U.S. patent number RE38,718 [Application Number 09/793,651] was granted by the patent office on 2005-03-29 for embroidery data creating device.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha. Invention is credited to Masao Futamura.
United States Patent |
RE38,718 |
Futamura |
March 29, 2005 |
Embroidery data creating device
Abstract
Disclosed is an embroidery data creating device for creating an
embroidery data to be used by a sewing machine. In the embroidery
data creating device, an image data, which consists of a plurality
of pixel data, corresponding to a line-drawn image is converted
into a thin line image, and then closed paths are determined with
use of 8-connection method. After embroidery attribution is applied
to a path and/or a region defined by each closed path, the paths
and/or the regions are converted into the embroidery data.
Inventors: |
Futamura; Masao (Nagoya,
JP) |
Assignee: |
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
(Nagoya, JP)
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Family
ID: |
26442991 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/793,651 |
Filed: |
February 27, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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Reissue of: |
705336 |
Aug 29, 1996 |
05880963 |
Mar 9, 1999 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Sep 1, 1995 [JP] |
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7-224965 |
Apr 24, 1996 [JP] |
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8-102286 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
700/138;
112/102.5; 112/470.01; 112/470.04; 112/475.19; 382/111;
382/258 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D05B
19/08 (20130101); D05D 2205/085 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
D05C
5/02 (20060101); D05B 21/00 (20060101); D05C
5/00 (20060101); G06F 19/00 (20060101); G06F
019/00 (); D05C 005/02 (); D05B 021/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;700/136-138
;112/102.5,475.19,475.18,470.01,470.04,470.06 ;382/111,258 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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3-128085 |
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May 1991 |
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JP |
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4-174699 |
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Jun 1992 |
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JP |
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5-49766 |
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Mar 1993 |
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JP |
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7-236784 |
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Sep 1995 |
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JP |
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7-328255 |
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Dec 1995 |
|
JP |
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8-38756 |
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Feb 1996 |
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JP |
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Primary Examiner: Gordon; Paul P.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oliff & Berridge, PLC
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An embroidery data creating device for creating embroidery data
to be used by a sewing machine, said embroidery data creating
device comprising: means for storing image data corresponding to a
line-drawn image; means for applying a thinning operation to said
image data to obtain a thin line image; means for determining
closed paths based on said thin line image; means for selecting at
least one of a path and a region defined by said path for each of
said closed paths determined by said determining means; and means
for converting said at least one of said path and said region
defined by said path into said embroidery data.
2. The embroidery data creating device according to claim 1,
wherein said converting means comprises means for assigning an
attribution to said at least one of said path and said region
defined by said path when conversion is executed.
3. The embroidery data creating device according to claim 2,
wherein said attribution includes a type of stitch to be used for
producing an embroidery.
4. The embroidery data creating device according to claim 2,
wherein said attribution includes a color of thread to be used for
producing an embroidery.
5. The embroidery data creating device according to claim 2,
wherein said attribution includes a pitch of each stitch for
embroidering.
6. The embroidery data creating device according to claim 2,
wherein said attribution includes a density of stitches for
embroidering.
7. The embroidery data creating device according to claim 2,
wherein said attribution includes a direction of stitch for
embroidering.
8. The embroidery data creating device according to claim 1,
wherein said image data is bit map image data consisting of data
for a plurality of pixels, and wherein a pixel connectivity of said
thin line obtained by said .[.obtaining.]. .Iadd.applying
.Iaddend.means is eight.
9. The embroidery data creating device according to claim 1,
wherein said determining means converts said thin line image into a
chain of connected vectors, said closed path being defined as a
path surrounded by said chain of connected vectors.
10. The embroidery data creating device according to claim 1,
further comprising means for storing said embroidery data in a
memory means.
11. The embroidery data creating device according to claim 10,
wherein said memory means is a detachable card memory.
12. The embroidery data creating device according to claim 1,
wherein said determining means traces a path from a predetermined
point along a predetermined direction, and if said predetermined
point is reached during the tracing of said path, said determining
means determines that said path is a closed path.
13. The embroidery data creating device according to claim 1,
wherein said means for selecting includes means for displaying said
path and said region.
14. A method for creating embroidery data to be used by a sewing
machine, said method comprising the steps of: storing image data
corresponding to a line-drawn image; applying a thinning operation
to said image data to obtain a thin line image; determining closed
paths based on said thin line image; selecting at least one of a
path and a region defined by said path for each of said determined
closed paths; and converting said at least one of said path and
said region defined by said path into said embroidery data.
15. The method according to claim 14 wherein said determining step
includes tracing a path from a predetermined point along a
predetermined direction, and if said predetermined point is reached
during the tracing of said path, making a determination that said
path is a closed path.
16. The method according to claim 15 wherein said determining step
further includes converting said thin line image into a chain of
connected vectors, said closed path being defined as a path
surrounded by said chain of connected vectors.
17. A computer readable memory medium for a computer program, said
memory medium comprising a computer program, said computer program
providing a method for creating embroidery data to be used by a
sewing machine comprising the steps of: storing image data
corresponding to a line-drawn image; applying a thinning operation
to said image data to obtain a thin line image; determining closed
paths based on said thin line image; selecting at least one of a
path and a region defined by said path for each of said determined
closed paths; and converting said at least one of said path and
said region defined by said path into said embroidery data.
18. The computer readable memory medium of claim 17 wherein in said
method provided by said computer program said determining step
includes tracing a path from a predetermined point along a
predetermined direction, and if said predetermined point is reached
during the tracing of said path, making a determination that said
path is a closed path.
19. The computer readable memory medium of claim 18 wherein in said
method provided by said computer program said determining step
further includes converting said thin line image into a chain of
connected vectors, said closed path being defined as a path
surrounded by said chain of connected vectors..Iadd.
20. An embroidery data processor for preparing sewing data of an
embroidery pattern based on image data of the embroidery pattern,
the embroidery data processor reducing thickness of lines in the
image data to produce thin-line image data including at least one
thin-line outline defining a bounded region corresponding to a
region of the embroidery pattern, and extracting the bounded region
defined by the at least one thin-line outline..Iaddend..Iadd.
21. A method for preparing sewing data of an embroidery pattern
based on image data of the embroidery pattern comprising: reducing
thickness of lines in the image data to produce thin-line image
data including at least one thin-line outline that defines a
bounded region corresponding to a region of the embroidery pattern;
and extracting the bounded region defined by the at least one
thin-line outline..Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an embroidery data creating device
for processing an outline data of an original image to create an
embroidery data corresponding to the original image.
Presently, there are data creating devices that create embroidery
data for use with industrial sewing machines. These data creating
devices are computer controlled and are capable of creating
high-accuracy embroidery data in a relatively short period of time.
Usually these data creating devices are provided with a computer,
an image scanner, a hard disk drive, and a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
display, etc.
Recently, as the performance of personal sewing machines has
improved, an embroidery data creating device for use with the
personal sewing machine has been sought to satisfy an expanding
demand. However, the data creating devices for the industrial
sewing machines are complicated, expensive, and are not easy to
operate for personal use. Therefore, an inexpensive, easily
operable data creating device has been desired. Preferably, such
devices are capable of creating embroidery data based on an
original, e.g., a freehand line-drawn image drawn on a sheet of
paper.
The conventional embroidery data creating devices do not have such
a function, and therefore the operator traces an image, which is
scanned by the image scanner and displayed on the CRT, with a mouse
or the like. Alternatively, a digitizer or the like to create the
digital data of the image to the computer should be used. In order
to create the high-accuracy embroidery data for stitching a good
looking embroidery, a plurality of paths of stitching, and closed
regions to be filled with stitches as well as their positions and
shapes should be input to the computer.
An embroidery data creating device, which automatically creates the
embroidery data, for personal use was disclosed in Japanese Patent
Provisional Publication HEI4-174699. The disclosed data creating
device is provided with a microcomputer, a small display device,
and a keyboard. The device is connected with a monochrome (e.g.
black and white) image scanner, and creates the embroidery data as
described below.
In this device, firstly the original image is scanned with use of
the scanner. Then the scanned image is displayed on the display
device. If the displayed image have the desired shape, the
embroidery data corresponding to the displayed image is
created.
In the embroidery data creating devices of the former type, the
operator is required to designate a path of each stitch of the
embroidery or to trace the displayed image manually and accurately.
It is time consuming, and the larger the image is, the longer time
is consumed.
In the embroidery data creating devices of the latter type, the
embroidery data creating devices usually deal with a colored image,
and do not have a function of processing an outline image or the
line-drawn image. Therefore, the embroidery data crating devices of
the latter type cannot create sufficient embroidery data, and
accordingly the beautiful embroidery may not be produced with use
of the embroidery data created based on the line-drawn image. That
is, in order to have threads filled in areas defined by the
outlines of an image, besides the data for the outlines, another
data for the filled portion should be prepared separately.
Therefore, in the latter devices, if a line-drawn image is used as
an original data, it is difficult to have sufficient embroidery
data.
Generally, there are two methods for dealing with an image pattern,
i.e., for scanning the image pattern to generate an image data, and
creating the embroidery data based on the image data. First one is
to obtain a bit map image by scanning an original image. Then
stitching points are determined based on the bit map image. The
other one is to pick up an outline data (path data) by scanning the
image pattern.
Assume that an image shown in FIG. 16A is to be dealt with (i.e.,
is to be scanned and then an embroidery data is to be created).
With use of the former method, scanning of the image can be
achieved relatively easily. However, the stitch usually has only
one predetermined direction, and therefore, if the embroidery data
creating in accordance with the former method is used for producing
the actual embroidery, the produced embroidery would be as shown in
FIG. 16B, and the good looking embroidery may not be obtained.
Further, in this method, it is difficult to obtain the data
indicating application of various methods of stitching to improve
an appearance of the embroidery. In order to avoid this problem, a
complicated geometric analysis should be made when the image is
scanned, and practically it is almost impossible.
According to the latter method, the outline of the image pattern is
obtained according to an edge detection algorithm. Since the
outlines defining the regions are obtained, the embroidery data for
an region defined by the obtained outline data can be made
relatively easily. However, if a region defined by an outline has
an elongated shape, it is difficult for a processor (e.g., a CPU)
to recognize the direction in which the region is elongated.
Generally, when a region is to be filled with a thread, the
direction of stitching is fixed. If the elongated direction of the
region can be determined, it may be possible to change the
stitching direction in accordance with the elongated direction.
However, since the elongated direction of the region is not easy to
obtaine, the fixed direction is to be referred to in order to
create the embroidery data for such a region. As a result, if the
stiching direction is not appropriate for such an elongated region,
the embroidery produced in accordance with the embroidery data
created with use of the fixed stitching direction may not be
sufficiently beautiful (see portions "NG" in FIG. 16B). To avoid
the problem, various algorithms for automatically determining the
direction of the stitch have been suggested. However, sufficient
result is not obtained yet, and further a large amount of
calculation is required in such algorithms. Therefore, the latter
method is not applicable to the inexpensive personal use embroidery
data creating device.
Further, even if the image pattern to be scanned is an outline
image like coloring pictures for children, when it is scanned by
the scanner, the obtained image data of the outline has a certain
width (i.e., the line is recognized as a two-dimensional area).
Therefore, when the image data is processed and the edge of the
outline is detected, two outlines are detected at the both ends of
the image of the outline as indicated in FIG. 16C. Since the
outline is recognized as an area, even if the original is a
line-drawn image, it is difficult to assign various method of
stitching a line such as a run-stitch, a zigzag stitch, an E stitch
and the like.
Therefore, it is not preferable to detect a plurality of lines
(i.e., paths of stitching) for a single outline as described above.
Preferably, only one path for one line of the original line-drawn
image is to be obtained. For this demand, a thinning method which
is known as one of the image data processing methods can be used.
If a thin line obtained in the thinning method is used as a line
defining the path of stitching, the run-stitch, the zigzag stitch,
the E stitch and the like can be freely applied (see FIG. 16D). For
example, the width of the zigzag can easily be set and/or adjusted
if the single thin line is used for defining the paths and/or
regions of the embroidery.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide an embroidery data
creating device capable of creating an embroidery data based on a
simple line-drawn original image pattern, and assigning various
types of stitching to the paths and regions. Note that a region of
the image pattern can be represented with a single path
automatically without requiring an operator to trace the line-drawn
image manually.
For the above object, according to the invention, there is provided
an embroidery data creating device for creating an embroidery data
to be used by a sewing machine, the embroidery data creating device
comprising means for storing an image data corresponding to a
line-drawn image, means for obtaining a thin line image based on
the image data, means for determining closed paths based on the
thin line image, means for selecting at least one of a path and a
region defined by the path for each of the closed paths determined
by the determining means, and means for converting the at least one
of the path and the region defined by the path into the embroidery
data.
Optionally, the converting means comprises means for assigning an
attribution to the at least one of the path and the region defined
by the path when conversion is executed.
The attribution may be a type of stitch, a color of thread, a pitch
of each stitch, a density of stitches and/or a direction of stitch
for embroidering.
Further optionally, the image data is a bit map image data may
consist of data for a plurality of pixels, and a pixel connectivity
of the thin line obtained by the obtaining means is four or
eight.
Furthermore, the determining means may convert the thin line image
into a chain of connected vectors, the closed path being defined as
a path surrounded by the chain of connected vectors.
Still optionally, the embroidery data creating device may store the
embroidery data in a memory means. In this case, the memory means
can be a detachable card memory.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows an appearance of an embroidery data creating device,
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the embroidery data creating device
shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a sewing machine which uses the embroidery data
created by the embroidery data creating device;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for creating the
embroidery data;
FIG. 5 shows an example of an original pattern for creating the
embroidery data;
FIG. 6 shows a bit map image corresponding to the scanned data;
FIGS. 7 shows a bit map image corresponding to the image data to
which the thinning operation is applied;
FIG. 8 shows an example of a short vector data;
FIGS. 9A through 9G show selection of loops based on the thin line
image;
FIG. 10 is a screen image which is displayed when the attribution
is applied to a loop;
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the attribute setting
procedure;
FIG. 12 shows data storing areas of RAM;
FIG. 13 is an example of an embroidery embroidered in accordance
with the embroidery data, created by the embroidery creating
device;
FIG. 14 shows a data structure of the embroidery data stored in the
flash memory card;
FIG. 15 is a screen image for setting various attribution data at a
time;
FIGS. 16A, 16B and 16C are exemplary images for illustrating
problems of prior art; and
FIG. 16D is an image illustrating the embroidery which is procuded
in accordance with the embroidery data crated by the embroidery
creating device according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows an embroidery data creating device 100 according to a
preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a block
diagram of the embroidery data creating device shown in FIG. 1.
The data created by the embroidery data creating device 100 is used
in a personal sewing machine, an example of which is shown in FIG.
3.
In FIG. 3, an embroidery sewing machine 40 is constructed such that
a cloth is moved in X and Y directions by a horizontal moving
mechanism 41. An embroidered pattern is formed on the cloth by
stitching thread (moving the needle) while the cloth is being moved
in X and Y directions.
The sewing operation and the driving operation of the horizontal
driving mechanism 41 are controlled by a microcomputer built in the
sewing machine 40 (not shown). The sewing machine 40 has a card
insertion unit 43 to which a card memory (flash memory) 10 is to be
inserted. The embroidery data is supplied from the card memory 10.
Since the embroidery data indicates the amount of movement in X and
Y directions for every stitch, the embroidered pattern can be
automatically produced (sewn). The embroidery data creating device
according to the present invention creates the data to be stored in
the card memory 10.
As shown in FIG. 1, the embroidery data creating device 100 has a
main body 1 and an image scanner 12 connected to the main body 1.
The top surface of the main body 1 has an LCD (liquid crystal
display) 7. The LCD 7 has a screen 7a for displaying a scanned
image scanned by the scanner 12, and the embroidery areas. A flash
memory device 5 is provided on the front side surface of the main
body 1. The flash memory 10, which is used as a recording medium of
the embroidery data is detachably inserted into the flash memory
device 5. Further, operation keys 11 for inputting selection and/or
commands is provided on the top surface of the main body 1. In the
embodiment, there are three operation keys: a region change key
11a; a fill stitch setting key 11b; and a path stitch setting key
11c.
As shown in FIG. 2, the embroidery data creating device 100 has a
CPU 2, a ROM 3, a RAM 4, the flash memory device 5, and an I/O
interface 6, which are connected with each other through a bus
line. A VRAM 9 is connected to an LCD controller (LCDC) 8 which
controls the display on the screen 7a in accordance with a bit-map
stored in the VRAM 9. Under the control of the LCD controller 8,
the LCD 7 displays a monochrome (black and white) image on the
screen 7a thereof. The image scanner 12 is connected to the CPU 2
through the I/O interface 6.
The image scanner 12 is a monochromatic hand-held scanner that is
moved by an operator across an image to be scanned. When the
reading section of the scanner 12 faces the image, and is moved
along a certain direction while a reading button is depressed, the
scanner 12 scans the image and creates binarized (ON or OFF) bit
map image data. The binarized data is stored in a image data
storing area 4a of the RAM 4 as a raster formatted bit-map having a
value of 0 when a corresponding pixel is white, and a value 1 when
a corresponding pixel is black.
The embroidery creating device 100 creates the embroidery data
based on the original as shown in FIG. 5. The data creating
operation is stored in the ROM 3 as a program. The operation will
be illustrated with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 4. Prior
to the data creating operation, an operator prepares an original as
shown in FIG. 5. The original is a line-drawn image pattern which
is drawn, for example, with use of a black pen on a sheet of white
paper.
The process shown in FIG. 4 starts when the operator operates a
predetermined key on the main body 1. After the process of FIG. 4
has started, the original image pattern A shown in FIG. 5 is read
with use of the scanner 12. The binarized bit map image data of the
image pattern A is stored in the image data storing area 4a of the
RAM 4.
FIG. 6 is an image corresponding to the binarized image data stored
in the image data storing area 4a of the RAM 4. The image shown in
FIG. 6 consists of a plurality of black square pixels indicative of
digitized image pixels. The black squares correspond to the data
having value "1" in the image data storing area 4a.
In step S2, the thinning operation is applied to the binarized
image data stored in the image storing area 4a of the RAM 4 to
create a thin line image data corresponding to the image pattern A
shown in FIG. 5. As described before, and as shown in FIG. 6, the
outline of the bit map image directly produced by scanning the
original image pattern has a certain width (i.e., more than one
pixel are arranged in the width direction of the outline of the bit
map image shown in FIG. 6). Therefore, the bit map data is not
dealt with as a data indicative of a single line. The thinning
operation executed at step S2 enables the data creating device 100
to deal with the image pattern A as a pattern formed with
lines.
As practical methods for achieving the thinning of the binarized
bit map image, a plurality of methods are well-known. For example,
a sequential thinning method is known. According to the sequential
thinning method, firstly a closed region is defined as a region in
which black pixels are connected with each other. Then, pixels
located at the outer side portion of the closed region are
sequentially deleted according to a predetermined rule until no
more pixels can be deleted. The rule for deleting the pixel will
not be described in detail since there are various methods which
are all well-known. Any method can be taken if the width of the
line is reduced to one pixel. One well-known example of such
methods is a Hilditch method which converts the closed region
consisting of a plurality of connected black pixels into an
8-connected line.
FIG. 7 shows a part of the line image converted from the binarized
bit map image with used of the thinning operation. In FIG. 7, the
8-connected line image is shown.
At step S3, the line-drawn image corresponding to the image pattern
A is converted into chains of line data respectively having lengths
and direction. That is, the line-drawn image is converted into a
set of short vector data (i.e., vectorization is executed) at S3.
As a method of vectorization, for example, a pixel (any pixel)
forming the line-drawn image is determined to be a starting point,
and by sampling another pixel along the line forming the line-drawn
image, a vector is obtained. As another example, a reference vector
is determined, and by evaluating the difference between the
reference vector and a certain point, significant points can be
determined.
An example of the vectorization is disclosed in the Japanese Patent
Provisional Publication HEI 8-38756, and detail description will
not be provided here.
FIG. 8 is an example of the short vector data. In the drawing, big
black dots are diverging points where more than two short vectors
are connected, and small black dots represent structural points
where end points of two short vectors are connected. By executing
step S3, the shape of the original image pattern A is expressed as
a two dimensional graph consisting of short vectors.
In step S4, based on the short vectors, a loop formed by the chain
of the short vectors is picked up. The loop is a closed path formed
by a chain of short vectors, the closed path being non-dense with
respect to each other in the graph. Each loop (i.e., the closed
path) picked up in this step S4 defines the closed region for
stitching embroidery. The loop is picked up in accordance with the
following procedure.
(1) Select the uppermost point defining short vectors in the graph,
and set the selected point as a starting point Ps of the loop
(closed path);
(2) Select a path directed to a left-handed direction with respect
to the proceeding direction among a plurality of paths from the
starting point to next points, and trance the path in the left-hand
direction;
(3) Trace the path and memorize the traced path until the traced
path returned to the starting point Ps: at a diverging point, the
left-hand direction with respect to the proceeding direction is
always selected;
(4) When the path returns to the starting point Ps, select a chain
of the paths which have been stored until then as a new loop. Then,
among the paths connected to the diverging points next to the
starting point, the points belonging to the new loop are removed
from the graph.
(5) If the graph is not empty, execute the above process from step
(1).
FIGS. 9A through 9G show the above described procedure of selecting
the loop.
In FIGS. 9A through 9G, marks X indicate the starting point Ps for
each drawing, and arrows indicate the direction in which the paths
are traced.
As shown in FIGS. 9A through 9G, seven loops L1 through L7 are
selected. For simplifying the explanation, processing of a path
having an open end is not described in the above explanation. If
the line-drawn image includes a path having an open end, the
above-described procedure for determining the closed loops is
executed after such a path having the open end is removed from the
graph. Between FIGS. 9E and 9F, the removal of the open end is
executed, i.e., lines forming the stem of the flower (image pattern
A) are deleted from the graph.
The loops L1 through L7 respectively consist of chains of short
vectors representing closed regions (hatched portions of FIGS. 9A
through 9G) which are to be embroidered.
In step S5 of FIG. 4, for each of the loops L1 through L7,
attribution of the embroidery is determined. Items to be determined
are, for example, the color of threads to be used for stitching the
region surrounded by the path, what type of stitch is used for
embroidering, whether the line stitch is to be made along the path,
and the like.
In order to set the above items, each loop is displayed on the
screen 7a one by one, and in response to the operation of the keys
11, the setting is applied to each loop (path and region).
FIG. 10 shows an exemplary screen image when the above setting
operation is performed. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the
attribute setting procedure.
When the attribution is set, firstly the CPU 2 selects the
uppermost region, i.e., the region defined by the loop L1 (FIG. 9A)
as the region to which the attribution is applied (S51). In order
to indicated which region is currently subjected to the attribution
setting, the CPU 2 controls the region to blink (S52) on the screen
7a. For example, a case where the region defined by the loop L1 is
filled with red stitch without stitching of the outline is
explained.
Firstly, the operator depress the fill key 11b. Upon every
depression of the fill key 11b, the setting to be applied to the
indicated region is changed cyclicly from "without fill", "black
fill", "red fill", "green fill", "yellow fill" and back to "without
fill". In order to select the "red fill", the fill key 11b is to be
depressed twice. Step S53 determines whether the region changing
key 11a is depressed. Therefore, when the fill key 11b is depressed
first, determination at step S53 is NO and control goes to step
S55. At S55, whether the fill key 11b is depressed is examined.
Therefore, determination at S55 is YES, and S56 is executed. At
S56, as described above, the setting is changed. When the fill key
11b is depressed first time, "black fill" is selected.
Operation of the outline designation key 11c switches the setting
of the stitch of the outline from "no-outline stitch", "black
outline stitch", "red outline stitch", "green outline stitch",
"yellow outline stitch" in this order, cyclicly (S57:YES and S58).
Further operation of the outline designation key 11c brings the
setting back to the "no-outline stitch". In the above described
example, "no-outline stitch" is to be made. The initial setting is
the "no-outline stitch", and therefore, the outline designation key
11c is not necessary to be operated (S57:NO). The setting of the
outline stitch is indicated by a pair of cocentric circles with
inner one being filled, on the screen 7a as shown in FIG. 10. The
name of the item currently being set blinks on the screen 7a. In
the embodiment, the outline is sewn with the zigzag stitch which is
a default stitch.
In order to set the attribution of another region, the operator is
required to operate the region change key 11a. When the region
change key 11a is operated (S53:YES), another closed region, i.e.,
the region defined by the loop L2 in the embodiment, is selected
(the region blinks on the screen 7a). In order to set "red fill"
and "no outline", the fill key 11b is depressed twice (S55:YES and
S56) as is done for the first region defined by the loop L1.
When the region switch key 11a is operated again (S53: YES),
another region defined by the loop L3 is selected (S54). As the
region defined by the loop L3 is selected, it blinks on the screen
7a (S52). In the example, the region defined by the loop L3 is to
be set to be filled with yellow with black outline. For this
setting, firstly the fill key 11b is operated three times to select
yellow fill (S53:YES and S53). Then, the outline designation key
11c is operated once to set the black outline (S57:YES and
S58).
Similar operations are repeatedly executed until setting for all
the regions corresponding to the loop L1 through L8 are completed.
After the setting for the region defined by the loop L7 is
finished, when the region change key 11c is operated again (S53:YES
and S59:YES), the attribution setting operation is finished.
The settings are stored in the sewing condition storing area 4b of
the RAM 4 as shown in FIG. 12. The sewing condition (i.e., the
settings) are represented by numeral values for the outline and the
region surrounded by the outline. The colors of stitch are
represented by the following numerals.
type of stitch numeral No stitch 0 Black stitch 1 Red stitch 2
Green stitch 3 Yellow stitch 4
Therefore, the data stored in the sewing condition storing area 4b
represents the setting as follows.
loop L1 Fill (Red) No outline loop L2 Fill (Red) No outline loop L3
Fill (Yellow) Outline (Black) loop L4 Fill (Red) No outline loop L5
Fill (Red) No outline loop L6 Fill (Green) Outline (Black) loop L7
Fill (Green) Outline (Black)
Note that among the line-drawn image patterns, a stem part is not
expressed by the short vector loop. The data corresponding to this
part is not described in detail since the creating of the data
corresponding to the part which is not expressed with use of short
vectors is done according to another algorithm, and the embroidery
data for such a part is created to have a predetermined type of
stitch.
In the above described example, there is only one image in the
original. If there are more than one images, each image is divided
into the closed regions similarly to the above-described example,
and the setting is done for each closed region.
By step S5 of FIG. 4, the regions of the image to be embroidered
are determined. In step S6, the settings are converted into the
embroidery data for use in sewing machines. That is, from the shape
of each part or region of the image, stitching points data is
created. For example, in order to create the embroidery data for a
region to be filled, stitching points for filling the region which
is defined by an outline, i.e., a loop formed by short vectors is
sequentially created. An example of a method for creating the
stitching points is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,176, and
teachings of which are expressly incorporated herein by
reference.
For a path, along which a line stitch is produced, the stitching
points data are created such that the stitching points are apart by
a predetermined amount along the path. The color of the thread to
be used for each region is stored as a thread color data in the
flash memory 10 as shown in FIG. 14 through the flash memory device
5 together with the stitching points data. As shown in FIG. 14, the
embroidery data includes the number of the stitching points (D1), a
color code (D2) indicating the color of the thread, X and Y
coordinates (D3) of each stitching point are stored for each stitch
of the embroidery.
The embroidery data created as described above and stored in the
flash memory 10 can be used in the sewing machine 40 as shown in
FIG. 3. In FIG. 13, an example of the embroidery stitched by the
sewing machine 40 in accordance with the embroidery data created as
above is shown. Since the sewing machine 40 has a black and white
display 46, the name of the color of a thread to be used is
displayed. If the sewing machine has a color display device, it is
possible to indicate the color of the thread by displaying the
actual color.
According to the embroidery data creating device as described
above, the thinning operation is performed with respect to a
scanned line data, and further the line data is converted into a
vector data. Since the vector data indicates the direction where
each portion of the outline extends, when a region enclosed by an
outline is elongated, the elongated direction can be recognized
easily. As described before, in the prior art, since the elongated
direction of the elongated region is not easily obtained, the
direction of the stitch cannot be determined appropriately.
According to the present invention, as the direction of the
elongated region can be obtained, the direction of stitches for
filling the region can be determined in accordance with the
elongated direction. Therefore, according to the embroidery data
creating device described above, a freely drawn line image can be
used as an original for creating an embroidery data. The line-drawn
image is automatically divided into a plurality of closed regions,
and sewing condition can be set for each closed regions easily. No
extra operation such as manual tracing for generating data to be
input to a computer is necessary, and therefore an operator can
obtain the desired embroidery data without particular knowledge of
the data creating algorithm and/or particular skill therefor.
In the embodiment, the image scanner 12 is a monochrome scanner,
and the color is assigned to each closed region on the screen after
the image has scanned. However, it is also possible to use a color
scanner to scan a color image, and used the color of the original
image for designating the color of the embroidery data.
Further, when a color scanner is used, the embroidery data creating
device is configured such that only images having a certain color
are processed. That is, only a part of the image having a
predetermined color can be made into the embroidery data.
The original data is not limited to the data input from the
scanner. The original data may be given through a floppy disk, a
card memory, through communication lines, and the like.
In the embodiment, the thin line image is vectorized and then the
loops are determined. Picking up of the loops may be performed with
reference to a bit map image without vectorizing the image
data.
Further, in step S5 of FIG. 4, the embodiment can be modified such
that the sewing condition can be set in more detailed manner. For
example, the number of types of the embroidery, the density of the
stitching, the direction of the stitching, the pitch of the
stitching are made adjustable. In such a case, it is preferable to
show a window menu as shown in FIG. 15. The operator can easily set
various items with use of the window shown in FIG. 15. The settings
are fixed when the operator selects the set button in the
window.
In the embodiment, a hand held scanner is employed. However, the
invention is not limited to the described embodiment, but can be
modified in various way. For example, instead of the hand held
scanner, a desk top scanner can be employed. In the embodiment, in
order to change the region to which the attribute is assigned the
region change key is to be operated. It is possible to designate
the region directly if the embroidery data creating device is
provided with a pointing device such as a mouse. In this case,
designation of region is performed quickly and the operability of
the embroidery data creating device may improve.
Further, the created embroidery data is transmitted to the sewing
machine by means of the flash memory. If there is means for
connecting the sewing machine and the embroidery data creating
device directly (wired or wireless), the created embroidery data
can be used without the recording medium such as the flash
memory.
The present disclosure relates to subject matters contained in
Japanese Patent Applications No. HEI 7-224965, filed on Sep. 1,
1995, and No. HEI 8-102286, filed on Apr. 24, 1996, which are
expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
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