Abstract:
An apparatus includes a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store computer-readable instructions therein, wherein the computer-readable instructions instruct the sewing machine to execute steps comprising acquiring image data including one or more characters, extracting, from acquired image data, one or more character designs with respect to each character included in the acquired image data, wherein the character design represents each character included in the acquired image data, generating embroidery data with respect to each character based on the extracted character design, wherein the embroidery data represents an embroidery pattern in a predetermined size.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-170622, filed Aug. 4, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates to a sewing machine that can perform sewing of an embroidery pattern, an embroidery data creation device that creates data for sewing an embroidery pattern, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores an embroidery data creation program. 
         [0003]    A sewing machine is known that can sew an embroidery pattern based on a design that a user has selected. An embroidery data creation device is also known that creates embroidery data for sewing an embroidery pattern. Specifically, the embroidery data creation device is also known that acquires a design that a user has selected. The embroidery data creation device creates embroidery data for sewing the acquired design as an embroidery pattern. The embroidery data creation device can recognize characters in the acquired design and convert them into other characters of a different style. The embroidery data creation device is thus able to create embroidery data for sewing an embroidery pattern of a design that contains the characters of the different style. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    Demand has arisen to have characters of a particular style acquired in advance by a sewing machine, to have a character string created by combining the acquired characters as the user desires, and to have an embroidery pattern of the character string sewn by the sewing machine. The characters of a particular style may be characters in a handwritten style, for example. The known devices described above are not able to acquire characters of a particular style in advance. Therefore, cases may occur in which the embroidery data for sewing a character string that includes characters of a particular style cannot be created. 
         [0005]    There may also be cases in which, after the embroidery data are created based on a character string that includes characters of a particular style, and that is acquired by the sewing machine as it is the user wants to change only a specific character within the character string to a different character and then sew the embroidery pattern. 
         [0006]    In that case, it may be necessary for the sewing machine to acquire the entire character string once again, even if the greater part of the character string is the same, and to create the embroidery data all over again. Therefore, it may be not always be possible to create the embroidery data and perform the sewing efficiently. 
         [0007]    Various exemplary embodiments of the general principles herein provide a sewing machine that may comprise a processor; and a memory. The memory may be configured to store computer-readable instructions therein, wherein the computer-readable instructions instruct the sewing machine to execute steps comprising acquiring image data including one or more characters, extracting, from acquired image data, one or more character designs with respect to each character included in the acquired image data, wherein the character design represents each character included in the acquired image data, generating embroidery data with respect to each character based on the extracted character design, wherein the embroidery data represents an embroidery pattern in a predetermined size, selecting specific embroidery data, in response to accepting an instruction for specifying character design, from the generated embroidery data corresponding to the specified character design, and generating a signal based on the selected embroidery data, wherein the sewing machine is configured to sew an embroidery pattern represented by the selected embroidery data based on the signal. 
         [0008]    Exemplary embodiments herein provide an apparatus that may comprise a processor and a memory. The memory may be configured to store computer-readable instructions therein, wherein the computer-readable instructions instruct the apparatus to execute steps comprising acquiring image data including one or more characters, extracting, from acquired image data, one or more character designs with respect to each character included in the acquired image data, wherein the character design represents each character included in the acquired image data, and generating embroidery data with respect to each character based on the extracted character design, wherein the embroidery data represents an embroidery pattern in a predetermined size. 
         [0009]    Exemplary embodiments also provide a non-transitory computer readable medium. The non-transitory computer readable medium may store computer readable instructions that, when executed, instruct an apparatus to execute steps comprising acquiring image data including one or more characters, extracting, from acquired image data, one or more character designs with respect to each character included in the acquired image data, wherein the character design represents each character included in the acquired image data, and generating embroidery data with respect to each character based on the extracted character design, wherein the embroidery data represents an embroidery pattern in a predetermined size. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is an oblique view of a sewing machine  1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a left side view that shows an area around a needle bar  6 , a sewing needle  7 , a presser bar  91 , and a presser foot  92 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram that shows an electrical configuration of the sewing machine  1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a figure that shows an embroidery pattern  41  of a character “B”; 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of character acquisition processing; 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart of the character acquisition processing, continued from  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  is a figure that shows an image  50  and characters  51 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 8  is a figure that shows a binary image  70  and character designs  53 ; 
           [0019]      FIG. 9  is a figure that shows character designs  55 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 10  is a figure that shows character designs  56 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 11  is a figure that shows an embroidery pattern  44  of a character “B”; 
           [0022]      FIG. 12  is a flowchart of sewing processing; 
           [0023]      FIG. 13  is a figure that shows an embroidery pattern  58  that has been sewn; 
           [0024]      FIG. 14  is a figure that shows character designs  57 ; and 
           [0025]      FIG. 15  is a figure that shows an embroidery pattern  59  that has been sewn. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0026]    Hereinafter, an embodiment will be explained with reference to the drawings. A configuration of a sewing machine  1  will be explained with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . In the explanation that follows, the lower right, the upper left, the upper right, and the lower left in  FIG. 1  respectively correspond to the front side, the rear side, the right side, and the left side of the sewing machine  1 . A direction in which a bed  11  (described later) extends corresponds to an X-axis direction. A direction that is perpendicular to the X-axis direction and that is parallel to the top face of the bed  11  corresponds to a Y-axis direction. 
         [0027]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the sewing machine  1  includes a bed  11 , a pillar  12 , an arm  13 , and a head  14 . The bed  11  is a base portion of the sewing machine  1  that is longer in the left-right direction. The pillar  12  extends upward from the right end of the bed  11 . The arm  13  extends to the left from the upper end of the pillar  12  such that it is opposite the bed  11 . The head  14  is a portion that is connected to the left end of the arm  13 . A needle plate (not shown in the drawings) is provided in the top face of the bed  11 . A feed dog, a feed mechanism, and a shuttle mechanism (which are not shown in the drawings), and a feed adjustment pulse motor  78  (refer to  FIG. 3 ) are provided underneath the needle plate (that is, within the bed  11 ). The feed dog may be driven by the feed mechanism and feed a work cloth by a specified feed amount. The feed amount may be adjusted by the feed adjustment pulse motor  78 . 
         [0028]    An embroidery frame  34  that holds a work cloth  100  can be disposed on the top side of the bed  11 . The embroidery frame  34  may be a known structure that is configured to hold the work cloth  100  by clamping it with an inner frame and an outer frame. An embroidery frame moving device  33  has a known structure that is configured to move the embroidery frame  34 , so it will be explained briefly. The embroidery frame moving device  33  can be removably mounted on the bed  11 . A carriage  35  that extends in the front-rear direction is provided on top of the embroidery frame moving device  33 . A frame holder (not shown in the drawings) on which the embroidery frame  34  can be removably mounted and a Y axis moving mechanism (not shown in the drawings) that is configured to move the frame holder in the front-rear direction (the Y axis direction) are provided in the interior of the carriage  35 . The Y axis moving mechanism may be driven by a Y axis motor  84  (refer to  FIG. 3 ). 
         [0029]    An X axis moving mechanism (not shown in the drawings) that is configured to move the carriage  35  in the left-right direction (the X axis direction) is provided inside the embroidery frame moving device  33 . The X axis moving mechanism may be driven by an X axis motor  83  (refer to  FIG. 3 ). As the carriage  35  is moved in the left-right direction (the X axis direction), the embroidery frame  34  is moved in the left-right direction (the X axis direction). 
         [0030]    A needle bar  6  (refer to  FIG. 2 ) and the shuttle mechanism (not shown in the drawings) may be driven in conjunction with the moving of the embroidery frame  34  in the left-right direction (the X axis direction) and the front-rear direction (the Y axis direction). This causes a sewing needle  7  (refer to  FIG. 2 ) that is mounted in the needle bar  6  to sew an embroidery pattern in the work cloth  100  that is held by the embroidery frame  34 . When an ordinary pattern that is not an embroidery pattern is to be sewn, the embroidery frame moving device  33  is removed from the bed  11 . In that state, the sewing is performed as the work cloth is moved by the feed dog. 
         [0031]    A vertically rectangular liquid crystal display (hereinafter called an LCD)  15  is provided in the front face of the pillar  12 . An image may be displayed on the LCD  15  based on image data that includes various types of items, such as commands, illustrations, setting values, messages, and the like. A touch panel  26  is provided on the front face of the LCD  15 . Using a finger or a special touch pen, a user may perform a pressing operation on the touch panel  26 . Hereinafter, this operation is called a panel operation. The touch panel  26  detects a position which is pressed by a finger or a special touch pen etc., and the sewing machine  1  determines the item that corresponds to the detected position. Thus, the sewing machine  1  recognizes the selected item. By performing the panel operation, the user can select a pattern to be sewn or a command to be executed. 
         [0032]    The arm  13  is provided in its top portion with a cover  16  that can be opened and closed. Underneath the cover  16 , that is, approximately in the middle of the arm  13 , a thread container portion  18  is provided that is a recessed portion that may contain a thread spool  20 . A thread spool pin  19  that projects leftward toward the head  14  is provided on an inner side wall on the pillar  12  side of the thread container portion  18 . The thread spool  20  may be mounted in the thread container portion  18  in a state in which the thread spool pin  19  has been inserted into an insertion hole (not shown in the drawings) of the thread spool  20 . 
         [0033]    An upper thread (not shown in the drawings) that is wound around the thread spool  20  may be supplied from the thread spool  20 , through a thread hook portions (not shown in the drawings) that are provided in the head  14 , to the sewing needle  7  that is mounted in the needle bar  6  (refer to  FIG. 2 ). The needle bar  6  may be driven by a needle bar up-and-down moving mechanism (not shown in the drawings) that is provided in the head  14 , such that the needle bar  6  moves up and down. The needle bar up-and-down moving mechanism may be driven by a drive shaft (not shown in the drawings) that may be rotationally driven by a sewing machine motor  79  (refer to  FIG. 3 ). A presser bar  91  extends downward from the bottom end of the head  14 . A presser foot  92  that presses down on the work cloth  100  may be replaceably mounted on the presser bar  91 . A plurality of operation switches, including a start-and-stop switch  32 , are provided in the lower part of the front face of the arm  13 . 
         [0034]    An electrical configuration of the sewing machine  1  will be explained with reference to  FIG. 3 . A control portion  60  of the sewing machine  1  includes a CPU  61 , a ROM  62 , a RAM  63 , an EEPROM  64 , an external access RAM  68 , a card slot  17 , an input interface  65 , and an output interface  66 . These elements are electrically connected to one another by a bus  67 . A plurality of operation switches, including a power supply switch  31  and the start-and-stop switch  32 , are electrically connected to the input interface  65 , as are the touch panel  26  and the like. 
         [0035]    The ROM  62  stores various types of programs for controlling the operation of the sewing machine  1 . The CPU  61  may perform various types of computations and processing in accordance with the programs that are stored in the ROM  62 , temporarily storing various types of data in the RAM  63 . Standard character embroidery data are also stored in the ROM  62 . The standard character embroidery data are data for sewing characters in a standard style as embroidery patterns. The standard character embroidery data may represent an embroidery data of a standard design of a character. Data that indicate needle drop points, which are positions where the sewing needle  7  pierces the work cloth  100 , are also included in the standard character embroidery data. A sewing order, a sewing starting point, and a sewing ending point of an embroidery pattern are also included in the standard character embroidery data. The sewing order, the sewing starting point, and the sewing ending point will be described in detail later. Hereinafter, the sewing order, the sewing starting point, and the sewing ending point are also called setting information. The sewing machine  1  is able to sew characters in the standard style as embroidery patterns, based on the standard character embroidery data. 
         [0036]    The setting information that is included in the standard character embroidery data will be explained with reference to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  shows an embroidery pattern  41  of the alphabetic character “B”. The embroidery pattern  41  of the alphabetic character “B” in  FIG. 4  is an example of an embroidery pattern that is sewn in the work cloth  100  (refer to  FIG. 1 ) based on the standard character embroidery data. The embroidery pattern  41  is sewn by causing the sewing needle  7  to pierce the work cloth  100  at the needle drop points in the order that is indicated by arrows  42 ,  43 . Information that indicates the sewing will be performed in the directions that are shown by the arrows  42 ,  43  and in the order indicated by the arrows  42 ,  43  is equivalent to the sewing order. Information that indicates a starting point  421  and an ending point  422  of the arrow  42  is equivalent to the sewing starting point and the sewing ending point, respectively. In the same manner, information that indicates a starting point  431  and an ending point  432  of the arrow  43  is also equivalent to the sewing starting point and the sewing ending point, respectively. 
         [0037]    The setting information, that is, the sewing order, the sewing starting point, and the sewing ending point, have been adjusted such that an embroidered pattern with high quality can be sewn in the work cloth  100  based on the standard character embroidery data. Specific examples will be explained. Value of the setting information is adjusted such that jump stitches and basting occur as little as possible, or to put it another way, such that the character is sewn, to the extent possible, as if it were written as a single continuous line. Thus the high quality of the embroidered pattern may be ensured. This may prevent the occurrence of boundary lines and differences in the sewing direction within the embroidery pattern. The parameters in the setting information are also adjusted such that the sewing starts and stops on the underside of the standard character, to the extent possible. In a case where embroidery patterns of a character string in which a plurality of the standard characters are combined and sewn, this may prevent jump stitches from passing over the embroidered pattern between the embroidered patterns for the individual characters, thereby ensuring the high quality of the embroidered pattern. It may also minimize the amount of jump stitch removal work the user must do. 
         [0038]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , a memory card  171  can be inserted into the card slot  17 . The CPU  61  is able to acquire, through the external access RAM  68 , information that is stored in the memory card  171 . In the present embodiment, the user may store in the memory card  171  image data which represents an image that contains at least one character in a desired style, in order for the at least one character in the desired style to be sewn as an embroidery pattern by the sewing machine  1 . The at least one character in the desired style may be a character that is handwritten by the user, a character that is prepared in a font of the user&#39;s own devising, or the like. The CPU  61  may acquire the image data that is stored in the memory card  171 . Then the CPU  61  may create embroidery data for sewing, as an embroidery pattern, each of the characters that are contained in the image represented by the image data. The embroidery data may be created based on the setting information that is included in the standard character embroidery data that are stored in the ROM  62 . The method for creating the embroidery data will be described in detail later. The created embroidery data may be stored in the EEPROM  64 . 
         [0039]    Drive circuits  71  to  74 ,  85 , and  86  are electrically connected to the output interface  66 . The drive circuit  71  may drive a feed adjustment pulse motor  78 . The drive circuit  72  may drive a sewing machine motor  79 . The drive circuit  73  may drive a swinging pulse motor  80 . The swinging pulse motor  80  may drive a needle bar swinging mechanism (not shown in the drawings) that swings the needle bar  6 . The feed adjustment pulse motor  78  and the swinging pulse motor  80  are not driven during the sewing of the embroidery pattern. The drive circuit  74  may drive the LCD  15 . The drive circuits  85  and  86  may respectively drive the X axis motor  83  and the Y axis motor  84  for moving the embroidery frame  34 . 
         [0040]    Character acquisition processing and sewing processing that are performed by the sewing machine  1  will be explained with reference to  FIGS. 5 to 15 . The character acquisition processing is processing that creates an embroidery data based on image data of at least one character that is stored in the memory card  171 . The sewing processing is processing that performs the sewing of an embroidery pattern based on the created embroidery data. Hereinafter, each type of processing will be explained in detail. 
         [0041]    The character acquisition processing will be explained with reference to  FIGS. 5 and 6 . The character acquisition processing is started by the launching of a character acquisition processing program that is stored in the ROM  62 , the program being launched in a case where the memory card  171  has been inserted into the card slot  17 . The character acquisition processing in  FIGS. 5 and 6  is performed by the executing of the program by the CPU  61 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , first, the image data that is stored in the memory card  171  is acquired (Step S 11 ). The acquired image data is stored in the RAM  63 . In the explanation that follows, which references  FIGS. 7 to 10 , an example will be used in which image data of an image  50  shown in  FIG. 7  is acquired and stored in the RAM  63 . The image  50  contains ten characters  51  (a character  51 A, a character  51 B, a character  51 C, a character  51 D, a character  51 E, a character  51 F, a character  51 G, a character  51 H, a character  51 I, and a character  51 J) that were handwritten by the user. Note that the characters  51  include an Arabic numeral, plus Japanese hiragana and kanji character. 
         [0042]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , the image data of the image  50  (refer to  FIG. 7 ) that is stored in the RAM  63  is converted into binary image data of a binary image  70  (refer to  FIG. 8 ) in order for the characters  51  (refer to  FIG. 7 ) that are contained in the image  50  to be recognized (Step S 13 ). Various types of known methods can be used as the method for converting the image data of the image  50  into the binary image data of the image  70 . For example, a method that binarizes according to a threshold value can be used. Other examples of methods that can be used include a random dither method and an error diffusion method. Converting the image data of the image  50  into the binary image data of the image  70  makes the differences in the gray levels clearer between the areas where the characters  51  are and the areas outside the characters  51 , so it makes the characters  51  that are contained in the image  50  easier to recognize. 
         [0043]    The characters  51  that are contained in the binary image  70  (refer to  FIG. 8 ) are recognized by using a known character recognition method. The regions in which the characters  51  are respectively drawn in the binary image  70  are specified for each individual character  51  (Step S 15 ). Pattern matching by a superposition technique, for example, can be used as the known character recognition method. A rectangle  52  (refer to  FIG. 8 ) is defined that is the smallest rectangle that encloses on all sides the region in which the individual character  51  is drawn. One of the regions in which one of the characters  51  is drawn is extracted from the binary image  70  according to the outline of the defined rectangle  52 , and image data of the extracted region is stored in the RAM  63  (Step S 17 ). Hereinafter, the design that indicates the image data of the extracted individual character will also be called a character design  53  (refer to  FIG. 8 ). Note that because the rectangle  52  is the smallest rectangle that encloses on all sides the region in which the individual character  51  is drawn, cases may occur in which the vertical length and the horizontal length of the individual character design  53  are different, as shown in  FIG. 8 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , a determination is made as to whether the extracting of the character design  53  and storing the image data of the extracted character design  53  in the RAM  63  have been carried out for all of the characters  51  that are contained in the binary image  70  (Step S 19 ). In a case where a characters  51  remains for which the extracting of the character design  53  and its storing in the RAM  63  have not been carried out (NO at Step S 19 ), the processing returns to Step S 17 . The processing at Step S 17  is repeated for the remaining character  51 . 
         [0044]    In a case where the extracting and storing have been completed for all of the characters  51  that are contained in the binary image  70  (YES at Step S 19 ), the image data of the first one of the plurality of character designs  53  that have been stored in the RAM  63  is selected, as shown in  FIG. 6 . A character design  55  (refer to  FIG. 9 ) is produced by making the lengths of the short sides of the rectangular character design  53  equal to the lengths of the long sides of the character design  53  (Step S 21 ). In other words the character design  55  is produced by redefining the character design  53  in accordance with a square  54  (refer to  FIG. 9 ), each of whose sides is equal to the long side of the rectangle  52  that was defined by the processing at Step S 17 . The short sides of the rectangular character design  53  are lengthened equally, either toward the top and bottom or toward the left and right, so the character  51  that is contained in the character design  55  is positioned in the center of the square  54 . The shape of the character  51  that is contained in the character design  53  and the character design  55  is not changed. 
         [0045]    The size of the character design  55  is adjusted. Specifically, in a case where the length of one side of the square  54  that contains the character design  55  is not a specified value, the character design  55  is one of enlarged and shrunk such that the length of one side of the square  54  becomes the specified value (Step S 23 ). The character design  55  whose size has been adjusted is then redefined as a character design  56  (refer to  FIG. 10 ). Because the size of the character design  55  is one of enlarged and shrunk, the size of the character  51  that is contained in the character design  55  is also changed accordingly. Thus the character design  56  thus produced has the same size as the other character designs  56  that are respectively produced from all the other character designs  55 . Note that in a case where the length of one side of the square  54  that contains the character design  55  is the specified value, the size of the character design  55  is not changed, and the unchanged character design  55  is redefined as the character design  56 . 
         [0046]    The character  51  that is contained in the character design  56  is recognized by a known character recognition method, and the type of the character  51  is specified (Step S 25 ). Pattern matching by feature extraction, for example, can be used as the known character recognition method. The specified character is compared to a standard character that is sewn according to the standard character embroidery data that are stored in the ROM  62  (Step S 27 ). A determination is made as to whether the standard character embroidery data for a character that is the same as the specified character are stored in the ROM  62  (Step S 29 ). In the present example, a determination is made as to whether the standard character embroidery data are stored in the ROM  62  for a character that is the same as whichever one of the character  51 A, the character  51 B, the character  51 C, the character  51 D, the character  51 E, the character  51 F, the character  51 G, the character  51 H, the character  51 I, and the character  51 J (refer to  FIG. 7 ) is currently being processed. 
         [0047]    In a case where the standard character embroidery data for the same character that is the same as the specified character are not stored in the ROM  62  (NO at Step S 29 ), the image data of the character design  56  is converted using a known conversion technology, and the embroidery data for sewing the character design  56  as an embroidery pattern are created (Step S 33 ). The embroidery data for the character design  56  are stored in the EEPROM  64  (Step S 35 ). The processing advances to Step S 37 . 
         [0048]    The embroidery pattern that is sewn based on the embroidery data that have been created using the known conversion technology will be explained. With the known conversion technology, a character is ordinarily divided into block units. The setting information (the sewing order, the sewing starting point, and the sewing ending point) that is included in the embroidery data is set such that the sewing will be performed with adjacent blocks being taken into account. The blocks are sections into which the character is divided by curving portions. That means that even where it is possible to sew the character as if it were written as a single continuous line, in many cases the character is actually sewn in part. Therefore, cases may occur in which the quality of the embroidered pattern is affected by differences in the sewing direction and boundary lines that are formed within the character. Furthermore, with the known conversion technology, the sewing starting point and the sewing ending point are set such that the sewing is started at the upper left of the character, and the sewing ends at any chosen point in the character. Therefore, a case may occur in which a jump stitch passes over the embroidered character. 
         [0049]      FIG. 11  shows an embroidery pattern  44  of the alphabetic character “B” as an example of an embroidery pattern that is sewn based on the embroidery data that have been created using the known conversion technology. The embroidery pattern  44  is sewn by causing the sewing needle  7  to pierce the work cloth  100  at the needle drop points in the order that is indicated by arrows  45 ,  46 , which is based on the sewing order that is contained in the embroidery data. Values are set that indicate positions of a starting point  451  of the arrow  45  and a starting point  461  of the arrow  46  as the sewing starting points. In the same manner, values are set that indicate positions of an ending point  452  of the arrow  45  and an ending point  462  of the arrow  46  as the sewing ending points. Unlike the embroidery pattern  41  of the alphabetic character “B” (refer to  FIG. 4 ), which is sewn based on the standard character embroidery data, the embroidery pattern  44  is divided at the position where the ending point  452  of the arrow  45  and the ending point  462  of the arrow  46  meet. A boundary line is therefore formed at that position. Furthermore, because the ending point  462  of the arrow  46  is positioned higher than the bottom edge of the character, in a case where embroidery patterns are sewn in which a plurality of characters are combined with the alphabetic character “B” to form a character string, a jump stitch between the embroidered patterns for the individual characters may pass over the embroidered pattern. 
         [0050]    On the other hand, as shown in  FIG. 6 , in a case where the standard character embroidery data for the same character as that of the character that was specified are stored in the ROM  62  at Step S 25  (YES at Step S 29 ), the embroidery data for sewing the character design  56  as an embroidery pattern are created based on the setting information that is included in the standard character embroidery data (Step S 31 ). Specifically, the setting information that is included in the embroidery data that are created is almost equal to the setting information that is included in the standard character embroidery data. Therefore, in a case where the sewing is performed based on the created embroidery data, the sewing order, the sewing starting point, and the sewing ending point respectively match the sewing order, the sewing starting point, and the sewing ending point that are included in the standard character embroidery data. As was explained with reference to  FIG. 4 , the setting information (the sewing order, the sewing starting point, and the sewing ending point) that is included in the standard character embroidery data have been adjusted such that the high quality embroidered pattern can be sewn in the work cloth  100  based on the standard character embroidery data. Therefore, in a case where the embroidery data is created based on the setting information that is included in the standard character embroidery data, the embroidery data make it possible for the character design  56  to be sewn as an embroidered pattern with high quality. The embroidery data that are created for the individual character are stored in the EEPROM  64  (Step S 35 ). The processing advances to Step S 37 . 
         [0051]    At Step S 37 , a determination is made as to whether the processing at Steps S 21  to S 35  has been performed for all image data of character designs  53  that were stored in the RAM  63  at Step S 17  (refer to  FIG. 5 ) (Step S 37 ). In a case where image data of a character design  53  remains in the RAM  63  for which the processing has not been performed (NO at Step S 37 ), the processing returns to Step S 21 . In a case where the processing has been performed for all image data of character designs  53  were stored in the RAM  63  (YES at Step S 37 ), the embroidery data for sewing as embroidery patterns all of the characters  51  that are contained in the image  50  have been created character by character. The character acquisition processing is terminated. 
         [0052]    The sewing processing will be explained with reference to  FIG. 12 . An explanation will be given below, using a case in which the user first creates a character string in which the character designs  56  (refer to  FIG. 10 ) that were acquired by the sewing machine  1  in the character acquisition processing (refer to  FIGS. 5 and 6 ), are arranged in a desired order, and then sew the character string in the work cloth  100  as an embroidery pattern. The sewing processing is started by the launching of a sewing processing program that is stored in the ROM  62 , the program being launched in a case where a command to perform sewing of an embroidery pattern is input by the user through the touch panel  26  (refer to  FIG. 1 ). The sewing processing is performed by the executing of the program by the CPU  61 . 
         [0053]    First, in a case where the user&#39;s desired character string is input through the touch panel  26 , the input character string is accepted (Step S 41 ). The characters that are included in the accepted character string are specified. The embroidery data for sewing the specified characters as embroidery patterns are selected from among the embroidery data that were stored in the EEPROM  64  at Step S 35  in the character acquisition processing (refer to  FIG. 6 ) (Step S 43 ). For example, the user inputs a character string in which the ten characters  51  (the character  51 A, the character  51 B, the character  51 C, the character  51 D, the character  51 E, the character  51 F, the character  51 G, the character  51 H, the character  51 I, and the character  51 J) that are contained in the image  50  (refer to  FIG. 7 ) are arranged in the same order as in the image  50 . In this case, the embroidery data for sewing, as embroidery patterns, each of the characters  51 A to  51 J that are included in the input character string, respectively, are selected from the EEPROM  64 . 
         [0054]    Next, in a case where the user performs, through the touch panel  26 , an operation that edits the character string, the content of the editing is accepted (Step S 45 ). The content of the editing may include alignment of the characters, adjustment of the embroidery position, rotation, and the like, for example. In accordance with the accepted editing content, edit processing is performed on the embroidery data that were selected at Step S 43  (Step S 45 ). The sewing of the embroidery patterns is performed by controlling the various types of motors based on the edited embroidery data (Step S 47 ). The result, as shown in  FIG. 13 , is that an embroidery pattern  58  is sewn in the work cloth  100 , the embroidery pattern  58  including the character designs  56  (refer to  FIG. 10 ) that were acquired by the character acquisition processing (refer to  FIG. 5 ) and that include the characters  51 A to  51 J. The sewing processing is then terminated. 
         [0055]    Now, another case will be given in which in addition to the image data of the image  50  (refer to  FIG. 7 ), image data of an image that is different from the image  50  has been acquired from the memory card  171  (refer to  FIG. 3 ) in the character acquisition processing (refer to  FIGS. 5 and 6 ). In this case, based on the acquired image data, embroidery data has been created for sewing, as embroidery patterns, character designs  57  that are shown in  FIG. 14 , and that the created embroidery data has been stored in the EEPROM  64 . Thus, the embroidery data for sewing, as embroidery patterns, the character designs  56 , which include the characters  51 A to  51 J (refer to  FIG. 10 ), and the character designs  57 , which include a character  51 K, a character  51 L, a character  51 M, a character  51 N, a character  51 O, and a character  51 P (refer to  FIG. 14 ), have been stored in the EEPROM  64  character by character. 
         [0056]    For example, the character  51 K, the character  51 B, the character  51 L, the character  51 M, the character  51 N, the character  51 O, the character  51 F, the character  51 G, the character  51 H, the character  51 I, and the character  51 P (refer to  FIGS. 10 and 14 ) are accepted at Step S 41  as the character string that the user desires. Of the characters  51 A to  51 J in the character designs  56  (refer to  FIG. 10 ) that were created based on the image data of the image  50 , in this character string, the character  51 A is replaced by the character  51 K, while the character  51 C, the character  51 D, and the character  51 E are replaced by the character  51 L, the character  51 M, the character  51 N, and the character  51 O, and the character  51 J is replaced by the character  51 P. In this sort of case, the embroidery data that correspond to the individual characters that are included in the accepted character string are selected, character by character, from the embroidery data that are stored in the EEPROM  64  (Step S 43 ), and after the edit processing (Step S 45 ), the sewing of the embroidery pattern is performed (Step S 47 ). 
         [0057]    The result, as shown in  FIG. 15 , is that an embroidery pattern  59  is sewn in the work cloth  100 , the embroidery pattern  59  including the character designs  56 ,  57  that were acquired by the character acquisition processing and that include the character  51 K, the character  51 B, the character  51 L, the character  51 M, the character  51 N, the character  51 O, the character  51 F, the character  51 G, the character  51 H, the character  51 I, and the character  51 P. 
         [0058]    As explained above, the sewing machine  1  is able to extract, character by character, the characters  51  that are contained in the acquired image  50  without changing the style of the characters  51  (Step S 17 ), and is able to sew the embroidery patterns for the character designs  56  of the extracted characters  51  (Step S 47 ). Therefore, the user is able to sew an embroidery pattern of a character that is not registered in the sewing machine  1  in advance, such as a character that is handwritten by the user or a character that is prepared in a special font, for example. Because the embroidery data are created character by character (Step S 17 ), the sewing machine  1  is also able to easily sew an embroidery pattern in which a plurality of character designs  56  are combined as the user desires (Steps S 41  to S 47 ). Even in a case where the sizes of the characters that are contained in the image  50  are not uniform, the sewing machine  1  creates the character designs  56  such that the character sizes are the same (Step S 23 ) and creates the embroidery data (Step S 31 ) that make it possible to sew the embroidery pattern. Therefore, in a case where the embroidery pattern that is sewn is of a character string in which a plurality of characters are positioned side by side, the characters can be sewn in a uniform size, so an attractive embroidery pattern that shows unity as a whole can be sewn. Note that the embroidery data are created after the character designs  56  have been adjusted by making the sizes of the character designs  55  uniform. Therefore, the sizes of the embroidery patterns to be sewn can be reliably made uniform. 
         [0059]    The sewing machine  1  is also able to create the embroidery data based on the standard character embroidery data (Step S 31 ), so it is able to sew the embroidery pattern with a good finish. Specifically, the sewing machine  1  is able to make the setting information (the sewing order, the sewing starting point, and the sewing ending point) for the embroidery pattern of the character designs  56  resemble the setting information of the standard character embroidery data. This makes it possible for the sewing machine  1  to sew the embroidery pattern with an even better finish. 
         [0060]    The sewing machine  1  can also create embroidery data of a character string by selecting from the EEPROM  64  (Step S 43 ) the embroidery data for the embroidery patterns of the character designs  56  that were created character by character in accordance with a character string that was input. Therefore, by using the sewing machine  1 , the user can freely create a character string that includes characters in a desired style and can perform the embroidering of the embroidery patterns for that character string. 
         [0061]    Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiment that is described above, and various types of modifications can be made. The sewing machine  1  may also always use a known conversion method to create the embroidery data for sewing the character designs  56  as embroidery patterns, without referring to the standard character embroidery data that are stored in the ROM  62 . The setting information that is included in the standard character embroidery data is not limited to being the sewing order, the sewing starting point, and the sewing ending point. Instead of creating the embroidery data after the sizes of the character designs  56  have been modified, the sewing machine  1  may first create the embroidery data based on the unmodified character designs  56 , then change the embroidery data such that the sizes of the embroidery patterns to be sewn according to the embroidery data are changed. The sewing machine  1  may also acquire the standard character embroidery data from a server or the like to which the sewing machine  1  is connected through a network. 
         [0062]    The present disclosure may also be implemented in an embroidery data creation device that creates the embroidery data. The embroidery data creation device may be configured as a general-purpose computer, for example. In the embroidery data creation device, the embroidery data may be created by the performing of the character acquisition processing (refer to  FIGS. 5 and 6 ). The created embroidery data may be acquired by the sewing machine  1  through the memory card  171  or the like. The sewing machine  1  may perform the sewing of the embroidery pattern based on the acquired embroidery data. 
         [0063]    In the embodiment that is described above, the image data of the image  50  that is stored in the memory card  171  is acquired, and the character designs  56  are extracted. The image data of the image  50  may also be acquired by another method. For example, in a case where the sewing machine  1  is connected to a camera or a scanner, the sewing machine  1  may acquire the image data from the camera or the scanner. In a case where the embroidery data are created in the sewing machine  1  based on a plurality of character designs in which the characters are the same, the sewing machine  1  may also be made such that the user can select the embroidery data that are based on the desired character designs. 
         [0064]    The setting information in the standard character embroidery data may also be made such that the user can adjust it. For example, the sewing machine  1  may be made such that the user can set the setting information in the embroidery data manually in a case where the standard character embroidery data for characters that are the same as the characters in the created character designs have not been stored in the ROM  62 . The sewing machine  1  may also create the embroidery data for sewing the character designs as the embroidery patterns based on the setting information that has been set. 
         [0065]    In a case where the standard character embroidery data for characters that are the same as the characters in the created character designs have not been stored in the ROM  62 , the sewing machine  1  may also create the embroidery data for sewing the character designs as the embroidery patterns based on the setting information that is included in the standard character embroidery data for other characters whose shapes resemble those of the characters in the character designs. 
         [0066]    The apparatus and methods described above with reference to the various embodiments are merely examples. It goes without saying that they are not confined to the depicted embodiments. While various features have been described in conjunction with the examples outlined above, various alternatives, modifications, variations, and/or improvements of those features and/or examples may be possible. Accordingly, the examples, as set forth above, are intended to be illustrative. Various changes may be made without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the underlying principles.