JP2014068803A - Sewing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

An embroidery pattern desired by a user can be embroidered on a work cloth without separately preparing a new thread-colored thread spool with insufficient thread amount.
[Solution]
The sewing machine 1 includes a reader 510 that reads yarn information from the wireless tags 801 of a plurality of yarn spools 21 within the communication range, a selection unit A1 that selects an embroidery pattern, and a yarn that acquires a used thread amount P of each color pattern portion. The amount acquisition means D6, the comparison means D7 for comparing the yarn amount Q of the yarn information with the used yarn amount P of each color-specific pattern portion, and the use used for each color-specific pattern portion from among the yarn colors of the yarn information An extraction means D9 for extracting a thread color, an assigning means D13 for assigning a used thread color to a thread color of each color pattern portion, and a sewing means S11 for sewing each color pattern portion are provided.
[Selection] FIG.

Description

  The present invention relates to a sewing machine capable of sewing an embroidery pattern composed of a plurality of color-specific pattern portions onto a work cloth.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sewing machine that can sew an embroidery pattern composed of a plurality of color-specific pattern portions onto a work cloth is known.

  In Patent Document 1, a yarn amount mounted on a sewing machine, and a plurality of yarn pieces placed around the sewing machine, a reading yarn amount obtained by reading a yarn amount wound around the yarn piece, and an embroidery pattern are configured. There is disclosed a sewing machine that notifies a user whether or not an embroidery pattern can be sewn by comparing the amount of used thread for each used thread color used when sewing a plurality of color-specific pattern portions. Thereby, the user can know whether or not an embroidery pattern can be sewn with a hand-held thread spool.

JP 2008-220615 A

  However, if the user knows that the desired embroidery pattern cannot be sewn, in order to sew the desired embroidery pattern, for example, the user separately prepares a new thread color thread piece with insufficient thread quantity. In other words, it was necessary to select a thread piece of a different thread color instead of a thread piece for a thread color with insufficient thread quantity.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sewing machine capable of embroidering an embroidery pattern desired by a user on a work cloth without making the user troublesome. .

  The sewing machine of the present invention is a sewing machine that sews an embroidery pattern composed of a plurality of color-specific pattern portions based on embroidery data including needle drop point data that specifies a sewing position on a work cloth. A yarn piece having an IC tag storing yarn information including at least a yarn amount and a yarn amount, wherein the reader reads the yarn information from the IC tag of a plurality of yarn pieces within a communication range, and selects the embroidery pattern A selection unit; and a yarn amount acquisition unit that acquires a used yarn amount that is a used amount of a thread to be used for each color pattern portion of the selected pattern from embroidery data of the selected pattern that is the embroidery pattern selected by the selecting unit A comparison unit that compares the yarn amounts of the plurality of pieces of yarn information read by the reader with the used yarn amounts of the color-specific pattern portions acquired by the yarn amount acquisition unit; and Based on comparison results Extracting means for extracting the used thread color, which is the thread color of the thread used for each color pattern portion of the selected pattern, from among a plurality of thread colors of the thread information read by the reader; and extracting by the extracting means Allocating means for allocating the used thread color to the thread colors of the color-specific pattern portions, and sewing means for sewing the color-specific pattern portions based on the thread colors of the color-specific pattern portions allocated by the allocating means. And.

  The sewing machine according to the present invention includes a plurality of pieces read by a reader based on a comparison result of a comparison between a yarn amount of a plurality of yarn pieces within a communication range and a used yarn amount of each color pattern portion acquired by a yarn amount acquisition unit. The used thread color used for the color-specific pattern portion is extracted from the thread colors of the thread information. Thereby, the used thread color can be extracted according to the thread amount of the thread spool. As a result, an embroidery pattern desired by the user can be embroidered on the work cloth without separately preparing a new thread-colored thread spool with insufficient thread amount.

The perspective view of the sewing machine 1 in 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of an upper thread amount detection device 45 of the sewing machine 1; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the sewing machine 1. The conceptual diagram for demonstrating the memory area of RAM103. The figure which shows an example of the embroidery data storage area | region 243. FIG. The schematic diagram which shows the structure of the search thread | yarn information storage area 250 before sewing. The schematic diagram which shows the structure of the color arrangement storage area 252 immediately after acquiring the used yarn amount P. FIG. The front view of the thread piece 21. FIG. The side view of the thread spool 21. FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a wireless tag 801. 4 is a flowchart of main processing of the sewing machine 1; The flowchart regarding the process of the first half of the embroidery data process S7. The flowchart in connection with the latter half of embroidery data processing S7. The figure which shows an example of the menu screen. The figure which shows an example of the color change screen. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a color tone setting screen 302. The figure which shows an example of the thumbnail screen 303. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the enlarged display screen. The flowchart in connection with category setting process A13. The flowchart in connection with communication range selection process B4. The flowchart in connection with random color scheme A15. The flowchart in connection with the color arrangement process C7. The flowchart in connection with the comparison process D7. The schematic diagram which shows the structure of the color arrangement storage area 252 of RAM103 after color arrangement. The perspective view of the multi-needle sewing machine 500. FIG. The principal part longitudinal cross-sectional side view of the thread tension device 514. FIG. The principal part cross-sectional top view of the thread tension device 514. FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a sewing machine 1 embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. These drawings are used to explain the technical features that can be adopted by the present invention, and the configuration of the apparatus described, the flowchart of various processes, etc., unless otherwise specified, It is not limited to that, but merely an illustrative example.

[Configuration of the sewing machine 1 of the first embodiment]
The physical configuration of the sewing machine 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the sewing machine 1 includes a bed part 2, a pedestal part 3, and an arm part 4. The bed part 2 is a base part of the sewing machine 1. The bed 2 has a flat surface on which the work cloth 31 can be placed. The pedestal 3 extends from the bed 2. The arm portion 4 extends from the pedestal portion 3 so as to face the bed portion 2.

  The direction in the first embodiment will be defined. A direction in which the pedestal 2 extends from the bed 1 is an upward direction, and a direction opposite to the upward direction is a downward direction. The direction in which the arm 3 extends from the pedestal 2 is defined as the left direction, and the direction opposite to the left is defined as the right direction. The direction orthogonal to the left-right direction and the up-down direction is defined as the front-rear direction.

  The sewing means in the first embodiment will be described. The sewing means sews each color pattern portion based on the thread color of each color pattern portion of the embroidery pattern to be described later. The sewing means includes a feed dog (not shown), a feed mechanism, a feed amount adjusting pulse motor 132, a sewing machine motor 133, a shuttle mechanism, a needle bar 8, and a balance mechanism.

  The feed dog transports the work cloth to be sewn with a predetermined feed amount. The feed mechanism drives the feed dog. The feed amount adjusting pulse motor 132 adjusts the feed amount of the work cloth. The driving force of the sewing machine motor 133 is transmitted to the main shaft through a driving belt and a pulley. Further, the driving force of the sewing machine motor 133 is transmitted to the lower shaft, and the feed mechanism and the shuttle mechanism are driven. The shuttle mechanism accommodates a bobbin for lower thread. By rotating the sewing machine motor 133, the needle bar 8, the balance mechanism, the shuttle mechanism, the feed mechanism, and the like are driven synchronously, and a practical pattern that is not an embroidery pattern can be sewn.

  The embroidery device 30 moves the embroidery frame 32 in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, respectively. The embroidery frame 32 holds the work cloth 31. The embroidery device 30 is detachably attached to the bed unit 2. The embroidery device 30 includes a carriage cover 33, a carriage, a front / rear movement mechanism, a main body cover 11, a left / right movement mechanism, an X-axis motor 136 shown in FIG. 3, and a Y-axis motor 137 shown in FIG. . The carriage is disposed on the right side surface of the carriage cover 33, and the embroidery frame 32 is detachably mounted thereon. The back-and-forth moving mechanism is driven to move the carriage in the front-rear direction. The left / right moving mechanism is housed in the main body cover 11 and is driven to move the entire front / rear moving mechanism in the left / right direction. The Y-axis motor 137 drives the forward / backward movement mechanism. The X-axis motor 136 drives the left / right movement mechanism. The sewing machine 1 sews the embroidery pattern on the work cloth 31 by synchronously driving the needle bar 8, the shuttle mechanism, and the like while moving the embroidery frame 32 by the back-and-forth movement mechanism and the left-right movement mechanism. Further, when the embroidery pattern is sewn, the feed dog is held at a subsidence position that does not protrude from the upper surface of the needle plate provided on the upper surface of the bed portion 2 by a known feed dog subsidence mechanism.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a vertically long liquid crystal display 10 (hereinafter referred to as an LCD 10) is provided on the front surface of the pillar 3. The LCD 10 displays the setting contents of the embroidery pattern, function names for executing various functions necessary for the sewing work such as editing, various messages, and the like. The LCD 10 includes a touch panel 111. When the user touches the touch panel 111 on the surface of the item displayed on the LCD 10 with a finger or a dedicated pen, the touch panel 111 senses which item has been selected. Thereby, the user can input various instructions via the LCD 10.

  The connector 108 is provided on the right side surface of the pedestal 3. Various data or various programs are taken into the sewing machine 1 or output from the sewing machine 1 via the connector 108.

  The open / close cover 6 is provided over the entire length of the left and right upper portions of the arm portion 4. The opening / closing cover 6 is pivotally supported on the upper back surface portion of the arm portion 4 so as to open and close around the left and right axis of the arm portion 4. The thread spool storage unit 15 and the spool pin 16 are provided inside the opening / closing cover 6 near the center of the upper surface of the arm unit 4. The yarn spool accommodating portion 15 is a recess that accommodates the yarn spool 21 around which the upper thread 20 is wound. The spool pin 16 extends in the left direction from the right side surface of the yarn spool housing portion 15. The thread spool 16 supports the thread spool 21.

  The needle bar 8 is provided at the lower part of the distal end portion of the arm portion 4. A needle is attached to the needle bar 8. The arm unit 4 includes a thread tension mechanism, a thread take-up spring, a balance, an upper thread amount detection device 45, a tag reader / writer 510, and a plurality of operation keys 9. The upper thread 20 pulled out from the thread spool 21 is supplied to the sewing needle via a thread path such as an upper thread amount detection device 45, a thread tension mechanism, a thread take-up spring, and a balance. The tag reader / writer 510 has a function of reading and writing yarn information of the wireless tag 801 shown in FIG. The plurality of operation keys 9 are provided on the front surface of the arm unit 4. The plurality of operation keys 9 are keys for instructing various sewing operations. For example, the plurality of operation keys 9 include a start / stop key 91 for instructing start and stop of a sewing operation.

[Upper thread amount detection device 45]
The upper thread amount detection device 45 will be described with reference to FIG. The upper thread amount detection device 45 detects the upper thread amount from which the upper thread 20 is pulled out from the yarn spool 21. The upper thread amount detection device 45 is provided on the yarn path from the yarn spool 21 to the thread tension mechanism.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the upper thread amount detection device 45 includes a mounting base 46, a screw 50, an encoder 48, a first gear 52, a first rotating shaft 48a, a second gear 54, and a second rotation. A shaft 56 and a rotating roller 58 are provided. The encoder 48 is attached to the mounting base 46 with screws 50. The encoder 48 is a rotary encoder that detects the amount of rotation of the first rotating shaft 48a. The first gear 52 is fixed to the first rotating shaft 48a. The first gear 52 meshes with the second gear 54. The second gear 54 is rotatably supported on the mounting base 46 by the second rotating shaft 56. The rotating roller 58 is fixed to the second gear 54. The rotating roller 58 is configured to rotate integrally with the second gear 54.

  The pivot shaft 62 is fixed to the mounting base 46. The swing lever 60 is pivotally supported by the pivot shaft 62 so as to be swingable. The swing lever 60 includes a first arm portion 60a, a second arm portion 60b, and a third arm portion 60c. The first arm portion 60a, the second arm portion 60b, and the third arm portion 60c are configured to extend in a plane orthogonal to the vertical direction with the pivot shaft 62 as a center. The tension spring 64 is hooked over the tip of the first arm portion 60 a and the spring attachment portion 61. The spring mounting portion 61 is a part of the mounting base 46. The spring mounting portion 61 is provided in front of the first arm portion 60a. The elastic force of the tension spring 64 acts in front of the first arm portion 60a. As a result, the first arm portion 60 a and the swing lever 60 rotate counterclockwise about the pivot shaft 62. The roller holder 68 is a substantially triangular flat plate member. The pivot shaft 66 is fixed to the roller holder 68. The pivot shaft 66 is rotatably connected to the tip of the second arm portion 60b. The roller holder 68 is pivotally supported at the tip of the second arm portion 60b. The long hole 63 is formed at the other end of the roller holder 68. The rotating roller 58 is inserted through the long hole 63.

  The pivot shafts 72 and 73 are fixed to the roller holder 68. The first driven roller 70 and the second driven roller 71 are provided in the vicinity of the other end of the roller holder 68. The first driven roller 70 and the second driven roller 71 are made of rubber. The first driven roller 70 is rotatably supported on the pivot shaft 72. The second driven roller 71 is rotatably supported on the pivot shaft 73. Accordingly, the first driven roller 70 and the second driven roller 71 are moved in the arrow direction 74 via the roller holder 68 when the swing lever 60 is rotated counterclockwise about the pivot shaft 62. Then, the rotating roller 58 is pressed. The arrow direction 74 is, for example, the right front direction.

  The sewing machine 1 includes a presser bar on which a presser foot that presses the work cloth is mounted, and an operation lever that moves the presser bar up and down manually. The third arm portion 60c is operatively connected to the operation lever. When the user operates the operation lever, the presser bar and the presser foot rise. When the presser foot rises, the swing lever 60 rotates clockwise against the elastic force of the tension spring 64. When the swing lever 60 rotates clockwise, the first driven roller 70 and the second driven roller 71 are separated from the rotating roller 58, respectively.

  When the upper thread 20 wound around the yarn spool 21 is hung on the yarn path, the user operates the operation lever to raise the presser foot and rotate the first driven roller 70 and the second driven roller 71. Each is isolated from the roller 58. Further, the thread tension plate of the thread tension mechanism is opened by operating the operation lever. When the upper thread 20 is hung on the yarn path in the open state of the thread tension plate, the upper thread 20 is moved between the first driven roller 70 and the rotating roller 58, and between the second driven roller 71 and the rotating roller 58. Inserted between. With the upper thread 20 inserted between the first driven roller 70 and the rotating roller 58 and between the second driven roller 71 and the rotating roller 58, the user operates the operating lever to sew the presser foot. When lowered to the position, the upper thread 20 is sandwiched between the first driven roller 70 and the rotating roller 58 and also between the second driven roller 71 and the rotating roller 58.

  The upper thread detection operation will be described. When the upper thread 20 is pulled out by the sewing operation, the rotating roller 58 rotates. When the rotating roller 58 rotates, the second gear 54 fixed to the rotating roller 58 rotates. When the second gear 54 rotates, the first gear 52 that meshes with the second gear 54 rotates. When the first gear 52 rotates, the first rotating shaft 48a of the encoder 48 rotates. The CPU 101 described later calculates the rotation amount of the rotation roller 58 from the rotation amount of the first gear 52 detected by the encoder 48. Based on the circumference of the rotating roller 58 and the amount of rotation of the rotating roller 58, the amount of the upper thread with which the upper thread 20 is pulled out from the yarn spool 21 is detected. The detected upper thread amount is hereinafter referred to as a detected yarn amount.

[Electric configuration of sewing machine 1]
The electrical configuration of the sewing machine 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit 100 includes a CPU 101, a ROM 102, a RAM 103, an EEPROM 104, an input I / F 105, an output I / F 106, and a connector 108. The components of the control unit 100 are connected to each other by a bus. The input I / F 105 is connected to the start / stop key 91, the encoder 48, the touch panel 111, and the tag reader / writer 510, respectively. The output I / F 106 is supplied to drive circuits 123 to 128 for driving the feed amount adjusting pulse motor 132, the sewing machine motor 133, the LCD 10, the X-axis motor 136, the Y-axis motor 137, and the tag reader / writer 510, respectively. Connected. The ROM 102 is a read-only storage element. The RAM 103 is a storage element that can be arbitrarily read and written. The connector 108 is configured to be connected to an external storage device 190 such as a CD-ROM drive.

  The CPU 101 governs main control of the sewing machine 1. The CPU 101 executes calculations and processes according to various programs stored in the program storage area of the ROM 102. The RAM 103 is provided with a storage area for temporarily storing various data.

  The tag reader / writer 510 communicates wirelessly with the wireless tags 801 provided on the plurality of yarn spools 21 within the communication range, and reads the yarn information from the wireless tag 801. Specifically, the tag reader / writer 510 reads and writes information stored in the wireless tag 801 in a contactless manner. The tag reader / writer 510 includes an antenna, a transmission / reception circuit, a signal processing circuit, and a control circuit. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the antenna transmits and receives signals to and from the antenna 811 included in the wireless tag 801 by wireless communication. The transmission / reception circuit accesses the IC circuit unit 820 of the wireless tag 801 via the antenna of the tag reader / writer 510, reads and writes information. The signal processing circuit processes a signal read from the wireless tag 801. The control circuit is a microcomputer. The control circuit includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The control circuit processes signals according to a program stored in advance in the ROM while using a temporary storage area of the RAM.

[Details of RAM 103]
The RAM 103 will be described with reference to FIG. The RAM 103 has a storage area for temporarily storing the above-described program, data, various setting values input by operating the touch panel 111, and calculation results calculated by the control unit 100. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the RAM 103 includes a program storage area 241, a setting storage area 242, an embroidery data storage area 243, a color information storage area 246, and an image display data storage area 247. A thread information storage area 250, a selected pattern storage area 251, a color arrangement storage area 252, a detected thread amount storage area 253, and a thread color candidate storage area 254 are included. The program storage area 241 stores the main program. The main program is a program for realizing processing according to a flowchart described later. The setting storage area 242 stores setting values, tables, and the like that are referred to when the CPU 101 executes a program. The embroidery data storage area 243 stores data serving as a reference when the CPU 101 creates embroidery data. The color information storage area 246 stores data used for the color scheme of the embroidery pattern. Data used for the color scheme of the embroidery pattern is a color number for each palette. The image display data storage area 247 stores screen image data to be displayed on the LCD 10 and display setting information. The search thread information storage area 250 stores the thread information of the wireless tag 801 read by the tag reader / writer 510. The selected pattern storage area 251 stores embroidery data of a selected pattern selected by the user. The color arrangement storage area 252 stores the color-specific pattern portion and the used thread color in association with each other. The detected thread amount storage area 253 stores the detected thread amount detected by the upper thread amount detecting device 45 during sewing. The yarn color candidate storage area 254 temporarily stores randomly extracted colors based on the comparison result between the used yarn amount P and the yarn amount Q of the yarn spool 21.

  The “flower” embroidery pattern 340 displayed on the enlarged display screen 304 of the LCD 10 shown in FIG. 18 will be described. The embroidery pattern 340 includes a plurality of color-specific pattern portions. The embroidery pattern 340 includes, for example, a first pattern portion 401 to an nth pattern portion 40n which are n color-specific pattern portions. n is an integer of 2 or more. For example, the 1st pattern part 401 which comprises a petal is sewn with a red thread color. The second pattern portion 402 constituting the leaf is sewn with a purple thread color. The third pattern portion 403 constituting the stem is sewn with a yellowish green thread color. The pattern portions 401 to 40n are color-specific pattern portions in which different colors are set, but the pattern portions 401 to 40n may not be different from each other.

  The embroidery data is data for the sewing machine 1 to sew an embroidery pattern. The embroidery data consists of a plurality of color-specific pattern portion data. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the embroidery data is related to the embroidery pattern 340, the embroidery data includes needle drop point data set in each pattern portion of the pattern portions 401 to 40 n and each of the pattern portions 401 to 40 n. This includes sewing order data for specifying the sewing order of the pattern portion and thread color data. The needle drop point data designates a sewing position on the work cloth 31. The needle drop point data is, for example, XY coordinates of the needle drop point on the work cloth 31. The sewing order data is, for example, a number indicating the order of “pattern 1”, “pattern 2”, and the like. The thread color data is data given to specify the thread color of each pattern portion.

  As shown in FIG. 5, “pattern 1” that is sewing order data is data that specifies the order in which sewing is performed first. The thread color data “red” is actually indicated by a color number. The needle drop point data “Xa0, Ya0”... “XaN, YaN” are coordinates at which the sewing needles sequentially drop. Similarly, for the embroidery data whose sewing order is the second or later, sewing order data “pattern 2” to “pattern n”, thread color data “purple” to “blue”, and needle drop point data “XbN, YbN ”to“ XnN, YnN ”are included. The embroidery data includes embroidery pattern image data to be displayed on the LCD 10. The embroidery pattern image data is, for example, data in the bmp format. When the CPU 101 reads the image data of the embroidery pattern from the embroidery data storage area 243, the LCD 10 displays the image of the embroidery pattern in the color assigned by each thread color data.

  The EEPROM 104 stores color information assigned as thread color data. The color information is, for example, information regarding the thread color of the thread spool 21 that can be used by the sewing machine 1. The EEPROM 104 stores a first pallet table. The first palette table includes RGB values for 64 colors and 1 to 64 palette-specific color numbers respectively associated with the RGB values for 64 colors. The first pallet table will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the search thread information storage area 250 stores thread information stored in the wireless tag 801 read by the tag reader / writer 510. The maximum communication range of the tag reader / writer 510 is set to cover about 100 [cm] around the sewing machine 1. Accordingly, the tag reader / writer 510 can sequentially read the information of the wireless tag 801 provided not only on the thread spool 21 attached to the sewing machine 1 but also on the plurality of thread spools 21 placed around the tag. The search yarn information storage area 250 includes yarn information including at least the color number of the yarn piece 21, the yarn color of the yarn wound around the yarn piece 21, and the yarn amount that is the length of the yarn remaining in the yarn piece 21. Remember.

  The color arrangement storage area 252 shown in FIG. 7 is a color arrangement storage area before color arrangement immediately after the used yarn amount P is acquired in the process D6 described later. Since it is before color arrangement, there is no data for the color number in the color arrangement storage area 252 and the used thread color. The color arrangement storage area 252 stores a combination of color arrangements related to a selected pattern which is an embroidery pattern selected by the user. The combination of color schemes related to the selected pattern includes the used thread color and the used thread amount P. The used thread color is stored in the selected pattern storage area 251 as embroidery data of the selected pattern. The used thread amount P is calculated from the embroidery data. That is, since the embroidery data is a set of movement amounts (X, Y) for moving the embroidery frame 32 for each needle, the used thread amount P can be calculated by the sum of the movement amounts + correction value.

[Details of Yarn piece 21]
The thread spool 21 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the thread spool 21 includes a bobbin 212 and a wireless tag 801. The thread winding portion 212 has a substantially cylindrical shape. The bobbin winder 212 has two circular hooks 213. The circular hook portions 213 are provided at both ends in the direction in which the cylinder of the bobbin winding portion 212 extends. The hole 211 is formed in the direction in which the cylinder extends from the center of the circular flange 213. The hole 211 passes through the inside of the yarn spool 21. The wireless tag 801 includes an antenna 811 and an IC circuit unit 820. The antenna 811 is embedded in a spiral around the hole 211. The antenna 811 has a coil shape. The IC circuit portion 820 is connected to one end of the antenna 811.

[Electric Configuration of Wireless Tag 801]
The electrical configuration of the wireless tag 801 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, the antenna 811 transmits and receives signals to and from the antenna of the tag reader / writer 510 in a contactless manner using radio waves. The IC circuit unit 820 includes a rectification unit 821 electrically connected to the antenna 811, a power supply unit 822 electrically connected to the rectification unit 821, a clock extraction unit 823 electrically connected to the antenna 811, A modulation / demodulation unit 824 electrically connected to the antenna 811, a control unit 825 electrically connected to each of the clock extraction unit 823 and the modulation / demodulation unit 824, and a memory unit 826 electrically connected to the control unit 825 . The rectification unit 821 rectifies the carrier wave received by the antenna 811. The power supply unit 822 stores the energy of the carrier wave rectified by the rectification unit 821 and uses it as a drive power source. The clock extraction unit 823 extracts a clock signal from the carrier wave received by the antenna 811 and supplies the clock signal to the control unit 825. The modulation / demodulation unit 824 demodulates the received signal transmitted from the tag reader / writer 510 on the carrier wave and received by the antenna 811. Further, the modem unit 824 modulates the received carrier wave based on the response signal from the control unit 825. The control unit 825 decodes the reception signal demodulated by the modem unit 824, generates a reply signal based on the yarn information stored in the memory unit 826, and sends it back through the modem unit 824 and the antenna 811. The memory unit 826 stores yarn information. The wireless tag 801 can read the thread information from the memory unit 826 or write it into the memory unit 826 in response to an inquiry signal from the tag reader / writer 510. The memory unit 826 stores yarn information including the yarn color and yarn amount of the yarn wound around the yarn spool 21. The updated yarn amount information is transmitted from the tag reader / writer 510 to the wireless tag 801 each time the yarn of the yarn spool 21 is used, and stored in the memory unit 826.

[Main processing]
The main process will be described with reference to FIG. The CPU 101 executes main processing according to the main program stored in the program storage area 241. When the user presses a power button (not shown) of the sewing machine 1, the sewing machine 1 is turned on, and the CPU 101 executes the program shown in FIG. Each step shown in the flowchart represents processing of the CPU 101.

  In S1, the CPU 101 performs a thread search process. The thread search process is a process in which the tag reader / writer 510 reads the thread information stored in the memory unit 826 by communicating with the wireless tag 801 embedded in the circular collar 213 of the yarn spool 21. The tag reader / writer 510 reads the yarn information from the memory unit 826 of all the yarn spools 21 placed in the communication range of the tag reader / writer 510 as well as the yarn spools 21 attached to the spool pin 16.

  In S <b> 3, the CPU 101 stores the yarn information read in S <b> 1 in the search yarn information storage area 250 of the RAM 103. As shown in FIG. 6, in the first embodiment, not only the thread spools 21 attached to the sewing machine 1 but also eight thread spools 21 in a communication range including a plurality of thread spools 21 placed around the thread spools 21. Exists. Each thread color and thread amount are “red: 6 m”, “pink: 30 m”, “blue: 100 m”, “yellow-green: 20 m”, “white: 1 m”, “black: 20 m”, “purple: 30 m” ”,“ Green: 3 m ”. The color number is a number set in advance according to the thread color, and is 1 to 8 in the first embodiment.

  In S5, the CPU 101 determines whether or not a thread search key has been selected. The thread search key is provided on the embroidery pattern selection screen or the sewing screen displayed on the LCD 10. The user selects a thread search key via the touch panel 111. If the CPU 101 determines that the thread search key has been selected (S5: YES), it returns the process to S1. If the CPU 101 determines that the thread search key has not been selected (S5: NO), the process proceeds to S7.

  In S7, the CPU 101 executes an embroidery data processing program.

  In S9, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the start / stop key 91 is selected. If the CPU 101 determines that the start / stop key 91 has been selected (S9: YES), it proceeds to S11. If the CPU 101 determines that the start / stop key 91 has not been selected (S9: NO), it repeats the process of S9.

  In S <b> 11, the CPU 101 instructs the sewing means to sew the embroidery pattern on the work cloth 31. During sewing, the encoder 48 detects the detected thread amount that is the upper thread amount actually used. The detected yarn amount is stored in the detected yarn amount storage area 253 of the RAM 103 for each yarn color.

  In S13, the CPU 101 subtracts the detected yarn amount stored in the detected yarn amount storage area 253 from the yarn amount stored in the search yarn information storage area 250 to obtain the remaining yarn amount.

  In S15, the CPU 101 performs a yarn amount update process. The yarn amount update processing is processing for operating the tag reader / writer 510 and writing the remaining yarn amount in the wireless tag 801 of each yarn piece 21. After the end of S15, the CPU 101 returns the process to S1. The sewing machine 1 repeatedly executes the processes of S1 to S15.

[Embroidery data processing S7]
The embroidery data processing S7 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 12 and FIG. The embroidery data process S7 includes processes A1 to A33 and is executed by the CPU 101.

  The CPU 101 controls the drive circuit 125 to display a pattern selection screen on the LCD 10 according to the embroidery data read from the embroidery data storage area 243. Specifically, the CPU 101 reads the image data of the pattern selection screen from the image display data storage area 247.

  In A1, the CPU 101 receives a user selection instruction and determines whether or not a specific embroidery pattern has been selected from a plurality of embroidery patterns on the pattern selection screen. When the CPU 101 determines that a specific embroidery pattern has been selected (A1: YES), the CPU 101 stores the embroidery data of the specific embroidery pattern selected by the user in the selected pattern storage area 251 and advances the process to A2. If the CPU 101 determines that a specific embroidery pattern has not been selected (A1: NO), it repeats the process of A1.

  In A2, the CPU 101 controls the drive circuit 125 to display the menu screen 300 shown in FIG. Specifically, the CPU 101 reads the image data of the menu screen 300 from the image display data storage area 247.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the menu screen 300 includes a preview image area 350, an input key 351, and a thread color data designation area 352. The preview image area 350 displays a preview image. The preview image is an image showing an embroidery result that is actually embroidered before embroidering the embroidery pattern. The input key 351 includes a thread color setting key 351a. The thread color setting key 351a is a key for setting a thread color.

  In A3, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the thread color setting key 351a is selected. When the CPU 101 determines that the thread color setting key 351a is selected (A3: YES), the CPU 101 advances the process to A4. When the CPU 101 determines that the thread color setting key 351a has not been selected (A3: NO), the CPU 101 returns the process to A2.

  In A4, the CPU 101 controls the drive circuit 125 to display the color change screen 301 shown in FIG. Specifically, the CPU 101 reads out the image data of the color change screen 301 from the image display data storage area 247.

  As illustrated in FIG. 15, the color change screen 301 includes a preview image area 350, a thread color data designation area 352, a first color palette 353, and a shuffle key 355. In the thread color data designation area 352, thread color data can be designated by the user. The thread color data designation area 352 displays the color corresponding to each color pattern portion of the embroidery pattern in the preview image area 350 together with the illustration of the thread spool 352a. The user can specify the color desired by the user from the first color pallet 353 to each color pattern portion by touching the thread spool key 352a. The first color pallet 353 is a 64-color pallet in which eight pieces of color information of the first pallet table are arranged for each stage from the upper stage to the lower stage. For example, the RGB values of the color numbers 1 to 8 in the first palette table are assigned to the top row of the first color palette 353 in order from the left.

  In A5, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the thread spool key 352a is designated. When the CPU 101 determines that the thread spool key 352a is designated (A5: YES), the CPU 101 advances the processing to A7. If the CPU 101 determines that the thread spool key 352a has not been designated (A5: NO), the CPU 101 advances the process to A9.

  In A7, the CPU 101 stores the thread color of the designated thread spool key 352a in the color arrangement storage area 252 in association with the target color-specific pattern portion. When the thread spool key 352a is designated, the thread color of the thread spool key 352a is set so as to be always included as the used thread color of the embroidery pattern. Specifically, the thread color of the designated thread spool key 352a is always included when the thread color is randomly extracted later as the color of the target color-specific pattern portion. The upper limit of the designated number is the total number of color-specific pattern portions in the embroidery pattern selected in A1, corresponding to “n” in FIG. Therefore, when the thread color is designated for all the color-specific pattern portions in A5, the embroidery data processing S7 is terminated.

  In A9, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the shuffle key 355 has been selected. When the CPU 101 determines that the shuffle key 355 has been selected (A9: YES), the CPU 101 proceeds to A11. If the CPU 101 determines that the shuffle key 355 has not been selected (A9: NO), it returns the process to A5.

  In A11, the CPU 101 controls the drive circuit 125 to display the color tone setting screen 302 shown in FIG. Specifically, the CPU 101 reads out the image data of the color tone setting screen 302 from the image display data storage area 247.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the color tone setting screen 302 includes a preview image area 350 and a category setting unit 358. The category setting unit 358 includes a random key 358a and a remaining thread use mode key 358b. The random key 358a is a key for randomly extracting and arranging colors from the first palette table. The remaining thread use mode key 358b is used to select a plurality of thread colors read by the tag reader / writer 510 based on the result of comparing the thread quantity Q read by the tag reader / writer 510 and the used thread quantity P of each color pattern portion. This is a key for extracting colors from the inside and arranging them.

  In A13, the CPU 101 performs a category setting process that is a method of extracting the thread color. A13 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

  In A15, the CPU 101 performs a random color arrangement process that is a process for randomly arranging the extracted thread colors. A15 will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

  In A17, the CPU 101 controls the drive circuit 125 to display the thumbnail screen 303 shown in FIG. Specifically, the CPU 101 reads out the image data on the thumbnail screen 303 from the image display data storage area 247.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the thumbnail screen 303 includes an embroidery pattern selection area 361, a return key 362, a save key 363, and a refresh key 364. The embroidery pattern selection area 361 displays a plurality of embroidery patterns. The number of embroidery patterns is, for example, six. Specifically, the embroidery pattern selection area 361 displays a thumbnail image 361a. The thumbnail image 361a is an image obtained by reducing a plurality of embroidery patterns generated using the colors randomly extracted in A15. The combination of colors of the plurality of embroidery patterns is different. The save key 363 is a key for storing the embroidery data of the embroidery pattern in the EEPROM 104. The refresh key 364 is a key for displaying six new embroidery patterns to which newly extracted colors are assigned to the thread color data instead of the six embroidery patterns on which the thumbnail image 361a is displayed. is there. The return key 362 is a key for returning to the color tone setting screen 302 shown in FIG.

  In A19, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the thumbnail image 361a is selected. If the CPU 101 determines that the thumbnail image 361a has been selected (A19: YES), the CPU 101 proceeds to A31. If the CPU 101 determines that the thumbnail image 361a has not been selected (A19: NO), the CPU 101 proceeds to A21.

  In A21, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the return key 362 has been selected. If the CPU 101 determines that the return key 362 has been selected (A21: YES), it returns the process to A13. When the CPU 101 determines that the return key 362 has not been selected (A21: NO), the CPU 101 proceeds to A23.

  In A23, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the refresh key 364 is selected. If the CPU 101 determines that the refresh key 364 has been selected (A23: YES), it returns the process to A15. When the CPU 101 determines that the refresh key 364 has not been selected (A23: NO), the CPU 101 advances the process to A25.

  In A25, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the save key 363 has been selected. When the CPU 101 determines that the save key 363 has been selected (A25: YES), the CPU 101 advances the process to A27. If the CPU 101 determines that the save key 363 has not been selected (A25: NO), it returns the process to A19.

  In A27, the CPU 101 shifts to the save mode. In the save mode, by selecting an arbitrary thumbnail image 361a on the thumbnail screen 303, embroidery data corresponding to the selected thumbnail image 361a can be saved.

  In A29, an arbitrary thumbnail image 361a is selected by the user. The CPU 101 writes embroidery data corresponding to the selected thumbnail image 361 a in the EEPROM 104. After A29 ends, the process returns to A17.

  In A31, the CPU 101 controls the drive circuit 125 to display the enlarged display screen 304 shown in FIG. Specifically, the CPU 101 reads out the image data of the enlarged display screen 304 from the image display data storage area 247.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the enlarged display screen 304 includes an enlarged image area 365, a close key 366, and a set key 367. The enlarged image area 365 displays one embroidery pattern obtained by enlarging the thumbnail image 361a selected in A19. A close key 366 is a key for returning to the thumbnail screen 303. A set key 367 is a key for returning to the menu screen 300 in which the embroidery pattern of the enlarged image area 365 is displayed in the preview image area 350.

  In A33, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the set key 367 has been selected. When the CPU 101 determines that the set key 367 has been selected (A33: YES), the CPU 101 returns to the menu screen 300 displaying the embroidery pattern of the enlarged image area 365 in the preview image area 350, ends the embroidery data processing S7, and proceeds to S9. Proceed with the process. If the CPU 101 determines that the set key 367 has not been selected (A33: NO), it returns the process to A31.

[Category setting process A13]
The category setting process A13 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  First, the user makes a selection by touching the category of the random key 358a or the remaining thread use mode key 358b shown in FIG. When the user selects the remaining thread use mode key 358b, the communication range of the tag reader / writer 510 is such that only the thread spool 21 attached to the sewing machine 1, only the thread spool 21 placed around the sewing machine 1, or the sewing machine 1 is selected from the three categories of both the thread spool 21 attached to 1 and the thread clamp 21 placed around the sewing machine 1.

  In B1, the CPU 101 sets the category selected by the user.

  In B <b> 2, the CPU 101 reads the color number 1 for each palette in the first palette table stored in the EEPROM 104.

  In B3, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the remaining thread use mode key 358b shown in FIG. 16 has been selected. When the CPU 101 determines that the remaining thread use mode key 358b has been selected (B3: YES), the CPU 101 shifts to the remaining thread use mode and advances the process to B4. If the CPU 101 determines that the remaining thread use mode key 358b has not been selected (B3: NO), the process proceeds to B7.

  In B4, the CPU 101 performs a communication range selection process. B4 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

  In B5, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the read color number by palette matches the color number of the yarn spool 21 read by the tag reader / writer 510. If the CPU 101 determines that the palette-specific color number matches the color number of the yarn spool 21 (B5: YES), the CPU 101 proceeds to B7. If the CPU 101 determines that the color number by palette and the color number of the yarn spool 21 do not match (B5: NO), the CPU 101 proceeds to B9. For example, when the color number for each palette is “1”, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the color number 1 matches each color number of the thread spool 21 read by the tag reader / writer 510.

  In B7, the CPU 101 stores the read palette-specific color number in the color information storage area 246.

  In B9, the CPU 101 determines whether or not all 64 color numbers in the first color palette 353 shown in FIG. 15 have been read. If the CPU 101 determines that all 64 color numbers in the first color palette 353 have been read (B9: YES), it ends the category setting process A13. If the CPU 101 determines that the 64 color numbers in the first color palette 353 have not yet been read (B9: NO), the process proceeds to B11.

  In B11, the CPU 101 moves the reading target to the next color number. For example, when the color number is “1”, the color number is moved to “2”. The CPU 101 returns the process to B3 after B11 ends.

[Communication range selection processing B4]
The communication range selection process B4 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  In F2, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the communication range of the tag reader / writer 510 is only the yarn spool 21 attached to the sewing machine 1. When the CPU 101 determines that the communication range of the tag reader / writer 510 is only the yarn spool 21 attached to the sewing machine 1 (F2: YES), the CPU 101 advances the process to F3. When the CPU 101 determines that the communication range of the tag reader / writer 510 is not limited to the yarn spool 21 attached to the sewing machine 1 (F2: NO), the CPU 101 proceeds to F5.

  In F3, the CPU 101 controls the drive circuit 128 so that the tag reader / writer 510 reads the yarn information only from the wireless tag 801 of the yarn spool 21 attached to the sewing machine 1. After the end of F3, the CPU 101 advances the process to F11.

  In F5, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the communication range of the tag reader / writer 510 is only the yarn spool 21 placed around the sewing machine 1. When the CPU 101 determines that the communication range of the tag reader / writer 510 is only the yarn spool 21 placed around the sewing machine 1 (F5: YES), the CPU 101 proceeds to F7. When the CPU 101 determines that the communication range of the tag reader / writer 510 is not limited to the yarn spool 21 placed around the sewing machine 1 (F5: NO), the CPU 101 proceeds to F9.

  In F7, the CPU 101 controls the drive circuit 128 so that the tag reader / writer 510 reads the yarn information only from the wireless tag 801 of the yarn spool 21 placed around the sewing machine 1. After the end of F7, the CPU 101 advances the process to F11.

  In F <b> 9, the CPU 101 drives the tag reader / writer 510 to read the yarn information from both the wireless tag 801 of the yarn spool 21 placed around the sewing machine 1 and the wireless tag 801 of the yarn spool 21 attached to the sewing machine 1. The circuit 128 is controlled. CPU 101 advances the process to F11 after F9 ends.

  In F11, the CPU 101 stores the read yarn information in the search yarn information storage area 250.

[Random color scheme A15]
The random color arrangement processing A15 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  In C1, the CPU 101 calculates a color combination C of the embroidery pattern based on the total number n of the color-specific pattern portions in the selected embroidery pattern. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, for example, six embroidery patterns having different color schemes are displayed on the thumbnail screen 303. The number of combinations C is calculated using a combination so that the combinations do not have overlapping colors. After the category setting process A13, the total number of colors in the first palette table is set to p. For example, when the total number n of color-patterned portions is “1”, the number of combinations C is pC1.

  In C3, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the color combination number C is smaller than six. When the CPU 101 determines that the number C of color combinations is smaller than 6 (C3: YES), the CPU 101 proceeds to C7. When the CPU 101 determines that the number C of color combinations is 6 or more (C3: NO), the CPU 101 proceeds to C5.

  In C5, the CPU 101 sets the number of color combination C = 6.

  In C7, the CPU 101 performs color arrangement processing C7. C7 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

  In C9, the CPU 101 determines whether there is no combination of the same color scheme. If the CPU 101 determines that the combination of colors is not the same (C9: YES), the process proceeds to C11. If the CPU 101 determines that the color combination is the same (C9: NO), the process proceeds to C15.

  In C <b> 11, the CPU 101 stores the color combination in the color arrangement storage area 252 of the RAM 103. For example, as shown in FIG. 24, the color arrangement storage area 252 assigns color numbers 1 (red), 7 (purple), 4 (yellowish green), and 3 (blue) to the first to fourth pattern portions 401 to 404 in order. Store in association with each other.

  In C13, the CPU 101 updates the combination number C to C-1.

  In C15, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the combination number C is greater than zero. If the CPU 101 determines that the number of combinations C is greater than 0 (C15: YES), it returns the process to C7. When the CPU 101 determines that the combination number C is 0 (C15: NO), the CPU 101 ends the random color arrangement process A15.

[Color scheme C7]
The color arrangement process will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  In D1, the CPU 101 determines whether or not a color is designated by the user for the target color-specific pattern portion. If the CPU 101 determines that the target color-specific pattern portion has a color designated by the user (D1: YES), the CPU 101 proceeds to D3. When the CPU 101 determines that the target color-specific pattern portion does not specify a color (D1: NO), the CPU 101 proceeds to D4.

  In D3, the CPU 101 assigns the designated color to the target color-specific pattern portion. CPU 101 advances the process to D15 after D3 ends.

  In D4, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the remaining thread use mode is set. If the CPU 101 determines that the remaining thread use mode is set (D4: YES), the process proceeds to D6. If the CPU 101 determines that the mode is not the remaining thread use mode (D4: NO), the process proceeds to D5.

  In D5, the color number of the used thread color used for the target color-specific pattern portion is randomly extracted from the color numbers stored in the color information storage area 246. Specifically, the CPU 101 generates random numbers in the range of color numbers 1 to 64 for each palette in the first palette table stored in the color information storage area 246. For example, when the random number is 1, the thread color corresponding to the color number 1 is extracted as the used thread color.

  In D6, the CPU 101 acquires the used thread amount P of the target color-specific pattern portion from the embroidery data of the embroidery pattern selected by A1 and stored in the selected pattern storage area 251. Specifically, the CPU 101 calculates the yarn distance to be used, that is, the used yarn amount P, based on the distance between the coordinates of the needle drop point and the coordinates of the next needle drop point. Then, the CPU 101 stores the used yarn amount P of the target color-specific pattern portion in the color arrangement storage area 252. For example, when the target color-specific pattern portion is the first pattern portion 401, referring to FIG. 7, the used yarn amount P of the first pattern portion 401 is 5 [m]. Therefore, the CPU 101 acquires the used yarn amount P = 5 of the first pattern portion 401.

  In D7, the CPU 101 performs comparison processing. Specifically, the comparison process is a process of comparing the used yarn amount P of the target color-specific pattern portion acquired in D6 with the yarn amount Q of each yarn spool 21 read by the tag reader / writer 510. . The CPU 101 reads the yarn amount Q of each yarn spool 21 from the search yarn information storage area 250. The yarn amount Q of each yarn spool 21 is the yarn amount of each yarn spool 21 in the communication range selected in the communication range selection process B4. The CPU 101 reads the used thread amount P from the color arrangement storage area 252. D7 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

  In D9, based on the comparison result in D7, the CPU 101 randomly selects a thread color that is a thread color of a thread to be used for the target color-specific pattern portion from among the thread colors stored in the thread color candidate storage area 254. To extract. For example, it is assumed that the target color-specific pattern portion is the first pattern portion 401. In this case, the color number corresponding to the thread color stored in the thread color candidate storage area 254 is the color number of the yarn piece 21 having a thread amount larger than the used thread amount P = 5. Accordingly, the color numbers stored in the thread color candidate storage area 254 are the color numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 stored in the search thread information storage area 250 shown in FIG. Then, the CPU 101 generates random numbers in the range of color numbers stored in the thread color candidate storage area 254. When the random number is 1, red corresponding to the color number 1 is extracted as the used thread color.

  In D11, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the extracted used thread color is different from the thread color used for other color-specific pattern portions. If the CPU 101 determines that the extracted used thread color is different from the thread color used for the other color-specific pattern portion (D11: YES), the process proceeds to D13. When the CPU 101 determines that the extracted used thread color is the same as the thread color used for the other color-specific pattern portion (D11: NO), the process returns to D4.

  In D13, the CPU 101 assigns the used thread color to the target color-specific pattern portion. Specifically, the CPU 101 stores the color number of the used thread color in association with the target color-specific pattern portion stored in the color arrangement storage area 252. For example, as shown in FIG. 24, the color number 1 of red, which is the used thread color, is stored in association with the first pattern portion 401. CPU 101 advances the process to D15 after D13 ends.

  In D15, the CPU 101 determines whether or not all the color-specific pattern portions have been colored. If the CPU 101 determines that all color-specific pattern portions have been colored (D15: YES), it ends the color arrangement processing C7. When the CPU 101 determines that all the color-specific pattern portions have not yet been colored (D15: NO), the CPU 101 returns the processing to D1.

[Comparison process D7]
The comparison process D7 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  In E1, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the yarn amount Q of the target yarn piece 21 read by the tag reader / writer 510 is larger than the used yarn amount P of the target color-specific pattern portion. When the CPU 101 determines that the yarn amount Q of the target yarn spool 21 is larger than the used yarn amount P of the target color-specific pattern portion (E1: YES), the CPU 101 advances the processing to E3. When the CPU 101 determines that the yarn amount Q of the target yarn spool 21 is equal to or less than the used yarn amount P of the target color-specific pattern portion (E1: NO), the process proceeds to E5. For example, it is assumed that the target color-specific pattern portion is the first pattern portion 401 and the target yarn spool 21 is color number 1 (red). In this case, since Q = 6, P = 5, and thus Q> P, the CPU 101 determines that the thread color of the target thread spool 21 is a thread color that can sew an embroidery pattern, and the process proceeds to E3. Proceed.

  In E3, the CPU 101 stores the color number of the target thread spool 21 in the thread color candidate storage area 254. Specifically, the CPU 101 stores color number 1 in the thread color candidate storage area 254.

  In E <b> 5, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the used yarn amount P of the target color-specific pattern portion has been compared with the yarn amounts Q of all the thread spools 21. When the CPU 101 determines that all the yarn spools 21 have been compared (E5: YES), the comparison process D7 is terminated. If the CPU 101 determines that it has not yet been compared with all the thread spools 21 (E5: NO), the process proceeds to E7. All the thread spools 21 are thread clamps 21 within the communication range selected in B4.

  In E7, the CPU 101 moves the comparison target to the next thread spool 21. In the first embodiment, the color number of the yarn spool 21 next to the color number 1 (red) is the color number 2 (pink). After the end of E7, the CPU 101 returns the process to E1.

[Sewing machine 500 of the second embodiment]
A physical configuration of the sewing machine 500 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 25, 26, and 27.

  As shown in FIG. 25, the sewing machine 500 is a multi-needle sewing machine having six needle bars. The sewing machine 500 includes a leg portion 501, a pedestal column portion 502, an arm portion 503, a needle bar case 504, a cylinder bed 505, an operation panel 506, a carriage 507, and a frame mounting base 508.

  The direction in the second embodiment will be defined. The direction in which the pedestal column part 502 extends from the leg part 501 is the upward direction, and the direction opposite to the upward direction is the downward direction. A direction in which the arm portion 503 extends from the pedestal column portion 502 is a front direction, and a direction opposite to the front direction is a rear direction. The direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction and the up-down direction is defined as the left-right direction.

  The leg portion 501 supports the entire sewing machine. The leg part 501 is provided in a pair of left and right. The leg column part 502 extends upward from the rear end part of the leg part 501. The arm portion 503 extends forward from the upper portion of the pedestal portion 502. The needle bar case 504 is attached to the front end portion of the arm portion 503. The cylinder bed 505 extends forward from the lower end of the pedestal column 502. A rotary hook is provided at the front end of the cylinder bed 505.

  The carriage 507 is provided on the upper side of the leg portion 501. The carriage 507 extends in the left-right direction. The carriage 507 includes a left / right drive mechanism that moves the frame mounting base 508 in the left / right direction. The leg portion 501 includes a front-rear drive mechanism that moves the frame mounting base 508 in the front-rear direction. The frame mounting base 508 is provided on the front side of the carriage 507. The embroidery frame 509 holds a work cloth used for embroidery sewing. The embroidery frame 509 is configured to be attachable to the frame mounting base 508. When the embroidery frame 509 moves in the front-rear direction together with the carriage 507 and moves in the left-right direction together with the frame mounting base 508, the sewing machine 500 moves the work cloth.

  Six needle bars 510 are attached to the needle bar case 504 so as to be movable up and down. A sewing needle 511 is attached to the lower end of each needle bar 510. Six balances 512 are mounted to be movable up and down corresponding to each needle bar 510. The thread tension base 513 is provided at the upper end of the needle bar case 504. The plane of the thread tension base 513 is inclined rearward and upward. The thread tension base 513 is made of a synthetic resin. The six thread tensioners 514 are provided on the upper part of the thread tension table 513. The six thread tensioners 514 adjust the tension of the upper thread supplied to each sewing needle 511.

  The thread stand 515 is provided on the upper side of the arm portion 503. The thread stand 516 is provided on the thread stand 515. The spool pin 516 can be attached with six thread spools. The upper thread extending from each thread spool is hung on a thread tensioner 514 and a balance 512 corresponding to each thread spool, and supplied to a sewing needle 511 attached to the lower end of the needle bar 510.

  The sewing machine 500 drives the needle bar 510 and the balance 512 up and down synchronously, and sews the embroidery pattern on the work cloth held by the embroidery frame 509 in cooperation with the rotary hook.

  The operation panel 506 is provided on the right side surface of the arm portion 503. The operation panel 506 includes an LCD 506a, a touch panel 506b, and a start / stop switch 506c. The LCD 506a is long in the left-right direction. The touch panel 506b is provided on the surface of the LCD 506a. The touch panel 506b has a plurality of transparent touch keys at positions corresponding to a plurality of types of embroidery pattern images and function names displayed on the LCD 506a. The start / stop switch 506c is provided below the LCD 506a. The start / stop switch 506c instructs the start and stop of sewing. Although not shown, the sewing machine 500 has the same electrical configuration as the sewing machine 1 of the first embodiment.

  The thread tension device 514 and the rotation amount detection mechanism 540 will be described with reference to FIGS. Since the six thread tensioners 514 have the same structure, only one thread tensioner 514 will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, the thread tensioner 514 includes a shaft member 520, a rotary dish 521, an adjustment mechanism 522, a flanged main body member 523, a permanent magnet member 524, a hall element 525, Is provided.

  The shaft member 520 has a stepped structure including a small diameter portion 520a, a large diameter portion 520b, a medium diameter portion 520c, and a small diameter portion 520d sequentially from the lower end side. The large-diameter portion 520b is housed in the main body member 523.

  The main body member 523 is fixed to the thread tension base 513 with a screw 529 via a flange 523a. The long hole 523b is formed in the flange 523a. The long hole 523b has an arc shape. The screw 529 is provided so as to penetrate the long hole 523b and move through the long hole 523b. Accordingly, the thread tensioner 514 is attached to the thread tension base 513 so that the position thereof can be adjusted. The small diameter portion 520 a is fitted into the fitting hole 523 c of the main body member 523. The set screw 530 fixes the small diameter portion 520 a to the main body member 523. The grounding set screw 531 is provided on the main body member 523.

  The split groove 520e extends in the axial direction of the shaft member 520 from the tip of the small diameter portion 520d of the shaft member 520 to the medium diameter portion 520c. The male screw 520f is formed on the outer periphery of the small diameter portion 520d. The thin plate member 532 is formed in a disk shape, and a through hole is provided at the center position. The through hole can be inserted through the medium diameter portion 520c. The thin plate member 532 is mounted on the base end portion of the medium diameter portion 520c. The position of the thin plate member 532 is maintained by the lower surface around the through hole being in contact with the step portion between the large diameter portion 520b and the medium diameter portion 520c. An annular felt material 533, a rotary dish 521, and an annular felt material 534 are disposed above the thin plate member 532 and are externally mounted on the medium diameter portion 520c so as to be integrally rotatable.

  The adjustment mechanism 522 is a mechanism that adjusts the rotational resistance of the rotary dish 521. The adjustment mechanism 522 includes a rotary plate presser 535, an adjustment dial 536, a compression coil spring 537, and an annular spring receiving member 538. The rotary dish presser 535 is formed in a cylindrical shape with an open upper end. The rotary dish presser 535 is externally mounted on the middle diameter portion 520c so as to be movable in the axial direction.

  The lower end of the adjustment dial 536 is opened and formed in a substantially tapered cylindrical shape. The rotary dish presser 535 is rotatably mounted on the medium diameter part 520 c and is formed so as to surround the lower end outer peripheral part of the adjustment dial 536. A cylindrical portion 536 a is integrally formed with the upper half portion in the adjustment dial 536. A female screw is formed on the inner periphery of the cylindrical portion 536a. The female screw can be screwed onto the male screw 520f.

  An annular spring receiving member 538 is externally mounted on the small diameter portion 520d in the adjustment dial 536 so as to be movable in the axial direction. A flange 538 a is formed at the upper end of the annular spring receiving member 538. A compression coil spring 537 is interposed between the flange 538 a and the rotary plate presser 535. The compression coil spring 537 biases the flange 538a so as to contact the cylindrical portion 536a. Further, the compression coil spring 537 biases the rotary dish presser 535 to press downward. When the rotary dish presser 535 is pressed downward, the rotary dish 521 f receives a pressing force via the felt material 534. Therefore, the pressing force becomes a rotational resistance force when the rotary dish 521 rotates. The rotational resistance force depends on the urging force of the compression coil spring 537. The biasing force of the compression coil spring 537 can be adjusted by the user rotating the adjustment dial 536 and moving the spring receiving member 538 in the axial direction. Thus, by adjusting the urging force of the compression coil spring 537, the pressing force acting on the rotary dish presser 535 changes, and the rotational resistance force of the rotary dish 521 can be adjusted.

  The rotary dish 521 is configured by engaging a pair of thin metal disks in a back-to-back manner. The outer peripheral portion of the mating surface of the pair of disks serves as the yarn guide groove 539. The upper thread is wound around the thread guide groove 539 by one turn. In the rotary dish 521, a plurality of punch holes 521a are formed at regular intervals in the circumferential direction. The punch hole 521a can prevent a slip from occurring between the upper thread wound around the thread guide groove 539 and the rotary dish 521.

  The rotation amount detection mechanism 540 will be described. The rotation amount detection mechanism 540 includes a permanent magnet member 524 and a hall element 525. A permanent magnet member 524 is attached to the lower surface of the rotary dish 521. The diameter of the permanent magnet member 524 is about ½ of the diameter of the rotary dish 521. The thickness of the permanent magnet member 524 is about 2 to 3 mm. The permanent magnet member 524 is a member in which a plurality of N poles and a plurality of S poles are annularly arranged so that the N poles and the S poles are alternately positioned.

  The magnetic field of the permanent magnet member 524 is directed in the axial direction of the thread tensioner 514. The Hall element 525 is provided on a substrate fixed to the flange 523a. Therefore, when the rotary dish 521 rotates, the direction of the magnetic field projected to the Hall element 525 from the permanent magnet member 524, in which the N pole and the S pole are alternately magnetized, is periodically switched. Is generated in the Hall element 525. The sinusoidal detection signal is subjected to waveform shaping by the waveform shaping circuit and then converted to rectangular wave pulses of “0” to “1”.

  When sewing is started, the upper thread is pulled toward the sewing needle 511, and the rotary dish 521 rotates. At this time, the permanent magnet member 524 rotates and a detection signal is output from the Hall element 525. By calculating the rotation amount of the rotary dish 521 based on the number of rectangular wave pulses by the detection signal, the yarn consumption amount of the upper yarn can be detected. As described above, the multi-needle sewing machine 500 can also detect the thread consumption of the upper thread. Therefore, also in the multi-needle sewing machine 500, as in the first embodiment, by performing the main process shown in FIG. 11, the same effects as those in the first embodiment can be obtained.

[Effect of this embodiment]
In the first embodiment, based on the result of comparing the yarn amount Q of the yarn spool 21 read by the tag reader / writer 510 and the used yarn amount P of the color-specific pattern portion obtained by the process of D6, each color pattern The used thread color used for the part is extracted and assigned to the pattern part for each color. For this reason, an embroidery pattern desired by the user can be embroidered on the work cloth without preparing a new yarn-colored thread spool with insufficient thread amount.

  In the first embodiment, the used yarn color is extracted from the yarn piece 21 having the yarn amount Q larger than the used yarn amount P of the target color-specific pattern portion and assigned to the color-specific pattern portion. For this reason, the thread does not run out during sewing. Further, the thread spool 21 having a small yarn amount Q can be assigned to a color-specific pattern portion having a small amount of used yarn P.

  In the first embodiment, the user sets the communication range of the tag reader / writer 510 to the thread spool 21 mounted on the sewing machine 1, the thread spool 21 placed around the sewing machine 1, and the thread clamp 21 mounted on the sewing machine 1. And a thread spool 21 placed around the sewing machine 1 can be selected in total. According to the category selected by the user, the tag reader / writer 510 performs communication in the process of B4. For this reason, for example, it is assumed that the yarn amount Q of the yarn spool 21 attached to the sewing machine 1 is smaller than the used yarn amount P of the target color-specific pattern portion. In this case, by setting the communication range to the thread spool 21 placed around the sewing machine 1, there is a possibility that the thread spool 21 having the thread amount Q larger than the used thread amount P of the target color-specific pattern portion may be found. As a result, the possibility of running out of thread during sewing is reduced.

  In the first embodiment, in the process of A5, the user can designate the thread spool key 352a corresponding to the thread color to be always included as the thread color to be used by touching the touch panel 111. As a result, the designated thread color can always be included in the thread color of the color-specific pattern portion. That is, the thread color included in the embroidery pattern can be designated according to the user's preference.

[Modification]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, the thread quantity Q of the yarn spool 21 and the used thread quantity P of each color pattern portion are compared to pick up the thread color candidates and use them randomly from the thread color candidates in the color-specific pattern portions. Each used thread color was extracted. However, not limited to the above extraction method, it is determined whether or not the yarn amount Q of the target yarn piece 21 has a yarn amount equal to or greater than a predetermined yarn amount that is equal to or greater than the most used yarn amount P in the color-specific pattern portion. to decide. As a result of the determination, the thread color determined to be equal to or greater than the predetermined thread amount is picked up as a thread color candidate. Then, all the thread colors used for each color pattern portion may be extracted from the read thread color candidates. The predetermined yarn amount is, for example, a yarn amount for one yarn spool. As a result, the embroidery pattern can be sewn on the work cloth 31 without running out of thread with a simpler process.

  In the present embodiment, in the process of A5, the user can always include the specified thread color in the used thread color used for the color-specific pattern portion by specifying the thread spool key 352a. However, when the user touches the touch panel 111, the sewing machine 1 is not limited to the thread color to be included, but may be configured to be able to specify a thread color that is not to be included as the used thread color. As a result, in the C7 color arrangement process, the used thread color can be extracted by removing the thread color designated as the thread color that is not included as the used thread color. As a result, for example, the embroidery pattern is not embroidered on the work cloth 31 with a thread color that the user dislikes.

  The thread stand 515 is configured to be capable of placing a plurality of thread spools and may be provided in the multi-needle sewing machine 500. The thread stand 515 may be configured such that the number of thread spools is set to 7 or more according to the number of needle bars 510 and the like.

  The thread tensioner 514 is configured to detect the thread consumption of the upper thread by applying tension to the upper thread by the rotary dish 521 and detecting the amount of rotation of the rotary dish 521. However, a thread tensioner having a thread tension tray for applying tension to the upper thread and a thread consumption detector having a rotating tray for detecting the thread consumption of the upper thread may be provided separately.

  Note that the above-described program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, or a DVD, and executed by being read from the recording medium by the computer. Further, this program may be a transmission medium that can be distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, a selection unit that selects an embroidery pattern, a yarn amount acquisition unit that acquires a used thread amount, a thread amount read by the tag reader / writer 510, and a thread used for a color-specific pattern portion. The comparing means for comparing the quantity, the extracting means for extracting the used thread color, and the assigning means for assigning the used thread color to the thread color of the color-specific pattern portion are realized by software executed by the CPU 101. It may be realized by hardware.

[Correspondence Relationship Between the Present Invention and Examples]
The work cloth 31 in this embodiment is an example of the work cloth in the present invention.
The embroidery data 243 in this embodiment is an example of embroidery data in the present invention.
The plurality of color-specific pattern portions 401 to 40n in the present embodiment are examples of the plurality of color-specific pattern portions in the present invention.
The embroidery pattern 340 in the present embodiment is an example of the embroidery pattern in the present invention.
Sewing machines 1 and 500 in this embodiment are examples of the sewing machine in the present invention.
The yarn information in the present embodiment is an example of yarn information in the present invention.
The wireless tag 801 in this embodiment is an example of an IC tag in the present invention.
The yarn spool 21 in the present embodiment is an example of the yarn spool according to the present invention.
The tag reader / writer 510 in this embodiment is an example of a reader in the present invention.
The control unit 100 and A1 in the present embodiment are an example of selection means in the present invention.
The used yarn amount P in the color arrangement storage area 252 in this embodiment is an example of the used yarn amount in the present invention.
The yarn amount Q in the search yarn information storage area 250 in this embodiment is an example of the “yarn amount of yarn information” in the present invention.
The control unit 100 and D6 in this embodiment are an example of a yarn amount acquisition unit in the present invention.
The control part 100 and D7 in this embodiment are an example of the comparison means in this invention.
The used thread color in the color arrangement storage area 252 in the present embodiment is an example of the used thread color in the present invention.
The control unit 100 and D9 in this embodiment are an example of extraction means in the present invention.
The control unit 100 and D13 in this embodiment are an example of allocation means in the present invention.
The sewing means in the present embodiment is an example of the sewing means in the present invention.
The embroidery pattern 340 in the present embodiment is an example of the selected pattern in the present invention.
The control unit 100 and E1 in this embodiment are an example of a determination unit in the present invention.
The control unit 100 and A5 in the present embodiment are an example of essential thread color designation means in the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,500 Sewing machine 2 Bed part 3,502 Leg pillar part 4,503 Arm part 6,510 Needle bar 15 Yarn piece accommodating part 101 CPU
111, 506b Touch panel 31 Work cloth 504 Needle bar case 506 Operation panel 507 Carriage 513 Thread tension table 514 Thread tension device 515 Thread stand 16, 516 Thread stand

Claims (9)

In a sewing machine that sews an embroidery pattern composed of a plurality of color-specific pattern portions based on embroidery data including needle drop point data that specifies a sewing position on a work cloth.
A yarn piece having an IC tag storing yarn information including at least the yarn color and the amount of yarn to be wound, the reader reading the yarn information from the IC tags of a plurality of yarn pieces within a communication range When,
Selecting means for selecting the embroidery pattern;
A yarn amount obtaining unit that obtains a used yarn amount that is a used amount of a yarn to be used for each color pattern portion of the selected pattern from embroidery data of the selected pattern that is the embroidery pattern selected by the selecting unit;
A comparison unit that compares the yarn amounts of the plurality of pieces of yarn information read by the reader with the used yarn amounts of the color-specific pattern portions acquired by the yarn amount acquisition unit;
Based on the comparison result of the comparison means, the used thread color, which is the thread color of the thread used for each color pattern portion of the selected pattern, is extracted from the thread colors of the plurality of thread information read by the reader. Extraction means;
Allocating means for allocating the used thread color extracted by the extracting means to the thread color of each color-specific pattern portion;
A sewing machine comprising: sewing means for sewing the color-specific pattern portions based on the thread colors of the color-specific pattern portions assigned by the assigning means. The comparison means includes
Determining means for determining whether the thread color of the thread information read by the reader is capable of sewing the selected pattern;
The extraction means includes
The sewing machine according to claim 1, wherein the used thread color is extracted from the thread colors determined to be capable of sewing the selected pattern by the determining unit. The determination means includes
The thread color of the plurality of pieces of thread information read by the reader is a thread color that allows the selection pattern to be sewn with the thread color of the thread information that is larger than the amount of used thread of the target color-specific pattern portion. The sewing machine according to claim 2, wherein the sewing machine is determined as follows. Whether or not the yarn amounts of the plurality of pieces of yarn information read by the reader are equal to or greater than a predetermined yarn amount that is equal to or greater than the largest used yarn amount among the used yarn amounts of the plurality of color-specific pattern portions of the selected pattern It has sufficient judgment means to judge,
The extraction means includes
The sewing machine according to claim 1, wherein the used thread color is extracted from the thread colors of the thread information determined to be equal to or greater than the predetermined thread amount by the sufficient determination means. A plurality of thread spools within the communication range are:
The sewing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a thread spool mounted on the sewing machine. A plurality of thread spools within the communication range are:
The sewing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a thread spool placed around the sewing machine. A plurality of thread spools within the communication range are:
The sewing machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a thread spool mounted on the sewing machine and a thread spool placed around the sewing machine. An essential thread color designating means for designating a thread color to be included as the thread color to be used,
The extraction means includes
The used thread color is extracted so as to include at least the thread color designated by the essential thread color designation unit from among a plurality of thread colors of the thread information read by the reader. Item 8. The sewing machine according to any one of Items 1 to 7. An exclusion thread color designating unit for designating a thread color to be excluded as the use thread color;
The extraction means includes
2. The used thread color is extracted by excluding the thread color designated by the excluded thread color designation means from a plurality of thread colors of the thread information read by the reader. The sewing machine according to any one of -7.

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