Color setting system for embroidery thread

Abstract

To make it possible to set a color close to a color of an embroidery thread actually used, in embroidery data by simple operation.SOLUTION: A color setting system for an embroidery thread used in an embroidery machine for sewing an embroidery pattern on the basis of embroidery data, is configured to: image a plurality of spools held on a spool holder base of the embroidery machine; extract a part corresponding to each spool in image data obtained by imaging; determine a color of an embroidery thread in the extracted part corresponding to each spool; assign a thread number to color-related information generated by a color determination section; and generate a color palette as an image in which the thread number and the color of the embroidery thread are arranged while being associated with each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an embroidery machine, and more particularly to an embroidery thread color setting system that incorporates embroidery threads used in an embroidery machine that sews embroidery patterns based on embroidery data into the embroidery data. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent embroidery machines that sew embroidery patterns using embroidery threads of different colors, sewing operations are performed based on embroidery data or an embroidery program. Patent Document 1 describes an embroidery sewing machine that sews embroidery patterns based on embroidery data that includes stitch operation information for each area of ​​an embroidery pattern that is made up of multiple areas divided by color. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2001-113067 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The embroidery data includes coordinate data for the needle drop positions of the embroidery pattern and color data for the embroidery thread assigned to each needle bar, but to create the color data, the operator manually inputs the embroidery thread color for each needle bar using a color palette.

[0005] Therefore, this input work is very labor-intensive, and the colors of the embroidery thread that the operator registers in the color data depend on the operator's sense, so when a rendering of the finished product is created based on the color data, the color may differ from the actual finished product.

[0006] The present invention has as its technical object to solve the problems of the conventional technology, and has as its object to make it possible to set, in the embroidery data, a color that is close to the color of the embroidery thread that is actually used, with a simple operation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to the present invention, there is provided a system for setting a color of an embroidery thread used in an embroidery machine that sews an embroidery pattern based on embroidery data, the system comprising: an imaging device that images a plurality of spools of thread held on a thread stand of the embroidery machine; a thread extraction unit that receives image data of the spools of thread captured by the imaging device from the imaging device and extracts a portion of the image data corresponding to the thread spools; a color determination unit that determines a color of the embroidery thread based on the image data of the portion of the thread spools extracted by the thread extraction unit and generates information related to the color; a number assignment unit that assigns and associates, as thread numbers, needle numbers assigned to individual needle bars corresponding to an arrangement of the thread spools on the spool stand to information about the color generated by the color determination unit; a color palette generation unit that receives the information about the color together with the thread numbers and generates a color palette which is an image in which the thread numbers are associated with the colors of the embroidery threads; and a display device that displays the color palette. Effect of the Invention

[0008] Conventionally, the operator visually checks the color of each thread spool held on the thread stand of the embroidery machine and manually incorporates it into the embroidery data, but according to the present invention, the thread spools held on the thread stand of the embroidery machine are photographed and automatically incorporated into the embroidery data, significantly reducing the work of setting the embroidery thread color. In addition, since the colors are automatically determined, there is no difference in color between the embroidery pattern displayed in the end (the predicted image of the product) and the product that is actually sewn. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an embroidery machine to which the present invention can be applied; [Diagram 2]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embroidery thread color setting system. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a thread spool arranged on a thread stand. [Figure 4] FIG. [Diagram 5] 1 is a schematic diagram of a color palette along with an embroidery pattern. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1, which is a perspective view of an embroidery machine to which the method of the present invention can be applied, the embroidery machine 100 includes a plurality of thread tension regulators 110, a plurality of thread take-up springs 112, a plurality of thread take-up levers 104, and a plurality of needle bars 106, as is generally known in the field of sewing machines. The plurality of thread take-up levers 104 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction when viewed from the front on the front panel 102, and the plurality of needle bars 106 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction at the lower end of the front panel 102. The plurality of thread tension regulators 110 and the plurality of thread take-up springs 112 are arranged on an inclined panel 108 provided at the upper end of the front panel 102. The plurality of thread take-up springs 112 are arranged between the corresponding thread tension regulators 110 and thread take-up levers 104 on the travel paths of the respective plurality of embroidery threads (not shown).

[0011] Also, the X-axis is defined as the horizontal left-right direction when viewed from the front of the front panel 102, the Y-axis is defined as the vertical direction (up-down direction), and the Z-axis is defined as the horizontal left-right direction (front-back direction) perpendicular to the X-axis and Y-axis. In this embodiment, the front panel 102 is disposed in a vertical plane (XY plane), and the inclined panel 108 extends rearward and diagonally upward from the upper edge of the front panel 102.

[0012] The embroidery machine 100 further includes a bed 118, a display device 116, an embroidery frame drive device 114, a spool stand 120 that holds a plurality of thread spools, and a control device for the embroidery machine 100 (see FIG. 2). The number of thread spools that the spool stand 120 holds is not particularly limited, but in the embodiment described below, the spool stand 120 holds 15 thread spools. In other words, in this embodiment, the embroidery machine 100 is configured to be able to embroider using 15 embroidery threads, and therefore includes 15 sets of thread tension regulators 110, thread take-up springs 112, thread take-up levers 104, and needle bars 106.

[0013] A number of spool pins (not shown) corresponding to the number of needle bars 106 are arranged on the spool stand 120, and each of the plurality of spool pins is assigned a thread number corresponding to the needle number. In this way, a thread spool is arranged on each spool pin, and a thread number (= needle number) is assigned to each thread spool. In Fig. 3, thread numbers (= needle numbers) 1 to 15 are assigned to thread spools 120-1 to 120-15.

[0014] Bed 118 is disposed below needle bar 106 and extends in the front-rear direction along the Z axis. Bed 118 includes a shuttle mechanism for the lower thread, a shuttle drive motor (not shown) for the shuttle mechanism, a thread cutting mechanism for the lower thread, a knife drive motor for the thread cutting mechanism, etc. Embroidery frame drive device 114 includes an X-axis servo motor (not shown) and a Z-axis servo motor (not shown) for linearly moving an embroidery frame (not shown) that holds the work cloth back and forth in the X-axis and Z-axis directions. Display device 116 can be, for example, a touch panel.

[0015] 2, the embroidery machine control device 10, which is a control device for the embroidery machine 100, includes as its main components a drive motor control unit 12, an embroidery data storage unit 14, an embroidery pattern generation unit 16, and an embroidery thread color setting unit 20. The embroidery machine control device 10 may be composed of a computer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), memory devices such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory), storage devices such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and SSD (Solid State Drive), input / output ports, and a bidirectional bus that interconnects these, and associated software.

[0016] The drive motor control unit 12 controls the X-axis servo motor and Z-axis servo motor of the embroidery frame drive device, the shuttle drive motor, and the knife drive motor. The drive motor control unit 12 can be configured by a general NC device.

[0017] The embroidery data storage unit 14 stores the embroidery data. The embroidery data includes coordinate data of the needle drop positions of the embroidery pattern and color data of the embroidery thread assigned to each needle bar 106 in order to sew the embroidery pattern. The embroidery pattern generation unit 16 generates a concept drawing of a product to be sewn by the embroidery machine 100 based on the embroidery data stored in the embroidery data storage unit 14. The generated concept drawing is displayed on the display device 116.

[0018] The color data is associated with the thread number by the embroidery thread color setting unit 20 based on image data of the thread spools 120-1 to 120-15 captured by the imaging device 50. The embroidery thread color setting unit 20 includes an image processing unit 30, a color palette generating unit 22, a color palette storage unit 24, an input unit 26, and a communication unit 28. The image processing unit 30 may include, for example, a core extracting unit 34, a thread extracting unit 32, a color determining unit 36, and a number assigning unit 38. The imaging device 50 may include a camera 52 and a communication unit 54. The communication units 28 and 54 may be communication devices that comply with wireless communication standards such as IEEE 802.11 (wireless LAN) and IEEE 802.15 (Bluetooth (registered trademark)). The imaging device 50 may be, for example, a handheld device equipped with a communication device and a camera, such as a smartphone or a tablet.

[0019] The operation of this embodiment will now be described. The imaging device 50 captures images of the thread spools 120-1 to 120-15 arranged on the thread stand 120. The captured image data is sent to the image processing unit 30 through communication between the communication unit 54 of the imaging device 50 and the communication unit 28 of the embroidery thread color setting unit 20. The image processing unit 30 determines the color of the embroidery thread of each of the thread spools 120-1 to 120-15.

[0020] An example of a method for determining the color of the embroidery thread of each of the thread spools 120-1 to 120-15 will be described below. Referring to Fig. 4, a schematic diagram of the thread spool is shown. Thread spool 130 has a core 132 and a thread portion 134 in which the embroidery thread is wound around a core or around the core. The thickness of thread portion 134 varies from spool to spool depending on the usage of the embroidery thread, but the upper end portion of core 132 that protrudes upward from thread portion 134 has roughly the same shape for all thread spools.

[0021] Therefore, as an example, the core extraction unit 34 of the image processing unit 30 can extract the upper end portion of each of the cores 132 of the thread spools 120-1 to 120-15 from the received image data. This allows the image processing unit 30 to know how many thread spools 120-1 to 120-15 are arranged and where they are arranged. Next, the thread extraction unit 32 extracts the thread portion 134 below each of the upper end portions of the extracted cores 132. The color determination unit 36 ​​can determine the color of each of the extracted thread portions 134 and generate a corresponding color code or RGB value. The color determination can be performed by extracting color information such as a color code or RGB value for each pixel from the image data of the portion corresponding to the extracted thread portion 134 and performing an averaging process. The number assignment unit 38 assigns a thread number based on the arrangement of each of the upper end portions of the cores 132 and outputs information on each of the determined colors to the color palette generation unit 22.

[0022] The color information output from the number assigning unit 38 may be text information such as a color code or RGB values. The color information, together with the assigned thread numbers, is output from the number assigning unit 38 to the color palette generating unit 22. The color palette generating unit 22 generates a color palette to be displayed on the display device 116 based on the received color information and thread numbers.

[0023] 5 shows an example of an embroidery thread color setting screen displayed on display device 116. Embroidery thread color setting screen 140 includes a color palette display area 150 and an embroidery pattern display area 170. Embroidery thread color setting screen 140 may also include a thread change display area 160. In this embodiment, embroidery thread color setting screen 140 displayed on display device 116 formed from a touch panel forms input unit 26.

[0024] The color palette displayed in the color palette display area 150 shown as an example includes a plurality of needle number display areas 152 and a plurality of color display areas 154 provided adjacent to each of the needle number display areas. In this embodiment, the color palette display area 150 includes 15 needle number display areas 152. In the needle number display area 152, needle numbers are displayed one by one from 1 to the maximum number that can be held in the spool stand 120. In this embodiment, the needle number display area 152 displays needle numbers 1 to 15. In the color display area 154, a color corresponding to the needle number displayed in the needle number display area 152 is displayed. In the case where the display device 116 is formed by a touch panel, the number display area 152 provides a button for the input unit 26.

[0025] The color of the work cloth can be incorporated into the color palette by the operator through an operation separate from the embroidery thread setting via input unit 26. For example, the work cloth can be captured separately using imaging device 50 and registered in needle number 0 (number display area 156) via input unit 26, thereby incorporating the color into the color palette. Also, a color palette storage unit 24 may be provided, and the color palette generated by color palette generation unit 22 may be stored in color palette storage unit 24 so that the color palette can be reused when sewing the same embroidery pattern at a later date.

[0026] The embroidery pattern display area 170 displays the embroidery pattern, which is the product to be sewn by the embroidery machine 100, based on the embroidery data stored in the embroidery data storage unit 14. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 5, the embroidery pattern includes a plurality of patterns 171-177. In the example shown in Fig. 5, patterns 171-175 are alphabets, and patterns 176 and 177 are star shapes.

[0027] The operator selects one of the patterns 171-177, taps the area where the selected pattern is displayed, and then taps in the needle number display area 152 in the color palette display area 150 where the needle number of the color with which the pattern will be embroidered is displayed, thereby setting the needle bar and embroidery thread for embroidering that pattern. Before the embroidery thread is set for each pattern in this manner, the embroidery pattern displayed in the embroidery pattern display area 170 is a black and white image. Once the embroidery thread is set, the embroidery pattern is displayed in the color corresponding to each of the patterns 171-177. Once the embroidery thread has been set for all of the patterns 171-177, the embroidery pattern displayed in the embroidery pattern display area 170 becomes an anticipated image of the product to be sewn by the embroidery machine 100.

[0028] In this way, when the anticipated design of the product to be sewn by the embroidery machine 100 is completed, the coordinate data of the needle drop positions of the embroidery pattern in the embroidery data is associated with the color data of the embroidery thread assigned to each needle bar 106, and the color data of the embroidery thread is incorporated into the embroidery data.

[0029] Conventionally, an operator visually checks the color of each spool of thread held on the thread stand 120 of the embroidery machine 100 and manually inputs it into a color palette, but in this embodiment, it is possible to input the colors automatically, significantly reducing the work of setting the embroidery thread color. In addition, because the colors are automatically determined, there is no difference in color between the embroidery pattern that is finally displayed (a predicted image of the product) and the product that is actually sewn. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] 10 Embroidery machine control device 12 Drive motor control unit 14 Embroidery data storage section 16 Embroidery pattern generation section 20 Embroidery thread color setting section 22 Color palette generator 24 Color palette storage area 26 Input section 28 Communications Department 30 Image processing section 32 Thread extraction section 34 Core Extraction Section 36 Color judgment section 38 Number Allocation Department 50 Imaging device 52 Camera 54 Communications Department 100 embroidery machines 102 Front Panel 104 Balance 106 Needle 108 Inclined Panel 110 Thread tension 112 Thread take-up spring 114 Embroidery frame drive unit 116 Display device 118 Bed Section 120 Thread Stand 130 Thread 132 cores 134 Thread part 140 Embroidery thread color setting screen 150 Color palette display area 152 Needle number display area 152 Number display area 154 color display area 156 Number display area 160 Thread change display area 170 Embroidery pattern display area

Claims

1. In a system for setting colors of embroidery threads used in an embroidery machine that sews an embroidery pattern based on embroidery data, an imaging device for imaging a plurality of thread spools held on a thread stand of the embroidery machine; a thread extraction unit that receives image data of the thread spool captured by the imaging device from the imaging device and extracts a portion of the image data that corresponds to the thread spool; a color determination unit that determines a color of the embroidery thread based on the image data of the portion corresponding to the thread spool extracted by the thread extraction unit, and generates information about the color; a number assigning unit that assigns needle numbers assigned to individual needle bars corresponding to an arrangement of the thread spools on the spool stand as thread numbers to the information on the color generated by the color determining unit; and a color palette generating unit that receives the color information together with the thread number and generates a color palette that is an image in which the thread number and the color of the embroidery thread are arranged in association with each other; and a display device that displays the color palette.

2. 2. The embroidery thread color setting system according to claim 1, further comprising an embroidery pattern generating unit that generates an embroidery pattern to be sewn by the embroidery machine based on the embroidery data, and displays the embroidery pattern on the display device.

3. 3. The embroidery thread color setting system according to claim 2, further comprising an input unit that allows an operator to select an individual pattern included in the embroidery pattern displayed on the display device and to set a thread number for sewing each individual pattern by selecting a color of the embroidery thread included in a color palette.

4. The embroidery thread color setting system according to claim 1 , wherein the imaging device is a handheld device that can be held and operated by an operator.

5. The embroidery thread color setting system according to claim 4 , wherein the handheld device is a smartphone.

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