JPS6251497A - Drawing device - 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 - Industrial Application Field 1. The present invention relates to a drawing device such as an X-Y plotter or a drawing machine.

1. Prior Art 1. As is well known, a conventional multi-pen type X-Y plotter has a guide shaft 1 which is sent in the direction of arrow X in response to an input signal, as shown in FIG. is supported movably in the Y direction, and the pen storage section 3 of the device main body 3
A selected one of the recording pens P (for example, an ink pen, a felt-tip pen, a water-based ballpoint pen, and a scribe pen) located at position a is picked up by the pen carriage 2, and the pen carriage 2 is driven in the X-Y direction to the recording start position, The pen up-down control device provided in the pen carriage 2 causes the pen to come into contact with the writing surface (pen down), and the pen carriage 2
Recording is performed on the writing surface by moving the pen in the X-Y direction according to the drawn figure and moving the pen away from the writing surface (pen up) as necessary.

The pen carriage 2 has a configuration shown in FIG. 7, for example.

The pen carriage body 11 is driven in the Y-axis direction along a guide shaft 12, and on this pen carriage body 11 is a pen holder 14 that is driven in the Z-axis direction (pen up/down direction) by a sliding shaft 13. provided. Pen holding part 1
4 has a drive coil 15 between a pair of plate-shaped permanent magnets 18A and 1111B on the pen carriage main body 11, and is configured to obtain a driving force in the pen-down direction by energizing the drive coil 15. Further, the pen holding portion 14 is provided with a pen holding claw 18 that protrudes from the pen carriage main body 11 and clamps the recording pen 17, and holds the recording pen 17. 19 is recording paper.

In such a plotting apparatus such as a multi-pen XY plotter that plots by replacing the recording pen, the center of the pen tip of the recording pen exchanged and held in the pen carriage may be misaligned. This is caused by deformation of the pen tip or eccentricity of the pen tip relative to the center of the pen barrel.

When replacing a pen during drawing, there is a problem that the drawing point may be shifted or the position of the drawn figure may be misaligned.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, conventionally, before starting drawing, line segments are measured in the x and y directions at equal intervals using a recording pen as a reference, as shown in FIG. , lY, and use the same X and Y coordinate data as each line segment and X, JIY to draw the line segment Lx+"Lxn+LYI~L
yn, and as shown in the enlarged view in Figure 9, line segment 1x,
Line segment LXI to Lxn* LYI”Ly for lv position
The positional deviation of n in the x and y directions as error values ΔXn and 8Yn is actually measured using a looper, etc. for each recording pen, and each error value is registered in the plotting device as position correction data. The coordinates of the pen carriage are corrected based on the pen position correction data.

Therefore, conventionally, in order to print without positional deviation between recording pens, an error value Δxn is required for each recording pen.

It is necessary to read ΔYn and input position correction data, and these operations consume ink in the recording pen and are required every time a new pen is replaced. This reduces the efficiency of drawing work and makes it difficult to perform continuous automatic work with high precision. It was meant to be difficult.

1. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 1. In view of the conventional problems as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a drawing device that can automatically correct the center position deviation of the pen tip of each recording pen with high precision. .

1. Structure of the Invention 1. The present invention includes a pen and a pen carriage equipped with a rotation stop that prevents the pen from rotating freely when replacing the pen, and a pen carriage that holds the pen carriage while moving the pen carriage in the X-Y direction according to coordinate data. A drawing device that draws a drawing on a recording paper using a recording pen that uses a line segment sensor that is provided in the pen carrier and detects a line drawn on the recording paper by movement of the pen carriage, and predetermined drawing coordinate data. After drawing a line segment with the recording pen, the pen tip position shift of the recording pen is determined from the difference between the coordinate data when the line segment sensor detects the line segment by movement of the pen carriage and the drawing coordinate data. The present invention is characterized by comprising a correction control means for determining the amount of positional deviation and correcting coordinate data drawn by the recording pen using the amount of positional deviation.

-Embodiment- Fig. 1 is a control circuit diagram of a multi-pen XY plotter showing an embodiment of the present invention.

MPU21. ROM22. RAM23. A microprocessor including an input/output circuit 24 takes in drawing data DATA via the input/output circuit 24, and according to this data provides X-direction position coordinate data to the motor drive circuit 25, and Y-direction coordinate data to the motor drive circuit 2B. The motor drive circuit 25.28 gives the position coordinate data of
drive the pulse motors 27 and 28, respectively, to move the aforementioned pen carriage in accordance with the drawing data and to change the pen in accordance with the designation of the pen type used for drawing. Also,
The microprocessor raises the pen according to the drawing data.
A down control signal UP/DOWN is given to the pen drive circuit 29, and in accordance with this control signal, the pen drive circuit 29 supplies a current in the down direction to the drive coil 15 described above, and the pen holding portion is moved! 4 in the pen down direction.

In such a microprocessor-based pen movement, exchange, and up/down control device, a pen discriminator 30 is connected to the input/output circuit 24, and a line sensor 31 is connected via a sensor amplifier 32. The pen discriminator 30 is for discriminating the pen on the replaced pen carriage. For example, as shown in FIG. Coded colored tape 17a, 171) identifying etc.
, 17c, and the colored tapes 17a, 17b of the pen 17 picked up by the pen holder 14,
The pen discriminator 30 optically detects the portion 17c to obtain pen discrimination code data associated with the pen 17.

Further, when the recording pen rotates due to an increase in the frequency of replacing the recording pen, an error occurs between the detected pen tip positional deviation amount and the actual positional deviation amount. This error can be eliminated by attaching a rotation stopper tip 20 to the recording pen 17 in advance, as shown in FIG. 2, so that the pen holding tab is held at a constant rotational position. That is, since the rotation stopper chip 20 has a flat surface on the back surface that can come into contact with the flat surface of the base of the pen holding claw 18, the relationship of the rotational direction of the recording pen 17 with respect to the pen holding claw 18 is changed due to the contact between these flat surfaces. Identify.

As shown in FIG. 2, the line sensor 31 is provided on the pen carriage main body 11, and has a light emitting source 31A that irradiates a recording paper surface with a spot light and a light receiver 31B that detects the amount of reflected light of the spot light. The presence or absence of a line segment drawn on the recording paper 19 by the recording pen 17 is detected based on the voltage signal level as a difference in light reflectance from the recording paper surface.

Such a pen discriminator 30 and line segment sensor 3! is used for pen tip misalignment correction control by the microprosser.

Correction control by the microprocessor will be explained in detail below.

First, in response to a switch 33 for starting pen tip positional deviation correction control or a processing command before starting drawing, the MPU 21 controls drawing a predetermined test pattern as shown in FIG. 3 while exchanging pens. X l l L y
1 is drawing with an ink pen, LX2. LY2 is drawn with a water-based ballpoint pen, and LXn + LYn is drawn with a felt-tip pen, and these line segments are drawn using coordinate data at appropriate intervals (equal intervals in the figure). The position actually drawn by the above-described drawing control is a coordinate value that is shifted by the pen tip position shift of each recording pen with respect to the coordinate data position for drawing.

After the line segment drawing control described above, the microprocessor uses the line segment sensor 31 to automatically detect the pen tip position shift amount (error amount) of each recording pen. For this control, the pen carrier 2 is moved in the direction across the test pattern shown in the third prisoner, and each line segment Lx+ -Lxn, LYI -Lv
n is determined from the pen carriage coordinate value detected by the line segment sensor 31.

Figure 4 shows the control flow for automatic error detection, and shows the line segment L
This is a case where the amount of deviation in the X-axis direction of x+"Lxn is detected. After setting the line segment number N to the numerical value "1" (step S1), the microprocessor detects the position that deviates from the coordinates of the line segment LX+"'Lxn. Line sensor 31 is located at (point A in Figure 3)
(step S2) and store the output level of the line sensor 31 at this point A as the current level (step 53) Next, check whether the detection level of the line sensor 31 has changed from the current level. Step 34) If there is no change, add 1 to the current X coordinate value (Step 35)
) and a movement pulse of +1 minute to the motor drive circuit 25.
is given to move the pen carriage from point A in the direction of line segment Lxl''Lxn by one pulse.
The movement control in S6 is performed until a change from the current level appears in the line segment sensor 31, that is, until the line segment sensor 31 detects the line segments LXI to LXn. Line sensor 3
1 (step S4), it is determined whether this level change is at the leading edge or trailing edge of the line segments Lx+ to Lxn (step S7). This determination is made based on whether the output level of the line sensor 31 has become lower or higher than the sensor level stored in step S3.

That is,! As shown in Figure iS5, when the line segment sensor 31 crosses the drawing line segment LXK in the direction of the arrow, the line segment sensor 3
The output level VS of 1 becomes high when crossing the leading edge position of the line segment LX, and returns to a low level from the previous high level when crossing the trailing edge position. This line sensor 31
With respect to the detection level Vs, the microprocessor determines the leading edge and the trailing edge using the threshold level VT)l, and (step S7) sets the coordinate value of the pen carriage at this determination as the leading edge coordinate value. XKF, trailing edge coordinate value XKB
be memorized as . Returning to FIG. 4, when the edge is determined to be the leading edge in step S7, the coordinate value XKF at this time (the coordinate value XIF when the line segment LX is detected) is set to the leading edge of the line segment Lx. Memorize as coordinate values step S8
), the process returns to step S3 and the current detection level of the line segment sensor 31 (the higher level above the line segment Lx) is updated. Thereafter, when the line sensor 31 is sent to the trailing edge position of the line segment LXK in steps 34 to S6, the trailing edge is determined in step S7, and the trailing edge coordinate value XKB at this time is stored (step S9).

Through the processing described above, the center coordinate value xKC of the line segment Lx is obtained from the coordinate values XxF and XkB of the leading edge and trailing edge of the line segment LXK.
is obtained from the following equation (step 5tO).

After finding the center coordinate value XkC of the line segment Lxk, the line segment number N
ti-N+1 (step 5ll), and determine whether the line segment number N has reached the number of line segments LXn (step 51)
2) If the line segment has not been reached, the process returns to step S3 and the detection of the leading edge and trailing edge coordinate values and the calculation of the center coordinate value are repeated for the next line segment.

After repeating such control, the microprocessor calculates the center coordinate value X IC detected for each line segment LXI to L0.
” By finding the difference ΔXn between X n C and the drawing coordinate data set when drawing the line segment,
The amount of pen tip positional deviation in the X-axis direction of the recording pen used to draw n is determined from IL. And this detection data is RA
M23, and when replacing the pen, the pen discriminator 30 identifies the replacement pen, and adds or subtracts the amount of pen tip position deviation corresponding to this identification code as a correction amount to the drawing coordinate data, thereby detecting the pen tip position deviation. Create a diagram without .

Although the positional deviation correction control described above has been explained only in the X-axis direction, the deviation amount ΔYn is similarly calculated for the Y-axis.
The X of the pen used for drawing by correcting both the x and Y axes
, performs drawing without positional deviation in the Y-axis direction.

In addition, in the example, for a recording pen with a thin line width among the recording pens, it was necessary to draw the test pattern shown in FIG.
By performing multiple drawings with the drawing coordinate data slightly shifted so that the line width of the book becomes thicker, accurate detection can be performed even when the resolution of the line sensor is low.

Furthermore, if there is hysteresis in the detection system including the line segment sensor 31, sensor amplifier 32, etc., a hysteresis error occurs in the leading edge coordinate value XhF and the trailing edge coordinate value XkB for the line segment. This error can be eliminated by controlling the leading edge and trailing edge detection levels to constantly increase or decrease.

For example, in FIG. 5, the line segment sensor 31 is moved in the direction of the arrow to detect the leading edge coordinate value X h F, and the trailing edge is detected.
At I, the line segment sensor 31 is once passed through the line segment Lx, and then moved in the opposite direction to the arrow to detect the trailing edge coordinate value xKa.

Also, the line segment LXI~LXn+ Lye~LYn in Fig. 3
When drawing, move the pen carriage in the forward direction (for example, from LXI to L
×. After drawing by moving the pen in the direction (direction toward LXI), by drawing in the opposite direction (for example, from Lxn to LXI), the width of each line segment becomes wider by the backlash of the pen carriage movement mechanism. The backlash can be compensated for by using detection of the previous return and return.

In addition, in the embodiment, the center coordinates of a line segment are not limited to being determined from the leading edge and trailing edge coordinate values of the line segment. The design can be changed as appropriate, such as by adding or subtracting half the line width from one of the detected coordinates to determine the central coordinate value.

Further, although the embodiment shows the case of a pen exchange type x-y plotter, the present invention can also be applied to an inline type plotting device to obtain the same effect.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, a line segment is drawn by a recording pen based on known drawing coordinate data, and this line segment is detected by a line segment sensor on a pen carriage. The amount of pen tip positional deviation is detected by comparing the coordinate data at time and the coordinate data at the time of line segment drawing, and this data is used to automatically correct the position during actual drawing, so the amount of pen tip positional deviation is corrected. It is effective in that it can be performed reliably and easily without relying on human labor.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a control circuit diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating the line segment sensor in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a test pattern drawn with a recording pen in the embodiment. 4 is a control flowchart of the main part of the microprocessor in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the line segment detection operation of the line sensor in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a multi-pen 2X
- A plan view of the Y plotter, FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway side view of the pen carriage, FIG. 8 is a drawing of a test pattern to explain the conventional pen tip position deviation correction, and FIG. It is an enlarged view of the part. 2... Pen carriage, 14... Pen holding part, 15
... Drive coil, 17... Recording pen, 18... Pen holding claw, 18... Recording paper, 20... Rotation stopper tip, 24... Input/output circuit, 25, 28... Motor drive circuit, 27, 28... Pulse motor, 29... Pen drive circuit, 30... Pen discriminator, 31
... Line sensor, 32 ... Sensor amplifier, 176
, 17b, 17c ・”Encoded colored tape, 31A
...Light emission source, 31B... Light receiver. Patent applicant: Iwasaki Tsushinki Co., Ltd. Figure 6j Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure wo

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) Move the pen carriage in the X-Y direction according to the X-Y coordinate data.
A drawing device that draws a drawing on a recording paper with a recording pen held in the pen carriage while moving in a direction, a line segment sensor provided in the pen carriage and detecting a line segment drawn on the recording paper by movement of the pen carriage; After drawing a line segment with the recording pen using predetermined drawing coordinate data,
The pen tip positional deviation amount of the recording pen is determined from the difference between the coordinate data when the line segment sensor detects the line segment due to the movement of the pen carriage and the drawing coordinate data, and the positional deviation amount of the pen tip of the recording pen is determined based on this positional deviation amount. 1. A plotting device comprising: a correction control means for correcting plotting coordinate data according to the invention.