JP2007102428A - Conveyance path design support device and method, program and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conveyance path design support device and method, a program and a storage medium for preventing a calculation time from becoming huge, and for preventing the variance of a pulling direction from being non-attenuated and unstable. <P>SOLUTION: A flexible medium posture calculation processing by a conveyance path design support device is provided to make discrete a flexible medium into a plurality of springs/quantity systems, and to divide it into rigid elements, and to define a model by using the flexible medium as an elastic body reacting to bending and tension on a program. When the flexible medium moves between a pair of rollers, a material point where the flexible medium before and after nip is formed is decided, and when the flexible medium is brought into contact with a guide, a material point where the flexible medium is brought into contact with the guide is decided. Then, the material point where it is determined that the flexible medium is present before and after the nip or the material point where it is determined that the flexible medium is brought into contact with the guide and materials points adjacent to them are detected, and a vector connecting those adjacent material points is prepared. Finally, when there is any speed difference in a direction in parallel with the vector between the material points configuring the formed vector, an attenuation force acquired by multiplying the speed difference by predetermined attenuation coefficients is defined. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a conveyance path design support apparatus and method, a program, and a storage medium. In particular, the present invention relates to a conveyance path design support apparatus and method, a program, and a storage medium for analyzing the behavior of a sheet-like member when a sheet-like member including paper, film, or the like is conveyed in the conveyance path in a copying machine or the like.

  In designing the transport path, it is preferable to examine the function of the design under various conditions before actually making the product, because the man-hours required for manufacturing and testing the prototype can be reduced, and the development period and cost can be reduced. As a technique for simulating the behavior of a flexible medium in a conveyance path, that is, paper or film for such a purpose, a design support system that simulates the conveyance of a flexible medium using a finite element method has been proposed (for example, Patent Documents). 1).

In solving the motion equation of the flexible medium, the motion equation of the flexible medium expressed discretely by a finite element or a mass-spring system is established, and the analysis target time is divided into time steps having a finite width. Then, it can be solved by numerical time integration in which the unknown acceleration, velocity, and displacement are sequentially obtained from time 0 for each time step. As such a solution, Newmark's β method, Wilson's θ method, Euler method, Kutta-merson method and the like are widely known.
JP 2004-258774 A

  In the design support system or design support method as in the prior art described above, if the damping force is defined for the bending and tensile behaviors for all mass points at all times, it will be solved in consideration of both components simultaneously. If you do, the calculation time will be enormous.

  As one of the measures, it is conceivable to define only the attenuation against bending. With this method, an analysis result in which the conveyance speed does not vibrate is obtained in a period 71 before the paper enters the nip (contact portion of the roller pair) as shown in FIG. However, when the paper enters the nip (contact portion of the roller pair) 72, a contact force (acceleration) applied to the mass point is generated, thereby generating vibration in the tension direction. For this reason, the vibration causes the paper conveyance speed to fluctuate, so that fluctuations in the pulling direction are not attenuated, resulting in an unstable solution.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a conveyance path design support apparatus and method, a program, and a storage medium that can prevent fluctuations in the pulling direction from being attenuated and becoming unstable solutions without enormous calculation time. There is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the conveyance path design apparatus according to claim 1 divides the material points into a plurality of mass points and connects the respective mass points with a tension direction spring and a bending direction spring to convey a modeled flexible medium. In the transport path design support apparatus that supports the design of the transport path by simulating the behavior of the transport path including the roller, the two mass points of the flexible medium before and after the nip portion of the transport roller pair are determined. Determination means for generating, a creation means for creating a plurality of vectors connecting the mass points adjacent to each other among the mass points determined by the determination means and the mass points of the flexible medium adjacent to the mass points, and the created vector Definition means for defining the damping force in the tensile direction of the flexible medium proportional to the velocity difference component between the parallel mass points, and based on the damping force defined by the definition means Characterized in that it comprises processing means for simulating the behavior of the flexible medium.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conveyance path design support method in which a flexible medium which is divided into a plurality of mass points and connected between the mass points by a tension direction spring and a bending direction spring is conveyed in a conveyance path including a conveyance roller. And determining the two mass points of the flexible medium before and after the nip portion of the pair of transport rollers in the transport path design support method for supporting the design of the transport path by simulating the behavior being performed, and the determination step A creation step for creating a plurality of vectors connecting between the mass points adjacent to each other among the mass points determined in step 1 and the mass points of the flexible medium adjacent to the mass points, and a velocity difference component between the mass points parallel to the created vector A definition step for defining a damping force in the pulling direction of the flexible medium proportional to the frequency, and based on the damping force defined by the definition means Characterized in that it comprises a process step for simulating the behavior of the serial flexible medium.

  The program for executing the conveyance path design support method according to claim 7, wherein the flexible medium modeled by dividing into a plurality of mass points and connecting the mass points with a tension direction spring and a bending direction spring includes a conveyance roller. In a program for executing a transport path design support method for supporting transport path design by simulating the behavior of transport along the path, two mass points of the flexible medium before and after the nip portion of the transport roller pair are determined. A creating module for creating a plurality of vectors connecting the adjacent mass points among the judging point to be determined, the mass point determined by the determining module and the mass point of the flexible medium adjacent to the mass point, and a parallel to the created vector A definition module that defines the damping force in the tensile direction of a flexible medium proportional to the velocity difference component between various mass points; Serial based on the damping force, which is defined by the definition means; and a processing module for simulating the behavior of the flexible medium.

  A computer-readable storage medium according to an eighth aspect stores the program according to the seventh aspect.

  According to the present invention, the two mass points of the flexible medium before and after the nip portion of the conveyance roller pair, the mass points of the flexible medium in contact with the conveyance path, and the mass points of the flexible medium adjacent to these mass points are adjacent to each other. Create a vector connecting the mass points, define the damping force in the tensile direction of the flexible medium proportional to the velocity difference component between the mass points parallel to these created vectors only for the aforementioned mass points, and the behavior of the flexible medium Is calculated in time series by numerical simulation, and the behavior of the flexible medium is displayed, and the calculation results of at least acceleration, velocity, displacement, and resistance of the mass of the flexible medium are displayed in a time series graph. Without being enormous, it is possible to prevent the vibration in the pulling direction from being attenuated and becoming an unstable floor.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a transport route design support apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the transport route design support apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a computer 8 and a display device 13 connected to the computer 8. The computer 8 includes a storage medium 10 that can be read and written by the computer 8 that stores the program 9, and a CPU 11 that performs a flexible medium behavior calculation process of FIG. 2 described later based on the program 9. The CPU 11 stores the calculation result information 12 in the storage medium 10 and displays the calculation result information 12 on the display device 13 in the form of a graph or the like by the program 9.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the flexible medium behavior calculation process executed by the CPU 11 of the transport path design support apparatus of FIG.

  In FIG. 2, first, the flexible medium (paper) is drawn in an arbitrary shape including a straight line and an arc using the screen configuration of the transport path design support apparatus shown in FIG. S1).

  FIG. 3 is an example of a display screen displayed on the display device 13 of the transport path design support apparatus of FIG. 1, and shows a case where a flexible medium is drawn in an arbitrary shape.

  In FIG. 3, the display screen includes a menu bar 14 for switching functions, a sub-configuration menu 15 for each function, a graphical screen 16 for displaying defined transport paths and simulation results, and a command column 17 for displaying messages and inputting numerical values. Consists of. FIG. 3 shows a case where a flexible medium is bent and arranged on a bent portion in the middle of a typical conveyance path on the graphical screen 16, and a straight flexible medium is started from a bent state.

  For example, in a model in which a part of the conveyance path is cut out, for example, when simulating the behavior of a flexible medium of 399 mm, since there is no straight part exceeding 399 mm in the conveyance path, the flexible medium is always in a bent state. Become.

  To create the bent flexible medium, the “arc” button or “spline curve” button on the shape creation screen 15I is used. When the designation of the “medium definition” button in the menu bar 14 is detected, the “drawing shape” selection screen 15I, the “medium type” selection screen 15I, and the “division method” are displayed on the display screen of the display device 13. The selection screen 15K is displayed.

  Here, when the CPU 11 detects the selection of “straight line” on the “drawing shape” selection screen of 15I in order to determine the position of the flexible medium in the conveyance path, the coordinates of the both ends of the flexible medium from the command column 17 are detected. Display a message prompting you to enter a value. Here, the operator can also create a circular arc or spline shape like the conveyance guide. The operator can input the coordinate values numerically in the command field 17 or by directly instructing the graphic screen 16 with a pointing device attached to a computer such as a mouse.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the CPU 11 discretizes the flexible medium into a plurality of spring-mass systems (FIG. 4). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the flexible medium model is divided into rigid elements (mass points) and connected by springs, so that the flexible medium reacts to bending and tensile forces on the program. A model is defined as a body (step S2).

  When the flexible medium is arranged, a message prompting the input of the number of divisions or the division size when the flexible medium is discretized into a plurality of spring-mass systems is displayed in the command column 17. FIG. 5 shows an example in which a flexible medium is defined by a straight line and the number of divisions is 10.

  The rotary spring 19 connecting the mass points 18 expresses the bending rigidity when the flexible medium is regarded as an elastic body, and the translation spring 20 expresses the tensile rigidity. Both spring constants can be derived from elasticity theory. The rotation spring constant Kr and the translation spring constant Ks are given by the following expressions (1) and (2) using the Young's modulus E, the width w, the paper thickness t, and the distance ΔL between the mass points.

質点の質量mは柔軟媒体の長さL、幅w、紙厚t、密度ρ、分割数とすると、以下に示される式（３）により計算される。

The mass m of the mass point is calculated by the following equation (3), where L is the length L, width w, paper thickness t, density ρ, and number of divisions of the flexible medium.

m = Lwtρ / (n−1) (3)
With the above operation, the flexible medium is model-defined as an elastic body that responds to bending and pulling forces on the program. At this stage, a damping force in the rotational direction is defined on the rotary spring Kr as shown in FIG. The damping force for the pulling force in the translation spring Ks direction is not defined at this point.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the CPU 11 then executes the motion calculation process of steps S3 to S5.

  In this motion calculation process, the CPU 11 determines a material point that forms the flexible medium before and after the nip (contact portion of the roller pair) when the flexible medium moves between the roller pairs. Alternatively, when the flexible medium is in contact with the guide, the mass point in contact with the guide is determined (step S3). This determination will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  Next, the mass points located before and after the nip or the mass points determined to be in contact with the guide in step S3 and the mass points adjacent to them are detected, and vectors connecting the adjacent mass points are created. (Step S4).

  When there is a speed difference in the direction parallel to the vector between the two mass points constituting the formed vector, the CPU 11 defines a damping force obtained by multiplying the speed difference by a predetermined damping coefficient (step S5).

  Motion calculation is performed until the set time is reached. That is, until this time is reached, the behavior of the flexible medium is obtained in a time series by numerical simulation, and the behavior of the obtained flexible medium is displayed. Then, calculation results such as acceleration, velocity, displacement, resistance, etc. of the mass point of the flexible medium are displayed in a time series graph (step S6), and this processing is terminated.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a process of determining a mass point for forming a flexible medium before and after the nip in Step 3 of FIG.

  In FIG. 6, first, a vector (or line segment) 25 connecting the centers 23-24 of the roller pairs 21, 22 is created. In addition, vectors 33 to 38 connecting the mass points 26 to 32 forming the paper as the flexible medium are created. Identification information of the material points forming these is added to the vectors 33 to 38, respectively.

  Next, when it is detected that any of the vectors 33 to 38 between the mass points intersects (has an intersection) with the vector 25 between the roller pair centers, the mass points corresponding to the intersected vectors are before and after the nip. It is determined that it is a material point that forms a flexible medium. For example, in FIG. 6, the two mass points 28 and 29 of the paper located before and after the vector 25 connecting the centers 23 to 24 of the roller pairs 21 and 22 form the paper before and after the nip (contact portion of the roller pair). Is determined.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the two mass points 28 and 29 of the paper positioned before and after the vector 25 connecting the centers 23 to 24 of the roller pairs 21 and 22 and the respective one mass points positioned outside the two mass points. A damping force is defined between a total of 27 and 30 mass points (FIG. 8).

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the function of determining the mass point in contact with the guide in step S3 of FIG.

  In FIG. 7, the guide 39 is formed by a straight line, a circular arc, a spline curve, or the like. Further, vectors 47 to 52 connecting the mass points 49 to 46 forming the paper as the flexible medium are created. Identification information of the material points forming these is added to the vectors 47 to 52, respectively.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7, in the present embodiment, when the material points 42 and 43 forming the paper are biting from one of the curves 39 with respect to the guide 39 formed by the spline curve, It is determined that the two mass points forming the paper are in contact with the guide 39.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the damping force is defined between a total of four mass points of the one mass points 41 and 44 positioned outside the mass points 42 and 43 determined to have contacted the guide 39 (FIG. 8).

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a function for defining a damping force in the description of FIGS. 6 and 7.

  Similar to FIG. 7, when the material points 56 and 57 forming the paper as the flexible medium bite into the guide 53 formed by the spline curve from one of the curves 53 (downward in the figure), the guide 53 It is determined that the contact has been made. In the present embodiment, the vectors 61, 62, 63 between the two mass points and the four mass points of the one mass points 55, 58 located outside these two mass points are the targets of speed direction determination.

  The mass point 55 has a velocity vector 65 in a direction parallel to the vector 61. The mass point 56 has a velocity vector 66 in a direction parallel to the vector 61 and a velocity vector 67 in a direction parallel to the vector 62. The mass point 57 has a velocity vector 68 in a direction parallel to the vector 62 and a velocity vector 69 in a direction parallel to the vector 63. The mass point 58 has a velocity vector 79 in a direction parallel to the vector 63.

  Next, the damping force when the velocity in the direction parallel to the corresponding vectors 61, 62, 63 in FIG. 8 is not zero between the two mass points of the mass points 55 and 56, 56 and 57, 57 and 58 is defined. To do. That is, when each of the speed vector differences 65-66 or 67-68, 69-70 is not 0, a value obtained by multiplying the speed difference by a predetermined damping coefficient is defined as a damping force for damping the vibration in the tensile direction. That is, this damping force is proportional to the velocity difference component between the mass points parallel to the created vector.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the two mass points of the flexible medium before and after the nip portion of the conveyance roller pair, the mass points of the flexible medium in contact with the conveyance path, and the flexible medium adjacent to these mass points. Among the mass points, a vector connecting the adjacent mass points is created. Then, a value proportional to the velocity difference component between the mass points parallel to the created vector is defined only for the aforementioned mass points as the damping force in the tensile direction of the flexible medium. By calculating the behavior in the bending direction and the tensile direction only with respect to the defined mass point, it is possible to prevent the vibration in the tensile direction from being attenuated and becoming an unstable floor without enormous calculation time. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing this effect, and not only the period 73 before the paper enters the nip (the contact portion of the roller pair) but also the conveyance speed even if the paper enters the nip (the contact portion of the roller pair) 74. It does not fluctuate.

  Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or recording medium) in which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or apparatus, and to perform computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus. Needless to say, this is also achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) or the like running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the case where the CPU or the like provided in the card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  The above-described program only needs to be able to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments by a computer, and the form includes forms such as object code, a program executed by an interpreter, and script data supplied to the OS. But you can.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, RAM, NV-RAM, floppy (registered trademark) disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, MO, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD + RW), magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, other ROM, etc. may be used as long as they can store the above programs. Alternatively, the program is supplied by downloading from another computer or database (not shown) connected to the Internet, a commercial network, a local area network, or the like.

It is a block diagram which shows roughly the structure of the conveyance path | route design assistance apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the flexible medium behavior calculation process performed by the conveyance path | route design assistance apparatus of FIG. It is a figure explaining the screen structure of the conveyance path | route design assistance apparatus of FIG. 1, and shows the case where a flexible medium is drawn in arbitrary shapes. It is a figure explaining discretization to a plurality of spring mass systems of a flexible medium in Step S2 of FIG. It is a figure explaining the screen structure of the conveyance path | route design assistance apparatus of FIG. 1, and shows the case where a flexible medium is divided | segmented into a rigid element. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a function of determining a mass point for forming a flexible medium before and after a nip in Step 3 of FIG. 2. It is a figure explaining the function which determines the mass point which is contacting the guide in step S3 of FIG. It is a figure explaining the function which defines the damping force in description of FIG.6 and FIG.7. It is a figure explaining the effect by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the effect by the conventional design support method.

Explanation of symbols

8 Computer 9 Program 19 Storage medium 11 CPU
12 Calculation result 13 Display device 18 Material point 19 Rotating spring 29 Translation springs 21 and 22 Roller 39 Guide

Claims (8)

By simulating the behavior of a flexible medium divided into a plurality of mass points and connected between each mass point by a tension spring and a bending direction spring and being transported in the transport path including the transport roller, the transport path In the transport route design support device that supports the design of
Determination means for determining two mass points of the flexible medium before and after the nip portion of the pair of conveying rollers;
Creating means for creating a plurality of vectors connecting the mass points adjacent to each other among the mass points determined by the determination means and the mass points of the flexible medium adjacent to the mass points;
Defining means for defining a damping force in a tensile direction of the flexible medium proportional to a velocity difference component between mass points parallel to the created vector;
And a processing means for simulating the behavior of the flexible medium based on the damping force defined by the defining means.   The determination unit creates a first vector connecting the centers of the pair of conveying rollers and a second vector connecting the mass points of the flexible medium, and the first vector and the second vector intersect Two mass points of the flexible medium positioned before and after the first vector are determined as two mass points of the flexible medium before and after the nip portion of the conveying roller pair, and the defining means includes a nip of the conveying roller pair. When a third vector is arranged between two mass points of the flexible medium before and after the section, and there is a speed difference between the two mass points in a direction parallel to the third vector, a predetermined attenuation coefficient is included in the speed difference. The conveyance path design support device according to claim 1, wherein the damping force in the pulling direction is defined by a value multiplied by.   The determination means further determines the mass point in contact with the conveyance guide on the conveyance path. The conveyance path has a mass point of the flexible medium that has bite into a curve defining the conveyance guide on the conveyance path. It is determined that the guide has been touched, and the defining means places a fourth vector between the mass points of the flexible medium in contact with the transport guide in the transport path, and the fourth vector is between the two mass points. 2. The conveyance path design support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when there is a speed difference in a direction parallel to the first direction, the damping force in the pulling direction is defined by a value obtained by multiplying the speed difference by a predetermined damping coefficient. By simulating the behavior of a flexible medium divided into a plurality of mass points and connected between each mass point by a tension spring and a bending direction spring and being transported in the transport path including the transport roller, the transport path In the transport route design support method that supports the design of
A determination step of determining two mass points of the flexible medium before and after the nip portion of the conveying roller pair;
A creation step of creating a plurality of vectors connecting the mass points adjacent to each other among the mass points determined in the determination step and the mass points of the flexible medium adjacent to the mass points;
A definition step for defining a damping force in a tensile direction of the flexible medium proportional to a velocity difference component between mass points parallel to the created vector;
And a processing step of simulating the behavior of the flexible medium based on the damping force defined by the defining means.   The determination step creates a first vector connecting the centers of the pair of conveying rollers and a second vector connecting the mass points of the flexible medium, and the first vector and the second vector intersect Two mass points of the flexible medium positioned before and after the first vector are determined as two mass points of the flexible medium before and after the nip portion of the conveying roller pair, and the defining step includes the nip of the conveying roller pair. When a third vector is arranged between two mass points of the flexible medium before and after the section, and there is a speed difference between the two mass points in a direction parallel to the third vector, a predetermined attenuation coefficient is included in the speed difference. 5. The conveyance path design support method according to claim 4, wherein the damping force in the pulling direction is defined by a value multiplied by.   The determination step further determines that the mass point of the flexible medium that has bite into the curve defining the conveyance guide of the conveyance path has contacted the conveyance guide of the conveyance path, and the definition step includes the conveyance path When a fourth vector is arranged between the mass points of the flexible medium in contact with the conveyance guide of the path, and there is a speed difference in a direction parallel to the fourth vector between the two mass points, 5. The conveyance path design support method according to claim 4, wherein the damping force in the pulling direction is defined by a value multiplied by a predetermined damping coefficient. By simulating the behavior of a flexible medium divided into a plurality of mass points and connected between each mass point by a tension spring and a bending direction spring and being transported in the transport path including the transport roller, the transport path In the program for executing the transport route design support method for supporting the design of
A determination module for determining two mass points of the flexible medium before and after the nip portion of the conveying roller pair;
A creation module that creates a plurality of vectors connecting the mass points adjacent to each other among the mass points determined by the determination module and the mass points of the flexible medium adjacent to the mass points;
A definition module that defines a damping force in a tensile direction of the flexible medium proportional to a velocity difference component between mass points parallel to the created vector;
And a processing module for simulating the behavior of the flexible medium based on the damping force defined by the defining means.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 7.

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