JPH057496U - Prota ivy - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] In a plotter equipped with a pen replacement device, the presence or absence of a recording pen is determined without using a sensor. The difference between the final reaching position of the moving-portion pen holder when the pen is present in the pen holding unit whose presence or absence is to be detected and when the pen is not present is detected.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a plotter that forms a desired image using a plurality of recording pens, and more particularly to a method for determining the presence / absence of each recording pen of a pen exchanging device that replaces and uses the plurality of recording pens.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 A so-called pen exchanging device that has a storage pen holder that stores and holds a plurality of recording pens, and a moving pen holder that holds recording pens related to recording Plotters with the are widely used.

In this type of pen exchanging device, which pen holding portion of the storage pen holder holds the recording pen and whether the moving pen holder holds the recording pen are related to each other. It is essential information for smooth exchange. A conventional device of this type is provided with a sensor for detecting whether or not a recording pen is held by a plurality of pen holders of a storage pen holder and a moving pen holder. This sensor detects which pen holder holds the recording pen.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 As described above, each of the conventional devices has a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the recording pen. The present invention has been made in this regard, and provides a method for detecting which pen holding portion holds the recording pen without using a sensor.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 Therefore, in the present invention, the moving unit pen holder selectively exchanges and holds a plurality of pens held by the storing unit pen holder, and the pen is held by the moving unit pen holder in a plotter that creates a predetermined image. A pen contact member for detecting whether or not there is a pen, a storage means that stores in advance the coordinate position of this pen contact member, and the moving part pen holder is abutted against this pen contact member, and the pen is held in this moving part pen holder from its final reaching position. Means for determining whether or not the pen holders of the storage pen holder have stored in advance the coordinate position of each pen holding portion, the moving portion pen holder is abutted against each pen holding portion of the storage pen holder, and its final reaching position Means for determining whether a pen is held in each pen holder of the above-mentioned pen holder Those were.

[0005]

[Action]

 A pen contact member for detecting whether or not the recording pen is held by the moving portion pen holder is provided at a predetermined position within the moving range of the moving portion pen holder of the plotter. When the moving portion pen holder moves toward the pen contact member, the final reaching position is different when the recording pen is held by the moving portion pen holder. The presence or absence of a pen in the moving part pen holder is detected by detecting the difference in the final reaching position.

Regarding whether or not the recording pen is held in each pen holding portion of the storage pen holder, the moving portion pen holder is moved toward each pen holding portion. The final reach position of the moving pen holder varies depending on the presence or absence of the recording pen in each pen holder. As a result, the presence of pens in each pen holder is detected.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are explanatory views relating to a device of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows the overall construction of this plotter, and FIG. FIG. 3 shows the flow of the detection operation of the recording pen held by the plotter.

First, referring to FIG. A recording medium to be recorded is placed on the recording surface 2. A Y bar 3 that moves in the X direction is bridged over the recording surface 2. The Y-bar 3 is provided with a moving-portion pen holder 5 that moves in the Y-direction along the Y-bar 3, and recording can be performed when the recording pen 5 is held by the moving-portion pen holder 5.

A storage pen holder 4 having a plurality of pen holding portions 41 to 44 for holding a plurality of recording pens 61 to 64 is installed at a predetermined position in the moving range of the moving portion pen holder 5. Then, the well-known pen replacement technique is used to perform the operations which are interrelated with the moving portion pen holder 5, and the recording pen 5 is replaced and used for recording when necessary.

Next, a method of detecting the presence / absence of a recording pen in each pen holder will be described with reference to FIG. First, it is detected whether or not the recording pen 6 is held by the pen holding portion of the moving portion pen holder 5. The control means of the apparatus issues a pen presence / absence detection command for the moving portion pen holder 5. The moving part pen holder 5 is a pen contact member of the device (this pen contact member is the holding collar 411 of the first pen holding part 41 of the storing part pen holder 4 in this embodiment. The coordinate values at which this holding collar 411 exists. Is stored in the memory of the device in advance) and is moved at a predetermined speed. As shown in FIG. 2, when the recording pen 6 is held in the pen holding portion of the moving portion pen holder 5, the shaft of the holding recording pen 6 abuts the holding collar 411, so that the moving portion pen holder 5 Stops at a certain position. On the other hand, when the recording pen 6 is not held in the pen holding portion of the moving portion pen holder 5, as compared with the state in which the recording pen 6 is held as described above, the recording pen 6 should be further moved by the shaft of the recording pen 6. You can The detection of the presence / absence of the recording pen of this invention utilizes this difference.

Although not shown, in the apparatus of this embodiment, a servo motor is used as a moving mechanism for the moving portion pen holder 5. As is well known, the movement control using the servo motor is the current position with respect to the target position (in this case, the final reaching position with respect to the pen contact member when the pen holding portion of the moving portion pen holder 5 does not hold the recording pen 6). It operates so that the difference between the positions (the actual position when the moving portion pen holder 5 is moving and this position is constantly monitored by an encoder or the like) becomes zero.

Therefore, when the moving portion pen holder 5 holds the recording pen as shown in FIG. 2, the moving portion pen holder 5 stops before reaching the final reaching position thereof, so that the target position in the device control means is reached. A state occurs in which the amount of deviation between the current position and the current position increases. In this invention, when the above state is reached, it is recognized that the recording pen 6 is held by the moving portion pen holder 5.

The presence / absence of a recording pen in each of the pen holders 41 to 44 of the storage pen holder 4 is similarly detected. In this case, the pen holders 41 to 44 of the storage pen holder 4 are moved toward the pen holders 41 to 44. The movement of the pen holder 5 is controlled. Therefore, the target position (final arrival position) of the moving unit pen holder 5 is the coordinate value of the pen holding unit to be detected. Depending on whether or not this target position is reached, the recording pens of the pen holding units 41 to 44 can be changed. Detect the presence or absence.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the presence / absence detection of the pen of this apparatus. In step 1, a movement command to the target position (final arrival position) of the moving unit pen holder 5 is issued to the pen holding unit (the pen holding unit of the storing unit pen holder 4 or the moving unit pen holder 5) to be detected. In step 2, movement is performed. During this movement, as shown in step 3, the deviation amount between the target position and the current position is constantly checked. If the amount of deviation is normal, it is checked in step 4 whether or not the final reaching position has been reached. If the final reaching position has been reached, in step 5 it is determined that there is no pen. If the final arrival position is not reached in step 4, further movement is performed and the deviation amount is checked. When the deviation amount is different from the normal amount, that is, when the deviation amount increases, it is considered that the movement of the moving portion pen holder 5 hits the recording pen to be detected and is stopped. Then, whether or not the position of the moving-portion pen holder 5 in which the deviation amount has increased in step 5 is the position of the recording pen to be detected is checked by the internal control means in step 6, and it should be. If there is an increase in the place, it is determined that there is a pen, and if not, an error message is issued indicating that there is an abnormal condition.

The actual operation of this device is to detect the pen presence / absence state of each pen holding portion during the so-called initialization operation. For example, when the power is turned on, it is first checked whether or not the recording pen is held by the moving portion pen holder 5, and then the pen holding portions of the storing portion pen holder 4 are sequentially checked. Then, the detection result is stored in the memory of the device and the recording operation is started.

In this case, when the moving portion pen holder 5 is “without pen” and any or all of the pen holders of the storing portion pen holders 4 are “without pen”, the user is notified to that effect. It can also be configured to output as a message. Further, when all the pen holding portions of the moving portion pen holder 5 and the storing portion pen holder 4 are "with pen", it can be configured to notify that an error has occurred.

[0017]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to this invention, the presence or absence of the recording pen of the plotter can be detected without using a sensor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall configuration of a plotter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a pen presence / absence detection method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an operation of pen presence / absence detection of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4: Storage part pen holder 5: Moving part pen holder

Claims (1)

Claims for utility model registration: Claims: 1. A plotter that selectively exchanges and holds a plurality of pens held by a pen holder in a storage unit to create a predetermined image. A pen contact member for detecting whether or not the pen is held, a storage means that stores in advance the coordinate position of this pen contact member, a moving portion pen holder is abutted against this pen contact member, and this moving portion pen holder is reached from its final reaching position. Means for determining whether or not a pen is held in the storage section, storage means for storing in advance the coordinate position of each pen holding section of the storage section pen holder, and the moving section pen holder being pressed against each pen holding section of the storage section pen holder. Means for determining whether or not a pen is held in each pen holding portion of the storage pen holder from the final reaching position, Plotter with and.