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EP-4737623-A1 - IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, SEWING MACHINE, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD

EP4737623A1EP 4737623 A1EP4737623 A1EP 4737623A1EP-4737623-A1

Abstract

An image processing device (40) includes a plurality of image capturing devices (41) arranged at intervals in a horizontal plane so as to be aligned with a sewing machine body (10) including a head (11D) for performing sewing and a holding member (15) for holding and moving an object to be sewn (S), and an image processing unit (42) for detecting a recognition object of an object to be sewn (S), based on images of the object to be sewn (S) captured by the plurality of image capturing devices (41). The image processing unit (42) includes a composition processing unit (44B) for stitching together the images captured by the plurality of imaging devices (41), and a detection processing unit (44C) for detecting a plurality of recognition objects (UP) from a composite image (75) obtained through the stitching by the composition processing unit (44B).

Inventors

  • YAMADA KAZUNORI
  • SHIMAZAKI Takumi

Assignees

  • JUKI Corporation

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240624

Claims (9)

  1. An image processing device comprising: a plurality of imaging devices arranged at intervals in a horizontal plane so as to be aligned with a sewing machine body comprising a head configured to perform sewing and a holding member configured to hold and move an object to be sewn; and an image processing unit configured to detect a recognition object of the object to be sewn on the basis of images of the object to be sewn captured by the plurality of imaging devices, wherein the image processing unit comprises a composition processing unit configured to stitch together the images captured by the plurality of imaging devices, and a detection processing unit configured to detect a plurality of the recognition objects from a composite image obtained through the stitching by the composition processing unit.
  2. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of imaging devices is arranged to have an overlapping region in which its imaging field of view partially overlaps with that of another adjacent imaging device, and the image processing unit detects image elements common to at least a portion of the recognition object, within the overlapping region of a first image and a second image to be stitched together, transforms the second image such that corresponding image elements in the overlapping region match each other, and stitches together the transformed second image and the first image.
  3. The image processing device according to claim 2, wherein the composition processing unit sets a stitching position in the overlapping region such that the entire image elements detected in the overlapping region are included in either the first image or the second image.
  4. The image processing device according to claim 3, wherein the composition processing unit extracts the image elements in contact with an end edge E on the second image side in the overlapping region, and sets a first mask region excluding the extracted image elements, as the first image, sets a second mask region comprising the entire image elements in contact with the end edge E and adjacent to the first mask region, as the second image, and stitches together the first image and the second image by using a boundary between the first mask region of the first image and the second mask region of the second image as the stitching position.
  5. The image processing device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the image elements are holes formed to be distributed over the object to be sewn, and the recognition object is an array of the plurality of holes existing in a predetermined pattern in the object to be sewn.
  6. The image processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the plurality of imaging devices are arranged along at least one of a longitudinal direction and a width direction of a sewing area where the object to be sewn can be moved by the holding member and sewn by the head.
  7. The image processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a plurality of illumination devices arranged on both outer sides of an array of the plurality of imaging devices and between the plurality of imaging devices of the array, respectively.
  8. A sewing machine comprising: a sewing machine body comprising a head configured to perform sewing and a holding member configured to hold and move an object to be sewn; the image processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4; and a control device configured to control the sewing machine body on the basis of a processing result of the image processing device.
  9. An image processing method comprising: stitching together images of an object to be sewn captured by a plurality of imaging devices arranged at intervals in a predetermined direction in a horizontal plane so as to be aligned with a sewing machine body comprising a head configured to perform sewing and a holding member configured to hold and move an object to be sewn; and detecting a plurality of recognition objects of the object to be sewn from a composite image obtained through the stitching.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to an image processing device, a sewing machine, and an image processing method. BACKGROUND ART In order to enhance the design property of an object to be sewn, stitches may be formed on the object to be sewn. Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for forming stitches on a skin material used for a vehicle seat. CITATION LIST PATENT LITERATURE Patent Literature 1: JP2013-162957A SUMMARY OF INVENTION TECHNICAL PROBLEM A skin material used for a vehicle seat has thickness and elasticity. When a stitch is formed on an object to be sewn having thickness and elasticity, the object to be sewn may be contracted, thereby causing the surface of the object to be sewn to be displaced. For example, when forming a second stitch after a first stitch is formed, it is preferable to form the second stitch at a target position on the object to be sewn according to the displacement of the surface of the object to be sewn caused by the formation of the first stitch. As a measure for forming a stitch at a target position of an object to be sewn, the surface of the object to be sewn may be photographed before sewing processing to detect displacement of the surface of the object to be sewn. If multiple points along a stitch line are imaged one location at a time in sequence and displacement detection is performed for each, the imaging and image recognition processing take time. The displacement changes, each time a stitch is formed, due to the stitch. Therefore, if the imaging and the displacement detection are performed each time a stitch is formed, the total processing time for the sewing operation increases. An aspect of the present disclosure is to shorten the total processing time for a sewing operation. SOLUTION TO PROBLEM According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an image processing device including: a plurality of imaging devices arranged at intervals in a horizontal plane so as to be aligned with a sewing machine body including a head configured to perform sewing and a holding member configured to hold and move an object to be sewn; and an image processing unit configured to detect a recognition object of the object to be sewn on the basis of images of the object to be sewn captured by the plurality of imaging devices, in which the image processing unit includes a composition processing unit configured to stitch together the images captured by the plurality of imaging devices, and a detection processing unit configured to detect a plurality of the recognition objects from a composite image obtained through the stitching by the composition processing unit. According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a sewing machine including: a sewing machine body including a head configured to perform sewing and a holding member configured to hold and move an object to be sewn; the image processing device according to the first aspect; and a control device configured to control the sewing machine body on the basis of a processing result of the image processing device. According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an image processing method including: stitching together images of an object to be sewn captured by a plurality of imaging devices arranged at intervals in a predetermined direction in a horizontal plane so as to be aligned with a sewing machine body including a head configured to perform sewing and a holding member configured to hold and move an object to be sewn; and detecting a plurality of recognition objects of the object to be sewn from a composite image obtained through the stitching. ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION According to the aspects of the present disclosure, the total processing time for a sewing operation can be shortened. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a sewing machine according to the present embodiment.Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a part of the sewing machine according to the present embodiment.Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a part of an object to be sewn according to the present embodiment.Fig. 4 is a plan view illustrating the object to be sewn according to the present embodiment.Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a part of the object to be sewn according to the present embodiment.Fig. 6 is a plan view illustrating attachment positions of imaging devices according to the present embodiment.Fig. 7 is a plan view illustrating an arrangement example of the imaging devices according to the present embodiment.Fig. 8 is a functional block diagram illustrating the sewing machine according to the present embodiment.Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing a sewing operation of the sewing machine according to the present embodiment.Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing an image stitching process according to the present embodiment.Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an image positioning process in the image s