JPH0672095A - Xy-plotter with multiple pens - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To easily correct the amount of pen misalignment in a short time [Configuration] This multi-pen XY plotter draws a line segment for each pen based on the signal generated by the pattern generator Means, a means for reading in a direction across the drawn line segment, and a means for storing the difference between the position of the line segment read by the reading means and the theoretical position, and the difference is recorded every time the pen is replaced. Try to correct it.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-pen plotter device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional multi-pen XY plotter device, based on a signal generated from a pattern generator, first, a reference pen (first pen) produces an '"' pattern as shown in FIG. ) (7 in this example)
7), and then, as shown in FIG. 7, “” is drawn with the reference pen while sequentially changing the second pen to (the number of pens-1) pens (up to the 8th pen). Draw with coordinate values that match. The deviation amounts in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction at the corners of the drawing drawn in this way are measured using a magnifying glass, etc., and the values are input from the operation panel of the plotter device, stored and stored in the pen. At the time of replacement, the pen movement coordinate control was performed according to the correction amount.

[0003]

However, in such a method, the amount of deviation in the drawn figure is measured manually, and the measured value varies from person to person. Therefore, even if the amount of deviation is corrected, the lines exchanged with the pen may not exactly overlap. Further, as described above, it is troublesome to manually perform the correction, and the work time for the correction is long, which is not preferable.

[0004]

According to the present invention, a means for drawing a line segment for each pen on the basis of a signal generated by a pattern generator, a means for reading in a direction crossing the drawn line segment, and a reading means for reading the line segment are provided. Provided is a multi-pen XY plotter device characterized by comprising a means for storing the difference between the position of the created line segment and the theoretical position and correcting the difference each time the pen is replaced. For example, a pen drive unit, which is a drawing machine, is equipped with a line segment reading sensor,
The pattern diagram generated by the pattern generator is automatically read by this sensor, the deviation amount of each pen is obtained by this, and this deviation amount is stored in the memory as a correction value.

[0005]

[Operation] By doing in this way, the measurement of the correction amount,
It is possible to automate the input and the memory and perform the accurate correction of the pen replacement with no individual difference in a short time.

[0006]

1 shows the basic structure of a multi-pen type XY plotter device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a device 10 moves a part 12 on which a sheet is placed and an X direction on this part. An arm 13a, a carriage guide 13b incorporated on the arm, a pen head 14 that moves in the Y direction along the guide, and a pen stock 15 adjacent to the periphery of the paper placing portion 12 are provided. Pens 16 (eight in this example) are installed on the stock. In addition,
Reference numeral 17 is an operation panel.

FIG. 2 shows a control system of a basic system of the apparatus 10. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 is a pen control unit, and the control unit 21 includes a pattern generator 21a related to the present invention and a memory. 21b etc. are built in. Reference numeral 22 is a sensor characterized by the present invention. The sensor 22 is attached to a part of a frame 24a of a pen drive unit (drawing machine) 23 of the pen head 14 shown in FIG. It is composed of an optical sensor such as a photocoupler, and performs an operation of reading a line segment drawn on a sheet. The pen drive unit 23 is configured to move along the carriage guide 13b incorporated in the arm 13a shown in FIG. Further, 24 is a motor control circuit, 25,
26 is a pen head 1 under the control of this motor control circuit 24.
4 is a motor that rotates so as to move the arm 13a in the X and Y directions, respectively.

Based on such a configuration, the plotter device 10 shown in this embodiment has the step S1 shown in FIG.
Accordingly, the pattern generator 21a of the control unit 21 shown in FIG. 2 generates a line segment pattern as shown in FIG. That is, based on the signal from the pattern generator 21a, first, the first pen is attached to the pen head 14, and the line segment X1 is drawn on the test sheet P.
Pictured above. And this first pen is penstock 15
, The second pen is taken out from the pen stock 15, mounted on the pen head 14, and the line segment X2 is drawn on the test paper P. In this way, the line segments X3 to X8 are drawn on the test paper P by sequentially replacing the third to eighth pens. In this case, the line segments are aligned in the X direction, and the intervals between the line segments are theoretically drawn at the same intervals.

Next, based on the signal from the pattern generator 21a, the line segments Y1 to Y8 aligned in the Y direction are sequentially drawn on the test paper P using the first pen to the eighth pen. Also in this case, the line segments are aligned in the Y direction,
The intervals between the line segments are theoretically drawn at the same intervals.

Next, in step S2 of FIG. 6, the pen head 14 is moved from the XA position to the XB direction as shown in FIG. 3, and the sensor 22 attached to the pen head 14 is sequentially moved in the direction of the arrow. The pattern coordinates from the first pen to the eighth pen are read. At this time, the sensor 2
When 2 crosses each line segment, the output O of the waveform as shown in FIG.
1 is obtained. The vertical axis of this waveform is the output voltage, and the horizontal axis is the sensor movement direction. Reference numeral 31 indicates the width of each line segment, and the output voltage O1 has a peaked voltage waveform. The output voltage O2 shown in FIG. 5 is a voltage waveform when the sensor 22 is moved from the position of XB to the direction of XA.

That is, theoretically, the peak of the output voltage should be the center coordinate of the line segment width irrespective of the moving direction of the sensor 22, but in reality there is a delay in the moving direction of the sensor 22. The exact center coordinates of the line cannot be obtained. Therefore, in this example, the output voltages O1 and O2 of FIG. 5 obtained by moving in both directions are obtained.
The center of the line segment width is obtained by finding the center between the peaks of. Then, the middle point of the peak value coordinates of the outputs from both directions is recognized as the center of the line width, and the difference from the theoretical value is stored as the correction amount. The same applies to the Y direction, and details are omitted. In this way, the sensor 22 reads the coordinates from the first pen to the eighth pen, obtains the correction amount for the first pen, and stores this in the memory 21b. This operation corresponds to steps S3 and S4 in FIG. This correction amount is read from the memory 21b every time the pen is replaced, and drawing is performed while the pen displacement amount is corrected in consideration of this correction amount.

In this embodiment, the line segment is drawn on the test sheet, but it may be drawn outside the frame of the drawing sheet. Also, the number of pens is not limited to the above-described embodiment, as a matter of course.

Further, in this embodiment, the line segments in the X and Y directions are displayed separately, but they may be arranged in a hook shape as in the conventional case. However, in this case, it is sufficient to form one hook for each pen.

[0014]

As described above, when the multi-pen XY plotter device according to the present invention is used, the pen drive unit is provided with the line segment reading sensor, and the pattern diagram generated by the pattern generator is automatically read by this sensor. Therefore, the deviation amount of each pen is obtained, and the deviation amount is stored in the memory as a correction value.
It is possible to automate the input and the memory and accurately and accurately correct the deviation of the pen replacement without any individual difference.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a multi-pen XY plotter device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a control system of the plotter device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a specific example of the pen head shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an output voltage waveform obtained from a sensor.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a conventional multi-pen XY plotter device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Plotter Device 12 Paper 13a Arm 13b Carriage Guide 14 Pen Head 15 Penstock 16 Pen 17 Operation Panel 21 Pen Control Unit 21a Pattern Generator 21b Memory 22 Sensor 23 Pen Drive Unit 24 Motor Control Unit 24a Frame 25, 26 Motor P Test Paper S1 S4 step

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A means for drawing a line segment for each pen based on a signal generated by a pattern generator, a means for reading in a direction traversing the drawn line segment, and a position and theory of the line segment read by the reading means. A multi-pen XY plotter device characterized in that it is provided with a means for storing a difference from a specific position, and the difference is corrected every time the pen is replaced.