JP2001104670A - Sewing data processor - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] Even if image data read from an original picture on which a uniform pattern is drawn does not have a uniform color, the contour of the pattern is reliably extracted from the image data. Enable to create sewing data. A sewing device includes an image data storage unit that stores color image data, and a unit that extracts a boundary of a uniform color area on the stored image data as an outline and creates sewing data. In the data processing device, a color information storage unit (30) for storing a target color defining a plurality of colors as a target when extracting a contour from the image data.
Calculating means for calculating a color difference between each pixel constituting the image data and each target color; and rewriting means for respectively rewriting the color of each pixel to a target color having the smallest color difference. ing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sewing data processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a sewing data processing apparatus suitable for application to creation of sewing data used in a pattern sewing machine for sewing by relatively moving a needle position and a holder. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a pattern stitch sewing machine for sewing by moving a holding position such as a needle and a cloth relative to each other,
Image data is read from an original picture on which an arbitrary pattern is drawn by an image reading device such as a scanner, and the contours on the image data are extracted. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-154445 proposes a method for creating sewing data for sewing.

Generally, when sewing data is created from image data read by a scanner or the like, a pixel (pixel) on the right side of a two-dimensional image on a two-dimensional image is determined with respect to image data stored in a memory. The inspection is repeated, and if it is the same color as the reference pixel (reference color), the operation of inspecting the next right is further advanced. If a different color is detected, the pixel position of the final point is detected. Is stored as the starting point.

Thereafter, the color of each of the eight pixels in the vicinity of the pixel at the starting point is examined in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction, and if a pixel having the same color as the reference color is first searched, the position is stored. Then, the inspection is performed in the same manner on the pixels whose positions are stored, and this operation is repeated until the first starting point is reached. By extracting a coordinate sequence of pixel positions obtained by such an operation as a contour, sewing data is created to sew the inside of the pixel. Such a method of creating sewing data is effective when all the pattern ranges on the image data are the same color (uniform color).

[0005]

However, in the original picture, although the pattern elements such as petals and leaves have a uniform color, the image data read by a scanner or the like may have a poor performance due to its performance. The color may not be uniform, or the image data may not be uniform because the original picture itself is not uniform, resulting in spots.
When the contour is extracted by the above-described method for the image data in which the pattern elements are not uniform in color,
The desired outline may not be obtained. As a result, it is necessary to perform operations such as changing the color of the image data for each pixel and manually inputting the outline by tracing the image data. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and image data read from an original picture in which a uniform color pattern is originally drawn is not a uniform color. Even in such a case, an object of the present invention is to provide a sewing data processing device capable of reliably extracting a contour of a pattern from the image data and creating sewing data.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided means for storing color image data, and means for extracting a boundary of a uniform color area on the stored image data as a contour and creating sewing data. In a sewing data processing device comprising: a color information storage unit for storing a plurality of target colors as targets when extracting a contour from the image data; a color of each pixel constituting the image data; Calculating means for calculating a color difference between the target color and a color of each pixel;
Rewriting means for rewriting the target color with the smallest color difference,
By providing the above, the above-mentioned problem has been solved.

That is, in the present invention, the color of each pixel constituting the image data is rewritten to the target color having the smallest color difference among a plurality of colors set as the target colors. Therefore, even if a similar shade of color occurs partially and becomes uneven, the entire area can be corrected to image data of a uniform color. Therefore, by applying the same contour extraction method as that of the related art, it is possible to reliably create sewing data.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of a control system of an embroidery (pattern) sewing machine to which a sewing data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the sewing data processing device. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration.

In the embroidery sewing machine, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10 executes an operation for controlling the entire sewing machine. The CPU 10 stores various operations such as an editing operation described later and data storage. , A spindle motor driving unit 16 driven by a spindle motor 14 to move a needle (not shown) up and down, and an X-axis and Y-axis motor to move an embroidery frame (not shown) in X and Y directions. And an XY table motor drive unit 20 driven by the I / O interface 18.
The color scanner 26 is connected together with the key switch 24 via. The CPU 10 performs sewing control by driving the spindle motor 14 and the X-axis / Y-axis motor 18 and also performs overall control including image processing to be described later.

The sewing machine has a built-in sewing data processing device. As shown in FIG. 2, a main part of the sewing data processing apparatus is an image data storage unit 2 for storing color image data and the like read by the scanner 26.
8 and a contour extracting means for extracting a boundary of a region of a uniform color on the image data stored therein as a contour and creating sewing data, and extracting a contour from the image data. A color information storage unit 30 that stores a plurality of target colors to be targeted at the time, a color of each pixel constituting the image data, and a target color stored in the color information storage unit 30. Calculating means for calculating the color difference;
Rewriting means for rewriting the color of each pixel to a target color having the smallest color difference.

However, here, the image data storage unit 2
The memory 8 and the color information storage unit 30 are incorporated in a storage device 32. The storage device 32 is included in the memory 12 together with a ROM 34 in which a program for controlling the entire sewing machine is stored. Further, the contour extracting means, the calculating means and the rewriting means are realized by the CPU 10 which is also executed by a program read from the ROM 34.

In FIG. 2, as the storage device 32 containing the image data storage unit 28 and the color information storage unit 30, storage devices such as a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, a floppy disk, a magneto-optical storage device, and an IC card are used. can do. The image data storage unit 28 reads and stores a color image from the original picture by the scanner 26 according to the operation of the key switch in FIG. In this image data, the color of each pixel is recorded as, for example, a combination of three values of R, G, and B, that is, a three-dimensional coordinate value. However, the expression format of the color information is not limited to these R, G, and B, and any format can be adopted as long as the color can be represented by a numerical value.

The color information storage unit 30 stores, as color information, a predetermined number of target colors, such as R, G, and B, defined by the same expression format as the colors stored in the image data storage unit 28. ing. As the target color, for example, as shown schematically in FIG. 3, in the case of a base picture in which a red flower tulip against a blue sky is drawn, blue, red, and dark green representing leaves And four light green colors representing the underside of stems and leaves.

The color information that defines the target color is the above-mentioned CP.
U10 is used to check the frequency distribution for each color for all the pixels of the image data, and in this example, the top four of them may be selected and stored, or the R, G, and B values of the pixels close to the target color Each value is measured in advance by an ordinary method,
The value may be input using the key switch 24 or the like and stored.

FIG. 4 conceptually shows the characteristics of the processing by the sewing data processing apparatus of the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 shows the processing procedure.

First, a basic picture (not shown) is stored in the scanner 26.
The image data as shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the image data storage unit 28, for example. Apart from this, the target color is selected by the above-described method, and the value of each color is stored in the color information storage unit 30. In FIG. Although the case of N colors up to N is shown, in this example, there are four colors of blue, red, dark green and light green.

Thereafter, for the image data read from the image data storage unit 28, for example, attention is paid to the pixel located at the upper left end of the image, and the color value of the pixel of interest is extracted from the image data (step 1) A color difference (color difference) from one target color, for example, a red value stored in the color information storage unit 30 is calculated (step 2), and is calculated as a target color in the color information storage unit 30. The image data is stored in a color difference storage unit (omitted in FIG. 2) also in the storage device 32 in association therewith.

Here, the color value will be described. The target color Ct is given by (Rt, Gt, Bt) in (R, G, B) notation, and the color Ci of the ith pixel of interest is given by (R
i, Gi, Bi), the image on the color space defined by the two RGB coordinates is assumed to have R, G, and B values set in 256 gradations from 0 to 255. FIG. Therefore, the color difference is calculated as the difference between the R, G, and B coordinate values of Ct and Ci.
If the target color Ct is red, for example, Rt = 25
0, Gt = Bt = 0.

The color difference between the color Ci of each pixel and the target color Ct may be a simple subtraction value of each of R, G, and B.
The distance L between Ci and Ct in the color space as also shown in FIG. 6 may be obtained by the following equation.

L = ｛(Rt−Ri) ² + (Gt−Gi) ² +
(Bt−Bi) ² ｝ ^1/2

The above color difference calculation for the pixel of interest is
The target color is changed to the next color, for example, blue, and the same process is performed. Finally, the process is performed for all the target colors (step 3). Thereafter, the color difference obtained for each target color is stored in No. 1 to No. The minimum value is searched from the N color difference storage units, the corresponding target color value stored in the color information storage unit 30 is retrieved, and the color value of the pixel of interest is rewritten (step 4). The above processing is sequentially executed for each pixel, that is, for all pixels (step 5).

In the present embodiment, when each pixel is rewritten to the corresponding target color as described above and a uniform color partial area is formed, the contour is extracted from the area as in the conventional case. Then, the target color is stored in association with the outline as the sewing data for sewing the inside of the outline. While being stored in the storage device 32,
Thereafter, when the pattern is sewn in accordance with the sewing data, the color name of the target color corresponding to the partial area in which the contour included in the data is extracted is displayed on a liquid crystal display (not shown), and the operator exchanges the thread. To help you do that.

According to the present embodiment described above, even if the image data input by the scanner has a spot of a similar color such as pink in a part of a red flower which is not in the original picture, for example, Since the image data can be corrected to image data of a uniform red flower like a picture, when creating sewing data by extracting an outline by image processing, sewing data that can sew a pattern of a shape desired by an operator can be easily obtained. And the work efficiency can be greatly improved.

Further, since the extracted contour and the like can be obtained with high accuracy from the original picture, beautiful sewing data can be generated.

Although the present invention has been specifically described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the calculation of the color difference is performed for each color value has been described. However, the calculation may be performed only for an arbitrary color, for example, only G gradation (lightness).

In the above embodiment, when the target color having the minimum value is selected from the color differences obtained between the target pixel and each target color, the color differences with all target colors are stored in the color difference storage unit. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. The target colors are sequentially compared in units while executing the calculation. If the target color has a smaller color difference, the value at that time is stored and sequentially updated. You may do so.

The image data stored in the image data storage section is not limited to data read by the scanner. As an image reading device instead of the scanner, a digital camera, a video device, or the like, or a device using a CCD image pickup device or an image pickup tube may be used.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even if the image data read from the base picture on which a uniform pattern is originally drawn is not a uniform color, it is possible to reliably extract the outline of the pattern from the image data and create sewing data. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of an embroidery sewing machine to which a sewing data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main part of the sewing data processing device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of image data.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing features of processing executed by the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a process executed by the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a target color and a color value of a pixel;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... CPU 12 ... Memory 14 ... Spindle motor 18 ... X-axis / Y-axis motor 24 ... Key switch 26 ... Scanner 28 ... Image data storage part 30 ... Color information storage part 32 ... Storage device 34 ... ROM

Continued on the front page (72) Fumio Wada, Inventor F-term (reference) in Juki Co., Ltd., 8-2 Kokuryo-cho, Chofu, Tokyo 3B150 AA15 CB04 CE27 LA57 MA03 MA15 NA53 QA06 QA07 5L096 AA02 AA06 BA08 BA12 EA18 FA06 FA35 FA66 GA06 GA38

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A sewing data processing apparatus comprising: means for storing color image data; and means for extracting a boundary of a region of a uniform color on the stored image data as an outline and creating sewing data. A color information storage unit that stores a plurality of target colors as targets at the time of extracting an outline from the image data; and a color difference between each of the pixels constituting the image data and each of the target colors. A sewing data processing device, comprising: a calculating means for calculating; and a rewriting means for rewriting the color of each pixel to a target color having the smallest color difference. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a means for calculating a frequency distribution for each color for all the pixels constituting the stored image data, and setting a predetermined number of colors having a high frequency as the target color. A sewing data processing device, comprising: 3. The sewing data processing device according to claim 1, further comprising means for setting the target color using a measured value. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for calculating a color difference between a color of each pixel constituting the image data and a target color as a distance between two points in a color space. Sewing data processing device. 5. The sewing data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color is displayed in gradations, and the color difference is calculated as a gradation difference. 6. The stitching system according to claim 1, wherein the contour extracted from the partial area of the uniform color rewritten to the target color is stored as the sewing data for sewing the inside thereof in association with the corresponding target color. Means for displaying a target color corresponding to the partial area at the time of sewing.