JPH0436305Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Field of industrial application) The present invention is a pen lifting and lowering mechanism in an XY plotter. In an XY plotter equipped with a pen head and a pen holder that holds a pen and is movable up and down on the drawing head, the speed at which the pen held in the drawing head is lowered onto the drawing surface is initially set at a high speed. This invention relates to a lifting mechanism that provides a soft landing by slowing control just before contacting the object.

(Prior art and its problems) In many conventional XY plotters of this type, the pen is raised and lowered directly by a solenoid. However, in this method, the descent of the pen is linked to the operating speed of the solenoid, so the pen hits the drawing surface hard, and the impact may darken or damage only the beginning of the drawn line.

One possible solution to this problem is to provide a speed reduction mechanism between the solenoid and the pen.
In addition, the solenoid must be made larger, and there are other problems such as it takes time to move the pen up and down, slowing down the writing speed. Also, a mechanism has been considered in which the pen is soft-landed on the drawing surface by supplying a control current to a solenoid, but such a mechanism has the disadvantage of requiring a complicated control circuit configuration and increasing costs.

(Technical problem of the invention) The present invention solves the above problems, allows the pen to be lowered quickly with a simple structure, and
The technical problem is to provide a mechanism for lifting and lowering a pen in an XY plotter that allows the pen to be lowered gently just before contacting the drawing surface.

(Means for Solving the Problems) As a means for solving the above problems, the pen lifting mechanism in the XY plotter according to the present invention has the following features:
X over a given range on the given drawing surface,
In an XY plotter, the plotter body is equipped with a plotting head that is controlled to travel in the Y direction, and a pen holder that holds a pen and is held movably up and down on the plotting head, and the plotting head is provided with an operating lever that raises and lowers the pen holder. On the other hand, the plotter main body is provided with a solenoid for raising and lowering the pen, and one end of the first operating wire is fixed to the movable part of the solenoid, and the other end is connected to the outer periphery of a rotating drum rotatably disposed at any position on the plotter main body. At the same time, a second actuating wire connects the end of the actuating lever and a pin installed at an eccentric position of the rotating drum, and the position of the pin is set in the tensioning direction of the second actuating wire. The pen is characterized by being set at a position that is the dead center when the pen descends into contact with the drawing surface.

(Operations and effects of the invention) As described above, according to the invention, when the pen lifting solenoid is activated to start drawing, the movable part pulls the first actuating wire, so that the rotating drum responds to the amount of movement of the movable part. and rotate. At the same time, the pin provided on the rotating drum also rotates, so the second actuating wire is pulled in accordance with the rotational movement of the pin, and its end on the actuating lever side moves forward, and the pen also descends accordingly. This will cause you to touch the drawing screen.

On the other hand, when the pen elevating and lowering solenoid is turned off, the movable part extends, so that the rotating drum, the first actuating wire, and the second actuating wire also operate in the opposite direction, and the pen rises.

By the way, since the second actuating wire is actuated based on the rotation of the pin, its reciprocating operation is not linear but performed in a simple harmonic manner. In the case of simple harmonic motion, the velocity becomes 0 at the dead center at both ends of the stroke. The position of the pin is set in the direction in which the second actuating wire is stretched so that when the pen descends into contact with the drawing surface, it becomes the dead center of the simple harmonic reciprocating operation, so the pen descends. The speed of the pen is close to 0 just before the pen is touched. Therefore, the pen can be lowered quickly, and it can be lowered gently just before it touches the drawing surface.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, symbol A indicates an XY plotter. this
The XY plotter A holds a drawing head 1 that is controlled to move in the X-axis and Y-axis directions over a given drawing surface over a predetermined range, and a pen 2, and is held movably up and down by the drawing head 1. The plotting head 1 is controlled by an X rail 5 disposed in the X-axis direction on the plotter body 4.
An X carriage 6 is provided so as to be able to travel freely along the X
A Y rail 7 is provided for the carriage 6 so that it can run in the Y-axis direction, a drawing head 1 is provided at the tip of the Y rail 7, and the X carriage 6 and Y rail 7 are controlled to run by a control section (not shown). It is carried out using a device that

Note that the travel control of the drawing head in the X-axis and Y-axis directions may be performed by other known devices.

Next, the drawing head 1 is provided with a pen elevating mechanism. This elevating mechanism includes a pair of upper and lower operating pieces 3a, which are formed integrally with the pen holder 3 and extend into a box-shaped frame 8 provided at the tip of the drawing head 1;
3b, and an actuation lever 9 which is pivotally attached to the side wall of the frame body 8 and whose tip is disposed between the actuation pieces 3a and 3b.
, a first actuating wire 11 having one end 11a fixed to a pen elevating solenoid 10 provided on the plotter main body 4, a second actuating wire 12 having one end 12a fixed to the actuating lever 9; 1
and a rotating drum 13 connecting the other ends 11b, 12b of the second actuating wire 12.

The actuating pieces 3a, 3b are supported by a support shaft 14 arranged at the center of the frame 8 and are provided to be movable up and down.
A convex portion 15 is provided at the upper part of the lower actuating piece 3b.

The base of the actuating lever 9 is pivotally attached to the side wall of the frame 8, and its tip is disposed between the actuating pieces 3a and 3b, and is urged by a spring member 16 to rotate upward. There is. On the other hand,
One end 12a of the second actuation wire 12 is fixed to the intermediate portion of the actuation lever 9, and further stretched downward to a roller 17 provided at the tip of the Y rail 7.

One end 11a of the first actuating wire 11 is fixed to a movable portion 10a of a pen elevating solenoid 10 provided at a corner of the plotter main body 4.

The rotating drum 13 is disposed between the movable part 10a of the pen elevating solenoid 10 and the roller 18 provided in the extending direction thereof, and has a small diameter part 13a provided rotatably with respect to the rotating shaft 20 and a small diameter part 13a provided integrally thereon. and a large diameter portion 13b provided in the large diameter portion 13b.
A pin 19 is installed at the eccentric position b.

Free end (other end) 12b of the second actuation wire 12
On the side are the roller 21 of the X-carriage 6 and the roller 1 above.
8 and is further fixed to a pin 19 of the large diameter portion 13b of the rotating drum 13. Note that the second actuating wire 12 may be further divided and connected to the pen used by a spring or the like having a resilient force corresponding to an appropriate writing pressure.

In contrast, the free end 1 of the first actuating wire 11
1b (the other end) is wound around and fixed to the small diameter portion 13a of the rotating drum 13.

By the way, when the movable part 10a of the pen elevating solenoid 10 contracts by a predetermined amount of movement, the rotating drum 13 and pin 19 are also rotated within a certain range by being pulled by the first actuating wire 11. but,
At this time, the amount of rotation of the rotating drum 13 is approximately 1/4 rotation, and the pen holder 3 and pen 2 are in the up state when the rotation starts, and when the rotation ends, the pen holder 3 and the pen 2 descend and come into contact with the drawing surface. is set to. The position of the pin 19 is set at such a position that the pen 2 reaches its dead center when it descends into contact with the drawing surface.

Next, the pen lifting mechanism having the above structure will be explained.

When the pen elevating solenoid 10 is not activated, the actuating lever 9 engages with the lower surface of the upper actuating piece 3a by the spring force of the spring member 16 and is held in the horizontal direction, and the pen holder 3 is held in the pen up position.

On the other hand, when the pen lifting solenoid 10 is activated, the movable part 10a contracts and the first actuating wire 11 is pulled toward the pen lifting solenoid 10, so the rotating drum 13 and pin 19 rotate.
As a result, the second actuation wire 12 is also pulled toward the pen lifting solenoid 10, so the actuation lever 9 rotates downward, and this time the convex portion 15 of the lower actuation piece 3b
, the pen holder 3 is forcibly pushed down, and the pen 2 is brought into contact with the drawing surface.

Conversely, when the pen elevating solenoid 10 is turned off, the movable part 10a extends, and the spring force of the spring member 16 moves the rotating drum 13, the pin 19, the first actuating wire 11, and the second actuating wire 12. Since the operating lever 9 rotates in the opposite direction and returns to its original position, the upper operating piece 3a is also lifted by the operating lever 9, and the pen 2 returns to the up position.

By the way, when the above-mentioned pen is down, rotating drum 1
3 rotates a quarter turn, but the pin 19 pulls the second actuation wire 12 when the pen 2 contacts the drawing surface.
Since the position of the pen is set so that it reaches the dead center, the pen's descending speed will be close to 0 just before that point.
Therefore, the pen 2 can be lowered quickly and can be lowered gently just before it comes into contact with the drawing surface.

That is, the second actuating wire 12 based on the rotation of the pin 19 moves to the dead center P of the stroke as shown in FIG.
It will reciprocate between Q in a simple harmonic manner. Therefore, looking at the relationship between the operating time t of the second actuating wire 12 and the amount of tension, the amount of tension per unit time from leaving the dead center P to reaching the dead center Q is becomes smaller as it approaches the dead center Q. Second
Since the position is set at the dead center Q of the simple harmonic reciprocating operation when the pen 2 descends and contacts the work surface with respect to the direction in which the operating wire 12 is stretched, the position is set at the dead center Q of the simple harmonic reciprocating operation. In this case, the speed of pen 2 becomes close to 0, resulting in a soft landing.

On the other hand, when the pen rises, the pen rises slowly at first, and then quickly rises. Therefore, the pen is brought up and down in a short time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory plan view of the pen lifting mechanism in the XY plotter according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory side view thereof, Fig. 3 is a side view of the drawing head, and Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the second operation. It is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the wire. Symbol A... Drawing head, 2... Pen, 3... Pen holder, 9... Operating lever, 10... Solenoid for pen elevation, 11... First operating wire, 12
...Second actuation wire, 19...Pin, 13...
rotating drum.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A drawing head that is controlled to move in the X and Y directions over a predetermined range on a given drawing surface, a pen holder that holds a pen and is held movably up and down on the drawing head. XY equipped with
In the plotter, the drawing head is provided with an actuation lever for raising and lowering the pen holder, and the plotter main body is provided with a solenoid for raising and lowering the pen, and the other end of a first actuating wire, one end of which is fixed to the movable part of the solenoid, is connected to the plotter. A second actuation wire is wound around and fixed around the outer periphery of a rotary drum that is rotatably disposed at any position on the main body, and is connected between the end of the actuation lever and a pin implanted at an eccentric position on the side surface of the rotary drum. and the position of the pin is set at a position that becomes the dead center when the pen descends and contacts the drawing surface with respect to the tensioning direction of the second actuating wire. mechanism.