Patent Application
20060021559
This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-219919, filed Jul. 28, 2004, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto.
The present disclosure relates to a control unit for an embroidery sewing machine, and particularly to a control unit capable of sewing a plurality of separate embroidery regions based on embroidery data that includes a plurality of stitch data for specifying needle drop positions and feed data or feed stitch data for feeding a workpiece.
Conventionally, a household electronic sewing machine capable of embroidery sewing can perform sewing of utility patterns such as zigzag stitch, straight stitch, decorative stitch, and the like. The sewing machine can also be detachably mounted with an embroidery frame drive mechanism on a bed section, and can perform embroidery sewing using the embroidery frame drive mechanism. That is, the sewing machine can perform sewing of the utility patterns by driving a needle bar vertically and swinging the needle bar in the left-right direction while moving a workpiece (fabric) in the front-rear and left-right directions with a feed dog disposed in the bed section, without using the embroidery frame drive mechanism. The sewing machine can also perform sewing of embroidery patterns (so-called embroidery sewing) by mounting the embroidery frame drive mechanism on the bed section of the sewing machine and by driving the needle bar vertically while driving the embroidery frame drive mechanism to move the embroidery frame based on embroidery data specifying a desired embroidery pattern, thereby forming the desired embroidery pattern on the workpiece held in the embroidery frame.
Embroidery sewing machines that hold a fabric with an embroidery frame and form stitches while moving the embroidery frame in two directions orthogonal to one another are well known in the art. Recent embroidery sewing machines allow a user to select a desired embroidery pattern from a plurality of patterns and are capable of sewing the embroidery pattern based on corresponding embroidery data stored in memory.
One such sewing machine disclosed in Japanese patent-application publication No. HEI-10-137477 includes a bed section and a thread trimmer disposed in the bed section. When sewing a plurality of embroidery regions sequentially while changing the color of thread used in each region, the sewing machine is provided with thread cutting data at the end of the embroidery data for each embroidery region, enabling the sewing machine to cut the thread after completing each region.
By providing thread cutting data at the end of the embroidery data for each region, this type of embroidery sewing machine can cut the thread after completing each embroidery region so that unsightly lines of thread connecting separate embroidery regions (i.e., jump stitch) are not left when regions are sewn with the same color of thread. As a result, the operator of the sewing machine need not manually cut the jump stitch between embroidery regions after the sewing is completed, thereby requiring less time to perform the sewing operation.
However, even when the bed section of these conventional embroidery sewing machines accommodates a thread trimmer, the machines are not equipped with a wiper for wiping the upper thread after the thread is cut. As a result, these embroidery sewing machines are incapable of cutting embroidery thread during a process of embroidering a plurality of regions with the same color of thread. Hence, embroidery data for such regions do not include thread cutting commands.
Therefore, conventional embroidery sewing machines are designed to use feed data to bypass a previously-sewn embroidery region that has already been sewn when sewing separate regions with the same color of thread so that stitches do not interfere with the previously-sewn embroidery region.
Accordingly, conventional embroidery data includes feed data as well as stitch data that are provided for embroidery regions using the same color of thread, but the embroidery data does not include thread cutting commands.
Textile factories that have been doing business for many years generally possess embroidery data for numerous patterns, but this data does not include thread cutting commands. Even if the factory purchases new embroidery sewing machines equipped with thread trimmers and wipers, without such thread cutting commands, thread cannot be cut during an embroidery sewing process when needed. Therefore, workers must perform an additional operation to cut jump stitches after a plurality of embroidery regions using the same color of thread is sewn in succession, reducing work efficiency in sewing operations.
It is conceivable that this outdated embroidery data that includes no thread cutting commands may be edited to insert thread cutting commands where appropriate, or new embroidery data including thread cutting commands may be purchased. However, editing or purchasing embroidery data having a plurality of embroidery regions using a plurality of thread colors is very expensive and requires a major investment. Further, embroidery data currently on hand cannot be effectively utilized.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a control unit for an embroidery sewing machine that is capable of controlling sewing operations for a plurality of separate embroidery regions, while eliminating jump stitches between the embroidery regions by forcibly cutting the thread after each region is sewn.
In order to attain the above and other objects, according to one aspect, the present disclosure provides a control unit for controlling an embroidery sewing machine including a sewing portion, a workpiece feeding portion, and a thread cutting portion. The control unit includes an embroidery-data storing portion, a feed-data extracting portion, and a thread-cutting-data adding portion. The embroidery-data storing portion stores embroidery data defining an embroidery pattern sewn by the sewing portion and the workpiece feeding portion. The embroidery data includes stitch data indicating needle drop positions for forming stitches on a workpiece and feed data indicating feed positions for feeding the workpiece. The feed-data extracting portion extracts the feed data from the embroidery data read from the embroidery-data storing portion. The thread-cutting-data adding portion adds thread cutting data immediately prior to the feed data extracted by the feed-data extracting portion. The thread cutting data instructs the thread cutting portion to perform thread cutting.
According to another aspect, the present disclosure provides a control unit for controlling an embroidery sewing machine including a sewing portion, a workpiece feeding portion, and a thread cutting portion. The control unit includes an embroidery-data storing portion, a feed-stitch-data extracting portion, and a thread-cutting-data adding portion. The embroidery-data storing portion stores embroidery data defining an embroidery pattern sewn by the sewing portion and the workpiece feeding portion. The embroidery data includes stitch data indicating needle drop positions for forming stitches on a workpiece. The stitch data includes feed stitch data having a stitch length longer than a predetermined length and includes stitch-forming stitch data having a stitch length shorter than or equal to the predetermined length. The feed-stitch-data extracting portion extracts the feed stitch data from the embroidery data read from the embroidery-data storing portion. The thread-cutting-data adding portion adds thread cutting data immediately prior to the feed stitch data extracted by the feed-stitch-data extracting portion. The thread cutting data instructs the thread cutting portion to perform thread cutting.
According to another aspect, the present disclosure provides a control unit for controlling an embroidery sewing machine including a sewing portion, a workpiece feeding portion, and a thread cutting portion. The control unit includes a memory and a controller. The memory stores embroidery data defining an embroidery pattern sewn by the sewing portion and the workpiece feeding portion. The embroidery data includes stitch data indicating needle drop positions for forming stitches on a workpiece and feed data indicating feed positions for feeding the workpiece. The controller extracts the feed data from the embroidery data read from the memory, and adds thread cutting data immediately prior to the feed data. The thread cutting data instructs the thread cutting portion to perform thread cutting.
According to another aspect, the present disclosure provides a control unit fox controlling an embroidery sewing machine including a sewing portion, a workpiece feeding portion, and a thread cutting portion. The control unit includes a memory and a controller. The memory stores embroidery data defining an embroidery pattern sewn by the sewing portion and the workpiece feeding portion. The embroidery data includes stitch data indicating needle drop positions for forming stitches on a workpiece. The stitch data includes feed stitch data having a stitch length longer than a predetermined length and includes stitch-forming stitch data having a stitch length shorter than or equal to the predetermined length. The controller extracts the feed stitch data from the embroidery data read from the memory, and adds thread cutting data immediately prior to the feed stitch data. The thread cutting data instructs the thread cutting portion to perform thread cutting.
According to another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for controlling an embroidery sewing machine including a sewing portion, a workpiece feeding portion, a thread cutting portion, and a memory that stores embroidery data including stitch data and feed data. The method includes extracting the feed data from the embroidery data read from the memory. The embroidery data defines an embroidery pattern sewn by the sewing portion and the workpiece feeding portion. The stitch data indicates needle drop positions for forming stitches on a workpiece. The feed data indicates feed positions for feeding the workpiece. The method further includes adding thread cutting data immediately prior to the feed data extracted in the feed-data extracting step. The thread cutting data instructs the thread cutting portion to perform thread cutting.
According to another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for controlling an embroidery sewing machine including a sewing portion, a workpiece feeding portion, a thread cutting portion, and a memory that stores embroidery data including stitch data. The stitch data includes feed stitch data and stitch-forming stitch data. The method includes extracting the feed stitch data from the embroidery data read from the memory. The embroidery data defines an embroidery pattern sewn by the sewing portion and the workpiece feeding portion. The stitch data indicates needle drop positions for forming stitches on a workpiece. The feed stitch data has a stitch length longer than a predetermined length The stitch-forming stitch data has a stitch length shorter than or equal to the predetermined length. The method further includes adding thread cutting data immediately prior to the feed stitch data extracted in the feed-stitch-data extracting step. The thread cutting data instructs the thread cutting portion to perform thread cutting.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the disclosure will become more apparent from reading the following description of the exemplary embodiments taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
A control unit of an embroidery sewing machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described while referring to the accompanying drawings.
First, an embroidery sewing machine 1 capable of embroidery sewing will be described with reference to
The sewing bed 2 includes a needle plate 2a. Under the needle plate 2a are provided a vertical feed dog moving mechanism (not shown) for moving a feed dog up and down; a horizontal feed dog moving mechanism (not shown) for moving the feed dog forward and rearward, as will be described later; a rotary hook (not shown) accommodating a bobbin on which thread is wound and operating in conjunction with a needle 6; a thread trimmer 7 (
A large color liquid crystal display (hereinafter simply referred to as “color display”) 10 is provided on the front surface of the pillar 3 for displaying various stitch patterns, such as utility patterns and embroidery patterns; function names for executing various functions required in sewing operations; various messages; and the like.
A control panel having touch keys 11 formed of transparent electrodes is disposed on the front surface of the color display 10. The touch keys 11 are arranged in a matrix configuration at positions corresponding to the displayed positions of the pattern names for the utility patterns and embroidery patterns, the function names for executing the various functions, and numerical settings and the like in various screens for setting feed lengths, stitch widths, and the like. Accordingly, a user can select desired embroidery patterns, specify functions, and enter numerical values used for sewing operations by pressing the touch keys 11 corresponding to the desired embroidery patterns or other items displayed in the setting screen.
The arm 4 includes a main drive shaft (not shown) extending in the left-and-right direction in
A start/stop switch 12 and the like are provided on the side surface near the front of the arm 4 for starting and stopping sewing operations. A wiper mechanism is provided in the top section of the arm 4 for driving the wiper to wipe thread that has been cut. However, a detailed description of the wiper mechanism is not included herein.
The vertical feed dog moving mechanism and the needle bar drive mechanism are driven by the main drive shaft, which in turn is rotated by the sewing machine motor 42. However, the needle bar pivoting mechanism is driven independently by a stepping motor 43, and the horizontal feed dog moving mechanism is driven independently by a stepping motor 44 (
An embroidery frame drive mechanism 15 is detachably mounted on the left end of the sewing bed 2 for moving an embroidery frame (not shown). The embroidery frame drive mechanism 15 can independently drive the embroidery frame in an X-direction (left-and-right direction) and a Y-direction (front-and-rear direction).
To achieve this, the embroidery frame drive mechanism 15 is provided with a Y-direction drive unit 17 having a built-in Y-direction drive mechanism for moving the embroidery frame in the Y-direction; an X-direction drive mechanism for moving the embroidery frame in the X-direction; an X-direction feed motor 18 (
When the embroidery frame drive mechanism 15 is mounted on the left side of the sewing bed 2, a mode of the embroidery sewing machine 1 changes from a utility sewing mode to an embroidery sewing mode. Further, the X-direction feed motor 18 and Y-direction feed motor 19 are electrically connected to an output interface 36 described later provided in a control unit 30 of the embroidery sewing machine 1 via a connector 40a. The control unit 30 drives the X-direction feed motor 18 and Y-direction feed motor 19 independently.
Next, the thread trimmer 7 disposed in the sewing bed 2 will be described with reference to
As shown in
A movable blade member 23 is pivotably supported on the bottom side thereof by a step bolt 24 on the opposite side of the circular needle hole plate 20 from the fixed blade member 21. The movable blade member 23 can be pivotally moved about the step bolt 24. A movable blade 23a is formed near an end of the movable blade member 23.
A connecting rod 25 extends from a thread-cutting drive mechanism (not shown) to a base end (right end in
Next, a control system of the embroidery sewing machine 1 will be described with reference to
The start/stop switch 12, the touch keys 11 of the control panel, and the like are connected to the input interface 31. The output interface 36 is connected to the drive circuits 38 through 40 for the motors 42 through 44, a display controller (LCDC) 45 for controlling the color display 10, and the drive circuit 41 for the X-direction feed motor 18 and Y-direction feed motor 19 of the embroidery frame drive mechanism 15.
The ROM 33 stores a sewing machine control program for controlling how the various drive mechanisms are driven, for controlling the selection of utility patterns and embroidery patterns, and the like; a control program for developing embroidery data described later; a control program for controlling the sewing of embroidery data; and the like. The ROM 33 includes an embroidery data memory 33a that stores, by pattern numbers, sewing data for sewing various types of utility patterns and embroidery data for sewing various types of embroidery patterns.
For an embroidery pattern with three separate regions shown in
The RAM 34 is provided with a developing memory 34a for storing developed embroidery data, various memory units for accommodating the results of calculations performed by the CPU 32, pointers, counters, and the like as needed.
A data structure of stitch/feed data will be described with reference to
The X-position data 61 specifies a position in the X direction (X-coordinate). The Y-position data 62 specifies a position in the Y direction (Y-coordinate). The X-position data 61 and the Y-position data 62 specify a needle drop position when the stitch/feed data 60 is stitch data, and specify a feed executed position (feed destination position) when the stitch/feed data 60 is feed data. The feed-data indicating flag 63 (bit data) indicates whether the data is feed data. That is, the stitch/feed data 60 is feed data when the feed-data indicating flag 63 is ON, while the stitch/feed data 60 is stitch data when the feed-data indicating flag 63 is OFF. The thread-cutting indicating flag 64 (bit data) indicates whether a thread cutting operation should be performed. The machine-stop indicating flag 65 (bit data) indicates whether a stitch operation of the embroidery sewing machine 1 should be stopped. The stitch/feed data 60 is end data when the machine-stop indicating flag 65 is ON. The end-of-embroidery-region indicating flag 66 (bit data) indicates whether the data is the final data of the current embroidery region. The end-of-color indicating flag 67 (bit data) indicates whether the data is the final data of the current color of thread.
Next, a control process for developing embroidery data executed by the control unit 30 will be described with reference to the flowchart in
At the beginning of the process in S11, the CPU 32 develops the embroidery data selected by the user via the control panel 11 from the embroidery data memory 33a of the ROM 33 to the developing memory 34a of the RAM 34. Then, the CPU 32 sets a reading pointer YP to a top address of the developed embroidery data. In S12 the CPU 32 reads data indicated by the reading pointer YP. In S13 the CPU 32 determines whether the data read in S12 is feed data, by checking ON/OFF of the feed-data indicating flag 63. If the data is not feed data but stitch data (S13: NO), then in S21 the CPU 32 increments the reading pointer YP. In S22 the CPU 32 determines whether the data indicated by the reading pointer YP is end data. If the data is not end data (S22: NO), then the CPU 32 returns to S12 and repeats the process described above.
However, if the data read in S12 is feed data (S13: YES), then in S14 the CPU 32 increments the reading pointer YP and in S15 reads data indicated by the reading pointer YP. In S16 the CPU 32 determines whether the data read in S15 is feed data. If the data is not feed data but stitch data (S16: NO), then in S23 the CPU 32 increments a counter SN for counting stitch data.
Next, the CPU 32 determines in S24 whether the counter SN has reached “4”. If the counter SN is not “4” (S24: NO), then the CPU 32 returns to S14 and repeats the process described above. However, if the counter SN has reached “4” (S24: YES), indicating a high probability of an embroidery region since four stitch data exist between feed data, then in S25 the CPU 32 resets the counter SN and jumps to S21.
However, if the CPU 32 determines that the data read in S15 is feed data (S16: YES), then in S17 the CPU 32 deletes all stitch data located between the two feed data since the counter SN is smaller than “4”, indicating a high probability that the stitch data between the two feed data is needle drop position data for feeding (moving) the workpiece to the next embroidery region. Next, as shown in
In S19 the CPU 32 resets the counter SN and in S20 sets the reading pointer YP to the address currently indicated by the reading pointer YP minus the number of deleted stitch data. Subsequently, the CPU 32 returns to S12 and repeats the process described above. The control process ends when the data indicated by the reading pointer YP is end data (S22: YES).
Next, a control process for sewing embroidery data executed after the control process for developing embroidery data will be described with reference to
In S45 the CPU 32 increments the reading pointer YP. In S46 the CPU 32 determines whether the data indicated by the reading pointer YP is end data. If the data is not end data (S46: NO), then the CPU 32 returns to S32 and repeats the process described above. However, if the data read in S32 is feed data (S:33: YES), then in S34 the CPU 32 reads embroidery data at three addresses from the address just prior to the current address (YP-1) through the address three addresses prior to the current address (YP-3). In S35 the CPU 32 determines whether the data is reinforcement stitch data, that is, whether a feed length of three stitch data is smaller than a predetermined amount. Reinforcement stitching is performed for preventing thread from unraveling when the thread is cut at that position. The feed amount can be obtained by calculating a distance between the previous stitch position and the current stitch position. If the CPU 32 determines that the data is reinforcement stitch data (S35: YES), the CPU 32 jumps to S37
Note that, in the present embodiment, the CPU 32 determines that the data is reinforcement stitch data when the feed length of three stitch data is smaller than a predetermined amount. However, the CPU 32 may determine that the data is reinforcement stitch data when the feed length of another predetermined number (for example, two) of stitch data is smaller than a predetermined amount.
However, if the data is not reinforcement stitch data (S35: NO), then in S36 the CPU 32 inserts three needle strokes worth of prestored reinforcement stitch data and executes reinforcement stitching according to the reinforcement stitch data. In S37 the CPU 32 inserts thread cutting data and outputs the thread cutting data (thread cutting command) to the thread trimmer 7. In this way, the embroidery sewing machine 1 can execute reinforcement stitching immediately before the thread trimmer 7 executes a thread cutting operation. In S38 the CPU 32 calculates a feed length and direction from the current position based on the feed data read in S32. In other words, the CPU 32 calculates the total feed amount. Here, the meaning of the total feed amount includes feed length and feed direction from the current position.
In S39 the CPU 32 increments the reading pointer YP and in S40 reads data indicated by the reading pointer YP. If the data is feed data (S41: YES), then the CPU 32 repeats S38 through S41, thereby accumulating the total feed amount with respect to the current position for both the X-direction and Y-direction components. When the data read in S40 is no longer feed data (S41: NO), that is, when the data is the first stitch data in the next embroidery region, then in S42 the control unit 30 feeds the workpiece from an initial feed start position (H2SE in
In S43 the CPU 32 performs reinforcement stitching for beginning sewing of the next embroidery region. That is, the CPU 32 adds reinforcement stitch data to the embroidery data for performing reinforcement stitching immediately after the workpiece is fed in S42. Next, the CPU 32 executes S44 through S46 described above. The control process ends when the data indicated by the reading pointer YP is end data (S46: YES).
As an example, the control unit 30 first sews the embroidery region H1 shown in
Subsequently, an ordering operation is performed to fill the addresses vacated by the deleted stitch data with the feed data by shifting the feed data toward the top address (S18). The modified data is stored in the developing memory 34a, as shown on the right side of
If a series of feed data is detected immediately after sewing the embroidery region H2, and reinforcement stitch data is not included, reinforcement stitching is forcibly executed (S36), and the thread is subsequently cut (S37). Next, as shown in
As described above, during an embroidering process, the control unit 30 of the embroidery sewing machine 1 adds thread cutting and reinforcement stitching at positions to which the workpiece is fed according to feed data when using data that does not include thread cutting data. The control unit 30 can also perform reinforcement stitching at starting positions for sewing after the workpiece has been fed according to the feed data, thereby making effective use of embroidery data that does not include thread cutting data and increasing the efficiency of sewing operations.
When the feed data 1 for feeding the workpiece is detected upon the completion of an embroidery region based on the embroidery data read from the embroidery data memory 33a of the ROM 33, the thread trimmer 7 executes a thread cutting operation, even when thread cutting data does not exist immediately before the feed data 1. Therefore, if jump stitches are stipulated by one or a plurality of feed data, the embroidery sewing machine 1 can reliably prevent the generation of the jump stitches by cutting the thread without editing any of the embroidery data and can improve the efficiency of sewing operations by eliminating the need to remove such jump stitches.
As described above, the embroidery sewing machine 1 performs reinforcement stitching immediately before a thread cutting operation by the thread trimmer 7 and performs reinforcement stitching immediately after feeding the workpiece based on consecutive feed data 1 through 3. Thus, the embroidery sewing machine 1 can reliably prevent the unraveling of embroidery thread by reinforcement stitching at an end position when cutting thread immediately before feeding the workpiece. Moreover, the embroidery sewing machine 1 can reliably prevent the unraveling of embroidery thread by reinforcement stitching at the start position for sewing immediately after feeding the workpiece.
Further, when a plurality of consecutive feed data 1 through 3 are extracted, the embroidery sewing machine 1 directly feeds the workpiece from the initial feed start position based on the first feed data 1 to the final feed executed position based on the last feed data 3. In this way, the embroidery sewing machine 1 can avoid excess feeding required to circumvent an existing embroidery region by feeding the workpiece the shortest distance possible, thereby speeding up the sewing operation.
While the disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the specific embodiment thereof, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the disclosure.
(1) For example, the step for calculating the total feed amount executed in S38 of the control process for sewing embroidery data (
(2) The processes for detecting feed data (S13 and S16) and deleting stitch data interposed between the plurality of feed data 1 through 3 (S17) performed in the control process for developing embroidery data (
(3) In the embroidery sewing machine 1 according to the above-described embodiment, the embroidery data having a combination of switch data and feed data but including no thread cutting data or reinforcement stitch data is stored in the internal ROM 33. However, the embroidery data may instead be stored in an external storage medium such as a ROM card or flexible disk that can be inserted in the embroidery sewing machine 1.
(4) In the embroidery sewing machine 1 according to the above-described embodiment, embroidery data includes stitch data and feed data. However, the embroidery data may include feed stitch data instead of the feed data, wherein the feed stitch data is a kind of stitch data and its stitch length is greater than a predetermined length, such as 12.8 mm. On the other hand, stitch-forming stitch data is defined as stitch data having a stitch length shorter than or equal to the predetermined length. The stitch-forming stitch data is stitch data used for forming stitches. In this modification, the control process for developing embroidery data (
(5) In the embroidery sewing machine 1 according to the above-described embodiment, in S17 (
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-219919 | Jul 2004 | JP | national |
