JPH09164281A - SEWING DATA PROCESSING DEVICE AND SEWING DATA PROCESSING METHOD - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Problem] It is possible to create data in a format suitable for the sewing machine without the user having to understand the data format required by the sewing machine.
(EN) Provided is a sewing data processing device which does not require the sewing device to be provided with means for responding to data of different formats. SOLUTION: Primary data acquisition means 430, 431 for acquiring primary data indicating sewing content, and a selection capable of selecting at least one sewing device from a plurality of sewing devices having different processable data formats. Based on the operation means, the storage means T for storing information related to each of the plurality of sewing devices, and the sewing device selected by the selection operation means based on the acquired primary data and the stored contents of the storage means T. The sewing data processing device is provided with a creating means 433 for creating secondary data in a processable format.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for creating sewing data in a format suitable for each of a plurality of sewing devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sewing machine is known which automatically performs a sewing operation based on sewing data recorded in a storage medium such as a floppy disk or a semiconductor memory card. In this type of sewing machine, the data format that can be processed differs depending on the performance of each model and the manufacturer. Therefore, the creator of sewing data
It was necessary to identify the data format that can be processed for each model and create a plurality of data suitable for each format. However, in order to grasp the data format for each model, knowledge about sewing data is necessary, and it is difficult for unskilled persons to deal with it.

Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 3-143473 discloses a sewing system that takes into consideration the difference in the data format of each model.
If the format of the sewing data supplied via the network differs from the format required by the sewing device to which the data is supplied,
There is disclosed a device which automatically performs data conversion by a conversion device provided in an interface portion of the sewing device.

[0004]

However, in the system described above, it is necessary to provide all the sewing devices to which the sewing data is supplied with the means for identifying the data format and the conversion means for different data formats. This puts pressure on the cost of the sewing machine. In particular, it is wasteful to add such a data conversion function to an inexpensive model with limited functions. In addition, sewing data cannot be supplied to an existing sewing machine that does not have a data conversion function.

According to the present invention, even if the user does not recognize the data format required by the sewing machine, data of a suitable format can be created and provided to the sewing machine, and means for dealing with data of different formats is provided. An object of the present invention is to provide a sewing data processing device and method that do not require the sewing machine to be provided in the sewing device.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, at least one sewing device is selected from primary data acquisition means for acquiring primary data indicating sewing contents and a plurality of sewing devices having different processable data formats. Based on selection operation means capable of selecting a device, storage means for storing information relating to each of the plurality of sewing devices, acquired primary data and stored contents of the storage means, The above-described object is achieved by a sewing data processing device including a creating unit that creates secondary data in a format that can be processed by the sewing device selected by the selection operation unit. According to the present invention, when the user selects a sewing device using the selection operation means, information relating to the sewing device is acquired from the storage means, and what format of data is requested from the information is automatically determined. The primary data can be processed according to the judgment. The user only has to select the sewing device and does not need to know the information about the selected sewing device.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the sewing data processing apparatus of the first aspect, the storage means stores information for identifying the data format that can be processed by each of the plurality of sewing apparatuses. Therefore, the data format that can be processed by each sewing device can be immediately grasped from the stored contents of the storage means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the sewing data processing apparatus according to the first aspect, there is provided recording means for recording the secondary data in a storage medium which is detachable from the sewing device. Therefore, by recording the data created by the processing device in a storage medium and mounting the storage medium in the sewing device, it is possible to provide data in a format suitable for the sewing device.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the sewing data processing apparatus of the first aspect, when the format that can be processed by the selected sewing apparatus and the format of the primary data match, the creating means causes the primary data to be generated. The data is treated as it is as the secondary data. Therefore, the data can be output to the sewing device capable of creating the secondary data from the primary data without performing unnecessary data conversion on the processing device side.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a data acquisition step of acquiring primary data indicating sewing content and an operation of selecting at least one sewing device from a plurality of sewing devices having different processable data formats are accepted. A selection process,
Based on the identification step of identifying the data format that can be processed by the selected sewing device based on information given in advance, the primary data acquired in the data acquisition step, and the identification result of the identification step. Then, the above-described object is achieved by a sewing data processing method including a creating step of creating secondary data in a format that can be processed by the sewing device selected in the selecting step. According to the present invention, a user's operation of selecting a sewing device is accepted, a data format that can be processed by the selected sewing device is identified from information given in advance, and primary data is converted to secondary data based on the identification result. Can be processed into The user only has to select the sewing device and does not need to know the information about the selected sewing device.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the sewing data processing device 1 and the sewing machine 2 according to this embodiment. The sewing machine 2 incorporates a control device (not shown) including a microcomputer and various peripheral circuits necessary for its operation, and relatively moves a work cloth, a sewing needle, etc. based on the sewing data given to the control device. And sew the work cloth as specified. There are several types of sewing data, and their details and creation procedure will be described later. The sewing data processing device 1 creates predetermined sewing data according to the setting of the sewing area and the sewing attribute by the user. Data communication is possible between the processing device 1 and the sewing machine 2 via the communication line 3. In addition to the sewing data given from the sewing data processing device 1, some predetermined sewing data may be given to the sewing machine 2 in advance. A plurality of sewing machines 2 may be connected to one device 1.

The sewing data processing device 1 has a device body 10. As shown in detail in FIG.
CPU 11 mainly composed of a microprocessor
And a ROM 12, a RAM 13, and an input / output interface 14 connected to this. The ROM 12 stores programs and data required for the most basic operation control of the device 1 (typically, various controls at power-on). A keyboard 15 and a mouse 16 as input means are connected to the input / output interface 14 (see FIG. 2), the communication line 3 described above, a display device 17 for the user, a first external storage device 18, and The second external storage device 19 is connected.

A high-speed and large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk drive is used as the first external storage device 18, and a so-called operating system (not shown) necessary for controlling the operation of the device 1 is used as the storage medium. ), A sewing data creation application 4 is stored as software for creating sewing data. First
The programs and data stored in the external storage device 18 are read into the RAM 13 as needed. A portable storage medium (for example, a floppy disk or a semiconductor memory card) 5 can be attached to and detached from the second external storage device 19, and the sewing data created in accordance with the sewing data creation application 4 can be stored in the storage medium 5. Can be recorded. The storage medium 5 can be attached to and detached from the sewing machine 2,
The control device of the sewing machine 2 can read the sewing data from the storage medium 5. The above configuration is similar to that of the personal computer. In other words, in the present embodiment, the sewing data processing apparatus 1 is realized by combining the sewing data creating application 4 with a general-purpose personal computer. However, hardware dedicated to sewing data processing may be configured. For example, a dedicated ROM in which the sewing data creation application 4 is written may be provided. The external storage devices 18 and 19 may be provided outside the device body 10.

As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the sewing data creation application 4 has a main processing section 40, a source data creation section 41, a sewing attribute setting processing section 42, and a sewing machine driver in terms of its functions. And a section 43. The main processing unit 40 includes a main routine program relating to the sewing data creation processing and data necessary for its execution. The source data creation unit 41 creates source data that defines the shape, size, and position of the contour line (contour line of a pattern, a character, a picture, etc.) of the sewing area using the pointing device such as the mouse 16 or the keyboard 15. It is equipped with the necessary programs and data. For the creating unit 41, general-purpose application software for drawing by a computer can be used. The source data is created in a data format such as bitmap or vector data, and is recorded in the RAM 13 or the storage devices 18 and 19 as needed. The shape being created is sequentially displayed on the display device 17.

The sewing attribute setting processing unit 42 includes programs and data necessary for setting the sewing attributes of the sewing area defined by the source data using the keyboard 15 and the mouse 16. The attributes to be set include presence / absence of sewing of the contour line and a closed area surrounded by the contour line, a sewing method, a stitch direction, a thread density, and a pitch. The setting value of the sewing attribute (hereinafter referred to as sewing attribute data) is also R if necessary.
It is recorded in the AM 13 and the storage devices 18 and 19.

The sewing machine driver section 43 is provided with programs and data necessary for creating sewing data usable by the sewing machine 2 based on the source data and the sewing attribute data. The sewing machine driver unit 43 has a source data receiving unit 430 and an attribute setting value receiving unit 4 in terms of its function.
31, sewing machine information identification section 432 and sewing data generation section 4
33. The contents of programs and data provided in the units 430 to 433 will be described below by replacing them with the functions realized by them.

The source data receiving section 430 and the attribute setting value receiving section 431 read the created source data and sewing attribute data from their storage locations (for example, predetermined positions of the first external storage device 18) and store them in the RAM 13. Store in a predetermined area. The sewing machine information identification unit 432 receives a selection operation of a sewing machine model by the user using the keyboard 15 and the mouse 16, and identifies the data processing method of the sewing machine corresponding to the selection result. In order to execute this process, the sewing machine information identifying unit 432 is provided with the sewing machine information table T shown in FIG. This table T
In, the model names of a plurality of sewing machines and the data processing methods for each model are registered in association with each other. Here, the data processing methods are classified into three types, that is, type 0, type 1 and type 2 in total, depending on what type of data each sewing machine can process as sewing data. The types 0 to 2 will be described below.

While the above-mentioned source data is in the data format such as bitmap or vector data, in a general sewing machine, a sewing needle and a work cloth are sewn according to one stitch data indicating the coordinates of the needle drop point for each stitch. Control relative position. Therefore, in order to perform sewing according to the shape defined by the source data on the work cloth, one stitch data is created for the sewing shape defined by the source data according to a predetermined condition while referring to the sewing attribute data. There is a need. FIG. 6 exemplifies one concept of the procedure for creating the one stitch data. As shown in FIG. 6A, the source data is used to define the contour lines L1, L2, L of the sewing area.
3 is defined and is a closed region R surrounded by the contour lines L1 to L3.
When sewing 1 to R3, first, as shown in FIG. 2B, the closed regions R1 to R3 are divided into a plurality of blocks B, and each block B is used as a processing unit as shown in FIG. The needle drop point (black circle portion in the figure) P is determined. The block data is defined by, for example, a set of coordinate values indicating the top of each block B.

Type 0 to type 2 in FIG. 1B are classified according to from which stage of the data creating procedure the sewing machine can execute. That is, the type 0 is a model capable of sequentially creating block data and one stitch data based on the source data and the sewing attribute data, and the type 1 cannot process the source data and is based on the block data and the sewing attribute data. This is a model capable of creating one stitch data, and the type 2 is a model in which data conversion is impossible and sewing is impossible unless one stitch data is given. Therefore, source data and sewing attribute data are used as sewing data for type 0 models, block data and sewing attribute data are used as type 1 models, and stitch data itself is used as sewing data for type 2 models. If each is given, sewing becomes possible.

The sewing machine driver section 43 will be described again. The sewing data generation unit 433 in FIG. 1A uses the source data reception unit 430 and the attribute setting value reception unit 4 based on the sewing machine type identification result by the sewing machine information identification unit 432.
Sewing data corresponding to the data received by 31 is generated and the generated data is output. The sewing data generation unit 433 is further provided with a block development processing unit 433a and a one-needle development processing unit 433b. The block development processing unit 433a creates the above block data based on the data received by the pair of receiving units 430 and 431. The one-needle expansion processing unit 433b is the block expansion processing unit 4
One stitch data is created based on the block data created in 33a and the sewing attribute data received by the attribute setting value receiving unit 431.

FIG. 4 shows a sewing data creation application 4
Among the various processes realized by, the processing procedure of the CPU 11 when the output of sewing data is instructed will be described. It should be noted that this process is mainly executed according to the program and data of the sewing machine driver unit 43 of FIG. 1A, but the necessary execution program and data are provided at the time when the process is instructed or at a stage before that. RAM13
Is read in.

In the process of FIG. 4, first in step S1,
Source data receiving unit 430 and attribute setting value receiving unit 431
The program is executed to read the source data and the sewing attribute data as sewing-related data into a predetermined area of the RAM 13. In the following step S2, the program of the sewing machine information identification section 432 is executed, and the selection screen G shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display device 17. When the user selects the output destination sewing machine from the screen G, the process proceeds to step S3 to refer to the sewing machine information table T and identify which type the selected sewing machine is classified into. The identification result is appropriately stored in the RAM 13.

After the processing of step S3, the program of the sewing data generator 433 is executed. First, in step S4, it is judged from the identification result of step S3 whether or not the sewing machine of the output destination is of type 0. In step S5, the source data and the sewing attribute data are directly output as sewing data. If the type is not 0 in step S4, the process proceeds to step S6, the program of the block development processing unit 433a is executed, and block data is created based on the source data and the sewing attribute data. In a succeeding step S7, it is determined whether or not the output destination sewing machine is the type 1 based on the identification result in the step S3. If it is type 1, block data and sewing attribute data are output as sewing data in step S8. If the type is not 1 in step S7, step S9
Then, the program of the one-needle expansion processing unit 433b is executed to create one-needle data based on the block data and the sewing attribute data. In the following step S10, one stitch data is output as sewing data. Steps S5, S8,
When the output is completed in S10, the process ends. In the above processing, the output destination of the sewing data may be either the storage medium 5 or the sewing machine 2. The output destination may be selected at the output stage of the sewing data.

As described above, in the apparatus of the present embodiment, the user can select the sewing machine model to be used according to the selection screen G to obtain the sewing data suitable for the sewing machine. Users do not need to be aware. It is not necessary for the sewing machine 2 side to be provided with a means for responding when data different from its own processing format is given. Further, not only when the sewing data is directly transferred to the sewing machine 2, but also when the sewing data can be output to the storage medium 5, even if the sewing machine or the processing device does not have a communication means, each sewing machine has its own data. The sewing data of the required format can be provided.

In the above embodiment, the source data and the sewing attribute data are the primary data, the sewing data output in the process of FIG. 4 is the secondary data, and the source data receiving section 430.
And the attribute setting value receiving unit 431 serves as a primary data acquisition unit.
The keyboard 15 and the mouse 16 correspond to the selection operation means, the table T corresponds to the storage means, the sewing data generation unit 433 corresponds to the creation means, and the second external storage device 19 corresponds to the recording means. Further, step S1 of FIG. 4 corresponds to the primary data acquisition step, step S2 corresponds to the selection step, step S3 corresponds to the identification step, and steps S4 to S10 of FIG. 4 correspond to the creation step.

When selecting the sewing data supply target, not only a single model but also a plurality of models may be selected. The type of data format is not limited to an example in which data is classified according to the stage of data processing, such as the above-mentioned one stitch data or block data. For example, the present invention can be applied even when the data format that can be processed is different for each manufacturing entity. In the embodiment, the sewing machine driver is provided as a part of the sewing data creation application, but the generation of source data and sewing attribute data and the processing of these data may be provided as completely different software. The source data and the sewing attribute data are not limited to the example created by using the processing device, and the RO
It may be provided by a medium such as an M card. In addition to the data processing method for each sewing machine, the sewing machine information table T may appropriately store information specific to each sewing machine.
For example, when creating source data and sewing attribute data, if there are restrictions depending on the type of sewing device (for example, maximum size of sewing area, limit value of thread density, etc.), those restrictions should be set. Stored in the sewing machine information table,
The sewing machine information table may be referred to when the source data and the sewing attribute data are created. The secondary data may be further processed and provided to the sewing device.

[0027]

As described above, according to the sewing data processing device and method of the present invention, the user can select the sewing device and the secondary sewing device can be processed according to the type which can be processed by the selected sewing device. Data is created. Therefore, it is not necessary for the user to grasp the information regarding each sewing device, especially the data format that the sewing device can process, and even a user who does not have special knowledge about sewing data can create appropriate secondary data. On the sewing machine side, there is no need to consider the conversion when the format of the data supplied from the sewing data processing machine is different from the format that can be processed by itself, and the data format that can be processed according to the performance of each machine is selected. It can be set freely.

Further, according to the inventions of claims 2 to 4, in addition to the above, the following effects can be obtained. According to the second aspect of the invention, the data format that can be processed by the sewing device can be immediately grasped from the stored contents of the storage means, and the process can be shifted to the creation of secondary data. According to the third aspect of the invention, since the data can be provided to the sewing device via the removable storage medium, it is not necessary to provide the sewing data processing device or the sewing device with the communication function for data transfer, and these devices can be inexpensively manufactured. Can be configured. According to the invention of claim 4, the data can be provided to the highly functional sewing device capable of creating the secondary data from the primary data without performing unnecessary data conversion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic structure when a sewing data creation application as control software of a sewing data processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is grasped from the functional side.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between a sewing data processing device and a sewing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a block diagram of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a sewing data creation process executed by the CPU of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a sewing machine selection screen displayed when the processing of FIG. 4 is executed.

FIG. 6 is a view exemplifying a process of sequentially converting source data defining a sewing area into block data and one stitch data.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sewing data processing device 2 ... Sewing machine 3 ... Communication line 4 ... Sewing data creation application 5 ... Storage medium 10 ... Device body 11 ... CPU 15 ... Keyboard 16 ... Mouse 43 ... Sewing machine driver section 430 ... Source data receiving section 431 ... Attribute Set value receiving section 432 ... Sewing machine information identifying section 433 ... Sewing data generating section 433a ... Block development processing section 433b ... One stitch development processing section T ... Sewing machine information table

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A primary data acquisition means for acquiring primary data indicating sewing contents, and a selection operation means capable of selecting at least one sewing device from a plurality of sewing devices having different processable data formats. A storage means for storing information relating to each of the plurality of sewing devices, and a sewing device selected by the selection operation means based on the acquired primary data and the stored contents of the storage device. Creating means for creating secondary data in a processable format,
A sewing data processing device comprising: 2. The sewing data processing device according to claim 1, wherein the storage means stores information for identifying the data format that can be processed by each of the plurality of sewing devices. 3. The sewing data processing device according to claim 1, further comprising recording means for recording the secondary data in a storage medium that is detachable from the sewing device. 4. When the format that can be processed by the selected sewing device and the format of the primary data match, the creating means treats the primary data as it is as the secondary data. Item 2. The sewing data processing device according to item 1. 5. A data acquisition step of acquiring primary data indicating sewing content, and a selection step of receiving an operation of selecting at least one sewing apparatus from a plurality of sewing apparatuses having different processable data formats, Based on the identification step of identifying the data format that can be processed by the selected sewing device based on information given in advance, and the primary data acquired in the data acquisition step and the identification result of the identification step. And a creation step of creating secondary data in a format that can be processed by the sewing device selected in the selection step.