JPS63139589A - Embroidering pattern forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides an embroidery pattern creation device that creates embroidery data for an embroidery machine that forms a desired pattern on fabric using stitches. In particular, the present invention relates to an embroidery pattern creation device that can easily create embroidery patterns at high speed and with precision.

[Prior Art] Traditionally, embroidery sewing machines use data recorded in advance on perforated tape, magnetic tape, etc. that represents the coordinate position where a sewing needle will fall, which is necessary to sew a certain pattern, so-called -needle data. Operate. However, this makes it impossible to embroider patterns other than the combinations of patterns recorded on the various tapes mentioned above, so in recent years,
2. Description of the Related Art There has been provided an embroidery pattern creation device that processes pattern data read from various tapes or the like to some extent to create pattern data for embroidering a new embroidery pattern. For example, after reading the pattern data, the pattern data is processed to enlarge the pattern or the like according to the numerical value input by the operator, thereby making it possible to create a desired embroidery pattern. Although this kind of embroidery pattern creation device allows you to create patterns freely, it is difficult to judge what kind of pattern will be embroidered based on the processed embroidery data, so the following embroidery pattern simulation Many have new functions added.

That is, pattern data that is the basis of an embroidery pattern stored in advance is extracted in response to an operation by an operator and displayed on a display screen such as a CRT.

The operator can then freely edit the pattern made up of the combination of patterns displayed on this screen by enlarging or moving the pattern, and create the pattern the operator desires on the CRT screen. It is possible. According to such an embroidery pattern creation device, the embroidery pattern can be checked in advance by simulating the embroidery pattern on the CRT screen, and the embroidery work can be simplified.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above-described embroidery pattern creation device also has the following problems.

In a conventional embroidery pattern creating device, the format of the pattern data stored in advance is a piece of completed information so that the pattern can be immediately embroidered using the data. That is, the pattern data is stored as position information from a reference position determined for each pattern. Therefore, if the reference position of a pattern to be drawn on the CRT screen is specified, the stored position information centered on the reference position will be displayed, allowing the desired pattern to be displayed.

However, as described above, independent position information is stored for each pattern, and each pattern displayed on the display screen is also independent. Because all the pattern data is independent in this way, the following problems occur when creating embroidery patterns.

When a desired pattern is displayed by arranging many patterns at arbitrary positions on a CRT screen, the pattern made up of several patterns is considered to be one completed small pattern, and the entire small pattern is inverted, rotated, enlarged, etc. There may be cases where you want to add processing such as changes or corrections. For example, this is the case when enlarging or rotating a character mark or an embroidery pattern consisting of a character mark and a figure mark.

In such cases, conventionally, the only way to do this is to enlarge or rotate the multiple patterns that make up the small pattern one by one, and the pattern that has already been completed as a small pattern must be destroyed again. Ta. Nasuwara,
It is not possible to add processing such as enlarging, rotating, or moving a small pattern completed with multiple pattern data, so when creating such embroidery patterns, processing is always performed for each pattern, so-called pattern-by-pattern processing. Embroidery patterns had to be created repeatedly. However, this method of obtaining a desired embroidery pattern by creating an embroidery pattern for each pattern requires an extremely large amount of time, and the efficiency of embroidery is extremely low.

Therefore, it takes an extremely long time to create a complex embroidery pattern using many patterns, and the efficiency of pattern creation is low.

The present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems. By treating a small pattern consisting of multiple patterns as one completed pattern, the present invention facilitates the creation of embroidery patterns, improves its efficiency, and improves the efficiency of creating embroidery patterns. To provide an excellent embroidery pattern creation device capable of creating an embroidery pattern in a short time even if it is a complicated pattern consisting of a combination of patterns.

[Means for solving the problem] As shown in the basic configuration diagram in FIG. A pattern storage means C1 that stores a plurality of patterns as minimum units; a pattern selection means C2 that selects an arbitrary pattern from among the plurality of patterns stored in the pattern storage means C1; and a pattern selection means. A group defining means C3 that defines a group having a plurality of patterns selected by C2 as elements; a format determining means C4 that determines an embroidery style for each group defined by the group defining means C3; and a group defining means C3. display control means C5 for changing or modifying the defined group to the format determined by the format determining means C4 and displaying it on the two-dimensional display screen P; and changing the embroidery format determined by the format determining means C4. An embroidery machine characterized by comprising: a changing means C6 for creating the embroidery pattern created on the two-dimensional display screen P, and a one-stitch data creating means C7 for creating one-stitch data to be executed by the embroidery sewing machine based on the embroidery pattern created on the two-dimensional display screen P Its gist is a pattern creation device.

[Function] The pattern storage means C1 in the present invention is for storing minimum unit patterns, such as alphanumeric characters and symbols, when creating an embroidery pattern.

The pattern selection means C2 selects a desired pattern from among the plurality of patterns stored in the pattern storage means C1, and selects a pattern to be an element for creating an embroidery pattern.

The group definition means C3 defines a group whose elements are the plurality of patterns selected by the pattern selection means C2. That is, relationships are established between individual patterns, and many patterns selected by the pattern selection means C2 form one group when they are associated with the same relationship by the group definition means C3.

Note that the definition of a group is not limited to a single group, and may be defined in multiple groups.

Further, the format determining means C4 means the group defining means C4.
For each group defined by 3, the format to be used when embroidering the group, for example, whether each pattern constituting the group is arranged vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, and the radius of the arc when arranged in an arc shape. Furthermore, it is determined whether the left end of the group should be aligned with the specified point for embroidery, whether the center of the group should be aligned, and what the distance between adjacent groups should be.

The display control means C5 faithfully changes the pattern selected by the pattern selection means C2 to the format determined by the format determination means C4 for the group to which the pattern belongs and displays it on the two-dimensional display screen P. . In other words, the two-dimensional display screen P shows the embroidery completed on the fabric.
It simulates the above.

The changing means C6 changes the embroidery format determined by the above-described format determining means C4. Therefore, this changing means C
If the embroidery format of the format determining means C4 is changed by step 6, the control content of the display control means C5 is also changed in accordance with the change, and the display of patterns belonging to the corresponding group on the two-dimensional display screen P is also changed.

In this way, the changing means C6 can freely change each pattern on the two-dimensional display screen P, making it possible to create a desired embroidery pattern.

- The needle data creation means C7 provides information on the position of the needle drop point of the sewing needle, color change information, etc. for actually embroidering the embroidery pattern created on the two-dimensional display screen P as described above onto the fabric. Create needle data. Using this needle data, the same pattern as displayed on the two-dimensional display screen P is embroidered on the cloth.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, in order to explain the present invention more specifically, the present invention will be described in detail by giving examples.

[Embodiment] Configuration of the Embodiment FIGS. 2 to 6 are explanatory diagrams of the system configuration of a multi-needle embroidery sewing machine centering on an embroidery pattern creating device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The configuration will be described in detail below with reference to each of the drawings.

The entire system consists of a two-headed multi-needle embroidery machine 10 with a plurality of sewing needles for each developing color, as shown in the regulation perspective view of FIG. Embroidery pattern creation device 60 that transmits data and forms a desired embroidery pattern
It consists of and.

The multi-needle embroidery sewing machine 10 has been completed as a well-known automatic embroidery machine, and uses, for example, single-stitch data representing position data of sewing points of an embroidery pattern and multi-needle sewing needles from a tape reader (not shown) or the like. When embroidery data consisting of selection data indicating whether to perform embroidery is input, embroidery faithful to the data is performed. In the figure, a driver unit 20 installed at the bottom of a multi-needle embroidery sewing machine 10 decodes the above embroidery data, moves a needle change motor 58 that changes the sewing needle, and a frame body 32 holding an embroidery frame 30 in the X direction. , a set of pulse motors 36, 38 for moving in the Y direction,
It controls the sewing motor 57, which moves the sewing needle up and down to form stitches. Note that the multi-needle embroidery sewing machine 10 includes an encoder 34 that detects the number of rotations of the main shaft that moves the sewing needle up and down, as well as an upper thread sensor (not shown) that detects cutting of the upper thread, and the position of the sewing needle. It is equipped with sensors necessary for drive control of the various motors mentioned above, such as the needle bar sensor 54, and provides detection signals to the driver unit 20.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a mechanism of a set of pulse motors (X-Y motors) that drive the frame 32 in the X and Y directions. As shown in the figure, a belt 40.4 is stretched in a V-shape with gears fitted to the output shafts of the X motor 36 and Y motor 38.
2, the rollers 44 and 46 inserted into the belts 40 and 42 and fitted into the frame body 32 move, and the frame body 32 can be moved in the X direction and the Y direction.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that more simply shows the configuration of the entire system described above, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the multi-needle embroidery sewing machine 10 centering on the driver unit 20.

As shown in the figure, the embroidery pattern creation device 60 of the embodiment communicates with the driver unit of the multi-needle embroidery sewing machine 10 through an interface R3422, and is responsible for creating embroidery data. Then, while decoding the transmitted embroidery data, the driver unit 20 decodes the above-mentioned encoder 34 and the needle thread detection device 52 having the needle thread sensor 50.
, the detection output from the color change device 56 having the needle bar sensor 54 is judged, and the X motor 36, the Y motor 38, the sewing motor 57, and the needle change motor 58 are controlled. The CPU 2OA constituting the driver unit 20 executes information processing according to the contents of the ROM 20B that stores the above-mentioned control procedures.

Interfaces (I/F) 20D to 20F A/D convert the detection signals from each sensor, temporarily store them, and respond to read signals from the CPU 2OA, and each motor controller 20G to 20I converts the detection signals from the CPU 2OA to control signals. A drive signal for each motor is created by performing D/A conversion and amplification.

Note that the controller 59 is a device that can make slight changes to the embroidery data etc. input to the driver unit 20 to vary the embroidery pattern.

As described above, the driver unit 20 is configured as a logic operation circuit and processes digital signals. Therefore, the embroidery pattern creating device 60 of this embodiment is also configured as a logical operation circuit as shown in FIG.

That is, the CPU 60A, which executes logical operations, reads and processes the contents of the ROM 60B, which stores various control programs to be described later, in accordance with input from the mouse 60C and keyboard 60D. Further, information necessary for the above processing is appropriately read from a magnetic disk mounted on the hard disk drive (HD) 60F and flexible disk drive (FDD) 60E, and the processed information is stored on the same disk. As is well known, the CPU 60A is equipped with an image display screen on a two-dimensional display screen so that it is easy to understand what kind of processing the CPU 60A is currently executing, as well as the results of the processing and commands that can be input. niC
The RT controller 60H controls the display contents on the screen while reading the contents of the video RAM 60J, and the CPU 60A controls the operation of the CRT controller 60H and changes the stored contents of the video RAM 60J as appropriate. In addition, RAM
60 is a volatile memory element, I/F 60L, 60 that temporarily stores information and assists logical operations of the CPU 60A.
M is an interface for a mouse 60C and a keyboard 60D, which are input devices. In addition, another interface I/F6ON is the driver unit 20 mentioned above.
This is an R8422 interface that enables communication with the driver unit 20, and transmits embroidery data to the driver unit 20.

The embroidery pattern creation device 60 configured as described above stores in advance the minimum unit embroidery pattern (hereinafter referred to as a pattern) that is the basis for embroidery in the hard disk attached to the 1-ID 60F. The structure of this information will be explained next.

FIGS. 7 to 10 are explanatory diagrams of pattern information stored in the hard disk. The pattern information stored on the hard disk is stored as a style master file as shown in FIG. In other words, it is obvious that preparing a variety of patterns is most convenient for creating embroidery patterns. Furthermore, even within the same alphabet, there are patterns in various styles such as block fonts, printed fonts, and floral fonts. Therefore, these patterns are collectively managed and stored as a file for each style as a set of patterns with the same relationship (same style).

Files for each style are read by specifying the name of the style from the style master file, and three types of files are prepared therein: an index search file, an index file, and a data file. This is because the pattern data that ultimately specifies the shape etc. of each pattern is stored in a data file, but since the pattern data of one style has too much information, it is necessary to make data management easier and to This is to shorten the search time.

First, we will explain the data file.

Figures 8 to 10 are explanations of the column data stored in the data file, and Figure 8 is an explanatory diagram of the column data in which the letters rAJ of the same alphabet are expressed in various styles. , FIG. 9 is a column explanatory diagram of the style shown in FIG. 8(A), and FIG. 10 represents data representation of the column in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 8, each pattern is expressed as a set of columns of rectangles and arcs. For example, the same alphabet "A" has various styles, so it is classified into patterns organized by style, such as (A), (B
), (C) The figures are stored in files with different file names.

Here, as an example, the character rA in the style shown in FIG. 8(A)
The column data of J will be explained. As shown in Figure 9 (A>), there are four types of columns: thick rectangles and circular arcs, and thinner straight lines and circular arcs.
Each column is assigned an order, and the pattern shown in FIG. 9(A) is composed of five columns numbered 1 to 5. This order indicates the order in which each column is sewn, and embroidery is done in ascending order of numbers. The numbers from ■ to ■ in the figure represent the position data for representing each column, and the rectangular columns have coordinates from ■ to ■ set at their vertices, and the straight columns represent the columns of the above rectangle. This is a special type in which the vertices ■ and ■ and ■ and ■ have the same coordinates. The position data (1) to (2) representing each column are positioned according to a rectangular coordinate system determined for each pattern. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing each of the position data 1 to 2 of the five columns shown in FIG. 9(A) together with actual numerical values. As is clear from the figure, in this example column NO.
, 1 and point 2 of column No. 4 are defined as the origin of the rectangular coordinate system (hereinafter referred to as the character origin).

These columns form a pattern by using the character origin as the starting point for embroidery and sewing the area surrounded by the straight lines of points ■, ■ and ■, ■, which are the width, as shown in Figure 9 (B). .

Next, it will be explained that even if each pattern is stored as a set of columns as described above, it is possible to accurately perform embroidery as shown in FIG. 9(B).

As mentioned above, there are two types of columns: rectangular columns (straight lines are a special case of this, and they are essentially the same) and circular arc columns (similarly, thick circular arcs are a special case). It is broadly divided into Therefore, regarding these two types of columns,
It is shown that data of needle drop points to be embroidered can be created from data of a small number of points representing the vertices, etc.

In FIG. 11, the distance from the character origin CO is (Xl, Vl)e (X2.Vz) using rectangular coordinates.

This is a column defined by points 1S, 2S, 33, and 4S represented by (Xa, Van, (X4.Va). In order to sew this column as shown, the sewing point movement distance ΔX 1eΔy1 and Δx2 .It can be seen that it is sufficient to calculate Δy2.This sewing point movement distance ΔX1
The procedure for calculating eΔy1, ΔX2, and Δy2 is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12. This is a procedure that is always executed when sewing this type of column in the CPU 60A when creating embroidery data by the embroidery pattern creation device 60.

First, in the CPU 60A, four points (xl.

Vl)# (XzpV2)-..., (X4#V4), step 101 is executed, and the side of the column (×1. yl) and (×2°V2) and (X 3
, V 3 ) and (X4.Va), respectively, the midpoint (
Xm1. yinl>, (xm2 1Vm2) is calculated.

Next, in step 102, the result (xm, , ym
1) and (XII2, Vl2) to calculate the column average length. Then, in the subsequent step 103, the desired sewing point is moved based on the stitch density P (number of times/Cm) for sewing the column and the average length of the column, which are input in advance before executing this type of processing as described later. distance Δx
1. Δy1 and ΔX2. Four types of values of Δy2 are calculated. By doing the above, the operator can obtain uniform stitch position data and -needle data with a desired number of pitches.

Next, the case of the curved column shown in FIG. 13 will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 14 and 16.

This type of column is different from the rectangular column shown in FIG. 11, and as shown in FIG.
×1. yl), (x2eV2>-..., (X5.V5
) are displayed using five points, points 18 to 5S. Therefore, as described above, when the CPU 60A determines that the column to be processed is a column consisting of five points, it executes step 201 of the flowchart shown in FIG.

In step 201, first, point (X 1. Vl)
, (X 2 , V 2 ) and (x s , ya
), (Xa, Va), the midpoint (xJ
, Vllh ), and (xm2. Vmz ). Next, in step 202, calculate the equation of one circle that passes through the three points, the two midpoints obtained earlier and the sewing point (X s e V 5), and calculate the center point (xo, VO) of the circle and its Calculate the radius R.

In the following step 203, a circle with radius R centered at (xo, yo) and points (Xm1, VOII), (xm
2, Vl2), calculate the following two quantities. First, the slope α1 of the line segments (xO, yO), (xml, Vml) and the line segments (XO, yO), (Xm2*Vl2) from the horizontal line. The average angle α of α2, then the intersection point Ps 1 (X s 1
+V s 1) is obtained.

Then, in the next step 204, the line segment (xl).

Vl># (X2 1V2), (Xa, Van, (x
The angle β1 that a+Va> makes with the horizontal axis. The average β of β2 is calculated, and in the subsequent step 205, an equation of a straight line passing through the point P51 and having an inclination of β with respect to the horizontal axis is calculated.

In step 206, the lengths Qla and Q23 of straight lines passing through the point P51 obtained in step 205 described above are determined according to the equations in the figure. That is, the width at the midpoint is determined so that the width of the arc changes evenly. Then, in the next step 207, the coordinates pm3 and Pm4 at the positions of the lengths Qla and Qla on the straight line are calculated, and in the subsequent step 208, the equation of a circle passing through the coordinate Pm3 and points 1S and 3S is calculated, and in step 209, the coordinate Pm4 is calculated. and point 2S.

4S is calculated, and the outer shape of the arc column is determined.

Once the outer shape of the arc column is determined as explained in FIGS. 13 and 14 above, the calculation of the actual stitching point on the outer shape as shown in FIG. /cm) according to the flowchart in FIG.

In the arc routine of FIG. 16, first, the length of a circle passing through the center of the arc (Pm1.P51.PI112>, the average column length is calculated from its center angle θ (=α1-α2) and radius R (step 210). ), and in the next step 211, the value obtained by dividing the average column length by the stitch density P, and the total number of stitches, is determined.

In this way, when the number of sewing points on the circular arc is determined, the movement angle S1θ, 82θ per stitch is changed to the circular arc 13° pHls, 33 and the circular arc 2S, pm a, 43 so that the sewing points are evenly distributed on the circular arc. It is calculated as one angle when divided equally by the total number of stitches.

Then, in the process of step 213, the number of stitches n is set to O, and in step 214, the variable n is set to
It is determined whether or not the number of stitches is equal to the total number of stitches calculated in step 1. If the number of stitches is equal to the total number of stitches, the routine ends, and if not, the process proceeds to the following process.

In step 215, the variable n is incremented by "1", and in the subsequent step 216, the movement angle S1
6 is multiplied by the variable n, and the arc 1S advances by one stitch,
Pm), position data on 3S is calculated in step 217.

And this column is a column with no width (1S=2S, 3
It is determined in step 218 whether S=4S), and if the column has no width, the process returns to step 214 again to reduce the calculation time and calculate the arc 1S, pm3.33.
The next sewing position on the arc is calculated.

If the judgment in step 218 is that the column is not a widthless column, steps 219 and 220 are executed, and the arc 2S, pm is moved by the variable n times at the movement angle S26.
4. The position data of the sewing point on 4S is calculated and the process returns to step 214.

As described above, the embroidery pattern creation device 60 of this embodiment stores a pattern in a data file as a set of columns expressed by a plurality of points, such as a 4-point column, a 5-point column, and a 6-point column. Therefore, it becomes possible to significantly compress information.

In addition, as shown in Figure 7, the data structure is such that before the coordinates indicating each column data, the number of parts indicating how many columns the pattern consists of, and the width of the pattern are stored together. There is.

Data representing each pattern is thus created and stored in the HD 60F as a data file. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, in order to quickly search the huge amount of data created in this way, the first address b11m where the data of each pattern in the data file is stored is stored.
An index file is created by collecting b, 2-...

This index file is the pattern a11 or a1 that you want to search using, for example, ASCII key code or JIS code.
2, the pattern has a one-to-one correspondence with the address so that the address where the column data for that pattern is stored can be immediately retrieved.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the embroidery pattern creation device 60 of this embodiment is provided with an index search file so that even if the index file has a large capacity, the search time will be shortened. In this method, a predetermined number of pairs of patterns and addresses in an index file are defined as one record, and only the code of the pattern at the beginning of each record is filed. According to this index search file, it is possible to instantly find out which record contains the code of the pattern you want to search, and therefore, by simply searching the corresponding record in the index file, you can search for the desired data file. This is extremely useful for saving time, such as knowing the address.

Operation of the embodiment Next, in the system configured as described above,
How the embroidery pattern creation device 60 of this embodiment operates will be explained.

When the CPU 60A of the embroidery pattern creation device 60 is started,
Processing of the main program stored in the ROM 60B as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 17 is started. This main program is a program that controls the overall operation of the embroidery pattern creation device 60. One process shown in each step is a complex one that is further divided into multiple processing routines, but in order to show the overall flow, we will briefly explain the process in each step in Figure 17 first, and then explain it in more detail later. The processing routine will be explained.

First, when the embroidery pattern creation device 60 is started, step 3
By processing 00, menu screen 1 is displayed on the CRT 60G, and the operator can perform input operations such as selecting data and specifying constants while viewing the screen. The data input in the process of menu screen 1 is used for processes such as auto scale set and group origin set executed in the next step 301, and calculations necessary to execute the pattern display process described later are performed. It will be done. The process of step 302 is executed when preparations for pattern display processing are completed in this way, and the menu screen 1 currently displayed on the CRT 60G is cleared and changed to the next menu screen 2 that can display a pattern. This is the display process. Then, the embroidery pattern corresponding to the input operation is displayed on the menu screen 2 (step 303), allowing the operator to visually confirm the pattern. Further, the editing process step 304, which is executed subsequent to the above processing, is a process of visually confirming the pattern for embroidery on the menu screen 2 and making desired changes.

This is a process for making corrections to finally create the desired embroidery pattern, and in this way, the embroidery data is created according to the pattern displayed on the CRT 60G.

The above series of main program processing is performed by “BACKJ
When the key is pressed, it goes into a reset state and returns to step 3.
By returning to 00, it is possible to create new embroidery patterns.

In this way, CR of the embroidery pattern can be done while following the main processing procedure.
Creation is executed on the T60G. Below, the processing of each step described above will be explained in more detail.

FIG. 18 shows that the CRT is
This is a display example of menu screen 1 displayed on 60G. The screen is roughly divided into four blocks 81 to B4. Block B1 is a style designation block for designating which style (font) the currently desired pattern is from among the many pattern data stored in the hard disk 60F described above. The file with the style specified in this block (see Figure 7) is opened, and the lower index search files, index files, and data files are searched, and the desired pattern of data, that is, column data, is read out. It is possible.

Block B2 is an area where edit items for patterns that can be freely selected are listed.
erJ is displayed, its size, display interval between each pattern, height, sewing density, inclination angle, column width expansion/reduction,
All items that can be changed or corrected when embroidering a pattern are displayed, such as enlarging or reducing the pattern width, selecting sewing methods such as satin stitch or fill stitch, and embroidery thread color.

Block B3 is an area for setting the format of the embroidery pattern for the entire group when a plurality of patterns form one set (hereinafter referred to as a group).

As shown in Figures 19 to 23, one group consisting of multiple patterns can be expressed vertically, horizontally, diagonally,
And they are arranged on an arc and are diverse. Therefore, the arrangement of this group is determined by the numbers 1 to 6 set in the Disposition. Here, the number "1" is arranged horizontally as shown in Figures 19 and 20, and the number "2" is arranged vertically as shown in Figure 21. ``3'' is a diagonal array that goes upward to the right as shown in Figure 22, ``4'' is a diagonal array that is downward to the right as shown in Figure 23, and the number ``5''.

"6" represents an upper circular arc array and a lower circular arc array, which are not shown, respectively. Center Or 1eft means Di
When spoSition is set to "1", the origin of the group is set to the midpoint of all groups as shown in Figures 19 and 20, and the left end of the group is displayed as the center point. This is for selecting whether to display left-justified as the origin, where the number rOJ indicates center distribution and the number "1" indicates left-justified. )(ei
ght Interval is [) ispositi
This has meaning when On is set to r3J or r4J, and determines how much adjacent patterns are displaced in the vertical direction (Y direction) to form a diagonal arrangement as shown in Figures 22 and 23. It is something to give.

In addition, Radius is a variable that sets the radius of the arc when the [)isposition setting is r5J, r6J, and LFInterva.
+ represents a variable for setting Y-direction displacement between groups.

Block B4 is an area where the selected pattern is displayed, and the figure shows alphanumeric characters rABcJ, rabcJ, r123
Three groups consisting of the three letters J are illustrated. These patterns are specified by pressing the corresponding keys on the keyboard 60D after determining what kind of embroidery pattern is desired for each of the blocks described above.

The above are the work items on the menu screen 1, but in this embodiment, the settings on the menu screen 1 can be changed as follows. There are many sewing needles in the eight heads of the multi-needle embroidery sewing machine 10, and desired embroidery thread can be attached to each of these sewing needles. Therefore, the block B mentioned above
When executing the embroidery thread color setting (Color Code) in step 2, the number of sewing needles and the color of the embroidery thread attached differs depending on each system, and can be set individually. is desirable. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to be able to freely change the relationship between the sewing needle number and the embroidery thread color, and to understand the status at a glance, the CPU
60A.

rco displayed at the bottom of block B2 in Figure 18
Seven rectangular columns are set on the right side of the lor CodeJ row, each displaying a different hue. This column corresponds to the color of the embroidery thread attached to the 8 stitches of sewing needles 1 to 7 (the multi-needle embroidery machine 10 of this embodiment uses up to 5 stitches), and the left end is the color of the embroidery thread attached to the 8 needles 1 to 7 (the multi-needle embroidery machine 10 of this embodiment uses up to 5 needles). It is possible to visually confirm the color of the embroidery thread set to needle "2", then the color of the embroidery thread set to needle "2", etc. Therefore, when setting the color of each pattern mentioned above, select the desired color from the seven columns while visually confirming it, and then input from the keyboard the color in which column from the left the selected color is located (Fig. (indicates that "1" is entered from the keyboard), the sewing needle number can be set.

The above color setting is the 24th color stored in ROM60B.
This is done using the flowchart shown in the figure and the color code table shown in FIG. 25 stored in the hard disk 60F. Here, the color code table is one in which seven color codes corresponding to hues are set in seven tables corresponding to sewing needle numbers 1 to 7. FIG. 26 is a correspondence table between the color code of this embodiment and the colors displayed on the CRT 60G. That is, for example, if the color code is
1", the CRT controller 60H is a video RAM
The predetermined display information of 60J is displayed only in blue among the three primary colors (red, blue, and green).

When the color displayed on the menu screen 1 is different from the color of the embroidery thread attached to the multi-needle embroidery sewing machine 10 to be controlled, the operator operates the keyboard 60D to cause the CPU 60A to execute the process of the flowchart in FIG. 24. . CPU6
0A first sets the counter C to "1" (step 310), and accepts the color code input from the operator using the keyboard 60D (step 311). If a color code is entered, the color represented by that value (second
6), the C-th rectangular column from the left on the CRT 60G is repainted (step 312), and the color code of table No. rCJ of the color code table shown in FIG. 25 is also rewritten in the same way (step 313). ).

Each time the color display and color table are changed, the contents of the counter C are incremented by 1 (step 314), and steps 311 to 314 are repeated again until the contents become 7 or more. Then, the changed color code table is stored in the hard disk 60F (step 316), and this routine ends.

As described above, when the necessary input work is completed based on menu screen 1 (step 300 in FIG. 17), auto scale set and group origin set (step 301 in the same figure) are then executed.

FIG. 27, FIG. 28, and FIG. 29 are a flowchart showing the process of step 301 in detail and an explanatory diagram thereof. Each pattern appearing in block B4 on menu screen 1 is organized into groups and displayed on different lines by pressing a predetermined group division, for example, a carriage return key (see FIG. 18). By remembering how many times the group separation operation was performed at this time, the number of groups can be easily determined (as it turns out, in the process of auto scale set and group origin set, this number of groups must be checked first in step 320), Next, the occupied area as a group and the origin for each group are calculated for all groups (step 321).

In this calculation, the width and height of each pattern input in block B2 of menu screen 1 are added together with the character spacing, and the arrangement method and display position of those patterns input in block B3 are also taken into consideration. It can be calculated by

FIG. 28 shows an example of the calculation. The figure is rABJ, r1
This is an example of displaying three groups "234J, rab" in horizontal arrangement and center distribution. Group rABJ is the group origin (0,
From O), both require an area in the X direction of the pattern width ±W, and an area of the pattern height H in the Y direction. Also, group "1234" is the group rAB above.
The origin is set at the point (0.-1) moved in the Y direction by the value of LF Interval from the group origin of J, and from here the width of the two patterns is 2W in the X direction, and the height of the pattern is in the Y direction. It requires an area of Hl. Similarly, for group rabJ, the group origin (0, -21),
The X direction ±W and the Y direction H are required.

Once the group origin and occupied area are determined for each group in this way, the occupied area (X
, Y) are calculated (step 322
). This is to extract the maximum and minimum values of the X coordinate value and Y coordinate value for each group as shown in Figure 28. If we follow the previous example, the minimum value min of all groups is as shown in Figure 28. (-2W, -21), the maximum value max is (2W, H).

Subsequently, in step 323, the embroidery origin is calculated. The embroidery origin is the only origin set in a single embroidery pattern when all groups are combined into one embroidery pattern. In this embodiment, the first group origin and the embroidery origin are defined to be the same.

Finally, a scale value is calculated (step 32
4) This is a process for automatically reducing the size of the embroidery pattern so that it fits on the display screen when it is too large to display the embroidery pattern in its actual size on the CRT 60G. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 29, the X coordinate value CRT-X and the Y coordinate value CRT-Y (7
) Multiply the width (X coordinate) and height (Y coordinate) of the embroidery pattern by 1/2 in order so that the embroidery pattern fits within the range, and when the entire pattern fits within the CRT screen with (1/2) n, Length in X direction 6
When trLEN-X and 't6 ((CRT-X)-(LE
N-X>)/2=IN-X, the length of the Y direction is LEN-Y
When ((CRT-Y)-(LEN-Y))/2=
IN-Y, value IN-X.

The embroidery pattern is displayed with IN-Y left blank on the left and right, top and bottom of the CRT screen. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
An embroidery pattern is displayed aesthetically in the center of the screen. In addition, in order to teach the operator the magnification (1/2>') automatically calculated as described above, a straight line of the standard length is displayed at the corner of the CRT screen at the same scale, or A configuration such as displaying numerical values has been adopted.

Each time various settings for each pattern and each group are executed as described above, the CPtJ60A creates a parameter table for each word and group shown in FIG. 30 (A>, (B)) and stores it in the RAM 60K. The word parameter table FIG. 30 (A) is created for each pattern forming the embroidery pattern, and stores information necessary for embroidering the pattern, including all the items determined on the menu screen 1 mentioned above. .Segment and offset represent the address information that gives the column data storage destination of the data file described above in Fig. 7.The character origin X and Y coordinates are from the group origin determined as above. This is an area that stores the values input as displacement, character size, and letter size from the menu screen.Character rotation angle and mirror image NO0 are the storage destinations for parameters specified by input operations after menu screen 2, which will be described later. Character width 1 is an area for storing character width values as preset values stored in the data file (see Figure 7), and character width 2 is an area for storing character size, character width % values, etc. from menu screen 1. Values determined by input values are stored. Character spacing, italic angle, color No. 0, stem, fill stitch interval, etc. are all stored in the input values from menu screen 1 described above. Rotation center X coordinate and Y The coordinates are the storage locations for the values determined by the operations after Menu Screen 2, which will be described later.
) is displaced from the origin of the pattern (character origin). In addition, the character width % value is the change percentage value of the character width 1 mentioned above, the stitch interval is the stitch density explained in the column sewing point calculation, and the jump interval is the maximum value of the sewing point distance that can be moved per stitch. The character height percentage value stores each preset character height change percentage value.

The coordinates (Xn, Yn) of the idle points are arbitrary coordinate points set on the menu screen 2 described later, and offset values from the pattern origin (character origin) are input respectively.

The group parameter table (FIG. 30(B)) is an area for storing parameters specific to a group defined as a set of a plurality of patterns.

In the array, enter the setting number of the Disposition, and in the center or left-justified
or [-eft setting number, h+csht r
For nterva+, use the setting value from the menu screen 1, for radius, use the setting value for Radius, and for arc array center angle, set the center of the group to 90° or 2 when arranging an arc.
7o degrees, that is, whether they are arranged in an upper arc or a lower arc, the setting values of the menu screen 1 are stored in LF INTERVAL.

Group first character Co (JNT and group character C0
It is UNT and represents the range of pattern information of the group. GROUP-GENTEN-X, Y stores information indicating how much the group origin of this group is displaced from the embroidery origin. As mentioned above, since the embroidery origin is automatically set to the group origin of the first group, the value of this table for the first group is (0).
, O). Also, MIN-X, Y coordinate, MAX-X
, Y coordinate is an area that stores information giving the occupied area of the group as a whole described above.

In this way, the group parameter table and the pattern parameter table have an amount of information including all the contents set on the menu screen 1. Therefore, once the contents of each table are determined, the setting screen of menu screen 1 can be easily reproduced.

When the operator inputs using the menu screen 1 and the information processing such as the explanation is completed, the CPU 60A displays the menu screen 2 in FIG. 17 (step 302).
, executes pattern display processing (step 303), and shifts to editing processing (step 3o4). Figures 31 to 34
The figure is an explanatory diagram for explaining these processes in detail.

As shown in FIG. 31, CPU 60A CRT
The controller 60H is operated to clear the menu screen 1 shown in FIG. 18 and display the menu screen 2 as shown. In the figure, blocks B2, B3. B4 is the part on the menu screen 2 that is essential displayed in the process of step 302, and the push button B2 is the part shown in FIG. 32 (A>
, (B), and (C), a display section in which so-called icons are displayed cyclically, each of which is a pictorial representation of each command, and block B3 displays commands that are subordinate to the command specified by the above-mentioned icons. The command display section and block B4 are check display sections that display which pattern or group is the target of processing based on each command specified as described above.

Block B1, which occupies the largest area on the menu screen 2 shown in FIG. 31, is a pattern display section in which the result of executing the pattern display process in the subsequent step 303 is displayed.

In other words, the settings on Menu Screen 1 determine the style of characters to be embroidered, their size and inclination, the arrangement of groups of multiple characters, etc., and the embroidery pattern obtained when embroidery is executed based on these data. will be fully specified. Therefore, a simulation of the embroidery pattern obtained from these data is executed on the display screen of the CRT 60G.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing the pattern display processing in step 303 in more detail. After reading the group parameters (step 330) that stores information about all the groups entered on menu screen 1, the array of the groups (D i 5pos i t i
on> is determined (step 331). Depending on this value, "1" means horizontal arrangement, "2" means vertical arrangement, etc.
..., and arrange each pattern that makes up each group (
Steps 332 to 339). At this time, in the case of horizontal arrangement (value "1"), it is determined whether the display should be centered or left-aligned (step 332).
will be done. In this way, when the arrangement of one group is completed, it is determined whether or not the processing of all groups has been completed (step 340), and after repeating the processing of steps 330 to 339 until the processing of all groups is completed, the processing of step 304 described above is performed. transition to. In addition, when displaying all the groups, each pattern is displayed as a set of columns as shown in FIG. 31. That is, only the outline of the column connecting each point of the 4-point or 5-point column stored in the data file of each pattern is displayed, and the detailed data display for each stitch described above in FIGS. 11 to 16 is not performed. Not executed.

As is clear from FIG. 31, it is easy to understand the embroidery pattern even when it is displayed as a collection of columns, and the CPU 6 due to displaying more detailed information.
By avoiding an increase in 0A load, system simplification and processing speed improvement are achieved. In the figure, the upper right apex and lower left apex of the rectangle indicated by thin lines surrounding each group indicate the MAX and MIN coordinate positions of each group,
The cross mark at the bottom left of each pattern indicates the character origin, which is the origin of the multiple columns representing that pattern, and the * mark at the center bottom of each group indicates the group origin of that group. The embroidery origin is defined at a position that overlaps with the group origin of the top group.

In this way, the menu screen 2 causes the menu screen 1 to
You can visually check the embroidery pattern set in , but since the embroidery pattern data is simply entered as numerical values as shown in Menu Screen 1, it is displayed on Menu Screen 2 as shown in Figure 31. There may be cases where you want to change or correct the embroidery pattern that has been created. Editing processing (step 304) is utilized in such a case, and a detailed flowchart of this processing will be described below.

FIGS. 34(A) and 34(B) are flowcharts showing the editing process in step 304 in detail.

As shown in the figure, this flowchart performs a branching process in which a large number of processes can be arbitrarily selected.

It is inefficient for the operator to memorize commands for so many processes, resulting in a decrease in operability. Therefore, in this embodiment, a command is input by visually pointing to the icon shown in FIG. 32 using the mouse 60C. When the editing process in step 304 is started, first, the mouse 60C is used to transfer the data to the CRT 600.
Input which display on the screen of G is specified (step 350), and determine whether it is within the icon area where the icon shown in FIG. 32 is displayed (step 350).
Step 351). In addition to editing processing using icons, main commands are provided such as changing the icon display from the state shown in Fig. 32 (A>) to Fig. 32 (B) or (C), and terminating this editing processing. Therefore, it is determined which command has been specified.If it is outside the icon area, the process proceeds to step 380 in FIG. 34(B).
The process moves to the following process, and when it is within the icon area, the icon page ((A) in FIG. 32) is displayed.

(B) and (C) correspond to pages 1 and 2.3) Processing of designated icons (steps 352 to 372)
is executed. The processing of each icon will be further explained in detail using a flowchart to be described later, and here the processing when a main command is designated will be described. First, if it is determined in step 351 that the command is outside the icon area, then in step 380 it is determined whether or not it is a main command. If it is not the main condo, the position indicated by the mouse 60C is invalid, and the process returns to step 350 to prompt re-input. Furthermore, when the command is a main command, processing proceeds depending on which area in the main command is specified. That is,
If the next page of icons is specified, the icon area will be displayed from (A> to (B), (B) to (C) in Figure 32.
.

Step 3: cyclically change from (C) to (A>)
81), if the previous icon page has been specified, the process of returning the icon display to the previous display content (step 382)
is executed. Furthermore, when rEXITJ has been instructed, it is determined that the end of editing processing has been instructed, and the end flag EXIT-FLG is reset (step 38
3). After processing in accordance with the position indicated by the mouse, step 384 is executed, and the end flag is set to "0".
If it is in the reset state, the main editing process is finished and the first
Proceed to step 305 of the main program in Figure 7, otherwise return to step 350 and press the mouse 60C.
It will be in a state of waiting for input from.

Next, details of each editing process in steps 353 to 372 will be explained.

FIG. 35 shows rA in the icon area using the mouse 60C.
L in the step 353 specified when J is specified.
It is a flowchart detailing ETTERWIDTH processing. This process can be roughly divided into four parts. The - is the introduction process from step 401 to step 404, the second is the target identification process from step 406 to step 411, and the third is the group editing process from step 412 to step 418.
4 is step 419 to step 4240 character editing processing.

In the introduction process, first, the commands rGRP and INCJ necessary for the target identification process are displayed on the command display section, which is block B3 in the menu screen 2.

rGRP, DECJ, rCAR, INCJ, rCAR,
Processing to display DECJ is performed (step 401). As will be understood from the following explanation, the commands displayed on each command display section are switched all at once, and three types of display are possible. Each of these three types of command displays is associated with a number, and the command page is "0" and the command page is "0".
The command page is called "1" and the command page is called "2." Then mouse 60
The input from C is accepted (step 402), and if the input is rEXITJ, the process returns to step 350 to enable other editing processing; otherwise, the process proceeds to the command page (step 404). ). At the first time of this process, in step 401, the command page rOJ is
is set, so steps 405 to 411
The process moves on to target identification processing. Here, a pattern to be edited is specified. Identification may be done on a group or character basis, and the cursor that was displaying the character origin of the first character of the first group displayed on the menu screen 2 in the initial state can be moved to rGRP, INCJ using the mouse 60C.
If the command area is designated, the group advances so as to display the character origin of the first character of the next second group (step 406). On the other hand, when the rGRP and DE'CJ command areas are designated, the group receives the reception (step 407). rCAR, INCJ is a command area used when you want to further specify a character within a specific group. When this area is specified with the mouse 60C, the cursor that was displaying the origin of characters within the group will move to the first character. to the second, and so on (step 408
). Then, a process opposite to this process is executed in step 409. After repeating the processes in steps 402 to 409 until the desired group or character is specified, if the rscROLLJ command is issued, the corresponding character is displayed in the check display area that is block B4 in the menu screen 2 (step 410), and then a command page "1" is set (step 411). Therefore, the process that returns to step 402 is step 404.
The process branches according to the command page determination process and moves to the next group editing process (steps 412 to 418). When this process starts, the command display section of menu screen 2 will display rG, WIDTH+J, rG, WIDTH-J,
rWIDTH, STJ, rRATIo, STJ, rsc
The characters ROLLJ are displayed.

When the rG, WIDTH+J command is specified, the width of all characters in the specified group is displayed on the menu screen 2.
The value is recalculated so as to increase by the value displayed in the "RATIb" display area (step 413). r
G, WIDTH-J are calculated to reduce the character width by the displayed value of rRATIOJ (step 414), and rWIDTH, STJ are rRAT used in the above recalculation.
This command instructs a process (step 415) that uses a value directly input from the keyboard 60D as the numerical value of "IO". Using the results of these recalculations, step 41
After any of the processes from step 3 to step 415, the corresponding group is redisplayed (step 416), and the character width can be increased or decreased by a desired value. Also, rRATIo
, STJ is specified, a process is executed in which the numerical value displayed in the rRATIOJ is set as the input value from the keyboard 600 (step 417), and the above-mentioned rG, WI
A single operation of DTH+J, rG, and WIDTH-J changes the RATIO of the character width to be increased or decreased. When the processing of steps 402 to 404 and steps 412 to 417 has finished redisplaying the relevant group, or when the above processing of this command page "1" is not necessary, rscROLLJ is designated with the mouse 60C, and step 418 is executed, the following command page "2" is set, and the process moves to character editing processing (steps 419 to 424). In this character editing process, width change editing similar to the above-described group editing process is performed for each character. At this time, move the rL, WIDTH+J displayed on the command display area to the mouse 60.
If you instruct with C, the width increase will be recalculated based on the change in the corresponding character displayed in rRATIOJ (step 420),
If rL and WIDTH-J are specified, the width reduction is recalculated by the same change (step 421), and rWI
When DTH and STJ are specified, the width increase/decrease is recalculated according to the keyboard input value (step 422). Then, the result of the recalculation in any one of steps 420 to 422 is redisplayed on the CRT 60G in step 423, and the editing work is completed. When processing of this command page is no longer necessary, it can be set to the command page rOJ again by instructing rscROLLJ.

The above is the WIDTH editing process, and as is clear from the above explanation, by selecting this process, you can freely make the pattern group displayed on menu screen 2 or the characters within it wider. , or conversely, you can make changes such as making it thinner.

FIG. 36 is a detailed flowchart of the 5IZE process executed when the area in which the concave-convex lens is displayed is specified using the icon in FIG. 32. As is clear from the figure, this flowchart has the same configuration as that in FIG.
- Same as that of step 411. Furthermore, the configuration is the same, such as changing the command page, making changes based on the numerical value displayed in RATIO, and making changes based on the input value from the keyboard.

In other words, this time we will use the specified groups and characters as RATIO.
The only difference is that the size of the pattern is changed when recalculating using the displayed value or keyboard input value (steps 433 to 445.
0 to step 452). By executing this editing process, you can freely enlarge or reduce the group and the characters within it.

Below, in the same way, when you specify a pictogram representing the interval between icons, when you specify a pictogram with a slanted letter A, and when you specify a pictogram STM, the rIN that is processed respectively.
Detailed flowcharts of TERVALJ, rlTALICJ, and rsTEMJ are shown in FIGS. 37, 38, and 39. As can be easily understood from the figure, these are also the third
Figure 5.

The configuration is similar to that shown in FIG. 36, and the spacing between characters, the inclination angle of characters, and the width (column width) when embroidering characters are subject to change by simply recalculating.

FIG. 40 is a flowchart of a rotation process executed in response to an instruction using an icon, as described above. This process is similar to the above-described process, in which groups and characters are specified, and then editing processing is executed based on the RATIO display value or keyboard input value, and the overall flow is the same. However, for the purpose of increasing the degree of freedom in rotation editing, the following unique processing is executed when rcENTERJ is specified when the command page is "1". As shown in FIG. 41, each character is expressed as position data centered on the character origin. Therefore, the results obtained by recalculating these numerical values using the rotation angle θ can only be used to rotate the character around this character origin. So, this rc
The ENTERJ command is executed to set the "rotation center" that is the center when characters are rotated using the mouse 60C. This command allows you to set the "center of rotation" (
If you specify the coordinates a, b) from the character origin, CPtJ6
Inside 0A, the coordinates of the column data of the corresponding characters described above are converted in accordance with the program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 42, and the subsequent rotation processing is performed. That is, the column data is first converted into coordinate data with the "center of rotation" as the origin (step 500), and the column data after conversion is rotated using the rotation angle θ which is the RATIO display value or the keyboard input value (step 500). Step 5
01), and finally the rotation result is converted back to the original coordinate system, that is, the coordinate system of the character origin (step 50).
2).

The character rotation routine in Figure 42 above is converted to rCE in Figure 40.
By reading and executing the NTERJ command, various forms of rotation are possible, which helps in creating a desired embroidery pattern.

Figure 43 shows the three primary colors R and G from Figure 32 (A).
, B and an arrow are specified.

Similarly to the above, a command page "1" for actually executing editing (color change) is prepared next to command page "0" for determining the object to be edited.

If you specify the rcOLORJ area on command page "1", the color of the characters displayed in block B4 of menu screen 2 will change to the size in order to confirm the group or character specified on the previous command page "1". Changes to click. You can decide which color to change while visually checking the hue.

Then, after the hue is determined, the same command page "1"
rG, COL, STJ or [1,0OL, STJ
If this is specified, the hue of the characters of all the specified groups or the hue of one character will be displayed in the same color as the color of the characters in the confirmation display section (block B4).

FIG. 44 shows the MIRRORIMA that is processed when the hand-mirror pictogram in FIG.
It is a flowchart of GE.

It is clear from the figure that this flowchart has the same structure as the C0LOR flowchart shown in FIG. 43 above. In other words, in the processing of this program, if you specify rMIRRORJ on command page "1" after specifying the character to be edited, the mirror image of rFJ displayed as the confirmation character in block B4 will be created. After that, rG, MIR, STJ or [1
When 0MIR or STJ is specified, the mirror image of all characters or one character in the specified group is changed in the same way as the mirror image of the confirmation character. The mirror image was created for the purpose of improving the efficiency of pattern creation, and as shown in Figure 45, when the mirror image number is changed, the characters can be rotated by 90", reversed, etc. It is possible to change the image to look like it is reflected in a mirror.

Figure 46 shows the character r while the icon in Figure 32 (B) is being displayed.
12 is a flowchart detailing a character movement process executed when an area drawn by AJ and an arrow is designated.

This flowchart also has its introductory part and command page r
The OJ part is the same as each flowchart described previously, and the editing process of command page "1" is unique to character movement, so the process of this command page "1" will be explained below. rC on command page "1"
The processing when the AR, MOVEJ command is specified is related to the execution of character movement, and at the beginning the mouse 60C is
The input is accepted. By operating the mouse 60C, the cursor moves vertically and horizontally on the screen of the CRT 60G, and any position is input by clicking the mouse 60C. Next, it is determined whether or not the input position is a position that allows character movement, and if it is not within the permissible range, the mouse input is prompted again. When it is within the permissible range, the corresponding character specified on the command page rOJ is deleted, and the movement amounts ΔX and Δy of the character origin of the corresponding character are calculated using the following equations.

Δx=xl-(xo+xgO) Δy=¥1− (yO+ygO) Where xo, yO) are the coordinates of the embroidery origin on the screen.

(X!110. ygo> is the coordinate of the group origin of the group to which the corresponding character belongs, with (xO, yO) as the origin.

(xi, yl) are the coordinates of mouse input on the screen.

When the movement amounts ΔX and Δy of the character origin are calculated in this way,
Add that amount of movement to the conventional coordinates of the character origin and add the mouse 60
The character is redisplayed with the arbitrary position specified by G set as the character origin.

Figure 47 shows the character r while the icon in Figure 32 (B) is being displayed.
This is a flowchart 1 to 1 of a group origin movement process executed when an area drawn by GJ and an arrow is designated. Command page "1" with almost the same configuration as the character movement described above.
The operation when specifying the rGRP and MOVEj area in is unique to the group origin. Here, first, a movement position within the allowable range is input as the input value of the mouse 60C, as described above. Thereafter, it is determined whether the group specified by command page "0" has group number "1". As mentioned above, in this embodiment, this is the group number "1".
This is because the group origin of group number "1" and the embroidery origin are made to coincide, so in order to move the group origin of group number "1", it is necessary to similarly set the embroidery origin to the movement position. Therefore, when moving the group origin of group number "1", the embroidery origin is first set to the movement position (xi, yl), and then the LF I of group number "1" is set.
The setting of NTERVAL (LFI) is performed by the following equation.

LFI = bl + yl However, bl is the group number “2”. Loop origin y coordinate value.

Then, one after another, the group origin of other groups becomes (a
n −xl , bn −yl ).

Here, (an, bn) are the original coordinates of the n-th group origin, and (Xl, yl) are the coordinates of the new group origin of group number "1". When the calculation of the new coordinates of the origin and the calculation of LF INTERVAL are completed in this way, the corresponding group is redisplayed using the values, and the group movement process is completed.

On the other hand, if the relevant group has a group number other than "1", no change will occur to the group origin coordinates of other groups as described above, so first the relevant group origin is set to the specified position of the mouse, and Group LF
INTERVAL is recalculated. Then, one group ahead of the corresponding group (7) LF I NT
ERVAL is calculated as LFn=bn+1-bn, the recalculation of all parameters is completed, and the corresponding group is redisplayed.

FIG. 48 is a flowchart showing the process of moving the embroidery origin in which the icon is displayed as an O mark and an arrow. Here, when a movement position within the permissible range is input using the mouse, all displayed characters are erased, and all characters are redisplayed based on the new embroidery origin set position. In this case, the group origin and LF INTERVAL (7
) value remains unchanged.

FIG. 49 is a flowchart for setting the idle stitching point position represented by the icon X mark.

This process prevents the crossover threads drawn between each character from being sewn in when embroidering the characters when the embroidery machine actually performs embroidery according to the embroidery pattern. When this program starts processing, characters are specified using the command page "0" in the same way as described above, and then the program moves to the command page "1". When you specify rsETJ on this command page "1", the mouse 60
The position input from C is accepted, and the coordinates of the input position are calculated from the character origin of the specified character, and are stored as play points in the parameters and sent to the CRT60G.
displayed above. Furthermore, when rCLEARJ is designated, the stored value corresponding to the position input from the mouse 60C is erased, and the corresponding display on the CRT 60G is cleared. When there is a play point input as a character parameter in this way, when creating one-stitch data, the CPU 60A sews the position specified by the play point after completing the embroidery of the corresponding character, and then sews the position specified by the play point, and then starts the next embroidery character. Process to start embroidery. By doing this, the crossing thread can be freely handled on the CR1 screen, and the efficiency of the embroidery work can be improved.

If the embroidery pattern is edited on the screen by specifying each icon as described above, recalculations will be performed in accordance with the editing work. These recalculated values are shown in Figure 30 (A>, (B)
) is stored as a new value in a predetermined location in the parameter table, and the data representing the edited embroidery pattern is completed.

In addition, an editing process for changing the value of "array" in the group parameter table is also provided, similar to the process for each icon described above. This is a display that allows the arrangement to be easily understood, such as a vertical line and a mark, a horizontal line and a mark, and a circular arc and a mark, as shown in FIG. 32(B). If the array values of the group parameter table are changed by specifying these icons, the CRT display of the corresponding group is erased and then redisplayed using the changed array values. These arrangement processes are almost the same as those for displaying block B1 on the menu screen 2 from the information on the menu screen 1, and therefore will not be described in detail here.

As shown in FIG. 32, the icon also has a third screen as shown in FIG. 32(C). The process that is started by the icons shown in (C) is the menu screen 2 by the editing process shown in the above-mentioned icons (A) and (B).
This is used when a desired embroidery pattern is completed in block B1.

First, what is displayed with the letters rRJ is an icon command for performing a reset process. If this icon is designated, all the data in the parameter table that has been affected as described above will be reset, making it possible to create the next new embroidery pattern.

Furthermore, a pictogram displayed as a double rectangle represents a command to start the process of creating embroidery data. When this icon is designated, stitch data for sewing each column described above at the specified sewing density (see FIGS. 11 and 15) and needle change data based on the collar number are created. At this time, CR can be improved by simultaneously displaying the line segments connecting each needle groove point on the CRT screen with a hue corresponding to the color number.
You can simulate the completion of an embroidery pattern on one screen. FIG. 50 is an explanatory diagram showing the display of the simulation results.

The pictogram simulating the paper tape is a command that is output to the perforated tape as a control code for causing various embroidery machines to execute the above-mentioned embroidery data.

Furthermore, the embroidery pattern creation device 60 of this embodiment is an FDD 60.
Since it has a built-in E, an icon that simulates a flexible disk is also prepared. When you specify this icon, all embroidery pattern data will be transferred to FDD60E.
It is recorded on a flexible disk and can be stored non-volatilely. Note that when storing data on this flexible disk, the format of data is as shown in FIG. 30(A).

If it is stored as table information of character parameters and group parameters (B), the embroidery pattern can be stored in an extremely small storage area.

According to the embroidery pattern creation device of this embodiment configured and operated as described above, the following effects are obvious.

Since each pattern is stored independently as column information, data conversion for each pattern, such as rotation or enlargement, can be easily performed. Furthermore, groups are defined using a plurality of patterns as constituent elements, and a group parameter table is set for each group. This parameter table stores data common to each pattern belonging to the group, such as the arrangement method of patterns belonging to the group, distance between groups, group origin coordinates, etc.

Therefore, by simply changing the contents of this group parameter table, it is possible to edit the embroidery pattern, such as changing the arrangement or moving the entire embroidery pattern, without losing the unity of the group.

For this reason, by considering a second-class embroidery pattern that is a collection of many patterns as a collection of small patterns called several groups, it is possible to easily create an embroidery pattern, and the work time can be significantly shortened. You can also do it.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various ways without departing from the gist of the present invention, such as by preparing more parameters in the group parameter table.

As described above in detail with reference to embodiments, the embroidery pattern creation device of the present invention defines a small pattern consisting of a plurality of patterns as one group, and creates an embroidery pattern as a collection of so-called small patterns. Define. Therefore, editing such as enlarging, rotating, etc. can be uniformly performed on a group of small patterns consisting of multiple patterns, making it easier to create embroidery patterns, improving efficiency, and creating complex embroidery patterns consisting of a combination of many patterns. This makes it an excellent embroidery pattern creation device that can create embroidery patterns in a short time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an external perspective view of an embodiment, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the frame drive mechanism, Fig. 4 is a block diagram of the system configuration, and Fig. 5 is an illustration of the frame drive mechanism. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the driver unit, FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the embroidery pattern creation device, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the file structure of the embodiment, and FIG. 8 (A
), (B), (C) are style explanatory diagrams, Figure 9 (A>,
(B) and Fig. 10 are explanatory diagrams of column data, Fig. 11
The figure is an explanatory diagram of a 4-point column, Figure 12 is a flowchart thereof, Figure 13 is an explanatory diagram of a 5-point column, Figure 14 is a flowchart, and Figure 15 is an explanatory diagram of a 5-point column sewing point.
Fig. 16 is a flowchart thereof, Fig. 17 is a flowchart of the main program of the embodiment, Fig. 18 is an explanatory diagram of menu screen 1, Figs. 19 to 23 are explanatory diagrams of group arrangement, and Fig. 24 is a color table. Flowchart of settings, Figures 25 and 26 are diagrams explaining the correspondence between color codes, color tables, and colors, Figure 27 is a detailed flowchart of a part of the main program, Figures 28 and 2
Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram thereof, Fig. 30 (A>, CB> is an explanatory diagram of the pattern parameter table and group parameter table, Fig. 31 is an explanatory diagram of the display of menu screen 2, Fig. 32
Figures (A>, (B), and (C) are explanatory diagrams of the microcomputer display, Figure 33 is a detailed flowchart of a part of the main program, and Figures 34 (A) and (B) are also part of the main program. Detailed flowcharts of Figures 35 to 40
The figures are a more detailed flowchart of a part of FIGS. 34(A) and (B>, FIG. 41 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of FIG. 40, and FIG. 42 is a more detailed flowchart of a part of FIG. 40,
Figures 43 and 44 are more detailed flowcharts of parts of Figures 34 (A> and (B)), Figure 45 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of Figure 44, and Figures 46 to 49 are Figures 34 (A>, (
A more detailed flowchart of a part of B), FIG. 50 is a display explanatory diagram showing the simulation results of embroidery data,
It is.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A pattern storage means that stores a plurality of patterns that are the minimum units when composing an embroidery pattern, and an arbitrary pattern is selected from among the plurality of patterns stored in the pattern storage means. a pattern selection means for determining an embroidery format for each group defined by the group definition means; display control means for changing or modifying the group defined by the group definition means into the format determined by the format determining means and displaying the modified embroidery format on a two-dimensional display screen; An embroidery pattern creation method comprising: a changing device for changing the embroidery pattern; and a one-stitch data creation device for creating one-stitch data to be executed by an embroidery sewing machine based on the embroidery pattern created on the two-dimensional display screen. Device.