at the target destination position with a mouse or the like on the window 14a of the display 14 shown in FIG. In this case, displaying the entire screen of the display 14 makes it easier to see. In this way, the destination position can be set to an accurate position based on a planar positional relationship with the current position. (2) In FIG. 8A, a planar positional relationship between the current position 16 and the destination positions 18a, 18b,... Is displayed in a window 14a of the display 14, and numerical values of respective positions are displayed in a window 14b. The embodiment was adopted. Instead of this mode, the planar positional relationship between the current position 16 and the destination positions 18a, 18b,... And the numerical value of each position may be displayed in one window. In this way, not only the planar positional relationship between the current position 16 and the destination positions 18a, 18b,... But also positional information thereof can be grasped at a glance.

(3) When the holding frame 20 is manually moved to the destination position by, for example, the movement button 14c shown in FIG. 8B, the holding frame 20 reaches within a predetermined distance range from the destination position. Then, the holding frame 20 may be automatically moved to the destination position.
Similarly, when the holding frame 20 reaches within a predetermined distance range from a grid point at regular intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions, the holding frame 20 may be automatically moved to the grid point. In this way, even if the holding frame 20 is manually moved,
Can be reliably positioned at the target position. (4) The present invention is applied to an embroidery sewing machine. However, the holding frame 20 for holding the workpiece is movable by an operation command, and the display device 14 for displaying the position of the holding frame 20 is provided. Can be applied in the same manner. Although a mouse is used as a means for inputting position information and issuing a command, it is also possible to input or give a command using a cursor key (direction key) provided on a keyboard or another pointing device. .

[0026]

Other Embodiments The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. This embodiment has aspects of the invention other than the aspects of the invention described in the claims.
Embodiments of the present invention will be enumerated below, and related explanations will be provided as necessary.

[Aspect 1] In the sewing machine according to the second or third aspect, the position display means converts the position information between the destination position input by the position input means and the current position of the holding frame into a numerical value. A sewing machine characterized by displaying. [Relevant Description of Aspect 1] According to this aspect, not only the planar positional relationship between the current position and the destination position but also its position information can be grasped at a glance.

[Aspect 2] In the sewing machine according to claim 1, a display for displaying the position of the holding frame, a destination position input by the position input means, and a plane of the current position of the holding frame. And a position displaying means for displaying a different positional relationship on the display in a different pattern. [Related Description of Aspect 2] According to this aspect, for the holding frame, the two-dimensional positional relationship between the movement destination position and the current position is displayed on the display, and is displayed in a different symbol. Therefore, the operator can immediately determine what operation command should be given by looking at the planar positional relationship between the destination position and the current position displayed on the display. Moreover, it is possible to identify at a glance which display is the destination position or the current position.

[0029]

According to the present invention, when movement of the holding frame is commanded, the frame movement control means moves the holding frame to the destination position. Therefore, the holding frame can be moved to a desired position with one touch.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a sewing machine.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a main process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a sewing machine spindle stop process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a frame moving process.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a speed control process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a movement control process.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an arbitrary position setting screen and a frame moving screen displayed on the display.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional control panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Position input means 12 Position display means 14 Display 16 Current position 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d,... 122 drive shaft 126 drive circuit 130, 134 encoder 132 sewing machine main body

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sewing machine comprising: a holding frame for holding a sewing object; and a frame moving means for moving the holding frame. A position input means for inputting a destination position for moving the holding frame; And a frame movement control means for moving the holding frame to the destination position by the frame moving means when the movement of the holding frame is instructed. 2. The sewing machine according to claim 1, wherein a display for displaying the position of the holding frame, a movement destination position input by the position input means, and a current position of the holding frame are displayed on a plane. And a position display means for displaying a positional relationship on the display. 3. The sewing machine according to claim 1, wherein, when the holding frame moves, the position display means displays the moved position as a current position on a display.