JP2003006233A - Character registration method in cad system, and character drawing method in cad system and system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the registration of original characters and to improve the accuracy of the original characters. SOLUTION: This is a method for registration of a character in new lettering to a CAD system for use in a construction, and it includes a step to form as a lettering file, a CAD drawing file whose file name is a lettering name, and a step to draw a character group with the relevant lettering by using the CAD system, register the drawn character graphic data in the lettering file character by character, and simultaneously provide the data names of character graphic data of each character as the character drawn in the character graphic data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character registration method in a CAD system and a character drawing method and system in a CAD system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Characters drawn on a tire lettering drawing have a unique font which is not available in a general-purpose CAD system. Therefore, when designing a tire, design the shape of the character in a unique font and use that character for CAD.
Must be available on the system.

[0003]

In order to use the characters of the original design in the CAD system, the shape of each character is obtained as numerical coordinates, a database of the numerical coordinates is created, and the numerical coordinate database is created. It is possible to draw original characters using. However, to obtain the numerical coordinates of the character shape and input it to the database,
It is very time-consuming and inefficient. Moreover, if the character shape is used as numerical coordinate data, the accuracy will deteriorate if the number of digits in the numerical value is small, and a gap will be created between the lines that make up the character (the part where arcs and arcs, and the line and arc are connected). , The lines may not be connected. Therefore, the CAD data thus drawn cannot be used as machine engraving data by NC.

An object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of registration of unique characters and to improve the accuracy of unique characters.

[0005]

The point of interest of the present invention for solving the above problems is not to have a unique character as a numerical coordinate database, but to use a lettering character diagram drawn by a CAD system as it is as character data. By doing so, the efficiency of the original character registration is improved and the accuracy of the character is CAD.
To improve the drawing accuracy. However, CAD
Even if the lettering character is created with, it is difficult to use it as it is to draw the character on the CAD drawing of the tire. In other words, when drawing using that character when designing the tire, the character string to be drawn, the font (character type),
Parameters such as character height, drawing position, and character spacing are given, and it is necessary to process the character string based on those parameters. It is required that the character data can be recognized from the parameters and the necessary processing can be performed. However, if this point is not solved, it is practically difficult to use the character even if the original character is lettered by CAD.

A character registration method as a concrete measure for solving this problem is a method for registering a character in a new font in a CAD system for drawing, and a CAD drawing file in which the font name is a file name. Is generated as a font file, a character group consisting of the font is drawn by the CAD system, the drawn character / graphic data is registered in the character file for each character, and the data name of the character / graphic data for each character is registered. Is given as a character drawn in the character / graphic data, and is included.

When characters are registered by this registration method,
A font file having character and graphic data of a character group drawn in a predetermined font is provided, and the font file is given a font name as a file name, and the font file is 1
A CAD system is obtained in which character / graphic data is held for each character and the characters drawn in each character / graphic data are given as the data name of the character / graphic data. So, given a font name and a string as parameters,
The required font file can be specified from the file name of the font file, and the required character / graphic data can be specified from the data name of the character / graphic data.

Therefore, the character drawing system of the CAD system accepts the input of the drawing character string drawn on the CAD drawing and the font name of the drawing character string, and the font file having the file name that matches the input font name. Select and select from the selected font file, character and graphic data that has a data name that matches each character that constitutes the input drawing character string, and display the character string of that font on the CAD drawing. You can Further, by including the step of setting the left end position and the right end position of the character drawn in the character / graphic data, the character width of each character can be recognized.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a character system 1 for creating and registering a unique character that is not in the CAD system and using it for drawing a tire drawing. The character system 1 is a program created as add-in software incorporated in a general-purpose CAD system. In this embodiment, CADRA of ADRA Systems Inc. in the United States is used as the CAD system.

This system 1 is for inputting a character registration section 2 for newly registering characters (lettering characters) of a unique font to be engraved on a tire, and drawing parameters for using the registered characters for drawing. It is possible to register and use unique font characters in the CAD system. In addition, the system 1 stores the font file storage unit 5 created by the character registration unit 2, the graphic processing calculation unit 6 that performs necessary processing according to the input parameters, and displays characters on the CAD screen. And a character display section 7 of.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart when a character is registered using the character registration unit 2. When a new font is created, first a CAD drawing file is newly created in the CAD system and a blank page is called. (Step A
1). Characters such as alphabets, numbers and symbols are registered in this CAD drawing file. As shown in FIG.
One CAD drawing file is used for one font, and various characters of that font are registered as character / graphic data in the file. The character / graphic data is created for each character, and 30 to 50 kinds of characters are registered in one file.

From step A2 onward in FIG. 2, a more specific registration method of such character / graphic data is shown. In the present embodiment, a parent figure-child figure (figure) of CADRA is used to create a plurality of character / graphic data in a file. First, in step A2, the font name is added to the parent figure on the CAD system. Enter (for example, "MOJI"). Then, in order to register one character in one child drawing 10, the shape of the registered character (for example, "A") is drawn on the child drawing 10 on the CAD system (step A3). This child drawing 10 becomes the character graphic data. The height of the character is 1
It is recommended to unify it to 00 mm.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, a point 11 at the left end position of the drawn character (hereinafter also referred to as "start point") and a point 12 at the right end position of the character (hereinafter also referred to as "end point"). Is set (step A4). These points 11 and 12 are created by drawing the points separately from the character shape.
Note that these points 11 and 12 do not have to be points on the character shape. Since the start point 11 and the end point 12 of the character drawn in the child diagram 10 which is character graphic data are given,
Character width can be recognized. The character width is the starting point 11 in the child diagram 10.
And the end point 12 in the horizontal direction (X coordinate). In addition, these points 11 and 12 also serve as a reference for the drawing position when drawing using the registered characters and a reference for setting the interval between the characters.

Further, the drawn points 11 and 12 are given different attributes so that it can be discriminated which is the start point or the end point (step A5). For example, the attribute “1001” is given to the starting point 11 and the attribute “1002” is given to the ending point, so that both 11 and 12 can be distinguished when referring to the child diagram 10 which is character / graphic data. The attributes are uniformly given to all the graphic character data 10. Furthermore, child figure (figure) 1
The same name as the registered character drawn is given to 0 as the name of the child diagram 10 (step A6). For example, child figure 10
If the character drawn in FIG. 2 is "A", the name of the child figure 10 which is character graphic data is also "A".

By the above procedure, the character / graphic data 10 of one character can be created, and the character / graphic data 10 for other characters is also created by the same procedure, and the alphabet / numerals are stored in the character file 15 which is a CAD file. Register lettering characters such as, and symbols. Then, the font name is added as the file name of the font file 15 and stored in the storage unit 5 (step A7). As shown in FIG. 3, when the font name is “GA”, the file name is “GA.CA.
D ". Note that ".CAD" in the file name is a file identifier.

Such a font file 15 is created for each font (character type) and stored in the font file storage unit 5, and the font file 15 exists for each font. When additionally registering the character / graphic data in the existing font file 15, in step A1, instead of calling the blank sheet drawing, the font file (CAD drawing file) 15 of the font may be called.
FIG. 5 shows a procedure for drawing characters in the font file 15 of the file storage unit 5 on the tire CAD drawing. First, a drawing (tire drawing) on which characters are to be drawn is called up on the CAD system and displayed on the screen (step B1).

Subsequently, when the character system 1 is activated (step B2), the dialog of FIG. 6 is displayed as the parameter input unit 3. The input acceptance by the dialog 3, the registered font file 15 and the function of performing arithmetic processing based on the input constitute the character creation system of the present invention. In the dialog 3, as a drawing parameter, a character type (font name) 20, a character height 21, a character interval 22,
Input boxes are provided so that the drawing character string 23, the drawing position (arc radius 24, display position angle 25), the presence / absence 26 of the edging, and the edging width 27 can be entered.

In this dialog 3, the page switching unit 29 displays the dialog 3 from page 1 to page 10 so that ten character strings can be entered in one tire drawing.
Pages can be switched up to the page, and parameters can be input for each page. Further, in order to improve operability, a one-page content erase button 30 and an all-page content erase button 31 are provided. Clicking the 1-page content deletion button 30 with a mouse or the like erases the content (parameters) of the currently displayed page,
When the all page contents deletion button 31 is clicked, all the set contents are deleted.

Of the input parameters, the storage unit 5 having a plurality of font files 15 is searched based on the character type (font name) 20. By this search, the font file 15 having the file name that matches the input font name 20 is selected, and the file 15 is opened (step B4). Then, the character / graphic data in the opened font file 15 is extracted based on the drawing character string 23 (“FALKEN 120” in FIG. 6) among the input parameters. In order to take out the characters from the font file 15, the character / graphic data 10 having a matching data name for each character forming the input character string is searched (step B4). That is, if there is a character "F" in the input character string, if the child figure 10 having the name "F" is extracted from the child figure 10 in the font file 15, the character shape data for CAD of "F" is obtained. Is obtained. If such character / graphic data is extracted for all the characters forming the input character string, the character shape data of the input character string can be obtained.

Subsequently, the graphic processing calculation unit 6 performs a calculation process for determining the position / form of the displayed character on the CAD drawing by using the other input parameters (step B5). As shown in FIG. 7, when a character string is inserted in an arc shape on the side portion of the tire T, since the tire is circular, when the radial position and the circumferential position are given,
Position on the tire side can be determined. Among the input parameters, the arc radius 24 is for determining the radial position R of the tire, and the display position angle 25 is for determining the circumferential position α of the tire.

As shown in FIG. 6, the input arc radius 2
If 4 is “245”, as shown in FIG. 8, the radius R = from the tire center position O set in advance on the CAD drawing.
Since the arc C of 245 is obtained, by arranging the character string along this arc C, the character string can be arranged in an arc shape along the arc of the tire. Further, the display position angle 25 is an angle at the tire center O between the leading character of the character string and the preset reference position S in the tire circumferential direction, and “30 °” is set as shown in FIG. When input, the first character L1 of the character string (“F” for the character string “FALKEN120”)
The angle α between the reference position S and the reference position S is set to 30 °, and the circumferential position of the character string is determined. The start point 11 and the end point 12
The character L1 is arranged such that the left-right center position X1 of the character string head character L1 obtained by the above is the position of the angle α.

The size of each character displayed on the CAD drawing is determined by the input character height 21. That is, “the height of the character in the character / graphic data 10 (= 10
0) ”× 0.01 ד input character height (= 3.
5) ”. If the check box of the edge margin 26 is checked, the edge margin corresponding to the value of the edge margin width 27 is applied to the character.
The input character spacing 22 is for determining the spacing Y between the characters L1 and L2 on the CAD drawing. Specifically, in order to determine the character spacing of the arc-shaped character string, the angle β between the width-direction center position X1 of the character L1 and the width-direction center position X2 of the character L2 may be obtained. In order to obtain, the length on the arc C of the points X1 and X2 should be obtained.

The lengths of the points X1 and X2 on the arc C can be used as an approximate value of "the left / right width of the character L1 / 2" + "the left / right width of the character L2 / 2" + the character interval Y. The horizontal width of the character can be obtained from the set start point 11 and end point 12. When the drawing button of the dialog 3 is clicked, the above-mentioned processing is performed on all the characters that form the character string, and the character display unit 7 displays the character string on the CAD drawing of the tire (step B6). When it is desired to draw and display a plurality of character strings on one tire drawing, the page of the dialog 3 can be switched by the page switching unit 29 and the parameter group can be input in the same manner as described above.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which two character strings are drawn on one tire drawing. According to this system,
You can easily draw characters on the tire drawing. An input parameter group (including parameters that span multiple pages) given to one tire drawing can be saved as one character string file, and a file name input box 3
Input the file name of the character string file in 5 and click the save button 36 to save the character string file. When a file name is input and the read button 37 is clicked, the saved character string file is opened and displayed on the dialog 3 screen.

Since the character string parameter can be separately stored in this manner, the character string parameter used for one tire can be used for another tire, and the parameter can be generalized. When drawing a character string using the registered font file, the character string may be drawn not only in an arc shape but also on a straight line. The drawn character string is given to the NC machine as machine engraving data and processed.
At this time, since the shape of the character string is CAD figure data, the same accuracy as in a CAD drawing can be ensured.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the structure of the character / graphic data in the character file can be arbitrary.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, the efficiency of character registration can be improved, and the accuracy of character string drawing can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a character system.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a character registration procedure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a structure of a font file.

FIG. 4 is a detailed diagram of character graphic data (child diagram).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a character drawing procedure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a drawing parameter input unit (parameter input dialog).

FIG. 7 is a drawing example of a character string on a tire T drawing.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram of character string arrangement processing on a tire drawing.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 character graphic data 11 Left end position (start point) 12 Right end position (end point) 15 font file 20 Character type (font name) input section 23 Drawing character string input section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for registering a character in a new font in a CAD system for drawing, the method comprising: creating a CAD drawing file in which the font name is a file name as a font file; Draw a character group consisting of the fonts and register the drawn character / graphic data in the character file for each character, and use the data name of the character / graphic data for each character as the characters drawn in the character / graphic data. A character registration method in a CAD system, comprising: 2. The character registration method in a CAD system according to claim 1, further comprising the step of setting a left end position and a right end position of a character drawn in the character graphic data. 3. A font file having character / graphic data of a character group drawn in a predetermined font is provided, and the font file is provided with a font name as a file name, and the font file has a character for each character. A character drawing method in a CAD system in which graphic data is held and a character drawn in each character / graphic data is given as a data name of the character / graphic data, which is a drawing character string drawn on a CAD drawing, Accepts the font name input of the drawing character string, selects the font file with the file name that matches the input font name, and matches each character that constitutes the input drawing character string from the selected font file A sentence in a CAD system characterized by extracting character graphic data having a data name and displaying a character string composed of the font on a CAD drawing. Character drawing method. 4. A font file having character / graphic data of a character group drawn in a predetermined font is provided, and the font file is given a font name as a file name. A character drawing system in a CAD system in which graphic data is held and a character drawn in each character / graphic data is given as a data name of the character / graphic data, and a drawing character string drawn on a CAD drawing, A means for receiving the input of the font name of the drawing character string, a means for selecting a font file having a file name that matches the input font name, and a means for configuring the input drawing character string from the selected font file. Means for extracting character graphic data having a data name that matches a character and displaying a character string composed of the font on a CAD drawing. C characterized by
Character drawing system in AD system.