JP2011020203A - Cutting plotter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cutting plotter capable of preventing degradation of the cutting quality caused by unevenness of a supporting surface of a medium supporting means such as a vacuum table and a felt, or unevenness formed on a medium to be worked which is supported by the supporting surface. <P>SOLUTION: The cutting plotter includes a work table for supporting a sheet-like medium, an end mill provided opposite to the medium supported by a medium supporting means to cut the medium, guide rails 31 and a Y-bar 32 for movably supporting the end mill in the direction parallel to and orthogonal to the surface opposite to a work tool of the medium, and a control unit 50 for performing the control so as to cut the medium by moving the end mill. The cutting plotter further includes an unevenness measuring means 100 for detecting unevenness of the medium supported by the medium supporting means. The control unit 50 detects the unevenness detected by the unevenness measuring means 100, and performs the control for moving the end mill along the unevenness. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a processing table having a support surface for supporting a sheet-like processing medium, a first guide rail provided on the processing table, and a second guide rail supported so as to be movable along the first guide rail. And a processing tool support means comprising a carriage supported so as to be movable along the second guide rail, and a processing tool such as an end mill that is attached to the carriage and cuts the processing medium into a desired shape. It relates to a cutting plotter.

  There are a printer device, a cutting plotter, and the like as a medium processing device that performs a desired processing on a sheet-like processing medium. These medium processing apparatuses place and hold a medium to be processed on a flat processing table, and a first guide rail provided so as to extend linearly above the processing table, and a direction in which the first guide rail extends. A second guide rail (also referred to as a Y bar) provided so as to extend in a direction intersecting with the first guide rail and movably supported along the first guide rail, and supported movably along the second guide rail A processing tool support means configured by a carriage, a processing tool attached to the processing tool support means for processing a workpiece medium, and a control for controlling the processing by controlling movement of the processing tool support means and the processing tool. What has a mechanism is well known.

  In the medium processing apparatus as described above, in order to maintain the processing quality, it is necessary to make the distance between the processing medium placed on the medium supporting means and the processing tool supported by the carriage constant. Therefore, there is a medium processing apparatus provided with a pair of elevating means for elevating and lowering the medium supporting means provided at both ends of the medium supporting means and a height detecting means for detecting the height of the both ends (for example, (See Patent Document 1). In such a medium processing apparatus, the distance between the medium support means and the processing tool is made constant by raising and lowering both ends of the medium support means by the lifting means based on the detection result of the height detection means. Is possible.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-264457

  A cutting plotter that is a kind of the above-mentioned medium processing apparatus and that cuts a workpiece medium into a desired shape is well known to have a vacuum table that holds the workpiece medium by suction and a structure in which a felt is placed on the upper surface thereof. It has become. In the cutting plotter having such a configuration, a minute unevenness due to tolerance or the like may occur on the upper surface of the vacuum table, or a minute height variation may occur in the felt. If cutting of the workpiece medium is performed while ignoring such irregularities, the depth of cutting may not be uniform, causing a problem that the quality of the cutting of the workpiece medium is deteriorated. Moreover, there has been a problem that the felt replacement frequency increases by erroneously cutting the felt on the lower surface of the workpiece medium.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to reduce the quality of cutting due to unevenness formed on a support surface of a medium support means such as a vacuum table or felt or a workpiece medium supported on the support surface. An object of the present invention is to provide a cutting plotter that can be prevented.

  In order to achieve the above object, a cutting plotter according to the present invention includes a medium supporting means (for example, the processing table 20 in the embodiment) having a supporting surface for supporting a sheet-like workpiece medium, and a medium supporting means on the supporting surface. A first guide rail (for example, guide rail 31 in the embodiment) provided extending in a first direction parallel to the first guide rail, and attached to be movable in the first direction along the first guide rail. And a second guide rail (for example, the Y bar 32 in the embodiment) provided to extend in a second direction that is parallel to and intersects the first direction, and is attached to be movable in the second direction along the second guide rail. A carriage (for example, the slider 41 in the embodiment), and a carriage that is movably attached in a third direction perpendicular to the support surface. A processing tool (for example, the end mill 43 in the embodiment), a control for moving the second guide rail in the first direction along the first guide rail, and a carriage in the second direction along the second guide rail. And control for moving the processing tool in the third direction with respect to the carriage, and a processing control means (for example, the control unit 50 in the embodiment) for cutting the medium to be processed by the processing tool. In the cutting plotter, it is attached to the carriage and supported by the medium support means when the carriage is moved in the second direction along the second guide rail or the second guide rail is moved in the first direction along the first guide rail. The unevenness measuring means for measuring the unevenness of the processed medium is provided, and the processing control means follows the unevenness with respect to the processing medium. And performing control by adding the movement control of the processing tool relative to the carriage to move Te.

  In the cutting plotter according to the present invention, the carriage is supported by the medium support means when the carriage is moved along the second guide rail or when the second guide rail is moved along the first guide rail. By providing an unevenness measuring means capable of measuring the unevenness of the workpiece medium, the unevenness is measured before cutting, and the workpiece is supported to control the movement of the processing tool along the measured unevenness. Even when the unevenness is present in the vacuum table, felt, which is the medium supporting means, or the medium to be processed placed on the upper surface thereof, it is possible to prevent the quality deterioration of the cutting due to the unevenness.

It is a perspective view which shows the cutting plotter to which this invention is applied. It is a fragmentary sectional view when it cut | disconnects in the direction extended in the longitudinal direction of the end mill provided in the said cutting plotter, and is a figure which shows a mode that the to-be-processed medium is cut with the end mill. It is a block diagram which shows the cutting process control structure by the said cutting plotter. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the unevenness | corrugation measuring means was attached to the said cutting plotter. (A) is the perspective view which expanded the slider vicinity to which the unevenness | corrugation measuring means was attached. (B) is a perspective view showing the unevenness measuring means. (A) is a fragmentary sectional view which shows a mode that the unevenness | corrugation of the to-be-processed medium mounted in the vacuum table and the felt is measured by the said unevenness | corrugation measuring means. (B) is a partial cross-sectional view of the vacuum table, the felt, and the medium to be processed showing a state in which the cutting data is directly cut in the Y-axis direction without correcting the cutting data. (C) is a figure which shows the unevenness | corrugation measured by the said unevenness measurement means. It is the top view which showed a mode that the unevenness | corrugation of a to-be-processed medium was measured by attaching the said unevenness measuring means to the said cutting plotter, and making the said unevenness measuring means scan.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As an example of a cutting plotter (cutting device) to which the present invention is applied, a sheet-like processing medium formed of a material such as an acrylic plate or an aluminum composite plate is fixedly held on a processing table, and an end mill is attached to the processing medium. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an XY plotter type cutting plotter 1 that lifts up and down in the vertical direction and moves the workpiece medium in a desired shape by moving it in two orthogonal directions in a horizontal plane. . In the following description, the upward direction on the paper surface of FIG. 1 is the positive Z-axis direction, the lower right direction (the direction parallel to the Y bar 32 described later) on the paper surface of FIG. A lower left direction (a direction parallel to a guide rail 31 described later) is defined as a positive X-axis direction.

  The cutting plotter 1 includes a processing table 20 that holds the processing medium 2 fixedly, a main body frame 10 that holds the processing table 20 horizontally and serves as a mounting base for each mechanism, and an X-axis direction (front and rear) above the processing table 20. X-axis carriage 30 that is movably supported in a direction) and is movable in the X-axis direction by an X-axis drive mechanism 35 described later, and is supported movably in the Y-axis direction (left-right direction) along a Y-bar 32 described later. A cutting unit 40 that can be moved in the Y-axis direction by a Y-axis drive mechanism 45, which will be described later, and a horizontal movement of the X-axis carriage 30 and a vertical movement of an end mill 43, which will be described later, are controlled. The control unit 50 is configured to control cutting of the workpiece medium 2.

  The processing table 20 includes a support plate 21 having a flat surface, a decompression chamber 22 provided on the lower surface side of the support plate 21, and a vacuum blower capable of setting the decompression chamber 22 to a negative pressure by exhausting air from the decompression chamber 22. 23, a rectangular vacuum table 24 which is provided at the center portion when viewed from above the processing table 20 and on which the sheet-like processing medium 2 can be placed and fixedly held, and covers the upper surface of the vacuum table 24 Thus, it is configured by two felts 25 having a thickness of about 3 mm for supporting the processing medium 2 (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

  The vacuum table 24 has many fine air holes (not shown) penetrating vertically, and the air holes and the decompression chamber 22 are provided on the lower surface side of the vacuum table 24, and the upper surface of the vacuum table 24 is two sheets. The sheet-like felt 25 is covered. With this configuration, it is possible to allow air to pass through the air holes and the felt 25 in the vertical direction. Therefore, by setting the decompression chamber 22 to a negative pressure by the vacuum blower 23, the workpiece medium 2 can be vacuum-adsorbed to the vacuum table 24 and fixedly held.

  The X-axis carriage 30 has a pair of left and right guide rails 31 and 31 provided on the upper surface of the support plate 21 so as to extend in parallel with the X-axis direction, and an X-axis carriage provided on the guide rails 31 and 31 so as to extend in the Y-axis direction. Y bar 32 held movably in the direction, slide blocks 33 and 34 fitted to guide rails 31 and 31, respectively, for fixing the left end and right end of Y bar 32, and Y bar 32 It is comprised by the X-axis drive mechanism 35 moved to an axial direction. As the guide rail 31, a support rail of a linear motion bearing, which is also referred to as a linear motion guide or a linear guide, is used. The Y bar 32 is formed using an aluminum material so as to extend in a rod shape, and is supported so as to be slidable in the X-axis direction while straddling the upper side of the support board 21. The X-axis drive mechanism 35 includes a ball screw (not shown) disposed on the lower surface side of the processing table 20 so as to extend back and forth in parallel with the guide rail 31, a servo motor (not shown) that rotationally drives the ball screw, It consists of a ball nut fitted and supported by a ball screw and fixed to the X-axis carriage 30, and the Y bar 32 and slide blocks 33 and 34 can be moved in the X-axis direction by rotating the servo motor. It has become.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the cutting unit 40 is driven to rotate with a slider 41 supported slidably in the Y-axis direction and an end mill 43, which will be described later, about an axis extending in the longitudinal direction. The rotation drive unit 42 to be moved, the end mill 43 capable of cutting the workpiece medium 2, the Y-axis drive mechanism 45 that moves the slider 41 in the Y-axis direction, and the rotation drive unit 42 to rotate the end mill 43 and move the end mill 43 up and down. And a movable cutting drive mechanism 46. The slider 41 is in a state of being fitted to a Y-axis guide rail 32a fixed to the front surface of the Y bar 32 so as to extend in the Y-axis direction. Further, an engagement hole (not shown) is provided on the lower surface of the protrusion provided on the front side of the slider 41, and a protrusion 100a (see FIG. 5) of the unevenness measuring means 100 described later is fitted into the engagement hole. By doing so, the unevenness measuring means 100 can be fixedly supported on the slider 41. The rotational drive unit 42 is detachably supported on the lower surface of the convex portion of the slider 41, similarly to the unevenness measuring unit 100. The end mill 43 is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the lower portion of the rotation driving unit 42 and can move up and down with respect to the rotation driving unit 42. The cutting drive mechanism 46 uses the rotation driving unit 42 to end the end mill 43. It is possible to cut the work medium 2 by rotating and pressing and moving the work medium 2. In addition, not only the end mill 43 but also a cutter blade or the like can be attached to and detached from the rotation drive unit 42.

  The Y-axis drive mechanism 45 is configured to be able to move the slider 41 in the Y-axis direction, and is provided with a drive pulley (not shown) and a driven pulley (not shown) that are rotatably provided on the left end side and the right end side of the Y bar 32. 1), a servo motor (not shown) for driving the drive pulley to rotate, and an endless belt-like drive belt (not shown) wound around the drive pulley and the driven pulley, and an intermediate portion of the drive belt The slider 41 is configured to be fixed. A timing belt having a large number of teeth formed on the inner peripheral surface of the drive belt, and a timing pulley is used for the drive pulley and the driven pulley to move the cutting unit 40 (moving direction, moving speed, left-right position, etc.). It can be finely controlled.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 50 includes a cutting shape data reading unit 52, a cutting shape setting unit 53, a drive control unit 54, an input unit 55, a display unit 56, and the like. The cutting shape data reading unit 52 is configured to read a predetermined machining program and a desired machining shape (hereinafter referred to as machining shape data) input by the user, and transmit the machining shape data to the cutting shape setting unit 53. The The cutting shape setting unit 53 refers to the machining shape data received from the cutting shape data reading unit 52 to create cutting data (shape data) used when cutting the workpiece medium 2 and uses the created cutting data. It transmits to the drive control part 54. The drive control unit 54 can control the entire apparatus including each axis driving mechanism of the cutting plotter 1, and based on the cutting data received from the cutting shape setting unit 53, the above-described X-axis driving mechanism 35, Y The horizontal movement of the X-axis carriage 30 and the cutting unit 40 and the vertical movement of the end mill 43 are controlled by controlling the operations of the shaft drive mechanism 45, the cutting drive mechanism 46, and the like. The workpiece medium 2 can be cut.

  The input unit 55 is a touch panel provided for a user to input an instruction for operating the cutting plotter 1, and the user can input a cutting procedure instruction (for example, clockwise or counterclockwise) via the input unit 55. Instructing to perform cutting, cutting speed, and cutting conditions such as the pressing force of the end mill against the work medium) and reciprocating the slider 41 in the Y-axis direction and the Y bar 32 in the X-axis direction. Thus, it is possible to measure the unevenness of the upper surface of the processing medium 2 placed on the felt 25 (details will be described later). The display unit 56 is used as a display that displays the cutting conditions, the cutting shape, and the operation result of the cutting plotter 1.

  By the way, in order to maintain the quality at the time of cutting the work medium 2, it is necessary to make the height of the upper surface of the work medium 2 uniform when the work medium 2 is placed on the felt 25. However, there may be variations in the height of the upper surface of the workpiece medium 2 because the thickness of the felt 25 fluctuates or a minute difference (tolerance) occurs in the height of the vacuum table 24. . When cutting is performed in such a state, the depth of the cut into the work medium 2 varies, and the quality of the cutting process is deteriorated, or the felt 25 is cut by cutting the felt 25 below the work medium 2. The problem of increasing the frequency of replacement occurs.

  Therefore, in the cutting plotter 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the unevenness information storage unit 51 and the unevenness measuring unit 100 are provided, and the workpiece medium 2 placed on the upper surface of the felt 25 by the unevenness measuring unit 100. It is possible to measure the unevenness of the upper surface of the substrate and prevent the variation in height formed on the upper surface of the workpiece medium 2 from affecting the actual cutting process based on the measurement result. Hereinafter, the unevenness information storage unit 51 and the unevenness measuring unit 100 will be described.

  The unevenness information storage unit 51 is provided in the control unit 50 as shown in FIG. 3, and the unevenness on the upper surface of the processing medium 2 placed on the upper surface of the felt 25 by the unevenness measuring means 100 (hereinafter referred to as unevenness information). , And the read uneven information is transmitted to the drive control unit 54. Based on the unevenness information, the drive control unit 54 performs cutting of the medium 2 to be processed while causing the cutting drive mechanism 46 to adjust the vertical position of the end mill 43 (details will be described later).

  The unevenness measuring means 100 is a displacement sensor that measures the unevenness of the workpiece medium 2 placed on the upper surface of the felt 25, and as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the protrusion 100 a of the unevenness measuring means 100 is moved to the slider 41. It is possible to fix and support the slider 41 by fitting it into an engagement hole (not shown). Further, the unevenness measuring means 100 in the present embodiment is a contact type displacement sensor, and can measure unevenness by bringing the tip of the measuring portion 100b extending in a bar shape into contact with the workpiece medium 2. . The unevenness measuring means 100 used here is not limited to a contact type displacement sensor, and for example, a non-contact type displacement sensor such as a dial gauge type, an eddy current type, an optical type, an air sensor or the like may be used. .

  A method for measuring the unevenness of the workpiece medium 2 placed on the upper surface of the felt 25 using the cutting plotter 1 and the unevenness measuring means 100 configured as described above and reflecting the measurement result in actual cutting will be described below. I will explain it. First, a method for measuring the unevenness of an arbitrary straight line portion parallel to the Y axis in the workpiece medium 2 placed on the upper surface of the felt 25 and reflecting the measurement result in the cutting process will be described. As a preliminary preparation, as shown in FIG. 5, the protrusion 100 a of the unevenness measuring means 100 is fitted into an engagement hole (not shown) provided in the lower front part of the slider 41, and the unevenness measuring means 100 is The measuring unit 100b is attached so that it extends in the negative direction of the Z-axis, and the tip of the measuring unit 100b is in contact with the upper surface of the workpiece medium 2.

  In the following, as shown in FIG. 6A, in the arbitrary straight line portion (line segment AB) parallel to the Y axis on the upper surface of the processing medium 2 placed on the two felts 25, the left end portion is long. The case where the right end portion is recessed in the Z-axis negative direction by the length e2 will be described. First, as described above, the unevenness measuring means 100 is attached to the slider 41, the power switch of the cutting plotter 1 is turned on, and then the input unit 55 is operated to move the slider 41 in the Y-axis direction so that the processing medium 2 Measure the unevenness. When the slider 41 is moved in the Y-axis direction, the unevenness measuring means 100 fixedly supported by the slider 41 is also moved in the Y-axis direction. The unevenness measuring means 100 has a long left end as shown in FIG. The unevenness measurement result 121 having a shape in which the right end portion is recessed in the negative Z-axis direction by the length e2 is output as unevenness information. The unevenness information storage unit 51 reads the unevenness information (unevenness measurement result 121) and transmits it to the drive control unit 54.

  Here, when cutting is performed along the line segment AB as it is, the central portion of the line segment AB is deeply cut down to the felt 25 as shown in FIG. As a result, there arises a problem that variation occurs in the depth of cutting, such that the both end portions can be cut shallowly. In order to prevent such a situation, when the drive control unit 54 performs the cutting process of the line segment AB, the left end portion of the line segment AB has a length e1 and the right end portion has a length e2 in the negative Z-axis direction. The cutting data received from the cutting shape setting unit 53 is corrected to a shape that is bent in a straight line. Then, when the workpiece medium 2 is cut based on the corrected cutting data, the cutting drive mechanism 46 cuts the end mill 43 while moving it up and down with respect to the rotation drive unit 42 along the unevenness of the workpiece medium 2. Processing is performed, and the workpiece medium 2 can be cut at the same depth.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to scan the processing medium 2 with the unevenness measuring unit 100 attached to the slider 41 to acquire unevenness information in the entire processed medium 2. Yes. The unevenness information obtained here is held in the unevenness information storage unit 51 as described above. After the unevenness information is held, the drive control unit 54 always performs end milling based on the unevenness information. It operates to cut while adjusting the vertical position of 43.

  The unevenness information can be updated as needed by using the unevenness measuring means 100 as described above. For example, when the type of the processing medium or felt to be used is changed and the height of the upper surface of the processing medium is changed, the unevenness information in the unevenness information storage unit 51 is updated again using the unevenness measuring unit 100, It is possible to perform cutting along the unevenness at any time, and it is possible to completely eliminate the problem that the processing quality deteriorates due to the variation in the height of the upper surface of the workpiece medium.

  As described above, in the cutting plotter 1 according to the present embodiment, the unevenness of the workpiece medium 2 placed on the upper surface of the felt 25 is measured before cutting, and the cutting is performed while moving the end mill 43 up and down along the measured unevenness. By controlling so as to perform, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the depth of the cut into the workpiece medium 2 varies and the quality of the cutting process deteriorates. Moreover, since it becomes possible to suppress the problem of unintentionally cutting the felt 25 deeply, the replacement frequency of the felt 25 can be reduced.

  Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which the unevenness information in the unevenness information storage unit 51 is updated using the unevenness measuring unit 100 has been described. However, the timing for updating the unevenness information is not limited in principle, for example, a power switch After turning on, it may be after the cutting plotter 1 is manufactured and before shipment, or after the type of the processing medium or felt is changed.

  The present invention is characterized by performing cutting while adjusting the vertical position of the end mill 43 using the unevenness measuring means 100 and the unevenness information storage unit 51. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The present invention can also be applied to other types of cutting plotters such as a drive type.

  For example, not the cutting plotter 1 of the type that presses the end mill 43 against the workpiece medium 2 from above (Z-axis positive direction) as shown in the present embodiment, but the machining surface of the workpiece medium 2 is the machining surface. The present invention can also be applied to a cutting plotter of the type that is held by suction so as to face the horizontal direction (direction parallel to the XY plane) and presses the end mill 43 from the horizontal direction.

1 Cutting plotter 2 Work medium 20 Work table (medium support means)
31 Guide rail (first guide rail)
32 Y bar (second guide rail)
41 Slider (carriage)
43 End mill (processing tool)
50 Control unit (processing control means)
100 Concavity and convexity measuring means

Claims (1)

Medium support means having a support surface for supporting the sheet-like workpiece medium;
A first guide rail provided on the medium support means so as to extend in a first direction parallel to the support surface;
A second guide rail that is movably attached in the first direction along the first guide rail, and that extends in a second direction that is parallel to the support surface and intersects the first direction;
A carriage mounted for movement in the second direction along the second guide rail;
A processing tool attached to the carriage so as to be movable in a third direction perpendicular to the support surface, and for cutting the workpiece medium;
Control for moving the second guide rail in the first direction along the first guide rail, control for moving the carriage in the second direction along the second guide rail, and In a cutting plotter comprising a processing control means for performing control to move the carriage in the third direction and cutting the workpiece medium by the processing tool,
The medium is attached to the carriage, and the medium is moved when the carriage is moved in the second direction along the second guide rail or in the first direction along the first guide rail. Provided with unevenness measuring means for measuring the unevenness of the workpiece medium supported by the support means,
The cutting plotter characterized in that the processing control means performs control by adding movement control of the processing tool with respect to the carriage so as to move the processing tool along the unevenness with respect to the processing medium.

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