JP2010000547A - Creation method and printing method of printing data - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a creation method and a printing method of printing data, creating the printing data being easily viewable when printing them even in printing a relatively small letters. <P>SOLUTION: This creation method of the printing data is provided with steps of: superposing a letter shape of letter data with a datum point of each letter into a dot alignment disposed at predetermined intervals; and when the datum point is not located at a central position of the dots of the dot alignment, moving the whole letter shape so that the datum point becomes the central position of the dots and creating the dot map data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing method for printing on the surface of a printing material made of, for example, a steel plate, and more particularly to a method for creating the printing data.

  For example, in a shipyard or the like, the work of cutting, bending, and welding steel sheets is the center. For this reason, information such as the provision information of the steel sheet, the corresponding drawing number, the cutting line, the welding line, the member information of the welding partner, the drawing information, etc. is printed on the surface of the steel sheet. Such printing is generally performed by mounting a print head on a numerical control (NC) cutting device and selectively using the printing function and cutting function of the NC cutting device.

  Recently, a device dedicated to printing has been developed and used. As such an apparatus, for example, “a conveying device for a wide plate material that requires marking, a marking device that covers the entire width of the plate material conveyed by the conveying device, and a marking device that straddles the plate material above the plate material. The marking device comprises a plurality of dot marking heads capable of marking the marking information from the CAD system as a dot image over the entire width of the plate being conveyed. The apparatus has a structure that supports the marking device from both sides, and includes an elevating mechanism for positioning control of the plate material in the plate thickness direction and a lateral slide mechanism for positioning control in the plate width direction, and further, the plate of the plate material To compare the thickness with the plate thickness data of the plate that has been input in advance and send positioning information in the plate thickness direction to the lifting mechanism A thickness detection sensor and a plate ear detection sensor for sending positioning information in the plate width direction to the lateral slide mechanism are provided above the conveying device upstream of the marking device, and the marking device includes the plate material A feed amount detection sensor for printing in synchronism with the conveyance speed, a starting point detection sensor for instructing printing start, and a local change in the height of the surface of the plate member to detect the height of the lift mechanism. A ruled line device characterized by providing a plate surface height detection sensor for sending correction information has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 2736604

  When printing on a steel plate or the like including the ruler, the number of dots per character of the print head is small, and therefore, when relatively small characters are printed, it is extremely difficult to see. It was. This is particularly noticeable when printing is performed in a skewed direction with respect to the dot arrangement of the print head.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and a print data creation method that makes it possible to create easy-to-read print data even when printing relatively small characters, and An object is to provide a printing method.

  The print data creation method according to the present invention includes a step of superimposing a character shape of character data having a reference point for each character on a dot array arranged at a predetermined interval, and the reference point is a dot of the dot array. If it is not at the center position, the method includes the step of creating dot map data by moving the entire character shape so that the reference point is at the center position of the dot.

  The method of creating print data according to the present invention includes a step of superimposing a character shape of a character string of character data having a reference point for each character on a dot array arranged at a predetermined interval, and the character string is converted into a dot array. If not orthogonal, the step of rotating each character shape to be orthogonal to the dot array, and if the reference point is not at the center position of the dot in the dot array, the reference point is the center position of the dot In this way, the entire character shape is moved to create dot map data.

  In the method for creating print data according to the present invention, when the character shape is rotated to be orthogonal to the dot array, the character shape is rotated around the center position in the height direction.

  In the method for creating print data according to the present invention, the character data having the same size has a character shape drawn in a frame of the same size and is the same in the frame. A reference point is provided at the position.

  In the print data creation method according to the present invention, the character shape of the character data is set to be formed so as to draw on a dot located in the frame when the reference point is located at the center of the dot. Has been.

  In the print data creation method according to the present invention, when the reference point is not located at the center position of the dots in the dot array, the reference point is moved to the dot side closest to the reference point.

  In the print data creation method according to the present invention, when the reference point is located in the middle of the dots in the dot array, the reference point is moved to the dot side located in a preset direction.

  The printing method according to the present invention prints print data created by the print data creation method described above.

According to the present invention, when the reference point of each character is not at the center position of the dot in the dot array, the entire character shape is moved so that the reference point is at the center position of the dot, and the character shape is positioned on the dot. Thus, the dot map data is created so that when it is printed, clear printing can be obtained.
Even in the case where the character string is printed obliquely, the above processing is performed after the character shape is orthogonal to the dot arrangement, so that when the character string is printed, clear printing is possible. can get.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the overall configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This printing system includes a plurality of conveyance rollers 10 and 11 for conveying a printing material A made of a steel plate or the like, and the conveyance roller (skew roller) 10 in the upstream area (AR1) is orthogonal to the conveyance direction. For example, it is installed with an inclination of about 5 to 10 degrees with respect to the direction. The conveyance roller (direct roller) 11 in the area (AR2) on the downstream side of the conveyance roller 10 is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction. These transport rollers 10 and 11 are rotationally driven by drive motors described later. A plurality of side rollers 12 are erected at a predetermined interval on one side of the transport rollers 10 and 11 and abut the end of the printing material A to position the end of the printing material A. . The printing system includes a pair of rails 13 laid on the other side of the transport rollers 10 and 11 and the outside of the side rollers 12.

  In addition, the printing system includes a traveling carriage 20 that is mounted on the pair of rails 13 and travels, a transverse carriage 21 that is mounted on the traveling carriage 20 and traverses in a direction orthogonal to the installation direction of the rails 13, and a transverse carriage. 21 includes a plurality of print heads 23 (23a to 23d) mounted so that the position in the height direction can be adjusted.

  The traveling carriage 20 includes a saddle 20a disposed on the rail 13, and a girder 20b that is installed in a direction orthogonal to the rail 13 and has both ends connected to the saddle 20a. The saddle 20a is provided with a traveling motor 24 for moving the traveling carriage 20, and a control panel 25 incorporating a control device. The girder 20b is provided with a traverse rail 20c, and the traverse carriage 21 is movably installed on the traverse rail 20c. The traverse carriage 21 is provided with a traverse motor 26. The traverse motor 26 moves the traverse carriage 21 along the traverse rail 20c. A plurality (four in the illustrated example) of print heads 23 (23a to 23d) are mounted on the transverse carriage 21 while maintaining a predetermined interval.

  Therefore, in the printing system of FIG. 1, the traveling carriage 20 moves along the rail 13 as the traveling motor 24 rotates, and the transverse carriage 21 moves along the transverse rail 20c as the transverse motor 26 rotates. Accordingly, the print head 23 mounted on the transverse carriage 21 can move in the length direction and the width direction (two-dimensional direction) on the printing material A by the movement of the traveling carriage 20 and the transverse carriage 21. It is possible.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system of the printing system of FIG.
The printing system includes a control device 31 that is built in the control panel 25 described above. The control device 31 includes a storage unit 31a that stores various programs, a temporary storage unit 31b that temporarily stores calculation data and the like, and a calculation unit 31c that performs various calculation processes. An interface 32 is connected to the control device 31, and a tip end detection sensor 33, a tilt detection sensor 34, a height detection sensor 35, a CDROM driver 36, a communication device 37 and an input device 38 are connected to the interface 32. The outputs of these sensors and the like are taken into the control device 31 via the interface 32. In addition to the print head 23, the travel motor 24 and the traverse motor 26, the interface 32 includes a height control motor 40, a roller drive motor 41 for driving the roller 10, and a roller for driving the roller 11. A drive motor 42 is connected to each other, and the print head 23, the travel motor 24, and the like are controlled via the interface 32.

  2 is attached to the front end side of the print area AR2, and detects the front end portion of the printing material A, thereby stopping the roller drive motor 42 and printing material. The movement of A is stopped. The inclination detection sensor 34 is, for example, a sensor that is attached to the transverse carriage 21 and detects a side end portion of the printing material A at a plurality of locations. When the printing material A stops in the printing area AR2, The inclination angle of the printing material A is detected, and the printing information is corrected based on the inclination angle information when the printing process is performed. The height detection sensor 35 measures a distance (height) to the surface of the printing material A, and a height control motor 40 that adjusts the position of the print head 23 in the height direction based on the distance information. To control. For example, when a CD storing print data is inserted, the CDROM driver 36 is for capturing the print data of the CD, and the communication device 37 is for capturing the print data via a network. The input device 38 is for inputting data such as the thickness, width and length of the printing material A, for example, a steel plate. Prior to the start of printing, the CDROM driver 36, the communication device 37, or the input device 38 is driven or operated so that print data necessary for printing and data of the printing material A are stored in the storage unit 31a of the control device 31 via the interface 32. It is stored.

Next, an outline of the operation of the printing system of FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described.
(A) When the printing material A is carried into, for example, a region upstream of the region AR1 by a crane or the like, a conveyance roller (not shown) installed in the region conveys the printing material A, When the printing material A reaches the area AR1, a sensor (not shown) provided in the area AR1 detects it and outputs it to the control device 31 via the interface 32. When the control device 31 takes in the signal, it drives the roller drive motor 41. By the driving of the transport roller 41, the transport roller 10 rotates and transports the printing material A. At the time of the conveyance, since the conveyance roller 10 is disposed at an inclination, the printing material A is conveyed while moving to the side roller 12 side. Then, the side portion of the printing material A is positioned by being conveyed while the side portion of the printing material A is pressed against the side roller 12.

(B) Then, when the printing material A reaches the area AR2 and is further conveyed and reaches the leading edge side of the area AR2, the leading edge detection sensor 33 detects the leading edge of the printing material A, and the detection signal Is output to the control device 31 via the interface 32. When the control device 31 takes in the detection signal, it stops driving the roller drive motors 41 and 42. The roller drive motor 41 is provided with a sensor (not shown) that detects that the printing material A has left the area AR2, and stops driving the roller drive motor 41 based on the output of the sensor. You may make it make it.

(C) When the driving of the roller drive motor 42 is stopped, the entire printing material A is in the area AR2. The control device 31 drives the traveling motor 24 to cause the traveling carriage 20 to travel. The control device 31 obtains the inclination (posture) of the printing material A by taking the output of the inclination detection sensor 34 when the traveling carriage 20 is traveling at an appropriate time interval via the interface 32. Then, the print data is corrected according to the inclination of the printing material A. Further, the control device 31 takes the output of the height detection sensor 35 through the interface 32 to obtain the distance (height) to the surface of the printing material A, and the distance is different from a preset reference distance. If so, the difference is obtained, and a control signal based on the difference is output to the height control motor 40 via the interface 32, and the height control motor 40 is driven based on the control signal. Adjust the height position.

(D) After detecting the inclination (posture) of the printing material A and adjusting the height of the printing head 23 as described above, the printing head 23a on the end side in the transverse carriage 21 is moved to the printing material A. The traverse carriage 21 is traversed so as to coincide with the end of the sheet, thereby completing the preparation for the printing operation.

  In the present embodiment, since the print head 23 is composed of four print heads 23a to 26d, for example, the printing material A is divided into four in the width direction, and the print heads 23a to 23d are divided into the divided areas. assign. Then, the number of reciprocations is determined according to the width dimensions of the print heads 23a to 26d, and the traveling carriage 20 travels at a constant speed in the length direction of the printing material A, and the traveling carriage 20 reciprocates along the traverse carriage 21. The position of the print head 23 is moved in the width direction of the printing material A by appropriately running at the timing of switching the movement. The print head 23 prints on the printing material A by ejecting ink based on the printing data while moving on the printing material A along with the movement of the traveling carriage 20 and the transverse carriage 21 in this way. Note that printing in the present embodiment includes not only characters but also drawing of figures.

Next, a process of creating print data (character data / graphic data) used in the print system of FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of creating print data, which includes two stages: a design system and a print information creation system. The design system is a stage designed by CAD or the like, and the print information creation system is a stage where print data is created based on the data designed by the design system.

First, the design system stage will be described.
Create structure data of the manufacturing object (S1), plan a member to be cut based on the structure data (S2), perform nesting to allocate the planned member to the printing material A without waste, A cutting plan diagram and NC cutting data are created (S3). This cutting plan is printed, for example, and the NC cutting data is used as NC data when cutting the printing material A. Based on the layout created by nesting, a lower print is created and converted to a DXF file (S4). As shown in FIG. 4, for example, the characters of the layout drawing created by nesting are defined by character contents (part names, mounting member names,...) And the size of the characters. ...) are associated with each other, and the size of the characters can be arbitrarily edited by changing the relationship as will be described later. Further, the character data of the DXF file includes character shape, size, position information, and the like.

Next, the stage of the print information creation system will be described.
The DXF file is edited (S5). In this editing, characters, graphics are moved, modified, added, and moved (refer to FIGS. 5 and 6 described later for specific examples). Character data and graphic data are extracted from the edited DXF file (S6). Then, the extracted character data and graphic data are converted into a dot map to create NC printing data (S7, see FIG. 7 and subsequent figures for specific examples). The NC printing data is stored in the CDROM (S8), read by the CDROM driver 36 shown in FIG. Alternatively, the NC printing data is received by the communication device 37 of FIG. 2 via a network (not shown) and output to the control device 31.

5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of editing the DXF file. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an editing example in which a character is moved. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an editing example in which the size of the character is changed. .
In the editing example of FIG. 5, since the character is at a position straddling the cutting line, it is difficult to see if the character is printed as it is, so that the position is shifted as shown in the drawing.
In the editing example of FIG. 6, the character to be edited is selected, its character size (layer) is displayed, and then the character size (layer) type is displayed and selected. As a result, the size of the character to be edited is changed to the selected character size (layer).
By editing the character to be printed as shown in the editing examples of FIGS. 5 and 6, it becomes easy to see the character when printed.

By the way, in the process (S7) of FIG. 4, the character data and the graphic data are converted into dot map data. However, the character shape and the graphic are superimposed on the dot array to form the character shape and graphic. Dot map data is created by painting the dots that overlap. The dots corresponding to the filled dots are transferred (printed) onto the printing material, so that printing can be freely performed regardless of the size, shape, and direction of the character shape and figure. However, when the number of dots per character of the print head is small, the following inconvenience occurs.
(A) The arrangement of the dots representing the character changes depending on the dot arrangement and the way the characters are overlapped (the mutual positional relationship), but if the character is small, the readability changes significantly due to the change in the arrangement. To do.
(B) If the direction of the character is orthogonal to the dot arrangement, even a relatively small character can be read depending on the dot arrangement, but if it is tilted, it is difficult to read even with the same size of character.

  In the present embodiment, the above countermeasures (A) and (B) are taken when creating a dot map, which will be described below.

Prior to the measures (A) and (B) above, the relationship between the character shape of the character data and the dot arrangement of this embodiment will be described.
FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C are explanatory diagrams showing the relationship between the character shape and the dot arrangement in the present embodiment. In the illustrated example, numbers 1, 2, and 3 are shown as characters, but the following points are taken into consideration for the creation of the dot map data.
(1) In the case where the character shape and the dot arrangement are orthogonal, the shape of each character is set in advance so that the arrangement of dots is most easily readable. That is, the character shape is set in advance so as to adapt to the restricted dot arrangement. By setting the character shape in this way, it is possible to obtain a character that is easy to read when printed. For example, the examples shown in FIGS.
Note that the dot arrangement is an arrangement interval corresponding to or related to the interval of the nozzles that eject the droplets of the print head.
(2) A reference point is set for each character. And the reference point of each character of the same size is set at the same position in each frame (in the above example, 4 × 7 dots). By doing so, for example, there is no misalignment between characters between a single character string, or any misalignment can be minimized. In the example of FIG. 7, the reference point is determined so as to match the dot in the lower left corner of the 4 × 7 dots. This means that when the reference point of the character is matched with the dot in the lower left corner, the shape of the character is drawn on the center of the dot as shown in FIGS. .
(3) When the character reference point is not located at the center of the dot when the character shape is superimposed on the dot, the character reference point is shifted to the center of the closest dot and the character shape Shift the whole. However, when the reference point of the character is located exactly in the middle of the surrounding dots, it is determined in advance so as to be shifted in a certain direction.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the process (S7) in converting character data into dot map data and creating NC print data. In particular, here, in the case where the countermeasure (A) is taken. Processing is shown. 9A to 9D are explanatory diagrams of the dot map at that time. It is assumed that the character data has, for example, a character shape corresponding to the code data and the above reference point data.
The character shape of the character data (in this example, the numerical value “2”) is temporarily superimposed on the dot array as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9C (S11). Next, it is determined whether or not the character data reference point matches the center position of the dot (S12). If not, the character data reference point is set to the center of the nearest dot among the surrounding dots. The character shape is shifted so as to match (S13). For example, when printing is performed in the state shown in FIGS. 9A and 9C, it becomes difficult to see, but the character data is shifted so that the reference point of the character data coincides with the center of the dot. By processing in this way, a dot map as shown in FIGS. 9B and 9D is obtained. By performing such processing, a character composed of a constant dot arrangement is always printed.

  FIG. 10 shows another example of processing (S7) when character data is converted into a dot map to create NC print data. In particular, here, processing when the above countermeasure (B) is taken. Is shown. 11A, 11B, and 11C are explanatory diagrams of the dot map at that time.

  The character shape of the character string is temporarily overlapped with the dot array as shown in FIG. 11A (S21). Then, it is determined whether or not this character string is orthogonal to the dot arrangement (S22). If the direction of the character string is inclined with respect to the dot array and is not orthogonal, the character direction is rotated so as to be orthogonal to the dot array around a point in the character frame (S23). This center is, for example, the center position in the height direction of the character. The rotation direction is rotated so that the direction of the character string matches the direction closer to either the vertical or horizontal row of the dot array. In this example, it is rotated so as to align with the column. When such processing is performed, a dot map as shown in FIG. 11B is obtained. Thereafter, by performing the same processing (S12, S13) as the countermeasure (A), a dot map as shown in FIG. 11C is obtained.

  FIG. 12 is an example in which a character string arranged in a slant is compared with a character string when the above processing (FIG. 11) is performed on the character string.

  Although the above-described processing of the print information generation system has been described on the premise that the processing is performed at a place other than the control device 31 of the present printing system, this processing may be automatically performed by the control device 31.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when creating dot map data by overlapping a character shape on a dot array, the entire character shape is set so that the reference point of the character data is at the center position of the dot. Since the dot map data is created by shifting, it is possible to obtain print data that is easy to discriminate even when a small character is printed.
When the direction of the character string is inclined with respect to the dot arrangement, the character direction is rotated around the point in the frame of the character data so as to be orthogonal to the dot arrangement, and then the above-mentioned As described above, since the dot map data is created by shifting the character shape so that the reference point comes to the center position of the dot, print data that can be easily discriminated when printed even with a small character can be obtained.
When the print data created in this way is subjected to a printing process, even if the printed character is a relatively small character, it is easy to determine.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of a control system of the printing system. It is the flowchart which showed the process of print information creation processing. It is the figure which showed the relationship between the content of a character, and a layer (character size). It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a DXF file edit (the 1). It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a DXF file edit (the 2). It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the shape of character data, and dot arrangement | sequence. It is the flowchart which showed an example of the process (S7) at the time of converting character data into a dot map and producing the data for NC printing. It is explanatory drawing of a dot map when the process of FIG. 8 is performed. It is the flowchart which showed the other example of the process (S7) at the time of converting character data into a dot map and producing the data for NC printing. It is explanatory drawing of a dot map when the process of FIG. 10 is performed. It is the figure which showed the example which contrasted the character string when the character string arrange | positioned at an inclination is processed about it.

Explanation of symbols

   DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Conveyance roller, 11 Conveyance roller, 12 Side roller, 13 Rail, 20 Traveling carriage, 20a Saddle, 20b Girder, 20c Traverse rail, 21 Traverse carriage, 23 Print head, 24 Travel motor, 25 Control panel, 26 Traverse motor, 31 Control device, 31a storage unit, 31b temporary storage unit, 31c calculation unit, 32 interface, 33 tip detection sensor, 34 tilt detection sensor, 35 height detection sensor, 36 CDROM driver, 37 communication device, 38 input device, 40 roller Drive motor, 41 Roller drive motor, 42 Roller drive motor.

Claims (8)

Overlaying the character shape of character data having a reference point for each character on a dot array arranged at a predetermined interval;
When the reference point is not at the center position of the dot in the dot array, the entire character shape is moved so that the reference point is at the center position of the dot, and the character shape is positioned on the dot to form a dot map. And a method of creating print data. A step of superimposing a character shape of a character string of character data having a reference point for each character on a dot array arranged at a predetermined interval;
If the character string is not orthogonal to the dot array, rotating each character shape to be orthogonal to the dot array;
If the reference point is not at the center position of the dot in the dot array, the entire character shape is moved so that the reference point is at the center position of the dot, and the character shape is positioned on the dot so that the dot map data A method for generating print data.   3. The method of creating print data according to claim 2, wherein when the character shape is rotated to be orthogonal to the dot array, the character shape is rotated around the center position in the height direction of each character shape.   When the character data has the same size, the character data has a character shape drawn in a frame of the same size, and has a reference point at the same position in the frame. The method for creating print data according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   5. The character shape of the character data is set so as to draw on a dot located in the frame when the reference point is located at the center of the dot. How to create the print data.   The reference point is moved to the dot side that is closest to the reference point when the reference point is not at the center position of the dots in the dot array. How to create print data.   7. The printing according to claim 1, wherein when the reference point is located in the middle of the dots in the dot array, the reference point is moved to the dot side positioned in a preset direction. How to create data.   A printing method comprising: printing processing the print data created by the print data creation method according to claim 1.

Images