JPH03270996A - Mouse type self-propelling plotter - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] A mouse-type self-propelled plotter that freely runs on a paper surface wirelessly and plots based on given data. Aimed at running and plotting line drawings.

A plotter that receives data from a host computer and plots line drawings on paper has a mouse body equipped with a roller that can freely rotate five times, and the mouse wirelessly transmits and receives data to and from a transmitting and receiving device installed on the host computer. a transmitting/receiving device, a running angle adjustment mechanism for adjusting the running angle of the roller; 5 a rotary drive mechanism for controlling the running of the roller; and 5 a plotting mechanism for plotting on a sheet of paper.
The running angle adjustment mechanism includes a one-rotation drive mechanism and a mouse control unit that sends control signals to the front and back mechanisms.

It is configured to run on any paper and plot line drawings wirelessly.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention can move freely on the paper surface wirelessly.

This invention relates to a mouse-type self-propelled plotter that plots based on given data.

Plotters that can plot line drawings on any size paper, not limited to standard paper sizes, are becoming desirable.

[Conventional technology]

X-Y plotters and the like have been well known as line drawing devices.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Conventional X-Y plotters have drawbacks such as being large, being limited to paper sizes of specified formats, requiring time and effort to produce cents, and limiting the range of activities that can be plotted. Ta.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and provides a mouse-type self-propelled plotter that can print line drawings by freely self-propelled on paper wirelessly according to instructions from a host computer. It is intended to.

[Means to solve the problem]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is the mouse body, which runs freely on the paper and plots line drawings, and 2 is the host computer, which sends and receives data to and from the mouse body 1.
3 is a transmitting/receiving device that transmits and receives data to wirelessly operate the mouse body l; 4 is a mouse control unit;
It analyzes the data sent from the host computer 2 via the transmitting/receiving device 3 and creates control signals such as the running direction, running distance, and plot of the mouse body I.
Check the current state of mouse body 1,
A device 5 that creates data to be transmitted to the host computer 2 via the transmission/reception bag W3 is a running angle adjustment mechanism, which receives a control signal from the mouse control unit 4 and determines the angle at which the mouse body l should run; is a rotational drive mechanism,
A device receives a control signal from a mouse control unit 4 and moves the mouse body l by a predetermined distance. 8 is a roller that causes the mouse body l to move one rotation.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a transmitting/receiving device, which is provided on the host computer 2 side.

[Effect]

Control signals for one rotation of the running angle and the plot for controlling the mouse body 1 are transmitted as data from the host computer 2 to the mouse body 1 wirelessly via the transmitting/receiving device 9. The data of each control signal is received by the transmitting/receiving device 3, and converted by the mouse control unit 4 into control signals for one rotation of the running angle and fronto. When the mouse body 1 receives each of these control signals, the running angle adjusting mechanism 51 and the rotation drive machine side 6 actuate the roller 8, the mouse body 1 travels to the position to be plotted, and the plotting mechanism 7 moves to the position where plotting is to be performed. Plot by position. Since the mouse body 1 operates in accordance with the data sent from the host computer 2 side, a line drawing is plotted simply by placing the mouse body 1 on the paper.

〔Example〕

FIG. 2 is a side view of the mouse-type self-propelled plotter according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 shows its bottom view.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, a light-emitting and light-receiving device 11 is provided on the surface of the mouse body 1, and data is exchanged with the host computer 2 through the light-emitting and light-receiving bag Wll. A vertically movable plotting writing instrument 1, for example, a pen 12 is fitted into the center of the mouse body 1, and three rollers 8, which freely run on the surface of a sheet of paper 13, are attached to the back surface thereof.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, these three rollers 8 have a structure in which the running angle and rotation thereof can be freely changed by a steering wheel 14. That is, the steering wheel 14 includes a steering pulley 15 and a roller drive pulley 16. The steering pulley 15 determines the traveling angle of the roller 8, and the roller drive pulley 16 controls the roller through a gear train 45. It is designed to rotate 8. And 3 each steering boo IJ
15. The roller drive pulleys 16 are each fitted with a timing belt 17, 18 and a steering motor 19. They are each driven by a roller rotation motor 20. Therefore, the three rollers 8 are controlled in phase. Further, as these motors 19 and 20, stepping motors, etc. are used.

In addition, in FIG. 5, 21 is the bottom plate of the mouse body l;
2 represents a hair ring, and 23 represents a support.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the plotter mechanism, in which the pen 12 is engaged with a plunger 24 through a holder 25, and the operation of the plunger 24 causes the pen 12 to move up and down. ing.

By appropriately controlling and driving each mechanism shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a desired line drawing can be plotted as described later.

FIG. 7 shows the circuit configuration of an embodiment of the mouse-type self-propelled printer according to the present invention, where symbols 1 to 3°9 correspond to those in FIG. 1, and 19 and 20 correspond to those in FIG. 4. Compatible. 31 is an interface buffer, 32 is a self-propelled mouse device controller, 33 is a roller drive driver, 34 is a steering driver, 35 is a sensor unit 36 is a pen up/down driver, 37 is a solenoid, and 38 is an operation panel. , 39 represents a power supply, 40 represents a host processor device, and 41 represents a self-running mouse controller.

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the self-propelled mouse controller shown in FIG. 7, where 9 corresponds to that in FIG. 1, and 40 and 41 correspond to those in FIG. There is. code 4
2 represents an interface buffer processor, and 43 represents a roller drive processor 44 a steering angle processor.

When drawing a line drawing on the mouse body 1, data for adjusting the size of the paper 13 on which the drawing is to be made is transmitted by infrared rays from the host computer 2 side to the mouse body 1 via the transmitting/receiving device 9.

This inquiry data is received by the transmitting/receiving device 3 of one example of the mouse body, and inputted to the self-running mouse device controller 32 via the interface buffer 31.

The self-propelled mouse device controller 32 sends signals to the roller drive driver 33 and the steering drive driver 34 to drive the roller rotation motor 20 and the steering motor 19, and the paper 13 from the sensor section 35 is
The size of the paper 13 is measured while detecting the edge of the paper 13.

The data on the size of the sheet 13 obtained in this way is stored in the interface buffer 31. It is transmitted to the host computer 2 side via the transmitting/receiving device 3 by infrared rays. Based on the transmitted size data of the paper 13, the host processor device 40 on the host computer 2 side determines the position 1, for example, the center of the line drawing to be plotted, and then plots the entire line drawing. The data of the e and vp images determined as to whether they can be plotted on the paper 13 are sequentially sent to the free-running mouse controller 41 via the R3232C cable.

When it is determined that the entire line drawing will not be plotted on the paper, the host computer 2 displays a message to that effect.

Alternatively, when the line drawing is scaled down and plotted according to an external instruction, the data after the line drawing is scaled down by a specified magnification is sequentially sent to the free-running mouse controller 41 via the R323C cable.

Based on the data sequentially sent from the host processor device 40, the interface buffer processor 42
Each data is sent to the roller drive processor 43 and the steering angle processor 44, and the roller rotation motor 20. Signals for driving the steering motor 19 are sent out at respective timings. At this time, the relevant interface
Up and down signals for causing the pen 12 to plot are sent from the buffer processor 42 to the transmitting/receiving device 9.

The transmitting/receiving device 9 sends the data of these signals to the mouse body 1 by infrared rays using a transmission method such as multiplexing.
The data of these signals is received by the transmitting/receiving device 3 on the side. This received data is sent to interface buffer 3.
1. The self-running mouse device controller 32 analyzes each data and sends it to the 0-ra drive driver 33.
Each signal is sent to the steering drive driver 34 and pen up/down driver 36 at respective timings.

The roller drive driver 33 sends a drive signal to the roller rotation motor 20 to rotate the roller 8 by an amount corresponding to the drive signal, and the steering drive driver 34
sends the drive signal to the steering motor 19, and changes the running angle of the roller 8 by an amount corresponding to the drive signal. Also pen amp down driver 36
sends a control signal to the solenoid 37, and controls the up and down movement of the pen 12 according to the control content of the control signal.

Roller drive driver 33 and steering drive driver 3
4 and 4 to the self-propelled mouse device controller 32 respectively, which indicates where the mouse body 1 is currently located relative to the center position of the paper 13, that is, where the roller rotation motor 20 and the steering motor 19 are located. The system determines the exact position to be plotted by checking the data signal and matching it with the received data signal.

The operation panel 38 is provided to initialize each circuit and control section in the mouse body 1.
For example, when the mouse body l is not controlled despite data transmission from the host computer 2 side,
It is used to clear, initialize, and return to the initial state.

FIG. 9 shows an explanatory diagram of the movement of the roller and the plotting position when a circle is plotted using the mouse-type self-propelled bronchus according to the present invention.

In the figure, 1 to I (=A) are plots made by the pen 12, and IA to II represent each movement of the mouse body 1. However, IA to lI representing each movement of the mouse body 1 are roller 8-1.112.8-3.
In order to make it easier to understand the various states of the steering wheel 14 (the movement of the steering wheel 14 is indicated by the arrows displayed near the rollers 8-1, 8-2, and 8-3), plots A to 1 are enlarged to the outside for clarification. ing.

As shown in the figure, a perfect circle can be drawn by rotating the steering wheel 14 and operating the three rollers 8-1.8-2.8-3 at the same speed. The number of plot points on the mouse body l is 8, but by increasing the number of plot points to 16.32 degrees, etc., a smoother circle can be drawn.

By appropriately controlling the steering wheel 14 and the three rollers 8 in this way, any line drawing can be drawn by the host computer 2.
It is understood that plotting data from the side.

In addition, when the line drawing changes suddenly (1), for example, to control the mouse body 1 in a right-angled direction or a turn almost inverted, the mouse body 1 is raised around the pen 12 and rotated by the amount corresponding to the data. If you do this, the drawing speed will be faster.

In the above explanation, the transmitting/receiving device 3.9 is used to transmit and receive data using infrared rays, but the point is that any means that can wirelessly transmit and receive data between the mouse main body l and the computer 2 can be used. Needless to say, any other means may be used, and wireless may also be used.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, simply by placing the mouse body on a sheet of paper and sequentially sending data from the host computer side, the mouse body moves to a predetermined position and plots. A line drawing is drawn.

Since the format of the paper is free, any type of paper can be used as in the past, and there is no need to set the paper again.

If you use a small host computer, you can carry it anywhere and use it, and it is most effective for drawing diagrams that do not require high precision, such as illustrations.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 shows the basic configuration of a mouse-type self-propelled plotter according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the mouse-type self-propelled plotter according to the present invention, Fig. 3 is a bottom view thereof, and Fig. 4 shows the steering and rollers. An explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the drive. FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of an embodiment of the steering. FIG. 6 is an illustration of an embodiment of the plotter mechanism.
The figure shows the circuit configuration of an embodiment of the mouse-type self-propelled plotter according to the present invention. FIG. 8 shows the circuit configuration of an embodiment of the self-propelled mouse controller of FIG. 7. Figure 10 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of steering and roller drive, and Figure 11 is another implementation of the steering used in Figure 1O. An example structure diagram is shown. In the figure, 1 is the mouse body, 2 is a host computer, 3 is a transmitting/receiving device, 4 is a mouse control unit, 5 is a running angle adjustment mechanism, 6 is a rotary drive mechanism, 7 is a plotting mechanism, 8 is a roller,
Reference numeral 9 represents a transmitting/receiving device 512 as a pen, and 14 represents a steering wheel.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plotter that receives data from a host computer (2) and plots line drawings on paper, comprising: a mouse body (1) equipped with a rotatable roller (8); is a transmitting/receiving device (
9) and a transmitting/receiving device (
3) and a running angle adjustment mechanism (which adjusts the running angle of the roller (8)).
5), a rotational drive mechanism (6) that controls the running of the roller (8), a plotting mechanism (7) that plots on paper, the running angle adjustment mechanism (5), the rotational drive mechanism (6), and the plotter. It is equipped with a mouse control unit (4) that sends control signals to the mechanism (7), and receives data sent from the host computer (2) side, and plots line drawings by moving on any paper. A mouse-type self-propelled plotter.